What took me so long to get back to Stella Gibbons. I chose The Bachelor because I do love a World War two novel – especially when it was written during the war rather than after. It adds an extra dimension to know the author couldn’t know exactly what might happen or when, though perhaps by 1944 the writing was on the wall.
During the war owners of large homes in the country were obliged to take in lodgers from the bomb besieged towns and cities – putting the homeowners under some strain. The Bachelor of the title – Kenneth Fielding, and his sister Constance own Sunglades; a large seven-bedroom house not far from London, though far enough to protect them from the worst of the bombing. They are a middle-aged pair, Constance in her early fifties, Kenneth around forty-seven, a little set in their ways things have gone along unchanged for years. With them lives a spinster cousin Frankie Burton, who nurses the memory of her one romance when she was a young woman, as a woman once jilted, Frankie is the household expert on matters of the heart. Miss Burton has a little voice in her head – that she thinks of as The Usurper – who is sometimes responsible for a tart remark or a little mischief. Frankie was definitely my favourite character in the book, she often seems the kindest too. Kenneth too once had a romance, and Constance who considers her brother unsuited to marriage is thankful that nothing came of it.
Constance is a complex character; a woman of high ideals, known for filling the house with foreign lodgers and promoting international understanding. More recently the household had a small family evacuated from London – who had proved rather a trial – and it might not be long before another family take their place. Constance is also a pacifist, and disapproves strongly of the war, much to the disgust of her daily woman Mrs Archer.
“Miss Fielding, of course, would have preferred to take no notice of the raids. She was without imagination and was not afraid of bombs. She thought of the Luftwaffe as Misguided, like the rest of the German nation, but felt no personal rancour towards it: she ignored it; she mentally brushed it aside like a tiresome fly and looked vaguely forward to the day when English and Germans would enjoy a hearty laugh together over the time when they were silly enough to bomb each other’s towns.”
Kenneth is a rather lovely man, gentle, old fashioned and principled himself – his greatest happiness was when he was in the army, he served in the first war. Now a middle-aged solicitor, Kenneth serves with the Home Guard – one of many things pacifist Connie must ‘close her eyes to’. He is harried somewhat by his older sister, and when he can, he escapes to his little walled vegetable garden with its ancient greenhouse taking pleasure in his hard work.
To prevent being landed with more strangers from London, Constance decides to fill up her empty bedrooms with people of her own choosing.
The first of these is Vartouhi Annamatta, a refugee from the fictional country of Bairamia, who comes to Sunglades as a kind of ‘mother’s help’. She is a picture of pure youth, and goodness – smiling, capable and not afraid of hard work. Soon enough we see her differently, quick tempered and self-serving, she’s a bit of a minx – (her broken English becomes a bit wearisome – but it’s a small gripe). Stella Gibbons, however obviously thinks that Vartouhi’s faults (of youth, brought with her from another culture) can be tempered if she were only to settle down with the right person – hmm!
Betty Marten; an attractive widow in her mid-forties, an old family friend has written to Constance asking if she could possibly put her up. Betty, a widow since the First World War, is the old flame of Kenneth’s which worries Connie a little, still better an old friend than a stranger. Soon Betty is installed and soon after her son Richard joins the household, twenty-five, a handsome young actor ruled out of war service by his health. When local party girl and world weary cynic Alicia Arkwright accidently runs over Richard’s foot, he is obliged to take advantage of the Fielding’s hospitality for several weeks.
Richard takes one look at Vartouhi and falls head over heels. Alicia can’t help but cast her jaundiced eye over Richard – despite having been badly hurt following a scandalous affair with a married man. Vartouhi is more impressed with Kenneth’s medals than Richard’s handsome young face while Betty and Kenneth quickly re-establish their old easy friendship. Kenneth begins to find some solace in the company of Vartouhi, he appreciates her simple old-fashioned qualities, and is able to calm her rages with kindness, and enjoys indulging her with pretty gifts. Constance views all of this with great disapproval, while worrying over the non-appearance of letters from Gustave Stocke – who she has been writing to for over a decade. Suddenly into the household comes old Eustace Fielding, Constance and Kenneth’s disreputable old father. Seventy-six, and still involved in nightclubs, the man who left their mother years earlier, has a definite twinkle in his eye – a eye that comes to rest on Betty.
