The White Lady by Jacqueline Winspear

8 of us met to discuss this 1947 novel based around the life of Elinor White.

Elinor White has a seemingly solitary, quiet life in a grace-and-favour cottage in the Kent countryside where she is known locally as 'the White lady' – her community is unaware of her background (a veteran of two world wars, a trained killer and former intelligence agent).

The story ‘time jumps’ between Elinor’s war years and her new life, where she is drawn into using her skills to help a local family troubled by one of the most dangerous crime families in London.

Most of the group ‘enjoyed’ this read but one did not like it at all stating that she ‘hated’ it! another said that she whistled through the book and found it so gripping that she almost missed her train stop!

So, we explored our reading experience based on shared differences! Why did we have such a divided love/hate relationship with this book?

What did we like? The historical context was interesting and thought-provoking. The story brings insight into the SOE (Special Operations Executive), and what women and children did to support their wartime efforts. It was surprising to learn how extensive the SOE activities were in Belgium. The visualisation of the characters and their situations was excellent. 

What didn’t we like? The writing was clumsy and somewhat ‘trite’. “A Boy's Own annual ‘jolly hockey sticks’ story, written by someone who was trying to write like someone in the 1940s!". The ending was weak: a ‘fairy tale’ unreal, romanticised outcome that grated with the reality of the rest of the story.

Would we recommend this book? Well, it was an interesting book, not particularly well written, but if you are looking for a good read and are prepared to accept it for what it is, then yes.

Our next book is On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong, we will meet on Thursday 16th May, at 8pm to discuss. Sarah will host. 

The Hound in the Left Hand Corner by Giles Waterfield

This is a review from our meeting on 22nd October 2022 - an oversight on my part. 

We welcomed a special guest to this meeting - Mia, a curator who knew Giles Waterfield. Mia described Giles as a writer of novels and academic books and a developer of museums to become a centre of education and learning. 

Mia confirmed that Giles Waterfield was very, very funny. 

Mia gave us a brilliant insight into museum life and helped us to align themes and characters in the book to the experience Giles and she had from their working environment.

Giles brought his experiences from a time when national museums were trying hard to find their identity. Government cuts during the '70s and '80s left many museums finding fundraising hard. They turned to charging for exhibitions and becoming event venues. This has changed the character of many museums and can be a bit like churches selling their pews so that they can host concerts!

Museums in Britain are not state-funded, as they are in many other countries where museum staff are civil servants. The exception is in the USA where museums rely on philanthropy. 

This insight gave us a true appreciation for the undercurrent of farce and satire throughout this book. 

Mia also shared with us the importance of provenance, the underlying theme of the hound in the left-hand corner, and told us the story of the Versailles fake chairs to illustrate this (available on internet).

So what did we think of the book?

Let's start with the story: Auberon, the brilliant but troubled director of the Museum of British History, is preparing for the opening of the most spectacular exhibition his museum has ever staged. The centrepiece is a painting that has not been shown in London in a hundred years. The big day does not run smoothly and the portrait is under suspicion. As high-profile guests and employees arrive for the grand opening the tension rises. Auberon tries to keep the peace. 

We loved how the story started gently and built to an explosive crescendo. 

The gala dinner was a highlight for our group - the stupidity of the menu, the descriptions of the food and how the build-up to the meal was so central to the story. 

The characters are truly entertaining - precious people with precious objects. 

In our view, the stand-out characters of the story are Lucien (what a horrendous man), Terence and Auberon. 

We saw how the hierarchy of exhibits reflects in the hierarchy of employees. If importance is important we would far rather be in charge of 18th Century Porcelain than Agricultural Implements! 

The central theme illustrated the focus of a not-for-profit organisation: How to make money and how to spend money!

Finally, we must acknowledge the genius of 'The Nowness of Now'!

Would we read another book by Giles Waterfield? YES we would. And we would love to see this book as a film - it would be hilarious.

sadnote footnote: Giles passed away in 2016 - here's how The Guardian remembered him:  Giles Waterfield - Obituary