I don’t do a huge amount of re-reading, and I almost never read the same book twice within a year. Hopefully that’s a mark of how I loved O, The Brave Music (1943) by Dorothy Evelyn Smith. I read it back in March, and didn’t write about it for ages because I wanted to do it justice – and I re-read it recently to see if it was as good as I’d remembered. Oh, and it was.
I first heard of Dorothy Evelyn Smith when I was lent a copy of Miss Plum and Miss Penny, which was quite good. For some reason that I can’t quite remember, it didn’t live up to its promise (though Scott had nicer things to say). But I thought I still might as well buy O, The Brave Music when I came across it in a wonderful little bookshop in St. David’s. I was a little put off by the stupid title, which is one of those quotations-as-titles that only make sense if you know the context – and, even then, doesn’t make much sense in this case.
This is a coming of age novel in the mould of I Capture the Castle and Guard Your Daughters. Though published in the 1940s, the childhood being looked back upon takes place in the late nineteenth century (exact date rather vague). Ruan is the seven-year-old daughter a non-Conformist minister. Her sister is widely considered more beautiful and well-behaved than she, and her bold imagination and love for the moors that surround them are not thought advantages by the society her family moves in. But that family is far from a unified front. We see them through the seven-year-old eyes and the older-and-wiser eyes of the adult Ruan simultaneously. The child can only half understand how poorly matched her parents are – her conservative, absent-minded father and her beautiful, unhappily tamed mother – and can’t really comprehend the dislike her mother feels towards her. Ruan is not daunted by her surroundings. She is confident, thoughtful, determined. She feels much older than her seven years.
Ruan has another sibling – two-year-old Clem. Here’s a passage about him that is indicative of the way Smith writes:
At the back of our house was a long, narrow strip of garden, very much overgrown with weeds, because Father did not care for gardening and had no money for professional help. But it was a garden, at least, and, the weather turning very hot and dry, I was allowed to wheel Clem up and down the weedy path, or sit on the rank lawn and play with him. I had always loved my baby brother dearly, and in those long, quiet June days my love became more articulate and, alas, more sharp of vision. I began to watch Clem more closely; to think and worry and make comparisons; but it was Annie Briggs who finally tore the scales from my eyes, and gave me my first, salt knowledge of the sorrowful thing love can be…
Those final words are so beautifully pitched. In these years, Ruan gains plenty of that ‘salt knowledge’ – but this is far from an unhappy book. She is equally keenly aware of the things that bring her joy. That includes nature, freedom – and David.
David is the son of the local factory owner – a rich man who came from a working-class background. He is five years older than Ruan but sees a kindred spirit in her, calling her Tinribs and treating her without any of the awkward deference she experiences from almost everyone else. In him she sees a new sort of family, and loves him.
The novel covers about eight years, during which Ruan has to go to school – and then later to an enormous, mostly closed-up house, Cobbetts, belonging to a relative. Wherever she is, Smith is brilliant at giving the feeling of the place – whether that’s the dirty claustrophobia of the school or the cold, reassuring Cobbetts – and how it affects Ruan and her personality.
Like all the best coming-of-age novels, the strength of O, The Brave Music is in the empathetic central character and how deeply immersed the reader feels in her life. As Ruan sees and experiences and understands new things, adding them to the catalogue of her impressions of the world, we half feel that we are seeing them for the first time too – and half want to protect this child against the bad and good and overwhelming that life will bring. But whenever it has become too overwhelming – there are the moors, or there is Cobbetts, or there is David – and joy is back.
David is kind, stubborn, generous, and believable – becoming a little more strained as he grows older and goes to school, and they meet less frequently, but warming up and still being the David that Ruan needs him to be. Being children, this is not a romance – but my only criticism of the novel is that the five-year age gap does get rather unsettling when he becomes an adult and she is still a child, and still devoted to him. Considering how she always seems older than she is, I don’t know why Smith didn’t make it only one or two years between them. But I can reassure you now that nothing untoward or icky happens!
