British Library Women Writers Series

War Among Ladies by Eleanor Scott

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War Among Ladies by Eleanor Scott and published in the British Library Women Writers Series

‘War Among Ladies’ by Eleanor Scott is the story of the vicious internal politics prevalent in a small girls’ school in the Midlands, a school on the brink of closing down due to poor academic performance. The book is not, yet another retelling of high spirited schoolgirl antics, troubled exchanges on the lacrosse field or ill-fated midnight feasts. Rather, the book focuses on the dire dilemmas facing the ladies in the school staff rooms. Moreover, the book aims to highlight some of the major problems facing the school education system of the 1920’s and the hardships faced by a generation of older women, beaten by such a system, leaving them penniless, uncared for and unwanted in the bleak, comfortless stretch of old age.

The story is set at Besley High School – a small school for girls in the Midlands. Several members of the faculty are quite older in age, in fact slowly approaching that halcyon period known as retirement. These women, of which there are quite a few at Besley, have everything to lose in the final stretch of their teaching career. They are women who have paid money in to a fund that will provide them benefits upon retirement, they have just a few years to work until they reach sixty, but if they lose their jobs before attaining that age, they have everything to lose and will forfeit their hard earned pension and pension fund savings. Towards the end of their careers they are paid at the maximum pay scale, making recruitment by another school difficult if they lose their jobs, they are rather inflexible in their ways, often adopting teaching methods that are out of favour, sometimes they cannot adapt to the new methods of examination and they are reluctant to change their ways. Some of them do not have private means of their own or substantial savings and it is these women who are often on the brink of nervous collapse, women who lose their sleep in fear of losing the means to live a dignified life in old age.

Such is Miss Cullen. Old and weatherbeaten. Counting the days till she reaches sixty. Praying that the unruly girls in her class will heed her. Each day is a misery. Sometimes it is too much to endure and Miss Cullen, feels she is too unwell to take up her French teaching duties for the day. And then there is the matter of the terrible results of the girls in their French exams that year. So bad that many of them fail the subject and therefore, fail overall. For to fail in one subject means that a girl fails the entire exam and brings shame to her school. Such a girl might gain distinction in other subjects. But this is if no use, if she fails in another.

When the school’s academic performance, particularly in French, turns from bad to worse, several members of the staff feel that they must take matters into their own hands in order to save their own skins. Naturally all eyes are fixed on incompetent Miss Cullen and a fair amount of finger pointing ensues.

Miss Cullen, realizes all too well, her perilous situation and she strives to save herself by whatever means she has to hand. Miss Cullen has one redeeming virtue, however, and that is her conscience. There is one rather telling chapter, where Miss Cullen has an internal dialogue with herself about her moral quandary. She stacks up all the pros and cons of resigning from her job. There are many reasons for her to resign – her inability to maintain discipline, inability to teach according to the present day standards, and lack of competency to prepare the students for examinations- being some of them. But quite pitifully, the only reason that Miss Cullen cannot listen to the dictates of her own conscience, is because of her financial dependency on her pension. She simply cannot afford to resign.

To contrast with Miss Cullen, there is a young, fresh-faced new teacher who has been added to the teaching staff at Besley – Miss Viola Kennedy. Totally innocent of the workings of the school system, she befriends Miss Cullen, when no one else will have anything to do with her, mostly because she feels sorry for her. And in this action, she commits an error because the rest of the faculty are determined to place her in the path of trouble. However, Miss Kennedy has youth and beauty on her side and if she does lose her job, it does not mean that it is the end of the world for her.

The title of the story is particularly interesting, especially when considering the time during which the book is set. In the late 1920’s the world was still reeling and recovering from the effects of the Great War. It was the men who played a more active role on the war field, in that cruel war that lead to the loss of so many lives. However, a whole generation of surplus women were still suffering from the aftermath of that war. People were having to adjust to a post-war life of economic hardship. The ‘War’ in ‘War Among Ladies’ is thus inextricably intertwined with the Great War that preceeded it.

