Madame Claire by Susan Ertz was first published in 1923 but my copy is a Penguin Books from a boxed set of facsimiles of the first ten Penguin books, published to mark Penguin’s 50th anniversary. I got this one from a secondhand bookshop so I don’t have the other nine books in the set. It cost me all of £2.
I really enjoyed this book, Madame Claire seemed such a sensible and wise elderly woman, named Madame Claire by her adult grandchldren, but Lady Gregory to more formal people. She is a widow.
After Madame Claire’s son Eric married she opted to give up her large house and move into a small suite in a Kensington hotel. She sensibly refused to move into her son and daughter-in-law’s home. Claire has had no contact with her daughter Connie for many years, since the recently married Connie had run off with a famous musician. Claire has also had no contact from her husband’s best friend Stephen for almost twenty years, he had rashly asked her to marry him too soon after her husband’s death, and her refusal had sent him off in a huff. So when she unexpectedly gets a letter from him she’s happy to renew the friendship.
Connie also resurfaces, and the grandchildren Judy and Noel hare off to France to see her, they’re agog to meet this aunt who had “thrown her hat over the mill” all those years ago
As ever, I’m not giving a blow by blow account of the book which has various plots, a plethora of flawed characters, and a lot about the unfairness of society and its perceived constraints. With age Claire has garnered insight into the behaviour of her family members and others. I have to say that I was incensed that Gordon, the eldest grandchild would inherit everything while Noel his younger brother would have to shift for himself, despite losing an arm in WWI, and of course Judy will get nothing as she’s expected to make a good marriage! I hate unfairness.
I’ll definitely be looking for more books by Susan Ertz.
I confess to experiencing a senior moment when I read “50th Anniversary” and counted back from 2024.
The oldest Penguin I have in my collection was published in 1952 and fell apart when I began to read it. I can see why a facsimile edition might be a good idea.
Like you, I hate unfairness in narratives. It may be realistic, but it’s unkind to the gentle reader.
Janusz,
I should have mentioned it was published in 1988. I’ve had a look at my Penguins and amazingly I have one from 1948 and one from 1949, both in really good condition, but the Evelyn Waughs from the early 1950s are not great.
I think that normal life is unfair enough so in fiction I like the baddies to get their come-uppance, totally unrealistic, I know.
I have a few books published during the War years, all with declarations that they conform to paper rationing. The odd thing is that they’ve stood up well to the passage of time, so rationing didn’t always mean poor quality.
I think it took several years for stocks of imported pulp to reach pre-War levels.
Janusz,
I have quite a lot of those war standard books and they are all in good condition, the paper seems quite thick to me.
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