In 2013, not
long after I began blogging, I made my first Hopeless Wish List, having already
developed the first symptoms of my all-consuming obsession with the most
obscure of obscure authors. But not, as it happens, having quite fine-tuned my interlibrary
loan and/or savvy book shopping skills. Nor, for sure, had I made contact with
a host of fellow aficionados who have since made it possible, in various ways,
for me to read some of my most-yearned-for titles.
I updated
the list in 2014 (I can't believe it's been that long!), but that one is long
out of date too. It's therefore time to do a new Hopeless Wish List, and
needless to say I have significantly upped the ante on exactly what it means
for a book to be "hopeless"! But based on past experience, it's worth my while to make a list of my most coveted titles, on the off chance that someone somewhere
someday will say, "Hey! I have a copy of that you can
borrow/buy/have!" It could
happen (and has before). Plus, I wanted to organize the list in
order to create Abe Books "wants" for them, so I might just as well
share it. And for those of you who have trouble finding a lot of the books I
write about, an added benefit is that it may provide a wry comfort to see that there are books I can't get hold
of either...
In case
anyone but me is curious, at the bottom of this post I'll also do a summary of
the titles from the previous versions of my list which have been, in one way or
another, removed from the realm of the hopeless. But first, without further
ado, here are the new additions to my greatest hits of hopelessness:
(It's hard to
prioritize these books, a) because I would jump on any one of them in a moment,
and b) because some I know a fair amount about and others I have only small
tantalizing tidbits about, but of course it could be the latter which turn out
to be the real treasures.)
P. Y. BETTS, French
Polish (1933)
Could this
one—the one and only novel by an author better known for her acclaimed memoir People Who Say Goodbye (1989), reprinted
a few years ago by Slightly Foxed—be one of those treasures? French Polish is mentioned here
as "a funny and sharply observed novel about a girls’ finishing school",
which is more than enough to sell me on it. But try looking for a copy of it.
E. M. CHANNON, The
Surprising Holidays (1926)
I've read
several of Channon's books, including the mysteries Twice Dead and The Chimney
Murder, which were reprinted by Greyladies, and a very enjoyable school
story, The Honour of the House. But
ever since I read a piece about Channon by Hilary Clare, this is the one I've
most wanted to get hold of. Clare said it was among the funniest of Channon's
works, and summed up its plot as "the lack of domestic capability of an
English middle-class family." Books to Treasure has released several of
her school-related stories in e-book and paperback, so why why WHY haven't they
got round to this much harder-to-find book?!?!
PRISCILLA JOHNSTON, The
Narrow World (1930) & Green Girl
(1931)
These two
novels, the latter a sequel to the former, come from my Grownup School Story
List, just like the Betts title above. Both appear to be set in schools, and
the latter includes a romance between a young girl and one of the masters at
her school. Other details are elusive, and an Abe Books search for either is
unlikely to bear any fruit.
DOROTHY LAMBERT, Fish
Out of Water (1937) & Much
Dithering (1938)
These could
truly be either trash or treasure, as I know practically nothing about them or
about Lambert herself, but the titles are irresistible and they are seductively
unavailable. Who could resist a title
like Much Dithering?! (A part of me,
I admit, really hopes that it turns out to be the name of a country estate:
"We're walking over to Much Dithering this afternoon to have tea with Lady
Smythe-Hyde-Barrington-Thorne-Babbington.")
MARGARET RIVERS LARMINIE & JANE LANGSLOW, Gory Knight (1937)
At least we
know a fair amount about this one, and as of this writing a single copy is
actually available on Abe Books, should you wish to invest a cool $1,000 on it
(!!). A parody of the detective genre (the title is of course a wry homage to
Sayers), in which caricatures of the most famous detectives of the day gather
at the home of one Miss Pyke and are drawn into the mystery of a kitchen maid's
disappearance. Mystery guru Martin Edwards even wrote a piece about it here,
about reading and discussing the book with fellow mystery writer Margaret Yorke. I can't imagine why
no one has reprinted this by now—perhaps there's a rights issue?
