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Staying Put
Felicity plunged in with a torch and looked round. "Heavens! What a mess! How absolutely thrilling! We've actually been bombed, Mummy! Isn't it marvellous? Absolutely!"
In the best tradition of village-goes-to-war novels like Angela Thirkell's Cheerfulness Breaks In or Ursula Orange's Tom Tiddler's Ground, Dorothy Lambert here shows us the quintessentially zany English village of Swansford dragged into the early days of World War II.
Widowed Lavinia Falcon has determined that Swansford must dive right into the war effort. Her prickly older daughter Rowena heads out to war work (albeit with the primary goal of snagging a wealthy husband) and son Richard joins the R.A.F., leaving Lavinia and her flirtatious younger daughter Felicity doing their part at home. They are aided by a brilliant cast of village irregulars-Lady Bulstrode, who threatens to steal Lavinia's thunder in the war work arena; the appropriately-named Miss Dampier, who never fails to share dampening visions of the future; Admiral Ramsbottom, a frisky middle-aged Lothario; the Driscolls, a rather tumultuous Irish family; and, best of all, the gloriously dithering Mrs. Beckett, who rambles and confuses herself and strews mayhem in her wake. And if "staying put" still sounds uneventful, the delirious chaos that erupts when Felicity interrupts her mother's sewing party with a report of a possible lurking spy will leave you in no doubt of Swansford's whole-hearted (if slightly daft) commitment to the defence of England.
Originally published in 1941, this new edition features a new introduction by twentieth-century women's historian Elizabeth Crawford.
In the best tradition of village-goes-to-war novels like Angela Thirkell's Cheerfulness Breaks In or Ursula Orange's Tom Tiddler's Ground, Dorothy Lambert here shows us the quintessentially zany English village of Swansford dragged into the early days of World War II.
Widowed Lavinia Falcon has determined that Swansford must dive right into the war effort. Her prickly older daughter Rowena heads out to war work (albeit with the primary goal of snagging a wealthy husband) and son Richard joins the R.A.F., leaving Lavinia and her flirtatious younger daughter Felicity doing their part at home. They are aided by a brilliant cast of village irregulars-Lady Bulstrode, who threatens to steal Lavinia's thunder in the war work arena; the appropriately-named Miss Dampier, who never fails to share dampening visions of the future; Admiral Ramsbottom, a frisky middle-aged Lothario; the Driscolls, a rather tumultuous Irish family; and, best of all, the gloriously dithering Mrs. Beckett, who rambles and confuses herself and strews mayhem in her wake. And if "staying put" still sounds uneventful, the delirious chaos that erupts when Felicity interrupts her mother's sewing party with a report of a possible lurking spy will leave you in no doubt of Swansford's whole-hearted (if slightly daft) commitment to the defence of England.
Originally published in 1941, this new edition features a new introduction by twentieth-century women's historian Elizabeth Crawford.
251 pages, Paperback
Published July 1, 2026
About the author
Dorothy Lambert
25 books12 followersDorothy Lambert (born Alice Dorothea Irwin) was known for her many romance novels, often incorporating humor and occasionally farce. She left Ireland when she got married in 1906. She died in Kent, near Dover.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 5, 2026
I was pretty excited to see some new Furrowed Middlebrow titles were being released, and as I had enjoyed Much Dithering, very pleased that the would be more Dorothy Lambert books available. This one was set in a village at the start of WW2.
On the lighter side of WW2 fiction, especially at the beginning, the 'phoney war's stage, we Get to know a pretty large cast of villagers but they soon separate out and become distinct characters. The main family consists of widow, Lavinia and her young daughter Felicity, absent (largely) Rowena, and Richard, who leaves early for the RAF. There is also the slightly mysterious Driscoll family who have the village shop; they are Irish and there is a bit of a mystery surrounding them.
It is an easy, fun but of escapism; pretty dated in its views, (unsurprising), Lavinia's potential love interest is rather annoying, especially in his views on lawns as he tried to lecture her on how to achieve a decent lawn. Hers is full of flowers, honestly, I can't think of anything more boring than a lawn that's just grass. He also becomes rather annoyingly protective, though Lavinia seems quite capable. Her daughter. Felicity was much more fun to read about, she sparkled. I did feel the ending petered out a bit, but overall I really liked it.
On the lighter side of WW2 fiction, especially at the beginning, the 'phoney war's stage, we Get to know a pretty large cast of villagers but they soon separate out and become distinct characters. The main family consists of widow, Lavinia and her young daughter Felicity, absent (largely) Rowena, and Richard, who leaves early for the RAF. There is also the slightly mysterious Driscoll family who have the village shop; they are Irish and there is a bit of a mystery surrounding them.