I was confident early in O, The Brave Music that is was something special – and a re-read confirms it. It’s going to be my favourite novel of the year, I feel sure – and one I’ll be revisiting often.
This does indeed sound wonderful. I would love to read Dorothy Evelyn Smith- I read about her on Scott’s blog too – but she seems almost impossible to get hold of. I do so enjoy a good coming of age novel.
Yes, I hadn’t realised how lucky I was to find it until I went to see how many were out there just now…
This sounds wonderful! Now to figure out how to track it down…
Hope you can!!
This does sound wonderful although I’m glad you only feel sure it’s going to be your novel of the year – what if you read something else in these last 15 days that’s EVEN BETTER?
I know! Have to be cautious!!
High praise indeed Simon! I guess this might create another online rush….. ;D
It looks like there maybe weren’t many to rush towards in the first place! oops!
I can always count on you to recommend something out of the ordinary. Now… if only I could find a reasonably priced copy of this!
Thanks! And yes, I hadn’t realised quite how scarce it is…
I just found a copy for under $5 on line. I also bought her title The Lovely Day because why not?
Maybe this will also have the Guard Your Daughters trajectory and get picked up by Persephone? You should be on their editorial staff Simon! :D
I just received in mail as ordered on your recommendation. Looking forward to the week between Christmas and the New Year and reading it with tea, biscuits and twinkling lights! I really enjoyed Miss Plum and Miss Penny.
Ooo brilliant, Bronwen! Let me know what you think, do.
I would really recommend another novel by Dorothy Evelyn Smith – The Proud Citadel. It’s been my favourite book since I first read it, aged about 14. I must have reread it twenty times, over the years, and it never disappoints. Meanwhile, I’m going to go and hunt for a copy of Oh, The Brave Music, which I think I remember seeing on my parents’ bookshelf years ago! Thanks for the recommendation…
Thanks so much for the recommendation, Sarah – it’s now on its way to me!
Thank you so much for recommending it — I just finished it and absolutely loved it! My only quibble, like you, was the age gap — nowadays it would be considered a little icky. Either I wish they’d been older or the gap was smaller. By the way, I was able to find it online for free via Archive.org . They also have some of her other books and I’m already on the waiting list.
I hope someone picks this up for a reprint — perhaps your new British Library Women Writers series??
My mother took Oh, The Brave Music to the hospital with her when I was born, in 1952.She loved it and I first read it when I was about 14, and have reread it over the years, beginning again last night.Interesting it is being talked about now, it has always been a quiet connection between my mother and me, I’ve never thought about it having a life away from us, Always a comfortable read, I took my mother’s copy when I left home at the age of 18.
I first read O, The Brave Music when I was 14, and as soon as I finished it, I started rereading the book–I was enthralled! For years, I searched for other books by Dorothy Evelyn Smith in every town library I encountered–I lived in the Missouri Ozarks and Oklahoma. Years ago, when one of my daughters came home with I Capture the Castle, I was so excited–thinking I had found my author, thinking “Dodie” was a nickname for Dorothy. Alas, no. During this current Covid-19 season at home, the idea came to me to search online–and, of course, I found several of her books for sale on Amazon, Alibris, Abebooks. I was so excited!! I ordered a couple (Lost Hill and The Lovely Day)–they came, I read–and I love her work as much if not more than I did as a young teen. I’m 82. I now have several others ordered. I am so happy!
What a lovely comment, Ann! I’m so glad you’re enjoying her just as much now. I’m reading Proud Citadel at the moment – not as good as this, but enjoyable. And I’m delighted to say that O, The Brave Music will be reprinted in autumn!
