She no longer lives in her family home, but remains at the very centre of village life, surrounded by friends including carefree, irresponsible Catha, Lady Rollo, just back from India and setting up lavish housekeeping nearby with her husband and children—socialist Tony, perfect Crispin, and Elizabeth who’s preparing to be presented at Court. Then there’s Marcelle, Mary’s widowed sister-in-law, and her challenging daughter Rosemary, who may soon be planting themselves with her to escape London bombs, Miss Rosanna Masquerier, a historical novelist who might just be a wry self-portrait of the author, and an array of other Sirs and Ladies who rely on Mary’s sympathy and practicality. And perhaps there’s just a hint of romance as well . . .Known for her bestselling historical fiction, in Nothing to Report Carola Oman delightfully evokes E.M. Delafield’s Provincial Lady in her portrayal of an English village cheerfully, hilariously, and sometimes bumpily progressing from obliviousness to the war’s approach to pulling together for king and country. Dean Street Press and Furrowed Middlebrow have also reprinted Oman’s Somewhere in England, a sequel to Nothing to Report.

    But, of course, Lady Masters got things simply by always having had them and by taking it for granted that she always would have them. In Bramton Wick, the setting of Elizabeth Fair’s cheerful debut novel, tensions and resentments—not to mention romance—roil beneath the polite interactions of its charming and eccentric residents.There’s upper crust Lady Masters, taking the good things for granted but thoroughly cowed by her gardener. There’s Gillian Cole, a war widow, and her sister Laura, for whom romance may (or may not) be in the offing. There’s Miss Selbourne and “Tiger” Garrett, who met driving ambulances during the war (the first one, though Miss Garrett does get them confused). There’s Major Worthy, who is quite energetic for an invalid. And there’s the three Misses Cleeve, who are “all remarkably like toads” and who have a casual relationship with the truth.Furrowed Middlebrow is delighted to make available, for the first time in over half a century, all six of Elizabeth Fair’s irresistible comedies of domestic life. These new editions all feature an introduction by Elizabeth Crawford.“Miss Fair’s understanding is deeper than Mrs. Thirkell’s and her humour is untouched by snobbishness; she is much nearer to Trollope, grand master in these matters.”--Stevie Smith“Miss Fair’s first novel is not one of promise but of accomplishment. Good luck to her!”--John Betjeman“Deliciously malicious humour abounds.”--Vanity Fair

    The few people who saw it from charabancs on morning or evening or circular drives said: “Isn’t it peaceful?” or “Isn’t it quiet?”. And some said they thought it was a lovely place to be buried in, but while they were alive they preferred a place with more life, if you knew what they meant.The unlikely heroine of this delightful comedy of manners is Jocelyn Renshawe, young widow of the local squire, “a specimen of human cabbage” who “fitted into her surroundings so completely that she was hardly noticeable.” But she’s about to be noticed a bit more—by her jaded, much-widowed mother Ermyntrude, who breezes in on the look-out for her next conquest; by her aunt and mother-in-law, who have decided she should marry Colonel Tidmarsh, an elderly (and extremely dull) retired Army man; and by Gervase Blythe, a mysterious acquaintance of Colonel Tidmarsh’s, who arrives in town and rescues Jocelyn from a rainstorm before coming under suspicion as a jewel thief.One is safe in assuming that Jocelyn is about to leave her mouldering existence behind, but how she does so is the sparkling, cheerful plot of Much Dithering.

    When her great-uncle died she was left a lonely cottage near the village of Nethersham with its hills and beech woods. Ivy liked the country, she had gipsy blood which made her fearless, independent and utterly content with the company of her dog, rescued unknown to the law from his undeserving owners. Ivy wanted nothing of the outside world but she could not cut herself off completely. One visitor at least was welcome: the runaway boy Mike who came in from the freezing night to share her fire. Any stray, any sick of suffering creature went straight to her heart.

