Cheerful Weather for the Wedding

by Julia Strachey, Frances Partridge (Preface)

It is a brisk English March day, and Dolly is getting ready to marry the wrong man. Waylaid by the sulking admirer who lost his chance, an astonishingly oblivious mother bustling around and making a fuss, and her own sinking dread, the bride-to-be struggles to reach the altar.

Dolly knew, as she looked round at the long wedding-veil stretching away forever, and at the women, too, so busy all around her, that something remarkable and upsetting in her life was steadily going forward.

Genres: Fiction, Classics, British Literature, 20th Century, Literary Fiction, Novella, Novels

119 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1932

About the author

Julia Strachey (August, 1901–1979) was an English writer, born in Allahabad, India, where her father, Oliver Strachey, the elder brother of Lytton Strachey, was a civil servant. Her mother, Ruby, was of Swiss-German origin. For most of Julia's life she lived in England, where she worked as a model at Poiret, as a photographer and as a publisher's reader, before she embarked upon a career in novel-writing. She is perhaps best remembered for her work Cheerful Weather for the Wedding, a book originally published by the Hogarth Press and recently reprinted by Persephone Books.

Published works:

- Cheerful Weather for the Wedding (1932), reprinted by Persephone Books in 2009
- 'Fragments of a Diary' (1940)
- 'Pioneer City' (1943)
- The Man on the Pier (1951), reprinted by Penguin in 1978 under the title An Integrated Man
- 'Animalia', published by the New Yorker under the title 'Can't you get me out of here?' (1959)
- 'Complements of the season', short story published in Turnstile One, edited by V. S. Pritchett. Published by Turnstile Press. (1948)

Reviews

[Petra X · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was absolute rubbish. Wicked too. The story was that although her wedding was but a few hours off, the bride couldn't make up her mind whether she should get married or run off with a previous lover, a dithering sort of person whose job took him on great adventures abroad. He had just turned up again that day and hoped it wasn't too late.

Whether to run off abroad with this man or get married to her steady fiance that was the question. The answer was to get drunk on rum straight from the bottle and eventually the lateness of the day and the clarity that alcohol sometimes brings made up her mind. "Time and tide wait for no man" she told the lover and went to church and got hitched.

The spurned lover admitted it was his fault that his heart was broken because his inactivity, lack of commuication and commitment to his beloved had led to her finding another man to love and marry. But not being a decent type, but an absolute bastard, then launched into a major attack on her character.

He said she was promiscuous, pregnant by who knew who and had been so before and probably had abortions if not actually had the babies and left them in foreign locales. He said that even the servants were gossiping about it.

She made the right choice, life with an asshole like that couldn't be worsened.

This was one of those Bloomsbury set type books just made for a Julian Fellowes tv series starring Dame Maggie Smith (as in Downton Abbey) or similar acerbic old-lady actress plus great costuming. I got so little from the story, really a novella or long short-story, that I downloaded the movie and watched that. It was a little better, but two stars, meh, why bother, is all I can rate it.

[Julie Ehlers · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Persephone books are so awesome. I often think that if I won the lottery, the first thing I'd do would be to call the Persephone shop in London. "Send one of everything!" I'd say. (Isn't this what everyone fantasizes about when they imagine winning the lottery?) But due to being cheap, I currently have only three Persephone books, and this is the first one I've actually read. Thankfully, it did not disappoint. As Seating Arrangements taught me last year, I love novels based around a wedding that throws together a whole group of people, many of whom have some kind of long-simmering feeling for another member of the party. This one definitely had long-simmering feelings, as well as dramatic revelations and a number of absolutely hilarious servants and wedding guests. The tone and writing reminded me of both Virginia Woolf and Ian McEwan, but this was funnier. Very short, but accomplishes a lot.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this very short novella by a member of the Bloomsbury Group, first published in 1932, at a sitting - the perfect antidote to some of the longer and heavier tomes I've been struggling through lately. The main thing that struck me about it was how visually vivid it is - full of colours, textures and wickedly accurate descriptions, which make me want to track down the film that was made a few years back, and see how well it translates to screen.

The book focuses in on a single day in a wildly disorganised, Bohemian household. The daughter of the house is getting married, but, as she swigs a bottle of rum while putting on her finery, it seems increasingly clear that she has chosen the wrong man. The dialogue and descriptions are full of wit and humour, and at times I was reminded of P. G. Wodehouse, especially during the description of the ghastly homemade lampshade sent to the lucky couple by the wonderfully-named 'Miss Dido Potts-Griffiths'. However, the tone is rather more bitter than Wodehouse overall.

