British Library Women Writers – serie

'She got up, without meeting his eyes, and went into the bedroom to dress. That was life all over; you wanted to make a good exit, and you remembered you were still in your housecoat.'Single girl Liza leaps into an exciting new sexual relationship with Walter after the couple meet at a New Year's party. Written by Angela Milne, the niece of A. A. Milne, and originally published in 1942, the story shines a light on subtly changing societal attitudes and deftly captures Liza's euphoria and frustrations as she navigates a relationship outside of marriage. Warm, witty and surprising, it leaves you wondering why Milne only wrote one novel.

David Tompkins thinks it is a splendid idea to open a tea garden at his Kentish cottage. His wife, Germayne, is not so sure. The local villagers are divided on the matter, and not necessarily supportive, particularly Mr Perch at the Dolphin, who sees it as direct competition to Mrs Perch's own tea garden. It doesn't bode well when the official opening coincides with a break in the beautiful weather. Things are further complicated by the arrival of the 'cake cook' Mimi, a Viennese girl with a mysterious past, Germayne's daughter Ducks, and finally her 'rather stolid' ex-husband Digby. With rumour rife that the couple are - whisper it - not actually married, the lady of the manor, who has failed to realise that nowadays that title carries no real weight, makes it her mission to shut the enterprise down.

Since her mother's death Jennifer has devoted years of her life to her father, managing the family home and acting as his secretary. After the sudden announcement that he has taken a new wife, Jennifer, at 33, seizes the opportunity to lead an independent life. Quickly she secures the lease of Rose Cottage and turns her attention to her own needs and interests. Published in 1931, Father explores the concept of spinsterhood in a time when the financial and social status of single women were often dependent on male family members. While Jennifer is desperate to experience life on her own terms within her reduced financial means, her neighbour Alice is pre-occupied with ensuring her position as head of her brother's household is never challenged.

A female narrator looks back on her childhood in a coming-of-age novel set before the First World War. Ruan is an intelligent and imaginative child, who gradually comes to understand the nuances of the adult world around her, as she moves from the Manse, under the strict rule of her father, a non-conformist minister, to Cobbetts, her mother's ancestral home, under the tutelage of her Uncle Alaric, and back to the guardianship of Rosie Day at Bolton House high up on the moor above the town where she was born. Her young life is shaped by a series of tragedies, but also the warmth of enduring friendships, particularly with David, her dearest friend who shares her love of the wild expanse and colours of the moor.

Rose Macaulay takes a lively and perceptive look at three generations of women within the same family and the 'dangers' faced at each of those stages in life. The book opens with Neville celebrating her 43rd birthday and contemplating middle age now that her children are grown. Her mother, in her sixties, seeks answers to her melancholy in Freudianism. Her sister, Nan, 33, a writer who has hitherto led a single and carefree life in London, experiences the loss of love and with it her plan for the future. And Neville's principled daughter Gerda, who is determined not to follow her mother's generation into the institute of marriage, finds herself at an impasse with the man she loves.

The Tree of Heaven follows the fortunes of the Harrison family as the children grow up in the shadow of the First World War and Dorothy's brothers go off, one by one, to the trenches, while she becomes involved with the suffrage movement, and later joins a version of the Women's Social and Political Union.Published at a time when women still did not have the right to vote, Sinclair - passionately in favour of women's enfranchisement - asks not if the vote should be won, but how. Her reflection on the war is of course limited by having not yet seen its end (The Tree of Heaven was published in 1917), yet Sinclair provides an excellent snapshot of the views and experiences of a family in the face of such great uncertainty.

My Husband Simon tells the story of the married life of Nevis Falconer, a young woman novelist, and Simon Quinn. Temperamentally unsuited, they are only kept together by a mutual physical attraction, in spite of innumerable quarrels. They live this superficial existence for three years, until one day Nevis meets Marcus Chard, her American publisher, who has just arrived in London. Soon friendship develops into love. Inevitably the problem faces her. Wife or mistress? Nevis finds herself caught in a whirl of circumstances over which she has no control.Published in 1931 in the immediate aftermath of D H Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover controversy, Mollie Panter-Downes's book explores the different echelons of the increasingly self-conscious middle class and the ways in which the tensions and nuances of vocabulary, dress, occupation, politics, taste and, ultimately, the literary world contribute to the incompatibility of a marriage.

