The Saturday Morning Post (No. 5)

This post offers two more reviews of the books by British woman from the Furled Middlebrow collection; the best, and the most disappointing of the lot. Let's start with the most so-so book of the lot and finish with the best, but first my customary disclaimer...

My reviewer criteria. I like light, entertaining novels. I like smaller scale stories rather than epics. I like character focused novels featuring pleasant characters, with a minimum number of unpleasant ones. I greatly value clever and witty writing. I like first person, or close third person narratives. I dislike a lot of "head jumping" between POVs and flashbacks. I want a story, not a puzzle. While I am not opposed to violence, I dislike gore for the sake of gore. I find long and elaborate fight, action, and battle sequences tedious. Plot holes and things that happen for the convenience of the author annoy me. And I fear I'm a born critic in that I don't mind pointing out what I don't like in a story. However, I lay no claim to be the final arbitrator of style and taste, you need to decide for yourself what you like or dislike in a book.

Your opinions are always welcome. Comment below.

Babbacombe’s by Susan Scarlett C

Each of the 72 books Furrowed Middlebrow they have published feature an introduction by Elizabeth Crawford describing the author, their work, and the novel at hand. In this case we learn that, Susan Scarlett is the pen name of Noel Stretfield (1897 – 1986) a prolific writer whose 40 year career spanned several genre, including children’s novels in her own name and pen names.

This story concerns the Carson family, with a focus on Elizabeth Carson, the eldest daughter. Mr Carson has been employed at Babbacombre’s department store, and with her graduation from school, Elizabeth starts her first job there as well. Unfortunately, they were asked to board an orphaned niece of Mr Carson, the daughter of a half-brother that he could not stand. She turns out to be very unpleasant as well, nevertheless he gets her a job at Babbacombre’s as well. She chooses to be an elevator operator, as it is an easy job, though without a future, but she has a private income of sorts, so she doesn’t mind. You see, she has no intention of working all her life when there are rich men to be found.

I opted to try this one largely based on the cover, a cutaway of a department store, thinking that a lot of the action would take place in the workplace, but alas, that wasn’t the case. This was a disappointing book. I found the domestic problems were too soap-opera-ish, too melodramatic to really care about. The family came off as too goody-two-shoes. The spoiled cousin remains too much the unredeemable snake in the family's bosom, always looking to shove a stick into Beth’s romance. And just to amp up the stakes, we have Beth’s younger brother going blind with cataracts (a big deal, involving a dangerous operation in 1939, I gather). All in all, a little too over the top for me, who likes things understated. 

And now, my favorite book of the lot.

Apricot Sky by Ruby Ferguson A

Apricot Sky is your $2.99 ticket to a delightful summer holiday in the never-neverland of Scotland’s western coast of 1948. You will be staying at Kilchro House, with its large garden and sweeping views of the Western Islands in the golden sun and cool mist. You will be guests of Mr & Mrs MacAlvery, their two daughters, Cleo, just home from three years in America, and Raine, recently engaged to marry the 28 year old Ian, the younger of the Garvine brothers, the elder being Neil (age 30), the Laird of Larrich, plus their three orphaned grandchildren, Galvin (age 15), Primrose (age 14), and Archie (age 10ish), as well as the household staff of Mysie, the maid, Mrs Mortimer, the cook, and Miss Vannah Paige who arrived in 1917 when Mr MacAlvery was in France and has stayed on for twenty one years, seemingly unchanged. Oh, and you’ll meet a host of other guests, family friends, neighbors, and other characters and share in their minor alarms and excursions during a golden summer in the Highlands – from boat trips to the islands, shopping expeditions, visits from and to the neighbors, and of course the marriage.

Ruby Ferguson fondly paints a lush view of the Scottish Highlands, with vivid sense of place, as well as deftly bringing to life all the various characters, both major and minor with a friendly, but witty eye to detail, bright and breezy dialog, and a light, sarcastic sense of humor. What I love about her writing, and that of Molly Clavering is the fluidity of it. It simply flows, carrying you along through the seemingly mundane everyday life of her characters with wit and charm. Ruby’s book just edges out Molly’s in my ratings because of the wickedly clever humor she sprinkles in her story. I have to say that while I am sure there are American authors who can write as well as British authors, I can’t think of any at the moment. (I count Chandler as British, since he was educated in England, and I have to believe that their education is what makes the writer, at least it did 100 years ago.)

Ruby Ferguson was born in 1899 and read English at St Hilda’s College, University of Oxford. She wrote detective stories for magazines and 8 mystery books before marrying at 35 and turning to romantic novels writing 11 of them, plus 10 children books about horses and a memoir. None of her other adult novels seem to be in print, which, if they are anything like Apricot Sky, is a great shame.

Apricot Sky is simply a wonderfully entertaining book. Highly recommended.

There are plenty more books by women authors of the last century to sample, but I think it is time to move on for awhile. Up next will be three books that I've downloaded to my Kobo ebook reader from the Gutenberg Project, which is to say more old books, starting with Baroness Orczy's The Scarlet Pimpernel. Is it  "Batman with swords?" Plus one fantasy novella that I got free from TOR.com, no doubt promoting the new release of a book by the author in question.