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Lady Living Alone
Originally published in 1945, what begins as a domestic novel quickly evolves into a dramatic thriller. Penelope Shadow, like her name suggests, has made very little mark on the world, until she purchases a typewriter and becomes a sensation as a romance novelist. She can now afford to buy her own house, and employs a capable and attentive young man as housekeeper. But what are his motives? Is she in danger? As events twist and turn, she must summon up the strength and ingenuity of her characters as the novel moves to a tense denouement.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1945
21 people are currently reading
247 people want to read
About the author
Norah Lofts
105 books309 followersNorah Ethel Robinson Lofts Jorisch (27 August 1904–10 September 1983) was a 20th century best-selling British author. She wrote over fifty books specialising in historical fiction, but she also wrote non-fiction and short stories. Many of her novels, including her Suffolk Trilogy, follow the history of a specific house and the residents that lived in it.
Lofts was born in Shipdham, Norfolk in England. She also published using the pseudonyms Juliet Astley and Peter Curtis. Norah Lofts chose to release her murder-mystery novels under the pen name Peter Curtis because she did not want the readers of her historic fiction to pick up a murder-mystery novel and expect classic Norah Lofts historical fiction. However, the murders still show characteristic Norah Lofts elements. Most of her historical novels fall into two general categories: biographical novels about queens, among them Anne Boleyn, Isabella of Castile, and Catherine of Aragon; and novels set in East Anglia centered around the fictitious town of Baildon (patterned largely on Bury St. Edmunds). Her creation of this fictitious area of England is reminiscent of Thomas Hardy's creation of "Wessex"; and her use of recurring characters such that the protagonist of one novel appears as a secondary character in others is even more reminiscent of William Faulkner's work set in "Yoknapatawpha County," Mississippi. Norah Lofts' work set in East Anglia in the 1930s and 1940s shows great concern with the very poor in society and their inability to change their conditions. Her approach suggests an interest in the social reformism that became a feature of British post-war society.
Several of her novels were turned into films. Jassy was filmed as Jassy (1947) starring Margaret Lockwood and Dennis Price. You're Best Alone was filmed as Guilt is My Shadow (1950). The Devil's Own (also known as The Little Wax Doll and Catch As Catch Can) was filmed as The Witches (1966). The film 7 Women was directed by John Ford and based on the story Chinese Finale by Norah Lofts.
Lofts was born in Shipdham, Norfolk in England. She also published using the pseudonyms Juliet Astley and Peter Curtis. Norah Lofts chose to release her murder-mystery novels under the pen name Peter Curtis because she did not want the readers of her historic fiction to pick up a murder-mystery novel and expect classic Norah Lofts historical fiction. However, the murders still show characteristic Norah Lofts elements. Most of her historical novels fall into two general categories: biographical novels about queens, among them Anne Boleyn, Isabella of Castile, and Catherine of Aragon; and novels set in East Anglia centered around the fictitious town of Baildon (patterned largely on Bury St. Edmunds). Her creation of this fictitious area of England is reminiscent of Thomas Hardy's creation of "Wessex"; and her use of recurring characters such that the protagonist of one novel appears as a secondary character in others is even more reminiscent of William Faulkner's work set in "Yoknapatawpha County," Mississippi. Norah Lofts' work set in East Anglia in the 1930s and 1940s shows great concern with the very poor in society and their inability to change their conditions. Her approach suggests an interest in the social reformism that became a feature of British post-war society.
Several of her novels were turned into films. Jassy was filmed as Jassy (1947) starring Margaret Lockwood and Dennis Price. You're Best Alone was filmed as Guilt is My Shadow (1950). The Devil's Own (also known as The Little Wax Doll and Catch As Catch Can) was filmed as The Witches (1966). The film 7 Women was directed by John Ford and based on the story Chinese Finale by Norah Lofts.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
October 13, 2024
I haven't read Nora Lofts before, but I have been aware of her for quite some time. She usually writes historical fiction, so this one isn't typical of her work, and was published under a pseudonym (Peter Curtis), but I generally find the Women Writers series to be pretty reliable.
