The Cuckoo in Spring

by Elizabeth Cadell

Julian was in love with Alexandra, Alexandra was in love with Julian. She had no doubts about that, and being engaged to Julian was delightful. Yet, somehow, as a husband, she felt he might prove less perfect—until she had taught him the little lesson he needed. Julian learnt it in Scotland, Yorkshire, Devon, London. His mystified family looked on. When Julian Hurst went into partnership in an art business instead of in the family firm of solicitors, his family was surprised that he made such a success of it. They would have been still more surprised if they had known what his business trip to Yorkshire to view some Clauval paintings was to lead to. His engagement to the delightful but mysterious Alexandra Bell, and her subsequent disappearance which led him such a dance through Scotland, Yorkshire, Devon, and London, provoked behavior which seemed odd, to say the least of it. *Note, these titles contain the original, unabridged, text exactly as the author first wrote it. Many later editions of Elizabeth Cadell's works were heavily abridged or changed. We hope you enjoy the re-issue of these timeless books. Watch for more to come in the near future! Cover Design by Nikita Garets

Genres: Romance, Fiction, Historical Fiction, British Literature

312 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1954

About the author

Violet Elizabeth Vandyke was born on 10 November 1903 in Calcutta, British Raj, daughter of British parents, Elizabeth Lynch and Frederick Reginald Vandyke, a colonial officer. During the Great War she studied music in London, but refused a musical career and returned to India where she married in 1928 Henry Dunlop Raymond Mallock Cadell, and they had a son and daughter. After she was widowed ten years later, she returned to England.

Elizabeth wrote her first book 'My Dear Aunt Flora' during the Second World War in 1946, there after producing another 51 light-hearted, humourous and romantic books which won her a faithful readership in England and America. In addition to England and India, many of her books are set in Spain, France, and Portugal. She finally settled in Portugal, where her married daughter still lived.

She died on 9 October 1989, aged eighty-five.

Reviews

[Rebekah · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Why don’t you settle down with a nice husband?” “Husband?” The horror in Rowena’s voice could have warmed the heart of any feminist. “Husband? My dear, I can’t afford one! Look what they cost to feed nowadays!"

"Kitty Long—you remember her?—is going to have yet another operation.” “Another! She’s had two!” “Yes. She says she enjoyed the last two so much that she’s looking forward to the third. I forget what they’re slicing off this time, but it’s coming off from her inside, but as I told her, there can’t be much left to hack off. The woman must be a mere shell. Doctors!” Rowena’s scorn filled the large kitchen. “I’ve told Kitty that every time this doctor of hers wants to take his family off for a holiday, he gets the money by advising all his women patients to have operations. How else do you think surgeons live in the style they do? By chopping up all these rich, idle and half-witted women like Kitty. Every time she eats something that disagrees with her, that man hacks out another bit of her inside. And diet! First he got her off decent meals and on to nuts and carrots and shredded horse-food. Then when all that chewing made her teeth wear out, he switched her on to fruit juices and disgusting-looking squashy vegetable mixtures. Then he put her on to bread that’s got nothing in it but cement and chaff. All between operations, of course.

That quote is long and has nothing to do with the plot, but was just one example of the delightful treasures that this book is full of.
I think this may now be my most favorite Elizabeth Cadell, supplanting The Corner Shop. The romance was better in TCS, but the mystery, character development, complexities, humor, family dynamics, and the quirky secondary characters were so good in this one.

Julian Hurst is from a very conventional background where the family law firm has provided a good and respectable living for generations. But he had a talent for art and eventually became an art dealer which he is very good and successful at. All of the characters in this novel are deftly drawn to a “T” with affection and humor. James is a pretty good guy, raised in a common sense manner, but he is very “cock-sure”. He is not used to being anything but successful and getting whatever he wants with a minimum of effort. Things have come easy for Julian and he leads a very nice footloose and fancy-free kind of life and plans to continue to do so until he is 30, at which time he will find a wife and settle down. Then the family law firm asks him to go to Yorkshire to catalog a Mr. Randall’s art collection. He reluctantly complies when he hears that the collection reportedly includes some “good” Clauvals. Clauval is an artist who is experiencing something of a renaissance but is quite mysterious due to the lack of knowledge about him and because he is responsible for painting both masterpieces and valueless junk. He figures he will just suck it up, stop there for a few days, do his work, and continue up to Scotland to visit his godmother who is throwing one of her fun house parties.

