The Whicharts (1931) by Noel Streatfeild

Book review by George S: I should probably start this review with a trigger warning. It may cause disquiet and consternation to anyone for whom Ballet Shoes was an essential and much-loved part of their childhood.

The Odyssey of Euphemia Tracy by Richmal Crompton (1932)

Euphemia is by no means a conventional romantic heroine. She is a ‘large, heavy-featured young woman’, ungainly and dressed in badly-fitting clothes which she makes herself. The novel opens on her fortieth birthday, in the cottage where she has spent her youth caring for her bedridden father, a bully who hates her because she remains … Continue reading →

Narcissa (1941), by Richmal Crompton

This month we read adult novels by authors better known as writers for children. In Greek myth, Narcissus was a beautiful but excessively proud youth.  He was so enraptured by his reflection in water that he stared at it until he died and was transformed by the gods into the flower which bears his name. … Continue reading →

The Unready Heart by Richard Sherman (1944)

Not a writer readily associated with depictions of wartime London (or indeed with longer fiction), Sherman ‘s short novel focuses on the plight of one Barbara Loomis, who, having escaped to the capital from her home-town of Leeds, is disappointed to have her quest for personal autonomy rudely interrupted by the untimely advent of the … Continue reading →