Every good deed

by Dorothy Whipple

'Every good deed brings its own evil return,' said brother James somewhat sarcastically to his sisters the Miss Tophams, but he, like many others--though his opinion was perhaps coloured by the question of inheritance--was only too ready to dub his sisters as fools. No reader, however, in enjoying all the gentle points that Mrs. Whipple makes about two of her most lovable characters will agree with such impatience. The experiment they made, and the girl with whom they made it, perhaps brought them much distress, but the characteristic happiness that they finally achieved was due entirely to themselves. Mrs. Whipple's gentle methods impress with their human exactness and with a naturalness that is its own emphasis. This quiet story is an intimate creation, but how complete in its characters and atmosphere!

(Flap copy from 1946 First Edition, John Murray Publishers, London)

Genres: Fiction, British Literature

128 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1946

About the author

Born in 1893, DOROTHY WHIPPLE (nee Stirrup) had an intensely happy childhood in Blackburn as part of the large family of a local architect. Her close friend George Owen having been killed in the first week of the war, for three years she worked as secretary to Henry Whipple, an educational administrator who was a widower twenty-four years her senior and whom she married in 1917. Their life was mostly spent in Nottingham; here she wrote Young Anne (1927), the first of nine extremely successful novels which included Greenbanks (1932) and The Priory (1939). Almost all her books were Book Society Choices or Recommendations and two of them, They Knew Mr Knight (1934) and They were Sisters (1943), were made into films. She also wrote short stories and two volumes of memoirs. Someone at a Distance (1953) was her last novel. Returning in her last years to Blackburn, Dorothy Whipple died there in 1966.

Reviews

[Laurie Notaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very short novella from Dorothy Whipple, a prominent English mid-wars writer-- How I love her books. This is the story of two spinster sisters who are well off, and volunteer doing charity work at the orphanage. When they decide to do a good deed and take one of the girls in, havoc reigns along with humor, and the story snowballs for twenty years. I loved the sisters, the Miss Tophams, and ultimately, the story has its tragedies and laughs, but is utterly charming.

[Kona Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dorothy whipple is criminally underrated.

[Kit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading "Every Good Deed and Other Stories", the short story collection, from Persephone Books.

It's wonderful. I love Dorothy Whipple, she has definitely become one of my favourite twentieth century female authors.

[Eleanor Slater · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely wonderful novella which I only wish could have been longer.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holiday book. Really quick easy read

[Agnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover of this book on the Internet Archive is crazy-alcohol & a teddy bear!

[Hol]

This book must be hard to find--I had to create a Goodreads entry for it! It's a novella (the library copy I read, printed to "war economy standards" on thin paper, weighed about an ounce), and while I wished it were longer, I did enjoy visiting with familiar Whipple themes and characters. For instance the dreadful Gwen, who disrupts small-town life for the spinster sisters in this story, brought to mind the noxious Louise in Someone at a Distance, Whipple's next and last novel.

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very short novel, written with Whipple's usual elegance.