Only for the past six years, Sally has been living a rather more Bohemian existence in Europe – but the war has rather put a stop to all that. She very knowingly writes a letter to Sally Lunton in Paris, Sally had previously lived in Little Crampton with her guardian the Rev Adam Lovelady. No matter how small the skeleton she pounced upon, the lady could make its bones rattle so loudly that you would be deafened yourself.” Also that it would save time and trouble to tell her your own version of the worst. “The sooner you discovered that Miss Maggie was neither to be defied nor ignored, but appeased, the better. Miss Maggie wields her power over the very English village of Little Crampton. Set at a time when some men were already returning, broken, and traumatised from the trenches, and others were being hailed heroes merely for wearing a uniform – this is definitely a novel that has a lot to say about England during WW1.Īs the novel opens we are introduced to Miss Maggie, a truly loathsome character who is capable of destroying anyone with her sly, knowing gossip, and habit of wheedling out the most hidden of little secrets. A woman’s life could be utterly ruined by even the merest hint of a sexual relationship before marriage. While a man may be permitted, or at least forgiven a youthful indiscretion, the same rules did not apply to women. In this novel Winifred Boggs highlights beautifully the inequalities between men and women in the early years of the twentieth century.
In fact, the premise might make Sally on the Rocks sound like a fizzing, early twentieth century romance, it is far more than that, and I am delighted that I have persuaded my book group to read it in December. There are some pretty serious themes in this novel, though the novel is never heavy, nor does the author labour her point in any way. Sally on the Rocks first published in 1915 is set during that same year, still quite early into World War One. Winifred Boggs was a totally new name to me, and apparently little is now known about her, other than she published around a dozen novels under her own name and pseudonyms. The British Library have recently published some new titles to their already brilliant list – and I was delighted to receive this one to review for the blog tour.
With thanks to the British Library for the review copy, and for inviting me to be part of their blog tour.
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