Old-Fashioned

Celia’s House

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By D. E. Stevenson

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Of all of the D.E. Stevensons I have read, this one is right up there. I almost didn’t choose this book to listen to. I usually wait 4 or 5 months between Stevensons and I had just read one last month. But I knew I didn’t want to read another contemporary romantic comedy because the last one I read was so good, nothing else could measure up. I was still on hold for the scary book of my choice at the library and I had just read a domestic thriller and a Georgette Heyer. And some books I just like to read the words, not listen to them.

This one is a little different from most Stevensons because it moves through the years and the stories of various members of the Dunne family. We start in 1905 with Celia Dunne, in her 90s, who has decided not to bequeath her home and estate to the childless (and insufferable) son of her oldest brother who has every expectation of inheriting. Instead, she has settled on a more distant connection, her great nephew, Humphrey, who is a struggling Lieutenant Commander in the Navy with a young and growing family. She leaves her estate to the astounded and confused Humphrey on the condition that Dunnian will eventually go, not to his oldest son, Mark, but, extraordinarily, to a daughter, yet to be born, whom he will name Celia.

Humphrey is a good and loving father although we are told he does not have a sense of humor. His wife Alice is beautiful and sweet but is not too bright (as we see evidence of throughout their story.) We soon realize that the main focus of the story will be their oldest son Mark whom we first meet when he is 5 1/2. We spend a good deal of time with the growing family. Humphrey and Alice add a son, Billy and, sure enough, a daughter, Celia, to their brood. They also take on the care of a cousin, Deb, who comes to live with them when her disinterested mother remarries and moves to India. Unlike her cousins, she is plain and shy. As the children grow to adulthood the Dunne’s story starts to mirror Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park. Deb is devoted to Mark, and Mark is in love with a scheming and manipulative neighbor. Eventually Deb, who eventually blossoms, is pursued by her brother, a bit of a rake. Other parallels emerge with other members of the family. But curiously, we see little of the youngest daughter, Celia, except for a few anecdotes that show that she is an unusual child: lovable, spirited, and with a mind of her own. Rather like her namesake, as a matter of a fact. Sprinkled throughout are some mysterious coincidences and ghostly sightings which hint of a guiding hand from beyond. After Deb and Mark’s fate is settled, we skip ahead to 1932, where we get a another peek at Celia, in her early 20s. She is still uninterested in marriage. She is waiting. When she was 13, we had learned that she didn’t care to get married unless it was to someone “quite different”: Someone like Lochinvar “out of the west.” Quickly, we skip ahead 10 years to 1942. Mark and Billy are doing their bit in the war, while still unattached Celia and newly pregnant Deb are keeping the home fires burning with retired Admiral Humphrey, now in his 70s. There is only one chapter to go. How Celia finally meets “the one” in that last chapter moved me to tears.

I had read the follow up to this one, The Listening Valley before Celia’s House, and that was probably a good thing. Had I read it first, I would have been so anxious to learn more about what became of Celia and Dunnian, that I wouldn’t have been able to concentrate on the first half of our heroine, Tonia’s, story. She does not land in Ryddelton, where Dunnian house is located, until midway through the book. In The Listening Valley, we also are filled in more about the original Celia’s younger years and the ties that bind her to her young namesake’s love story. To anyone interested in trying D.E. Stevenson, you couldn’t do better than Celia’s House, followed by The Listening Valley.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

The Tall Stranger

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By D.E. Stevenson

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**Spoilers**

This was a delight from beginning to end. In addition, the narrator, Candida Gubbins, was terrific. I enjoy D.E. Stevenson’s books greatly but often with reservations. Sometimes her abrupt endings are a little too abrupt leaving loose ends untied. She often avoids drama like it is something to be ashamed of, so that the most interesting and looked for scenes happen off stage. Her heroines are too often too obtuse, passive, or too averse to pursuing their own happiness or doing what needs to be done for their own good. Sometimes to the point that they cause others to suffer along with them (until it all comes right in the end, of course.) Not so with this one!