"'You don't mean you're going to divorce him?' Miss Spanner said with horror."A sophisticated, emotive novel, Chatterton Square concerns the complex web of relationships between two neighbouring families, the Blacketts and the Frasers. Framed by the advance of the Second World War, the subtle mechanics of marriage and love are laid bare through the observation of three of the marital options open to the mid-century woman: unmarried, separated, miserably married.Chatterton Square was published ten years after calls for a change in divorce law resulted in the Matrimonial Causes Act 1937. Despite there being more legal provision for women seeking divorce, the suggestion of it remained shocking, providing the central focus for Young's novel.

A Pygmalion-style story told with von Arnim’s characteristic wit and charm, this novel introduces us to Salvatia (known as Sally), a much longed-for child to humble shopkeepers. Sally grows up to be an extremely beautiful girl, attracting the attentions of every man who sees her. When her mother dies, her father decides it is just too difficult to defend her virtue and marries her to the first man who proposes.But Jocelyn is about to learn a lesson in marrying for looks alone. The two are from very different classes and have nothing in common: beauty can only bridge the gap so far. Meanwhile, his mother is being pursued by her own unsuitable suitor – debating if she can tolerate his crass personality in return for the security of his wealth. Von Arnim turns her ironic humour to great effect in showing us the follies of her cast of characters, whom we can’t help wishing the best for, despite everything.

When her bohemian life in Paris falls flat at the beginning of the First World War, Sally Lunton returns to the care of her guardian in Little Crampton to find a husband. With some encouragement from the local busybody, she makes a play for Mr Bingley, the bank manager, although she has a rival in Mrs Dalton, a widow with a young daughter to raise. These two ladies form a quiet alliance, recognising that the prize isn't really worth fighting over but respecting the other's pursuit of financial security. Sally aims to win but is distracted by her unsettling emotions for a soldier tortured by his experience at the Front.This entertaining novel is full of acute and humorous observations of male and female attitudes to love and marriage. Sally is a spirited heroine, who is determined to settle into a comfortable life now that she is in her early thirties. But in securing her future, Sally must also face her past.

Julia Almond believes she is special and dreams of a more exciting and glamorous life away from the drab suburbia of her upbringing. Her work in a fashionable boutique in the West End gives her the personal freedom that she craves but escape from her parental home into marriage soon leads to boredom and frustration. She begins a passionate affair with a younger man, which has deadly consequences. Based on the events of a sensational murder trial in the 1920s - the Thompson/Bywaters case - Julia becomes trapped by her sex and class in a criminal justice system in which she has no control. Julia finds herself the victim of society's expectations of lower-middle-class female behaviour and incriminated by her own words. Tennyson Jesse creates a flawed, doomed heroine in a novel of creeping unease that continues to haunt long after the last page is turned.

'She had saved her. But at what a cost! Her position, her name, her character - she had given them all, but Clarissa was hers.'Upon the death of her mother, Agatha Bodenham finds herself alone for the first time in her life. Solitary and socially awkward by nature, she starts to dream about her imaginary childhood friend - the only friend she ever had. Much to her surprise, Clarissa starts to appear, fleetingly at first, and engage with her, and eventually becomes visible to everyone else. Agatha, a 32-year- old spinster, must explain the child's 'sudden' appearance. In a moment of panic, she pretends that Clarissa is her own daughter, her love child. Olivier constructs a mother/daughter relationship which is both poignant and playful. As the years roll by and Clarissa grows into a beautiful young woman, Agatha's love becomes increasingly obsessive as she senses Clarissa slipping away, attracted by new interests and people her own age.

