Chatterton Square

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There was no one in the world, except himself, who really cared for him, there were very few who cared for her. But as the novel moves along, the third person narrator, particularly through the thoughts of Rosamund and Miss Spanner, goes off on a tangent of political diatribe, and it is not at all subtle. Men are admired/tolerated if they are bold and show more interest in outdoor pursuits or machines than in the opposite sex. pages; Novel focusing on the period just prior to the outbreak of World War II and how it affects two very different middle class families that live on opposite sides of Catterton Square in a fictional English provincial town.

Miss Spanner, in turn, starts to become friendly with Rhoda, who sneaks over illicitly to borrow books. We get a settling of accounts with the shirkers of the Great War (the unlikeable and dim Herbert Blackett), as opposed to the heroes who fought, sacrificed, and still bear the physical and mental scars of that war (Fergus, Rosamund's husband, and the saintly Piers).While at first glance, Bertha seems willing to defer to Mr Blackett’s better judgement on family matters, under the surface there is a steeliness to her personality, one that reacts to her husband’s arrogance with a mix of frustration and amusement. As free as unmarried women, they were fully armed; this was an unfair advantage, and when it was combined with beauty, an air of well-being, a gaiety which, in a woman over forty had an unsuitable hit of mischief in it, he felt that . Mr Blackett is sure that it won’t happen, and considers predictions of war to be irresponsible and unpatriotic; Rosamund and Miss Spanner are sure it is around the corner. Bertha is a wife, not a person; her wishes, opinions and dreams are expected to be a mirror of , and indeed provided by, her husband. I really wanted to jump into the book and give Herbert and Flora a piece of my mind (though they’re the type that never listen.

A friendship has struck up between Piers and Rosamund, which is another reason to dislike them both. Blackett's cousin Piers, a disfigured war veteran who has bought farm nearby and comes into town to sell vegetables.It's much more serious than the witty Miss Mole and I still felt the time period was more late Victorian - probably because of Mr. I’ve only read three so far – Chatterton, Miss Mole and Jenny Wren — all excellent, with Chatterton leading the pack. Blackett rules his home in Upper Radstowe with a gloomy and niggardly spirit, and his wife Bertha and their three daughters succumb to his dictates unquestioningly -- until the arrival next door of the Fraser family 'with no apparent male chieftain at the head of it'. H. Young novel I bought, but it’s now actually the fourth one that I’ve read – Miss Mole, William, and The Misses Mallett being on my have-now-read list, with William finding its way to the 50 Books You Must Read But May Not Have Heard About list.

This family transfixed me, and is the triumph of the novel in my opinion, but we should turn our attention to the other family. Mr Blackett is an astonishingly real creation: a monster who is never openly cruel or even vindictive. What he says goes, he is a vile, narcissistic obtuse individual who I don't think really likes women but thinks that all women fancy him! While the Derdons are very different individuals to the Blacketts, there is a similarity in their marriage – a kind of stasis and lack of communication that has prevented them from reaching out to one another to address their situation.Their mother is unusual; concerned for her children, she has the rare ability to love them without stifling them. James Fraser and Flora Blackett are students at the same university and have developed a mild flirtation, and middle daughter Rhoda has begun borrowing books from Miss Spanner. At first, Flora Blackett – who takes after her father in outlook and temperament – is attracted to James Fraser, an aspiring farmer.

It’s rare to find this degree of depth and complexity in the creation of four key characters in the same book – Rosamund, Mrs Blackett, Miss Spanner and Mr Blackett (perhaps the most flawed of them all). It’s such a rich book, full of interesting insights and threads, so I’m sure it would yield even more on a second reading! Rhoda Blackett also develops a gentle friendship with Agnes Spanner, another woman rarely referred to by her first name, seemingly defined instead by her status as a spinster. Naturally, the possibility of war is contemplated with some pain by those who lived through one war and still bear the scars – either physical or mental. The story centres on two families living next door to each other: 1) the Frasers, comprising Rosamund, her five children (most of whom are grown up) and her close friend Agnes Spanner, and 2) the Blacketts, comprising Mr and Mrs and three daughters.FIRST EDITION, lacks d/w, super octavo, hardcover (VG); all our specials have minimal description to keep listing them viable. But there is a continued and pointed understanding of the double standards attached to the affairs and marriages we encounter. Mr Blackett is brilliantly drawn and violently unlikeable, so much so that I became desperate for Mrs Blackett to hit him on the head with a fire iron or for a bomb to fall on his head or at the very least to be run over by a bus. And then there was a World War I veteran, Piers Lindsay, who had a facial disfigurement from a war wound who was a second cousin of Bertha. And aside from Rosamund Fraser and one of Bertha/Herbert’s daughters, Rhoda, there are very few characters to like or to care about in the novel, and several to dislike heartily, because E.