Our heroine, Barbie France, has been very ill and has been hospitalized, but is getting worse, not better. Her good friend and roommate, Nell, decides that the atmosphere in London, and lack of peace in the hospital is to blame for her friend’s depression, and maneuvers matters with the help of her doctor/boss to get her to Barbie’s loving aunt at her country home, Underwoods, where she can recover. It does the trick, and soon Barbie is fully recovered under the loving care of her Aunt Amelie and her companion, Penney. Nell has a story too, and there is a secondary romance.
Barbie’s London career as an Interior Decorator (she’s awesome. She loves her job and is great at it) is on hold. While at Underwoods, she attends the wedding of a childhood playmate, and meets a tall stranger at the reception. They are immediately drawn to each other and Barbie invites him to tea the next day. Strangely, he stands her up, and Barbie is very angry and wonders why she feels so upset by such a relatively unimportant snub by someone she hardly knows. Meanwhile, Edward Steyne, Aunt Amalie’s beloved stepson, and her childhood friend appears on the scene. Edward is a charmer and a gadabout. Aunt Amalie seems relieved that he appears to finally be settling down to a respectable job in the city. It’s not long before Edward proposes marriage and Barbie accepts. Partly because she and Edward have always been fond of each other, partly because she thinks it would make Aunt Amalie happy, and partly because Aunt Amalie has told her that her late husband was very insistent that Barbie inherit Underwoods upon her death, not his own son, Edward, and she feels bad about that. Also, why did he want his beloved Underwoods in his nieces hands rather than his own son?

The reader has already picked up on some clues as to Edward’s true character and on the way back to London, Edward unintentionally reveals his true self to Barbie. To my amazement, having been disappointed too often in the past with Stevenson’s heroines, Barbie acts decisively and doesn’t back down. I was thrilled.

We spend some time back in London where we meet up with Nell again, get to know a bedraggled little 8 year old and her floozy mother, and see Barbie settling back into her career in London. It will not be a surprise to anyone even vaguely familiar with D.E. Stevenson’s novels that Barbie is sent to a Scottish castle on a decorating job. It will also not be a surprise that the Wedding Guy just happens to be visiting his sister, Barbie’s client, there. Yes he is her destiny. Henry is just as nice and upstanding as he was at the Wedding, and when he explains what happened to cause him to ghost her, Barbie is even more disgusted with Edward. I had some concerns about Henry when he tried to rush her into a quick marriage. He started to seem as wheedling and manipulative as Edward was except he had a good heart and really loved her. But that impression was put to rest when he was happy for Barbie to continue her career even after marriage. Also, Barbie had already proven her strong-mindedness and steely character. It was no surprise that her common sense and caution prevailed.

It all comes together in a very satisfactory conclusion. The mistreated little London child even gets a happy ending and Edward’s true character is exposed to all who matter. Unfortunately, that includes Aunt Amalie and I was saddened by her sorrow and disappointment. **4 1/2 stars**

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

My Friend, The Professor

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by Lucilla Andrews

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‘Nurse, you are holding a hypodermic syringe, not brandishing a harpoon. And look what you’ve done to that needle! Possibly you might be able to use it as a crochet-hook ‒ you can certainly never use it again for an injection. Put it all away now and make a linseed poultice. You have just time to get one made before the test ends.’

I found this one on my Kindle while looking for another title. I have no idea why I originally downloaded it. Probably due to a long ago recommendation or maybe related to my flirtation with Betty Neels a while back. Published in 1960, it is a real nugget of social history and of the nursing profession the way it used to be. Contrary to many readers, the age gap between the two male and female leads (22 years) did not bother me. What did bother me was his constant cigarette smoking! He was a real fiend!

Frances Dorland is our heroine, a new student nurse, learning on the job. I guess you didn’t have to get a degree in Nursing back then, at least in England. Apparently you learned on the job while attending classes on the side while living at the hospital with your “set.” Most of the book is about her and her friends challenges navigating the political gauntlet of dealing with the Nurses (or Sisters) that outrank them. Which is everybody. Always obedient, eyes down, never explain or give excuses, or be anything less than subservient at all times. It was very eye-opening. Nursing back then appeared to be mostly cooking and cleaning and keeping their patients company.

She becomes best friends with a very rich debutante, Estelle Dexter, who has eschewed her former shallow life to do something substantial and meaningful and nursing is in her blood. Her other good friend is “The Professor” whom she meets by chance on the hospital grounds. He is a loyal and wise advisor whom she mostly communicates with via letters. Every so often, not very often, they meet in person. But nevertheless, despite his age and lack of sex appeal, it is not long at all before she begins to fall in love with him. I honestly didn’t blame her. I would have too. Later in the book, Frances becomes the target of gossip and hostility on the part of some of her peers and superiors and undeserved deference in others. This mystery fuels much of the latter part of the book. Frances thinks it is because of her close relationship with Estelle, her rich friend whose grandfather is a large benefactor of the hospital. It turns out that it is not that relationship that is the source of all the speculation and gossip.

