Between the Wars discussion

Whenever you're finished....

I found this book really interesting in the way it portrays the decay of the landed gentry, and the roles of women. The Major rules the Priory in some ways - "the household had to wait for light until he wanted light himself", but is incapable of running his estates or house, and blames everyone else for that. Most telling is his thought that his son "showed a more urgent desire to do well than a gentleman... should." He marries Anthea thinking that he'll get himself an efficient housekeeper who will ensure that his sacred cricket fortnight is a success. She ends up completely changing the lives of all the inhabitants of Saunby.

Nearly all the women are dependent on men to a degree that leaves them almost powerless, except in how they, like Penelope and Anthea, can manipulate the men to eventually get their own way. Most of the marriages are of convenience or necessity - like Bessy - and the initially happy union of Christine and Nick has a crisis that nearly destroys them both.

I found the end jarring, and wonder if this book was published before war was declared.

I was wondering about the ending as well Gabriele. It seemed like they really thought war would be averted.

I also found it very painful to read the parts about Christine leaving her baby with Penelope and going to work in London. I find it almost unbearable to read those kind of things although I know it happens all the time.

I felt frustrated and disturbed by that as well, Lee. In fact, it seemed to me that they were all rather foolish, and I sometimes just wanted to shake some sense into them.

Didn't you love the Aunt who painted? I thought it was great that at the end she was happy living above the pub, puttering around in a mess and living simply.

I loved the description of how badly she painted! Trees without shadows, shadows without trees etc. A real free spirit.

And she just loved what she was doing and had every confidence that it was fantastic regardless of what anyone said.

Oh to be so self-assured! : ) I liked the way she shrugged off all responsibility by claiming that she was an artist - who obviously doesn't do anything domestic.

Hello all. To quickly introduce myself, I found this group via Lee (hi Lee!), and having read and loved The Priory several months ago, and having no one to talk to about it, I thought I'd join the group and throw in my two cents.

I wonder if anyone else besides me was inspired to read the book because the Provincial Lady (another favorite of mine) recommends it to the canteen cook in The Provincial Lady in Wartime . I just got it out to find the passage, and apologies for the length of this, but I can't resist quoting it all:

"...Mrs Peacock abruptly enquires if I can tell her a book to read. She has an idea--cannot say why, or whence derived--that I know something about books.
Find myself denying it as though confronted with highly scandalous accusation, and am further confounded by finding myself unable to think of any book whatever except Grimm's Fairy Tales which is obviously absurd. What, I enquire in order to gain time, does Mrs. Peacock like in the way of books?
In times such as these, she replies very apologetically indeed, she thinks a novel is practically the only thing. Not a detective novel, not a novel about politics, nor about the unemployed, nothing to do with sex, and above all not a novel about life under the Nazi regime in Germany.
Inspiration immediately descends upon me and I tell her without hesitation to read a delightful novel called The Priory by Dorothy Whipple, which answers all the requirements, and has a happy ending into the bargain.
Mrs. Peacock seems to think that it is too good to be true, and she can hardly believe that any modern novel is as nice as all that, but I assure her that it is and that it is many years since I have enjoyed anything so much."

The Priory must have just come out at the time this scene was taking place (autumn of '39), and I can't help wondering if Delafield was a friend of Whipple's and trying to give her book a push!

Like Gabriele and Lee, I thought the book ended very oddly, with the war being averted, especially since over the course of the book I had been thinking that war would be declared at the end, and Christine and her husband would reunite on account of him being called up, and the Priory would be requisitioned for evacuees or soldiers or something. Instead, they seem to go off into some kind of alternative history Never-Neverland. I wonder if there actually was a treaty in September 1938 that seemed at the time like it would avert war. And it just seems so odd -- of course everyone would have felt some degree of relief, but from our perspective, even knowing how grim the war would turn out to be, it's hard wrap one's mind around the concept that not challenging Hitler could be a valid option. Anyway, the passage I quoted shows that the a-historical ending didn't bother contemporary readers, or at least not E.M. Delafield anyway.

Gosh, this turned out to be much longer than I meant it to be. Sorry for that.

Welcome Emily, and thank you for that wonderful quote and your thoughtful comments! That's an interesting supposition that Delafield and Whipple were friends - a bit of friendly promotion was probably most welcome.

I don't know enough yet about the months leading up to WW2, but I have been reading about the notorious British Mitford sisters, some of whom were friends with Hitler. It seemed that optimists really couldn't believe there would be another war with Germany. Unity Mitford, who was living in Germany at the time and a very close friend of Hitler, was so devastated by the outbreak of war between her two beloved countries that she tried to commit suicide.