Miss Burton watches all these possible romantic machinations with amusement and understanding. She likes Vartouhi and defends her to Constance when the girl incurs her wrath, she also believes that Kenneth should start defying his domineering older sister. Kenneth is a quiet man, but he is just about ready to start doing just that.
We are reminded of the devastating impact upon London and other cities when Kenneth pays a visit to London.
“He walked quickly down the High Street, past the ruinous gaping spaces where houses had been and the little shops showing gaudy dresses in brief brilliant display of colour and light before the black-out came down. Low grey clouds scudded over the sky and the wind was freezing. It was a city of shabbiness and ruins, battered, scarred and dismal beyond belief; and he did not see the honour and pride and courage that covered it like the violet blue veil of the spring dusk. To Kenneth, cheap shops were cheap shops and ruins were ruins, and a beastly evening was a beastly evening. Except during the 1914 war, his life had been passed in pleasant places and he had never had to look for beauty in the heart of squalor.”
Despite its 420 pages The Bachelor is a really quick read, deeply engaging, with its wonderful cast of characters, it is a compelling read. I loved the wartime details – eating Maltesers in the shelter Kenneth had defied his sister to build, everyone wrestling with the blackout – Mrs Archer taking the day off work to celebrate her son’s medal.
I recently got very confused with which Stella Gibbons I had read and which I hadn’t (I got Westwood and Nightingale Wood mixed up). The recent examination of my tbr revealed I have Here be Dragons, The Matchmaker and Westwood tbr – I anticipate them eagerly.
Just stay clear of ‘Fort of the Bear’ which has to be one of the most boring and dreary novels I have ever read.
Thank you, I’ll bear that in mind, it’s not one I have ever heard of.
I’ve really liked The Bachelor and its cast of characters, too. My other favorite Gibbons’ title is Westwood which is set in London during the war. I have The Rich House and Starlight to read for ACOB and hope they are as enjoyable.
I read Starlight a few years ago and really enjoyed it. Though someone else told me recently they didn’t like it. So glad I have Westwood, another WW2 novel.
Some of her books are better than others.THE RICH HOUSE is one of my favourites.As is PINK FRONT DOOR which is out of print.
Thank you, not heard of either of those.
I think RICH HOUSE appealed as there were 4 or more young people who lived , loved and talked — it was very enjoyable.Maybe the quirkiness was toned down a bit?
Sounds lovely, Ali, and very entertaining with all those potential romantic complications! I like books written during the war, too – not knowing what will happen gives the writing an extra frisson.
Yes, the only thing about romantic pairings up I always want at least one person to remain happy but single. 😀 Still this was a good compelling read.
That would be so much more realistic! :))
It doesn’t happen often enough (in books of the period I like).
I feel the same way about liking books with happily single characters. I just read The New House by Lettice Cooper and loved it but didn’t feel like Aunt Ellen should have been portrayed as someone to be pitied. And Rhoda seemed to have a full and happy life without going to London.
I loved that book too. 😀
This one is at my local library. I’m sure I’d like it and your review has confirmed that. I haven’t read anything by Gibbons, not even CCF, but would probably like to start with this one.
Cold Comfort Farm is good but I think the rest of Stella Gibbons work has been often overlooked because of it. This novel would be as good a place to start as any.
I love the sound of this. I loved the ‘romantic machinations’ in ‘The Rich House’ and the idea of reading more set in uncertain war years is very appealing.
The Rich House is definitely on my list to look out for now, I’m sure I’d love it.
I’m sure you would too.
Stella Gibbons is completely off our radar this side the Atlantic. Aside from the ubiquitous Cold Comfort Farm, I’ve never yet found one of her titles in my used bookshop foragings – and I’ve been to some of the most inclusive in our larger cities! It appears that she is available in Great Britain in recent reprints – I must look into this. Most intriguing, this review. Thank you.
Yes Vintage books in the UK re- issued several of Stella Gibbons novels a few years ago. Good luck in tracking them down. (Are you not able to get Vintage over the pond?)
