Very depressing. Mortimer's work is not pleasurable to read, so it took longer than usual for me to read this. A horrible portrait of a 1950s woman whVery depressing. Mortimer's work is not pleasurable to read, so it took longer than usual for me to read this. A horrible portrait of a 1950s woman who has no life or identity beyond being a wife and mother....more
Well, you know you're a fan of an author when you're willing to read what are literally her random scribblings. I sped through this tiny book and, I hWell, you know you're a fan of an author when you're willing to read what are literally her random scribblings. I sped through this tiny book and, I have to say, Whipple is just as charming and astute in her note-making as she is in her stories.
In Random Commentary, Whipple comes across as extremely relatable-- she writes about her doubts that she's any good at writing, declaring books that went on to great success to be "drivel", and tells of both her excitement for positive reviews and her secret desire to "biff" a man on the head for his pedantic critique of her writing. Also, her procrastination:
I waste time. I am a bad workman. In work, I am half-hearted. I am only enthusiastic when I am sitting in a chair doing nothing or lying in bed in the early morning.
Lol, me too.
She notes down observations she makes in her day to day life, funny people she sees and conversations she listens in on. You can see how she drew inspiration for her writing from everything around her, and how her surroundings shaped her stories. She also expresses a sentiment that is present throughout her novels and short stories:
The idea that it is only men who have dreams and that women want to be thought of all the time by men is silly-- and far from the truth.
It's just a shame this funny and brilliant woman didn't write more....more
Every Good Deed - 5/5 - A novella, really, and by far the longest story in the collection. A compelling story with a great villain and sympathetic chaEvery Good Deed - 5/5 - A novella, really, and by far the longest story in the collection. A compelling story with a great villain and sympathetic characters.
Miss Pratt Disappears - 5/5 - This one starts a very sad story about a “spinster� considered a burden by a family that doesn’t want her� but her fortune is about to change.
Susan - 5/5 - Very sad, very short story. You know what is going to happen but anticipating it is horrible. A snapshot of how shit it could be to be a woman in the early 20th century.
Bitter Sauce - 5/5 - Just fabulous. The guy in this reminded me of the husband in Whipple's The Closed Door. Whipple has no time for these men.
Exit - 2/5 - Bit of a pointless non-story.
Boarding-House - 4/5 - An enjoyable story about a couple opening a seaside boarding house and getting way more than they bargained for when a truly horrific guest arrives.
One Dark Night - 3/5 - A snobby woman learns her lesson during a wartime blackout.
Tea at the Rectory - 3/5 - Whipple does good "old maid" characters, but not the most interesting story in this collection.
The Swan - 5/5 - Very short, sad story about a literal swan. I’d been expecting a pub or something.
Sunday Morning - 5/5 - Whipple does love poetic justice....more
Dorothy Whipple's debut is still good, but the bar is set so high with her later novels that this one is noticeably the work of an author who is just Dorothy Whipple's debut is still good, but the bar is set so high with her later novels that this one is noticeably the work of an author who is just starting out.
Young Anne is less subtle, perhaps a tad more self-indulgent in how, I feel, Whipple uses Anne to vent her own views and frustrations. Anne is a complex and well-developed character, but the secondary characters are less so, which stands out here because Whipple is at her most brilliant when she's writing about whole families and their complex web of relationships and loyalties.
This one focuses pretty much solely on Anne's coming-of-age, as she wrestles with nihilism, loss of faith, and struggles to find purpose in her life. Much of it is autobiographical, and it is obvious that Whipple was nursing a lot of anger about the restrictions placed on women by their family and society, as well as anger at class inequalities.
It goes a long way toward explaining the mindset of the author who wrote about so many women being held back, being dependent on men who fail them, being manipulated and being left destitute....more
The Closed Door - 5/5 - Truly a horrific story about the worst parents. The mother was horrible, but the father probably made me even more angry. ThisThe Closed Door - 5/5 - Truly a horrific story about the worst parents. The mother was horrible, but the father probably made me even more angry. This was such an upsetting, claustrophobic story, but powerful because of it.
The Rose - 4/5 - A very short story about a wife’s jealousy, somewhat misplaced.
Youth - 3.5/5 - Another young woman being held back by a domineering guardian, which is a theme Whipple clearly likes to explore. This one resists.
The Handbag - 4/5 - A delightfully satisfying tale of a woman who gets back at her unfaithful husband. Hard not to read the ending with a smirk.
Family Crisis - 5/5 - Great story and a great lesson about a crisis making people realise what actually matters. While I do enjoy Whipple's shorts, the two longest stories in this collection were just so much stronger.
After Tea - 4/5 - quick satisfying story. Whipple loves a young woman breaking free. Dishes out lessons.
Wednesday - 5/5 - What a horribly sad story. A divorced mother gets to see her children only on the first Wednesday of the month. Whipple really does capture all the ways women could be controlled, restrained and just totally screwed by both laws and societal attitudes.
Summer Holiday - 4/5 - A story from the POV of a young girl, innocently observing her nurse’s affair with a man.
Saturday Afternoon - 3.5/5 - Probably the weakest, but still enjoyable to read. A dutiful husband turns out to be a (view spoiler)[long-term philanderer. (hide spoiler)]
Cover - 4.5/5 - About the hypocrisy of men “doing [a woman] a favour� by ignoring her sexual past.
These ratings may not average out at 5 but I'm rating it 5 stars because I can't remember ever liking every single story in a collection of shorts. Also, the 5 star stories were that good....more
I really liked this book in the beginning. Four women, almost complete strangers to one another, take a unique opportunity to split costs on a stunninI really liked this book in the beginning. Four women, almost complete strangers to one another, take a unique opportunity to split costs on a stunning medieval castle in the Italian Riviera. No husbands, each nursing problems and inner turmoil... what fun!
And it was at first. The setting is depicted beautifully and apparently caused a rush of early twentieth century tourism to the Italian Riviera. Not hard to see why. The four women are well-drawn-- the giddy and silly Mrs Wilkins, the timid Mrs Arbuthnot, the cantankerous Mrs Fisher, and the beautiful and aloof Lady Caroline --and the clash of personalities leads to some very entertaining exchanges.
I think, perhaps, I just expected this book to do something different. I've been reading a lot of classics lately with complex character portraits and themes of disruption and shifting attitudes, ones that challenge the status quo, and I was hoping for something a bit more like that here, especially with the way the story is set up.
We begin with Mrs Wilkins and Mrs Arbuthnot clearly in unhappy marriages-- the former because of an overbearing husband, and the latter because of a husband who couldn't care less --and we then meet Mrs Fisher, with her own intense traditional ideas about marriage, and Lady Caroline who is extremely resentful of the attention her beauty commands.
It is set up like four women finally taking a stand in their own unhappy lives, putting their foot down and making a decision for themselves. Choosing happiness and giving their home lives the figurative finger. But what emerges as the story progresses is far more romantic and fanciful. I did not expect a Penguin Classics choice to sit neatly in the "chick lit" section, but The Enchanted April very much does.
Von Armin is obviously a more romantic and forgiving person than I am. In fact, I'd go so far as to say I hated the ending. I already felt like certain characters had not been adequately redeemed or earned the reader's forgiveness, but to see (view spoiler)[Lady Caroline simply give in to the man pestering her (hide spoiler)] was really disheartening....more
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