1940 Club Review: Nothing to Report by Carola Oman

My Interest

I never say no to a Dean Street Press Furrowed Middlebrow title! And, it was published in 1940 making it perfect for The 1940 Book Club hosted  earlier this month by  Simon at Stuck in a Book and Karen at Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings.

The Story

“‘My mother wants me to marry as soon as possible, so that she can play Bridge and try on clothes all day in comfort….and my father spends his evenings drinking, mostly.'”

 

Mary, aka “Button” is a single woman beset by that most annoying of conditions: Genteel poverty. They family manor home has been sold, but she still lives in the village surrounded by her family’s former grandeur. What will become known as The Second World War is heating up. Button has committees, rotas and rosters, gas masks, wool to knit, and potential evacuees wanting a wartime safe billet, you name it–she is involved in it.

Meanwhile, he friend Catha, home from hubby’s terribly important position in India is in need of help sorting suitably grand housing and the debut of her daughter at Court. Of course, it is dear Button to the rescue.  Catha’s trials don’t end there. Her Bolsie son and her perfect other son are added to the mix, as is her dearly loved husband. Button is fond of them all and has played Auntie to them while Mummy and Papa were off serving the King in the Jewel of his Crown. Other friends and neighbors rely on this well connected”able spinster” to sort out their little lives as well. 

Is “useful spinster” all people see in Button? Does anyone see “Mary?” Possibly…….

 

My Thoughts

“You love Munich and he loves Moscow. I mean, they both have masses of spies and concentration camps and no religion. I never can see why they can’t kiss and be friends.”

There is one comment that will unsettle today’s readers–about a servant: “He’s an Austrian ….the wife–much younger–is distressed for her father, who is in a concentration camp.” Ouch. It is important to remember that the Illustrated London News was once duped by the Nazis and showed the UK a wonderful camp set up for Jewish people relocating to the new areas of the Reich [or similar lies].

Now, with that out of the way, let me tell you this book, that comment aside, (not minimizing it at all) was a delight from start to finish. I loved Button and Catha and her family. In fact, I loved them all.

Nothing to Report by Carola Oman   (UK Publisher’s link)

Nothing to Report by Carola Oman (Amazon USA link)

Review: Charlotte Fairlie by D.E. Stevenson

My Interest

After messing up #DeanStreetDecember, I had to redeem myself for #readindies!  This one was on my Kindle and sounded fun, so…..Not only redeeming myself, but “rescuing” an impulse Kindle buy and actually reading it. Once again though, I am struggling with print reading. Never mind! #DeanStreetPress gets most of my indie money and they never disappoint.

Thanks to Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings for hosing #readindies month. (WordPress isn’t liking hyperlinks, so here is the link: https://kaggsysbookishramblings.wordpress.com/2023/02/01/welcome-to-reading-independent-publishers-month-2023-readindies/)

 

The Story

“Far in the distance there were purple hills, their outlines softened by haze. All the colours were clean–like the colours in a brand new paintbox–and the sunshie was so strong that the very air seemed to glitter….”

Girls boarding school headmistress Charlotte is leading a predictably drab life. An old harpy of a teacher on her nerves, platonic almost work dates with a local headmaster, and all the drama only a group of women aged 8 to death, shut up in a school together can deliver.

“Charlotte saw a tall man with a brown face and hazel eyes…his hair was the colour of old mahogany, dark reddish brown, with copper tints where the sun had caught it….he was full of life and vigour….He was in full rig to-night, with kilt and silver buttoned doublet and lace falls at neck and wrists….he wore his finery with same unconscious ease as the old faded kilt…and patched tweed jacket which he wore upon the hill.”

But Charlotte does take an interest in her students. One girl,       comes from a local home with a very odd father. Another, Tessa MacRynne, in a on an island off Scotland–the island is her father’s estate. When it comes to pass that Charlotte is to spend part of her holiday on the island with the two girls and the local girl’s young brothers, her life starts to improve. One reason for this is Rory–the Red MacRynne!

