Keeping Up Appearances

by Rose Macaulay, Simon Thomas (Afterword), Alison Bailey (Preface)

Revised edition; "The original text has been edited with the consent of the author's estate to remove racist and offensive content"

'Oh God, one should not go to parties, Daisy sighed, sinking in wan defeat in the melancholy dawn. One should not mingle with others; one should keep oneself to oneself...' Lying awake after a hotel party on holiday in the Mediterranean, Daisy Simpson reflects on her lacklustre social performance and muses on the impression her confident and graceful half-sister Daphne may have made on the other guests. What is it that makes Daphne, Daphne and Daisy, Daisy? And which of the two will attract the attentions of one of their hosts, Raymond, whom they have both fallen for? Returning to London, Daisy's life is strained by the efforts of presenting the right elements of her personality to the right people, resulting in embarrassments, difficulties and deceits as she navigates her relationships and social standing. Rose Macaulay's novel, first published in 1928, offers a sharp and witty commentary on how we twist our identities to fit, delivered in an intelligent and innovative style.

Genres: Fiction, British Literature

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1928

About the author

Emilie Rose Macaulay, whom Elizabeth Bowen called "one of the few writers of whom it may be said, she adorns our century," was born at Rugby, where her father was an assistant master. Descended on both sides from a long line of clerical ancestors, she felt Anglicanism was in her blood. Much of her childhood was spent in Varazze, near Genoa, and memories of Italy fill the early novels. The family returned to England in 1894 and settled in Oxford. She read history at Somerville, and on coming down lived with her family first in Wales, then near Cambridge, where her father had been appointed a lecturer in English. There she began a writing career which was to span fifty years with the publication of her first novel, Abbots Verney, in 1906. When her sixth novel, The Lee Shore (1912), won a literary prize, a gift from her uncle allowed her to rent a tiny flat in London, and she plunged happily into London literary life.

From BookRags: http://www.bookrags.com/biography/ros...

Reviews

[JimZ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gadzooks! Last week I read a book that confused me for a bit because there were two characters talking and doing things and such and I finally figured out they were the same person...a person with an alter-ego (the book was ‘Troy Chimneys’ by Margaret Kennedy). So, I am reading this book yesterday about Daphne and Daisy and they are talking and doing things separately and then I find out (because Macaulay reveals it) that they are one and the same person. That’s pretty weird...finding the same trope in two books in which I knew beforehand only the authors’ names and not the subject matter of the story line. 🧐

I just finished another book today that was a diary/memoir by James Lees-Milne (Midway on the Waves, Diaries 1948-1949), and one of his friends was Rose Macaulay, the author of this book. The coincidences just keep on coming! 🙂 🙃

At first, I did not care for this book because I thought the writing was a bit pretentious and flowery but the story line eventually grabbed my interest and I was OK from there on in. 3.5 stars for me. I was surprised by the ending or lack of it I should say. I am not sure what happened to Daphne Daisy Simpson.

I read from a hardcover edition of the book published in 1935 (10th printing, first printing was in 1924). But British Library Publishing has re-issued the book this year as part of their British Library Women Writers Series. So there! 🙂 🙃

The book was interesting in that is showed how we all (perhaps?) have different personas depending on the situation and other people involved. Macaulay has two quotes in one of the front endpapers of the book:
1. Three Johns: 1) the real John: known only to his Maker; 2) John’s ideal John: never the real one, and often unlike him; 3) Thomas’s ideal John: never the real John, nor John’s John, but often very unlike either. Only one of the three Johns is taxed; only one can be weighed on a platform-balance; but the other two are just as important. Oliver Wendell Holmes: ‘The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table’
2. “Oh, I don’t think that’s her characters,” said Miss Cotton. “Neither do I. She has no fixed character. No girl has. Nobody has. We all have twenty different characters—more characters than gowns—and put them on or take them off as often.” W.D. Howell

Reviews:
• https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2022/....
• https://www.stuckinabook.com/not-buck...
• https://reading19001950.wordpress.com...
• https://acatabookandacupoftea.wordpre...
• https://www.bookword.co.uk/keeping-up...

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh what a tangled web we weave...

It's hard to review this one without giving away a pretty big plot point. The story centres around Daisy and her half sister Daphne, and their attempts at fitting in with society, particularly the intellectual Folyots; both sisters are keen on Raymond Folyot. Daphne is a lot better at fitting in than Daisy, who is a bit socially awkward, embarrassed by her family, and ashamed of her job as a popular novelist and journalist. In the end her life becomes very complicated as she starts telling lies about who she is and where she comes from, making this a clever, funny, and wry commentary on the dangers of trying to pass our selves off as something other than ourselves.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fascinating book! I will not soon forget my shock at the twist. I gaped and exclaimed! Please someone else read this so we can talk. 😆