    Bury yourself in London or any really large city, and you can live like a hermit, but avoid the outskirts of a village. I am dazed by the ceaseless whirl of activities in which almost everyone in and round Ravenskirk is involved.Sara Monteith makes an ideal correspondent for Hugo Jamieson, brother of her lost love Ivo, killed in the war before they could marry. Her neighbours in the lovely Border village of Ravenskirk don't know that Sara has moved here because it's where Ivo and Hugo grew up, but they welcome her warmly. Soon, she's drawn into the active village social scene of tea parties, gardening, carol-singing, and Coronation festivities, dodging the judgments of stern Miss Bonaly, defending her helper Madge Marchbanks, an unwed mother, befriending kind, practical Elizabeth Drysdale and charming Mrs. Currie and her daughter Sylvia (the latter first met halfway through Sara's drawing room window), and having an embarrassing first encounter with rugged Major Whitburn. Add in her nephew Arthur, neglected by an indifferent father, Arthur's dog Pam, and even Hugo himself returning unexpectedly from overseas, and Sara's life is a 'ceaseless whirl' indeed!Molly Clavering was for many years the neighbour and friend of bestselling author D.E. Stevenson (in just such a village as Ravenskirk), and they may well have influenced one another's writing. First published in 1955, Dear Hugo is one of the funniest of her spirited, joyful comedies of Scottish village life. This new edition includes an introduction by Elizabeth Crawford.

    "It was a wedding Mysie once went to. The bridegroom never turned up and the bride swooned at the altar.""Have you practised swooning?"It's 1948 in the Scottish Highlands, with postwar austerity and rationing in full effect, but Mr and Mrs MacAlvey and their family and friends are too irrepressibly cheerful to let it get them down. There's Raine, newly engaged to the brother of a local farmer, and Cleo, just back from three years in the States, along with their brother James, married to neurotic Trina, who smothers their two oversheltered children. There are also three MacAlvey grandchildren, orphaned in the war, whose hilarious mishaps keep everyone on their toes. There are wedding preparations, visits from friends, an adventurous hike, and frustrated romance. But really the plot of the novel is, simply, life, as lived by irresistible characters with humour, optimism, and affection.

    She also introduces us to specific characters as well as 'types' who will appear and reappear in changing relationships as the years go by. There is the middle-aged woman centrally involved in the events and activities around her; here, Laura Morland, a happily widowed author of very successful 'good bad books' (Thirkell herself?). A disappointed suitor and/or a brief, ill-conceived infatuation of younger man with older woman. At least two romances to work out—an older couple and a younger one—with mild crises along the way. A closing of ranks among the women vs the intruder nicknamed 'the Incubus' resolves both affairs to the satisfaction of all. Especially delightful are the children, servants and other retainers; well defined characters in their own right; from motor-mouthed young Tony Morland and his model railways to housekeeper Stoker and her grapevine among the servants of the neighbourhood.

    All ideas for making her work for a living were wrecked on the fact that she was born to be served and not to serve.Six friends have spent the dark, deprived years of World War II fantasising-in air raid shelters and food queues-about an idyllic life in a massive country house. With the coming of peace, they seize on a seductive newspaper ad and take possession of a neglected 33-room manor in Kent, with acres of lavish gardens and an elderly gardener yearning to revive the estate's glory days. But the realities of managing this behemoth soon dawn, including a knife-wielding maid, unruly pigs, and a paying guest who tells harrowing stories of her time in the French Resistance, not to mention the friends' conscientious efforts to offer staff a fair 40-hour work week and paid overtime. And then there's the ghost of an overworked scullery maid . . .Based on the actual experiences of Ruth Adam, her husband, and their friends, A House in the Country is a witty and touching novel about the perils of dreams come true. But it's also a constantly entertaining tale packed with fascinating details of post-war life-and about the realities of life in the kind of house most of us only experience via Downton Abbey.

    Sylvia remains at home, shocking her family with theories of sexual and social liberation. And Leslie, as the novel opens, idealizes the other three, as she tries to convince her mother to let her use her small nest egg to attend art school in London.As the four friends balance their youthful ideals with the realities of work and romance in 1930s England, Orange offers hilarious and thoughtful perspectives on the quandaries of educated, ambitious women in a world not yet ready for them. This new edition includes an introduction by Stacy Marking.