My Thoughts

Probably because I was forced to spend 40 hours a week at a desk surrounded by out-of-control, cliquish women, I actually must say I found the first part of this book….sssslllooowww. I got very tired of the old shrew.  Sir Joseph was right, she was “An obnoxious female” indeed! Thankfully, once Charlotte stepped off the plane and into the boat (I love how in the UK everything is a “yacht”) to go across to Targ–the island estate, had time allowed I’d have finished it in one sitting. Exactly the sort of book I needed at that moment–greatly helped by a big Scotsman named Rory (a favorite name of mine since before the Gilmore Girls made it a girls name).

And then there’s that last little gift….what boy wouldn’t want to grow up to be the “factor” on a Laird’s island estate? Too swoony.

The tedious beginning (there is setting the atmosphere and then there is making it so real you can’t escape it–a lost art today) was annoying, but Targ and the world that existed upon it more than compensated.

Charlotte Fairlie by D.E. Stevenson. For once I read the print (Kindle) version, which is only $2.99

https://www.amazon.com/Charlotte-Fairlie-D-Stevenson-ebook/dp/B09LMBL32S/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1677606769&sr=8-1  Link to book–Wordpress is not liking hyperlinks.

Is it my imagination or is Rory (on the book’s cover above) wearing the Lord of the Isle tartan which someone else is modeling below? 

Photo from https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/gallery/2012/jun/13/prince-charles-style-icon by Tim Graham of Tim Graham Photo Library [Wordpress is being weird with hyperlinks]

Photograph: Tim Graham/Tim Graham Photo Library found HERE

Dean Street Press December

Thanks to blogger Liz Dexter at Adventures in Reading for hosting this fun new event.

Here’s what she says about how it all works:

How will it work?

So, here’s how it will work. On 1 December I [Liz] will publish a start-off post where I [Liz] invite other readers to share links to the books they read during the month. Read your book(s) and comment on the post with a link to your blog post, Goodreads review or other place where you’ve written about your read. I [Liz] will also read and review books during the month and add my own links; please also feel free to chat about those books and visit other people’s links during the month and afterwards.

What I May Read

These are ALL on my Kindle begging to be read! If I had to make a guess, I ‘d say Mrs Tim Carries On will get my attention. Any that are on Audible will likely get moved to the top of the list–I don’t have my 1.25 hour (each way) commute but I do get to listen 1/2 hour each way and an hour at lunch most days. I’d go for anything on audio–two Audible credits burning a hole in my pocket! The stress of any new job means you need to unwind. Dean Street Press’s Furrowed Middlebrow books are perfect for unwinding.

Dean Street Press Books I Enjoyed Within the Last Year

My Reviews:

1. Spring Magic
2. A Winter Away
3. Chelsea Concerto (nonfiction)

DSP Reviews from other years:

1. Miss Plum and Miss Penny
2. Dear Hugo
3. Mrs. Lorimer’s Quiet Summer
4. Winter and Rough Weather
5. A House in the Country

Are you participating in #DeanStreetDecember? Do you have a favorite Dean Street Press book or author? Leave me a comment or a link to your own post

Read all about the fun of Dean Street December here at Liz’s blog.

Middlebrow Syllabus Reading Challenge

Now this is a fun reading challenge! I’ve been enjoying this sort of book for a few years now. I only discovered them due to blogging and reading blogs. It’s been so much fun. The books are old. No one is having Game of Thrones type sex or violence. They are ordinary life books. I love them!

First, thank you to Scott at Furrowed Middlebrow blog for putting this together. (Sorry I somehow missed it when I’ve been on your wonderful blog!) Now that I see your lists, I’ll grade myself on them all eventually.

Second, thank you to blogger Mrs K Investigates for bringing this challenge to my attention. And, for typing the list–I hope it is ok to copy/paste? Please?

