August was a brilliant reading month for me, but one plan which never came to fruition was to read a Virago title for the usual All August/All Virago challenge. Somehow, the mood was never right – but I did read a book which would fall into the category of similar kinds of book, and we do allow those, so I suppose I can count today’s work! The British Library Women Writers series is taking a similar approach to the Crime Classics by re-issuing lost works by 20th century women authors. I’ve covered some titles before, and was very intrigued when I saw they were putting out a title by Elizabeth Berridge. I loved her “The Story of Stanley Brent“, which Mike Walmer rescued back in 2020, and so “Sing Me Who You Are” was always going to be a must-read for me. I’m glad to say it turned out to be just as brilliant as “Stanley Brent”, albeit very different.
“Sing…” was published in 1967, some 22 years after Berridge’s debut with Brent in 1945; and she had a long publishing career, releasing works from the 1940s to the 1990s. Set in the so-called swinging decade, “Sing…” follows 37 year old Harriet as she makes some radical changes to her life. Her mother has died, and her aunt has left her a mouldering bus parked on land owned by her cousin Magda Witheredge. Instead of just visiting the bus as she normally does, she’s decided to sell up and move in; and as winter is approaching that might not be the best decision.
Also living at Uplands, Magda’s fancy house on the farmland she’s inherited from her mother, is her rather distant husband Gregg. The class divide is still in place here, with most of the farm work being done by the Everett family, particular farmer Ted. The local town of Maxmead is also split the same way, with the ‘gentry’ concerned with the need for housing to be built locally for the working classes. Meirion Pritchard, the editor of the local rag, is a friend of the Witheredges, and there are numerous local cronies of Magda’s who have fingers in all sorts of pies involving the local council and planning permissions.
However, this is not only a book which looks forward to the changes in society which were rumbling in the surface all through the decade. All of these characters are old enough to either remember World War 2, or indeed have taken part in it; and many are still haunted by their experiences in the conflict, unable to move on. Hovering over the whole book is the presence of Scrubbs Malone; a family friend from a troubled background, a feckless charmer, he seems to have touched the lives of all of the characters in the book. As Harriet tries to settle into her new life, she will find affection from unexpected sources, encounter startling recollections of her past, suffer loss and find an unexpected offer of a new direction – but will she take it?
“Sing…” is a brilliantly written book which pulls you in from the start but very cleverly keeps you gripped by gradually revealing parts of Harriet’s life and past. Scrubbs is mentioned early on, but his life, fate and affections are only revealed bit by bit; and in a couple of places, Harriet uses the brand new technology of reel-to-reel tape to record her memories of him. There is so much she hasn’t known about, partly from being a child when the War was on, but just about all of the family secrets come out in the course of the novel. She’s a brilliantly conjured character, spiky yet vulnerable, and despite her veneer of independence, you sense that she’s desperately searching for a place and purpose in her life, having spent so much time sacrificing herself to care for others.
All the same Harriet stopped and looked over to the right, where the long curving lake was outlined by rising mist and the bamboo plantations marched along the far end. From the water came the heavy smell of autumn and she knew without moving a step that the flat leathery water-lily leaves quilted the lake, with drifts of wild plum and willow leaves for stitching. Aunt Esther had always loved to watch these changing colours. She had made, years ago, a patchwork bedcover, matching the silks and velvets to the faded tapestry colours of the tough water-lily leaves, the brilliant drifts of red plum, the frail yellow hair of willow.
The supporting cast are well-drawn too; Magda and Gregg are no cardboard cutouts, both capable of good and bad; Meirion is an engaging foil; and Scrubbs springs fully formed from the memories others have of him, viewed from so many different perspectives. It’s worth remembering that the 1960s were so much closer to WW2 than they are to our own times, and I can recall when I was little that there were still abandoned bomb shelters at the back of a local woods near some demolished houses – the shadow of the conflict lingered on for a long time…
However, the heart of the book is of course Harriet’s story and I did become very invested in her, wanting things to go well for her, hoping she would find her place in the world and be able to cast off the influence of her past. The ending was welcome, if perhaps a little unexpected, as Berridge threw in a curve ball about two third of the way through the book which I didn’t expect at all. There is early exploration of ecological issues, which was a fascinating aspect; and I ended “Sing…” feeling that I really do want to read more of Berridge’s work.
As usual with the BLWW series, the book comes with excellent supporting information, including an afterword by Simon Thomas (from Stuck in a Book and my co-host of our reading weeks); he’s series consultant on these books and provides some interesting thoughts about the book and its context.
There’s scanty information about Berridge out in the wider world, and although she published intermittently she was also a regular newspaper critic, as well as writing plays. Certainly, on the evidence of the two books of hers I’ve read, she’s most definitely deserving of rediscovery; I hope that more of her work comes back into print, but in any event I shall be looking out for older editions of her books!
