Britannia Mews

Britannia Mews / Margery Sharp
read by Anna Parker-Naples
Old Saybrook, CT: Tantor Audio, 2018, c1946.

I listened to this lengthy novel which covers most of a woman's life, from late Victorian to post-war England. It was great -- the reader was fabulous, her tone and pacing and accents were all so enjoyable and helped with understanding the story. This was my third Sharp novel in quick succession, and I found it quite different from the other two. There is little witty humour here, as this is more of an historical read than a light comedy set in the 30s. 

Adelaide Culver, living in a large house that overlooks Britannia Mews where their servants live, comes of age in the 1870s. She is an awkward girl, without many social graces or great beauty. She always seems to want to do things differently. When she is a young woman, she takes drawing lessons alongside her cousin, but unlike her sophisticated and elegant cousin, Adelaide takes the flirting of the drawing master seriously. And she ends up running off with him, much to the despair of her family and the surprise of the drawing master himself. 

This, as her parents warned, is a disastrous match. Addy is sure that Henry is a great painter and will make something of himself, even as they move to Britannia Mews themselves. Henry's great downfall is drink, which Addy discovers for herself soon enough. But the years go on, life changes; Henry dies mysteriously and Addy passes over her chance to return to the bosom of her family. She's been independent too long. She meets someone else, they pair up though not legally, and spend their lives together running a small puppet theatre. 

The story shifts as the era draws closer to the time that this was written. The focus shifts to Addy's niece Dorothy aka Dodo, who runs with a bit of a wild crowd and finds herself thrown on the mercy of her until then estranged aunt. And Dodo likes it so much she follows the pattern and takes up the theatre, running it for decades until Addy's own death. 

This is a very broad overview of what 'happens' in the story; the key is more the emotional journey of Adelaide, and then Dodo as well. The writing explores life in London, for women who fall out of their class into the Mews. And it looks at the frailties of men, and of marriage in general. There is drama, despair, family angst, longing, and some unsavoury moments. There is one character who plays an important role who is also described in a way that we would not talk about people these days; her size is tied to her moral depravity. This was uncomfortable to read, but feels pretty true to the era in which this was written. 

I find stories that range across a whole life strangely fascinating, and this one was just as engrossing. The time period from Addy's youth to her old age had so many huge changes, and I felt that the book did incorporate and engage with most of them very well. The structure did falter a bit after a strong beginning, and when the focus switched to Dodo it lost a bit of its impetus. But the war years and the final chapters really bring it home. It's a longer, more serious read from Margery Sharp, but I was captured by her character within the first chapters. Very satisfying.