The book is beautifully produced, as always with Persephone, and an added bonus is the fascinating introduction by another Bloomsbury Group writer, Frances Partridge, who must have been 101 when she wrote this piece reminiscing about the author.

[Katie Lumsden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe 3.5. An intriguing little novel, with some wonderful moments. The overall effect was a strange one.

[Paula Mota · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5*
#gonewiththebook

The veil, which had belonged to Dolly's wealthy Portuguese grandmother, seemed unendingly long and bulky in the small bedroom. Gigantic billowing fold upon fold of lacy birds and flowers seamed heaped up over the bed, the rocking-chair, the table, and everywhere.

Publicado pela primeira vez por Virginia Woolf e o pelo marido através da Hogarth Press, nos anos 30, este pequeno e encantador livro decorre no dia de casamento de Dolly, cheio de peripécias e de gente snob, tipicamente "british".

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This funny and beautifully written novella was first published by Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth press in 1932.
The novella is set over one brisk English March day in a country house in Malton.
Mrs Thatcham ( who the author based on her own Mother in-law from her first marriage) is running around from chair to chair thumping down cushions and fluffing them up again and generally getting into a frenzy because today her Daughter Dolly is to be married to the Hon Owen Bigham.
Cousins Robert and Tom are having a heated debate about Robert choosing to wear a emerald coloured pair of socks,maids are rushing around helping the bride to-be to get ready and prepare the food.
Guests are arriving and getting confused which room Mrs Thatcham said they could sleep in, the gardener Whitstable wants to know if Dolly wants him to put her pet tortoise in a biscuit tin so she can take him to South America once she is married.
While all this is happening the bride to-be is upstairs getting drunk on rum and sulking admirer Joseph is sat downstairs.
Will the wedding go ahead?...
I can see why Persephone Books picked this as one of their classics, i loved it and i will re-read it again in the future.

[Dana Al-Basha | دانة الباشا]

This must be one of my favorite movies, I've watched it many times; I would love to get my hands on a copy of this book! I love British movies in general, but this one isn't conventional. It doesn't have the kind of happy ending people would expect, it's definitely a story about first love, family, heartbreaks, jealousy, mistakes, new beginnings, summer, weddings, and the weather.

[Fiona MacDonald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Julia Strachey was a fascinating woman - the publication of the book coincides rather unfortunately with the breakdown of her marriage to a bisexual alcoholic named Stephen Tomlin and quite frankly seems far more interesting than the actual novel itself.
This short novella chronicles the day of Dolly's wedding to Owen Bingham. Except, she's clearly having doubts about marrying him (due in part to locking herself upstairs and refusing to come down while the whole family are waiting, and due also to her love for another man). Over half of the story goes on without Dolly being there, and it's only towards the end of the book that things actually get interesting with the appearance of a former lover who throws the wedding plans into chaos.
I'm very wary of ranking a Persephone book lower than 4 or 5, as most are utterly wonderful pieces of literature. But I really have to make an exception with this story - if anything, it might've actually worked better as a longer story so that the characters could be more fleshed out.

[Elizabeth]

This book is set all in one day on March 5, and I was finally able to read the whole thing today, mostly due to a miscommunication with some friends about whether we were getting together this afternoon. I ended up with extra time and realized this book has a major plot point of miscommunication. 🤪 English novels are notorious for their quirky characters—and this novel has nothing but quirky characters. But I found them nearly all to be quirky without being lovable for those quirks. The quirks were odd and off-putting, even unsettling. There are some beautiful sentences in this novel and Julia Strachey does a great job of setting the scene and building the tension with few words. But I ended up being glad to be finished with it and to check it off my list. I’ll take a Dorothy Whipple any day; she has a similar tone to her writing but she also always gives the reader characters to love.

[Chari · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pues al final no me ha entusiasmado tanto este libro como a Virginia Woolf.

[Dianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first actual grey-covered Persephone book I've got hold of. I've read others from the Persephone catalog in different editions (The Shuttle and Miss Buncle's Book were both very good), but I've never actually held one until yesterday, when I signed for my lovely blue inter-library loan envelope. And it was paperback! Somehow I expected it to be hardcover. This book was the first paperback with a dust jacket I've ever seen. Well, that has nothing to do with the actual book.

In any case, this is a unique book. It reminded me of a cross between a play and a short story. The action took place all in one house, and the characters with their fixations (especially the brothers fighting over the socks) reminded me of a humorous play. But it being so short and psychological and the lack of action reminded me of a short story.

