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Hop, Step, Jump
In the beginning, the love story of Jenny Dennet and Bert Murray ran the appointed course of all similar love stories in their neighbourhood. It differed in the end because Jenny had character as well as charm and Bert had only charm.
Jenny wants more. Much more. Born into poverty in a small industrial town in the north of England, she is determined to find a way out. After taking up with Bert, a handsome rotter – "the catch of his neighbourhood" – who works in the same factory as her, it’s not long before she gives in to his pleas to marry him. But he turns out to be a drunk and a philanderer with an occasional propensity to violence and she soon walks out on him (the ‘hop’ of the title). "You can’t leave me. Where’ll you go?" asks Bert. "I’ve got my hands an’ I’ve got my brains and I can work," Jenny replies.
Sure enough, Jenny quickly gets a job as a housemaid. She falls into an affair with her employer's son, Hugh (the "step"), but, finding herself both morally compromised and – even worse – bored, she borrows some money from him to open a bakery (the "jump"). But will running her own business be enough to fulfill her? And what about love? Hop, Step and Jump weaves together a number of fascinating themes including female desire, domestic violence, and working-class life in the 1930s.
This spirited tale of upward mobility, written in Winifred Watson’s distinctively direct style, was first published in 1939 in the same week as the outbreak of war. The Guardian described it as "unusual and entertaining" while also lamenting the difficulty of reviewing books just as war was being declared. "Subtle and romantic" was L P Hartley’s verdict in the Observer and, according to the Sketch, "Without being hard, Miss Winifred Watson is a matter-of-fact writer and endows her heroine with these qualities. She reminds one a little of Arnold Bennett." Certainly, there is an explicitness in Hop, Step and Jump that in some ways makes it more akin to the novel of realism. For example, the impoverished surroundings in which Jenny and her husband Bert have to live are described in great detail, as is the way they are virtually imprisoned because of their circumstances. The novel is brutal at times and doesn’t gloss over squalor or poverty. Yet at the same time, it is extremely entertaining and flows along like the best kind of light fiction, or what is sometimes referred to as a Mills and Boon.
So Hop, Step and Jump should be read on several levels. It is an extremely good read in the romantic novel tradition; it dissects moral values and makes the reader think hard about what is involved in Jenny’s search for freedom and love; and it is fascinating about an ordinary working class woman’s life in 1930s England. As Rowan Pelling writes in her Persephone Preface: "What elevates the story is the odyssey through Britain’s social classes, the candidness about sex, and the exploration of female self-determination. Jenny may freely acquiesce to love and erotic adventures, but she evades ownership." A seemingly light novel turns out to be curiously radical.
Jenny wants more. Much more. Born into poverty in a small industrial town in the north of England, she is determined to find a way out. After taking up with Bert, a handsome rotter – "the catch of his neighbourhood" – who works in the same factory as her, it’s not long before she gives in to his pleas to marry him. But he turns out to be a drunk and a philanderer with an occasional propensity to violence and she soon walks out on him (the ‘hop’ of the title). "You can’t leave me. Where’ll you go?" asks Bert. "I’ve got my hands an’ I’ve got my brains and I can work," Jenny replies.
Sure enough, Jenny quickly gets a job as a housemaid. She falls into an affair with her employer's son, Hugh (the "step"), but, finding herself both morally compromised and – even worse – bored, she borrows some money from him to open a bakery (the "jump"). But will running her own business be enough to fulfill her? And what about love? Hop, Step and Jump weaves together a number of fascinating themes including female desire, domestic violence, and working-class life in the 1930s.