Below is my “progress” to date. Click on the linked title of a book I’ve read to read my review.  I’ll check in next December to see what I may have added. I think I will be throwing a few into Classic Club Spins this year.

The SYLLABUS

Linked titles lead to my reviews, if available. If not, to Amazon from whom I make nothing.

1) MARGHANITA LASKI, The Village (1952)

2) SYLVIA TOWNSEND WARNER, Lolly Willowes (1926)

3) BARBARA PYM, Excellent Women (1952)

4) E. M. DELAFIELD, Diary of a Provincial Lady (1930)

5) F. M. MAYOR, The Rector’s Daughter (1924)

6) ELIZABETH TAYLOR, A Game of Hide and Seek (1951)

7) D. E. STEVENSON, Miss Buncle’s Book (1934)

8) ELIZABETH BOWEN, The Heat of the Day (1948)

9) E. H. YOUNG, Miss Mole (1930)

10) DODIE SMITH, I Capture the Castle (1948)

11) DOROTHY L. SAYERS, Gaudy Night (1935)

12) MARGARET KENNEDY, The Feast (1950)

13) PAMELA FRANKAU, A Wreath for the Enemy (1954)

14) RUMER GODDEN, China Court (1960)

15) MOLLIE PANTER-DOWNES, One Fine Day (1947)

16) JOSEPHINE TEY, Miss Pym Disposes (1946)

17) LETTICE COOPER, The New House (1936)

18) NANCY MITFORD, The Pursuit of Love (1945)

19) ELIZABETH VON ARNIM, The Enchanted April (1922) I’ve been reading this on & off for more than a year–review eventually

20) WINIFRED WATSON, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (1938)

21) ANNA BUCHAN (as O. Douglas), The Proper Place (1926)

22) AGATHA CHRISTIE, The Hollow (1946) I’m trying to read ALL of Agatha so….

23) EVADNE PRICE (as Helen Zenna Smith), Not So Quiet… (1930, aka Stepdaughters of War)

24) JAN STRUTHER, Mrs Miniver (1939)

25) ELIZABETH ELIOT, Alice (1950)

26) ENID BAGNOLD, The Squire (1938)

27) ANGELA THIRKELL, Cheerfulness Breaks In (1940)

28) MARY CHOLMONDELEY, Red Pottage (1899)

29) STELLA GIBBONS, Cold Comfort Farm (1932)

30) WINIFRED HOLTBY, South Riding (1936)

31) DOROTHY WHIPPLE, Someone at a Distance (1953)

32) ROSE MACAULAY, The Towers of Trebizond (1956)

33) IVY COMPTON-BURNETT, A House and Its Head (1935)

34) NOEL STREATFEILD, The Winter Is Past (1940)

35) ANTONIA WHITE, Frost in May (1933)

36) BARBARA COMYNS, Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead (1955)

37) CICELY HAMILTON, William—An Englishman (1919)  I own this one.

38) VITA SACKVILLE-WEST, All Passion Spent (1931)

39) RUBY FERGUSON, Lady Rose and Mrs Memmary (1937)

40) MARGERY SHARP, The Nutmeg Tree (1937)

41) DIANA TUTTON, Guard Your Daughters (1953)

42) A. M. CHAMPNEYS, Miss Tiverton Goes Out (1925)

43) NGAIO MARSH, Surfeit of Lampreys (1940, aka Death of a Peer)

44) ROSAMOND LEHMANN, Invitation to the Waltz (1932)

45) EDITH NESBIT, The Lark (1922)

46) KATE O’BRIEN, The Land of Spices (1941)

47) SYBILLE BEDFORD, A Favourite of the Gods (1963)

48) NORAH LOFTS, The Town House (1959)

49) WINIFRED PECK, Bewildering Cares (1940)

50) MARGERY ALLINGHAM, The Tiger in the Smoke (1952)

51) MARY RENAULT, The Friendly Young Ladies (1943)

52) DAPHNE DU MAURIER, Rebecca (1938)

53) EDITH OLIVIER, The Love-Child (1927)