The whole thing takes place in a few hours, on the day of Dolly's wedding. Nothing much really happens—there's not really any action—but there are plenty of weather descriptions and really odd characters and people nearly going crazy under extreme stress. Despite having plenty of humor, this book is not happy and I can't say I really enjoyed it. (Yes, I'm the annoying type who almost always likes her books to be happy, or at least end that way.) It was, however, very well written, and short enough that I got through it before it pulled me down. It was definitely worth the read.

[Gypsi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novella recounts the events of one day: Dolly Thatchum's wedding day. She is nervous, her mother is flitting about oblivious, and another man is just dying to have a word with her.

Strachey has an amazing ability to describe her characters so that they are perfectly visible to the reader. The small details and the clever descriptions of actions and looks are simply perfection.
The plot itself is secondary to the character studies, but it is acerbically witty and profoundly real. Her metaphors, similes, and use of symbolism were also astounding.

After I finished, I started it again immediately. Now that I knew everyone, I wanted to read it over with that knowledge. That being said, I'm not for certain that I "liked" it. I certainly didn't always enjoy Strachey's observations of these characters, as it seemed so personal, as if I knew them and hated to have their weaknesses exposed.

This is a brilliant novella by an author of great talent. I'm sad that she wrote so little.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has been six years since I read this sharply observed little novella from Julia Strachey, and my excuse to re-read it was provided by my second book group.

Julia Strachey, niece of Lytton Strachey wrote this beautiful little piece in 1932, it was subsequently published by the Hogarth Press, and was regarded highly by Virginia Wolf. With this novella written around the time Julia Strachey’s own marriage was failing, we can perhaps see her own feelings to marriage and the possibility for happiness.

Cheerful Weather for the Wedding takes place over the course of just one day. The day, the wedding day of Dolly Thatcham, and the events, such as they are, concern the minutiae and chaos of the day. Strachey presents her characters in all their absurdity; there are fascinating currents of human behaviour running beneath the story. These characters of course are of a certain class – and their behaviours perhaps go hand in hand with that, Mrs Thatcham, a wonderfully terrible creation, manages the day with steely brightness she is frequently distracted and vague – telling anyone who will listen; what a good day it is for Dolly’s wedding. It is however, a cold, blustery March day, and chaos reigns, much of it caused unconsciously by Mrs Thatcham who has allocated more than one guest to the lilac room, and seems to have little idea of what is going on.

full review: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2015/...

[Shruti Buddhavarapu · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was exactly as I'd imagined it, which can be a dangerous thing, I suppose. It was delightful, sunny, and often chuckle-out-loud reading. Strachey seems to have a penchant for, and succeeds brilliantly at, describing in precision, soft pastel light floating through a room in the afternoons, the texture of a day, and the heightened emotion of an event. What I was most impressed by, was how she didn't make an effort to include everything from the readers' perspective. The amusing pair of brothers that the protagonist, Dolly (who in a nutshell, is to marry Owen) has, have a brilliant background to them, I'm sure, but the point is, that Strachey doesn't feel the need to evoke it. What we see, is a family in the midst of wedding chaos. Relatives who are quirky, strong, grey and rounded. The genius lies in Strachey's deftness to weave a story that doesn't make you feel it's the ONLY story of this family, as if they'd be frozen in a time loop forever, replaying the same day over and over for viewers, never anything new to their characters.

Her genius, is in portraying an episode from various others that the Thatcham family (sans father) is sure to experience, long after the reader has left peeking into their window. The overwhelming sensation you have from the small novel, is a sense of vulnerability, of temporality. Fictionally, the Thatcham's have moved on to more adventures, and you as a reader are sure of it. Highly recommended

[BrokenTune · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review first posted on BookLikes: http://brokentune.booklikes.com/post/...

Hmm, I picked this up by chance, without knowing much about it. It is the story of a wedding party who receive a guest - a young man who still harbors feelings for the bride.
So. amidst the stress of getting the family ready for the wedding - including a couple of boisterous schoolboys - the story tries to focus on the will-they-won't-they tension between the guest and the bride...and it this question that just manages to keep the story going.

It's an easy read for a lazy afternoon but neither that cheerful or gripping.

[Sam Still Reading · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do love the Persephone Books series and who could resist this pretty Persephone Classic with the lady reading on the front? Contained with its pages is a charmingly witty little novella that you can read on a lazy afternoon.