It starts of as a rather amusing domestic novel about Penelope Shadow. She has recently found some success as an author and decides she would like to move out of her half sister's house and buy her own house. She has a fear of living alone, so when her sister declines her offer of living with her in her new home, she is faced with a bit of a problem. Initially all is well as she hires live-in housekeepers, but they never stay very long.
One Christmas, she stays at a friend; her current housekeeper decides to leave while she is away. She can't go back to her house until someone else has been engaged, so she stays at a guest house that she passes on her way back, and here she meets a dissatisfied young man who is working there as a general dogs body. She asks him if he would like to work for her instead, which he accepts.
Shortly after this, the tone of the novel switches. The first half was enjoyable, but the second half becomes really compelling and reminded me of a Celia Fremlin novel. I found Penelope likeable, but a bit irritating at the same time. She was so very nice that she became a bit hopeless, and unable to deal with situations because she couldn't stand up for herself. I don't want to go in to plot details as that would spoil the surprises in store for the reader, but I really liked this one, and think it is a worthy addition to the series.
It starts of as a rather amusing domestic novel about Penelope Shadow. She has recently found some success as an author and decides she would like to move out of her half sister's house and buy her own house. She has a fear of living alone, so when her sister declines her offer of living with her in her new home, she is faced with a bit of a problem. Initially all is well as she hires live-in housekeepers, but they never stay very long.
One Christmas, she stays at a friend; her current housekeeper decides to leave while she is away. She can't go back to her house until someone else has been engaged, so she stays at a guest house that she passes on her way back, and here she meets a dissatisfied young man who is working there as a general dogs body. She asks him if he would like to work for her instead, which he accepts.
Shortly after this, the tone of the novel switches. The first half was enjoyable, but the second half becomes really compelling and reminded me of a Celia Fremlin novel. I found Penelope likeable, but a bit irritating at the same time. She was so very nice that she became a bit hopeless, and unable to deal with situations because she couldn't stand up for herself. I don't want to go in to plot details as that would spoil the surprises in store for the reader, but I really liked this one, and think it is a worthy addition to the series.
April 1, 2016
Miss Penelope Shadow has long been considered an odd little thing. She's never really done anything on her own and a life long phobia of being alone in a house after dark has her currently living with her half sister and her two children. She considers herself a writer, though none of her books have ever done anything, when out of nowhere "Mexican Flower" becomes a best seller with a movie in the works. Miss Shadow finds herself for the first time in the position to be
self sufficient and decides it's time for a home of her own, with live in help of course. One Christmas while on her way home from visiting with friends she finds out that her house staff has quit and she will have to go home to a dark and empty house. Making an impulsive decision that will affect the rest of her life, she stops at a small inn to spend the night and figure out what she will do next.
Norah Lofts is one of my favorite authors so I was surprised to find Lady Living Alone, which I'd never heard of, at my library. While reading I thought it was much different from what we've come to expect from Ms Lofts-dark, richly fleshed out historical fiction-so I was not really surprised to learn this was one of her 'Peter Curtis' books, a name under which she wrote dark, usually twisty mysteries. No matter the author name, Lady Living Alone is a good read that just kind of rambles
along until BAM --- TWIST!
self sufficient and decides it's time for a home of her own, with live in help of course. One Christmas while on her way home from visiting with friends she finds out that her house staff has quit and she will have to go home to a dark and empty house. Making an impulsive decision that will affect the rest of her life, she stops at a small inn to spend the night and figure out what she will do next.
Norah Lofts is one of my favorite authors so I was surprised to find Lady Living Alone, which I'd never heard of, at my library. While reading I thought it was much different from what we've come to expect from Ms Lofts-dark, richly fleshed out historical fiction-so I was not really surprised to learn this was one of her 'Peter Curtis' books, a name under which she wrote dark, usually twisty mysteries. No matter the author name, Lady Living Alone is a good read that just kind of rambles
along until BAM --- TWIST!
November 4, 2024
4.75🌟 I had no idea I was going to love this British Library Women Writers book as much as I did. It was incredibly surprising and enthralling!
I don't want to say a lot about the plot because it's best if you know nothing about it before reading it. I wish I hadn't heard the few things that book friends were saying about it because I probably would have loved it even more.