Perhaps Whipple was one of those who was desperately optimistic.

The "treaty" that was supposed to avert war between Britain and Germany was the Munich Agreement between Hitler and then Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. Chamberlain said it ensured "Peace in Our Time." Others called it appeasement (as it was.) Hitler was just buying time to do his dirty work. A year later he invaded Poland, and the war began in Sept. 1939.

Thanks for that info, Deb. I can imagine that there must have been lots of uncertainly and anxiety in those months leading up to the war.

Hi Emily! Nice to see you here. I've only read the first 2 or 3 Provincial Lady books so that's not where I heard of The Priory. I can't actually remember how I got onto Whipple.

I guess for us looking back with the full knowledge of what Hitler was up to it's difficult to imagine not wanting to declare war on Germany. I always get the sense when I'm reading about this period that the feelings of loss after WW1 were so strong that wanting to avoid another is understandable. And could anyone really even dream up a person as horrendous as Hitler?

You're so right about hindsight, Lee. It is obvious in The Mitford Girls by Mary S. Lovell that lots of people even outside Germany admired Hitler and thought that he had done good things for the country - which he had. They didn't notice - or chose to ignore - the rumblings of anti-Semitism and fanaticism. The parents of the Mitford girls actually separated because Lady Redesdale was a great fan and supporter of Hitler, even after the war had started, while her husband was not. They never lived together again. Diana (Mitford) Mosley and her husband were imprisoned during the war because of their association with Hitler, who was apparently a very charming man. Hard to believe now!

Diana and Oswald (called Tom) Mosley were imprisoned because Oswald had created and was head of a Fascist organization in Britain which marched in the streets, attacked protesters, opposed allowing refugees from Hitler to enter the country, and was considered likely to try to overthrow British democracy. Imprisoned not just because they were friend with Hitler, but rather because they were the most likely people in Britain to form a fifth column.

I'm not that far into the Mosley's history yet, Deb, so thanks for that.

Gabriele wrote: "I'm not that far into the Mosley's history yet, Deb, so thanks for that."
Hi Gabriele,

If you have not had a chance to read the letters between the sisters edited by Charlotte Mosley. It is well worth the time. I also enjoyed Anne De Courcy's biography of Diana Mosley. I too am fascinated by the Mitfords.

P.S. I loved the priory!!!!

Sbaird wrote: "If you have not had a chance to read the letters between the sisters edited by Charlotte Mos..."

I have both of those books on my shelves, Sbaird! Now, just to find the time to read them....

Gabriele wrote: "Sbaird wrote: "If you have not had a chance to read the letters between the sisters edited by Charlotte Mos..."

I have both of those books on my shelves, Sbaird! Now, just to find the time to read..."

Deb wrote: "Diana and Oswald (called Tom) Mosley were imprisoned because Oswald had created and was head of a Fascist organization in Britain which marched in the streets, attacked protesters, opposed allowing..."

I love the spoof of the Black Shirts(Mosley's fascist group) in the Code of the Woosters. If memory serves me I think they were called the brown shorts in the book?

I'll have to revisit my Wooster books!

Gabriele wrote: "I'll have to revisit my Wooster books!"

Virgin territory for me. Possible group read?

We haven't had much participation in group reads lately, Lauren. But we could try. I don't have time to revisit the Wooster books just now, much as I enjoyed them. I'd be happy for someone else to lead a discussion!

That's true, about lack of participation. I had a lot a lot on my plate around the time we were reading The Priory, and a lot of people couldn't get copies if I remember rightly. My mother has the collection of P.G.Wodehouse so I might just read them anyway. Have you seen the adaptation with Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie?

Yes, I loved the Fry-Laurie series! I think they got both Jeeves and Wooster spot-on, and never tire of seeing them.

I've been immersed in loads of work lately as well, and find I can't spread myself too thin. Once I really immerse myself in writing, it's hard to drag myself back into the present era.

But that's a good thing, really. Too many writers suffer from writer's block. I used to want to write but always found myself hitting a brick wall after a while and starting again.
Good luck with your writing--is it set between the wars?

Lauren wrote: "But that's a good thing, really. Too many writers suffer from writer's block. I used to want to write but always found myself hitting a brick wall after a while and starting again.
Good luck with..."

Yes, starting in 1919. It's book 3 in my Muskoka Novels series, the first two taking place during WW1.