Let's Go For Broke

Suds #6

by Mary Lasswell

Times are tough for Mrs. Feeley, Mrs. Rasmussen, and Miss Tinkham. After eighteen years of sharing the home that brought them together, it's become too expensive to maintain, and their neighborhood too stripped of character to boot. They set out to find a simpler life with a fixer-upper where they can live off the land, but nothing could be that simple . . .

In the sixth and final story to star Mrs. Feeley and company, Mary Lasswell is once again pitch perfect with charm. See how everything works out in this uproarious last hoorah, rich with fun and inspirational kindness!

Genres: Fiction

276 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

American author of humorous novels about life in Southern California, Texas, Mexico, and Newark, New Jersey under the name Mary Lasswell. She was born in Scotland to American parents and grew up in Brownsville, Texas.

Her first book, Suds in Your Eye (1942), published by Houghton Mifflin, was described as "a crazy, funny story" about three impoverished but high-spirited and beer-loving elderly women. It was adapted into a Broadway Play by Jack Kirkland in 1944.

Laswell followed with five other books about the same three women, Mrs. Feeley, Mrs. Rasmussen, and Miss Tinkham, plus their handyman, only known as "Old-Timer". These included High Time (1944), One on the House (1949), Wait for the Wagon (1951), Tooner Schooner (1953), and Let's Go for Broke (1962), all with illustrations by famed New Yorker artist George Price. Their home base for most of the series was called "Noah's Ark", and was a junkyard in San Diego, but the third and fourth books were set during travels. These books consistently featured certain themes: the main characters faced financial disaster, were usually forced to take innovative measures to ensure a homeplace, rescued other people with problems, and acted as matchmakers.

Lasswell was also an editorial writer for the Houston Chronicle in the 1960's.

She was married to Dr. Dudley Winn Smith, a surgeon.

She died at the Solvang Lutheran Home in Solvang, California of Alzheimer's disease.

Reviews

[Eden · Rating 5 out of 5]

2020 bk 346. The last book of the Noah's Ark ladies, as far as I can tell. Written in the midst of the cold war, it tells of their fears of the future, nuclear war, and learning to live without amenities. When taxes go sky high on their lot, they decide to go back to the land and lease the lot to a caretaker. A mysterious abandoned mansion is found 8 miles outside of San Diego and they get themselves given a non-paying job as caretakers (which means they pay no rent) and Mrs. Rasmussen does a fantastic job of feeding the group on a dime. This one involves an elderly, illegal immigrant, who turns out to not be illegal with their assistance and the assistance of three young veterans who are lucky to land in their universe. Sweet, funny, informative (I used their methods to restore asperagus), but all in all classic Mary Lasswell. I wish there were more, but this is a high note to go out on.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

My mother's old copy of this book is missing the first twenty pages, so years ago when I got an interlibrary loan I was able to see how the story got started and make some copies for myself. Finally getting around to researching how to fit those old copied pages into the text.

I've read it many times, but this is my first reread since I kept track of such things on this website.

These stories are a quick read, but lots of fun.