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Afternoon of a Good Woman
Leaving one's husband is not an easy thing to do, particularly after many years of comfortable married life. Penelope's sudden decision to leave Eddie causes her to analyze her life in a way hitherto unknown to her. The fact that Penelope has, on this very same day, received threats to her life complicates the situation yet further.
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
About the author
Nina Bawden
65 books94 followersNina Bawden was a popular British novelist and children's writer. Her mother was a teacher and her father a marine.
When World War II broke out she spent the school holidays at a farm in Shropshire along with her mother and her brothers, but lived in Aberdare, Wales, during term time.
Bawden attended Somerville College, Oxford, where she gained a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
Her novels include Carrie's War, Peppermint Pig, and The Witch's Daughter.
A number of her works have been dramatised by BBC Children's television, and many have been translated into various languages. In 2002 she was badly injured in the Potters Bar rail crash, and her husband Austen Kark was killed.
Bawden passed away at her home in London on 22 August 2012.
When World War II broke out she spent the school holidays at a farm in Shropshire along with her mother and her brothers, but lived in Aberdare, Wales, during term time.
Bawden attended Somerville College, Oxford, where she gained a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
Her novels include Carrie's War, Peppermint Pig, and The Witch's Daughter.
A number of her works have been dramatised by BBC Children's television, and many have been translated into various languages. In 2002 she was badly injured in the Potters Bar rail crash, and her husband Austen Kark was killed.
Bawden passed away at her home in London on 22 August 2012.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
April 27, 2020
From the back cover;
“Penelope has always tried to be a good woman: as wife, mistress, mother and magistrate. But today – the day she has decided to leave her husband – she sits in the Crown Court listening to a short, sad case of indecent exposure and a long, involved incident of theft, and mentally reviews her own convoluted private affairs. And wonders how they would stand up in court.”
The novel takes place over the course of one day in the life of Penelope with lots of flashbacks and internal musings. There is a good twist at the end and a couple of diversions which might fool the unwary. We learn about her childhood and depressive illness that her stepmother Eve suffered from. Her step siblings, Steve and April figure heavily. Penelope has had a relationship with Steve before she married and is now having an affair with him. Then there is her husband Eddie, a successful playwright (for TV) and novelist. He has a first wife who is in an asylum (shades of Jane Eyre), but he is kind and considerate. He does however have some unfortunate bedroom habits; like putting his wife’s lipstick on his face and chasing her round the bedroom with a real hatchet whooping (I’m not even going to try to analyze that!). He is however well off. Penelope does not love him, but has stayed with him and brought up her own rather boring children.
This is well written and focuses on different ways in which relationships are damaging and abusive and poses the question as to whether women are better off alone. One answer is in the ending. There is a parallel theme relating to guilt and judgement and what the difference is between those in the dock during the day and those (including Penelope) who are on the bench. The male characters are a little two dimensional (and weird).
Nina Bawden is a clever writer and this novels explores the psyche of one woman and her relationships with men; and her reasoning as to why she had done what she has done and why she is leaving her husband. Penelope has flaws, Bawden is not interested in creating noble and altruistic characters. This makes the novel all the more convincing. It is also very funny at times, despite dealing with such topics as domestic abuse, mental illness, sexuality, guilt and judgement.
“Penelope has always tried to be a good woman: as wife, mistress, mother and magistrate. But today – the day she has decided to leave her husband – she sits in the Crown Court listening to a short, sad case of indecent exposure and a long, involved incident of theft, and mentally reviews her own convoluted private affairs. And wonders how they would stand up in court.”
The novel takes place over the course of one day in the life of Penelope with lots of flashbacks and internal musings. There is a good twist at the end and a couple of diversions which might fool the unwary. We learn about her childhood and depressive illness that her stepmother Eve suffered from. Her step siblings, Steve and April figure heavily. Penelope has had a relationship with Steve before she married and is now having an affair with him. Then there is her husband Eddie, a successful playwright (for TV) and novelist. He has a first wife who is in an asylum (shades of Jane Eyre), but he is kind and considerate. He does however have some unfortunate bedroom habits; like putting his wife’s lipstick on his face and chasing her round the bedroom with a real hatchet whooping (I’m not even going to try to analyze that!). He is however well off. Penelope does not love him, but has stayed with him and brought up her own rather boring children.