This is the first Norah Lofts book I've ever read and it was such an amazingly positive experience. I know that she mostly writes historical fiction (a genre which is either hit or miss for me, depending on the writer), so I'll have to give one of her popular books a try.
I will definitely read this book again. I have a feeling that there are many little details that I missed and I'd love to discover what they are.
My advice (though, of course, you don't have to take it) is to start reading Lady Living Alone without reading any other reviews or even the description of the book (which is probably impossible at this point). But, go into this novel with an open mind and no expectations. I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments of this review! Enjoy!
I don't want to say a lot about the plot because it's best if you know nothing about it before reading it. I wish I hadn't heard the few things that book friends were saying about it because I probably would have loved it even more.
This is the first Norah Lofts book I've ever read and it was such an amazingly positive experience. I know that she mostly writes historical fiction (a genre which is either hit or miss for me, depending on the writer), so I'll have to give one of her popular books a try.
I will definitely read this book again. I have a feeling that there are many little details that I missed and I'd love to discover what they are.
My advice (though, of course, you don't have to take it) is to start reading Lady Living Alone without reading any other reviews or even the description of the book (which is probably impossible at this point). But, go into this novel with an open mind and no expectations. I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments of this review! Enjoy!
June 23, 2019
I'd forgotten until reminded recently that, relatively early in her career, Norah Lofts wrote four novels that could be loosely described as suspensers under the pseudonym Peter Curtis; in fact, one of them, You're Best Alone (1943), is mentioned in my Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Film Noir as the basis for the Elizabeth Sellars vehicle Guilt is My Shadow (1950).
Lady Living Alone sees midlist novelist Penelope Shadow suddenly strike lucky in her mid-thirties with her latest novel. She decides to use her newfound riches to buy a house of her own in the country; to run it she hires a young man called Terry Munce. At first she doesn't mind too much as he takes over her life more and more; what she doesn't realize is that, beneath his charm, he's entirely mercenary -- a fluent liar, an embezzler, a thief, a cheat, an adulterer and potentially worse.
But Miss Shadow has all her life been something of an eccentric little goose, relying on her prettiness to make sure others accept the responsibility for saving her from the worst consequences of her muddleheadedness. She is therefore not at all blameless when things go south: she has spent her whole life molding herself into the ideal victim for some questing leech like Terry to come along and latch onto. At the same time, for all her sillinesses and neuroses, there's something very likable about her -- at least for this reader -- and so, in the latter part of the book, the tension mounts as we pray she can extricate herself with life and limb intact from this mess she's gotten herself into.
The former part of the book, by contrast, is pretty slow-moving, being more of a socially observant, gently satirical comedy of manners full of waspish little lines like this:
Some of the cattiness descends into mere snobbishness -- the working classes tend to be regarded as uniformly slow-witted or mendacious or both, very much the "lower orders" -- but I suppose this was to be expected in a novel of its era, written presumably just before the end of World War II and the consequent social upheaval in the UK that changed a lot of attitudes. Leaving that complaint aside, this first half of the novel felt to me rather Jane Austeny.
So, a book of two somewhat unalike halves, and one that therefore will I'm sure not be to every reader's taste. I did grow slightly impatient with the first half, and with Miss Shadow's ditheriness in it (while at the same time hugely admiring her monomania when it came to writing!), but overall I enjoyed Lady Living Alone really quite a lot.
Lady Living Alone sees midlist novelist Penelope Shadow suddenly strike lucky in her mid-thirties with her latest novel. She decides to use her newfound riches to buy a house of her own in the country; to run it she hires a young man called Terry Munce. At first she doesn't mind too much as he takes over her life more and more; what she doesn't realize is that, beneath his charm, he's entirely mercenary -- a fluent liar, an embezzler, a thief, a cheat, an adulterer and potentially worse.
But Miss Shadow has all her life been something of an eccentric little goose, relying on her prettiness to make sure others accept the responsibility for saving her from the worst consequences of her muddleheadedness. She is therefore not at all blameless when things go south: she has spent her whole life molding herself into the ideal victim for some questing leech like Terry to come along and latch onto. At the same time, for all her sillinesses and neuroses, there's something very likable about her -- at least for this reader -- and so, in the latter part of the book, the tension mounts as we pray she can extricate herself with life and limb intact from this mess she's gotten herself into.