I thought the romance was very sweet. I would have loved to see them as an established couple navigating their differences and dealing with the reactions of others in their circles. they had an interesting dynamic. There is a secondary romance between Estelle and a young doctor trainee as well, whom the professor thinks is interested in Frances and vice versa. And I liked Frances who was very down to earth and was just spirited and irreverent enough to mitigate some of the meekness that was required with her superiors . The book is told in First Person and I liked her breezy, humorous and forthright tone. Unfortunately, the book suffers from an excess of not very memorable characters who I had a difficult time keeping straight as Frances is transferred to different posts in the same hospital. Also there was way too much out of date and specialized terminology tossed around which even Google couldn’t help with, that were like little speed bumps on a road. And also some out of date British slang was mildly irritating. All of the young medical students persist in referring to Estelle’s wealth as her “cash” or “lolly” . As in “Why can’t you just forget her cash, and treat her like a human being?” I don’t know it just took me out of the story. Not really the book’s fault.

The author, Lucilla Andrews, was one of those unsung female heroines who had to step up to the plate when the going got rough and at a time where women were, in our more enlightened eyes, discounted and scorned unless in their prescribed traditional roles. She began nursing during WWII and married a doctor who turned out to be a drug addict. When her husband was institutionalized, she turned to writing to support herself and her little daughter. In 1952, she sold her first short story for 25 guineas, equivalent to a month’s pay as a staff nurse. From then on she became an author of “hospital fiction.” One of her 37 books was autobiographical, No Time for Romance, about her experiences nursing in London during the Blitz. The Booker Prize winning British Novelist, Ian McEwen, based part of his 2001 Novel Atonement ( the basis of the Academy Award Winning movie), on her “superb reportage”. Even though he duly credited her in the acknowledgements, in some circles he was accused of plagiarism. Ms. Andrews was amused when she learned of his indebtedness to her memoir. Her reaction? “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.” According to her Obituary, Lucilla Andrews was “strong-minded, considerate, kind and great fun. She made friends wherever she lived…. She was fond of both whisky and cigarettes…and was famed for her elegance and enthusiasm for hats.”

Rating: 3 out of 5.

His Official Fiancée

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By Berta Ruck

After listening to the dodderings and drivels and despairs of girls who aren’t cold, I’m rather thankful that I am. At least I can be fond enough of people in a sensible sort of way. I could be of Sydney. I suppose it will end in my getting him to marry me….But not yet. I haven’t even got his address!

If a girl were the least bit inclined to fall in love with Billy Waters—and I see now that some girls might be; though not, of course, any girl of my type, capable of this kind of frank friendship that puts anything else out of the question!—well, if she were, she’d find it much easier to complete the process here at Porth Cariad than anywhere else that I can imagine him. Some men—generally the nicest—are so much more themselves in the depths of the country. He is.

It is important to remember that this book was written and set in 1913, shortly before WWI. Otherwise the actions and feelings of our heroine make little sense. More than once, I wanted to box her ears. I didn’t get her passive aggressive resentment of her likable fake fiance. I didn’t understand her fits of umbrage that led her to sulk and goad him with constant microaggressions hidden behind a sweet and humble facade. Especially since she was otherwise such a likable and rather admirable girl. Monica is a formerly wealthy society girl, who due to her late father’s debts and her brother’s profligacy is now forced to work for a living. She calls her change of fortune “The Smash.” She is just one of a typing pool and known as a hard-worker but not all that good at her job, though popular enough. When the boss, William Waters, known by the girls as “Still Waters” due to his reserved and formal “fault-finding automaton” personality calls her in to his office, she (and everyone else) assumes she is going to be fired. Instead, he has quite the proposition to put in front of her. He needs a fiance for a year for an unspecified reason, and he offers Monica 500 pounds to put herself at his disposal and take on the purely business assignment. For a girl slaving away for 25 shillings a week this is quite the temptation. I looked it up and it is as someone scraping by on 125 pounds a week was offered almost 50,000 pounds. Even so, Monica plans to refuse because such a proposition is beneath her dignity and quite improper. But when her irresponsible brother calls her from South Africa and tells her he has gotten into hot water (again) and needs 100 pounds desperately, she agrees to Waters’ proposition.

The book is in first person and I found Monica’s tone to be quite modern: open, confiding, and humorous. She shares her more rebellious thoughts with the reader about her situation while outwardly putting on a demure and proper facade. She does not understand William Waters, and doesn’t particularly like him because he is so different from the rich and idle young men she grew up with. That all starts to change when she is invited to stay with his family in the country so they can get to know her. It turns out that his mother is warm, lovely, and welcoming and far from the steely aristocratic matron she had envisioned He also has two sisters who are bright and lively and who immediately take to Monica (or Nancy, as they know her-William told his mother he was engaged to a girl from his office but since he did not even know Monica’s name, he just said her name was Nancy, when he was asked.)