Here is some exciting news. One of my daughters, Heather the librarian, sent me this url that allows us to read several of Dorothy Evelyn Smith’s novels for free online on the computer. No Kindle needed.
https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Smith%2C+Dorothy+Evelyn%22
I have just finished Beyond the Gates. Its unusual heroine Lydia is magnificent. She’s ugly, untutored, has no social skills at all. Yet the story of this orphan whose entire life is spent as a servant for a family in the Yorkshire moors will warm your heart but only after it’s been broken by her life story of faithful family love. (I used to wonder, back during school days, if any author could or would ever successfully fashion a strong female protagonist who had no beauty, no special artistic talent, no cunning, and, truthfully, no smarts. Yes, D. E. Smith accomplished just that in this book.) Enjoy archive.org!
Oh great news, Ann! I’ve just finished Proud Citadel, and will clearly have to explore Beyond the Gates. So glad to find a small crowd of DES fans :)
Oh my goodness, Ann! Thank you for finding and posting this! So excited to read more of these.
I’ll tell Heather that her mom is not the only one who is so happy and grateful for her tip to use archive.org! I found a 50s review (scathing!) of one of her books–and then lost it. Will keep searching. (It was too sexy!)
Ann, I wonder if it was the book of hers that was reviewed recently by Furrowed Middlebrow. http://furrowedmiddlebrow.blogspot.com/2020/06/charming-and-delightful-but-dorothy.html and the 50s reviewer didn’t put their finger on the same objectionable part but still felt it. Or of course may be a completely different one. I would love to see that review if you can find it again.
My sister found this book years ago at Goodwill and we both loved it and read it several times. I found a copy online about three years ago and was so excited to read it again.
So happy to read this review! I discovered this book at the age of 15 and it’s always remembered as my favourite book ever–even though I haven’t read it through again. I’m almost afraid to, actually, now that I think about why I haven’t, even though I made sure to find a lovely copy with dustjacket. I think I’m worried it will be too different now from what I remember, knowing I’m a much different person now. <3
I'm glad to read of others in the comments above who have read it again in adulthood and still loved it. :)
I, too, was nervous about re-reading O The Brave Music–after 66 years! I do remember rereading it about 50 years ago and still liking it. This re-reading, however, gave me an additional insight–I had never noticed how oppressively pervasive the theme of “class” was in those earlier readings. (But, hey, I’m not a Brit–but a hillbilly who moved to Oklahoma from the Ozark mountains!)
Thank you for your reply, Ann, though I’m sorry I didn’t see it until now. That’s interesting what aspects came out for you in the most recent reading–I will be looking for that now too. :) I married a Brit after reading it in my teens, and then lived there a number of years, so I wonder how it will change for me.
This amazing book was one of my mother’s favourite books. I was named after a character in it …and She passed it in to me when I was old enough to take good care of it.
I have always loved the story …and the underlying sub-stories.
RB, that is just amazing that you were named after, presumably, Ruan! That is some real commitment on the part of your mum. It’s wonderful to hear that you also love the book. :)
This has been my favorite book since I discovered it on my mom’s bookshelf I was 13 years old—I’m now 68. It was a Book of the Month Club selection in the U.S. I love that I can laugh, cry, get angry, and happily walk the moors with Ruan. I’ve read it dozens of times and always sigh with satisfaction at the end.
I have read several other Dorothy Evelyn Smith books that I like, but none match O! The Brave Music!
It was a delight to read all the comments from people who love this book as I do. I picked it up in a used clothing store in Frederick, MD, quite a few years ago, and fell in love with it. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read it (I’m 77 and have owned it for a number of years now). I’ve purchased and read several other books by Dorothy E. Smith – they are so very hard to find!! They are all very good, but none as good as O! The Brave Music!
How lovely to read all these comments from “Oh the Brave Music” fans. I found it in an aunt’s attic and sat on the floor and read it in a tríce. It’s the only book I have read and re-read over the years. I have a copy like the one in the photo but my daughter bought me a new one online. It sits on my bedside table. I feel a great affinity for Cobbetts which was in Shropshire where I hail from. Lovely book.
Lovely, Caroline! I really like how many people have read and loved the novel for many decades.
Even though the story is fictitious, where in Yorkshire might it have taken place in?
I loved this book and have read it many times. Huffley Fair was excellent as well.