‘War Among Ladies’ is filled with twists and turns, ugly politics, scheming and so much drama. It is quite a page turner of a novel, written very well and with great sympathy for the central character of Miss Cullen.

War Among Ladies, one feels, is a rather scathing social commentary. It may be alright, to become preoccupied in the game of pointing fingers at one or another individual in this story, but the problem is more far reaching than that. If one must point the finger, should the finger pointing be restricted to certain individuals or to the social system that helped perpetrate such finger pointing? It is quite a serious point to be pondered.

Many thanks to the British Library for sending me a review copy of ‘War Among Ladies’. All opinions are my own.

‘The Love Child’ by Edith Olivier

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‘The Love Child’ by Edith Olivier, British Library Women Writers Series

‘The Love Child’ by Edith Olivier is a fascinating novel, half steeped in reality, half steeped in fancy and flights of imagination that will captivate the reader from start to finish.

Published in 1927, this book is another product of the interwar years, a story centred around a lonely, single woman, a ‘surplus’ woman of the Great War- who is left quite, quite alone in the world after the death of her Mother.

The depth of Agatha Bodenham’s loneliness is so deep, she remembers an imaginary playfellow from her youth, a young girl called Clarissa and thinks about her constantly and the make-believe games they used to play. One night, Agatha dreams of Clarissa and the dream feels most real and offers Agatha some respite from her loneliness. But slowly and surely, Clarissa visits Agatha during the day time and little Clarissa gains more life-like qualities.

Worried about what the servants might think of the sudden appearance of this strange child, Agatha flees to live in a hotel in Brighton for a few months. There given the peace and solitude needed to live happily with Clarissa without scrutiny, the young girl turns slowly but surely into a girl with real flesh and bones and human characteristics, observable by fellow guests at the hotel.

On returning to her home, Agatha introduce Clarissa to the servants in her house as her adopted daughter, a young girl belonging to their extended family who has recently been orphaned. The servants and neighbours accept this fact without demur, pleased to find their mistress with a renewed interest in life.

Life is blissful for Agatha. She and Clarissa live a beautiful life, constantly in each other’s company, playing games and reading books and preoccupying themselves with all those activities that Agatha had been denied as a child herself.

And then one day, a neighbourhood policeman demands to know details of Clarissa’s parentage and threatens to take her away to the Workhouse if facts are not furnished. Agatha in her despair tells a lie and describes Clarissa as being her ‘love-child’ – a fact that embarrasses the policeman but succeeds in silencing him.

Clarissa is now secure in sight of the law, and no one can take her away from Agatha. But as Clarissa grows up and finds interests, pursuits and friends of her own, Agatha is thrown into a constant tumult of jealousy and frenzy and Clarissa’s existence is jeopardised once more.

‘The Love Child’ is one of those rare novels where realism mingles with fantasy and whimsy and the whole is rendered quite believable. What is most interesting to observe are the forms that Clarissa takes – how she waxes and wanes between imagination and real existence, how her life blood ebbs and flows in perfect harmony with Agatha’s most inner and tender emotions.

I enjoyed watching Clarissa’s gradual appearance in Agatha’s life. I was astounded at the way in which she achieved human form and was gradually recognised by others and it was interesting to watch the interplay between Clarissa and Agatha.

It was also very interesting to witness the fact that Agatha would rather heap ignominy and shame on herself by referring to Clarissa as her ‘love-child’, at a time when illegitimacy was severely shunned in society, rather than lose the child altogether. There is a gnawing sense of loving and wanting to be loved, a need to nurture that pervades the book and haunts the reader.

‘The Love Child’ may start out as a novel about loneliness but mostly it is a novel that centres on possessiveness – the idea of controlling and being consumed by a relationship, barring all outsiders. And Clarissa is undoubtably the projection of Agatha’s psyche, a person not to be shared by others.

What happens to Clarissa? Does Agatha have her happy ending? You will need to read the story for yourself to find out. The writing is very good, the storytelling compelling and original. A page turning novel that will keep you guessing right down to the last word.

I was sent this book as a review copy from the publisher but as usual, all opinions are my own.