While there at Sevenoaks, his family home, she starts to realize that there is more to “Still Waters” than she originally thought. Although she won’t admit it to the reader or herself, he compares quite favorably with the man she was almost engaged to in her other life. When her father died and “The Smash” happened, Sydney Vandeleer “coincidentally” went off with his mother to Europe, never sealing the deal with the suddenly poor Monica. At the beginning of the novel, she still has hope that he may still come up to scratch. He does seem to still pine for her, but she soon realizes, as she spends more time with “Billy” and his family that he is nothing but a weak artsy-fartsy dilettante.
She is happy being back in the kind of comfortable household she was raised in, with all of the little luxuries, but it adds to her resentment of William because it is only a temporary respite from the hardscrabble life she will have to go back to once the year is up. Also his family is so nice that she is embarrassed to have to lie and deceive them. Finally, William gets tired of her games and they have a showdown with the result that they agree to be friends and work together. She is invited along on a family vacation to the Welsh seaside where she finally falls in love with “Her Official Fiance,” though she won’t admit it. That is, until she thinks she might lose him to a pretty flirty French girl.

I picked this up because I like vintage novels and this one was described as having a very modern feel, and rather unconventional for the times. I saw that right away and was rather enjoying it, but it was easy to put down. I took about a 2 month break in the middle to read other books and during that time, I happened to re-watch the movie, A Room with a View. That movie, a real favorite, was set during this exact time period with the same class of people, and the same type of environment.It helped me to picture the world and relate to the ways of the characters in this novel a little better. In the context of the movie, I returned to the book having a better understanding of and liking for Monica and I happily finished it in a couple of days. It must have been a very popular book in the day, because in 1919 they actually made a Hollywood movie out of it. It was Berta Ruck’s (Mrs. Oliver Onions) first novel and she was to go on to write 89 more. Born in 1878. she lived for a 100 years. In 1970, she was interviewed by the BBC and you can find the interview on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv6V1… I recommend it.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

The Mysterious Half Cat (Judy Bolton #9)

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By Margaret Sutton

“Holy Christmas!” Horace exclaimed way down in his throat. “What do you call that?” “The Half Cat!” gasped Scottie, one had to her heart. Even Judy found herself clutching Arthur’s coat sleeve in that moment of frozen terror… Let’s get out of here,” Horace whispered hoarsely and began helping Scottie through the window…..“Wait a minute!” Judy detained him “I have an idea.”

I had decidedly mixed feelings about this one. At the beginning of the book, Judy is awakened from a horrible nightmare in which Blackberry, her beloved cat, is hit by a car and cut in half! Peter and Arthur appear and Blackberry, still cut in two, gets up and follows them. The top half follows Arthur and the bottom half follows Peter as they head in opposite directions. Although obviously symbolic of Judy’s feelings being torn between the two young men, this image was very disturbing to me and it is one of the recurring themes in the book. An old beggar approaches the front porch where Judy is telling Honey about her dream and Honey buys the old man’s dream book to interpret it. The old man warns her against dreaming of cats, a coincidence which startles Judy. Peter comes by and shows the girls a mysterious coded note which he found in front of Wing Lee’s Chinese laundry. Judy is intrigued.

When the mail comes, Judy is surprised and pleased to receive a letter from an old playmate, Dora ”Scottie” Scott, who had moved to Alaska before the Roulsville flood. Scottie is coming back home with her little sister Carol. She is all alone in the world now and hopes to stay with the Boltons while she searches for lost relatives. Judy is very excited and of course the Bolton family starts making preparations to welcome Scottie and Carol into their home. Remembering that Scottie was always one for adventure and excitement, Judy thinks that maybe the mysterious note might be a good mystery for them to solve together. Judy goes to talk with Wing Lee about the note and he tells her that “spooks” come to his laundry every Wednesday. This is right up Judy’s alley and she hides out in his basement overnight (on a school night no less!) to investigate. She gets locked in and hears strange sounds and someone talking about splitting a cat in half! What?! How can Judy’s dream be connected to an old beggar, and nefarious doings in Wing Lee’s cellar? I, for one, was baffled. Surely Judy does not have psychic dreams?!