54) MURIEL SPARK, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961)

55) BRYHER, Beowulf (1956)

56) JANE & MARY FINDLATER, Crossriggs (1908)

57) REBECCA WEST, The Return of the Soldier (1918)

58) DORA SAINT (as Miss Read), Thrush Green (1959)

59) JOSEPHINE ELDER, The Encircled Heart (1951)

60) SHEILA KAYE-SMITH, Joanna Godden (1921)

61) F. TENNYSON JESSE, The Lacquer Lady (1929)

62) OLIVIA MANNING, The Great Fortune (1960)

63) SUSAN TWEEDSMUIR, Cousin Harriet (1957)

64) JEAN RHYS, Wide Sargasso Sea (1966)

65) RICHMAL CROMPTON, Family Roundabout (1948)

66) DAISY ASHFORD, The Young Visiters (1919)

67) ANN BRIDGE, Peking Picnic (1932)

68) ADA LEVERSON, Love’s Shadow (1908)

69) GEORGETTE HEYER, The Grand Sophy (1950)

70) RACHEL FERGUSON, Evenfield (1942)

71) STELLA BENSON, Living Alone (1919)

72) ROSE ALLATINI (as A. T. Fitzroy), Despised and Rejected (1918)

73) AMBER REEVES, A Lady and Her Husband (1914)

74) JANE DUNCAN, My Friend Muriel (1959)

75) MARY BELL, Summer’s Day (1951)

76) NAOMI MITCHISON, The Bull Calves (1947)

77) GLADYS MITCHELL, When Last I Died (1941)

78) SUSAN ERTZ, Madame Claire (1923)

79) JOANNA CANNAN, Princes in the Land (1938)  I own this

80) G. B. STERN, The Matriarch (1924, aka Tents of Israel)

81) DOROTHY EVELYN SMITH, Miss Plum and Miss Penny (1959)

82) BETTY MILLER, On the Side of the Angels (1945)

83) MONICA DICKENS, Mariana (1940)  I own this–possible for the 1940 Club in April

84) LEONORA CARRINGTON, The Hearing Trumpet (1974)

85) STORM JAMESON, Company Parade (1934)

86) ELIZABETH CADELL, The Lark Shall Sing (1955)

87) E. ARNOT ROBERTSON, Ordinary Families (1933)

88) HELEN ASHTON, Bricks and Mortar (1932)

89) ELIZABETH GOUDGE, The Bird in the Tree (1940)

90) RADCLYFFE HALL, The Well of Loneliness (1928)

91) ELIZABETH JENKINS, The Tortoise and the Hare (1954)

92) NORAH HOULT, There Were No Windows (1944)

93) MARY STEWART, Nine Coaches Waiting (1958)

94) MOLLY KEANE (as M. J. Farrell), Full House (1935)

95) MARY WEBB, Precious Bane (1924)

96) CLEMENCE DANE, Regiment of Women (1917)

97) VIOLET TREFUSIS, Hunt the Slipper (1937)

98) RUTH ADAM, I’m Not Complaining (1938)

99) CELIA BUCKMASTER, Village Story (1951)

100) ELINOR MORDAUNT, The Family (1915)

Are you working on this challenge? Leave me a comment or a link to your post.

Review: Spring Magic by D.E. Stevenson

My Interest

I’m still going on with some seasonal reading. This one, with “Spring” in the title fit the bill nicely. Add to it that it is yet another Dean Street Press/Furrowed Middle Brow, title and you have my interested zeroed in.

The Story

Frances Field has led a life almost unimaginable today. Raised in the home of her aunt and uncle in London, she was taught exclusively at home by a governess and had almost no contact with anyone outside her household. She became the household drudge cum servant–not much of a life. Now in her mid-20s, Frances has never “lived.” When the family doctor mentions a holiday and the Blitz sends her aunt and uncle scurrying to the relative safety the country home of other relatives, Frances remembering a lovely picture, decides to visit Cairn in Scotland for a holiday. This is where an blurb writer would insert, “the rest, as they say, is history….”

