Sometimes it does feel like the corner of the book internet I occupy is really just Scott’s kingdom, and we live in it. Scott being Furrowed Middlebrow, of course, both blog and the series of reprints from Dean Street Press. One of the things I really like about his series is that, most of the time, they don’t just bring out one or two books by an author – they drop a whole load at once. The most recent author to get a job-lot of reprints is Scottish mid-century writer Molly Clavering – and I started with Mrs Lorimer’s Quiet Summer from 1953. She wrote a bunch of novels in ’20s and ’30s, and this was the first of seven novels after a break of fourteen years.
It was generally considered that Mrs Lorimer, that quiet woman, was not at all a sentimental person. Therefore when Nan Gibson, her valued and trusty and frequently tiresome cook-housekeeper, announced one morning as she twitched back the bedroom curtains, ”I hear Harperslea’s been sold,” the pang which her mistress felt must have been simply because another suitable house – a house she would have liked for herself, had been bought by someone else.
There are shades of Netherfield being let at last at the beginning of Pride and Prejudice – but Mrs Lorimer is not looking for an eligible young man. She is looking for enough space to host all her adult children and their spouses and offspring. There are quite a few of them, so I shan’t go into all the details – one of the most prominent is the son-in-law obsessed with his car, and his wife (Mrs Lorimer’s daughter) who feels neglected in comparison. She decides to make her own entertainment, which she does by finding the daughter of the house at Harperslea – a Nesta Rowena Smellie. There is a lot of discussion about the name ‘Miss Smellie’, and it is a name of course, but it did all feel like an unnecessary tangent. They re-Christen her Rona, which has become rather less acceptable as a nickname in the past eighteen months…
The bulk of the tension and romance of the novel comes from the various young married couples – and it doesn’t take a genius to work out what might happen between the sole unmarried child, Guy, and this Rona girl. There are some obstacles connected with her nouveau riche family and his inability to stick to any career, but the writing is on the wall from the first moment they are mentioned.
Mrs Lorimer’s Quiet Summer is, indeed, quite packed with incident – a great deal of which crops up and is resolved throughout the novel, rather than tidying everything away at the end. But the beating heart of the novel is Mrs Lorimer herself, and what makes the book more than the sum of its parts. She is patient and consistently underestimated by those around her – who see her as a mother and not as someone with passionate feelings and thoughts herself. Her life is broadly happy and she is not demanding of others, but I enjoyed how Clavering showed the layered life behind the dependable matriarch.
Clavering doesn’t demand much of her reader, and this is definitely a cosy read where the stakes never feel quite as high to the reader as they do to the characters – but it’s cleverer than it might seem at first, and I’m glad to have found another fab new-to-me author from Furrowed Middlebrow.
This does sound a lovely read, and Mrs Lorimer a wonderful creation! Furrowed Middlebrow are a joy.
A neverending joy!
Thanks so much for the review Simon! I hope I’m a benevolent overseer of the kingdom at least… :-)
Haha! Almost too benevolent
I am really loving the inexpensive option of purchasing Furrowed Middlebrow Press books as ebooks – often as low as $2.99. It is tempting to download them all.
Oh that’s great!
This was the first Clavering I bought and I enjoyed it. I don’t know which one to get next. I wish I could just buy the ebooks but I love the covers too much. I have a whole shelf and more of the Furrowed Middlebrow books. Thanks to Scott!
I’ve heard great things about Dear Hugo too, which is the other one I have.
I am one reader who found Dear Hugo to be completely charming.
I loved this, very absorbing and deeper in its psychology than it at first appears, and I’m going to be picking up more by Clavering, definitely. My review here https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2021/06/04/book-review-molly-clavering-mrs-lorimers-quiet-summer/
It is totally, and utterly charming from start to finish!
I can’t wait to read this! I’m getting to where I save up money twice a year for the Furrowed Middlebrow book drop. I just saw D.E. Stevenson is next up in January, and I adore her novels, so I am definitely saving up! I have a feeling Molly Clavering’s novels are going to be very similar to DES: pure fun, pure comfort.
Just came across your blog – wonderful! Looking forward to looking through it more, just as soon as I get a bit of sleep tonite.
Ciao.
Los Angeles.
“Cleverer than it might seem at first” is a very good description of the Clavering books I’ve read so far. I’m so excited by these reissues and looking forward to working through them. I read Dear Hugo earlier this week (when have I ever resisted an epistolary novel?) and have Susan Settles Down ready to start.
This is on my to-read list. I’ve read two of the other just-republished Claverings and they were both delightful.
I also read Apricot Sky, which I *adored* — even moreso than I enjoyed the Clavering titles. It’s a gem.
Oo good to know – I haven’t read a lot about Apricot Sky. I clearly just need them all.
I’ve just begun Dear Hugo. You will love it. As you might guess from the title, it is an epistolary book. It is a pure joy to read.
And the person who mentioned these books being available at $2.99 is so right. When all the new and everybodywantstoreadthem books are costing a whole lot, we lovers of the old books can get treasures for peanuts!
Hi Simon,
This book was exactly the diversion I needed the last few weeks and is apparently the only kind of book I’m in the mood for lately. I think I must have noticed it on your IG, because I’m not sure if you talked about it on the podcast. Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you. Since finishing it, I have also read Susan Settles Down and Rhododendron Pie (M Sharp), with Dear Hugo and Apricot Sky (R Ferguson) waiting on my Kindle. Of course, I would prefer to have the charming paperbacks, but the immediacy of the kindle is too tempting when I am in such a moody reading-slump.
Thanks as always for the wonderful recs!
Kelcey
Lovely! And yet another encouragement to pick up Rhododendron Pie.