The former part of the book, by contrast, is pretty slow-moving, being more of a socially observant, gently satirical comedy of manners full of waspish little lines like this:
Miss Slater was a poor thing, a bad case of ingrowing virginity . . . [p28]
Some of the cattiness descends into mere snobbishness -- the working classes tend to be regarded as uniformly slow-witted or mendacious or both, very much the "lower orders" -- but I suppose this was to be expected in a novel of its era, written presumably just before the end of World War II and the consequent social upheaval in the UK that changed a lot of attitudes. Leaving that complaint aside, this first half of the novel felt to me rather Jane Austeny.
So, a book of two somewhat unalike halves, and one that therefore will I'm sure not be to every reader's taste. I did grow slightly impatient with the first half, and with Miss Shadow's ditheriness in it (while at the same time hugely admiring her monomania when it came to writing!), but overall I enjoyed Lady Living Alone really quite a lot.
May 15, 2016
Penelope Shadow ist eine alleinstehende neurotische Dame, die in mittleren Jahren als Schriftstellerin endlich finanzielle Unabhängigkeit erlangt. Da sie es nicht ertragen kann, alleine in ihrem Haus zu sein, flieht sie, einmal mehr von ihren Hausbediensteten verlassen, in ein höchst sonderbares abgelegenes Hotel. Hier führt eine gestrenge edwardianische Dame das Ruder, unter deren Willkür die unsichere Pen ebenso leidet wie der dort angestellte irische Junge für alles.
Dieser erste Teil des Romans hat mir ganz wunderbar gefallen. Sehr britisch, sehr sympathisch, und die Kapitel im Hotel verstörend, als würde sich der Roman auf die Schwelle zur Phantastik zubewegen. Es tauchen auch Motivketten auf wie zum Beispiel Pens aus der Zeit Fallen, symbolisiert durch falsch gehende Uhren.
Was dann geschieht, bewegt sich sowohl inhaltlich als auch von der Stimmung leider in die entgegengesetzte Richtung, klischeehafte Wendungen nehmen überhand, die Handlung wird vorhersehbar und die Personen und ihre Motive bleiben höchst oberflächlich. Es soll genügen zu sagen, dass Pen den viel jüngeren, gutaussehenden und ambitionierten Küchenjungen Terry heiratet, der ganz von ihrem Vermögen abhängig ist und sich bald für jüngere Frauen interessiert.
Die intensive Atmosphäre der ersten Romanhälfte blitzt nur noch sehr selten auf, dafür ärgert man sich über die nun so platten Charaktere, für die kein Mitfühlen mehr aufkommt.
Es ist, als hätte die Autorin das Buch entweder zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt und in ganz anderer Stimmung beendet, aus Pflichtgefühl oder des lieben Geldes wegen, oder aber Interesse und Inspiration verloren.
Dieser erste Teil des Romans hat mir ganz wunderbar gefallen. Sehr britisch, sehr sympathisch, und die Kapitel im Hotel verstörend, als würde sich der Roman auf die Schwelle zur Phantastik zubewegen. Es tauchen auch Motivketten auf wie zum Beispiel Pens aus der Zeit Fallen, symbolisiert durch falsch gehende Uhren.
Was dann geschieht, bewegt sich sowohl inhaltlich als auch von der Stimmung leider in die entgegengesetzte Richtung, klischeehafte Wendungen nehmen überhand, die Handlung wird vorhersehbar und die Personen und ihre Motive bleiben höchst oberflächlich. Es soll genügen zu sagen, dass Pen den viel jüngeren, gutaussehenden und ambitionierten Küchenjungen Terry heiratet, der ganz von ihrem Vermögen abhängig ist und sich bald für jüngere Frauen interessiert.
Die intensive Atmosphäre der ersten Romanhälfte blitzt nur noch sehr selten auf, dafür ärgert man sich über die nun so platten Charaktere, für die kein Mitfühlen mehr aufkommt.
Es ist, als hätte die Autorin das Buch entweder zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt und in ganz anderer Stimmung beendet, aus Pflichtgefühl oder des lieben Geldes wegen, oder aber Interesse und Inspiration verloren.
