Back in 2012, lots of us were excited when Corsair reprinted some hard-to-find Dodie Smith novels – and with lovely cover illustrations by Sara Mulvanny. I’d already read The Town in Bloom (borrowed in an older edition from the library), but I snapped it up along with The New Moon with the Old and It Ends With Revelations, and promptly never opened them again. But the intention was definitely always there, and I’m pleased to have finally read It Ends With Revelations (1967). The title comes from that famous line in Oscar Wilde’s A Woman of No Importance – one character says “The Book of Life begins with a man and a woman in a garden.” Another replies, “It ends with Revelations.” Which has always irritated me, because the final book of the Bible is called Revelation, not Revelations.
ANYWAY, to turn to this book, the main character is 34-year-old Jill Quentin. Her husband Miles is a well-respected theatre actor, and she has accompanied him to an English spa town to the opening of a play that looks unlikely to do very well. It has recently been a TV series, but the transferral to the stage is pretty weak for any number of reasons, and Miles won’t mind extricating himself from the whole thing in the likely event that it ends after a few weeks.
Before I go further with the plot – my favourite parts of this novel are all the theatre things. Dodie Smith was both a jobbing actress and a playwright at different times, and writes about the theatrical world from the inside in one of her autobiographies and in The Town in Bloom. Her knowledge of the theatre suffuses the first half of It Ends With Revelations, but is seen more from an outsider – Jill has no wish to be an actor, though would have enjoyed being a stage assistant or something. Smith is very good on the various feuds and triumphs of the rehearsal process, how lines are cut and rewritten, or scenes re-directed to put focus on a different actor. You can tell it’s a world she knows well. I loved slightly knowing, caustic things like this:
They tiptoed into the back of the stalls. On the stage, a working light of dazzling brilliance dangled into a roofless composite set, made up of a sitting room and a kitchen separated by a staircase leading up to a room which suggested a look-out for forest fires. The whole gave the impression of a giant toy badly put together, rather than a place where human beings could conceivably live.
While buying chocolates for the leading boy, Jill bumps into Geoffrey Thornton. He is the local MP, as well as being a lawyer, and they quickly form an affinity. He introduces her to his daughters, Robin and Kit, on the cusp of adulthood. They are extremely self-possessed and take an instant liking to Jill – before long, they are all seeing each other, drinking hot chocolate in cafes, discussing their ‘dipsomaniac nymphomaniac’ mother with unusual candour, and sharing their tastes and interests. Perhaps my favourite two pages in the novel are where the sisters discuss Ivy Compton-Burnett.
“I almost like her because she writes about families,” said Robin. “But she doesn’t tell one enough about their backgrounds, what the houses are like, what the women wear. And though everyone’s always eating, we’re never allowed to know what they eat.”
“Well, who wants to know what anyone eats?” said Kit impatiently. “And she does say quite a bit about backgrounds. Sometimes there are cracks in a wall, or an overgrown creeper, or the rich people have cushions. One can do the rest from imagination.”
It’s totally irrelevant to the plot, and I imagine most modern editors would cut it, but I loved it so much.
The plot of the second half gets more complex, and it’s hard to write about it without giving spoilers – suffice to say that the lives of the Quentins and the Thorntons becomes increasingly entangled. There are, indeed, revelations. And among these are themes that are surprisingly modern for the 1960s, and discussed with a range of viewpoints. And, of course, anything surprisingly modern in 1967 will necessarily feel quite dated now. There are certainly passages that wouldn’t be printed today. And the debate rages on about what that means for reprints.
I really enjoyed It Ends With Revelations chiefly for the theatrical setting, but the second half worked for me too – because the revelations and twists say more about character than shocking plot, and they explain various things that were a bit mysterious in the first half. It’s a well-structured novel and pretty satisfying, give or take a few improbable relationships and decisions. I particularly enjoyed Kit and Robin, and would have liked even more from them – Smith is so good at girls of this age, as I Capture the Castle proves.
Better late than never, and I remain glad that Corsair made these lesser-known novels available to a wider audience.
I also own the 3 novel set by Smith that you mentioned. I Capture the Castle is one of my favorite books, so I had high hopes for It Ends With Revelations. I was ultimately disappointed. As you mentioned I liked the theater aspect and found the setting for the novel charming. However, the second half of the novel seemed a little far fetched to me as well as dated. This spoiled my overall enjoyment of it. Have you read her autobiographies? They are hard to come by in the US, and I have managed to find all of them just recently. However, the first book is still on its way to me from the British Isles, so I haven’t started them yet.
Yeah, certainly none of her other novels have been in the same league as ICTC, but I’ve enjoyed others on their own merits. I’ve read the first two of her autobiographies and I really, really loved the first one. Second one also good.
I wish I could get them from the library. All I can get are I Capture the Castle–which I read and loved years ago, 101 Dalmations (which I could read) and Tale of Two Families. I’ve loved all of your novella reviews this month! I did not join in because it wasn’t possible to do one per day, but I will be reviewing a few I sneaked in later this week or next week. I have added so many to my TBR from your reviews!
Thanks Lisa! That asparagus/strawberries scene from A Tale of Two Families has really stayed with me.
I’m loving the books in May Simon, but the project is certainly making my ‘books to look out for’ list very long indeed!
Thanks Gill! My hope is it would clear some of my tbr shelves, but it’s making me want to buy more books by some of the writers…
“Anything surprisingly modern in 1967 will necessarily feel quite dated now” — so true. Makes one think about how quaint our innovations will seem in the near future. Can it be that the things that last are never “modern”?
I’ve read all the Dodie Smith novels you mention, and there was something to enjoy in all of them though ultimately also something unsatisfying. I agree, her insights into the theatre world are the best part.
Yeah, I think there’s a reason I Capture the Castle lasted so much longer than the others. Last year I read The Girl in the Candle-Lit Bath and that is truly the worst.
I’ll skip that one!
Weird, I thought I’d bought and read this but no record of it! I need to, though, obviously!
For the lovely cover, at least!
I really love I Capture the Castle but for some reason I’ve never picked up her other novels. This does sound really tempting, I do enjoy a theatrical setting.
I lapped it all up – her second autobiog is also good on theatrical stuff.
Sounds very interesting, Simon, and also intriguing that you say there are parts that wouldn’t be published today. I have strong feelings about reading works in their original form, understanding how the world was then and how we’ve moved on, and not whitewashing the past. But what what would I know… 🙄🙄
I have strong but mixed feelings :D I do wonder if this would be reprinted today, even 10 years later.
I really like the sound of this one, despite the flaws mentioned. I love I Capture the Castle but have not read Dodie Smith’s other novels. However, looking this one up, I see my local library has a copy (and several others by her) Hooray! (although this month my mission to reduce the TBR pile has had to be abandoned thanks to you! – I’m really enjoying these daily posts and wish I could read a book a day too; maybe in another season of life!)
Oh good news! And yes, a book a day certainly isn’t possible for everyone – though I tend to find an hour before work, an hour at lunch, and an hour after work make it more manageable than it seems.
Oh dear, I’ve just ordered this one and two other Dodie Smith titles based on your review and the wonderful covers.
Excellent, Grier :D