(Review copy kindly provided by the publisher, for which many thanks!)
madamebibilophile
Sep 01, 2023 @ 08:36:42
This sounds wonderful Kaggsy, so cleverly done and such excellent characterisation. I also read Stanley Brent and it made me want to read more by Berridge, so it’s great to hear this lives up to expectations. And I have it the TBR – hooray!
kaggsysbookishramblings
Sep 01, 2023 @ 12:38:16
It’s really good Madame B – her writing is excellent and although it’s a very different beast to Stanley Brent she’s so good at capturing place and character. Loved it!
Elle
Sep 01, 2023 @ 09:12:29
I also love the clever cover—and this is next up for me after I finish my current read! I love everything about the premise.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Sep 01, 2023 @ 12:37:36
The cover is subtle but brilliant – I didn’t notice it at first! Hope you enjoy it – I though it was excellent, and I really like her writing.
Margot Kinberg
Sep 01, 2023 @ 12:10:37
I really like books that give the reader a sense of place and time like this. Just from the bit you shared, I got the sense that this book really places the reader. And the characters do sound interesting, and like products of their time so we get to see the larger events of the day reflected in them.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Sep 01, 2023 @ 12:34:22
Me too, Margot, and this is a very interesting perspective because the protagonists are a little older, so struggling with long memories of the past and not exactly comfortable with the changes taking place. Really interesting!
Griff and Sarah Thomas
Sep 01, 2023 @ 16:09:49
Thanks for this review. You have definitely whetted my appetite for this one. And I was hungry to read it when I first knew about it some months ago, so will hope to get to it soon. I have enjoyed all the British Library Women Writers series that I have read so far.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Sep 01, 2023 @ 17:04:14
Most welcome and I hope you enjoy it. The BLWW is such an interesting series and has a real range – this one captured the era brilliantly and went off in some very interesting directions!
Jane
Sep 01, 2023 @ 16:46:28
what a beautiful title (and cover)!
kaggsysbookishramblings
Sep 01, 2023 @ 17:03:21
it is! Both of them! A really good read – absolutely fascinating!
heavenali
Sep 01, 2023 @ 19:05:20
I really enjoyed this one, too, which I read a couple of weeks ago. I’m hoping to review it next week. I thought the storyline around Scrubbs was brilliantly done, and I loved the sense of place in the countryside where Harriet had her old bus.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Sep 01, 2023 @ 19:15:03
It’s good isn’t it? Totally agree about Scrubbs – the way she gradually revealed his story was brilliant!
Julé Cunningham
Sep 02, 2023 @ 00:46:20
This sounds like an interestingly unusual variation on the after-the-war story with some engaging character dynamics at a transition time for them and society as a whole. The setting descriptions catches the eye too.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Sep 02, 2023 @ 12:42:22
It is, and because the characters are old enough to remember the war, we seen society through a very particular lens. The bottom line, though, is that it’s a wonderful story and some fantastic characters, so when you mix in the setting to, I thought it was a real winner.
JacquiWine
Sep 03, 2023 @ 10:07:34
A lovely review, Karen, which makes me want to revisit the book as maybe I underestimated it first time around! (I read it a few years ago, and while there was enough in it to make me want to read more Berridge, it didn’t set my world on fire so to speak.) Still, it’s really lovely to see it back in print as part of the BLWW series for a whole new generation of readers to enjoy. That’s definitely something to celebrate!
If you’re looking to try another Berridge, Across the Common is great. And I completely agree with you about Stanley Brent, such a moving, beautifully crafted book!
kaggsysbookishramblings
Sep 03, 2023 @ 14:23:16
Thanks Jacqui! It’s a different book to Brent, definitely, but then many years separate the two and I think she was trying to do something different with this one. I do enjoy her writing a lot and will see if I can track down Across the Common! 😀
It’s not a weekend, but here’s a miscellany… – Stuck in a Book
Sep 04, 2023 @ 13:02:58
Simon T
Sep 04, 2023 @ 13:49:05
Lovely review, Karen, so glad you liked it! It is quite different from other things we’ve done – interesting to see how women’s lives were evolving in the second half of the 20th century
kaggsysbookishramblings
Sep 04, 2023 @ 16:57:45
Thanks Simon! I did enjoy this one very much – and I like the range of the WW books because lives *did* change so much over the years. This one was particularly interesting because she kind of straddled two different eras, being a little to young for the swinging 60s. Berridge does write beautifully too!
Liz Dexter
Sep 04, 2023 @ 21:50:32
A very interesting time to be writing about, looking to the future but so affected by past traumas.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Sep 05, 2023 @ 11:24:48
It is – something of a transition period for older characters, which makes it particularly interesting!
mallikabooks15
Sep 07, 2023 @ 15:42:20
Sounds an interesting look into the time alongside the characters themselves. I’ve never read Berridge (nor come across her until recently), but she does sound well worth exploring.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Sep 07, 2023 @ 16:19:36
I hadn’t until relatively recently, and she’s really good – I do recommend her!