Mr. Randall proves to be mean and hard and conditions at the rambling old house are spartan which Julian is not used to and does not like. But he does like the miserly client’s young, beautiful, and charming new cook. In fact, much to his surprise and consternation, he falls head over heels in love with her. She is the one. And she loves him too, despite Julian noticing that she sometimes looks at him, not as a knight in shining armor, but with secret amusement as if she sees all of his faults and foibles. Julian proposes and Alexandra, after a few kindly expressed reservations, accepts. He can’t wait to introduce her to his loving family. But first, he decides to take a kind of breather to get used to the idea that his well-laid comfortable plans for his life have been dramatically upturned. He might be just a bit unsure, despite his happiness. He adheres to his original plan to visit his Scottish godmother and her house party, leaving Alexandra behind. He temporarily abandons her but he can hardly introduce his fiance to his godmother before his own mother, can he? She says she is fine with that. When his godmother sees how miserable he is without Alexandra she gets the whole story.

“Did she oppose the idea of your coming here?” “No. She was wonderful.” He found the grey, wise old eyes raised to his with what he saw, to his astonishment, was a look of worry. “She—? What did you say, Julian, my dear?” “I said she didn’t mind.” “She—” His godmother took off her glasses once more and polished them absently. “Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear,” she said softly. “Oh, my poor, poor Julian!”

She declares that no woman of intelligence and spirit would stand for such a “selfish trick” and throws Julian into a panic. The frightened and chastened Julian rushes off on a nightmare journey back to Alexandra while the Scottish winter decides to teach this “insolent Londoner” a thing or two, in a bit of whimsical and delightful writing. Sure enough, when he arrives back at the old mansion he finds the mean owner dead of a heart attack, and Alexandra gone. With the 4 valuable Claudels that he discovered. The London address she gave him does not exist.

For the rest of the book, we follow Julian in his desperate search for his fiance. The Clauvals start to appear on the market one by one, but strangely only in places that Julian is sure to hear about or see them. One is even brought to the Hurst family home when Julian is out. What is Alexandra up to? He (and we) know that she is incapable of stealing or doing anything bad. He follows clue after clue and he learns that Mr. Randall’s deaf, frail, and scrupulously loyal and honest old butler of 40 years is involved somehow. As one step leads to another, we travel across England with Julian, share in his adventures, and meet a number of amusing English eccentrics, each more entertaining and dotty than the last. Julian’s sister has a baby, he is thrown out of the hospital by an irate nurse, We attend a horrifying to Julian, but hilarious to the reader, lunch with 80 schoolgirls where he is the only male for miles around. We learn a lot about each member of his family and Julian. In one scene, he sweetly agrees to babysit his young nephew who wants a bedtime story about “cheeses.” Julian cooperatively starts on about dairy maids and Gorgonzola only to be admonished by little Danny that he meant “Jesus,” not “cheeses.” It was an unexpected and funny scene. And Julian learns a lot and develops some much-needed strength of character. When the light finally dawns, we wonder what took him so long, as does Alexandra and so she tells him.

“Could I help it,” asked Alexandra, “if you were stupid? Could I?”…“Are you really going to marry him, Alexandra? asked Rowena. “Yes, I am, I think,” said Alexandra. “He isn’t what I hoped for, but I’ve always heard that a clever girl can mold a man.”

But even the reader isn’t prepared for a couple of final twists. At least I was a bit blown away. The book is full of whimsical descriptions, lovely people, wisdom, and entertaining side trips. Julian and Alexandra are apart for 90% of the book, but I was never impatient or bored. But those who prefer one of Ms. Cadell's more conventional romances or family stories might want to skip over this one. But don’t, you will love it.

https://rebekahsreadingsandwatchings....

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful book that can be read in one sitting. It's the story of a rather self-satisfied young bachelor, Julian, who is sent to a remote country house to catalog the paintings belonging to a miserly old man. More specifically, he finds 4 lovely paintings by a long-dead, but newly fashionable painter called Clauval. He also meets a pretty and vivacious girl who works as a cook in the underheated, unwelcoming house. Julian is utterly mesmerized and proposes marriage to Alexandra, who accepts. But then Julian realizes he has gotten himself engaged to a cook, however lovely, and something like an attack of cold feet sets in. He takes himself away to a visit to his godmother, but finds that he misses Alexandra. Once back in town, he realizes that the old miser has died, his estate left to a learned society. The servants have left... and it turns out that the address Alexandra gave him is fake. Then the 4 Clauval paintings start turning up on the market, always left by either Alexandra or her friend, the miser's old butler. Julian frantically tries to find Alexandra, who, it turns out, was mainly intent on teaching her self-assured suitor a lesson.

This novel from the 1950s is full of charm and features a heroine who is refreshingly free from self-pity or doubt. There is no bad language, no violence... even the most conservative reader will be able to enjoy this book.

[Gayle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elizabeth Cadell is high on my list of most rereadable authors. Her romantic comedies, now out of print but standard at most civic libraries and difficult to find, hark to a simpler day when writers, reluctant to exploit sex and bad language, had to resort to plot and dialog to move the story along.