May 19, 2025
It is strongly recommended to go into this one as blindly as possible and now I know why: it shifts between genres multiple times and the story you start reading isn't the one you end up in. In that sense, it's twisty and unexpected and entertaining because just when you (I) might be getting bored of what appears to be looming predictability, things shift.
That said, it's somewhere in the 3.5* territory for me. It was an amusing way to spend a quiet weekend but I feel no desire to revisit it, nor do I feel like it's a particularly memorable story or heroine.
That said, it's somewhere in the 3.5* territory for me. It was an amusing way to spend a quiet weekend but I feel no desire to revisit it, nor do I feel like it's a particularly memorable story or heroine.
April 22, 2008
The heroine of this book is an extremely silly woman, and it's hard to believe that anyone could be such a fool. But she does redeem herself with cleverness at the end. I rather liked the ending, which is the only thing that saved it from a one-star rating for me. I'm a Norah Lofts fan, but this isn't one of her best.
March 31, 2018
I wish we are able to do half stars as ratings. I want to give this book 3.5 stars. It was a quick read. I liked Penelope Shadow, and related to her at times. The ending had a little twist, which was nice. I found this book for free at one of my local libraries. I’m glad I decided to grab it and take it home. I’d like to read some of the author’s other books.
September 21, 2025
Penelope Shadow, a 35-year-old writer, is living with her half sister and her half sister's children when Penelope's second book becomes a success and Penelope proposes moving to a larger house. Penelope is surprised when her half sister announces her engagement and her moving to Africa. Penelope embarks on a life of single living and a series of domestic servants. She is terrified of being alone at night. Through a strange turn of events, she marries a much younger good looking ne'er do well and thus begins her back luck.
This seems to be an unusual book for its time because it featured a woman who had the independence that so many were unable to achieve. It was a frustrating story in that
Though the end did hold some small redemption for her, it didn't make up for her behavior throughout the whole book.
This seems to be an unusual book for its time because it featured a woman who had the independence that so many were unable to achieve. It was a frustrating story in that
Though the end did hold some small redemption for her, it didn't make up for her behavior throughout the whole book.
August 13, 2025
just shy of 4 stars, rounded up
For such a slender book, there were times when the story lagged a bit. Overall this was an enjoyable domestic thriller with a satisfying ending. It reminded me of Wish Her Safe at Home.
For such a slender book, there were times when the story lagged a bit. Overall this was an enjoyable domestic thriller with a satisfying ending. It reminded me of Wish Her Safe at Home.
June 28, 2022
The main character, Penelope, is a fiction writer, specializing in strong female heroines (a genre familiar to Lofts’ fans). She writes a best seller and becomes famous and well-to-do much to her surprise.
She has a fear of being alone--Lofts has used this in other books and short stories--and this fear leads her to let people take advantage of her. It's based in the 1940's, I would guess, since it includes automobiles and pay phones. No electric typewriters, lol!
I can't say much more without it being a spoiler but I enjoyed this book.
She has a fear of being alone--Lofts has used this in other books and short stories--and this fear leads her to let people take advantage of her. It's based in the 1940's, I would guess, since it includes automobiles and pay phones. No electric typewriters, lol!
I can't say much more without it being a spoiler but I enjoyed this book.
January 1, 2025
This was such an interesting little book and I’m finding it difficult to rate. Penelope and her eccentricities are so easy to dismiss—both by other characters in the book and by the reader—but the twist at the end really makes you wonder about her. I think this one is going to stick with me for a while. Right now let’s call it a 3.5 with the chance of being upgraded to a 4. Would have loved to see what Shirley Jackson or Agatha Christie would have done with Penelope.
December 1, 2010
I prefer Norah Lofts in historical mode.
March 14, 2025
(3.5 Stars)
While the British writer Norah Lofts was best known for her historical novels, she also wrote four mysteries/thrillers under the pen name Peter Curtis. Lady Living Alone, which the British Library recently reissued as part of its fascinating Women Writers series, is one of these ‘Peter Curtis’ books, and very enjoyable it is, too!