'Joanna sat with her cheek against her [Libby's] shining hair. She had hardly thought of Steven since he slammed his way out of the house, but now, welling up within her and pouring out over her love for Libby, came an intolerable flood of envy.' Widowed at 21 with a young baby, Joanna Malling finds her solitary existence upended twenty years later when her daughter Libby moves in with her new husband. At 35, Steven is closer in age to Joanna than Libby. What begins as an awkward relationship between mother and son-in-law evolves into something more intimate and Joanna must wrestle with re-awakened emotions and the conflict between desire and loyalty.

"I know that things of that kind always are known, and the people I've been thrown with, sooner or later, always turned out to have heard the story. Or if they hadn't," said Miss Marchrose in a voice of calm despair, "someone took the trouble to tell them." Miss Marchrose is about to discover that she cannot escape her past when she takes up a new position at a secretarial college in the south west of England. Following insinuations dropped by the director's wife, she becomes the subject of a whispering campaign which threatens her professional career and personal happiness. Tension examines reputation and the persistence of gossip in relation to a woman's choice of work and domestic arrangements with a light touch of humour. The two main female characters represent the different roles of women in public life: Lady Rossiter uses her social position to influence college matters, while Miss Marchrose is a professional woman who brings qualifications and experience to her role.

'There was no one in the room. Blinds and curtains were closed; the light of the skies, if any, was shut out. ... Only the fire was alive, consuming its life-for what? Then the door opened and as Claudia came with hurried steps into the fire's glow, two open letters in her hand, the telephone began ringing. She shut the door and turned up the lights.'Claudia Heseltine returns to this moment three times in a series of parallel narratives. As the novel presses the re-set button, she accepts each invitation, one by telephone, two by letter, to a specific social event, and in doing so her life goes down a different path with its own possibilities and achievements, sorrows and disappointments. This is an inventive novel, published in 1931, which contemplates the consequences of a single decision.

'Oh God, one should not go to parties, Daisy sighed, sinking in wan defeat in the melancholy dawn. One should not mingle with others; one should keep oneself to oneself...'Lying awake after a hotel party on holiday in the Mediterranean, Daisy Simpson reflects on her lacklustre social performance and muses on the impression her confident and graceful half-sister Daphne may have made on the other guests. What is it that makes Daphne, Daphne and Daisy, Daisy? And which of the two will attract the attentions of one of their hosts, Raymond, whom they have both fallen for? Returning to London, Daisy's life is strained by the efforts of presenting the right elements of her personality to the right people, resulting in embarrassments, difficulties and deceits as she navigates her relationships and social standing. Rose Macaulay's novel, first published in 1928, offers a sharp and witty commentary on how we twist our identities to fit, delivered in an intelligent and innovative style.

The British Library Women Writers series is a curated collection of novels by female authors who enjoyed broad, popular appeal in their day. In a century during which the role of women in society changed radically, their fictional heroines highlight women's experience of life inside and outside the home through the decades in these rich, insightful and evocative stories. The Women Writers Christmas Collection of Short Stories explores the joys and disappointments, pressures and preparations of this time of year from a female perspective. In keeping with the spirit of the series, the stories are plucked from different decades of the twentieth century and penned by familiar as well as forgotten authors writing for both books and popular magazines. The selection includes the festive run-up as well as post-Christmas traditions. From the delightful consequences of decorating the tree by Stella Gibbons, to an interesting encounter set at 30,000 feet on a Christmas Day flight by Muriel Spark, and a pantomime with a twist by Margery Sharpe, these stories are sure to fortify you over the Christmas period.

Miss Cullen finds herself in a dreadful predicament. Four years from retirement, she can no longer meet the educational standards expected nor control her pupils at Besley High School for girls. She knows that no other school will hire her now, but if she is sacked or doesn't work until she's 60, she will lose her pension. Her only hope is to hang on. But her poor exam results affect the standing of the whole school. Her colleagues embark on a campaign against her to save their own positions and she retaliates by involving the school inspector. Into this hostile environment comes Viola Kennedy, a young new teacher full of optimism and ideas, who instead gets caught up in the conspiracies and swirling resentments. A quietly devastating novel about the realities of life for single working women in the 1920s and the systems that failed them.