Julian is a handsome young man, an art dealer and man-about-town, who goes to the end of nowhere to evaluate some paintings, and discovers a gorgeous cook named Alexandra. They fall in love in a matter of days, and he proposes to meet up with her in London, as soon as he completes a social engagement in Scotland. When he returns, he discovers Alexandra has disappeared, along with the four valuable paintings she brought back for him. After a frantic search, he discovers his lost love, and the rest of the story, right under his nose. The tale is light-hearted and fun from beginning to end.

But no, I don't know why it's called The Cuckoo in Spring.

[Jenn Estepp · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find Elizabeth Cadell's novels almost universally charming. They are very airy and things happen pretty much exactly as you think they will and it's entirely pleasant and transporting. This one is no different, although I wasn't sure at first how well the characterization was going to work out. But I should've had faith and I was pretty quickly won over.

I'm quite glad that they are being reissues, I just wish that the heirs would follow the lead of those reissuing her contemporaries novels in ebook and offer them at a more reasonable price (or put them on sale more often). I'd happily buy and read her entire oeuvre as ebooks, but can't afford that at $8 a pop.

[Gerrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 out of 5 stars

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fast paced mild romance. I enjoyed it and will read more of Elizabeth Cadell if I stumble across her books.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loses half a star because the goose-chase the protagonist is sent on goes on a bit long and starts to feel kind of manipulative, for both the main character and the reader.
3.5 stars

[Evelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice little romance to pass away a couple of days. Julian Hurst is trapped into taking a trip up to the cold north of England to catalog some paintings (a lot, in fact). There he meets a beautiful and charming young lady and falls deeply in love. Of course, then everything goes wrong. He loses track of her, along with four somewhat valuable paintings. What follows is Julian moving heaven and earth, and meeting lots of quite eccentric people to find her again. My favorite was Miss Du Feu, a former governess who lives in a quaint cottage in the middle of a horticultural maze.

[Wes Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun story! A tidy little England adventure; part romance, part mystery.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming and a little cheeky, almost a romp if it weren’t for the fairly measured tone throughout and some wonderfully odd asides, like Julian’s day spent fruitlessly searching Devon and having increasingly dreamlike encounters with schoolgirls and genteelly mad old ladies.

Do you know that feeling when you go into a shop knowing that you want gravy, and remembering that it’s usually kept beside, say, the tinned soup, and you spend time looking for the tinned soup, and eventually you ask a staff member where the tinned soup is, and they show you, and you realise that you still haven’t found the gravy? There’s a part of this book which is just like that, and at a certain point I (a librarian with much experience in the oddities of human information-seeking behaviour) said to myself ‘silly man, he’s asking the wrong question’, and imagine my delight when I was vindicated so completely.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is NOT a Kindle edition! It is a paperback, copyright 2016, published by The Friendly Air Publishing. The only edition on the list that matched the last two facts was a Kindle edition. There is no ISBN (privately published?) so I can't properly update this.

Found this on my shelf, nice and new and apparently unread. Although it seemed faintly familiar as I read it, nothing rang a loud bell. Probably one I read many years ago. Anyway, it is a typical Cadell charmer. It relates the story of Julian, who meets a girl (Alexandra) while cataloging paintings in Yorkshire, and falls in love. He is looking for the 'good' paintings of the artist Clauval, and finds four. He leaves them with Alexandra, planning to meet her in London, and takes off to go skiing in Scotland. Of course when he returns, there is no sign of the girl or the paintings. The rest of the book documents his search for her, as the paintings pop up in places where he can't miss them. Julian is actually a rather tiresome self-absorbed character at first, but he throws himself into the search and has several adventures along the way (e.g., having lunch with 80 girls at a girls' school!)
As well as charm, the book sparkles with Cadell's clever humor. I had several laugh-out-loud moments - here is one example:

Elderly lady riding with Julian in a very fast car:
"I suppose there were notices saying that one mustn't drive at more than thirty miles an hour, but when one is going at this rate, one can declare with perfect truth that one didn't see them."
Love it!

February 2022 - Reading again -- just as enjoyable as ever!

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

She tells him that she loves him very much. He is always to remember that. I think he finds that hard to hold on to as he searches for her for months after they part. However, he was one to whom all things came easily, but he knew his heart. Never mind that his whole family was so alarmed at his distraction. Do they reunite? It's a love story, what do you think?

[Shaun Lyons · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, frothy trip back into England of the early 20th Century. I love Cadell, and will seek out more of her work, which I read years ago, now that it is available on kindle.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been a fan of Elizabeth Cadell for decades. It was very difficult to find her books as they went out of print long ago. I was very happy to find that they were available again in ebook format. Even more so to find that they were available in audio format as well.

I read this book several times over the years, so I decided to listen to it this time. I have to admit it gave me even more of an appreciate for the late author’s talent. I also bought the ebook to switch back and forth as time allowed.

