REVIEW: Susan Settles Down by Molly Clavering
“Don’t, please, write and tell me that we’re mad. I know it already; and even if I didn’t, every friend we possess has pointed it out. My spirit is quailing at the prospect of life at Easter Hartrigg, because I know what pitiful figures we shall cut as landowners in a country quite strange to us.”
Young Susan Parsons has just moved, with her unmarried brother Oliver, to a newly-inherited property in the Scottish Lowlands. Their neighbours prove a mixed bag, including the towering, kindly Jed Armstrong, a farmer whose land ‘marches with’ theirs, the local vicar and his family, and the three gossipy Pringle sisters, who travel by donkey-drawn cart and get their knives into one and all. After a bumpy start, with a disagreeable cook and her nincompoop daughter as their only help, Susan and Oliver begin to settle in nicely, and find themselves in the midst of romance, confusion, and earthy hilarity.
Review
Molly Clavering was born in Scotland around the turn of the twentieth century and eventually became a neighbor of DE Stevenson. If you like Stevenson, you will probably like Clavering. If you don’t, then Clavering’s books will probably not be for you.
As I discovered while reading “Dear Hugo,” Molly Clavering wrote about life in small villages on the Scottish border where everybody knows your business and often feels free to butt in about it. Most people are salt of the earth but of course there must always be those sorts who delight in gossip – here these people are the postmistress who is generally kind but has a keen eye on who your mail comes from and the Miss Pringles, three snobbish sisters who are impossible to shake once they’ve shown up at your door.
Susan hopes that this change of place will buck up her brother Oliver who was “advised” that due to a leg injury he needed to retire from the Royal Navy. Upon arrival, Susan is dismayed but not all that surprised to discover that their new house needs lots of work (nests in the chimneys, damp on the walls) and a new cook (Mrs. Bold does like her drink). Neighbors make their acquaintance, not all of whom Susan initially approves of. Peggy, the minister’s daughter, is a delight while Jed is too tall and too loud.
Soon the siblings are caught up in all that is going on around them. Life here is slower than in London but bustling for all that. It is 1936 and most homes are still lit by candlelight or lamps, travel is often done on foot, Oliver’s newly bought car is temperamental and started by hand crank, there is a distinct difference between the land owners and those who work for them, and Susan has to learn to understand the Scottish lowland dialect (which was fun for me to interpret as well).
Clavering gives a lot of description which I enjoyed but which might be too much for some readers. Still this gives a fantastic view of a life that is (probably) long gone. There is a romance for both Oliver and Susan though we will watch as they both struggle. Remember that many people in the area enjoy sticking their noses in and voicing opinions that might or might not be correct. But as these people have known those in whom Oliver and Susan might be interested, the siblings often assume that what they’re told by those who ought to be reliable sources, is true.
This is a somewhat slow but charming book. Oh, and if you like lovable dogs, Tara is a joy. B
~Jayne
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Lovely review, Jayne.
I quite enjoyed Dear Hugo and Near Neighbors. So I will certainly read this one at some point.
Thank goodness for Dean Street Press and their Furrowed Middlebrow line, else we would probably never have discovered these charming oldies
@Barb in Maryland: They’ve republished so many authors I’d never heard of so definitely yes, I’m delighted that they’re doing so. And I’ll have to check out Near Neighbors, too.