Adventures in reading, running and working from home

A sneaky fifth book for my Dean Street December challenge: this is the last Elizabeth Fair I had left from the set sent to me back in the very early days of the publisher! All month, we’ve been reading books published by Dean Street Press, the indie publisher, and this is another book from the marvellous Furrowed Middlebrow imprint. Please see this post for all the detail and the Main post for all the reviews so far. I’ll be publishing a short round-up post on 1 January with a summary of how we’ve done.

Elizabeth Fair – “Bramton Wick”

(21 February 2017, from the publisher)

Unlike sisters in fiction, they were not in the habit of confiding to one another the romantic secrets of their young heats. Laura had had few such secrets to confide, and she had known instinctively that Gillian woud not lend a sympathetic ear to the account of her deep attachment, which had lasted nearly six months, to a young man staying at the Vicarage for Latin coaching, or the even more unprofitable affection she hd expended on film stars, the photograph of a school friend’s brother, and the heroes of books.

In Fair’s first novel, published originally in 1952 and very much of its post war(s) time, we initially spend some time wandering around the titular village and meeting its inhabitants and their houses (always very important to Fair).

The cast of characters does fit in with the classic mid-century village novel: the acerbic retired major and his pliable wife, the lady of the manor and her cossetted son, the faded widow and her two daughters, the impoverished sisters mulling over forgotten glories, the impoverished himself landlord, the tweedy women and their dogs, and the incomer with the Wrong Clothes. But it has that zesty undertone I like in Fair, comenting on itself, especially on how the central, it turns out, sisters are not like sisters in fiction.

Some eligible suitors appear for the sisters one of whom was a land girl in the war and one of whom is a young widow, including two rather feeble chaps who did OK in the war but are now flitting from job to job, and there are some delicious confusions as well as set-pieces and the odd spectacular scene. A very pleasant environment in which to spend the last days of the year, knowing it will all come out OK in the end.

This was my Book 5 for Dean Street December.

My fourth book for my Dean Street December challenge and the last one in my photo above, although I do have some DSP-shaped parcels in my Christmas pile and I have some lurking on the Kindle, too, so we’ll see … We’re reading books published by Dean Street Press, the indie publisher devoted to finding and republishing good fiction and non-fiction. This is another book from the marvellous Furrowed Middlebrow imprint. Please see this post for all the detail and the Main post for all the reviews so far. Emma bought me this one for Christmas 2022 and I’ve only read two of the eight books I received then (however, watch this space for a new project for 2024 that will catch me up nicely!).

Susan Scarlett – “Sally-Ann”

(25 December 2022, from Emma)

Ann put on her coat.

‘Poor Mum. It’s a shame you’ve never had anything.’

‘What!’ Alice gave her a quick hug. ‘Silly girl. I’ve had everything. A good husband. Nice home and both of you. I wouldn’t change places with anybody. Not even Queen Elizabeth!’

Ann laughed. ‘I can see you at Buckingham Palace. Before you’d been in the place two minutes you’d be down in the kitchen interfering with the cooking. Then upstairs interfering with the Princesses’ lessons.’ (p. 143)

Over a year and it still gives me a funny jolt when the late Queen crops up, as she so often does in FM books. Here, of course, in the form of one of the Princesses. Anyway, this is another super fairy tale where a deserving but cash-strapped family girl gets her lovely man and a kind future. In this one, unlike “Babbacombe’s“, the family has gone down in the world: our heroine’s father, who lacked the money to train as a doctor (as Ann then did, too), became a chemist and ran his own shop until an estate was built with its own shops and he lost all his business. Now they take in a range of lodgers (giving the author a nice boarding house setting to play with) and Ann goes out to work as a beautician.

The fairy tale element comes when she has to go and do the make-up of a young heiress and then becomes a stand-in bridesmaid, the Sally of the joined-up-name title. She meets Sir Timothy and holds up the pretence for a while, then when she’s found out by the (mild and somewhat unfortunate) villain of the book, things might go smoothly but for that familiar figure, the (here an uncle) who holds Sir Timothy’s fortunes in his businesslike hands. But of course love cares not for money and you know all will end happily.

Like in “Babbacombe’s”, Ann has a poorly younger brother and there are touching scenes as Timothy shows his mettle by being lovely with him. There’s an unusual touch when Ann and Timothy come across a drowning; I think this is there to show Ann’s hardiness and/or that one must grasp the nettle, but it was an odd element. Dodie Smith delightfully appears as a celebrity spotted in a posh restaurant; there are massive coincidences but, as I said: fairy tale. But also, being Streatfeild, there’s a strong moral compass and a range of entertaining and well-drawn characters, especially at the beautician’s. Another lovely read!

This was my Book 4 for Dean Street December (and the challenge’s Book 40-something!).

Another one read for my Dean Street December challenge and I’m part-way through my second Susan Scarlett, too (though I think I have an Elizabeth Fair lurking on the Kindle so I might not be done yet!). We’re reading books published by Dean Street Press, the indie publisher devoted to finding and republishing good fiction and non-fiction. This is another book from their wonderful Furrowed Middlebrow imprint. Please see this post for all the detail and the Main post for all the reviews so far. Emma bought me this one for my birthday in 2022 so now I’ve read and reviewed 9 out of the 14 books I received then!

D. E. Stevenson – “The Tall Stranger”

(21 January 2022, from Emma)

‘Did you really – break his arm?’ whispered Barbie.

‘Yes, really. Of course I didn’t MEAN to,’ explained Nell. I was a bit excited – the creature had grabbed my bag – so I caught hold of his arm and held it – you know the way – and he struggled …’ (p. 14)

Opening in a London pea-souper which sees Nell and her doctor boss trying to get to hospital to visit Nell’s best friend and flatmate, I felt a bit confused by this book at first. Then we get to Barbie, who’s had a mystery virus and is very run down, she’s sent home to the Cotswolds and off we go, with Nell’s story happening very much off-stage. Barbie has been tied to Edward since childhood – they’re not related (he’s her aunt’s step-son – got that?) and now he has Expectations, but is he all he makes himself out to be? Meanwhile, Barbie meets a tall, unknown chap at a wedding and that seems to get off on the wrong foot but we know he’ll reappear.

The best bits, however, are Barbie and Nell’s strong friendship (turns out they did ju-jitsu with a chap from downstairs for a bit and do know how to break an arm) and the details of Barbie’s job as an interior designer. She’s soon up a ladder in a Scottish castle where everyone is self-assured and confident but she can hold her own, and her skill and enjoyment of her job are such (and this book is a later one, published in 1957) that she will end up with a husband AND a job, for once.

There is a portrayal of a man living with a learning disability that’s a bit tricky to read nowadays (but not as bad as it could have been), and one uncomfortable scene about how good a thing colonialism was (mind you, I was instructed on the same by a young man newly over in the Midlands from India, so you need to experience these opinions to make your judgement) and it’s interesting that the expounder of the theory says that it’s fashionable to criticise Empire – in 1956 or thereabouts.

A good page-turner and two fun heroines, plus the D. E. Stevenson autobiographical sketch makes an appearance at the end and it’s always nice to see that again.

This was my Book 3 for Dean Street December (and the challenge’s Book 39, I think).