First published in 1945 but set in the 1930s, Lady Living Alone starts out as a humorous piece of domestic fiction featuring a rather naïve protagonist, the novelist Penelope Shadow. Nevertheless, what makes this novel so interesting is its switch into noirish territory in the second half of the story. There are shades of Celia Dale (and possibly Celia Fremlin) here as Lofts introduces an element of jeopardy through foreshadowing, signalling trouble ahead for her muddleheaded heroine. It’s a very welcome addition to the BLWW series – darker than the other titles in the line-up, and all the more intriguing as a result.
Right from the start, Lofts paints thirty-five-year-old Penelope as a rather hopeless, scatterbrained creature, the sort of woman who is often thought of as ‘a poor little thing’ or a ‘funny little thing’. Her only talent is for writing, which some acquaintances view as one of her eccentricities.
…there was about her an undeniable smallness, an almost deliberate contraction, a matter more almost of soul than of body. She had the thin light bones of a bird, a low quiet voice, an almost noiseless method of walking, so that always she seemed to take up less room than other people. (p. 4)
After three unremarkable novels, Penelope suddenly strikes gold with her latest book, Mexican Flower, giving her more than enough money to buy a place of her own. Having benefited from the generosity of her half-sister, Elsie, whose home she has been living in for the past six years, Penelope now wants the family to move to a more comfortable house in the country with a garden for Elsie and her children to enjoy. Elsie, however, has plans of her own, leaving Penelope in the lurch. Penelope, you see, has a horror of being alone in any house after dark, a fear that has plagued her since childhood.
This phobia about being alone in a house had been the bugbear of her childhood, had extended into adolescence and now remained, obscenely, Miss Shadow thought, a fact to darken even her middle years […] she was not afraid of burglars, and drunken men held no terrors for her. But ten minutes alone in a house, especially after sunset, reduced her to a jittering senseless mass of terror. […] So soon as Penelope was alone in the house things happened. The empty rooms about her stretched wider; became menacing with a threat that was the more awful because it was unnameable… (pp. 20-21)
Before Elsie leaves to get married and a new life abroad, she encourages Penelope to find a suitable home and a housekeeper, which her half-sister duly does, but Penelope’s eccentricities and poor judgement mean that none of her employees last very long at Dower House…
Things come to a head when the latest housekeeper decides to leave while Penelope is staying with a friend for Christmas. Now she must return to an empty house, and the prospect proves too much for her to bear.
Caught in a snowstorm on the way home, Penelope is forced to stay overnight at a rather creepy guesthouse, and it is here that she meets Terry Munce, a seemingly helpful young man who takes care of her needs. When Penelope learns that Terry is unhappy at Miss Beasley’s, she makes a spur-of-the-moment decision, offering him the role of housekeeper with her instead. After all, he seems to be taking care of pretty much everything at the guesthouse, and Penelope is desperate for someone reliable at home. Terry duly accepts and is soon installed at Dower House, running the household like clockwork while Penelope works on her books.
To read the rest of my review, please visit:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025...
While the British writer Norah Lofts was best known for her historical novels, she also wrote four mysteries/thrillers under the pen name Peter Curtis. Lady Living Alone, which the British Library recently reissued as part of its fascinating Women Writers series, is one of these ‘Peter Curtis’ books, and very enjoyable it is, too!
First published in 1945 but set in the 1930s, Lady Living Alone starts out as a humorous piece of domestic fiction featuring a rather naïve protagonist, the novelist Penelope Shadow. Nevertheless, what makes this novel so interesting is its switch into noirish territory in the second half of the story. There are shades of Celia Dale (and possibly Celia Fremlin) here as Lofts introduces an element of jeopardy through foreshadowing, signalling trouble ahead for her muddleheaded heroine. It’s a very welcome addition to the BLWW series – darker than the other titles in the line-up, and all the more intriguing as a result.
Right from the start, Lofts paints thirty-five-year-old Penelope as a rather hopeless, scatterbrained creature, the sort of woman who is often thought of as ‘a poor little thing’ or a ‘funny little thing’. Her only talent is for writing, which some acquaintances view as one of her eccentricities.