In addition to the mystery of the coded note and the “Half Cat”, Scottie and Carol’s troubles take center stage. When Scottie arrives, she is nothing like the girl Judy remembers. She is unpleasant, ungrateful and unappreciative of Judy’s efforts to make her welcome and involve her in adventure. She is also exhausted because she can not let Carol out of her sight. There is something wrong with Carol’s brain which causes her to go into trances or fly into destructive rages. She also seems to be hearing impaired. Poor Scottie has a lot on her plate, but sometimes the interested, curious, and fun-loving Scottie peeks through. Judy powers through Scottie’s sometimes nasty behaviour and sets to work to help her and Carol and solve the mystery of the “half-cat” into the bargain.

One has to appreciate the unusual step of incorporating a child who, these days, would be considered “on the spectrum” or having serious brain damage into a children’s mystery series. But it was disturbing and painful. Margaret never shied away, even in her early books, from addressing controversial topics to her young readers. In fact, Carol’s problems reflect a tragic circumstance in Margaret Sutton’s own life. How Carol’s behavior affects Scottie emotionally is very layered and authentic. The portrayal of the old beggar is also complex with paranoia, guilt, hoarding, the corruption of wealth, and repentance coming into the mix.

How Judy’s dream seemed to be repeated in real life is neatly explained at the end, to my satisfaction and relief. And Judy’s efforts, with the help of the whole gang, result in tying a kind of “half-cat”, the old beggar, and Scottie and Carol together into a hopeful happy ending. The end of the book sees Judy graduating from high school and and anxiously looking towards an uncertain future.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

The Voice in the Suitcase (Judy Bolton #8)

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By Margaret Sutton

It’s a man!” Honey, do you think he’s dead?”

“I guess so.”

“Maybe he’s just drunk,” she said…”I just want to shake him to see.”

“Don’t you dare!”

“Why not? If he’s dead he can’t hurt us and if he’s only drunk it may rouse him up….”

“I don’t want to rouse him up,” cried Honey in a panic…If you touch him I’ll scream!

“That might rouse him too.”

So, this was the first Judy Bolton I ever read. It got my attention to say the least. It starts off pretty tamely with Judy and Honey at a school picnic discussing a recent burglary of the Hamilton house. They are at a state park and the kids encounter some bums begging for food.  Remember this was written during the depression. Judy is intrigued to hear what sounds like a voice coming from one of their suitcases. Due to a misunderstanding, the school bus leaves without them and they start to walk home (40 miles!). On the way, they encounter one of the bums seemingly dead or drunk in a ditch with his suitcase. Luckily, because a girl named “Tagalong”, of the prominent Hamilton family, alerted  Peter and Horace that Judy and Honey had been left behind, they show up in the car to pick them up. They give the man a ride, but on the way he asks to be let off at a lonely house in the middle of the boonies. The name on the mailbox is “Brady.”

Back at home, Judy’s young friend Tagalong introduces her to the poor but proud Brady family. Tagalong’s BFF is Selma Brady, a friendship she keeps secret from her socially prominent and snobby family. Tagalong is a little rebel.  The Brady father’s parents, who live at the old house that “the bum” asked to be dropped off at,  are celebrating their golden wedding anniversary on Thanksgiving weekend. Selma has been dragooned into  visiting them to help them prepare for the big party and Judy volunteers to go in Tag’s place to help her. Also, Selma is afraid to go their house alone. Of course, Judy’s main interest is to further investigate the talking suitcase which she believes is still at the Brady home. To add to the excitement, we also learn that Selma’s father, Walter Brady, has been arrested for the burglary of the Hamilton home, one of a series of recent burglaries in Farringdon.

What really stood out about this, my first Judy Bolton, was how many times I thought to myself when reading, “This would never happen to Nancy Drew!” Selma’s grandmother is a hateful old witch who claims to have psychic powers. She threatens to shoot her granddaughter (and Judy) and resents all of their hard work trying to clean the house and prepare for the family reunion/anniversary party. Their house is absolutely filthy and every inch is covered in trash and dirt except for some paths through the dirty clothes and litter. Margaret description of the house and its inhabitants  is priceless. For dinner, they have dry bread dunked in milk, which the Grandfather eats  with “a sucking sound.” That night, Judy and Selma sleep in dirty beds, and are awakened by scurrying sounds and chains rattling. That morning, when Judy looks in a mirror, she sees animal tracks across her face, which Judy surmises are rat tracks. Judy’s Thanksgiving was shaping up to be one to remember, and it is just the beginning.

