Bridge’s Peking Picnic is autofiction based on her life as the wife of the British Oriental Attaché in Peking. The romantic interlude suggests that Bridge’s real-life marriage to Owen O’Malley was no picnic. It’s the story of picnic romance that never quite gets fulfilled, saving Laura Leroy, the protagonist, from anything more than adultery in her heart.
During the three-day journey to the esteemed Red Temple and monastery in the outlying vicinity of Peking, in an area where law and order are precarious, Laura has assumed charge of Vinstead, an American professor. “I thought we would take him to the hills for the weekend and give him a real Peking picnic,” she explains.
This excursion is demanding, for the heat is intense, and roads are poor and dusty. There is a river to ford aboard a primitive ferry pulled by hand, and once across, the picnickers proceed by donkey and then on foot. The party walks quickly through a smallpox-ridden village on the final eight miles, where Laura admonishes them not to touch anyone.
Predictably, Laura and Vinstead form an intense friendship. It occurs just as they are sipping their cocktails and waiting for lunch to be served Before they become lovers; however, their romantic fluff is interrupted when a gang of local bandits attacks the temple. Amidst the tumult, the picnickers manage an escape. Again in Peking, the would-be-lovers separate. “I must go now,” he said, “I’ve got things to see to, But I take the certainty of your kindness. Goodbye.” Rather gently, rather hesitatingly, he kissed her—and with simple gravity, the was almost a child’s she kissed him in return.”
Featured Image: Dr. Mark Nan Tu “Tanzhe Temple in Winter” (2007)
See Ann Bridge [Mary Dolling Sanders O’Malley] Peking Picnic, a Novel London: Chatto & Windus, 1932