Notes –
Julia strachy was on the fringes of the bloomsbury group she was a cousin to the biograph Lytton Strachey part of the famous stachey family,she was published by hogarth press orginally that was connected to the group she also published another novel twenty years after this .It was book 38 in persephone releases .
The book –
The book follows dolly the main charcaters wedding day to the hon Owen Bigham , we start with the morning nerves and her brothers frolicking about downstairs on the sofa .
Robert’s black shoes sticking on the arm of the sofa were crossed one over the other , and revealed a gleam of emerald between the shoes and the trousers .
her mother flaps as the day progresses nerves run high drinks are taken to calm nerves ex’s appear Joseph that confides he is still in love with dolly and aunts are abound ,In what seems a typical if a little fraught at times wedding day in the thirties .
My view –
I was looking forward to reading this book and was disappoint it oozes the era ,Dolly’s brothers and the aunts made me think of Woodhouse and Wooster with his aunts .But this book is slightly darker than them ,Julia had wonderful observations and great dialogue in this book .The book is wonderfully produce with an elegant front cover and nice inner leaves .I m a little disappoint that this was the only book i ve got to read for Persephone week , but due to work and home commitments i haven’t had the time .This was a wonderful book to republish a lost gem from a writer connected to so many other writers .
Links –
the life of Julia Strachey – a 2 page pdf file
Thank you for taking part this week, Stu! One or three, it doesn’t matter; I appreciate you showing your support.
Cheerful Weather for the Wedding wasn’t a favourite Persephone of mine when I read it but it has stayed with me and I think will improve upon rereading; I think it’s one I will purchase in the classic edition like yours as the cover art is so striking.
it is maybe a slight story ,i d enjoy it but as you say may be worth rereading .love the cover art thou it is one of the most stricking persephones ,all the best stu
Glad you enjoyed it too if not as much as I did. Just thought that this was so wickedly clever in its send-up of classism.
yes very clever ,i just got a bit of female woodhouse in a way ,stu
Congratulations on getting a Persephone book read! I didn’t 🙁 Sounds like an interesting look at a busy day, the characters all sound intriguing. Great review.
This is one of the titles that appealed to me first when looking through the Persephone catalogue.
I have this one on my shelf and just haven’t pulled it out yet. Now looking forward to it very much!
thank you is a nice novel ,stu