…there was about her an undeniable smallness, an almost deliberate contraction, a matter more almost of soul than of body. She had the thin light bones of a bird, a low quiet voice, an almost noiseless method of walking, so that always she seemed to take up less room than other people. (p. 4)
After three unremarkable novels, Penelope suddenly strikes gold with her latest book, Mexican Flower, giving her more than enough money to buy a place of her own. Having benefited from the generosity of her half-sister, Elsie, whose home she has been living in for the past six years, Penelope now wants the family to move to a more comfortable house in the country with a garden for Elsie and her children to enjoy. Elsie, however, has plans of her own, leaving Penelope in the lurch. Penelope, you see, has a horror of being alone in any house after dark, a fear that has plagued her since childhood.
This phobia about being alone in a house had been the bugbear of her childhood, had extended into adolescence and now remained, obscenely, Miss Shadow thought, a fact to darken even her middle years […] she was not afraid of burglars, and drunken men held no terrors for her. But ten minutes alone in a house, especially after sunset, reduced her to a jittering senseless mass of terror. […] So soon as Penelope was alone in the house things happened. The empty rooms about her stretched wider; became menacing with a threat that was the more awful because it was unnameable… (pp. 20-21)
Before Elsie leaves to get married and a new life abroad, she encourages Penelope to find a suitable home and a housekeeper, which her half-sister duly does, but Penelope’s eccentricities and poor judgement mean that none of her employees last very long at Dower House…
Things come to a head when the latest housekeeper decides to leave while Penelope is staying with a friend for Christmas. Now she must return to an empty house, and the prospect proves too much for her to bear.
Caught in a snowstorm on the way home, Penelope is forced to stay overnight at a rather creepy guesthouse, and it is here that she meets Terry Munce, a seemingly helpful young man who takes care of her needs. When Penelope learns that Terry is unhappy at Miss Beasley’s, she makes a spur-of-the-moment decision, offering him the role of housekeeper with her instead. After all, he seems to be taking care of pretty much everything at the guesthouse, and Penelope is desperate for someone reliable at home. Terry duly accepts and is soon installed at Dower House, running the household like clockwork while Penelope works on her books.
To read the rest of my review, please visit:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025...
October 20, 2025
Another very good reprint in the British Library Women Writers series. This short novel first published in 1945 (set in the 1930s) manages to straddle several genres - cozy comedy, cleareyed feminist examination of marriage + woman’s place and Hitchcockian thriller. Added to this, it is wellwritten and charming.
Penelope Shadow, an ”aging spinster” (35 years old) finds herself a successful historical romance novelist and has finally money to buy and move into her own house in the country. Unfortunately, she is very afraid of the dark and can’t live alone. After being disappointed in a number of housekeepers, she by accident meets the young, penniless, charming Terry and offers him a temporary job as her houseboy. After moving in with her, he manages eventually to convince her to marry him. From there on you know things will end badly, just not how.
I liked Penelope so much, her kindness, absentminded tolerance, generosity and simplemindedness. She is naive and does get tricked but she is also clearheaded and mostly a good judge of people when she’s not too distracted by writing. I kept rooting for her not only to conquer her real dangers but also to conquer her fear.
An extra star for enjoyment, because I loved the descriptions of her being a writer and because I know I will reread this novel in the future. Highly recommended.
Penelope Shadow, an ”aging spinster” (35 years old) finds herself a successful historical romance novelist and has finally money to buy and move into her own house in the country. Unfortunately, she is very afraid of the dark and can’t live alone. After being disappointed in a number of housekeepers, she by accident meets the young, penniless, charming Terry and offers him a temporary job as her houseboy. After moving in with her, he manages eventually to convince her to marry him. From there on you know things will end badly, just not how.
I liked Penelope so much, her kindness, absentminded tolerance, generosity and simplemindedness. She is naive and does get tricked but she is also clearheaded and mostly a good judge of people when she’s not too distracted by writing. I kept rooting for her not only to conquer her real dangers but also to conquer her fear.
An extra star for enjoyment, because I loved the descriptions of her being a writer and because I know I will reread this novel in the future. Highly recommended.