Stories for Winter is a collection of short stories that take their inspiration from this cold, snowy season, whether it's winter holidays, weather-related predicaments or seasonal celebrations. In keeping with the spirit of the Women Writers series, the stories are penned by authors whose writing originally appeared in books and magazines in the twentieth century.Launched in 2020, the British Library Women Writers series is a curated collection of novels and anthologies by female authors who enjoyed broad, popular appeal in their day. In a century during which the role of women in society changed radically, their fictional heroines highlight women's experience of life inside and outside the home through the decades in these rich, insightful and evocative stories.

Skill, subtlety and stylistic assurance ... her moral comedy illumines life. - Daily Telegraph Harriet Cooper bumps up a rutted lane in a Hillman crammed with everything she owns. She has come to claim her inheritance - a large green bus - left to her by her aunt, and moves in with two cats to live a frugal life, much to the chagrin of her cousin who has inherited the rest of the estate. This is a timely reissue of a 1960s novel that deals with the lingering trauma of the Second World War and the dark secrets that families carry, as well as being an early advocate of environmental issues, which chime with such resonance fifty years later.

... marvellous skill - a writer who can knock spots off most of her contemporaries. - The Guardian A tragi-comedy published in 1971 that looks at the experience of a woman escaping a broken marriage and trying to make a new home for grown-up children who no longer need her. Dealing with themes of abandonment, loneliness, liberation and love, Eleanor's emotional journey is often raw and dark, but at times funny and uplifting as she grapples with her newfound singledom under the critical eyes of her mother and mother-in-law, and the selfish attitudes of various suitors. Perfectly capturing the tone of the 70s, and the reality faced by so many women when forced to re-assess their roles as wife and mother.

In this body swap comedy from the 1930s, the minds of two strangers, aristocrat Lady Elizabeth and middle-class Polly Wilkinson, switch places with baffling and hilarious results. With wry observations on class, behaviour and relationships, as both attempt to navigate the different social settings and awkward situations they suddenly find themselves thrust into - the switches taking place randomly with very little warning - the two women are eventually able to contrive a meeting and learn to control their 'gift' and effect positive changes in each others' lives.

'the chamomile, the more it is trodden on, the faster is grows.'Shakespeare, Henry IV part 1The opening quote of The Camomile provides an insight into the book's title. The narrative highlights the tensions for a woman in the early twentieth century between the desire to explore her creativity and the duties expected of her as a prospective wife. Through a series of journal entries, which form an extended letter to her best friend, we follow the protagonist, Ellen, who rents out a room away from her family to provide a quiet space in which to focus on her music and her writing.Ellen is a lively soul who wants the freedom to express herself and she finds a champion of her endeavours at the Mitchell Library. But as she falls in love and becomes betrothed to a doctor who is soon to return to India, she finds herself increasingly conflicted and has to eventually make a choice.

And now, in this low and critical moment, something in Penelope, something which had understood courage and resource and action, though she herself had never been brave or resourceful or active, stirred and shook itself. Penelope Shadow is quite hopeless at female pursuits, such as housework, looking after children or darning a sock. One day she buys a typewriter and realizes that she has a flare for writing romantic novels. As one bestseller after another springs from her fertile mind, she is able to buy a house and live a comfortable life. Being equally inept at managing staff, she loses a number of housekeepers before employing a capable and attentive young man. When local gossip ensues, he declares his love and they are married. But are his motives true? Is she in danger? As events twist and turn, she has to summon the strength of her feisty heroines to work out what they would do in the novel's denouement.