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever and funny. I can almost imagine this being re-issued as "chick lit" because life for the heroine centres around getting people to like her, and that includes eligible young men. Not so bitter as Evelyn Waugh, not so hard as Nancy Mitford, but reminiscent of both

[Lucy Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

The intellectual middle-class family, the Folyots, that Daphne Simpson wants to get "in" with are revealed to be just as awful as her "common" relatives. Her mother (whom she passes off as her old nanny), is the epitome of vulgarity as understood in 1925. She is an alcoholic, drinking endless cups of gin-laced tea. She goes to the sales in Oxford Street and buys a knocked-down yellow knitted two piece that will set off her large figure, red face and bleached blonde hair. Mrs Folyot, while just as large, dresses in dull tweeds and spends all her energies on the poor, the displaced and the exiled. (Rather like Mrs Jellyby in Bleak House.) Daphne is in love with Raymond Folyot, a detached zoologist.

The moral of the book is "don't pretend to be someone you aren't", but is mainly enjoyable for the observations on fashion, snobbery, trashy journalism, loose use of words and whatever passes through Macaulay's mind. Must read Crewe Train now.

Macaulay is mainly remembered for Towers of Trebizond, a later and somewhat magic realist novel. But I prefer her early funny stuff.

[LizTrue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written and set in the late 1920s, Keeping Up Appearances tells the story of Daisy Simpson, illegitimate daughter of a 'young literary man' and a homely, uneducated woman, and her struggle to find an identity in the society (or societies) she inhabits. Daisy is a rather low-brow journalist and novelist. She is in love with Raymond Folyot who comes from an educated and privileged middle-class home, but in order to attract him she has to recreate herself as a different person. That person is Daphne Simpson, an educated, sophisticated, witty woman who loves the same outdoor activities as Raymond. Much of the novel is devoted to Daisy's efforts to be 'Daphne' whenever Raymond or his family are around. However it becomes increasingly difficult for her to hide her true self, or her socially embarrassing mother, especially when she and Raymond become engaged.

Macaulay makes some thought-provoking observations on how people differ according to their upbringing and education, and some of those observations make for uncomfortable reading. It's easy to think that Daisy's biggest problem is her embarrassing relatives, but in fact her tensions come from the fact she is lying not only about her family but also about who she really is. In contrast to 'Daphne', she doesn't like nature or extremes of weather if she has to be out in them. Despite having had a good education she seems to have no ability or inclination to produce writings of any real quality. And she is not physically brave. Unfortunately these are qualities Raymond and the other Folyots have in plenty, and they expect 'Daphne' to be similarly equipped. Meanwhile her own family regard her with some pity because she is in her late twenties and still not married. It's not a comfortable position to be in.

This is an easily-read, pacey novel, although the early part can appear somewhat disjointed at times as the reader may not realise that Daisy and Daphne are in fact the same person. It is both comic and sad. I'd like to know what became of Daisy in the future, and whether she did manage to find true love and acceptance after all.

[Zoe Radley]

Sorry it’s not that this book is awful or terribly written. It’s just I can’t understand it. And my brain is having to decipher these wordy words (lol) I know it’s how it was written and when but dear lord the amount of words that’s in just one paragraph!!!. It’s ok but not sure it’s for me.

[Kay Robart · Rating 3 out of 5]

See my review here:

https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2022...

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting as a window into class and gender in 1920s Britain. I skimmed the second half.

[Gina House · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such an interesting and compelling book! This is my first experience reading a Rose Macaulay novel and I was surprised at how much I liked it. At first, her writing style was a little confusing to me. It's a mix of witty conversation, deep inner thoughts and lengthy, but somehow appealing explanations.

I don't want to say much and spoil the story, so all I will say is that I was utterly charmed (and very amused) by the characters, especially Daisy's mom, her brother Edward, Cary, and Mrs. Folyot. I had mixed feelings about Daisy and Daphne, while Raymond didn't seem (to me) a very good "catch".

Sadly, I was disappointed with the ending. I was hoping for something different, but I was left feeling a little let down and I'm still thinking about it now.

I'm looking forward to reading Dangerous Ages soon. I'm definitely intrigued by Rose Macaulay's approach to novels and I hope I like her other British Library Women Writer's book as much as this one.

One of my top 5 favorites in the BLWW series so far!
*
*
*
*
SMALL SPOILER BELOW!
*
*
*
*
I loved that this book also had a unique twist! Maybe if I was a little bit more clever, I would have figured it out sooner. I was definitely questioning a few things in the beginning of the book, but I was surprised when the twist was revealed. It made complete sense, though!

