They Knew Mr Knight – Dorothy Whipple – (Persephone)

Synopsis:

The Blakes are an ordinary family: Celia looks after the house and Thomas works at the family engineering business in Leicester. The book begins when he meets Mr Knight, a financier as crooked as any on the front pages of our newspapers nowadays; and tracks his and his family’s swift climb and fall.

Persephone publish 5 Dorothy Whipple books, four novels and one book of short stories, and it is easy to see why, her writing of families and their ups and downs their triumphs and disasters is brilliant. This is the third of the four novels re-published by Persephone that I have read. My favourite was They were Sisters, but this one is almost as good. I found it quite unputdownable really, it is nearly 500 pages long but I read it so quickly it din’t feel as long as that.

Celia is an innocent, a housewife and mother who knows nothing of finance, and understands even less. She is however a steadfast and true woman who supports her husband, and her children in everything, and she knows enough to dislike Mr Knight. Freda – the eldest daughter is rather selfish, although she longs for great things to happen to her, the reader can’t help but shake their head over what must surely come to pass, and pity her in her silliness. This is a very moral tale, in which those who aim too high have everything come crashing down, and who have to live with the results.