    That was before Miss Penny met Miss Plum. Victoria Plum was weeping on a park bench and obviously bent on drowning herself in the duck pond...

    At the beginning of the novel she's returned after a long absence to the fictional town of Radstowe (which is a thinly disguised portrait of Bristol). Miss Mole is not getting along well with her current employer and after a few days in a boarding house, gets a new job via her cousin Lilla, who is from the wealthier side of the family and has some good contacts. Without revealing the family connection, Lilla recommends her for a job as a housekeeper of sorts for a rather stuffy, pompous minister named Robert Corder, whose wife has recently passed away. The household consists of Reverend Corder, a nonconformist; daughter Ethel, who's rather desperately looking for a man so she can escape the house; young Ruth, who is still in school and longing for a mother figure; and their sassy cousin Wilfred, who's attending medical school nearby. Wilfred's presence in the house is rather awkward and raises a few eyebrows, but his mother is wealthy and the Reverend can't risk offending her. A spinster housekeeper/chaperone is exactly what they need to keep the house respectable -- or so they think. Miss Mole moves in and simultaneously elevates their lives and yet turns things upside-down. She's comforting and yet slyly subversive, and Reverend Corder doesn't quite know if he should appreciate her or fear her, as Hannah is smarter than he is. Wilfred takes to her instantly, recognizing her sharp with, and Ruth grows to love her. Eventually, though, there are whispers about Miss Mole's background which much be addressed, and we learn the real reason for her long absence from her hometown.

    Here, Barbara Mary Crampton Pym sails off into a wickedly comedic farce, focusing on the unsuitable romantic entanglements of a curate and a pretty young girl, both of whom live in the same rooming house, and a starry-eyed university professor and his female student.

    Times are harsh, and Barbara's bank account has seen better days. Stumped for ideas, Barbara draws inspiration from fellow residents of her quaint English village, writing a revealing novel that features the townsfolk as characters. The smashing bestseller is published under the pseudonym John Smith, which is a good thing because villagers recognize the truth. But what really turns her world around is when events in real life start mimicking events in the book. Funny, charming, and insightful, this novel reveals what happens when people see themselves through someone else's eyes.

    The ‘everything and nothing’ that happens include a controversy swirling around the curate’s pacifist sermon (through which, alas, Camilla napped, making it difficult for her to discuss with outraged parishioners), servant problems, anxieties about Camilla’s son off training with his regiment, the day-to-day worries of friends, and a potential romance in the town … or are there two romances?Readers of Bewildering Cares might well be reminded of the likes of E.M. Delafield or Angela Thirkell, but Peck offers her own distinct take—sometimes hilarious, sometimes touching—on the ironies and heartbreaks (not to mention the storms in teacups) of domestic life, community, faith and life during wartime. This new edition includes an introduction by social historian Elizabeth Crawford.‘(Winifred Peck) deserves our real gratitude for making us laugh in these troublous days’ Times Literary Supplement‘A romantic who was as sharp as a needle’ Penelope Fitzgerald

    I was often here alone in the blitz, and I was so frightened of the bombs that I quite stopped being frightened of burglars.” World War II has ended, residents are flooding back to London, and the housing shortage creates strange bedfellows. Elinor MacFarren—middle-aged spinster, botanical writer, and collector of prints and objets d’art—decides to rent part of her house to Antonia Bankes, whose American husband is with the Occupation Forces in Europe. While Miss MacFarren prefers to live alone, Mrs Bankes seems a perfect tenant. She admires Miss MacFarren’s beautiful things (“It’s the prettiest room I’ve ever seen in my life!”), promises quiet and care (“You’ll find me madly careful”), and seems an ideal homemaker (“I like housework. I’ve got quite a ‘thing’ about it.”).Inevitably, however, it’s not so easy. Mrs Bankes proves to be exasperating and helpless, skilled only in charm, manipulation, and blithely promising anything to get her way. What follows is an intricately plotted, gloriously entertaining saga of domestic warfare, as Miss MacFarren tries to cope, tries to cajole, and finally tries to rid herself of her meddlesome tenant, all while taking up whiskey—and all with unpredictable and delightful results. This new edition includes an introduction by Sir Roy Strong.