For in Cairn an Army regiment has just arrived for training. The quiet hotel where Frances is staying is invaded by a group of Army wives who prefer to follow their husbands around the country rather than sit home waiting for the posting to be over. Among these are the wife of an officer and her brother who serves in the same regiment. Another wife, besotted with her husband and desiring to have him all to herself for once takes a house lacking in what those in the UK today call “mod cons” (a phrase not used in the US)—including a bathroom. Nonetheless, she is thrilled with the place which Frances has found for her.

Frances begins to live, to decide things for herself, to come into her own at last.

My Thoughts

This may be my very favorite Dean Street Press/Furrowed Middle Brow book! I adored this story. Frances’ life takes turns unimaginable the year before the War and all are for the good. There is nothing saccharine or precious here, just believable everyday life. That is what makes these books such a joy to read. I would love to learn there is a sequel, but I doubt there is.

My Verdict

4.0

Spring Magic by D.E. Stevenson

Review: A Winter Away by Elizabeth Fair

My Interest

By now you probably don’t want to hear the phrases “Dean Street Press” or :Furrowed Middlebrow” again, but I must use them! These books are soothing, calm, and nice. Nothing really bad happens. In fact, nothing much really happens–they are stories of very normal, everyday life. I love that. In addition, the title suggested it would be perfect for seasonal reading.

The Story

“Oh I don’t believe in fiddle-faddilling.”

“If he’d been brought up by mad Methodists like my grandfather you’d expect him to gad about, instead of settling down in a library.”

“Relatives were necessary, without them he wouldn’t be head of a family, but they were better kept at a distance.”

“I used to believe in rescuing people … but I’ve come to the conclusions it’s generally a mistake. Too often one only unsettles them; and they suffer.”

The once fine manor house, Glaine, is now a bit run down as are many such in post WWII Britain. “Old M,” the untitled Lord of the Manor, is in need of secretary. His staff is down to Hat and Mrs. Hat–“foreigners”! The last secretary didn’t make the cut.

Meanwhile the residents of Combe Cottage on his estate have unexpectedly provided a solution.  Young Maud has come to stay with her (parents’ age) Cousin Alice and her cousin’s “companion,” Miss Conway, aka “Con.” Maud is escaping her step-mother and trying country life. Now it’s discovered that she fits the bill for Old M’s new secretary perfectly. She’s also just the thing to catch the eye of his nephew, Charles, and son, Oliver!

Not far away is a young woman known as “Ensie” who is martyr to her widowed father’s beck-and-call, and who makes a home for him in “Pixie Cottage.” Her father being a clergyman, she is just the thing to catch the eye of young curate, Don.

But why is Old M so cheap? Why is he so grumbly about his relatives? What’s in store for the former nursery wing at Glaine? Maud is privy to much of Old M’s business, but does she read him right?

My Thoughts

This was a wonderful book into which to escape! The troubles include how to have something but eggs for once and how to escape Cousin Alice’s “companion” who is terribly jealous of the young, vibrant Maud.

Today we might want to read more into Cousin Alice and Con’s relationship–it would certainly explain her jealousy, wouldn’t it? But don’t jump to conclusions. Nice women rarely lived alone even in the 1950s–especially in small towns anywhere in the world. And there’s a tiny secret in the story relating to Con. Plus, why not think the best of two people who call the same dog by two totally different names!

Once again, Dean Street’s Furrowed Middlebrow has republished a delightful little book.

My Verdict

3.5 Stars

Author Elizabeth Fair

Click for Photo Source

You can read all about author Elizabeth Fair’s books HERE.

Top Ten Tuesday: New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2021

I’m sure by now even its fans are tired of me going on and on about how great Dean Street Press’ Furrowed Middlebrow series is, but honestly? It’s that good. That is where I discovered the following authors: (And, no they do not pay me anything!)