Join a host of female writers in celebrating the sunshine months of the year. As a sister volume to Stories for Winter, this collection of 15 short stories takes its inspiration from the holiday season. Grab a copy as you head off to the beach or to lie by the pool and spend time with female protagonists as they navigate life during the hot summer days and long balmy evenings. In keeping with the spirit of the Women Writers series, the stories are penned by authors whose writing originally appeared in books and magazines in the twentieth century.Launched in 2020, the British Library Women Writers series is a curated collection of novels and anthologies by female authors who enjoyed broad, popular appeal in their day. In a century during which the role of women in society changed radically, their fictional heroines highlight women's experience of life inside and outside the home through the decades in these rich, insightful and evocative stories.

She didn't want men to be in love with her. She wanted power and a dangerous gamble and the fun of winning and putting herself over as a sweet saviour, till at last she came to believe it herself.Lorna Blake is a woman able to create her own reality a pathological liar, narcissist conman, and devoted single mother to two daughters, Jay and Molly. When her eldest needs lifesaving treatment that they cannot afford, Lorna takes up the risky but thrilling activity of taking her young daughters to the halls of wealthy strangers to beg, with tales of husbands dead, deserted, and insane. But as her daughters grow up struggling to differentiate between fact and fiction, it ultimately becomes harder for them to cleave themselves from their mother's web of lies and justifications.Acted out in the hallways of London mansions and across several continents, The Woman in the Hall is part psychological drama, part cat-and-mouse chase, as well as a darkly comic portrait of how the figure of a single mother could wring pity from 1930s society.

Fall head over heels with this collection of unconventionaland heartfelt romances that will leave you longing for more. From icons offeminist literature to forgotten Chinese modernists, these women writers chartevolutions of love across lifetimes, from the first flush of youth to growingold together. This new anthology gathers the talents of Margaret Atwood,Virginia Woolf, Amy Bloom, E. M. Delafield, Dorothy Parker, Elizabeth Taylor,Mary Lavin, Ling Shuhua, Jessamyn West and Carol Shields.This anthology brings together forgotten and celebratedfemale masters of the short story format. In the spirit of the Women Writersseries, these stories first appeared in books and periodicals published in thetwentieth century. The result is a carefully curated collection of stories thatsketch evolving understandings of love and female agency, as their heroinesnavigate romance and commitment, idealism and realism, innocence andexperience.

'Far below, through the moonlit wood, the lake was visible again and the Island in it. Dim, like a phantom ship, it lay in the silver waters and from the nearer end of it shone a narrow rectangle of light... so dull and red and smoky looking that it seemed sinister in the bodiless and blanched moonshine.'A novel rich in the period culture of the Lake District, Forest Silver unfolds a story of village life unsettled with the arrival of evacuees during the Second World War. Wing-Commander Richard Blunt, recovering from a life-changing injury, comes into the orbit of the enigmatic and headstrong Corys de Bainrigg in a tale of love, longing and facing up to reality, with the ghost of wartime trauma ever an unwelcome guest.First published in 1941, Forest Silver is an important work of Lake District fiction, in which E M Ward evokes her environment with pitch-perfect authenticity.

She knew now, with a sense of deep tranquil certainty, that terror and injury could not spring from love of this kind, no matter what Nurse said. But she could not put all this into words.Set over the course of a summer, The Spring Begins follows the autonomous awakenings of three women at various stages of life and at different levels of employment within households. There's the young orphan Lottie, employed as a nursemaid to the wealthy Kellaway children and terrified by the world of men; the scullery maid Maggie, 19, and unafraid of seeking out pleasure where it is offered to her; and Hessy Price the older governess to a local clerical family whose worldview shatters when her younger sister becomes engaged. As each woman tries to navigate their physical desires alongside social propriety, the currency of beauty and youth alongside the toll domestic work and poverty takes on their bodies, each comes to find happiness in their own unique way.This human drama is set against the Kellayway's beautiful country house, though the house is often little more than the anchor to the vast garden and the wild stretch of coast owned by the family. It is against the bloom of flowers and the crash of waves that these springs of attraction and longing play out.