June 25, 2025
Penelope Shadow is a successful but mousy author of historical fiction who finds it difficult to retain housekeepers in her secluded house. One night, returning from a visit to a friend in bad weather, she stops for the night in a badly-run hotel where she meets Terry, a cunning Irish man 20 years her junior. Seeing the main chance, Terry gives her exceptional service and manages to get Penelope to hire him on the spot. In due course he gets her to marry him, and starts to live the life of Riley. At first Penelope is delighted because Terry remains sweet and deferential, but of course eventually she finds out he has a girl on the side. Penelope would be quite prepared to give him a divorce, but Terry tries to play a very naughty game which backfires on him. It's a simple story but extremely well told, with lots of humor, atmosphere and convincing characters. Although it's much less dark than the novels of Celia Dale, it also deals credibly with issues of manipulation and the special vulnerability of older women.
December 14, 2025
An interesting journey of a novel. There’s so much going on that it’s perhaps too much for this quite slim novel to hold. Because of that there are certain characters and plot points that are underdeveloped. It was also a bit too melodramatic in the middle for my tastes. However, the ending makes up for a lot and I was satisfied by the conclusion of the story. To give away the true genre of this book is to spoil it. Overall, I enjoyed the commentary on the relative dangers of being alone as a woman versus making a perhaps ill judged marriage.
May 2, 2025
Enjoyable - once you remember the time frame and the noir style, Penelope and the situations from me as vouyeristic reader are acceptable and not infuriating reading. Gotta remember context. Lived some of the descriptions ie. this critique of interiors “….the carpet looked as though pounds of liquorice all-sorts had been stamped viciously into mud…”
May 3, 2025
3 1/2 stars. The first part of the book dragged a bit, but the author did a great job of building the tension at the end. I don't think I'll read it again, because it was really quite a sad book, in a lot of ways. But the main character does triumph at the end, in a way.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 14, 2025
The first half was so lovely and the second felt like a different book! Just descended into the sordid...I loved Penelope Shadow though, who like Miss Mole and Miss Pettigrew memorable and lovable...
November 11, 2024
3.5 that ending?
August 7, 2025
A little gem of a book, full of surprises (language, character and gossips). And not at all the gentle comedy it appears to be.
July 31, 2025
Really enjoyed this book, which starts out as the story of a woman who finally decides to strike out on her own despite her terror of being alone in a house at night. Don’t want to spoil anything but this book definitely takes a turn! A really fun read.
October 6, 2025
This novel is very well-written and has an interesting, unexpected plot, but because of the main character's helplessness and silliness, it was very difficult to read. It was like listening to someone's self-incurred troubles and gritting your teeth to keep yourself from saying, "I told you so."
Don't get me wrong, Penelope isn't completely silly. In fact, you admire her for her hard work as a novelist. But she's entirely helpless in the details of everyday life, not to mention
Don't get me wrong, Penelope isn't completely silly. In fact, you admire her for her hard work as a novelist. But she's entirely helpless in the details of everyday life, not to mention
April 16, 2018
It takes a 1945 novel to describe a heroine who chain smokes and has nicotine stained handkerchiefs in her suitcase to be described as a "pretty little thing." The timid Penelope Shadow is a writer of novels, successful enough to buy an 18th century Georgian dowager house and employ servants. Sh'es afraid of ever being alone after dark. Marries a younger man beneath her class (love the British stuffiness about class) who is so industrious he is said to "work like a black." She didn't want to do something beneath her because "it would be rather infra dig for her." ??? Cute and quaint little novel with a bit of excitement at the end.
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February 26, 2015How powerful is self doubt? So powerful that when horrid things slap you in the face it is too difficult to comprehend. Actually we do comprehend on some level, but we refuse to trust our own instinct, our reality is not our dream. This will hit home to anyone who waivers between what things should be, and how things can actually be.
May 22, 2016
A period piece book written in 1985 but feels like it could have been written in the 1940's. The delightful story of a slightly eccentric lady writer. Makes me wonder if it is somewhat autobiographical, at least as the foundation of the story. Fun read. I enjoyed Norah Lofts historical novels very much many years ago, and the protagonist in this book is researching writing historical novels.
February 16, 2013
A charming, old-fashioned British novel with a delightful twist ending. A good book to curl up to with a cup of tea on a cold winter day.
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