Not off-the-shelf, as it were. Online orders, no problem. I often order through Abebooks, or directly from publishers in the UK – super fast service, faster to us in Canada than from the USA, which always amuses me a bit. 🙂 But as far as seeing Stella Gibbons in our “physical” secondhand bookstores, it’s exceedingly rare.
In the US, try Better World books or Abebooks. Both have used copies of Stella Gibbons’ novels.
I love Stella Gibbons and yes in the US you cannot find one of her books except Cold Comfort Farm. I did find Christmas at Cold Comfort Farms. Have yet to read it. I order her books online. I have read Nightingale Woods and The Matchmaker and loved them both. I’m a little partial to quirky! I’ll look for this one online. Great review, Ali.
Yes, I read Christmas at Cold comfort farm several years ago, a delightful little collection. Not all of the stories are Christmassy though. I enjoyed Nightingale Wood and remember really enjoying Starlight.
I occasionally see Gibbons titles aside from CCF at the Half Price Books chain here in the States. So far, I’ve always had an armload of other books and haven’t been able to purchase one. I regularly search there for Virago, Europa, Persephone, New York Review Book, vintage Penguins and the same Vintage editions you have in the UK. Always quality reading from those publishers. Maybe next time I’ll luck onto more Gibbons, when I have money to spare!
Great shopping list that, you have superb taste. Abebooks are great.
I’ve only read Cold Comfort and other connected Gibbons
I recommend looking out for some of her other books, it’s a shame that Stella Gibbons other books are over shadowed by Cold Comfort Farm.
This sounds like just my sort of read. I read ‘Christmas at Cold Comfort Farm’ at the end of last year and decided straight away that I needed to read more of her books. And I hadn’t heard of this one before – I think I’m one of the people whose knowledge didn’t extend much beyond CCF. Great to get some TBR tips!
You’re not alone in not having heard if other books, I think that happens when one book is very well known. She was surprisingly prolific.
Shall I make my confession now? I have never read Stella Gibbons. No, not even Cold Comfort Farm. It never really appealed (I see books described as comic and instantly my antennae start twitching because I don’t have a good experience with them). This one sounds much more enticing
I would likely have confused those two ‘wood’ titles too. What was she thinking? *grins* Anyhow, it’s lovely that you have a few more yet to enjoy. Funny, I wouldn’t have thought of her writing anything so long as that – more than 400 pages – but that would be all-the-more-for-the-enjoyment of course.
Actually I think Westwood and The Matchmaker are similar length books.
This sounds excellent. Like you, I really like WWII novels that were written at the time.
In that case, I’m sure you would enjoy this one.
This sounds appealing! I have yet to read Gibbons! But I do own a copy of Cold Comfort Farm so I’ll start there.
It’s a delightful, quirky read.
I read The Matchmaker last year and was disappointed. It was only my second Gibbons though, and perhaps I was expecting something more in the style of Cold Comfort Farm since that was my previous Gibbons experience. I do have a nice copy of Westwood (stumbled upon it in Alnwick); perhaps I shall revisit Gibbons sooner rather than later!
A shame The Matchmaker was disappointing. I’ve heard good things about Westwood.
[…] going through them, I had got myself very confused about which I had read, and which I hadn’t. The Bachelor, first published in 1944 really is a rollicking good read. A large house in the country – not far […]
[…] Bachelor von Stella Gibbons wird uns von Heavenali […]
[…] The Bachelor by Stella Gibbons was the book I ticked off 1944 with in my A Century of Books earlier this year. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Set during the war, the Bachelor of the title – Kenneth Fielding, and his sister Constance own Sunglades; a large seven-bedroom house not far from London, though far enough to protect them from the worst of the bombing. An elderly cousin lives with them, and in the coming months they are obliged to take in various other house guests. One of these is Vartouhi Annamatta, a refugee from the fictional country of Bairamia, who comes to Sunglades as a kind of ‘mother’s help’. After her arrival, nothing is quite the same again. […]
[…] The Bachelor by Stella Gibbons (1944) The Bachelor of the title – Kenneth Fielding, and his sister Constance own Sunglades; a large […]