Scotch Broth

by Anne Hepple

As its title implies, "Scotch Broth" is a medley of good things.
Two sisters--Alice, who is middle-aged, married, and with a sense of humour; and Jane, a spinster with a witty tongue--take a cottage in the Border country.
Their visitors, their garden, their neighbours, and their families are all described with characteristic fun by Alice as narrator, while Jane acts the part of quick chorus and is not above taking a sly dig at Alice as opportunity occurs.
Both sisters are interested in the people who live near them, their customs and their histories, so we see the pattern of life with its warp and weft of comedy and tragedy; and there's an added touch of poetry now and again to give flavour to this "broth of a book."

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1933

About the author

Anne Hepple Dickinson, née Batty, wrote romantic novels under the pseudonym Anne Hepple. She was born in Widdrington, Northumberland, England and lived most of her life in and around Berwick and Berwickshire. She was the first editor of The Woman's Magazine in London from 1931 to 1934. A number of her short stories appeared in the magazine, and some of her novels were serialized there before being published in book form.

It was after her children grew up and all her older relations had died, that Anne began to publish her novels, which often drew on incidents from her own experience.

She was the sister of Agnes Ancroft.

Reviews

[Louise Culmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alice, who narrates this story, is a happily married woman with two children who are at university and a husband who is conveniently away on business a lot. This means she and her younger sister, Jane, can spend a lot of time staying at the country cottage they rent in the Scottish border country. Here they enjoy the simple life, making tea with water taken from the burn etc. They have a variety of neighbours, some pleasant and some less so, and they have various adventures, mostly quite mild but sometimes quite dramatic. Alice’s husband and children appear occasionally for holidays, but inbetween she and Jane seem quite happy without them. A quite agreeable book with some nice characters, would have liked to know a bit more about some of them.

[Kari · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It was a serendipitous thrift store find. The title caught my eye. Bless the previous owner who had the thoughtfulness to glue in the cover a book summary. It’s the tale of two middle aged sisters, one married and one not, who set out to find the perfect cottage. They find a charming cottage, fix it up, and encounter many mishaps and adventures along the way.

It’s they main characters writing style that makes the book. Anne Hepple is just so funny, I loved the descriptions. It was refreshing that what was humorous or most enjoyable were all the things that were so commonplace, so trivial. I felt like I took a trip to the moors, and rambled over the hillsides, and nestled in front of the fire with a bowl of soup. It was a delight to read.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in 1933. It is always enjoyable to read about "simpler" times. The story is based on a couple of sisters renting a cottage on the moors/countryside for fun.