Mrs Tim of the Regiment is one of the series recently republished by The Bloomsbury Group, the others being The Brontes went to Woolworths, Mrs Hargreaves, Henrietta's War, Love's Shadow and A Kid for Two Farthings. D E Stevenson seems to be undergoing a resurgence with the publication of Miss Buncle's Book by Persephone and now Mrs Tim. I love the tag line for this series "A new library of books from the early twentieth century, chosen by readers, for readers". It is a wonderful thought that not only have these books have been reprinted because somebody in the publishing business came up with the idea, but also that they decided to ask us, the readers, what we would like to see. And then to write to bloggers and ask for suggestions...genius.
I have read a lot of D E Stevenson this year, picking up second hand paperbacks on my travels, and enjoyed them. Some more than others, some are not very good, I have to be honest but I notice these were the titles written towards the end of her life so it ill behoves me to stick my nose up in the air.
Out of those I have read, I have enjoyed the Mrs Tim stories the most and had read two of them before I heard that Mrs Tim of the Regiment was to be one of those in the Bloomsbury Group so I was very much looking forward to reading it. My first thought when I started wa s 'Oh my goodness me, this is Diary of a Provincial Lady"- the style, not just the diary format, but the phrasing, the slightly acerbic humour was that of EM Delafield's Lady and I loved it. Here are a couple of examples:
"....and asked if I will take a trunk call. Wait for ten minutes at the end of which an unknown man's voice says 'Hullo darling - is that you? Can you meet me in town tomorrow?' Reply that nothing would please me more but that I am afraid he has got the wrong number. Voice says 'what rotten luck. Don't I know you then? Your voice sounds charming?' Reply hastily that I am fat and deeply pitted with smallpox. Voice says he doesn't believe a word of it and that he can tell exactly what I am like by my voice and will I lunch with him at the Malmaison. Ring off at once as I feel sure that Tim would not approve of this conversation"
and
"Meet Mrs Benson on the way home; she is coming to see me to lend me a 'Little Book' which is so wonderful, she knows it will help me bring up my dear children......According to this book I have been sowing the seeds of complexes and cultivating inhibitions in Bryan and Betty ever since they were a few months old. Feel much worried about this, but decide that it is too late now to do anything and that Bryan and Betty must just take their chance"
Pure Provincial Lady.
Then, suddenly Mrs Tim and Betty are swept off to Scotland for a holiday before moving to a new regiment and a new house in a different part of the country and, though the book is still sorted by date, it becomes less elliptical, less short ironic sentences and much more narrative driven. We know that D E Stevenson is Scottish and adores Scotland, this is obvious in all her books in this setting and her descriptions of the Highlands and the Scottish air are quite beautiful and make me want to nip out and leap on the Flying Scotsman straight away (not that I think it runs any more but you get the idea).
"We emerge from the woods onto the shoulder of a hill and pause for a moment to admire the view. The air is so clear that the pine trees seem conscious of the lochs and the lochs seem conscious of the pine trees as if they were whispering to each other........everything is crystal clear, bright like spring waters, like diamonds......the brightness of it washes through my body and brain until I felt all clear all through...and the sweet hill wind blows through my very soul - cool clean wind"
Mrs Tim, Hester, is very much in love with her husband and seems totally oblivious to the fact that the dashing Major Morley who turns up in Scotland is 'hell bent in his pursuit of our charming heroine'. He exerts all his charm, brilliance and wit but to no avail, as he realises 'she is hedged about by innocence'. It is clear that, Guthrie, the young son of Hester's hostess, is also attracted to her and he and Tony Morley dislike each other and spend most of their time bristling with irritation and crossness. All the time, the object of their desire carries on, heedless of the seething emotions surrounding her.
Much though I loved this book I was slightly disconcerted at the two separate strands and felt it made for a rather disjointed story and it puzzled me. Then up pops an email from Australia, from a member of the on line reading group to which I belong, wondering if Bloomsbury have published an omnibus edition of Mrs Tim of the Regiment and Golden days, the latter being the story of a holiday taken by Mrs Tim in the Highlands. On investigation it seems they have and so thank goodness for that, as I really loved this book, had a happy two hours with it this morning on the sofa with a cup of coffee, and I really did not want to criticize it. As my criticism would have been it read as if it was two separate books and now it seems it is, no problem.
I adore all these Bloomsbury Group books and I love the Smartie coloured covers. When they are all together they look so pretty.....
Already looking forward to the next few titles due in 2010. Of course, this very much depends on the sales of this new venture, so off you go - get buying. Pretty please.