This spirited tale of upward mobility, written in Winifred Watson’s distinctively direct style, was first published in 1939 in the same week as the outbreak of war. The Guardian described it as "unusual and entertaining" while also lamenting the difficulty of reviewing books just as war was being declared. "Subtle and romantic" was L P Hartley’s verdict in the Observer and, according to the Sketch, "Without being hard, Miss Winifred Watson is a matter-of-fact writer and endows her heroine with these qualities. She reminds one a little of Arnold Bennett." Certainly, there is an explicitness in Hop, Step and Jump that in some ways makes it more akin to the novel of realism. For example, the impoverished surroundings in which Jenny and her husband Bert have to live are described in great detail, as is the way they are virtually imprisoned because of their circumstances. The novel is brutal at times and doesn’t gloss over squalor or poverty. Yet at the same time, it is extremely entertaining and flows along like the best kind of light fiction, or what is sometimes referred to as a Mills and Boon.
So Hop, Step and Jump should be read on several levels. It is an extremely good read in the romantic novel tradition; it dissects moral values and makes the reader think hard about what is involved in Jenny’s search for freedom and love; and it is fascinating about an ordinary working class woman’s life in 1930s England. As Rowan Pelling writes in her Persephone Preface: "What elevates the story is the odyssey through Britain’s social classes, the candidness about sex, and the exploration of female self-determination. Jenny may freely acquiesce to love and erotic adventures, but she evades ownership." A seemingly light novel turns out to be curiously radical.
Unknown Binding
First published September 1, 1939
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About the author
Winifred Watson
7 books100 followersWinifred Eileen Watson (20 October 1906 - 5 August 2002) was an English writer. She is best known for her novel, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, which was adapted into a major motion picture of the same name (released in 2008).
Bibliography:
Fell Top (1935)
Odd Shoes (1936)
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (1938)
Upyonder (1938)
Hop, Step, Jump (1939)
Leave and Bequeath (1943)
Bibliography:
Fell Top (1935)
Odd Shoes (1936)
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (1938)
Upyonder (1938)
Hop, Step, Jump (1939)
Leave and Bequeath (1943)
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 10, 2025
Collected Social Club, November 2025
A forgotten treasure from 1939. I loved this! Go Jenny! Gave me all the warm and fuzzies.
Some quotes:
Ethel: She was too careful never to be wrong ever to be blazingly in the right.
Hugh: The suspense and triumph when she set him to make and fry some pancakes and he achieved success far outdid any such sensation he had felt in years. It was the rare and fine ecstasy of creation.
Peggy: The house is old, so the wood's quite decent. Not like the rotten stuff they put in most houses nowadays.
A forgotten treasure from 1939. I loved this! Go Jenny! Gave me all the warm and fuzzies.
Some quotes:
Ethel: She was too careful never to be wrong ever to be blazingly in the right.
Hugh: The suspense and triumph when she set him to make and fry some pancakes and he achieved success far outdid any such sensation he had felt in years. It was the rare and fine ecstasy of creation.
Peggy: The house is old, so the wood's quite decent. Not like the rotten stuff they put in most houses nowadays.
November 13, 2025
Less whimsical, romantic adventure than Watson's celebrated 'Miss Pettigrew...' but hugely enjoyable featuring a working class heroine Jenny who shines with grit, determination, sense and beauty. Her energy drives her to make something of herself and escape the mind numbing poverty and grime of her life.
This novel also has a refreshing take on sex and the balance in relationships that you don't find terribly often in books of this age.
This novel also has a refreshing take on sex and the balance in relationships that you don't find terribly often in books of this age.
December 4, 2025
If you like a nice story, nicely written and with a lovely, warm glow then you'll love this. Set in the 1930's, Jenny hops, skips and jumps her way from one relationship to another until the inevitable happy ending.
January 11, 2026
A bit disappointing. Jenny is a strong character who is determined to carve out a better life in 1930s poverty and goes against social norms, but it never quite grabbed me. She was brazen but I felt the author shied away from questions of sex. So I never felt I was getting the whole story.
October 21, 2025
Thank you Persephone books… so looking forward to the launch party at the Lit & Phil
October 22, 2025
Brilliant!
October 29, 2025
Upwardly mobile young woman overcomes her very poor start in life to find stability. She manages this by good ideas, hard work and NOT living off any man.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews