Rhododendron Pie

Rhododendron Pie / Margery Sharp
London: Dean Street Press, 2021, c1930.
225 p.

I thought it was time for another Margery Sharp, so I chose this title from my library. I'm so glad I did; it was a joy to read. This was Sharp's first novel, reputedly written in a month. If so, it must have been a busy month because this is an enjoyable and well constructed novel. 

Ann Laventie is the youngest of a family full of elegant aesthetes. Her father is a charming dilettante, her brother and artist and womanizer, and her sister a restrained essayist. Ann, however, prefers to do jigsaw puzzles and play with the rowdy children of a local family. As she grows older, she realizes she looks more down to earth than the rest of her beautiful family also.The title of the book comes from their family tradition of birthday pies filled with flowers to please the eye; but Ann doesn't want rhododendrons, she wants apples, as she thinks: 

Flowers are beautiful in gardens … and in houses, of course … but in a pie you want fruit. Apples. Hot and fragrant and faintly pink, with lots of juice … and cloves. She wished there had been apples in her pie.

Her mother, though, is more like her, even if she doesn't see it right away. Mrs. Laventie has limited mobility due to an accident in the past, and in the story she is mostly in the background. She spends time in her room, not always with the family as they get up to all sorts of things. But in the end it's Mrs. Laventie who has her say. 

There are various episodes shared, as Ann gets older. We see the interrelations of the family members clearly, the irresponsibilities and prejudices they hold. The story is a clash between aesthetic standards and a much more practical life. Especially when Ann falls in love with a stolid bank clerk from the family she knew as a child. Ann realizes she can't please everyone, and has to choose a direction for herself. It's such a satisfying story, with multiple side characters who are all fully and lively, besides Ann's own family. There are scenes in bohemian London as well as at the Laventie home in the country, and each one has its charm. A lovely first novel which contains many of the themes that later books explore more deeply.