This is well written and focuses on different ways in which relationships are damaging and abusive and poses the question as to whether women are better off alone. One answer is in the ending. There is a parallel theme relating to guilt and judgement and what the difference is between those in the dock during the day and those (including Penelope) who are on the bench. The male characters are a little two dimensional (and weird).
Nina Bawden is a clever writer and this novels explores the psyche of one woman and her relationships with men; and her reasoning as to why she had done what she has done and why she is leaving her husband. Penelope has flaws, Bawden is not interested in creating noble and altruistic characters. This makes the novel all the more convincing. It is also very funny at times, despite dealing with such topics as domestic abuse, mental illness, sexuality, guilt and judgement.
June 9, 2020
Lovely writing and a real, breathing main character who's a sum of her history and experiences, for the good and for the bad. We are treated to detailed descriptions of those whom Penelope admires, like the handsome judge she lunches with and her waste-of-oxygen nephew, and nothing about those she doesn't, like her faceless, formless, forgettable daughters. (I just wrote more about them here than the author did in the entire book.) I loved Eddie and enjoyed Penelope's impressions of his bedroom antics - the lipstick and hatchet were a hoot - and was greatly disappointed at the ending although she could hardly have done differently, looking at who she actually was. A lovely short read for a late spring day.
March 11, 2016
'Today, Tuesday, the day that Penelope has chosen to leave her Husband, is the first really warm day of Spring!'
We follow Penelope as she looks back on her life and through her last working day as a Justice of the peace.
A role which she loves but begins to question with the morals of her own life.
What unfolds is startling and a very gripping read.
I loved it!
We follow Penelope as she looks back on her life and through her last working day as a Justice of the peace.
A role which she loves but begins to question with the morals of her own life.
What unfolds is startling and a very gripping read.
I loved it!
November 11, 2017
Nina Bawden’s 1976 novel Afternoon of a Good Woman, is a slight, serious novel about a woman’s self-examination and guilt.
As the novel opens we learn that Penelope has decided to leave her husband.
“Today, Tuesday, the day that Penelope has chosen to leave her husband, is the first really warm day of spring. Her decision, last-minute but well researched, happens, through some chance (or perhaps characteristic) ineptitude, to coincide with her sitting, at ten o’clock in the morning, in judgement on her peers.”
Penelope is a magistrate, proud to be the good woman of the title – she is a good mother and a good wife of twenty years. Her husband; Eddie, writes successful tv dramas, and once wrote a novel which has been an enormous success, but now he has become lazy in his routine, and Penelope feels she must nag him into work. Eddie’s fist wife is in a psychiatric hospital – where she has been for years, and where Eddie still visits. His guilt, that he drove her there with his novel which she saw as a terrible betrayal – and about which Eddie was forced to think differently when he looked at it through her eyes.
Today Penelope will become more aware than usual of the fragile line between good and bad. The cases which will come before her on the day she leaves a note on Eddie’s typewriter keys – will be sad, pathetic and unglamorous – but will give her plenty to think about. The case of a middle-aged man charged with indecent exposure – forces Penelope to wonder how her own sex life might sound the details were blandly and emotionlessly read out. Then there is the more convoluted case of theft brought against Abel Binders, which the judge instructs the jury to dismiss – but the jury have other ideas and want to hear the defence after all – much to the irritation of the bench.
Full review: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2017/...
As the novel opens we learn that Penelope has decided to leave her husband.
“Today, Tuesday, the day that Penelope has chosen to leave her husband, is the first really warm day of spring. Her decision, last-minute but well researched, happens, through some chance (or perhaps characteristic) ineptitude, to coincide with her sitting, at ten o’clock in the morning, in judgement on her peers.”
Penelope is a magistrate, proud to be the good woman of the title – she is a good mother and a good wife of twenty years. Her husband; Eddie, writes successful tv dramas, and once wrote a novel which has been an enormous success, but now he has become lazy in his routine, and Penelope feels she must nag him into work. Eddie’s fist wife is in a psychiatric hospital – where she has been for years, and where Eddie still visits. His guilt, that he drove her there with his novel which she saw as a terrible betrayal – and about which Eddie was forced to think differently when he looked at it through her eyes.
