Tag Archives: London setting

Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald

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Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald was first published in 1979 and this book won the Booker prize that year. I’m often puzzled by the books that win prizes and that’s the way I feel about this book, but I must say that I haven’t read any of the books which were short-listed for the prize that year. Suffice to say that I wasn’t too impressed by this one, it isn’t terrible but it’s just nothing earth-shattering, or even that entertaining. I’m left wondering if it was the slimness of the volume at just 140 pages which endeared it to the judges!

Offshore is set in the 1960s in a community of houseboat dwellers, berthed on the tidal  River Thames at Battersea Reach. They’re an eclectic bunch of people who all share a love for the boats they are in, despite most of them being in a poor state of repair. The boats are all close together, some linked by gangplanks to the one next to them. The boat owners go by the name of their boats.

Nenna is a young mother of two daughters, the father has left them, but Nenna expects him to come back – sometime. Nenna is lax about her daughters, she’s often in trouble because she’s happy for the girls not to attend school, but the nuns and priest definitely aren’t. Nenna had bought their boat Grace with all the money that they had while her husband was working abroad, and she had given him the impression that she had bought a substantial house at a good London address.

Maurice is always up for a party, but he has a sinister ‘friend’ who uses his boat to hide stolen goods in it. Harry is obviously a ‘baddie’ but he has a hold over Maurice, because Maurice is a male prostitute, and Harry could get him imprisoned at any time just by calling the police.

Dreadnought is up for sale, but is about to sink at any moment. There are a few others, all with their own problems. The most engaging characters are Nenna’s young daughters Martha and Tilda who have more maturity and sense than both their parents, and have a lucrative if dangerous hobby of recovering goodies from ancient boats which had sunk years before with cargoes such as de Morgan tiles in their holds.

The ending is not conclusive, it depends on how optimistic the reader is I suppose. I found it dissatisfying.

Someone from the Past by Margot Bennett

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Someone from the Past by Margot Bennett was first published in 1958 but it was reprinted by  British Library in 2023. This book won the Crime Writers’ Association’s Award for the best crime novel of 1958, but it was the last crime novel that the Scottish author Margot Bennett wrote. The setting is mainly London.

Nancy had been enjoying a night out with Donald, it seems to be a special date, they’ve been on the champagne and all seems well, but they are interrupted by Sarah, a one time work colleague of Nancy’s, but Sarah had been somewhat closer to Donald in the past, he’s not enamoured with her at all now.

But Nancy agrees to help Sarah who has been receiving anonymous letters, threatening her death, the threat seems to come from a man in her past – but there have been so many of them. Before Nancy can do anything to help, Sarah is found dead and a bad decision by Nancy means that she is a suspect. It’s all a bit of a nightmare.

The blurb says: As the real killer uses the situation to their advantage, Bennett crafts a nuanced story through flashbacks to Sarah’s life and loves.

This is a good read although my favourite era for crime novels is the 1930s and 40s, don’t ask me why, they just seem more atmospheric.

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Mrs Bird by A.J. Pearce

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Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce was very popular when it was first published in 2018 and I tried to borrow it from the library back then – but it never appeared, apparently it was never returned, so when I saw a copy of it in a charity shop a few weeks ago I decided it was coming home with me. Don’t ask me why a WW2 setting is a comfort read for me – it just is. Mind you my mother who was born in the 1920s didn’t read me fairy tales, she told me about wartime experiences, so that probably explains my interest.

The story begins in December 1940 and Emmeline Lake is a secretary in a solicitor’s office, but she dreams of becoming a war correspondent. When she gets an interview at a newspaper she’s absolutely thrilled when she’s offered the job, although she realises that she failed to ask any questions about the work she would be doing. On her first day at her new job she’s mortified to discover that she has given up her good job at the solicitor’s to take work as an office junior on a failing and old-fashioned women’s magazine, the Woman’s Friend.

Mrs Bird is her fearsome boss who thankfully isn’t often in the building as she spends her time doing her ‘war’ work in various organisations. Bur it’s Mrs Bird’s name at the top of the problems page, and readers send their problem letters to her despite it being Emmy who answers them. However Mrs Bird has instructed Emmy to cut up any letters which are ‘unpleasant’. Most of the letters come under that heading because Mrs Bird has such strict views on morality that she regards just about everything as being depraved. Emmy is quite upset about not being able to help the desperate women who are writing in for help, and ends up in trouble with Mrs Byrd.

Along with just about everyone else Emmy was volunteering, doing vital war work in what spare time she had as a telephone operator at the Auxiliary Fire Services, along with her best friend Bunty, it’s a desperate time as it’s the height of the Blitz. As you would expect the war takes a toll on their personal relationships.

This was an enjoyable read although it was a bit predictable at times. I’ll definitely be seeking out the sequels to this one. Interestingly it was apparently the author’s collection of wartime magazines which inspired her to write this – her first book.

Edited to add:
The weirdest thing just happened as just after I published this blogpost I discovered that I actually DID read this book way back in 2018 – but have absolutely no memory of doing so!! Well some books stick longer than others do, but I was so sure that this one had never turned up from the library after I requested it. I still enjoyed it – again.