HILDA HEWETT, The
Desert Shall Rejoice (1950)
I've written
about Hewett here,
having been lucky enough to track down several of her books from libraries.
She's a classic hit-or-miss kind of author, and in truth I'd be willing to
sample any of her other titles if they could be found, but my two favorites of
her books so far are Kaleidoscope
(1947) and So Early One Morning
(1948). I know absolutely nothing about The
Desert Shall Rejoice, but the three books have in common that they're the
only three Hewett published with Hurst & Blackett, who seem (perhaps?) to
have given her a bit more freedom and encouragement than her usual publisher,
the more romance-oriented Robert Hale.
MONICA REDLICH, Cheap
Return (1934), No Love Lost
(1937), & The Various Light
(1948)
I had had
Redlich on my author list for a couple of years before even discovering that
she had written adult novels in addition to her two (slightly better-known)
children's books, Jam Tomorrow (1937)
and Five Farthings (1939), the latter
of which I reviewed here.
I'll bet a lot of fans of those books don't realize it either. Cheap Return was described by one critic
as "entertaining because of its gentle satire and its lively presentation
of life in a girls' college," which is more than enough to make me crave
it. No Love Lost gets the briefest of
critical mentions as "a simply-told story of the reactions of a schoolgirl
to the unhappy marriage of her parents." And of The Various Light I know nothing except that Carl Jung, of all
people, particularly recommended it to a friend of his (which is certainly enough
to arouse curiosity—did he enjoy the
novel, do we think, or merely find it of psychoanalytic interest? Either way I'm sold). Are these
three novels as charming and entertaining as her children's fiction? Or not?
Judging from my searches for available copies of them, we may never know.
GWENDOLINE COURTNEY, A
Coronet for Cathie (1950) & other serials (?)
I've nabbed
all of Courtney's other titles, but a recent Abe Books search for this one
found only a $700 copy of the Girls Gone By reprint. The original edition must
be worth its weight in gold. Which (not to be critical of my fellow indie
publishers, but…) begs the question of why GGB recently reprinted the readily
available Stepmother instead of this
one! And along the same lines, when GGB reprinted Mermaid House, a novel that had previously appeared only as a
serial, the introductory material suggested that there were other such works to
be be published in due course. I might have to drop them a line to see what happened to those.
NETTA SYRETT, A
School Year (1902)
Another
school story that has apparently become highly collectible. Sims & Clare
note that it's on the borderline between children's and adult fiction, which is
always tantalizing for me, and that it's based on Syrett's own school
experiences. Syrett was also an early feminist who wrote intriguing adult
novels, a few of which have been reprinted in recent years. Alas, not a single
copy available on Abe Books at last check.
RUTH ADAM, Set to
Partners (1947)
Though
occasionally an uneven writer, I have always been fascinated by the wonderful
detail and social conscience of Adam's novels (and of course her social history
A Woman's Place, available from
Persephone). I've written about her several times and have been fortunate
enough to read several of her obscure titles (see here).
But this one remains a complete mystery. Not even any details of its subject
matter. Not a single copy available either. Grrrr.
AGNES ROSEMARY COOPER & MARY WELLER (writing as RAMSAY
BELL), The Lake of Ghosts (1940)
Very much in
the realm of books I'm irrationally obsessed with despite knowing very little
about them is this little potential treasure.
Cooper and Weller wrote four novels under their pseudonym, with the
first, Dragon Under Ground (1937),
described by a contemporary critic as "a pleasantly told yet thrilling
tale of Christmas adventure." (That one's currently available for a mere
$471!) With the popularity of Christmas titles, and especially if it turns out that these are all mysteries, as seems possible, we just might see that one become available in the future?) But it's Lake of Ghosts that
attracts me, despite the fact that my only tidbit of knowledge is that it's set
in the Apennines and has an archaeologist as heroine.