Today Penelope will become more aware than usual of the fragile line between good and bad. The cases which will come before her on the day she leaves a note on Eddie’s typewriter keys – will be sad, pathetic and unglamorous – but will give her plenty to think about. The case of a middle-aged man charged with indecent exposure – forces Penelope to wonder how her own sex life might sound the details were blandly and emotionlessly read out. Then there is the more convoluted case of theft brought against Abel Binders, which the judge instructs the jury to dismiss – but the jury have other ideas and want to hear the defence after all – much to the irritation of the bench.
Full review: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2017/...
November 30, 2019
Set in a single day, 'Afternoon of a Good Woman' follows Penelope as she shows us that she has always done her best to be a good daughter, sister, wife, mistress, mother, and magistrate - all things to all people. After leaving her husband in the morning she spends the day sitting in court hearing multiple cases which trigger her to dissect her past life in multiple roles, moreover the differences between her public behaviour and her private behaviour. She becomes aware of the true fallibility of people, the thin thread that separates good from bad, and that we are all judged by our actions rather than our intentions.
You can definitely tell this was written in the 70s due to some of the social views taken - the whole stand by your man even if he is a piece of stinking trash mindset is gross to me. It touches on a lot of themes as the main character tries to psycho-analyse herself: sexuality, womens struggles, mental illness, complex family relationships... To be quite honest, I found the whole experience of reading this to be like reading someone's brutally honest, intensely personal, private diary. And I loved it. It was the perfect balance of internal monologue and action. The only issue I have with the story is the unresolved threat of death. Very minor point in the story, I know, but who actually sent Penelope the envelope of pills and who cut the breaks in her car? I have my theories, but I would have liked some answers!
You can definitely tell this was written in the 70s due to some of the social views taken - the whole stand by your man even if he is a piece of stinking trash mindset is gross to me. It touches on a lot of themes as the main character tries to psycho-analyse herself: sexuality, womens struggles, mental illness, complex family relationships... To be quite honest, I found the whole experience of reading this to be like reading someone's brutally honest, intensely personal, private diary. And I loved it. It was the perfect balance of internal monologue and action. The only issue I have with the story is the unresolved threat of death. Very minor point in the story, I know, but who actually sent Penelope the envelope of pills and who cut the breaks in her car? I have my theories, but I would have liked some answers!
November 7, 2018
3.5 stars
When I was in primary school, we had a visit from Nina Bawden: I’ve no idea why she should have come to a modest school in a distinctly undistinguished small town, but it clearly made a deep impression on me. I bought Carrie’s War, got it signed and, since then, I’ve always associated Bawden with children’s books. So it’s been a surprise to find out that actually she wrote numerous books for adults, and this happens to be the first one I found. It unfolds during the course of one day, as middle-aged Penelope – a magistrate, wife and mother – sits in judgement at the Crown Court with her colleagues. But this is no ordinary day, for Penelope has decided to leave her husband. And so, as she finds herself up against the letter of British justice, she finds herself revisiting her own past and wondering, if her own life was laid out for public scrutiny, how she would fare…
For the full review, please see my blog:
https://theidlewoman.net/2018/07/30/a...
When I was in primary school, we had a visit from Nina Bawden: I’ve no idea why she should have come to a modest school in a distinctly undistinguished small town, but it clearly made a deep impression on me. I bought Carrie’s War, got it signed and, since then, I’ve always associated Bawden with children’s books. So it’s been a surprise to find out that actually she wrote numerous books for adults, and this happens to be the first one I found. It unfolds during the course of one day, as middle-aged Penelope – a magistrate, wife and mother – sits in judgement at the Crown Court with her colleagues. But this is no ordinary day, for Penelope has decided to leave her husband. And so, as she finds herself up against the letter of British justice, she finds herself revisiting her own past and wondering, if her own life was laid out for public scrutiny, how she would fare…
For the full review, please see my blog:
https://theidlewoman.net/2018/07/30/a...
May 30, 2021
This is my first experience of this talented author and one which makes me want to sample more of her work. She is a class writer.
The book is about a woman (Penelope) who has decided to leave her husband and two teenage daughters to begin a new life with 'a lover'. We are not told until near the end of the book who the lover is, but one possible candidate stands out fairly early on. Penelope's husband is a wealthy writer so she does not need to earn herself. Instead she works as an unpaid magistrate.