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 1928, not 1982 as Goodreads notes.
My first foray into the author that Virginia Woolf apparently enjoyed dissing. Seemed like an interesting start.
The book is not without its trying passages, but more times than I could count I marveled at how modern the prose felt and how timely the topic was. Some crafty person could make a pretty good movie out of this with a social-media-condemnation edge to it.
The book of course succeeds well enough on its own without thinking about how it can be fixed. The "gotcha" moment well into the book is likely well enough discussed in other reviews. I personally didn't see it coming, felt temporarily like an idiot, and then enjoyed everything for what it newly was.
Plenty to enjoy also in terms of how the book contemplates who we really are/were, who we really are and want to be (both personally and professionally), and how we impersonally reconcile these things on the run. Another one of those "why don't people actively discuss this book now?" kind of novels.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! This book has quite the surprise. Daisy and her half-sister, Daphne, struggle to get people to like them, accept them, even love them. It becomes quite the challenge to determine what to reveal about themselves and what to hide about themselves. The efforts generate much entertainment for the reader. And then there is that surprise. Quite the study in who we are, who others believe us to be and how to reconcile the differences. Witty and funny and very enjoyable!

[Tessa Zonneveld · Rating 5 out of 5]

Started out as a typical slice-of-life classic novel, but turned fascinating after the plottwist halfway through the book. Intriguing story about how you portray yourself to others and how it can all fall apart if you're not careful.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel written by an Oxbridge graduate, long before women were allowed to take their degrees, even after they were allowed to study for said degrees (the practice ended in the 1920s) is a psychological and social study of great intellectual insight and humour. The theme of split personalities, and the duality of one's character is reminiscent of existential dilemmas that have long troubled the human mind, but which seem even more poignant in a society where women's roles and rights were still being defined. The novel centres on the heroine(s) Daisy and her alter-ego, people pleasing Daphne and her split world, the one that she aspires to belong to, the one she feel entitled to but barred because of class insecurities and general gaucheness. Daphne's lower-middle class family, the delightful and lovable mother, her step-brother and sisters are depicted wonderfully as are the higher-middle class intelligentsia of her male love-interest with all the political causes championed at the time. A wonderfully droll, smart and funny portrait with all too modern day similarities.

[Muaz Jalil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting plot twist. I have the British Library Women Writer's edition. I have also read her Dangerous Ages. As usual with this series, way ahead of its time.

[Silvia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the main issue I had with this novel is that it was supposed to be funny but it ended up being a bit cringe and weird. The result was a very flowery and magniloquent prose which didn’t really fit with what was being described: Daisy goes to the ladies to “comb the hair disordered by swallowing and to powder the face disarranged by biting”? Has she been eating a wild beast in the jungle?

I didn’t read the reveal in the middle through a Jekyll and Hyde lens, it felt more like a girl who behaves differently with different people to be accepted in a family she finds more sophisticated than her own. I found the protagonist insufferable at times because of her cowardice and how ungrateful she is towards her family who are too “poor” and “embarrassing” for her.

It’s interesting how Daisy’s personas carry forward a social commentary and I’m always very interesting when class is discussed in a novel. In here it looked like there was no way for her to win. I’m also glad she didn’t jump off the boat at the end which I feared it was where the novel was leading.

I really wished she had picked a foreign country at the beginning of the novel! She lumped us all in a big foreign cauldron!

[Julia · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. After having recently finished such an exceptional novel as, "A Pin To See The Peepshow," it was going to be difficult to fill those shoes. And this one couldn't even come close. It was drab and boring and I've given up on it after only one chapter. As per usual when I admit defeat, I flicked forward to latter chapters but could see no sign of marked improvement. It lacked even apt character development, and I immediately became confused within the stunted text as to whom was Daisy or Daphne and nor could I care. The opening scene was pathetic, with Daisy reminiscing on the previous night's party, and then falling into some absurd slumber. It really had nothing to recommend it at all.

[Breeze · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this. At its heart this is about the struggle with class and self identity and deception. It’s written in a very modern style with a dislikeable main character and many quietly funny side characters. From the beginning it’s clear this won’t be a story with a happy romance or warm ending, but the direction of the ending did surprise me in a positive way. I don’t think I’ve ever read a classic quite so fast.

[J · Rating 2 out of 5]

Keeping Up Appearances by Rose Macaulay. The novel is unrelated to the popular British tv sitcom of the same title, but both are about class inferiority. The Daisy/Daphne dichotomy felt contrived and was unbelievable, and the plot was desultory and dull until the end. I considered bailing several times and ought to have. The only character that I liked was the tween girl, Cary Folyot.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Quite clever book with the way women present themselves- much of it still true today. There is a twist in the middle that kept me reading.

[Milla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am being a but harsh just because I didn't love the characters, but it was a good read nonetheless

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at 40%.
I think the enjoyment of this book hinges on the tension created by the major plot twist. Unfortunately, I guessed it early on and things dragged on and on for me. I found this book very easy to put down and a bit of a struggle to pick back up. No likeable characters, no plot to speak of, and the writing style was often awkward and jarring. I was curious about the major theme (identity and how we act with different people) but not enough to slog it out.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Link+ due 12/27

[Dogsandbooks]

Donated to DPL august 2015