JOAN DE FRAINE, Eighty
in the Shade (1935)
Along the
same lines, I only have a blurb noting that Eighty
in the Shade "tells the story of a suburban family over a Bank Holiday
weekend." But there's certainly potential there, right?
ALICE LUNT, Tomorrow
the Harvest (1955)
Lunt was a close
friend of Mabel Esther Allan and the author of several children's titles,
including three school stories, as well as this one adult novel, described as
being based on her wartime experiences in the Land Army. The children's titles
are possible to find, but the novel has practically ceased to exist. You can see though why it would be on this list.
MARGARET LANGMAID, This
Charming Property (1934)
The Sydney Morning Herald called this
"a spirited little romance" about the "uncivil warfare"
aroused in a traditional English village by the building of a row of new
villas. "Thus modernity challenged antiquity, and the strife was none the less
savage because it took the form of snubs, veiled insults, and occasional
outbursts." I'm sold, but alas the book is not—anywhere.
MABEL BARNES-GRUNDY, Paying
Pests (1941), Mary Ann and Jane
(1944), & The Two Miss Speckles
(1946)
These could
certainly go either way, and Barnes-Grundy seems to have been known for her
frivolous romantic tales (though similar language has been used about some of
my favorite authors), but these, her final three novels, are likely enriched by
wartime settings. I know little about the first two, but the last deals with
two sisters living in Bath during the war.
WINIFRED LEAR, I
Like This Place (1980) & Maiden
Stakes (1988)
These might
be the most hopeless items on this
list. Lear, the author of two novels—The
Causeway, enthusiastically reviewed here,
and Shady Cloister, which I never got
round to reviewing and didn't love as much but still enjoyed, as well as the
delightful memoir Down the Rabbit Hole—apparently
self-published, in small quantities, three short books of anecdotes and
recollections, which means they're vanishingly rare. These Peculiar Things, the third title, isn't even listed on
Worldcat at all, but I know it exists because it's the one I happened to
stumble across (and spent far too much to acquire). I really need
to write about it here, but meanwhile I'm beginning to doubt that similar
lightning will ever strike for these two.
And if
that's not enough hopelessness, there are still some from my previous lists
that I despair of ever having the
chance to read (perhaps these should be called The Despair List?):
Greyladies
happily reprinted MOLLY CLAVERING's Near Neighbours a couple of years back,
and Mrs Lorimer's Family is widely
available, but all her other novels (see here)
seem to be about as rare as a Guttenberg Bible.
My second
wish list mentioned BRIDGET LOWRY's To-Morrow's Giants (1933), which remains
hopeless to find, but the situation was worsened when Lowry's granddaughter
chimed in on the post and quoted a review of another of her novels, The Losers (1932), described as "..a
little Cranford about a bungalow town..." There are currently two copies
of that one on Abe Books—both selling for well into three figures…
I must keep mentioning F. M. MAYOR's Mrs Hammond's Children (1901) & Miss Browne's Friend (1914) in the hope that some savvy publisher
with British Library access will finally reprint them. Her three novels are
classics, particularly The Rector's
Daughter, so it's criminal that these are still unavailable. Janet Morgan,
in her intro to The Squire's Daughter,
described Mrs Hammond's Children as a
collection of stories “based on the relations among children and the kindnesses
and cruelties they practise on one another.” Miss Browne's Friend (1914), published as a serial, is described as
"an exploration of a friendship between a suburban lady and a prostitute." One can only imagine what Mayor's brilliance might have made of that!
I was
fortunate enough last year to read one of WINIFRED
WATSON's rare other novels (aside from the ubiquitous and
wonderful Miss Pettigrew)—see here.
My focus now is on two more of her books—Hop, Step And Jump (1939), described
in one source as a "variant on the Cinderella theme", and Leave and Bequeath (1943), which came
after Miss Pettigrew and is described
as "part murder-mystery and part psychological study". Both, needless
to say, hopeless.