The novella takes place over the course of just one afternoon that happens to be the day of Dolly’s wedding. She is having some last minute doubts in her bedroom as chaos reigns below. As she sits looking outside having a quiet drink, the family and friends are having quite a complex interplay of emotions downstairs. There’s Joseph, who loves Dolly – but does she really know? He hasn’t yet told her. Dolly’s mother, Mrs Thatcham, is overseeing the arrangement and rearrangement of the house to the weary servants. (Mrs Thatcham, hopefully unknowingly, has put all the guests in the same bedroom – oh if only the novel continued what confusion there would be!) Kitty, the loud sister, has opinions on everything, but is light-hearted and fun. The two younger boys, Robert and Tom, run in and out of the narrative wildly, arguing about whether is it suitable to wear green socks at a wedding.

It is the interaction between the characters that make this book fun. We move from Dolly and Joseph’s reflective musings to the humourous chaos that always happens before a big event. But behind the comedy, there are some sombre thoughts. Where is Mr Thatcham? What does Owen (Dolly’s new husband) make of this loud, busy family? Has Dolly made the right decision? Should Joseph reveal himself? Is Kitty being so loud to cover up that she’s the bridesmaid, not the bride? Why is Mrs Thatcham so contradictory – is she simply ruffled in the middle of the kerfuffle, or is there something more going on?

While you’re pondering all this, nothing really happens. The only real event is Mrs Thatcham insisting it’s such ‘cheerful weather’ when all the descriptions suggests it’s blowing an absolute gale. It’s really the theme of the story – everyone is pretending to be jovial and rambunctious, but there’s a lot of regret hidden underneath.

The prose is gorgeous in describing the characters to the point where I wanted to tell everyone downstairs to just be quiet! I really felt I was in the middle of the harem scarum. There are probably a lot of hidden meanings and themes in the way the characters acted, but I read for pleasure these days and I felt the novel worked just fine.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com

[Veronique · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strachey succeeds in twining comedy and tragedy in these few pages, which charts Dolly's wedding day. At first, this seems a light English wedding scene, with relatives and acquaintances appearing everywhere and holding the most absurb discussions, while eating and drinking profusely. The weather referred to in the title is sunny, bathing the events with bright light, and yet not really exposing the reality of things. From the very beginning, the reader can see that the bride is having doubts and is not in control of her destiny, as attested by the narration on the first page describing the wedding in the past as a fait accompli. Undercurrents abound and run deep, as hinted at in mirrors and reflective surfaces.

"This mirror was rusted over with tiny specks by the hundred, and also the quicksilver at the back had become blackened in the course of ages, so that the drawing-room, as reflected in its corpse-like face, seemed forever swimming in an eerie, dead-looking, metallic twilight, such is never experienced in the actual world outside".

What is truly in Dolly's mind, in Joseph's, or in the self-absorbed Mrs Thatcham's? Reading this short sardonic tale, I could feel the ever growing weight of things unsaid. The invisible, such as the cold and windy weather, or the quality of the characters' voices, makes itself so present and somehow much more revealing of truth. This bittersweet tale also had a quality that reminded me of the theatre, in its choreography and choice of which events are on or off stage.

Another great read, short but not devoid of depth.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book from Jeniwren knowing nothing about it. It's a beautiful Persephone edition and the name Strachey seemed familiar (author's uncle was a contempary of Bloomsbury group).

An interesting little read. I actually rather enjoyed the forward by Frances Partridge about the author.

I would describe this as a between the wars little romance gone wrong. In the forward the bride's mother was meant to be based on the author's mother-in-law. Wow. Reminiscent of Mrs Bennett and Pride & Prejudice.

Apparently Virginia Woolf called the author a 'gifted wastrel'. Interesting...

Edit: Would you believe I read this book, released it last year and didn't update this journal? Nothing new...

Actually I gobbled this wee book up. The snobbish mother and her love of the view (some days you can see over three counties!), the sharp observances of the furniture, clothing and mannerisms of the characters created an intriguing, complex and insightful story. It's been over a year since I read it and still I can summon the story to mind.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this short novel, the author plunges us right into the day of the wedding preparations in a pre-WWII middle class British family. Characters are shown so clearly through their speech and actions that I felt like I knew them — the awkward young sister who is always putting her foot in things, the dreamy somewhat out of touch mother, the former suitor who wants to speak to the bride before the wedding, friends, relatives, servants, and Dolly, the bride herself. There is a lot of humor, but it’s a rather sad story for all the laughter and stiff upper lips. I’d highly recommend the audiobook reading by Miriam Margolyes. Much of this short book is in dialogue, and Ms Margolyes really nails the characters in her interpretations. Audiobook.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another title from Persephone Books, a British publisher that specializes in bringing women's work from the 1920s and 1930s back into print. This one is proto-Woolfian (that's not quite fair to say, perhaps, because Woolf had already done some of her best work by the time this book was published.) It's a snapshot of a wedding morning--or snapshots from multiple perspectives. Plenty of class tension, quite a few funny moments, and also (of course) the marry-for-security or marry-for-love debate.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

A small and elegant novel about a society wedding, sharply observed, often quite funny, and full of interesting characters but rather slight, I felt -- worth reading, but not one of my favorite Persephones.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming. Witty. A little sad and dead accurate on the way people think and act. If you like domestic fiction like Dorothy Whipple or Barbara Pym or anything that Persephone publishes-pick up this novella and relax. You are in good hands.

