Book Review: "Helena" by Evelyn Waugh

Check out some of my reviews of Waugh's other novels:

And of course, why it's a masterpiece - Brideshead Revisited...

Helena is probably one of the only books by Evelyn Waugh I have never read and that was honestly because I couldn't find a good copy of it and atop of that it didn't sound like something I would enjoy. This book takes place at a strange point in the Waugh timeline. This is where he goes deep into the religion rabbit hole and disappears up the backside of conservatism in a way that I didn't think was possible after Brideshead Revisited (and I loved that book in ways that aren't even possible). So, as we get the story of a free-spirited and ambitious princess, we also see a lot of things that Evelyn Waugh would have probably wanted hidden about his own views on religion and politics. Just because someone's a great writer does not mean they were a great person. I can accept that Evelyn Waugh was only a great writer.

Helena might be someone who is ambitious and high in spirit, but her feminism is curtailed because Waugh needs us to know that she makes a good business marriage for political stability rather than love: Constantius Chlorus becomes her husband. He's a Roman Officer and eventually they have a son named Constantine. Yes, that Constantine. Yes, she's that Helena. I was always interested in the story of Helena growing up and I knew a lot about her because I went to a Catholic school. I found that Helena perhaps wasn't as researched as her son but, even though Waugh's novel came at an odd time in his life, he proves that he can still write well enough to make it readable. Be that as it may, I'm not sure how much of this is actually true. I'm not that well researched when it comes to early Christianity.

Helena gets a divorce and her ex-husband marries someone else, exiling his wife to some other place that isn't too popular. But when the father dies, of course Constantine takes power and consolidates the Roman Empire, making Christianity legal for anyone to practice. The book deals with Helena's conversion as well and of course Waugh has to get weird about it. The book depicts that Helena wanted a practical kind of faith rather than just abstracts and this is why she goes to seek out the true cross. This is strange because I've read this about Helena but we cannot prove whether she had the true cross or not because 1) we don't have it and 2) she existed quite a while after the crucifixion. Waugh's showing of how Helena witnesses the moral decay of court in which Constantine even executes his own son and thus, she goes off into the world and travels to the Holy Land. Making this part of the reason why she goes out is interesting because of course Helena seeks penance for Constantine. But she also initially did it for herself. I'm not going to lie, it seems like Waugh takes a lot of self-reasoning and agency away from Helena. She is always doing things for others but is still depicted as a 'strong woman'. It's a bit of an oxymoron.

The book ends with her discovering the true cross and finding the symbol for Christianity. Of course, the language is something to be admired here but it is also Waugh's most obvious imagery. Yes, it's more obvious than the teddy bear in Brideshead Revisited or the newspaper in Scoop. It's way more obvious. I'm not sure that this is amongst Waugh's best works because everything felt so on the nose that often I just had to put it down because I felt like Waugh either believed his readers were stupid or insincere.

As much as I get it, I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. I did initially but it just got more and more obvious throughout. The book also turns down towards the middle and end, the writing is not as suggestive and metaphorical as the beginning. Waugh's life was in a bit of a shambles at this point with his point of view becoming more and more clear, but I definitely understand why Helena is often ignored. I honestly can't make up my mind about it. It's well written in places, but it is also a huge let down in others.

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