The story consists of historical musings about her past life woven into a description of her work in Court on this particular day, the day that she has made her break with married life.
The story ends as she travels by train to meet up with the lover, but there is an unexpected twist awaiting the reader.
This is not a long book about 140 pages and well worth reading.
The book is about a woman (Penelope) who has decided to leave her husband and two teenage daughters to begin a new life with 'a lover'. We are not told until near the end of the book who the lover is, but one possible candidate stands out fairly early on. Penelope's husband is a wealthy writer so she does not need to earn herself. Instead she works as an unpaid magistrate.
The story consists of historical musings about her past life woven into a description of her work in Court on this particular day, the day that she has made her break with married life.
The story ends as she travels by train to meet up with the lover, but there is an unexpected twist awaiting the reader.
This is not a long book about 140 pages and well worth reading.
April 26, 2026
"Perhaps this is what's troubling me. My trial is a private one - I am my own judge, my own jury - but I would really prefer to be acquitted in public. Not only innocent, but openly seen to be."
penelope is a fleabag-esque character who i can't help but adore. while i cannot excuse her behaviour or dismiss her actions, bawden does not ask us to do that, but instead holds a mirror up to penelope and forces her to look through it. no matter how much she delves into her past and tries to rationalise and ground her desires and impulses, in the end she must come to terms with herself as a human being, separate from and stripped of her self-worth and desperate need to please others at any cost. so glad i happened upon this lovely little book in a charity shop and got a window into womanhood, not so different now as it was 50 years ago.
penelope is a fleabag-esque character who i can't help but adore. while i cannot excuse her behaviour or dismiss her actions, bawden does not ask us to do that, but instead holds a mirror up to penelope and forces her to look through it. no matter how much she delves into her past and tries to rationalise and ground her desires and impulses, in the end she must come to terms with herself as a human being, separate from and stripped of her self-worth and desperate need to please others at any cost. so glad i happened upon this lovely little book in a charity shop and got a window into womanhood, not so different now as it was 50 years ago.
February 28, 2026
The entire book unfolds over the course of one afternoon as the protagonist reflects on several incidents in her life, which are presented in chronological order, making them easy to follow. The author discusses countless raw and intimate thoughts, albeit a little problematic at times; either way, the protagonist is not trying to be liked or be morally correct. Interestingly enough, she does think she is a principled woman, and yet, does not shy away from questioning the frailty and precarious nature of her own values when faced with hard choices. I enjoyed the author's ability to portray complex thought, whether I agreed or not.
July 31, 2017
What a sweet little book. In just one afternoon's thinking and reminiscing, the author summarises all that it is to be 40 something and not sure what you should be doing. And then does something about it. Although she's not entirely likeable, I admire her gutspa. You go girl! Awesome!
April 7, 2020
Definitely an under rated writer.
November 21, 2020
Excessively complicated story propelled by sexuality and bodily functions. Characters unappealing, sense of place non-existent. Is this a new kind of realism? A mocking revision of Mrs Dalloway?
May 23, 2024
Only Nina Bawden could chronologue a day in the life of an insipid, neurotic and not entirely likeable woman in such lovely prose.
August 19, 2025
(Book pile escapee no. 12)
It took me a while to warm up to this but I was engrossed by the end! It really felt like Penelope's whole life was laid out before us, with her attempting to justify it to us, herself and those around her. All the different flashbacks came together very nicely, and I definitely connected with her choice at the end on a deep level.
It took me a while to warm up to this but I was engrossed by the end! It really felt like Penelope's whole life was laid out before us, with her attempting to justify it to us, herself and those around her. All the different flashbacks came together very nicely, and I definitely connected with her choice at the end on a deep level.
February 16, 2009
Loved this book.
May 10, 2012
I liked this. It reminded me of Arnold Bennett, updated and somewhat more astringent.
February 15, 2011
3 1/2 I liked this novel from Virago Publishing. I will search out more by Nina Bawden.
April 1, 2012
So much uncertainy within the narrative and questions raised that in the end even I was confused. Saying that it was a good read.
January 13, 2014
I just couldn't get into this book .
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews