This section includes (#22) the most middlebrow novel (in my opinion)
by the bestselling novelist of all time, one of the absolutely iconic books of
the early days of World War II (#24), and the earliest title on the list (#28),
which despite being technically 19th century is remarkably prescient in the
themes and issues it explores and therefore seems to belong here.
I had to grit my teeth a bit over #29. Oh, how I tried to justify
including one of the later novels by this author instead, because I think her
debut is a bit overrated. But all the logic of the list that I've set out argued for the most
famous and influential of her books. Alas and alack.
30) WINIFRED HOLTBY, South Riding (1936)
Holtby's final novel, published posthumously after her death at a
terribly young age, traces the local politics and important figures of a
fictional Yorkshire county, featuring vivid characters, details of the life and
politics of the time, and a clear social conscience. The Guardian had a great article, here,
about the novel at the time that the TV adaptation was released. In print from Virago in the U.S. and BBC
Books in the U.K.
29) STELLA GIBBONS, Cold Comfort Farm (1932)
I practically tied myself into knots trying to justify including one of
Gibbons' more complex later novels, such as Westwood
or The Matchmaker, instead of this
one, which overshadowed everything else she wrote. But of course I failed. This is
unquestionably Gibbons' most famous and influential work, a novel that to some extent shifted the course of middlebrow writing, so it couldn't be left out. In print in multiple editions.
28) MARY CHOLMONDELEY, Red Pottage (1899)
Traces the friendship between Rachel, newly wealthy but unhappily
married, and Hester, a successful novelist stuck living with her clergyman
brother. As Virago put it, "Demonstrating the need for women's economic
and emotional independence, Red Pottage
created a scandal on publication with its attack on the pretensions and
complacency of the English middle classes." The earliest novel on this
list, but perhaps rather much ahead of its time in anticipating the major
themes of mid-century novelists. Jane at Beyond Eden Rock reviewed it here.
Public domain, so free e-books, as well as paperbacks of uncertain quality
abound. Try here
for a quality e-book. Second hand copies of the Virago edition are also readily
available.
27) ANGELA THIRKELL, Cheerfulness Breaks In (1940)
Tough to choose only one of Thirkell's inimitable Barsetshire novels
for this list, but Cheerfulness has a
lot of adherents as her best work, with the added appeal of seeing the
disruptions and hilarity of the county residents adapting to the outbreak of
war. Lyn at I Prefer Reading reviewed it here.
In print, e-book only, from Virago (but beware of a glitch that seems to have
happened on Amazon with folks getting the wrong book).
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| Enid Bagnold |
26) ENID BAGNOLD, The Squire (1938)
Perhaps one of the most powerful novels ever written about motherhood, The Squire tells of a 44-year-old mother
of four awaiting the arrival of her fifth child while her husband is absent in
India. The older children and the other women in the house are beautifully
delineated, as are the main character's thoughts and feelings about them. I
wrote about it here.
In print from Persephone, and older Virago editions still turn up here and there.
25) ELIZABETH ELIOT, Alice (1950)
The last of the really obscure books on this list, I promise, but this
one is just a gem, so hilarious, so delightfully morbid, and at the same time
so potent in its observations about class, suffering, and death, that I
couldn't resist. I've written about all five of Eliot's novels here.
Criminally out of print, but it was a Book Society choice, so second hand
copies are easy to come by.
24) JAN STRUTHER, Mrs Miniver (1939)
Of course this has to be on the list. Source of the classic film and a
major bestseller during the war, Mrs Miniver and her family are the
quintessential upper middle class English family bravely facing the threats of
the approaching war. Later editions include additional wartime content.
Churchill reportedly said the book had done more for the Allied cause than a
flotilla of battleships. Book Snob reviewed the book here.
In print from Harvest in the U.S. and Virago in the U.K.
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| Evadne Price (aka Helen Zenna Smith) |
23) EVADNE PRICE (as Helen Zenna
Smith), Not So Quiet… (1930, aka Stepdaughters of War)
One of the classics of women's writing about the Great War, Not So Quiet… follows six young women (all around 20 years old)
working as volunteer ambulance drivers just behind the Front in France. Kirsty at Vulpes Libris
wrote about it here.
In print from Feminist Press.
22) AGATHA CHRISTIE, The Hollow (1946)
Probably better considered as a middlebrow novel than as a mystery (for
the latter genre, it has a distinctly slow build, though the solution is
certainly clever). It's rather as if Christie began to write another of her
Mary Westmacott novels, then decided halfway through to plunk a murder into it.
But read it as one of her most character-rich novels and it's quite
entertaining. In print.
21) ANNA BUCHAN (as O. Douglas),
The Proper Place (1926)
Set not long after World War I, and featuring Lady Jane Rutherford, who
must sell her family estate and move, along with her daughter and niece, to a
more modest home in a seaside town, while the nouveau-riche Jacksons, who buy
the estate, attempt to fit in to life among the gentry. Lyn at I Prefer Reading
reviewed it here.
Reprinted in 2010 by Greyladies, but out of print again.