By the end of the story, The Brady’s house is clean, the party is a great success, The old couple have mellowed (a bit), and a falsely accused man has been proven innocent. And the voice in the suitcase has been revealed. No spoilers but the clues are all there for the alert reader

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Wild Strawberries

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by Angela Thirkell

From their earliest days the Leslie children had thought of their mother as doing or making something, handling brush, pencil, needle with equal enthusiasm, coming in late to lunch with clay in her hair, devastating the drawing-room with her far-flung painting materials, taking cumbersome pieces of embroidery on picnics, disgracing everyone by a determination to paint the village cricket pavilion with scenes from the life of St Francis for which she made the gardeners pose. What Mr Leslie thought no one actually knew, for Mr Leslie had his own ways of life and rarely interfered. Once only had he been known to make a protest. In the fever of an enamelling craze, Lady Emily had a furnace put up in the service-room, thus making it extremely difficult for Gudgeon and the footman to get past, and moreover pressing the footman as her assistant when he should have been laying lunch.”

I enjoyed this as much or more than many of Angela Thirkell’s books. It was fairly short and the world in which I found myself was fairly confined and not bursting with various characters which were hard to keep straight, nor was I roaming from one country house or family circle to another. I was most definitely helped by my trusty copy of Angela Thirkell’s World, which traces all of the characters in her Barsetshire Novels from the early 1930s, through WWII to the late 1950s.

So when Dodo Bingham and her twin daughters show up for Martin’s 17th birthday party,  learning that the carefree David actually married one of those twins in book 15 , Peace Breaks Out, it was a laugh. Wild Strawberries is book #2 in the Barsetshire universe.

We are introduced to the Leslie Family: Lady Emily, her curmudgeonly husband, and their grown children, John, Agnes, and David. Also, their grandson, Martin, whom they are raising since his father was killed in WWI. His mother is not in the picture. Apparently not in a bad way, necessarily, because according to ATW, the future children of Martin’s Uncle David stay with her in America. Visiting for the summer is Mary. A meek and mild second cousin (reminded me of Jane Austen’s Fanny Price), she is young, pretty, and very nice. The book centers around her crush on David, the Leslies’ entitled and irresponsible younger son. Her heart is destined to be broken but for David’s very responsible and very good older brother John. As the book opens, he is  a sad widower,  but when he falls for the shy and reticent Mary as she plays and sings at the piano when she thinks no one is paying attention,  the path to the happy ending becomes clear. All is straightened out, as well as some other unrelated developments,  on the night of Martin “Thanks Awfully” Leslie’s 17th birthday party.

But that bare bones of a plot, if you can call it that, is really just foundation to sketch, reveal, and affectionately skewer the personalities of the family and their friends. I grew fond of all of the Leslies but my favorite characters were Lady Emily (who reminded me of an older Laura Morland), Agnes, and Martin. I didn’t care for or approve of David much, but we aren’t meant to. He is the type who, instead of being gainfully employed like his older brother, fancies himself a novelist. Luckily for him he has an independent income “owing to the ill-judged partiality of an aunt.” He doesn’t doubt that his awful novel will be a bestseller, and although it isn’t even finished, is already confidently planning a play and a film script. Lady Emily, the benign and gentle matriarch, floats through her home, Rushwater, swathed in myriad shawls and scarves, frequently calling on her adoring family and protective servants to retrieve them and any other various accoutrements that she realizes she has mislaid. Usually they are within arm’s reach.  When she inevitably trails a scarf through her soup, she rinses it in her wine glass. Her daughter Agnes, married to the always absent Colonel Graham, is lovely and sweet-natured. She dotes on her 3 lively children, and nothing can shake her out of her calm and placid approach to life. When her children cause upset in the house, whether it is which cereal they will or will not eat or falling in the goldfish pond, her response is to laugh “Oh Wicked Ones!” with pride and affection and call for Nannie. In a bit of a side plot, she is totally oblivious to the wild passion she has inspired in the 19-year-old son of the Leslies’ new French neighbors. This is a common Thirkell trope. He’ll get over it.

Wild Strawberries is the type of book where several pages are devoted to a servant’s relationship to the dinner gong. If you’re up for that type of book, you will find yourself transported to another world of which you might certainly disapprove and even look upon with disdain. But while disapproving, you are in the hands of a very talented writer. So you might also find yourself chuckling and being charmed by the frivolity of it all. In 2024 it is a fantasy world, but it’s important to remember that less than 100 years ago it was an authentic slice of life.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Fletcher’s End

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By D.E. Stevenson

This was another pleasant and enjoyable D. E. Stevenson that takes you to another world where not much happens. And that’s OK when there are so many other joys to be found. I listened to this on Audible, so I will have to rely on my main impressions. The book opens with Bel (from Bel Lamington) about to be married to Ellis Brownlee. Her dear friend Louise is trying to find her a house near her and her father in The Cotswolds. She happens upon Fletcher’s End, a dilapidated 400-year-old stone “cottage” that has gone to rack and ruin from neglect. Bel falls in love with it and Ellis buys it for her from the absentee owner, Roy Lestrange, a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy. With Bel safely married, we know that one of the main plot lines is going to be about finding the beautiful and vivacious Louise, whom all men fall in love with instantly, a husband. Will it be Andrew Drummond whom she turned down in the previous book because of her disrespect for his lazy self-indulgent ways? Or Reggie, the likable but plain architect the Brownlees hire to restore their cottage? Or perhaps the mysterious Roy Lestrange, whom the executor of his Aunt’s will calls a “rapscallion” due to his neglect of Fletchers End?

The book concerns itself mostly with painting a picture of the old house, its rebirth, Bel and Ellis’s happy marriage, and meeting the Brownlee’s new friends and neighbors and hearing their stories. Events do happen in the narrative which reveal true character, present dilemmas, amuse, or create heartache or joy, or disgust or satisfaction. They build on each other to create somewhat of a storyline. But what would be boring blips in more action-packed tightly plotted stories, take on importance and significance in this novel. I cared about these people and was interested in every little thing. At Bel’s wedding reception, we see Bel finally coming out of her shell and gaining new confidence. Finally! When Louise and Bel go to London for lunch with Roy Lestrange we meet his mousy cousin who provides some background to Bel’s house and the former owner. We also gain insight into charming Roy’s true character. A beautiful painting of a former owner of Bel’s house is bought for over the mantelpiece and we are enchanted and amused. An old friend’s family business is ruined, his former wealth stolen, and his life is in ruins. We are angry. But the disaster leads to his dream coming true. Bel finally shows her mettle when she is responsible for turning a friend’s heartbreak and despair into joy. And finally, the contents of a secret drawer in an old bureau shakes the newlyweds to their core and causes great fear and a moral crisis.

The book ended with satisfactory closure which I can’t always say about DES novels. We are denied a final joyful scene in which Bel will share happy news with Ellis (not what you think). But in this case, I could well imagine it in my mind as we have gotten to know them so well. I was happy that passive Bel developed some agency and gumption once happily married although she did have a weak moment near the end. I enjoyed this much better than the previous book with Bel. She didn’t make me mad this time. I look forward to spending more time with the Shepherdsford community (and maybe Louise, Bel and Ellis?) in future books.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

The Mystic Ball (Judy Bolton #7)

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By Margaret Sutton

As Judy stepped upon the stage she lifted her chin proudly and looked straight into Madame Wanda’s cat-like eyes….she walked cautiously over and peered down into the mystic ball….Madame Wanda burst out explosively.”Tell me! Tell the audience! Tell the whole world what you see!”
Was the woman crazy?…But to her great disappointment, there was nothing there. …“What’s the matter with it? I don’t see a thing.”
“Ah clever weren’t you?” she mocked. ”But not clever enough to see your own future! Why? Because you haven’t any future.”
Gasp went up from the audience. “Don’t you know what it means…? “Have you never heard the word–Death?”

This book has some of Judy’s best sleuthing as well as plenty of personal drama regarding one of Margaret’s most interesting character creations, Judy’s friend, Irene. I would call Irene a divisive character, but I doubt that there is any serious Judy Bolton fan who would not admit the girl is flipping crazy (as much as they might defend her and try to explain her.) Thankfully, she does get better as the books go on. And her fiance Dale is another piece of work. Irene and Dale met and got engaged in the previous book, The Yellow Phantom. In this one, they are almost torn apart thanks to Irene’s stubborn belief in a fortune teller.

The adventure begins with Judy and all of her Farringdon friends going to the theatre to watch a movie and a show featuring Wanda the Wonderful. While passing by the theatre, Judy notices a lot of electronic equipment being carted into the theatre. Now these days, anyone would know that electronic equipment + a psychic predicting the future = Fraud and Skulduggery. But remember this book was written in the 1930s when the X-ray machine was considered the latest in medical innovations and a source of amazement. Wanda singles out Irene and tells her a disastrous fortune with enough details from her past life to win her trust. The most alarming part is that she tells her that her father will die and Dale doesn’t really love her and is after her money. Like several other victims, she is given a card and sent to a special room in the back for “the remedy” to the horrific fortunes.