My reviews are linked at the end of the post.

My lazy attention span and my need for light entertainment to take my mind off unemployment led me to some fun new women’s fiction writers

And, a few others cropped up this year as well.

My Reviews

Dear Hugo by Molly Clavering

A Chelsea Concerto by Frances Faviell

Miss Plum and Miss Penny  by Dorothy Evelyn Smith

The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer

Flora’s Traveling Christmas Shop by Rebecca Raisin

The Cornish Midwife by Jo Bartlett

We’ll Have a Wonderful Cornish Christmas by C.P. Ward

A Mackenzie Yuletide by Jennifer Ashley

The Mitford Vanishing by Jessica Fellowes

The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard

Check out the rules at That Artsy Reader Girl and join in next week!

Review: Miss Plum and Miss Penny by Dorothy Evelyn Smith

My Interest

What could be nice when needing an audio then to find a Dean Street Press’s Furrowed Middlebrow series title available at my library? Nothing, that’s what! I’ve loved each book in this series that I’ve read. This one, if I remember correctly, is the first I’ve found on audio–the rest I’ve bought for Kindle.

The Story

Alison Penny awakes on her 40th birthday not realizing how much her life is about to be disturbed. She has a faithful servant–Ada, a nice, cozy home, a nice, cozy routine of Church, the Women’s Institute, bridge and what-not and the attention of two potential suitors. Stanley, a rather fussy retired bank manager, and Hubert, the local vicar who is a widower with a son, Ronny, who is generally off at his public [private boarding] school. But, what Alison likes best on her birthday is the annual letter from her first love, George.

Soon though, all of this coziness is shattered when Alison “rescues” [stops] a young woman from drowning herself in the local duck pond. Feeling obligated after getting involved, Alison brings the young woman home to recuperate. Little does she realize that this will upset the balance of her life as well as turn the heads of her suitors.

But wait! There’s more! Low and behold she has another visitor (no spoilers). Life then goes into a sort of social hyperventilation aided by the skating pond being frozen solid and an ice skating frenzy seizing the village! What will Miss Penny do? And, what about Miss Plum–the young woman who now seems to never plan to leave? But, oh, dear, Thursday is the WI. (You’ll need to read the book to understand this line). A glass of port, please.

My Thoughts

Aside from gagging at the thought of canned fruit swimming in Carnation evaporated milk (yuck!), I loved this story. Stanley and Hubert, Ronnie’s wonderful take on things, Ada’s forthright opinions (and the picture she painted of a certain corset–no spoilers), Alison wondering why she stepped out of her niche–it was simply wonderful.

Like Miss Penny, I do wonder why it is the Miss Plums of the world–the vapid, helpless little creatures (or the total #itch-women) who get the men following them like they were the Pied Piper. What’s the attraction? Why is a woman who can take care of herself so unattractive to men? Why are such women always called “threatening.” Why do men feel such women do not “need” them? Age old dilemma.

We reach an age–don’t we? An age at which dating is absurd. Except relationships are essential. Life is routine and routine is comforting–until it is stifling. We need the Miss Plums to happen, we need the Ronnies around for the holiday. We need our trees shaken for our own good. This book does that beautifully.

My Verdict

4 stars

Miss Plum and Miss Penny by Dorothy Evelyn Smith is $2.99 for Kindle

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Winter 2022 To-read List

So much is up in the air for me about 2022, that I’m not sure I can even do this post. I could have a job again, or maybe not. I may have to move–or not. Who knows? Here are ten books coming out in 2022 that interest me–how’s that?

Others

I love Persephone Books of Bath (Formerly London). The reprint books of great merit that have fallen out of print. One of their newest reprints is The Rector’s Daughter by F.M. Mayor. I hope to get it soon.

I have also been LOVING the books I’ve read from Dean Street Press’ collection of Classic Women’s Fiction. I KNOW I will be reading more of their books in 2022.  A Winter Away is not their newest release, but it is a likely one for me. I’m considering continuing to read seasonally–at lease some titles, so it fits in well, plus I like the sound of it. And, it’s only $2.99 for Kindle.

