Persephone Passages: Someone at a Distance

Dorothy Whipple is arguably one of Persephone's most popular authors. Six titles are currently available but, if Thomas had his way (see his wonderful letter), many more would be reissued.

It only took Someone at a Distance to make a fan of me. In the spirit of Teaser Tuesdays, I've decided to post a few of my favorite passages.

"To live dangerously became the most exciting of games to Louise. The double life she led, the lies she told, the necessity of deceiving, became almost second nature to her... Also, her inclination to despise people had been fostered by finding them so easy to deceive. They were stupid to be so gullible. If you were clever enough - and she was - you could get away with anything." (page 134)

"These women were old, time had softened them, they had learned something from loss, helplessness, loneliness; they knew almost anything can happen to anybody. They were kinder than when they were young." (page 359)

"Life is like a sea, sometimes you are in the trough of a wave, sometimes on the crest. When you are in the trough, you wait for the crest, and always, trough or crest, a mysterious tide bears you forward to an unseen, but certain shore." (page 413)

At the end of the week, I will be placing a Persephone order (Sunday is Mother's Day here in the US). You can be certain another Dorothy Whipple title will be included. Now if I could only decide which one... Are you a member of "Team Whipple"?

Short Story Monday: "A Lovely Time" by Dorothy Whipple

One of my 2010 reading resolutions is to read more by authors I have recently discovered. Dorothy Whipple (1893-1966) is a favorite 2009 'discovery', so I'm not wasting any time! The Persephone Biannually (No. 6 Autumn & Winter 2009-10) includes Whipple's "A Lovely Time" as the featured short story.

Someone at a Distance primed me to expect everyday people occupied with everyday tasks, and that's exactly what Whipple delivers in "A Lovely Time".

Alice Barnes has taken to spelling her name 'Alys' (pronouncing it to rhyme with 'knees') now that she's come to London. She is naive, unsophisticated, works in an office, and since arriving from Ilkeston a few months ago, lives in a women's rooming house.

After a long day at the office, Alice is in her room writing a letter when the glamorous Sheila Spence asks her to fill in for a sick friend and go on a double date (dutch treat, of course) that same evening. Alice, oblivious that she is a last resort, is thrilled.

"She sang a song as she took off her work-a-day clothes. Fancy Miss Spence asking her! It was most kind, because she hardly knew her really and yet she called her darling and asked her out to dinner and a night club. Oh, London life had begun! She had been lonely, she had been dull, she had been cold and felt the food at Vale House inadequate, but now the lights had gone up, the fun, the excitement, the experience she had come for were about to begin!"

Upon arrival at the restaurant, Alice doesn't look as fashionable as she supposes:

"Her mirror was so small that she could not see that her hair had risen at the back of her head in a still hackle which caused amusement to people at other tables. She sat in bliss and ignorance, looking very small, young, and a little peculiar."

When the waitress calls for 'Pane' to be brought to the table, Alice is practically overcome.

"Pane! How thrilling! That must be Italian for bread!"

"Pane! Pane! whispered Alice ecstatically. Oh, this was the wide world! This was even more than London; it was the cosmos. She would be able to ask for 'pane' when she went home to Ilkeston for her holiday."

As you might imagine, the evening is a complete disaster. Conversation is more than strained, and the 'date' cuts out early. It even takes poor Alice a minute to realize that she is no longer welcome to accompany the other couple to the night club. The reader's heart aches for Alice. I wanted to straighten her dress, fix her hair, and give her a few basic social pointers!

"A Lovely Time" possesses the same strengths found in Someone at a Distance, yet is remarkable since it is accomplished in just a few pages. Whipple fashions characters we can relate to. Their emotions and feelings come alive for the reader. I look forward to reading more of Whipple's work, both novels and short stories, as the year progresses.

Visit John at The Book Mine Set for more Short Story Monday posts.

Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple

Someone at a Distance

by Dorothy Whipple

413 pages

first published 1953 by John Murray

2008, Persephone Classic Edition

J.B. Priestly once described Dorothy Whipple as the "Jane Austen of the 20th century". After reading Someone at a Distance, I think this may be a pretty fair comparison. The novel takes a look at a post-WW II upper middle class family in England. Almost all the action revolves around the domestic drama that occurs when a young French woman (Louise Lanier) takes a position as a live-in companion to Old Mrs. North, and gradually insinuates herself into the North family.

When circumstances eventually force an extended stay at the home of Avery (Old Mrs. North's son) and Ellen North, the situation deteriorates. Louise, recently dumped by her lover for a woman of higher social status, is in desperate need of a new conquest to bolster her self-esteem.

"To live dangerously became the most exciting of games to Louise. The double life she led, the lies she told, the necessity of deceiving, became almost second nature to her... Also, her inclination to despise people had been fostered by finding them so easy to deceive. They were stupid to be so gullible. If you were clever enough - and she was - you could get away with anything." (page 134)

Ellen North's entire life revolves around her husband Avery, her children Hugh and Anne, her home, and her garden. She is sweet, gentle, and down-to-earth.

"He [Avery] took Ellen for granted and that was, Louise considered, Ellen's own fault. She was altogether too open and simple. A woman needed art and subtlety and Ellen had neither." (page 164)

"The foolish creature [Ellen] didn't seem to realize that it was necessary to fight. The battle was joined and would be over before she knew there was one." (page 202)

Whipple's writing exquisitely shows the pure, raw emotional responses of all parties involved as this domestic drama unfolds... and it is riveting! I'll simply let the author's words complete this review. They could not be more beautiful.

"A family is like a jigsaw puzzle. If a piece is lost, the rest no longer makes a pattern." (page 254)

"These women were old, time had softened them, they had learned something from loss, helplessness, loneliness; they knew almost anything can happen to anybody. They were kinder than when they were young." (page 359)

"Life is like a sea, sometimes you are in the trough of a wave, sometimes on the crest. When you are in the trough, you wait for the crest, and always, trough or crest, a mysterious tide bears you forward to an unseen, but certain shore." (page 413)