Which Way by Theodora Benson-first published in 1931 This edition published in 2021 by The British Library 96 Euston Road London nw1 2db Copyright © 2021 Estate of Theodora Benson Preface copyright © 2021 Tanya Kirk Afterword copyright © 2021 Simon Thomas

Which Way by Theodora Benson-first published in 1931 This edition published in 2021 by The British Library 96 Euston Road London nw1 2db Copyright © 2021 Estate of Theodora Benson Preface copyright © 2021 Tanya Kirk Afterword copyright © 2021 Simon Thomas

Part of a curated collection of forgotten works by early to mid-century women writers, the British Library Women Writers series highlights the best middlebrow fiction from the 1910s to the 1960s, offering escapism, popular appeal and plenty of period detail to amuse, surprise and inform.” From The British Library

An excellent post from Stuck in a Book on Which Way

 

Biography

21st August 1906 - Eleanor Theodora Roby Benson is born to Godfrey Rathbone Benson, 1st Baron Charnwood and Dorothea Mary Roby Thorpe. Theodora is their third child.

June 1925 - Theodora made her debut into society.

October 1928 - Theodora’s first novel, ‘Salad Days’, is published in London by Cayme Press.

October 1930 - Theodora’s first novel written in collaboration with Betty Askwith, ‘Lobster Quadrille’, is published by Grant Richards.

18th January 1938 - Theodora becomes a regular columnist for ‘The Daily Mirror’ newspaper.

11th October 1947 - Theodora makes her BBC radio debut as a writer.

25th December 1968 - Theodora dies on Christmas Day at the age of 62. The cause of death is attributed to pneumonia. She never married 

There are currently 15 works in the British Library Women Writers Series. I am hoping to read through them EVENTUALLY. Most are fairly brief and all include author bios and expert commentaries. The Kindle Editions are under $4.00.

British Women Library Women Series Works I have so far read

Strange Journey by Maud Cairnes -1935

The Love Child by Edith Olivier - 1927

Tea is So Intoxicating by Ursula Bloom (writing as Mary Essex)- 1950

Father by Elizabeth Von Armin - 1931

We often wonder how our lives might have turned on seemingly at the moment inconsequential decisions. In Which Way Benson shows us how three different decisions about how to spend a weekend lead Claudia on three very different paths. 

I very much enjoyed the elegant descriptions of Claudia's social circles. We see how her decisions lead her to relationships with different sorts of men, to marriage, or otherwise.

I loved the wonderful literary quotations with which the chapters begin. The authors include classic English poets like Wordsworth and Tennyson, the translated work of Gilbert Murray to several French writers. Claudia spends some time in Paris and there are several delightful epistles dedicated as to how Claudia will spend her weekend.

I will next in this series read An Invitation to See the Peep Show.

The Love Child by Edith Olivier - first published 1927 - British Museum Library Women Writers Edition 2021 with a preface by Alison Bailey and an afterword by Simon Thomas

 

The Love Child by Edith Olivier - first published 1927 - British Museum Library Women Writers Edition 2021 with a preface by Alison Bailey and an afterword by Simon Thomas

“Part of a curated collection of forgotten works by early to mid-century women writers, the British Library Women Writers series highlights the best middlebrow fiction from the 1910s to the 1960s, offering escapism, popular appeal and plenty of period detail to amuse, surprise and inform.”  From The British Library

There are currently 15 works in the British Library Women Writers Series.  I am hoping to read through them in 2022. Most are fairly brief  and all include author bios and expert commentaries.  The Kindle Editions are under $4.00.

British Women Library Women Series Works I have so far read

Strange Journey by Maud Cairnes -1935

The Love Child by Edith Olivier - 1927

Agatha is an unmarried woman in her early thirties.  Her father died long ago and her mother has now passed.  She has been left financially secure with several servants and a decent home. She has no close relatives, no friends, never a romantic interest.  As Olivier  makes painfully clear, Agatha is totally lonely.  Her father left a good library but she does not read.  She seems to have no passion for anything.  Her fondest memory is of an imaginary playmate, Clarisa, she shared her childhood years with.

At first I felt sorry for Agatha but not overly fascinated by her circumstances.  Then something very strange happens.  I at first think Agatha is hallucinating, letting her imagation fill the void in her life.  From this point on I was throughly entralled by The Love Child as a marvelously developed stranger  by the page sequences of events develop. Clarisa appears first in a fashion only Agatha can see then she becomes visible to all as an 11 year old girl.  The mystery is who is she, where did she come from?  

I do not want to spoil other readers expereiences by revealing much at all of what happens as Clarisa gets older.  It is both hilarious and heartbreaking.

The Family servants play  an important part giving us a view of  country households.  A chapter with a Policeman explains the name of the novel when we see Agatha display real spirit.

Edith Olivier

Born: December 31, 1872, Wilton UK 

Died: May 10, 1948, Wilton, UK

There is a very well done bio here which goes into her belief in the supernatural.

In May I hope to read Tea is So Intoxicating by Mary Essex

Mel ulm