In this story, a rather spoilt young man is tricked into going off to evaluate a old miser’s painting collection. While there, he meets a young woman who is absolutely delightful but things go amiss and he finds himself not being indulged this time.

The story is funny and, while there are parts that show it’s age, the basic story holds up incredibly well. I will be reading/listening to more of Ms. Cadell’s books in the near future.

I can’t recommend them highly enough for anyone who wants a break from the stress of everyday life. You will laugh and enjoy the “troubles” of an earlier time and be the better for it.

[Jack Keely · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Cuckoo in Spring, a 1954 novel by British author, Elizabeth Cadell, offers a delightful escape to a world of civility and gentle humor seasoned with just a soupçon of mystery. Julian Hurst is handsome, charismatic, and reasonably wealthy. He is also just a little too sure of himself until he meets enchanting Alexandra Bell. The lovely Alexandra accepts his marriage proposal and then promptly vanishes. A cast of endearing eccentrics enriches the tale of Julian’s search for his dream girl. The ending is a delightful little surprise. The Cuckoo in Spring is the twenty third novel of Elizabeth Cadell’s that I’ve read and thoroughly enjoyed. Reading a Cadell novel is like curling up and watching a captivating romantic movie from Hollywood’s golden age. Charming.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Cuckoo in Spring was a real step back in time. Author Cadell was a prominent writer in the 40's and 50's, and this is a great example of her stories.

Start out at a lawyer's office with a boring assignment, add in a treacherous journey to a massive home with a withering and grumpy owner, sprinkle in an unexpected cook, dump in a crusty butler, add in a whirlwind love affair, then divide the whole thing by a death, some paintings, and a family that can't leave well enough alone...

Julian gets the assignment to drive to Northern England and in no time at all, things will never be the same for him. Alexandra is the love interest and she uses some hijinks to ensure that Julian really loves her. Everything comes back full circle and this book is pure charm!

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a romantic/detective type of story. Julian meets and falls in love with Alexandra at Holside Manor, Yorkshire. But when Julian goes off to his godmothers castle, Alexandra disappears.....along with the 4 valuable paintings that Julian discovered at Holside.
This was a fun read. The setting is the 1950's England. The dialogue is great and some lines are fantastic. I enjoyed the woman (especially Julian's mom and his aunt) and their POV on certain matters. The paces was quick. For me, the best part of the book is Julian trying to find Alexandra. The assortment of people he meets along the way are great and often funny. It's a predictable read with a predictable plot but great to escape from 2024 and into the 1950's, if only for awhile.
Read for a reading challenge.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was new to me. I was able to obtain it through an ILL and now will be making more of an effort to buy my own copy. Definitely one of Cadell's best! I love that for the most part her heroines are very self sufficient and aren't sitting around waiting for a man to take care of them - this despite most of her books being written mid 20th century. I also liked that despite the class differences that can often be found in books of this era, and Cadell's are no exception, the family was more than prepared to accept Alexandra into the fold even is she was "just" a cook!

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just my drop for an evening time relaxer. Cadell writes a romance novel from the man's perspective and does it very well. Not the "sexually attracted, must make her MINE" kind of male perspective but real romantic feeling. The prose is soothing and quiet, the action mostly in thought. My sort of thing. The whole painter mystery was a bit lame IMO but that's just me. Cadell obviously had a lot of fun writing it and I really had fun reading it.
Must look out for more of her books, here on GR she appears to have dozens.

[ꕥ Ange_Lives_To_Read ꕥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Julian, a handsome London art dealer, visits a gloomy old estate in the north of England to evaluate the owner's art collection, he has no reason to suspect that he will meet the love of his life. But the incongruously young and beautiful cook steals his heart, and some valuable paintings.

Julian's quest to find Alexandra Bell and the missing artwork is told in one delightfully quirky scene after another. This novel is full of wonderful characters, humor, and heart. I enjoyed every minute of it and can't wait to find other works by Elizbeth Cadell.

(My only question - what the hell does the title have to do with anything?)

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A charming book full of eccentric characters and all the stock British tropes (decent but aimless young man, old English house, a touch of past sadness and mystery, and understated humor) that make a perfect read for parking under a blanket on the first real day of fall, which is what I did yesterday!

[Yue · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't get attached to the characters nor I was a fan of how the romance develops, but I liked when Julian meets the 3 students (and then the whole 80 female students XD) and when he meets the ex-governess XD

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful book with a few fun twists and so many great characters sprinkled throughout the book. If you need a smile and an easy read this book might be for you - the audio book was fantastic!!

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amusing and charming love story from the 1950s.

[superawesomekt · Rating 3 out of 5]

a bit of a predictable farce, but fun nonetheless. This would make a fun rom-com.

[Barbra · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a lovely story, and such a quick and fun read.

[Jannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun as usual and a chase

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

CHARMING

[Mary Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful! Will search out and read her other books.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun read by Cadell.