by D. E. Stevenson

“Don’t be frightened of life, it’s good. Make friends with life…”

I swear, every time I read a D. E. Stevenson novel I declare it’s the best one yet. And this one is no exception. This was an Audible so I don’t have all of the facts or details at my fingertips and some things are a little fuzzy. It is another journey of a young city girl who is too shy, too easily dominated, and too insecure who stiffens her spine enough to live a normal happy life in the Scottish countryside.

We follow Tonia (our heroine) and her beautiful, spirited, and charming sister Lou through their childhood. Lou is everything Tonia is not, and as a result, Lou protects and does everything she can to make Tonia’s life as stress-free as possible. In addition to her diffident personality, Tonia has weak hands so is always dropping things and appears awkward and clumsy. In addition, when things get too much for her, she sometimes goes into a kind of trance, which Tonia calls her “listening valley”. On the outside, when she does this in front of people, it looks like she is not quite all there mentally (to put it kindly). But the two sisters love each other very much. Their well-off, unshakeably respectable, but uncaring parents ignore the girls and particularly belittle Tonia constantly. They are just terrible parents (which DES writes so well). The mother particularly never lets an opportunity go by to let them know what a disappointment they are. It’s hateful, especially since they are totally oblivious to the fact that they are the ones at fault for their odd ways. Lou escapes first when she shockingly elopes while still a teenager. Luckily she picks a good guy from a good if rather nonconformist family (his mother was divorced-horrors) and they are happily married. Unfortunately, this leaves poor Tonia at the mercy of her mother with no support, especially after her beloved Nanny is laid off. Fortunately, she soon catches the eye of a colleague of her father and despite the 40-year age difference, they marry. Marriage to Robert proves to be Tonia’s salvation. Wealthy and brilliant, he sees through to Tonia’s beautiful soul (I cringe when I write that, but it is perfectly true) and loves her devotedly. He dedicates himself to her development and to making her happy. They are married for about 5 years, before Robert, who is a great character, dies from stress and overwork as a vital contributor to the war effort in London.

Tonia is alone again, but thanks to Robert, she is a different person and is well able to handle herself, while still remaining kind, gentle, and rather unworldly. She also is now very very wealthy. She escapes London, her dominating sister-in-law, and her mean and shallow daughter who only want to take advantage of her wealth. Because of an old act of generosity to her old Nanny, she has inherited a country “cottage” in Ryddleton, a popular setting for several of Stevenson’s novels. And there, summarizing half the book in one sentence, she makes friends and finds love with an old childhood schoolmate who is now a dashing R.A.F. squadron leader. And just to add a touch of intrigue, he is engaged to a two-faced French baggage who turns out to be spying for “Gerry.”

Stevenson has a gift for drawing you into her world and making every ripple in her characters’ rather calm lives totally engrossing. She makes me care about everything that happens no matter how trivial. She often creates situations that could lead to dramatic juicy scenes, but unfortunately, she tends to avoid big drama and confrontation, though some do sometimes sneak through. Many scenes do stand out in this book, but I will mention only a few.

Robert questioning Tonia on what the doctors had said about her hands, and what treatments they had recommended. He is disturbed to find out that her parents had never bothered to look into what was wrong. Too self-involved. Too busy with their own lives and concerns. It is then that Robert realizes he has to marry Tonia, get her away, and start repairing the damage.

Robert’s conversation with Lou when he and his new bride travel to visit her and her husband in India. Lou, though seeing how happy Tonia now is, can’t help but be a little suspicious and standoffish with Robert. She gets him alone to probe his motivations but the tables are turned. He is obliged to explain that he married Tonia not only because he loves her, but to undo the harm that she, Lou, did to her. Lou is flabbergasted. Robert explains that her over-protectiveness and then her abandonment was almost Tonia’s undoing. Lou thinks about it, and replies, “What a beast I am!” I love that she got it.

Tonia’s night in a London bomb shelter where she helps the doctor who becomes a family friend, and makes tea for everyone with the help of a young boy. We are anxious and on edge worrying about how Robert is faring with the bombs raining down all night. But Tonia remains strong throughout.

I immediately loved Bay, a mischievous and carefree school friend who teasingly calls Tonia “butterfingers.” Tonia senses he does not mean it unkindly but in an affectionate way. He disappears from the book for a stretch when he is expelled after being framed for pulling a particularly nasty prank on the whole school. It turns out that the guilty party is Nita, who will turn out to be Tonia’s unlikable and avaricious niece-in-law. Tonia is the only one in the school who believes that he is innocent and tells him so. It is no surprise (but greatly hoped for) when Bay comes back into her life as an adult, never having forgotten her insight and faith in him.

And finally, Nita showing up without warning in Ryddleton to get her to come back to London to ‘share expenses” with her and her mother (Even though Tonia has virtually given the two her London house to live in rent-free). She is shortly followed by one of her trustees wondering why she hasn’t used any of the money that her late husband left her. Nita is horrid as usual, but the trustee proves to be savvy, understanding, and very approving of Tonia’s choices and friends.

As always with D.E.S’s novels written and set during WWII, there is a certain poignancy and intense immediacy about them. They must be read in the context of their times. We should try to forgive the unconscious classism, where the “lower orders” are always happy to serve “their betters.” But we should also respect that when she wrote about rationing and deprivation, the bombing, and getting to know the young American pilots as well as the British ones, she didn’t know, despite the bravery and optimism, what the future outcome of the war would be. The book has a “happy ending” but it is a shaky one. Yes, Tonia marries her squadron leader, but is another tragedy looming in her future? As the readers of 1944 closed the book, I’m sure they thought, “Well, I hope they will be OK.”