High Wages- Dorothy Whipple

The Blurb- taken from the Persephone Website

It is about a girl called Jane who gets a badly-paid job in a draper’s shop in the early years of the last century. Yet the title of the book is based on a Carlyle quotation – ‘Experience doth take dreadfully high wages, but she teacheth like none other’ – and Jane, having saved some money and been lent some by a friend, opens her own dress-shop.

As Jane Brocket writes in her Persephone Preface: the novel ‘is a celebration of the Lancastrian values of hard work and stubbornness, and there could be no finer setting for a shop-girl-made-good story than the county in which cotton was king.’ And the cultural historian Catherine Horwood has written about this novel: ‘Dorothy Whipple was only too well aware that clothes were one of the keys to class in this period. Before WW1, only the well-off could afford to have their clothes made: yards of wool crepe and stamped silks were turned into costumes by an invisible army of dressmakers across the country, and the idea of buying clothes ready-made from a dress shop was still unusual. Vera Brittain talks of “hand-me-downs” in Testament of Youth with a quite different meaning from today. These were not clothes passed from sibling to sibling but “handed down from a rack” in an outfitter’s shop, a novelty.’ High Wages describes how the way people shopped was beginning to change; it is this change that Dorothy Whipple uses as a key turning point in her novel.

The Review

I read High Wages for the Sheffield Persephone Book Group, and we last Thursday we met at Bird's Yard Sheffield to discuss our latest read.  Here are a few of my thoughts about the book.

High Wages had appealed to me for a long time, mainly because everything I'd read about it indicated it was the story of a young woman starting a business and making her way in the world.  Although written in 1930, the book is set from c1912 into the 1920s, and I'd expected Whipple's novel to offer a good insight into the life of ambitious women in this pivotal period in history.

The opening scenes, where Jane takes a job at a large department store, grabbed my attention.  I could imagine the shop windows and down-on-her-luck Jane peering into them full of hopes and aspirations.  I wanted to know where the plot would go and if this would be the inspirational shop girl-made-good story I hoped for.

It's fair to say I was surprised when the emphasis of the story shifted to romance, as although it's an ever-popular theme in literature- particularly that aimed at women- the reviews and articles I'd seen focussed on the elements of fashion, business and society within the novel.  Jane, who in the early chapters appears to be quite an 'average' girl in every sense, seems to turn men's heads left, right and centre.  The creative Wilf and attractive Noel both show signs of interest in Jane, and there's also evidence of her hold over other men, such as mentioned in the scene at the ball.  I imagine some of these scenes were considered quite risqué when the book was first published.  As a reader of contemporary romance, I can see how High Wages might be considered an early example of modern women's fiction-it had a lot in common with the bestselling 'chicklit' titles I've read recently. 

Whilst I liked the writing style and some of the more vividly painted scenes (especially the visit to the seaside which captured the essence of the great British holiday), I longed for more consistent character development.  It felt hard to get to know who Jane was and what she wanted, and although I mostly wished her success there were times I thought she acted inconsistently.  However, High Wages is early Whipple, written at a time when she was developing her style and honing her writing skills, and I can imagine her later works are more well-rounded in a literary sense.

High Wages was a page turner of a book and I can see why it appeals to the modern reader.  It just wasn't what I'd expected.  If you're interested in social history, the development of women's fiction and enjoy a good old-fashioned love triangle, High Wages might be for you.

High Wages is out now, published in paperback by Persephone Books.

Persephone Book Group at Bird's Yard, Sheffield

The wonderful Bird's Yard on Chapel Walk, stockist of all manner of independently retailed goods, was the venue for the very first Persephone Book Group run by Handpicked Books, who have a unit in the shop.

On the evening of March 19th, a small group of us met to discuss Miss Buncle's Book, which I've previously reviewed here. We had an interesting discussion about  how society, community life and women were portrayed in the book, and enjoyed dissecting the varied cast of characters.  We also spoke about author DE Stevenson, as well as veering off into other bookish chat and enjoying tea and posh biscuits.

All are welcome to join us when we next meet on June 4th to discuss High Wages by Dorothy Whipple, but please let either @bookshandpicked or myself @katey5678 know via twitter so we can put enough chairs out- and get enough biscuits!  We start at 6pm and stay for around an hour and it's very informal and laid back. None of us profess to be literary geniuses, we just enjoy reading about life in a bygone era.

If you need a copy High Wages prior to the meeting, they are available to purchase from Handpicked Books at Bird's Yard.

Come along and join the fun!  We're a small, but friendly group!

Reviews coming soon on Books with Bunny

I haven't done an 'Incoming' post for a while, partly because I am needing to devote a day to organising my blogging!  However, I CAN tell you that I will be posting review for the following books very shortly....

Party Games by Jo Carnegie
Little Boy Lost by Marghanita Laski
Expo 58 by Jonathan Coe
Him and Me by Jack and Michael Whitehall

and some romance from the fabulous Harper Impulse to heat up these chilly evenings!

Rowena's Key by AJ Nuest

Click here to download Rowena's Key

Summer of Surrender by Zara Stonely

Click here to download Summer of Surrender

Every Eye- Isobel English

Beautifully written in a poetic style, Every Eye is a rich book full of imagery.  However, I found it hard to read in long stints as it was quite verbose- a lot was packed into a short book. 

