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The Village
The Village, first published in 1952, begins on the very day the war ended. Two women, who have been firm friends during the war, go as usual to the Red Cross Post. Here they spend the night as they always had done, chatting over a cup of tea. As dawn breaks they lock the door 'but still they lingered, unwilling finally to end this night and the years behind it.
"There's a lot of us will miss it," Edith said. "We've all of us felt at times, you know, how nice it was, like you and me being able to be together and friendly, just as if we were the same sort, if you know what I mean." "I'll miss it a lot too," Wendy said. There was no point in her saying that it could go on now, the friendliness and the companionship and the simple human liking of one woman for another. Both knew that this breaking down of social barriers was just one of the things you got out of the war, but it couldn't go on.'
The main theme of The Village is that Wendy's attempt to cling on to her old way of life was already under pressure by 1939 and had become even more out-of-date by 1945. It is Edith who is the New Britain, with her prosperous son and her commonsense and indeed kindness. Wendy, with her snobbery and her refusal to change and her uncompromising attitude to her daugher, is the Old.
When Labour swept to a landslide victory in 1945 'Attlee's government promised a fairer future for all and no going back to the inequalities of the pre-war world,' writes Juliet Gardiner in her Afterword to this Persephone edition of The Village. When Wendy goes back up the road to Wood View on Priory Hill 'where the gentry lived' and Edith goes downhill on the other side, 'down Station Road among the working classes', they both assume that the values and habits of pre-war Britain will continue. But Britain has already changed a great deal, a change symbolised by Edith's son Roy, a printer with excellent prospects, falling in love with the penniless Margaret, Wendy's daughter.
'The story of the romance between the two of them forms the central narrative of the novel,' Juliet Gardiner continues, 'and the attitude of the other villagers when the news gets out illuminates their understanding - or rejection - of the village's elaborately calibrated social stratification. This is a finely-observed novel about the losses and gains of the Second World War, how hopeless and how isolating it would be to hold onto the past, how illusory was the notion that the war had broken down class barriers, or had managed to save "deep England" from the future and how peace, too, would produce its own list of casualties. It is also about the futility of 'keeping up appearances', the boredom of middle-class women with nothing to do, even the realisation that cooking and housework had to be streamlined if theose women were to take their place in society. But above all The Village is an extremely enjoyable and well-written novel evoking an entire community (there is a long cast of characters at the beginning) and a whole way of life, and has one of the most ancient plots in the world - a young couple who fall in love but are forbidden to marry.
"There's a lot of us will miss it," Edith said. "We've all of us felt at times, you know, how nice it was, like you and me being able to be together and friendly, just as if we were the same sort, if you know what I mean." "I'll miss it a lot too," Wendy said. There was no point in her saying that it could go on now, the friendliness and the companionship and the simple human liking of one woman for another. Both knew that this breaking down of social barriers was just one of the things you got out of the war, but it couldn't go on.'
The main theme of The Village is that Wendy's attempt to cling on to her old way of life was already under pressure by 1939 and had become even more out-of-date by 1945. It is Edith who is the New Britain, with her prosperous son and her commonsense and indeed kindness. Wendy, with her snobbery and her refusal to change and her uncompromising attitude to her daugher, is the Old.
When Labour swept to a landslide victory in 1945 'Attlee's government promised a fairer future for all and no going back to the inequalities of the pre-war world,' writes Juliet Gardiner in her Afterword to this Persephone edition of The Village. When Wendy goes back up the road to Wood View on Priory Hill 'where the gentry lived' and Edith goes downhill on the other side, 'down Station Road among the working classes', they both assume that the values and habits of pre-war Britain will continue. But Britain has already changed a great deal, a change symbolised by Edith's son Roy, a printer with excellent prospects, falling in love with the penniless Margaret, Wendy's daughter.
'The story of the romance between the two of them forms the central narrative of the novel,' Juliet Gardiner continues, 'and the attitude of the other villagers when the news gets out illuminates their understanding - or rejection - of the village's elaborately calibrated social stratification. This is a finely-observed novel about the losses and gains of the Second World War, how hopeless and how isolating it would be to hold onto the past, how illusory was the notion that the war had broken down class barriers, or had managed to save "deep England" from the future and how peace, too, would produce its own list of casualties. It is also about the futility of 'keeping up appearances', the boredom of middle-class women with nothing to do, even the realisation that cooking and housework had to be streamlined if theose women were to take their place in society. But above all The Village is an extremely enjoyable and well-written novel evoking an entire community (there is a long cast of characters at the beginning) and a whole way of life, and has one of the most ancient plots in the world - a young couple who fall in love but are forbidden to marry.
302 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1952
6 people are currently reading
907 people want to read
About the author
Marghanita Laski
36 books67 followersEnglish journalist, radio panelist, and novelist: she also wrote literary biography, plays, and short stories.
Laski was born to a prominent family of Jewish intellectuals: Neville Laski was her father, Moses Gaster her grandfather, and socialist thinker Harold Laski her uncle. She was educated at Lady Barn House School and St Paul's Girls' School in Hammersmith. After a stint in fashion, she read English at Oxford, then married publisher John Howard, and worked in journalism. She began writing once her son and daughter were born.
A well-known critic as well as a novelist, she wrote books on Jane Austen and George Eliot. Ecstasy (1962) explored intense experiences, and Everyday Ecstasy (1974) their social effects. Her distinctive voice was often heard on the radio on The Brains Trust and The Critics; and she submitted a large number of illustrative quotations to the Oxford English Dictionary.
An avowed atheist, she was also a keen supporter of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Her play, The Offshore Island, is about nuclear warfare.
Laski was born to a prominent family of Jewish intellectuals: Neville Laski was her father, Moses Gaster her grandfather, and socialist thinker Harold Laski her uncle. She was educated at Lady Barn House School and St Paul's Girls' School in Hammersmith. After a stint in fashion, she read English at Oxford, then married publisher John Howard, and worked in journalism. She began writing once her son and daughter were born.
A well-known critic as well as a novelist, she wrote books on Jane Austen and George Eliot. Ecstasy (1962) explored intense experiences, and Everyday Ecstasy (1974) their social effects. Her distinctive voice was often heard on the radio on The Brains Trust and The Critics; and she submitted a large number of illustrative quotations to the Oxford English Dictionary.
An avowed atheist, she was also a keen supporter of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Her play, The Offshore Island, is about nuclear warfare.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews
September 23, 2021
The clash of class in post-war England is the story told in this brilliant book, The Village. In a small town, outside of London, on the night World War 2 ended, two middle-aged women meet who are from the upper and lower class, but have put those differences aside to work in the women's auxiliary for the war effort. Mrs. Wilson was actually, Mrs. Trevor's maid at one time. Mrs. Trevor feels keenly those attitudes and knows that they can never meet as equals again.
When I first read this chapter, I was very sympathetic to Mrs. Trevor's character, as she was bemoaning her worry about her eldest daughter Margaret's future. Margaret will have to marry or work a menial job, because she is no scholar. The trouble is there are no young men of her "class" in the town and no money to send her anywhere either.
My first reading of Mrs. Trevor's character was very wrong as she turns out to be a first class snob and downright cruel to her sweet, docile and hard working, daughter, Margaret. Other people of the town are portrayed and most are as petty and ironclad in their beliefs as Mrs. Trevor, but the few brave souls who venture outside of class are the book's heart and soul. Thank goodness, I bought this book, because I want to re-read it leisurely, as I sped read it the first time to see what happened.
When I first read this chapter, I was very sympathetic to Mrs. Trevor's character, as she was bemoaning her worry about her eldest daughter Margaret's future. Margaret will have to marry or work a menial job, because she is no scholar. The trouble is there are no young men of her "class" in the town and no money to send her anywhere either.
My first reading of Mrs. Trevor's character was very wrong as she turns out to be a first class snob and downright cruel to her sweet, docile and hard working, daughter, Margaret. Other people of the town are portrayed and most are as petty and ironclad in their beliefs as Mrs. Trevor, but the few brave souls who venture outside of class are the book's heart and soul. Thank goodness, I bought this book, because I want to re-read it leisurely, as I sped read it the first time to see what happened.
March 13, 2022
The novel opens on the last day of WW2., victory has been announced, and Mrs Wilson (working class) and Mrs Trevor (middle class) go for the last night to their Red Cross Post. This will be the last night they will be able to enjoy the friendship that has sprung up between them. Tomorrow they go back to their normal lives. We learn that Mrs Wilson is doing rather well for herself, with a bit of money tucked away, whereas Mrs Trevor is struggling to make ends meet.
At a dance, their children meet and get on very well and soon they are meeting regularly. Through this relationship, we, the reader, explore the issue of class and peoples changing attitude to it in the aftermath of the war. Life is changing and the social structures with it.
I found Margaret and Roy's story stayed with me for sometime after reading this book.
A lovely novel that says a lot, but quietly.
Re-read in March '22, and still just as good.
At a dance, their children meet and get on very well and soon they are meeting regularly. Through this relationship, we, the reader, explore the issue of class and peoples changing attitude to it in the aftermath of the war. Life is changing and the social structures with it.
I found Margaret and Roy's story stayed with me for sometime after reading this book.
A lovely novel that says a lot, but quietly.
Re-read in March '22, and still just as good.
March 10, 2022
The Village (1952) is a finely observed novel about shifting social boundaries in the immediate post WW2 war era. It’s set in the fictional village of Priory Dean which is 20 miles from London and yet it's a world away from the cosmopolitan capital.
Central to the plot is the romance between Margaret Trevor (posh but poor) and Roy Wilson (common but well paid). Margaret is quiet, unassuming and secretly aspires to be a housewife. She does not share her family’s obsessive preoccupation with class distinctions. Roy is thoroughly decent, straightforward and honourable. Roy's mother was previously the Trevor's charwoman. Let the fireworks commence.
Marghanita Laski is remarkably prescient about the huge social and political upheavals that would transform England in the 50 years after the end of WW2. For example, the removal of some of the more stifling social barriers, increased social mobility, and new housing built in the towns and villages outside London. These all play out in the various interactions of the communities and individuals within Priory Dean.
If you enjoy vivid, well written snapshots of English society during periods of great social change then this is another gem. It shares similarities with....
The Fortnight in September
Good Evening, Mrs Craven: The Wartime Stories of Mollie Panter-Downes
London Belongs to Me
To Serve Them All My Days
Marvellous reads, all of them, as you may well know. Here's another one.
4/5
More about The Village....
'If anyone asked me to describe life in post-war Britain' commented Sarah Crompton in the Daily Telegraph, 'I would suggest they read The Village, a 1952 story of lovers divided by class that tells you more about the subtle gradations of life in the Home Counties and the cataclysmic changes wrought by war and a Labour government than any number of plays by JB Priestley or more famous tomes by Greene and Waugh.'
And Charlotte Moore wrote in the Spectator: 'This traditionally organised novel of English village life is more than a gentle dig at quirky English behaviour. It is a precise, evocative but unsentimental account of a period of transition; it's an absorbing novel, and a useful piece of social history.'
Central to the plot is the romance between Margaret Trevor (posh but poor) and Roy Wilson (common but well paid). Margaret is quiet, unassuming and secretly aspires to be a housewife. She does not share her family’s obsessive preoccupation with class distinctions. Roy is thoroughly decent, straightforward and honourable. Roy's mother was previously the Trevor's charwoman. Let the fireworks commence.
Marghanita Laski is remarkably prescient about the huge social and political upheavals that would transform England in the 50 years after the end of WW2. For example, the removal of some of the more stifling social barriers, increased social mobility, and new housing built in the towns and villages outside London. These all play out in the various interactions of the communities and individuals within Priory Dean.
If you enjoy vivid, well written snapshots of English society during periods of great social change then this is another gem. It shares similarities with....
The Fortnight in September
Good Evening, Mrs Craven: The Wartime Stories of Mollie Panter-Downes
London Belongs to Me
To Serve Them All My Days
Marvellous reads, all of them, as you may well know. Here's another one.
4/5
More about The Village....
'If anyone asked me to describe life in post-war Britain' commented Sarah Crompton in the Daily Telegraph, 'I would suggest they read The Village, a 1952 story of lovers divided by class that tells you more about the subtle gradations of life in the Home Counties and the cataclysmic changes wrought by war and a Labour government than any number of plays by JB Priestley or more famous tomes by Greene and Waugh.'
And Charlotte Moore wrote in the Spectator: 'This traditionally organised novel of English village life is more than a gentle dig at quirky English behaviour. It is a precise, evocative but unsentimental account of a period of transition; it's an absorbing novel, and a useful piece of social history.'
June 27, 2018
Quiet but impactful.
This book is one of those books that not everyone can and will love because it actually doesn't tell a whole lot, nothing really happens.
We just follow different people that live in the same village, some from the "upper class" some from the "working class" and two younger people that fall in love despite those classifications.
In many ways this book is about a lot of different things, some of them are:
- family expectations in general, from feeling that you belong to a specific group even if you no longer fit into that group for what ever reason, wanting to do right by your family but also wanting to do what is right for you, and trying to figure out if one person in a family can do what they want even if it might go against the family's believes if it makes them happy.
- its also about changes in society, class systems and overall changes cased simply by time passing and changing. It talks about how the war changes priorities, how it changes the world and what it needs and with that changes how it works and what is expected of people.
- society in general
what is expected of specific members, from general specifications such as working class and higher standings, but also what is expected of newly married, single women or men, children and parents, pastors and even what is expected of an American woman that married an Englishman.
- mostly utterly realistic characters!
Most of the people in this book are actually that nice. But at the same time... can any of us really say that no matter what comes we are always nice and never look down at anyone? I certainly can't do that for myself. I try to always see the other side of things, but there are days that i honestly just don't care! Where i just want something done or over with and i am not fair to the other person i am dealing with. But thats life. And thats just reality. There is not one person on earth that can always be nice and friendly and helpful! And who would want that?
So it was so nice to read about utterly real characters, that while they might try and help others they also clearly think about what it would bring themselves if they do something for another person. And i think that is just such an honest portray of people in general that it was a delight to read about!
I don't mean that any of the characters where mean or bad.
They weren't!
But a mother cared about what her daughter would do, because she wanted the best for her.
Another person cared about what people would think about him/her if they went out the house looking a specific way.
Or what would happen if they went or didn't go someplace.
Or how can you expect of a mother to love her children equally if one fills her expectations but the other doesn't?
So it was nice to see that in a book and i really enjoyed that aspect.
Its also clearly something in the book that i can see other readers not enjoying at all.
overall this book to me was a fantastic view into daily life during the time right after the second world war ended in a way i haven't experience before.
Its quiet, its slow.
Nothing really happens, as already mentioned.
But I was transported back to the time around 1949, standing in a corner and simply observing the characters of the book as they live their lives.
And that was utterly fascinating for me.
If you love historical aspects, or want to experience a little window into the past, i highly recommend this book!
If you need actual plot, fast paced writing and action, this book will be disappointing to you!
This book is one of those books that not everyone can and will love because it actually doesn't tell a whole lot, nothing really happens.
We just follow different people that live in the same village, some from the "upper class" some from the "working class" and two younger people that fall in love despite those classifications.
In many ways this book is about a lot of different things, some of them are:
- family expectations in general, from feeling that you belong to a specific group even if you no longer fit into that group for what ever reason, wanting to do right by your family but also wanting to do what is right for you, and trying to figure out if one person in a family can do what they want even if it might go against the family's believes if it makes them happy.
- its also about changes in society, class systems and overall changes cased simply by time passing and changing. It talks about how the war changes priorities, how it changes the world and what it needs and with that changes how it works and what is expected of people.
- society in general
what is expected of specific members, from general specifications such as working class and higher standings, but also what is expected of newly married, single women or men, children and parents, pastors and even what is expected of an American woman that married an Englishman.
- mostly utterly realistic characters!
Most of the people in this book are actually that nice. But at the same time... can any of us really say that no matter what comes we are always nice and never look down at anyone? I certainly can't do that for myself. I try to always see the other side of things, but there are days that i honestly just don't care! Where i just want something done or over with and i am not fair to the other person i am dealing with. But thats life. And thats just reality. There is not one person on earth that can always be nice and friendly and helpful! And who would want that?
So it was so nice to read about utterly real characters, that while they might try and help others they also clearly think about what it would bring themselves if they do something for another person. And i think that is just such an honest portray of people in general that it was a delight to read about!
I don't mean that any of the characters where mean or bad.
They weren't!
But a mother cared about what her daughter would do, because she wanted the best for her.
Another person cared about what people would think about him/her if they went out the house looking a specific way.
Or what would happen if they went or didn't go someplace.
Or how can you expect of a mother to love her children equally if one fills her expectations but the other doesn't?
So it was nice to see that in a book and i really enjoyed that aspect.
Its also clearly something in the book that i can see other readers not enjoying at all.
overall this book to me was a fantastic view into daily life during the time right after the second world war ended in a way i haven't experience before.
Its quiet, its slow.
Nothing really happens, as already mentioned.
But I was transported back to the time around 1949, standing in a corner and simply observing the characters of the book as they live their lives.
And that was utterly fascinating for me.
If you love historical aspects, or want to experience a little window into the past, i highly recommend this book!
If you need actual plot, fast paced writing and action, this book will be disappointing to you!
October 14, 2025
Thought this was an excellent read. Set at the end of the war the novel takes place in the village of Priory Dean in rural England. It is a novel about class distinction, snobbery and hypocrisy. There are those in the village who are unable to recognise that life as they know it would never, ever be quite the same again. From the wonderful Persephone Publishing.
November 27, 2020
'The Village' is another novel snatched from library shelves on the basis of my familiar-author and nice-looking-edition heuristics. I found The Victorian Chaise Longue memorably odd and have confidence in Persephone editions. They are of a pleasant size to hold while reading, apart from anything else. 'The Village' opens with a lengthy cast list, yet it isn't difficult keeping track of who is who as the story centres upon a young woman named Margaret. It starts when the Second World War ends, ending the temporary sense of solidarity between social classes in a sedate village named Priory Hill. Margaret's parents are distressed gentry, a social class I'm familiar with from the history of my own family. They have no money, but consider themselves well-bred and look down upon everything 'vulgar'. Margaret is not an obvious choice of protagonist, as she is ostensibly quite undistinguished. Her parents don't know what to do with her, as she shows no academic aptitude (unlike her younger sister), isn't ambitious for a career, and has no suitable romantic prospects. However, Margaret gradually forms a relationship with a childhood friend, the son of her family's former cook. The progress of this romance highlights both the incremental erosion and continued influence of social class in rural England after the war.
Laski is merciless towards her characters and puts their flaws and hypocrisies on full display. In this respect she reminded me of Muriel Spark, albeit without Spark's leavening of witty humour. 'The Village' is certainly an acute portrait of social mores, but there's nothing particularly funny about it. Margaret's family are unhappy and pathetic, even tragic. It's very satisfying when she finally stands up to her parents. Yet they are supported in their narrow-minded perceptions of correct behaviour by a whole circle of friends and acquaintances. The minutiae of the class system can be seen as a collective delusion, perpetuated by history, inertia, and vested interests. Paradoxes and contradictions abound. The gentry look down on working class people with money, as well as the wealthy country club people. What constitutes vulgarity is incredibly difficult to describe precisely, but I realised while reading that I can recognise it somehow. Is this a peculiarly English concept, I wonder.
At times characters give whole speeches about snobbery and class, and excellent speeches they are too. However, the most powerful moments are more subtly revealing. While Margaret's mother is ill in bed, she accepts the offer from a kind offer from the family's former cook to do their washing for free. Yet she knows to keep this strictly secret from the rest of the family, as it would not do to accept favours from a social inferior. Also telling and sad is the similarity between Margaret and her paramour's younger sisters, both academically gifted and lonely teenage girls, who never become friends as their differing upbringings keep them apart. The rest of the village's gossip about Margaret and interference reveals their own prejudices and assumptions.
Laski has a remarkable level of insight into social class and its toxicity. As a result I found 'The Village' an exceedingly compelling novel, which I read more quickly than I expected to. It isn't necessarily enjoyable for all that, as it depicts all manner of depressing small-mindedness. I was reminded of The Patrick Melrose Novels, which make a similarly forensic examination of English snobbery decades later. Laski doesn't include themes like abuse or drug addiction as in St Aubyn's series, but minor events in Priory Hill somehow manage to be of great import as they are weighted by a multitude of oppressive social expectations.
Laski is merciless towards her characters and puts their flaws and hypocrisies on full display. In this respect she reminded me of Muriel Spark, albeit without Spark's leavening of witty humour. 'The Village' is certainly an acute portrait of social mores, but there's nothing particularly funny about it. Margaret's family are unhappy and pathetic, even tragic. It's very satisfying when she finally stands up to her parents. Yet they are supported in their narrow-minded perceptions of correct behaviour by a whole circle of friends and acquaintances. The minutiae of the class system can be seen as a collective delusion, perpetuated by history, inertia, and vested interests. Paradoxes and contradictions abound. The gentry look down on working class people with money, as well as the wealthy country club people. What constitutes vulgarity is incredibly difficult to describe precisely, but I realised while reading that I can recognise it somehow. Is this a peculiarly English concept, I wonder.
At times characters give whole speeches about snobbery and class, and excellent speeches they are too. However, the most powerful moments are more subtly revealing. While Margaret's mother is ill in bed, she accepts the offer from a kind offer from the family's former cook to do their washing for free. Yet she knows to keep this strictly secret from the rest of the family, as it would not do to accept favours from a social inferior. Also telling and sad is the similarity between Margaret and her paramour's younger sisters, both academically gifted and lonely teenage girls, who never become friends as their differing upbringings keep them apart. The rest of the village's gossip about Margaret and interference reveals their own prejudices and assumptions.
Laski has a remarkable level of insight into social class and its toxicity. As a result I found 'The Village' an exceedingly compelling novel, which I read more quickly than I expected to. It isn't necessarily enjoyable for all that, as it depicts all manner of depressing small-mindedness. I was reminded of The Patrick Melrose Novels, which make a similarly forensic examination of English snobbery decades later. Laski doesn't include themes like abuse or drug addiction as in St Aubyn's series, but minor events in Priory Hill somehow manage to be of great import as they are weighted by a multitude of oppressive social expectations.
June 3, 2018
This novel opens as Britain celebrates the end of WWII, and in Priory Dean, a small village not far from London, Wendy Trevor and Edith Wilson take their last duty session at the Red Cross Post. This is the last time they will meet as equals, as Wendy is part of the impoverished but class-conscious gentry of the village, and Edith is a working-class woman who once worked as Wendy's cleaning lady. However, the villagers soon find that they are faced with the choice between trying to cling on to the old ways and embracing the inevitable changes that are shaking up the world outside Priory Dean.
This is an interesting examination of the class system at a particular moment in time, and the impact of WWII on the old order. At its centre is a touching and low-key romance between two young people from different backgrounds, and this is used to highlight different attitudes and behaviours. As one might expect, Laski calls out hypocrisy and snobbery, but there is also compassion and understanding for those trying to rediscover a stability that has been swept away by conflict.
The use of the village as a microcosm of society generally works well, although some of the characters (particularly those from the tradesmen class) don't quite come to life in the same way as those from the gentry and the workers. The writing has a light touch but is also sharp and incisive when needed, and this is a brilliantly observed depiction of a historical moment.
This is an interesting examination of the class system at a particular moment in time, and the impact of WWII on the old order. At its centre is a touching and low-key romance between two young people from different backgrounds, and this is used to highlight different attitudes and behaviours. As one might expect, Laski calls out hypocrisy and snobbery, but there is also compassion and understanding for those trying to rediscover a stability that has been swept away by conflict.
The use of the village as a microcosm of society generally works well, although some of the characters (particularly those from the tradesmen class) don't quite come to life in the same way as those from the gentry and the workers. The writing has a light touch but is also sharp and incisive when needed, and this is a brilliantly observed depiction of a historical moment.
May 20, 2016
This novel opens in 1945 on the day in which the end of World War II has just been announced in the small village of Priory Dean. Everyone is celebrating and dancing in the streets but Martha Trevor and Edith Wilson still show up to their post duty at the Red Cross. During the course of their conversation we learn that they are from very different social classes; Martha is part of the upper-class gentry that live on the Hill in town and Edith is part of the working class families that live on the other end of town. At one point Edith worked as Martha's housekeeper before Martha's family hit some financially hard times.
The war was able to break down these long-standing class barriers and allowed people to mingle who otherwise would not have anything to do with one another in social situations. During the war the town holds a series of dances to which all members of the town, regardless of social status, are able to attend. These are just the circumstance under which Edith's son, Roy and Martha's daughter, Margaret are able to meet. The very last war-time dance is Margaret's first real social outing and she feels awkward and unsure of herself until Roy asks her to dance with him.
Laski provides us with a full picture of life in a small English town in the mid-twentieth century. In addition to the Wilson's and the Trevor's we also get the town spinster, Miss Porteous, a retired school mistress, and her sidekick, the town gossip, Miss Beltram. The town physician, Dr. Gregory and the town pastor, Rev. Robinson are also important figures in this village. Finally, the town "outsiders," the Wetheralls, who move into the largest house in town also feature prominently in the action. There is a complete cast of characters representing the gentry and the working class and Laski provides a list of these characters with descriptions in the index which is very helpful to remember everyone that appears in the plot.
Once the war is over, everyone goes back to their proper place in town and it is no longer acceptable for upper-class and working-class citizens to interact with one another. Martha Trevor is particularly adamant about not mixing with anyone outside of her social class. She is also bitter and angry that she can no longer afford hired help to run her household; she must scrub her own floors and wash her own laundry which she finds beneath her lot in life. Martha often takes out her frustration on her oldest daughter Margaret whom she feels is not pretty or clever. Martha fears that Margaret will never be able to attract a husband or find employment that is worthy of her high social rank in society.
The relationship that develops between Margaret and Roy is sweet and romantic. Because they are forbidden to have anything to do with each other due to their different social classes, they meet each other in secret. They go to the movies and dinner together and then Roy starts to show up to Margaret's place of employment every day just so he can spend an hour with her at lunch. The culminating romantic interlude they have during which they confess their love and become engaged involves a bike ride and a picnic in the countryside. Roy is kind, gentle, respectable and has a great job as a printer. He is the perfect husband but Margaret's parents are angry when they find out because of Roy's lower social position.
This story has elements of Ovid's Pyramus and Thisbe as well as Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Even though the town is scandalized by the intermarriage of this sweet couple, the outcome for Roy and Margaret is much happier than these other star crossed lovers.
The war was able to break down these long-standing class barriers and allowed people to mingle who otherwise would not have anything to do with one another in social situations. During the war the town holds a series of dances to which all members of the town, regardless of social status, are able to attend. These are just the circumstance under which Edith's son, Roy and Martha's daughter, Margaret are able to meet. The very last war-time dance is Margaret's first real social outing and she feels awkward and unsure of herself until Roy asks her to dance with him.
Laski provides us with a full picture of life in a small English town in the mid-twentieth century. In addition to the Wilson's and the Trevor's we also get the town spinster, Miss Porteous, a retired school mistress, and her sidekick, the town gossip, Miss Beltram. The town physician, Dr. Gregory and the town pastor, Rev. Robinson are also important figures in this village. Finally, the town "outsiders," the Wetheralls, who move into the largest house in town also feature prominently in the action. There is a complete cast of characters representing the gentry and the working class and Laski provides a list of these characters with descriptions in the index which is very helpful to remember everyone that appears in the plot.
Once the war is over, everyone goes back to their proper place in town and it is no longer acceptable for upper-class and working-class citizens to interact with one another. Martha Trevor is particularly adamant about not mixing with anyone outside of her social class. She is also bitter and angry that she can no longer afford hired help to run her household; she must scrub her own floors and wash her own laundry which she finds beneath her lot in life. Martha often takes out her frustration on her oldest daughter Margaret whom she feels is not pretty or clever. Martha fears that Margaret will never be able to attract a husband or find employment that is worthy of her high social rank in society.
The relationship that develops between Margaret and Roy is sweet and romantic. Because they are forbidden to have anything to do with each other due to their different social classes, they meet each other in secret. They go to the movies and dinner together and then Roy starts to show up to Margaret's place of employment every day just so he can spend an hour with her at lunch. The culminating romantic interlude they have during which they confess their love and become engaged involves a bike ride and a picnic in the countryside. Roy is kind, gentle, respectable and has a great job as a printer. He is the perfect husband but Margaret's parents are angry when they find out because of Roy's lower social position.
This story has elements of Ovid's Pyramus and Thisbe as well as Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Even though the town is scandalized by the intermarriage of this sweet couple, the outcome for Roy and Margaret is much happier than these other star crossed lovers.
May 23, 2018
The story begins with a small English village celebrating the end of World War II, a victory which quickly brings challenges as the social order is shifting. Among many characters, one stood out: a young woman, almost the Cinderella of her family, who tries to find her way to happiness. While there are no villains, there are characters sometimes behaving badly as they vainly try to keep the old order from changing.
June 1, 2018
Published in 1952, this is a story set in post war Britain. The novels opens in the small village 'Priory Dean' , with the villagers celebrating the end of World War Two.
Out of habit, Wendy Trevor and Edith Wilson make their way to the local village hall to be on duty for the night for the Red Cross.For the past six years this has brought the women closer and they have each shared and talked about their worries.
The next day both leave their post for the last time ,saying goodbye Mrs Trevor going up the road to Wood View on Priory Hill where the gentry lived and Mrs Wilson going downhill on the other side, down Station Road among the working-classes.
Their relationship is soon put to the test when Wendy's daughter falls in love with Edith's son Roy.
With major political changes and new houses being built, the people of Priory Dean are all thrown into turmoil.
Amusing story of the class division and snobbery throughout a small village
Out of habit, Wendy Trevor and Edith Wilson make their way to the local village hall to be on duty for the night for the Red Cross.For the past six years this has brought the women closer and they have each shared and talked about their worries.
The next day both leave their post for the last time ,saying goodbye Mrs Trevor going up the road to Wood View on Priory Hill where the gentry lived and Mrs Wilson going downhill on the other side, down Station Road among the working-classes.
Their relationship is soon put to the test when Wendy's daughter falls in love with Edith's son Roy.
With major political changes and new houses being built, the people of Priory Dean are all thrown into turmoil.
Amusing story of the class division and snobbery throughout a small village
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 12, 2018
A well written and shrewdly observed novel about the after effects of the Second World War on class-ridden Britain. Laski marks the village hierarchies socially, financially and geographically. The upheaval of the landed upper class losing power and influence while the working class earned high wages and gained increasing confidence is displayed by the interaction of two families.
The Trevors are trying to cling to their social position as gentry with neither land nor capital to sustain them. They sacrifice the financial interests of their elder daughter Margaret for her younger sister’s prospects. The Wilsons are resentful that their son should have to emigrate to Australia to quiet Mrs Trevor’s scruples that her daughter should marry a working class boy, but I think Laski sees Australia as a clean slate, an egalitarian society where earning your living is not despised. The Trevors are equally pressed by the nouveaux riches who cynically gouge them in a land sale. It seems the upper classes are just as morally bankrupt in this novel as in another Laski novel, To Bed with Grand Music.
The Trevors are trying to cling to their social position as gentry with neither land nor capital to sustain them. They sacrifice the financial interests of their elder daughter Margaret for her younger sister’s prospects. The Wilsons are resentful that their son should have to emigrate to Australia to quiet Mrs Trevor’s scruples that her daughter should marry a working class boy, but I think Laski sees Australia as a clean slate, an egalitarian society where earning your living is not despised. The Trevors are equally pressed by the nouveaux riches who cynically gouge them in a land sale. It seems the upper classes are just as morally bankrupt in this novel as in another Laski novel, To Bed with Grand Music.
April 15, 2012
I thought at first that this book was not as good as Laski’s Little Boy Lost, which I loved, but as I read on I realised the simple direct style of writing contained depth and complexity and by the end I was convinced I was living in the village, amongst these people at the end of the war. It’s not as heart-rending as Little Boy Lost, but it is absorbing reading.
The Village is not only a love story, it’s a novel exploring the issues of class and social mobility, family relationships, parental control and the position of women. Although the Trevors and the Wilsons are the main characters, it’s a novel about the whole community,with a list of all the characters at the beginning of the book, including their station in life.
See full review at my blog.
The Village is not only a love story, it’s a novel exploring the issues of class and social mobility, family relationships, parental control and the position of women. Although the Trevors and the Wilsons are the main characters, it’s a novel about the whole community,with a list of all the characters at the beginning of the book, including their station in life.
See full review at my blog.
March 15, 2009
One of my favorite Persephone books is a sharp examination of class in 1945 England, as well as a real page-turner. Margaret and Roy are perhaps the sweetest lovers ever to be divided by class, and it's a lot of fun to root them on while hissing over Margaret's horrible parents. My two favorite characters are Maureen Wilson, Roy's frank and astute younger sister, and the wretched Trixie Beltram, universally loathed throughout the village.
September 12, 2013
Excellent book from our friends at Persephone Books. Am I the only one who wanted to slap Wendy?
May 28, 2019
Perhaps the sharpest examination of English class attitudes and prejudicial barriers that I’ve read. Set in the fascinating period directly after WWII when the English social fabric was consequently changing utterly. I so wish Laski was still alive to focus her lens on the world today.
October 30, 2025
I find a great interest in much middlebrow and popular fiction published in or about the decade or so following the end of the Second World War, particularly that which deals with the changes that the war and the postwar Attlee government wrought on the social fabric of Britain. I particularly loved John Moore’s The Waters Under the Earth, a moving and immersive study of a small community undergoing radical change. Marghanita Laski’s The Village covers similar ground, although is a less rich, more overtly political novel. At its heart is the age-old theme of a love affair across class barriers; between Margaret, the older daughter of the Trevors, an impoverished middle-class family (so impoverished that the only thing they have left to cling on to in an uncertain world is their class status) and Roy, the highly skilled, well-paid son of their former char lady. Laski is particularly good at portraying the fine gradations of the English class system and the stultifying system of manners and behaviour that were its outward signifiers. It’s a vivid recreation of a world that seems hard to imagine ever existed; not that class doesn’t still exert a strong influence, just that much of the whole edifice of class deference - everyone knowing their place and sticking to it - and systems of inter-class behaviour have, fortunately, been eradicated.
May 4, 2022
“The night the war ended, both Mrs. Trevor and Mrs. Wilson went on duty at the Red Cross Post as usual”
Esa es el primer párrafo de “The Village” (El pueblo), de Marghanita Laski, párrafo en el que la autora ya nos está ubicando temporalmente (A partir del día después de la victoria en 1945) y nos está señalando quiénes van a ser los ejes principales de la trama. Es una novela coral en principio, ya que trata sobre un pueblo y todos sus habitantes. Pero no es un pueblo homogéneo y pronto veremos qué separa a los Trevor de los Wilson y cómo la separación da lugar al escándalo. Aunque este es un punto que no revelaré, por supuesto.
Dice Ralph Weatheral, uno de los personajes, a su mujer Martha, que el clasismo no est�� del todo erradicado en Inglaterra, que al contrario, las raíces en que se sustenta esta estratificación social son muy profundas. Y este es el tema principal de la novela. La superioridad moral de unos frente a otros les viene dada por su posición social, independientemente de que luego no tengan qué llevarse a la boca. Es algo que en “Saphira y la joven esclava” de Willa Cather se sustentaba en el color de la piel. Aquí lo que pone a unos por encima de los otros es el color de la sangre y es lo que separa a los Trevor de los Wilson, a pesar de que la guerra consiguió que se olvidara todo eso durante unos años. Acabada la guerra, todo vuelve a ser como antes.
Marghanita Laski arremete sin piedad contra la rígida mentalidad inglesa, especialmente en poblaciones pequeñas. Esta mentalidad, este orgullo de clase, la tenían tanto los privilegiados como la clase trabajadora y mercantil. Es una novela muy crítica con el snobismo de gente como la señora Trevor y su marido, quienes representan a la clase privilegiada, la gentry, dándose tantos aires y despreciando tanto a los “inferiores” a pesar de no poder dar una educación a más de una de sus dos hijas, dan bastante vergüenza ajena. Laski los ridiculiza, los señala con el dedo en un texto cargado de sarcasmo y sentido del humor.
“The Village” se apoya sobre todo en diálogos y pensamientos internos. Es así como muestra la hipocresía de sus personajes. Son ellos quienes nos dan toda la información que necesitamos para imaginarlos tanto a ellos, como las situaciones, como el entorno. E incluso puede que identifiquemos a alguno con personas que conocemos, ya que este clasismo también se da en España, aunque de una forma un poco más sutil. En definitiva, queda muy claro que a Laski le disgustaba la intolerancia y el desequilibrio social que observaba a su alrededor.
Pero también hay una subtrama amable que, hacia la mitad del libro, pasa a primera plana. Es la historia de la joven Margaret Trevor, de 19 años. Acabada su educación básica y teniendo una hermana más lista y ambiciosa que ella, sus padres deciden que no sirve para nada y que lo mejor es que se case. Margaret es tan dulce, tan inocente y tan ansiosa de agradar, que consiente los tejemanejes de una madre que la desprecia y un padre que la ignora. El problema viene cuando Margaret es una persona que entiende que las personas son personas, ella es diferente, tiene sus propios sueños y ahi es donde Laski mete a sus personajes en problemas.
También puede leerse el libro como una historia de mujeres aburridas que se dedican a mangonear en las vidas de los demás, como hacen la americana Martha Weatherall y la señora Trevor con Margaret desde distintas perspectivas, haciendo que la joven tenga que guardar sus secretos celosamente.
En definitiva, este es un retrato magistral de una era que languidece y que desaparecerá, aunque no se dé cuenta de ello. Imprescindible.
Esa es el primer párrafo de “The Village” (El pueblo), de Marghanita Laski, párrafo en el que la autora ya nos está ubicando temporalmente (A partir del día después de la victoria en 1945) y nos está señalando quiénes van a ser los ejes principales de la trama. Es una novela coral en principio, ya que trata sobre un pueblo y todos sus habitantes. Pero no es un pueblo homogéneo y pronto veremos qué separa a los Trevor de los Wilson y cómo la separación da lugar al escándalo. Aunque este es un punto que no revelaré, por supuesto.
Dice Ralph Weatheral, uno de los personajes, a su mujer Martha, que el clasismo no est�� del todo erradicado en Inglaterra, que al contrario, las raíces en que se sustenta esta estratificación social son muy profundas. Y este es el tema principal de la novela. La superioridad moral de unos frente a otros les viene dada por su posición social, independientemente de que luego no tengan qué llevarse a la boca. Es algo que en “Saphira y la joven esclava” de Willa Cather se sustentaba en el color de la piel. Aquí lo que pone a unos por encima de los otros es el color de la sangre y es lo que separa a los Trevor de los Wilson, a pesar de que la guerra consiguió que se olvidara todo eso durante unos años. Acabada la guerra, todo vuelve a ser como antes.
Marghanita Laski arremete sin piedad contra la rígida mentalidad inglesa, especialmente en poblaciones pequeñas. Esta mentalidad, este orgullo de clase, la tenían tanto los privilegiados como la clase trabajadora y mercantil. Es una novela muy crítica con el snobismo de gente como la señora Trevor y su marido, quienes representan a la clase privilegiada, la gentry, dándose tantos aires y despreciando tanto a los “inferiores” a pesar de no poder dar una educación a más de una de sus dos hijas, dan bastante vergüenza ajena. Laski los ridiculiza, los señala con el dedo en un texto cargado de sarcasmo y sentido del humor.
“The Village” se apoya sobre todo en diálogos y pensamientos internos. Es así como muestra la hipocresía de sus personajes. Son ellos quienes nos dan toda la información que necesitamos para imaginarlos tanto a ellos, como las situaciones, como el entorno. E incluso puede que identifiquemos a alguno con personas que conocemos, ya que este clasismo también se da en España, aunque de una forma un poco más sutil. En definitiva, queda muy claro que a Laski le disgustaba la intolerancia y el desequilibrio social que observaba a su alrededor.
Pero también hay una subtrama amable que, hacia la mitad del libro, pasa a primera plana. Es la historia de la joven Margaret Trevor, de 19 años. Acabada su educación básica y teniendo una hermana más lista y ambiciosa que ella, sus padres deciden que no sirve para nada y que lo mejor es que se case. Margaret es tan dulce, tan inocente y tan ansiosa de agradar, que consiente los tejemanejes de una madre que la desprecia y un padre que la ignora. El problema viene cuando Margaret es una persona que entiende que las personas son personas, ella es diferente, tiene sus propios sueños y ahi es donde Laski mete a sus personajes en problemas.
También puede leerse el libro como una historia de mujeres aburridas que se dedican a mangonear en las vidas de los demás, como hacen la americana Martha Weatherall y la señora Trevor con Margaret desde distintas perspectivas, haciendo que la joven tenga que guardar sus secretos celosamente.
En definitiva, este es un retrato magistral de una era que languidece y que desaparecerá, aunque no se dé cuenta de ello. Imprescindible.
August 23, 2024
THE VILLAGE is a very Austenian novel, if Austen had been writing in the twentieth century. The middle-class looked different a century and a half later. And though many characters would disagree, both the Trevors AND the Wilsons (or at least Roy) are middle-class; the Trevors are poor upper-middle-class and the Wilsons wealthy lower-middle-class. And if you think that these gradations are pointless, this probably isn't the book for you, because this novel is VERY granular about class.
We go all the way from the “proper gentry” in Miss Evadne to the urban poor of the evacuees. Everyone is treated with a scathing eye, but none more so than Jane Austen’s favourite class, the upper-middle-class-pretending-to-be-upper-class. The Trevors (excepting Margaret) and their pretensions are totally demolished. Not only demolished, actually, but shown to have never really had any foundations whatsoever.
Now, about Roy and Margaret. They are very sweet together. Their romance is perfect. But. I think Laski missed something here, by making Margaret “class unconscious”. It's a less interesting narrative than it could have been; instead of Margaret unlearning all the toxic lessons her family have instilled in her, she's just…always been working-class at heart? It's unsatisfying. It leaves the romance feeling less like a central part of the narrative and more like an inciting incident.
Honestly, given the relish with which Marghanita Laski stabs at middle-class pretensions with her sharpened pen nib, maybe that was what she was going for! If so, she did it well.
An enjoyable but somewhat uneven read.
We go all the way from the “proper gentry” in Miss Evadne to the urban poor of the evacuees. Everyone is treated with a scathing eye, but none more so than Jane Austen’s favourite class, the upper-middle-class-pretending-to-be-upper-class. The Trevors (excepting Margaret) and their pretensions are totally demolished. Not only demolished, actually, but shown to have never really had any foundations whatsoever.
Now, about Roy and Margaret. They are very sweet together. Their romance is perfect. But. I think Laski missed something here, by making Margaret “class unconscious”. It's a less interesting narrative than it could have been; instead of Margaret unlearning all the toxic lessons her family have instilled in her, she's just…always been working-class at heart? It's unsatisfying. It leaves the romance feeling less like a central part of the narrative and more like an inciting incident.
Honestly, given the relish with which Marghanita Laski stabs at middle-class pretensions with her sharpened pen nib, maybe that was what she was going for! If so, she did it well.
An enjoyable but somewhat uneven read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 28, 2022
First time reading Marghanita Laski. I thought this was a very interesting and satirical (?) and witty book about social history post war in an English village. The characterisation was so good, I could see these people as I read about them. I thought Wendy and Gerald Trevor were horrible to their daughter, they weren't thinking of her best interests but of themselves, even to the end. The Priory Hill residents had such specific rules about how to act in society, not letting down standards, who they could associate with. The horror for them when Miss Moodie moved in next door! Poor Priory Hill, they didn't seem to enjoy life compared to the Station Road residents.
A very thought provoking story.
A very thought provoking story.
May 12, 2024
Another amazing Persephone book! This is the story of village life after WWII. The division between classes is no longer based on income but only lineage. The story centers upon what happens when new money moves into the houses of the gentry and when a member of the working class falls in love with someone in the upper crest. Thoroughly enjoyed this one.
June 11, 2018
The Village offers an insightful look at life immediately following the end of WWII. It is both delightful and sobering; humorous and thought-provoking. Laski’s straightforward prose is engaging, and I was hooked from the beginning. I expected the novel to be well-written and entertaining, but I was surprised at how relevant and politically charged it was. It is much more than a cozy novel about life in a charming village.
The entire cast of characters – which happens to take up a full four pages at the beginning of the novel – is well-developed and realistic. Laski has a talent for describing individuals and their quirks, traits, and of course their flaws. She manages to imbue each with personality and psychological depth. I felt as if I had known these people for a significant period of time; as if I too, were a member of the village community.
The Village is a fascinating account of a period of great change and transition, that cleverly tackles themes of class, community, and modernity. It is also a sweet love story and an astute character study.
The plot itself may not be flashy or fast-paced, but the characters and quietly powerful social commentary kept me happily turning the pages. I was sad to come to the end, and will be thinking about The Village for some time to come. Having read and loved both this and Little Boy Lost, I am incredibly excited to explore Marghanita Laski’s remaining works. I’m sure I’ll be equally entertained, challenged, and moved by them all.
Full review here: https://dwellinpossibilityblog.wordpr...
The entire cast of characters – which happens to take up a full four pages at the beginning of the novel – is well-developed and realistic. Laski has a talent for describing individuals and their quirks, traits, and of course their flaws. She manages to imbue each with personality and psychological depth. I felt as if I had known these people for a significant period of time; as if I too, were a member of the village community.
The Village is a fascinating account of a period of great change and transition, that cleverly tackles themes of class, community, and modernity. It is also a sweet love story and an astute character study.
The plot itself may not be flashy or fast-paced, but the characters and quietly powerful social commentary kept me happily turning the pages. I was sad to come to the end, and will be thinking about The Village for some time to come. Having read and loved both this and Little Boy Lost, I am incredibly excited to explore Marghanita Laski’s remaining works. I’m sure I’ll be equally entertained, challenged, and moved by them all.
Full review here: https://dwellinpossibilityblog.wordpr...
August 4, 2025
And when I say this is comfort and cosiness epitomised, I do mean it with every ounce of my being. Nothing happens, but so much is said. It's about post-war existence and class divides in a fictional rural village, all mixed in with a forbidden love story - it's great. I felt like a housewife settling down by the fire with my novel from the shop round the corner, and I think sometimes there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. The characters are brilliant, that's where this shines (I mean, I was sold when I opened this up to a list of characters at the beginning, absolutely camp.) It's a novel where you're sucked into the daily life and gossip of a rural British village, but my god it does just that, it sucks you right in and the escape was delicious.
I loved that everyone was somewhat morally grey, because they were just ordinary people, but honestly big shout out to Margaret because someone save this poor girl from her mother who deserved a horrible painful death throughout, and to my girl Maureen, we love a socialist teenage rebel in the rural British countryside. I just know Margaret and Maureen gave Roy brilliant hell for the rest of his life in the best way. I really am just so truly glad Margaret found a family. It was a bit convoluted in parts, and like I said there's often whole chunks of time where not much is happening, so this can be a strange mix sometimes. The vast amount of characters (a whole village!) is sometimes tricky to follow, and this meant that sometimes some of them weren't granted as much depth as they deserved, but you get the gist throughout. Just a lovely little tale!
I loved that everyone was somewhat morally grey, because they were just ordinary people, but honestly big shout out to Margaret because someone save this poor girl from her mother who deserved a horrible painful death throughout, and to my girl Maureen, we love a socialist teenage rebel in the rural British countryside. I just know Margaret and Maureen gave Roy brilliant hell for the rest of his life in the best way. I really am just so truly glad Margaret found a family. It was a bit convoluted in parts, and like I said there's often whole chunks of time where not much is happening, so this can be a strange mix sometimes. The vast amount of characters (a whole village!) is sometimes tricky to follow, and this meant that sometimes some of them weren't granted as much depth as they deserved, but you get the gist throughout. Just a lovely little tale!
December 5, 2011
I really rate this novel at 3.5 stars or a bit higher. It is the second of Laski's novels that I have enjoyed. She has a fine touch of examining the everyday activities of life, and then subtly slipping below the surface to write about what really disturbs the balance.
Laski wrote of the survivors of World War II in the previous novel I read, Little Boy Lost. The subject matter is the same here, only she looks at a place and its people, this small English village of the title. All inhabitants, no matter their place on the social scale, have lived with fear and deprivation through the long war. So weary and ready to resume their lives, the story of the villagers begins the day peace is declared. Quickly, we see that war had helped bring about an unseen change -- that of the shifting of social classes and social attitudes.
Laski carefully and quietly tells a story of the passing of the ancient gentry of the town, the practical acceptance of change by the lower class, the new wealth of the slightly cynical manufacturing class, and the anguishing disbelief of the upper middle class who seem to have the most to resign themselves to in this new era.
This is definitely worth the read for those interested in the details of post-war life and a look into society with a little touch of Jane Austen but probably more that of Barbara Pym.
Laski wrote of the survivors of World War II in the previous novel I read, Little Boy Lost. The subject matter is the same here, only she looks at a place and its people, this small English village of the title. All inhabitants, no matter their place on the social scale, have lived with fear and deprivation through the long war. So weary and ready to resume their lives, the story of the villagers begins the day peace is declared. Quickly, we see that war had helped bring about an unseen change -- that of the shifting of social classes and social attitudes.
Laski carefully and quietly tells a story of the passing of the ancient gentry of the town, the practical acceptance of change by the lower class, the new wealth of the slightly cynical manufacturing class, and the anguishing disbelief of the upper middle class who seem to have the most to resign themselves to in this new era.
This is definitely worth the read for those interested in the details of post-war life and a look into society with a little touch of Jane Austen but probably more that of Barbara Pym.
February 14, 2022
Began well. After two chapters I did wonder if it was the village views this book was describing or just Wendy's viewpoint. It turned out to be a view held by a section of the village. The segment of those who deemed themselves to be upper-class, disassociated themselves from those of the working-class, and those that they did associate with were those who worked for them. Each knowing who they were. Incomers with wealth, were also treated with the same non-approval unless they could be used. The people from the working-class, found themselves, after the horrors of the war, employment other than being in service, and also had now got a better income than those they had previously worked for. Reading this was not an eye-opener as Britain has always been known for it's class system. The book was a look at how this system was beginning to be eroded with a Labour government elected.
Wendy and her husband Gerald, did not seem a good example of the upper-class. They were terrible parents! Their treatment of their eldest daughter was totally disgusting, favouring their younger daughter who happened to be cleverer, and could do no wrong. Therefore it was obvious that the elder was going to rebel.
Wendy and her husband Gerald, did not seem a good example of the upper-class. They were terrible parents! Their treatment of their eldest daughter was totally disgusting, favouring their younger daughter who happened to be cleverer, and could do no wrong. Therefore it was obvious that the elder was going to rebel.
June 16, 2018
This now reads as a heavy-handed, rather unsubtle and unpleasant novel from a smug intellectual, cut off from the pressures of early post-war recovery, and full of distaste for a particular group of society (who, in their turn would have hated her!). Nonetheless, it's well-written, with some really pleasant and engaging passages. Well worth a read.
The GR blurb:
'If anyone asked me to describe life in post-war Britain, ' commented Sarah Crompton in the Daily Telegraph, 'I would suggest they read The Village, a 1952 story of lovers divided by class that tells you more about the subtle gradations of life in the Home Counties and the cataclysmic changes wrought by war and a Labour government than any number of plays by JB Priestley or more famous tomes by Greene and Waugh.'
And Charlotte Moore wrote in the Spectator: 'This traditionally organised novel of English village life is more than a gentle dig at quirky English behaviour. It is a precise, evocative but unsentimental account of a period of transition; it's an absorbing novel, and a useful piece of social history.'
The GR blurb:
'If anyone asked me to describe life in post-war Britain, ' commented Sarah Crompton in the Daily Telegraph, 'I would suggest they read The Village, a 1952 story of lovers divided by class that tells you more about the subtle gradations of life in the Home Counties and the cataclysmic changes wrought by war and a Labour government than any number of plays by JB Priestley or more famous tomes by Greene and Waugh.'
And Charlotte Moore wrote in the Spectator: 'This traditionally organised novel of English village life is more than a gentle dig at quirky English behaviour. It is a precise, evocative but unsentimental account of a period of transition; it's an absorbing novel, and a useful piece of social history.'
June 30, 2019
Post WW2 is such an interesting time in England and I love how Laski captures the changes of life in a small village. During the way people pitched in, everyone joined together for a common cause. Then abruptly that cause is eliminated. Women who had roles to play and jobs to do are expected to go back to taking care of their families. The class structure has broken down and people who were considered middles class do not have the money to fit that category - they are only middle class if everyone agrees to keep saying they are. Laski focuses on one small village and a pair of young lovers. Class would have kept them apart before the war but is class still a reason to keep them apart now? Their love is not really the story - it's the ways that the characters react to these societal changes that drive Laski's narrative and make for an entertaining read.
February 13, 2021
A tale of a village in England as the war ends and how the residents start to get used to the new world they are living in. The problem is that many of them are still in the thrall of the old way of living where there were the gentry on the hill and rest of the village served them or were not worth noticing.
The Taylors are gentry, but so poor they are struggling to maintain life as they feel it should be lived, their daughter Margaret, though does not see the differences in people. The Wilsons are lower class, but now earning much more than the Taylors are trying to live on , but that doesn’t make their son Roy any more acceptable as a suitor for the Taylor’s daughter. The book is quite scathing in the way it writes about the attitudes of the gentry group.
The Taylors are gentry, but so poor they are struggling to maintain life as they feel it should be lived, their daughter Margaret, though does not see the differences in people. The Wilsons are lower class, but now earning much more than the Taylors are trying to live on , but that doesn’t make their son Roy any more acceptable as a suitor for the Taylor’s daughter. The book is quite scathing in the way it writes about the attitudes of the gentry group.
July 31, 2023
Another brilliant read from Laski. Unlike Tory heaven, this book is less outlandishly satirical and more based in reality. The narrative is therefore far easier to empathise with with some truly gut wrenching moments. It encapsulates intergenerational trauma, class divides and the politics of the time. Looking from the perspective of a historian, its very interesting to see how the rapidly changing social structure was perceived by people living at the time. All of this is done through creating an in depth little world in the form of Priory Dean Village. There are lots of characters and they’re not all quite distinguishable so the plot is a little difficult to follow in some places but it generally feels very immersive.
April 21, 2024
The Village published in 1952 by Marghanita Laski (October 24, 1915-February 6, 1988)
The novel describes Britain’s rapidly changing, increasingly egalitarian postwar society and its effect on a small village that had always known clearly defined class boundaries. I was impressed by Laski’s ability to present the different perspectives of village society in this period of transition. The story is compelling, the characters well drawn, and there are scenes that are quite moving. The Village is a novel of postwar Britain, but its themes of common humanity are universal. It’s a great novel imo and is now one of my all time favorites! I also enjoyed her earlier novel, Little
Boy Lost. Why isn’t Marghanita Laski better known today?
The novel describes Britain’s rapidly changing, increasingly egalitarian postwar society and its effect on a small village that had always known clearly defined class boundaries. I was impressed by Laski’s ability to present the different perspectives of village society in this period of transition. The story is compelling, the characters well drawn, and there are scenes that are quite moving. The Village is a novel of postwar Britain, but its themes of common humanity are universal. It’s a great novel imo and is now one of my all time favorites! I also enjoyed her earlier novel, Little
Boy Lost. Why isn’t Marghanita Laski better known today?
July 1, 2019
The Village ticks a lot of my boxes:
✔️Set in an English village
✔️I love a WWII setting; this begins the day the war ends.
✔️A fascinating look at society and class. And how that changed during the war. Temporarily. Apparently this is a theme of the author’s other books as well. I’m looking forward to more.
✔️Lovely writing and interesting characters. When I had time to dedicate to uninterrupted reading, the pages flew by.
✔️A good book is a good book no matter the packaging, but this absolutely stunning Persephone edition is just too elegant to part with...yet I do want to pass it on. My shelves runneth over. Message me if you’re interested. It deserves more reads!
👍🏼 👍🏼
✔️Set in an English village
✔️I love a WWII setting; this begins the day the war ends.
✔️A fascinating look at society and class. And how that changed during the war. Temporarily. Apparently this is a theme of the author’s other books as well. I’m looking forward to more.
✔️Lovely writing and interesting characters. When I had time to dedicate to uninterrupted reading, the pages flew by.
✔️A good book is a good book no matter the packaging, but this absolutely stunning Persephone edition is just too elegant to part with...yet I do want to pass it on. My shelves runneth over. Message me if you’re interested. It deserves more reads!
👍🏼 👍🏼
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