Judy is suspicious but as convinced as she is that Wanda is a crackpot and a con woman, she cannot convince superstitious Irene to believe in Dale’s love rather than a creepy stranger and her crystal ball. And how was Wanda so accurate about Irene’s music, her engagement to Dale and the Tower House? Irene seems to be almost under a spell by the menacing fortuneteller and insists on going back to the theatre to give her a sealed envelope. Knowing that doing so would be the last straw as far as Irene’s nerves are concerned, the girls decide they will change places with each other with Judy delivering the envelope to the theatre and Irene going back to Dry Brook Hollow to stay with Grandma and Grandpa Smeed. Irene insists that when she gets Dale’s next love letter, Judy read it and answer back in her place. I’ll let that sit a minute. I told you she was crazy. When Judy does exactly that, it results in Dale almost breaking the engagement and Irene angrily repudiating Judy as a friend. It’s quite a letter, but poor Judy meant well.

By the end of the book, Judy meets a new friend, Sylvia, gets on stage and challenges Madame Wanda, is trampled during a fake fire alarm, is hospitalized, exposes the crystal-gazer and sees her convicted of grand larceny, wins back Irene’s friendship and re-unites the two lovers. Also, the differences between Judy’s two potential swains, Peter and Arthur, are highlighted. As always with Margaret Sutton’s series, we will meet young Sylvia again in future books and will even see the Crystal Ball again which was given to Judy as a reward for her outstanding sleuthing which resulted in getting a cruel and dangerous fraudster off the streets.

This is one of Margaret’s most entertaining books, in my opinion. Irene and Dale never disappoint.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

The Friendly Air

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By Elizabeth Cadell

When I think of an Elizabeth Cadell book, this is the type of book I think of. It’s set in sunny Portugal as many of her books are and involves a nice heroine (sometimes it is the hero) who is engaged to the wrong person who is usually extremely unpleasant. This one also features an eccentric old lady, as many of her books do.

Upon the death of her grandparents, Emma Challis took the self-serving advice of her Godfather and moved to London. Alone and friendless, she fell into an engagement with her Godfather’s son, Gerald Delmont, a prominent fashionable attorney. Unfortunately, Gerald is a boor and almost deliciously nasty. In 2024 he would be labeled a metrosexual type, and not in a good way. Of course, that word hadn’t been invented yet when this book was written in 1970. So why does the beautiful, good-humored, and likable Emma put up with him? It’s hard to explain, except that she is too kind-hearted for her own good. But I couldn’t get too frustrated with her. Despite putting up with his petulance and bossiness, Emma pretty much goes her own way and does have a mind of her own when push comes to shove. Plus, We know from the beginning that their marriage will not take place. It’s Elizabeth Cadell, and we know that Emma will meet and fall in love with someone much more suitable.

When Emma goes up to Yorkshire on business of her own, Gerald asks her to pry a “Lady Grantly” away from her father’s neighborhood where she has bought a house. The possible soon-to-be neighbors despise each other and Gerald wants her resettled in London for his father’s convenience and peace of mind. But when Emma and the delightfully dotty Lady Grantly meet, it is almost love at first sight. They are kindred spirits, even though Lady Grantly is vocally horrified when she finds out that Emma is engaged to the disagreeable Gerald. Not adverse to moving, but yearning to recapture her happy youth in sunny climes, the very wealthy Lady Grantly (with the help of astrology and cards) decides to move to Portugal, not London. Much to Gerald’s distress, Emma decides to accompany her to make sure she gets there safely and is set up comfortably. Portugal is a revelation to the sheltered Emma. In addition to enjoying Lady Grantly, she loves the people, the climate, the countryside, and Mrs. Grantly’s lovely house and garden by the seaside. As the days go by, She realizes she is not only relishing not being in London, but also away from Gerald.

When a family of squatters, a woman and her 5 children, set up residence in a moving crate in Lady Grantly’s garden, it all comes to a head. It turns out they might have a legitimate claim to the house! Emma’s deadline to return to her old life has arrived but she can’t leave Portugal and Lady Grantly now! She is dispatched to enlist the help of Lady Grantly’s half-English local lawyer. Their encounter is maddening and then hilarious. Emma has met her match and thank goodness, he has Lady Grantly’s seal of approval. When Gerald shows up to drag Emma back to London and her duties as his fiance, the inevitable happy ending is not far behind.

This is a sunny tale both literally and figuratively. Breezy, charming, and old-fashioned, it was a delight. But if you’re looking for a high-stakes nail-biter or a complex thought-provoking emotional drama, this isn’t for you. Save it for when you need a peaceful comforting trip to another time and place.

Rating: 4 out of 5.