Check out the rules at That Artsy Reader Girl and join in next week!

 

Review: A Chelsea Concerto by Frances Faviell

My Interest

I had intended this memoir as my nonfiction work for Novellas in November, as well as for Nonfiction November. But, life got in the way and I missed the deadline. At 254 pages it was just a touch too long for #NovNov, but it still read like a Novella so that’s that. Plus, first hand account of the Blitz are always fascinating and this one was well worth the extra pages.

The Story

“The Blitz was providing something besides bombs. It was making people talk to one another.” (p. 102)

Olivia Faviell Lucas, the real name of author Francis Faviell, traveled the world between the wars. At the time of this memoir, she was about to be married to Richard Parker, a Civil Servant. She lived in Chelsea right by the Royal Hospital, with her little dachshund, Vicki, and earned her living as a painter having trained at the Slade School. The story begin as the war is starting. Frances is a volunteer in the first aid and fire services. Her work takes her into the inferno of dropping incendiaries and other types of bombs in the beginning of the war and the time now known as the Blitz.

In spite of the war, hers is a nice life lived in pleasant surroundings–a home that we would today say was “curated,” that is filled with treasures from her travels including the green glass cat on the cover of the book. His story is told in the beginning of the book. We meet her friends, neighbors, housekeeper, and other residents of her lovely Chelsea neighborhood.

Her work with the wounded and the dead is often very grisly. It is the sort of things we often say “I couldn’t do that” because war has never forced us to try. Due to her language ability, she is called upon to help with a nearby community of Belgian refugees.

The war comes home to Frances while she is expecting her first child–she briefly loses her nerve, then steels herself and gets on with helping the wounded. Like the Queen Mother famously said after Buckingham Palace was bombed, she could look the East end “in the face” so too can Frances look that way at her Belgian refugees.

My Thoughts

“The Blitz was doing something else–it was cotninuing the slow difficult process already begun before the war of breaking down class barriers.” (p. 102)

Being political, my first thought was just WHO was the friend that The Rt Hon Leslie Hore Belisha always going to visit in Chelsea–enabling Frances to have a chat with her friend, a volunteer, who was his driver? lol.

More to the point, I wondered how people kept going. Today would we (Americans) ever agree to rationing? To everyone obeying a neighbor appointed as an air raid or fire warden? Please–we can’t even agree on getting a shot today. We’d fight over it till the end. And, people just kept going. Yes, some had what were then called “nervous breakdowns,” and smoking and drinking were rife, but people kept going. Send our children away? I cannot imagine doing that. I just cannot. Euthanize our pets (as many had to do)? Brutal–yet so many at that time did so for the good of all.

There are so many brave moments in this story it is hard to single out even one. The Belgian woman who is castigated for never going to visit her newborn baby is among the most vivid aside from some of the violence from the bombs (too horrific to discuss). Unmarried, not sure she’ll ever see the father again, in a strange country, very, very ill and yet she is harassed by neighbors and do-gooders to get out of her sickbed and go to the countryside to see her evacuated newborn who wouldn’t know her from Adam. That was truly harsh. So too was the clean, tidy, clergyman who told a woman who’d just lost her husband in violent circumstances to accept it as God’s will and move on. He wasn’t really wrong–she would have to accept it and move on at some point, but his timing was callus even for a world war. And, I was with Frances checking out those manicured hands that had never even dug to plant a vegetable, let alone dug up a human or their remains. Judgy? Yep–war is hell.

I’m off my reviewing game, so I’m not really making this sound anywhere near as interesting and as readable as it was. But it’s another of the rare books to which I’ve given a 4.5 rating. Several this year which is unusual. Read it. You won’t be sorry. Like everything coming from Dean Street Press, it is worth it.

My Verdict

4.5

Apparently this memoir is mentioned in this documentary.