War Paint

by Tom Wakefield

It is 1942, and the sleepy English village of Padmore has been hit with a bomb in the shape of the new schoolteacher, Kay Roper. Forthright, eccentric, her face made up in "glorious Technicolour," Miss Roper has the villagers in thrall. Her girls worship the ground she walks on, the women hang on her every word, and the men languish in the trail of her Parisian perfume. But questions surround her: Why does a well-bred woman have an ointment for crabs at the ready when a colleague runs screaming from the school toilets? How can she breed sexual revolution yet never be seen to practice it? Why does she rail against "the gangrene of fascism" yet fraternize with the Italians in the local POW camp? These paradoxes, so tantalizing and liberating for the inhabitants of Padmore, unravel years later to reveal that Kay Roper had more secrets than anyone dreamed. Selected as one of the Books of the Year by London's Daily Telegraph, War Paint is a compelling, compassionate, and refreshingly witty novel centered around one of the most unforgettable characters to emerge in recent fiction.

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each time I read this book I fall in love with Kay Roper again along with the rest of her village. It's been over 10 years since I last read it, but I've pined for it the whole time. My copy was lent out and forgotten years ago, and the book was out of print with single copies going for $100 on Amazon.

Upon this reading, being in my 30s instead of my 20s, I realized that "knowing" Kay Roper through this book changed my life. She was/is a role model to me. She taught me so many lessons and the memory of her character gave me bravery and pride at times when I was low. It was a revelation to me seeing that when I was younger I loved the book for its compassion and feminism, and now I love it for those reasons and more. As a mother, I love it for its raw portrayal of motherhood. As a nearly-40-year-old woman, I love it for its value and appreciation of women of all ages. As a wife, I love it for its portrayal of real, true love and marriage in real, true situations. It's real life wrapped in a spell of a fairytale princess named Kay Roper.

[Wendy Charlton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful and evocative tale with the distinctive Kay Roper who bursts into the village and makes a mark on so many of the villagers lives. The twist is brilliantly written as is the pathos. I have re read this book four times and it is still as fresh as the first time.

[Austen to Zafón · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful page-turner about a woman who comes into a dreary mining community during WWII, bringing with her the whiff of perfume, the colorful clothes and make-up of a starlet, and a sense of purpose & freedom for her female students and their mothers. If you've read Wakefield's memoir, "Forties' Child," you'll recognize many events, people, and scenes. I only took one star off because some of the premise seemed a little unbelievable. I still have questions in my mind. Still, I read in in two days and loved it.