Every Eye is the overlap of two stories, Hatty on her Ibiza honeymoon with her younger husband and a story from the past.  As Hatty looks back on her life and reflects, the reader learns how the past is affecting her in the present day.

I'm not entirely sure that I understood it properly, and would benefit from another reading to fully understand the complexities of the plot.  However, I didn't warm to Hatty or her husband Stephen throughout the book and am not sure whether I will ever reread Every Eye.  I will seek out further writings by Isobel English though, as reading her work reminded me of the first overpowering hit when gulping mulled wine- powerful, with a long lasting impact.  Her writing made me want to read chunks out loud, to taste them in my mouth.

This wouldn't be a Persephone book I would particularly recommend, but the writing style was eloquent and impactive.

6/10 (Beautiful tone of writing, but marks lost as the plot had me confused).

Cheerful Weather for the Wedding- Julia Strachey

"Neither youth nor loveliness makes people happy.  It takes something utterly different to do that" are the wise thoughts of Dolly, protagonist in Julia Strachey's Cheerful Weather for the Wedding.  For me that something seems to Persephone books, my love of which seems to know no bounds at the moment.  Having recently read Miss Buncle's Book (read my review here ) my appetite for devouring more overlooked classics has been well and truly piqued. 

I had read about Cheerful Weather for the Wedding in the Persephone catalogue (you can order this and the fabulous Persephone Bi-Annually magazine for FREE from the Persephone Books website).  I liked the sound of it, the premise being that it follows a young bride on her wedding day, exploring her doubts, fears and the inevitable family nightmares that ensue when there are large gatherings.

Dolly is a frustratingly naïve young woman, flighty and irresponsible.  Whilst reading Cheerful Weather for the Wedding I became more and more irate at her, although her hapless fiancé elicits little sympathy either.  Infact, all the characters we meet in the book are riddled with annoying personality traits and as a family they hold little appeal!

Most of the humour within the book was too dry for my taste, although I can appreciate that it would appeal to some people.  Whilst not my favourite Persephone title, I am glad I chose to try Cheerful Weather for the Wedding as it was an interesting read that pushed the boundaries of my usual reading material. 

Cheerful Weather for the Wedding is a short read, only 119 pages in all, and is an observational work noting the complexities of family life over one momentous day.  As such, it is well written, but constructed in a free-flowing style which reads almost as haphazard.  Not the easiest of reads, it is however  an interesting examination of relationships and life in 1930s Britain. 

7/10
I bought my copy from Handpicked Books at Bird's Yard Sheffield, where there are always Persephone titles in stock alongside other classic and collectable books.

Miss Buncle's Book- DE Stevenson

I am a big fan of Persephone Books.  They currently publish 102 titles, books that should have been classics yet have been overlooked.  The books themselves are classically beautiful, understated dove grey covers with a cream title box and discreet Persephone logo.  However, you open up and see beautiful endpapers, in the case of Miss Buncle's Book a 1934 design by Vanessa Bell.  Persephone books also come with a bookmark to match the endpapers, a fabulous idea (and you really won't want to bend back the corners of the pages of a Persephone book, so much needed).  Another feature of Persephone books which appeals to me is the layout on the page-rather than cramming as many words as possible onto each one, pages are set out with wide borders which makes them easy to read. The materials used by Persephone are high quality, making each book a delight to behold.

 

Of course, this would all be irrelevant if the novels themselves were poor quality.  However, I'm yet to be disappointed by a Persephone book.  Some are more accessible than others, but all the titles I have read have been engaging.

Miss Buncle's Book is extremely readable.  The plot is simple- Barbara Buncle has written a novel under the pseudonym John Smith.  The characters in her novel are all based on residents of Buncle's village, Silverstream.  When the book becomes a success, uproar ensues.  The villagers recognise themselves in the book and are determined to uncover the identity of the mysterious John Smith. 

Stevenson's writing style is perfect-not too verbose to distance the reader, yet detailed, charming and classical.  Much of Miss Buncle's Book focuses on the banal, day-to-day life of an average British village in the 1930s.  It is the characters and the interactions between them that will hook you in, and the book hasn't dated despite the fact it was written in 1934. Yes, life is portrayed differently to how it would be in modern society, but it still feels relevant and believable. 

Would I recommend Miss Buncle's Book?  Absolutely.  I only wish I had read it sooner.  This really is a book that deserves to be widely read and held in high esteem.  As Sarah says in the novel, 'You miss a lot by not being able to read...these people are real, live people-they are quite delicious'.  I feel exactly the same about the characters in Miss Buncle's Book.  DE Stevenson deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as female authors held in the highest regard.   Miss Buncle's Book really is delicious, delightful, divine.  Please go and read a copy, and when you enjoy it, tell your friends to read it too.

9.5/10

With many thanks to Persephone Books for providing me with a copy of Miss Buncle's Book.

Persephone Books publish fiction and non-fiction that has been 'unjustly neglected'.  You can find out more about Persephone by visiting their website , or better still visit their beautiful shop at 59 Lamb's Conduit Street, London, WC1N 3NB.  You may also have a local stockist, in Sheffield we are fortunate to have Handpicked Books that always has a selection of Persephone titles in stock.