Apart from the LibraryThing centenary reads for Elizabeth Taylor and Barbara Pym, I think this is the first group read I’ve taken part in – organised by Simon at Stuck-in-a-Book as the film is due out soon. Luckily, I already had a nice little Penguin copy of this book sitting on my shelf and it counts as a re-read too, as I know I read it a *long* time ago – though I confess to remembering little about it!
Julia Strachey was, of course, a member of the Bloomsbury Group and one of the famous Strachey family. This novella was first published in 1932 by Leonard and Virginia Woolf’s Hogarth Press, so it has something of a pedigree, especially as it is now available as a Persephone! My Penguin copy bills it on the back as a comedy….. more of which later!
The short novel tells of a day in the life of Dolly Thatcham – her wedding day, in fact, which is taking place on a blustery March day in Dorset. Dolly is marrying Owen, to whom she has only been engaged for a month, as they are off to South America as he has to work there. As the book starts, with Dolly milling around staring at herself in an old mirror, while her mother fusses around her irritatingly, I was already given a sense of unease – for someone about to be married, Dolly seemed in an odd state of mind.
As the story unfolds, the extended Thatcham family plus wedding guests come into focus. There is Kitty, Dolly’s younger sister, who is cursed with big hands and a shrill voice; the uncle/Canon who is to give Dolly away; two cousins Robert and Tom who seem to be in a perpetual state of feud; Joseph, Dolly’s abandoned suitor; plus various aunts and local people, as well as a succession of much put-upon domestics (who are constantly being blamed for Mrs. Thatcham’s mistakes). For a short work this packs in a lot of characters, and they are all very distinct although introduced quite abruptly in most cases. Dolly seems uncertain about the future, unable to relate properly to her mother who is detached and unfocused – to the extent that she puts two different people in one bedroom together and does not realise what she has done. This vagueness suffuses many of the characters, who do not seem to quite know what they want, particularly Joseph who is pining for Dolly and having missed his chance to woo her, seems unable to take any decisive course of action. Dolly is reduced to swigging from a bottle of rum and departs for the church with an ink stain on her dress, hastily covered up for her by Joseph. Everything seems to go wrong – even a lost tortoise, who has been found in time to go off to South America with the newly weds, is let loose by Owen as he does not think there will be anything for it to eat on the voyage. I couldn’t help feeling that this was a marriage that was going to be doomed from the start.
So – is this book a comedy? Well, it didn’t strike me as such – more of a tragedy, actually. The (extended) family are remarkably dysfunctional and Mrs. Thatcham is so annoying that I found myself quite delighted when Joseph had a real go at winding her up at the end of the story, and Kitty told her exactly where she had gone wrong. Nobody is happy, and this seemed more of a bittersweet dissection of why things can go wrong if we are not decisive enough in pursuing our dreams, than any kind of comedy. I’m still not sure whether I really enjoyed this book or not – there were parts of the writing which were very beautiful and Strachey word-painted the scenes very evocatively. But I don’t know really what the point of the story was – it ended up being a portrait of a messed up family, but without the charm of say, “Guard Your Daughters”. The jury is still out on this one!
Cheerful Weather for the Wedding by Julia Stratchey (1932) « Reading 1900-1950
Jan 28, 2013 @ 11:54:40
Erica
Jan 28, 2013 @ 11:59:26
I too enjoyed that bit at the end with Mrs Thatcham…
kaggsysbookishramblings
Jan 28, 2013 @ 13:10:39
🙂
heavenali
Jan 28, 2013 @ 20:28:59
It’s a while since I read this one too, but I remember really enjoying it. A small novel, that is somehow not as memorable as it should be. As I say I enjoyed it – but I think I may have been a tiny bit disappointed by it. Maybe the fact it was by a Strachey made me expect too much.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Jan 28, 2013 @ 20:34:24
Good point! The name brings a lot of baggage and also the Bloomsbury connection!
Simon T
Jan 28, 2013 @ 20:58:08
But Nellie! You must have found Nellie funny, Karen??
Fun review, thanks for joining in with the readalong – I agree that the marriage is doomed, but I don’t feel like we were supposed really to care. I thought the momentum (to steal the word used in my blog comments!) was the thing – and everything happening before or after the day was somehow incidental.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Jan 29, 2013 @ 08:19:49
Yes, there were moments of black humour I admit (Nellie being one of them) – but overall, as I keep thinking about the book, I feel as if it was a missed opportunity – for me it fell between two stools, as some of her writing is so beautiful but I didn’t take to her characters at all!
vicki (skiourophile / bibliolathas)
Jan 29, 2013 @ 08:04:30
The sad thing is that there is likely no escape from the marriage either – can you imagine a diplomat’s career and a divorce in that era? – just like there was no escape from giving the baby/ies up or doing the acceptable thing at any stage. Really enjoyed your take on Cheerful, Karen!
kaggsysbookishramblings
Jan 29, 2013 @ 08:12:01
Good point – a rushed marriage was a big mistake back then!
Alex in Leeds
Jan 29, 2013 @ 15:11:39
I’d agree with the tragedy rather than comedy category, I wanted to flee rather than laugh for most of it. I have the same Penguin edition and haven’t yet read the second part, did you dip into it? I find myself curious to know what other snippets Strachey wrote but nervous that it too is very brief…
kaggsysbookishramblings
Jan 29, 2013 @ 15:29:43
I read it, oooh about 30 years ago – so I actually have no useful memory of it that I can offer. And as I’m sunk in Soviet fiction at the moment I confess to no real inclination to read further… 😉
Review: Cheerful Weather for the Wedding by Julia Strachey « Alex In Leeds
Jan 29, 2013 @ 15:26:21
Desperate Reader
Feb 03, 2013 @ 13:49:13
I thought the marriage would be rather boringly successful, Dolly had obviously chosen what she wanted and was getting to head off into the sunset to enjoy a brand new start n the other side of the world to her impossible family. I’m inclined to think the drinking was the result of days of close contact with mother and sister. I don’t believe that she loves Owen, but nor did she love Joseph enough to accept him on the limited terms he was willing to offer and I do believe that she’s committed to what Owen had to offer.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Feb 03, 2013 @ 14:18:22
Good point – close proximity with Mrs. Thatcham would drive anyone to drink! And I agree that she didn’t want Joseph strongly – perhaps marriage to Owen would be a good enough compromise to escape…