[Penelope · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short novel was absolutely delightfully read by Miriam Margoles. I read as part of the #springbookbearnation and thoroughly enjoyed it.

[We Are All Mad Here · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bizarre and random actions and interactions featuring bizarre and random dialogue. Almost like dreaming a book instead of reading one, or worse, listening to someone else tell you about no seriously, just listen, it was the craziest dream...

I didn't want to ever dislike a book published by Persephone (this was their 38th, and the 9th I've read), and yet here we are.

[Elaine Skinner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this has left me vaguely unsettled. I've never read a novella before and find myself dissatisfied with the entire affair. So many questions left unanswered! Was Joseph telling the truth at the end? Was Dolly? What became of them?

I'm amazed such a small book could envoke so many feelings! I will definelty be looking for more by this author.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short and pithy view of the English temperament post WWI, that everything had to be wonderful and cheerful on the surface and to never address the roiling emotions beneath.

This short tale contains denied lovers, coastal storm, brawling brothers, an awkward groom and a drunk bride - yet everything was wonderful.

[JPons Romero · Rating 1 out of 5]

No me ha gustado nada.

[Nic · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this at the Persephone Books store in Bath in Nov 2022 and have started reading this book at least 4 times by now without finishing it 😵

Written in a similar vein as Woolf’s fiction, this novella also has interesting streams-of-consciousness which compress the activity of a wedding in its 100 plus pages and can be disorienting for some readers. It took at least one chapter to introduce the betrothed character who is probably unlikeable to most readers and I think I wish that she had been developed further though her motivations are simultaneously sympathetic and sickening to some readers.

(Btw, the books published by Persephone Books are subtly functional and beautiful. I know that it does not look like much given that all their covers are grey but the covers, while not hardback, do not have the “easily crumpled / will get wet with a drop of water” quality that paperbacks have. Instead, they are easy to flip through and the quality of the paper hits the spot of “just thick enough” to flip through when you are on public transport / bringing it around. They also do not try to compress as many words on a single page and have nice margins that make for a v settled reading experience. There are few publishing presses that put that much thought into the printing of their books anymore which makes Persephone Books stand out in an ocean of “just okay” printed books - this also explains why their books are so expensive >< 15 quid for one book and may cost me an arm and a leg to get delivered outside of the UK.)

[Snort · Rating 2 out of 5]

One grim, blustery morning, 23 year old Dolly is preparing for her wedding. She is not so much relucant as she is apathetic; silent and detached, while she nurses a deep secret. Meanwhile, the entire household quavers like a disembowelled spirit, sensing disquiet yet unable to name it.

In the opening chapter, Dolly finds a forgotten handbag from yesteryear, a poignant metaphor for her life to be left behind. She imagines “all sorts of precious things”, such as lost cheques, perhaps representing lost opportunities for love? Disappointingly, all she finds are fluff, biscuit crumbs, an old bus ticket and a letter from her mother – a constant reminder of what is expected behaviour of a lady in her social standing. She unsentimentally dumps them all into the waste basket, signifying readiness to move on.

Many reviews, including the one from David Garnett (The Spectator, 1932) in the dust jacket, refer to “the profound funniness” of Strachey's prose, but unfortunately, I failed to see any humour in this slim novella. In my mind, Persephones, by virtue of being Persephones, start off with a default 3 stars, so I feel somewhat troubled with my 2 stars. To be reread and reassessed at another time!

[Rosemary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hesitating between 3 and 4 stars. In that situation I usually round up, but this time ... I don't know. There was a lot about this that was enjoyable but at the same time, it felt too insubstantial. Maybe I read it too fast. I found it a rather negative story in which nothing much happens, but in a depressing way. Some of the situations were funny, but cruel - Dolly heading for her wedding with a half-drunk bottle of rum, spilling ink all down her dress.

From other reviews it sounds as though a lot of readers believed what Joseph said about babies near the end. It never crossed my mind that it might be anything other than a malicious invention. The way he switched from one child to twins, it seemed so obviously made up to me. But if you believed it, I can see that would give you a very different reading experience.