Oh yeah, I think you'd really like E.H. Young! It's a joy to find people with similar reading tastes and pass along recommendations for books I've loved!
Yay! I've been looking forward to this. That first painting is so dramatic! That is so true about how Young uses the bridge in her novels. I'd never thought of that before. I so agree that this novel is right up there with other brilliant family/marriage novels. The Blacketts' marriage fascinates me. Mr. Blackett is such a typical Austen-type character with his complete inability to see reality. Young shows so well how he's always twisting the truth he receives to make it reflect positively on himself. Your point is so interesting that Bertha never lets herself be seen, so her position is a complex one. If she had let herself be seen early in her marriage, would it have done any good? Is her hiddenness her only good coping option? I also love the friendships that pop up unexpectedly. Though there's a lot in the novel that's somber, it still has a light feel to it. There are so many lovable characters.
I feel like so many middlebrow authors get compared to Austen, but E.H. Young might be the one that bears the most resemblance to her. She works within a small social circle, has similar characterization, and deals with life's upheavals with a light touch but without minimizing the consequences. Though her modernity certainly comes out with her open-ended conclusions.
I do wonder about Bertha, and I share your question about whether it would have done any good for their marriage if she had been honest from the start. I really want to see how their marriage unfolds. Where's my sequel, Emily? haha
And yes to the loveable characters! And the funny moments! Miss Spanner improving the bookshop employee's reading tastes. Flora and Mr. Blackett getting stuck on their front step after returning from abroad. I just went back through my commonplace and found this quote about the Fraser's failed endeavor in raising chickens: "The determined mortality of the hens." So good.
I have three more Upper Radstowe novels to read and I'm spacing them out to savor them.
Yes, I agree about Young being the most similar to Austen. Pym gets the comparison a lot but I don’t see it as clearly.
Seriously we need a sequel! Does Rhoda become a Land Girl? Do the boys survive the war? There are so many stories about war changing things radically for individuals. I could see that happening here. Though of course the Mr Blacketts of the story may not change at all.
I just thought of Fergus compared with Mr Blackett. They’re both selfish but in very different ways. 🤔
LOL, I love those moments! That quote! 😂
Which three? I think I’ve read the same ones as you so far plus The Misses Mallett.
Rhoda as a Land Girl would be so much fun to read about! And agreed, Fergus and Mr. Blackett are both not winning any husband of the year awards. Although I did think it was interesting how Rosamund reflected on the ways that her own behavior might have contributed to her husband's alienation.
I still have The Misses Mallett, William, and Celia to go. Plus all her other non Upper Radstowe books.
E.H. Young is an author for you. I just know it! This is the fourth of hers I've read. The others are Miss Mole, Jenny Wren, and The Curate's Wife (which is the sequel to Jenny Wren). I think you'd love them all.
That's a good comparison! I find that Goudge tends to give the reader the satisfaction of seeing the redemptive arc in her characters' lives whereas Young leaves a lot open ended. Sometimes I'm in the mood for the former and sometimes I want the messy, unresolved slice of life, but I enjoy both writers immensely.
Adding this to my TBR list. Thank you for being such a wonderful curator of books for women like me. 🙃
Oh yeah, I think you'd really like E.H. Young! It's a joy to find people with similar reading tastes and pass along recommendations for books I've loved!
Yay! I've been looking forward to this. That first painting is so dramatic! That is so true about how Young uses the bridge in her novels. I'd never thought of that before. I so agree that this novel is right up there with other brilliant family/marriage novels. The Blacketts' marriage fascinates me. Mr. Blackett is such a typical Austen-type character with his complete inability to see reality. Young shows so well how he's always twisting the truth he receives to make it reflect positively on himself. Your point is so interesting that Bertha never lets herself be seen, so her position is a complex one. If she had let herself be seen early in her marriage, would it have done any good? Is her hiddenness her only good coping option? I also love the friendships that pop up unexpectedly. Though there's a lot in the novel that's somber, it still has a light feel to it. There are so many lovable characters.
I feel like so many middlebrow authors get compared to Austen, but E.H. Young might be the one that bears the most resemblance to her. She works within a small social circle, has similar characterization, and deals with life's upheavals with a light touch but without minimizing the consequences. Though her modernity certainly comes out with her open-ended conclusions.
I do wonder about Bertha, and I share your question about whether it would have done any good for their marriage if she had been honest from the start. I really want to see how their marriage unfolds. Where's my sequel, Emily? haha
And yes to the loveable characters! And the funny moments! Miss Spanner improving the bookshop employee's reading tastes. Flora and Mr. Blackett getting stuck on their front step after returning from abroad. I just went back through my commonplace and found this quote about the Fraser's failed endeavor in raising chickens: "The determined mortality of the hens." So good.
I have three more Upper Radstowe novels to read and I'm spacing them out to savor them.
Yes, I agree about Young being the most similar to Austen. Pym gets the comparison a lot but I don’t see it as clearly.
Seriously we need a sequel! Does Rhoda become a Land Girl? Do the boys survive the war? There are so many stories about war changing things radically for individuals. I could see that happening here. Though of course the Mr Blacketts of the story may not change at all.
I just thought of Fergus compared with Mr Blackett. They’re both selfish but in very different ways. 🤔
LOL, I love those moments! That quote! 😂
Which three? I think I’ve read the same ones as you so far plus The Misses Mallett.
Rhoda as a Land Girl would be so much fun to read about! And agreed, Fergus and Mr. Blackett are both not winning any husband of the year awards. Although I did think it was interesting how Rosamund reflected on the ways that her own behavior might have contributed to her husband's alienation.
I still have The Misses Mallett, William, and Celia to go. Plus all her other non Upper Radstowe books.
This is an excellent review! Yet another addition to the TBR!
Thanks so much, Katy! Young is great. Another writer who deserves a much wider readership!
Thank you for sharing about this novel; it sounds just like my cup of tea. Just requested it from my library.
E.H. Young is an author for you. I just know it! This is the fourth of hers I've read. The others are Miss Mole, Jenny Wren, and The Curate's Wife (which is the sequel to Jenny Wren). I think you'd love them all.
Thank you - I'll check them out.
Lovely. It reminds me of many characters in Goudge's novels with troubled/complicated marriages and relationships.
That's a good comparison! I find that Goudge tends to give the reader the satisfaction of seeing the redemptive arc in her characters' lives whereas Young leaves a lot open ended. Sometimes I'm in the mood for the former and sometimes I want the messy, unresolved slice of life, but I enjoy both writers immensely.