Also on my
second list, I mentioned ELEANOR SCOTT's
War Among Ladies and Puss in the Corner (1934). There is, it
now seems, a glimmer of hope that Interlibrary Loan may come through for War (I'll keep you posted), but Puss seems thoroughly hopeless. A contemporary
review of the latter described the author as "a witty and discerning
observer of female character, and more especially of the reactions of women to
one another." Exactly zero copies available for sale.
Other lingering hopelessness from the earlier lists includes MARJORIE APPLETON's Anything
Can Happen (1942), WINIFRED
BLAZEY's Grace Before Meat (1942),
and MARGARET DALE's Maze (1934).
On the
brighter side, however, here are some of the books from the earlier lists for
which the fog of hopelessness has cleared:
From my
original 2013 list (here),
I'm particularly delighted to note that I had a hand in dispelling the fog for
two of the titles—both FRANCES FAVIELL's
A Chelsea Concerto (1959) and E. NESBIT's The Lark (1922) seemed hopeless to me back then, but are now yours
for the ordering as Furrowed Middlebrow titles from Dean Street Press!
My earlier
wish lists were rather dominated by WWII novels, and I'm happy to say a number
of them have been checked off my list. After several years of searching and savvy shopping, I was thrilled last year to
get hold of BARBARA NOBLE's The House Opposite (reviewed here).
And then there's the whole slew of other books that have been made available to
me by the redoubtable Grant Hurlock, whose library must exceed even my
fantasies. Thanks to him I got to read RUTH
ADAM's Murder in the Home Guard (reviewed
here)
and There Needs No Ghost (reviewed here),
MARJORIE WILENSKI's Table Two (reviewed here),
AND LORNA LEWIS's Tea and Hot Bombs (reviewed here).
(Happily, I recently seized a rare opportunity to get hold of Lewis's other
wartime girls' novel, Feud in the Factory,
and will plan to review it soon.)
Whew! Plus,
thanks to Grant, I also now have the one URSULA
ORANGE novel I had previously found unattainable, 1942's Have Your Cake, and hope to be reading
and reviewing that one soon as well!
NOEL
STREATFEILD's World War II era novels for adults were on my list a few years ago. Thereafter, I managed to
track down I Ordered a Table for Six,
which was rather bleak, and Greyladies reprinted The Winter Is Past (1940), which became one of my favorites (see here).
But there's no longer any hopelessness at all, as all of Streatfeild's adult
novels are now happily back in print (and in e-book) from Bello Books and
Macmillan. Hooray!
Greyladies
also cleared the fog of obscurity from RICHMAL
CROMPTON's wartime novel, Mrs
Frensham Describes a Circle (1942), which I reviewed here.
A dozen or so other Crompton titles (sadly not including Mrs Frensham) have also
been released in paperback and e-book by Macmillan.
Happily,
too, the two unpublished STELLA GIBBONS
novels I was yearning for—The Yellow
Houses (c1973) and Pure Juliet
(c1980, originally An Alpha)—were
finally published in recent years, and the latter is a favorite of mine
(reviewed here).
Not only that, but I've now tracked down all of her other novels, as well as
(thanks to Grant Hurlock) her one rare children's title, The Untidy Gnome (see here)!
The
wonderful Simon at Stuck in a Book so generously gave me (!!!) his copy of EDITH
OLIVIER's The Underground River
(1929), which still has pride of place on my shelves. Why hasn't a children's publisher reprinted
this one, especially now that her novels and other books are available from
Bello and Macmillan?! I reviewed it here.