‘Sally on the Rocks’ by Winifred Boggs

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Sally on the Rocks by Winifred Boggs

I’m writing this review of ‘Sally on the Rocks’ as part of the British Library Women Writers Series Blog Tour. I’ve been sent a review copy of the book but all opinions expressed about the book are my own.


‘Sally on the Rocks’ is the story of Miss Sally Lunton’s attempts to secure a husband for herself, to ward off future financial insecurity- in an attempt to prevent herself being flung ‘on the rocks’, as such. On the surface, it sounds like a mercenary tale but it is based on a unique social situation, which affected a whole generation of women, maimed by their inability to either earn a living or marry- due to so many men fighting and perishing at the Front, in the Great War of 1914.


Miss Salome Lunton or Sally Lunton is on the rocks. She is single, 31 years old and without means of income in war-struck Paris of 1915. The bohemian lifestyle that was supported by Sally’s dubious painting career is no longer viable. Sally, hence, returns to her place of comfort and shelter – to the small village of Little Crampton under the care of her elderly guardian of sorts – Reverend Adam Loveday. Reverend Loveday is old and ailing, his days are numbered and Sally realises that she must marry and marry well to secure a comfortable future for herself.


A letter from neighbourhood gossip and busybody, Miss Maggie Hopkins, reveals that an eligible bachelor has arrived on the scene of Little Crampton, by the name of Mr. Alfred Bingley. A pompous, self-absorbed, portly man, Mr Bingley, is the new bank manager of the village and already a young widow, by the name of Mrs Dalton has set her cap for him.
Sally and Mrs Dalton both vie for Mr Bingley’s affections. The whole village watches the ongoing attempts to woo Mr Bingley and the question is who will win Alfred Bingley’s heart?


Mr Bingley in the meantime is ruled by his deceased Mother’s ‘Book’. A holy book of sorts, it is a book written by his Mother with all sorts of lessons, insights and quotations to guide Mr Bingley in securing a suitable bride. Whenever, Mr Bingley falls into a predicament, he consults ‘The Book’ and the Book delivers the most astute observations. It is both ridiculous and funny. Mr Bingley is only Mr Bingley in name. He reminded me ever so much of Mr Collins of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ fame in parts.


While this charming love triangle battle is being waged there are more love interests for Sally. As you can tell, the book is full of incident. An old flame from Sally’s past, comes into an inheritance and comes to reside in Little Crampton. This man’s appearance and his connection with Sally, arouses the interest of interfering Miss Maggie Hopkins and she threatens to reveal secrets from Sally’s past that might lead to a compromising situation for Sally. Another wounded and mentally disturbed war veteran also enters Sally’s life and she endeavours to help him recover from his mental and physical wounds. Life is not without excitement in Little Crampton and ‘Sally on the Rocks’ makes for an entertaining read.


Even though the bare bones of the story are serious, the storyline of ‘Sally on the Rocks’ is delightfully light and funny. Filled with the most absurd characters and peppered with satire, Miss Austen would have approved of many of the well drawn characters from Little Crampton in ‘Sally on the Rocks’. Certainly, Mr Alfred Bingley is a nod to ‘Pride and Prejudice’; Little Crampton bears resemblance to Mrs Gaskell’s ‘Cranford’.

‘Sally on the Rocks’ was published in 1915 when the First World War was still being waged and when the full extent of the war was not yet known. The men of the village are hence absent and the women are superfluous and yet without means of earning a livelihood. There is a hint of the hardship and atrocities of war from the narrative of Robert Kantyre, the wounded soldier from the Front. But mostly ‘Sally on the Rocks’ is a novel about the people who were left behind at home. A whole generation of women who were on the brink of great change. They would not only suffer the great hardship of losing loved ones, they would also have to accept social change and a different way of life. As seen in this novel, many women would have to brave a new life and seek opportunities with their menfolk, sometimes on a new continent. It was a time of immense change and more than anything else, ‘Sally on the Rocks’ spoke to me of such upheaval, new horizons, hard work and fresh opportunities. Poised on the precipice of great change, ‘Sally on the Rocks’ is the tale of Sally and many women of her generation.