The Licence by Frank Tuohy is the story of Peter, a teenager who has to cope with the recent death of his mother, a fussing aunt, an insecure father, and, on top of all these, with his father’s new housekeeper, the menacing Mrs Macdonnell.
Living with his aunt while attending school, all Peter can think of his is the time when he would be old enough to get his driving licence. “Adolescence still made Peter’s voice thrum like a slack guitar string,” while his mother’s figure was still vivid in his memory: “He hid under his handkerchief the photograph of his mother, and the letter she had written to him before she died.”
Peter’s relationship with his father falters to such an extent that, even when they met during Peter’s holidays, “they exploited to the utmost the few topics for conversation that now remained to them.” This already strained relationship is worsened by the presence of Mrs Macdonnell, who, although keeps a friendly appearance, has her own agenda. And she sees Peter as being in her way and thus she feels that she must act accordingly.
Fortunately, the short story ends on a positive note, but I’ll leave it with the reader to discover it by themselves.
Frank Tuohy was a novelist and short story writer of Irish and Scottish origins. He was born in 1925 and died in 1999.