I found
several novels by NORAH HOULT and
enjoyed them very much. I'm reminded that I really need to get back to reading more
of her work. If you're a fan of There
Were No Windows, do track down House
Under Mars, one of her other wartime works. And I did get hold of ELINOR MORDAUNT's The Family (1915), but it was finally just a bit too bleak for my
tastes. It can now be downloaded, at least in the U.S., via Hathi Trust. I nabbed a copy of EDITH PARGETER's Ordinary People (aka People of My Own), quite some time ago,
but still haven't read it. It was
somewhat deceptively referred to by Janet Maslen as "about a family living
in a 'peaceful English setting...in cramped quarters during heavy blitzes". Actually, it appears to be substantially
pre-war in setting, though it may well end with the Blitz, and that caused it
to be pushed aside for other priorities. And although I never found SYBIL LETHBRIDGE's The Wild Feather or Gnats and
Camels, I did give another of her novels, Misfits, a try, and wrote about it in a post about disappointments here.
I might still pick up one or both of the other titles if I stumbled across
them, but I'm not actively searching.
Well, surely
that's more than enough to have bored you all silly. I doubt that I need to say
this at this point, but if you happen to have a copy of any of the above
titles, do feel free to drop me a line (furrowed.middlebrow@gmail.com)!
Well I am sorry I can't help with ANY of your wishes Scott! I do find it most disappointing that some sellers put such high prices on books they deem "collectable" and thus putting them out of reach of the average reader. Selling a book at a reasonable price (I'm not asking for cheap!) is surely better than leaving it on the shelf unloved and unread for goodness know how long.
ReplyDeleteExactly Ann. Sometimes books will be listed for months at some outrageous price. Very strange.
DeleteI had a copy of Underground River - but I can't remember what happened to any of my Edith Oliviers! There are still heaps of other books and papers in front of the shelves they were on, so they may still be there, but the excavation to find out is beyond me at the moment.
ReplyDeleteI can only imagine what wonderful excavations I could undertake in your house Ruth! It sounds delightful.
DeleteScott, I assume you know about The Second Shelf, based in London and run by A.N. Danvers. She specialises in rare and antiquarian books by women writers. I'm not sure if I can paste links here. Best place to find both is on Twitter.
ReplyDeleteAverill
I did not know about it Averill. How exciting! Oh to be in London right now!
DeleteI love these lists! They're like the best kind of treasure hunt.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kelsey! And thanks for having contributed to the treasure hunt by lending me Odd Shoes!
DeleteI wish I had something rare and desirable I could send you, Scott. It's only at obscure book sales and garage & estate sales that they might pop up.
ReplyDeleteThanks Susan! And also occasionally via email! :-)
DeleteI never knew Verily Anderson's Spam Tomorrow title was a play on something else, but it would appear that it was!
ReplyDeleteI had to stop and think for a moment Michelle, so I'm glad Susan popped in with the answer.
DeleteThrough the Looking Glass. You can have jam yesterday and jam tomorrow, but never today. :^)
ReplyDeleteThanks Susan!
DeleteHi Scott – that's an intriguing bunch of books the way you describe them. I read that Jungian one, and it's because its adultery-minded ensemble of characters exist simultaneously in two different realms, one earthly and the other astral/heavenly that resembles a collective unconscious. (I also have a few others I'd be happy to lend you, e.g. the Ruth Adam you mention.)
ReplyDeleteGrant Hurlock
Hmmmm, sounds interesting, Grant. Yes, I would definitely love to delve more into your amazing collection! Do let me know what you have.
DeleteWell, I haven't even heard of any of those titles - but, my goodness, you do make them sound beguiling! I was so pleased to pass on the Olivier to an appreciative home, and love to think of it there on your shelves!
ReplyDeleteVery grateful if you could identify a book enyoyed years ago, sought since, title and author not remembered. Girls' school story. A family of sisters go there as new pupils. One is Miranda who plays the cello. Their father is a writer. Headmistress called Miss Vane. I thought the title was Autumn Term, but research shows that to be a different book. The father sets up a writing competition, the winning story is called "When Half-Gods Go" Not Oxenham, Brent-Dyer, Bruce, Breary, Blyton. THanks for any clue, Angela
ReplyDeleteRe Dorothy Lambert's 'Much Dithering' - it's a village!
ReplyDeleteBook review from 1938 here: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19380924.2.129
Pam, Wellington NZ