It is an easy, fun but of escapism; pretty dated in its views, (unsurprising), Lavinia's potential love interest is rather annoying, especially in his views on lawns as he tried to lecture her on how to achieve a decent lawn. Hers is full of flowers, honestly, I can't think of anything more boring than a lawn that's just grass. He also becomes rather annoyingly protective, though Lavinia seems quite capable. Her daughter. Felicity was much more fun to read about, she sparkled. I did feel the ending petered out a bit, but overall I really liked it.
July 4, 2026
Lavinia Falcon and her two teenage children Richard and Felicity live near the village of Swanscombe on the south east coast of England. Richard is a fairly ordinary nineteen year old, Felicity is one of the enchanting beautiful high spirited daughters who often pop up in Dorothy Lambert’s novels. Lavinia has an older daughter, Rowena, who is working as a driver to an Admiral and does not live at home, Rowena has no time for the rest of her family and is allowed no redeeming qualities at all. The story takes place during the first year of WW2, and the wartime activities of Lydia and the residents of Swanscombe are quite entertaining. There are also the mysterious Driscolls, a dour widow who keeps the village shop, and her two attractive children Michael and Maureen. Felicity would like to be friends with the Driscoll children but her mother isn’t keen. There is however some mystery about the Driscolls. I found this one the most interesting of Dorothy Lambert’s books so far, more happens in it and there is quite an interesting variety of characters. I understand there was a sequel to this one and I would be quite interested to read it.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
War-time Whirlwind and Possible Wedding!
Staying Put takes place in the early days of WW2 in the small English village of Swansford. The reader follows the Falcon family (mostly Lavinia) as they readjust their lives in a new location and try to figure out what they can do to help the village (and themselves) once war is announced.
Woven into the themes of war preparation, finding jobs, village gossip and bickering, probability of bombings and possible spies, there is a thread (or two!) of romance between the inhabitants. (Whew—there's so much going on in this village-goes-to-war story!)
WHAT I LOVED:
💖 Dear Lavinia (Smart, down-to-earth, clever, and a good mother. She reminds me a little of D.E. Stevenson's Mrs. Tim character.)
💖 Sweet Maureen and her lovely nature and beautiful embroidery
💖 How Ralph helps the entire Falcon family in small, but significant ways throughout the book
💖 A little bit of a mystery that needs to be solved (re: the Driscolls)
💖 The short Christmas scene with Christmas at The Mallards with Lady Bulstrode, Ralph, Lavinia and Felicity. Ralph's gifts to his guests were very sweet.
Overall, I really enjoyed Staying Put. It's not quite as good as the other four Dorothy Lambert books I've read so far, but it's still pretty solid. I feel like this book might have too many unnecessary characters and a little less depth than the other titles.
NOTE: See my blog post (on profile page) for a more in-depth review plus favorite passages.
Always a huge thanks to Victoria at Dean Street Press for sending along this book for me to read and review! DSP Furrowed Middlebrow books are the BEST!
Staying Put takes place in the early days of WW2 in the small English village of Swansford. The reader follows the Falcon family (mostly Lavinia) as they readjust their lives in a new location and try to figure out what they can do to help the village (and themselves) once war is announced.
Woven into the themes of war preparation, finding jobs, village gossip and bickering, probability of bombings and possible spies, there is a thread (or two!) of romance between the inhabitants. (Whew—there's so much going on in this village-goes-to-war story!)
WHAT I LOVED:
💖 Dear Lavinia (Smart, down-to-earth, clever, and a good mother. She reminds me a little of D.E. Stevenson's Mrs. Tim character.)
💖 Sweet Maureen and her lovely nature and beautiful embroidery
💖 How Ralph helps the entire Falcon family in small, but significant ways throughout the book
💖 A little bit of a mystery that needs to be solved (re: the Driscolls)
💖 The short Christmas scene with Christmas at The Mallards with Lady Bulstrode, Ralph, Lavinia and Felicity. Ralph's gifts to his guests were very sweet.
Overall, I really enjoyed Staying Put. It's not quite as good as the other four Dorothy Lambert books I've read so far, but it's still pretty solid. I feel like this book might have too many unnecessary characters and a little less depth than the other titles.
NOTE: See my blog post (on profile page) for a more in-depth review plus favorite passages.
Always a huge thanks to Victoria at Dean Street Press for sending along this book for me to read and review! DSP Furrowed Middlebrow books are the BEST!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews