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The Crowded Street
This is the story of Muriel Hammond, at twenty living within the suffocating confines of Edwardian middle-class society in Marshington, a Yorkshire village. A career is forbidden to her. Pretty, but not pretty enough, she fails to achieve the one thing required of her - to find a suitable husband. Then comes the First World War, a watershed which tragically revolutionises the lives of her generation. But for Muriel it offers work, friendship, freedom, and one last chance to find a special kind of happiness...
278 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1924
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About the author
Winifred Holtby
55 books77 followersWinifred Holtby was a committed socialist and feminist who wrote the classic South Riding as a warm yet sharp social critique of the well-to-do farming community she was born into.
She was a good friend of Vera Brittain, possibly portraying her as Delia in The Crowded Street.
She died at the age of 37.
She was a good friend of Vera Brittain, possibly portraying her as Delia in The Crowded Street.
She died at the age of 37.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews
April 30, 2022
4.5 stars. 🙂 🙃 I did not mean to read this book in the space of 24 hours but that is what I did. Another one of those books I just couldn’t put down. I wanted to find out what happened to Muriel. I took over 3 pages of notes and copying down passages that struck me.
The title of the book came from this passage: ‘Then suddenly we find ourselves left alone in a dull crowded street with no one caring and our lives unneeded, and all the fine things we meant to do, like toys that a child had laid aside.’ (And it was also in a quote from Vera Brittain that was on a page before the table of contents page.)
We meet Muriel when she is a young girl, 11 years old, unsure of herself and wishing to please her mother. Throughout the book she is aiming to please her mother. And her mother does nothing to discourage it. The book ends with Muriel at the age of 29. That age is considered going into spinsterhood back in those days (post World War One). The book clearly shows what limited options women had back then. She wanted to study astronomy at an early age and was told no, that was for males. A love interest of hers, Godfrey Neale, expected that his wife would be attentive to his needs in running the estate and being a mother to their children.
Muriel had a younger sister, Connie, and what happened to her was a significant part of the novel. It was interesting, but I am not sure I totally got it.
At times I felt sorry for Muriel. At times I felt like shaking her and telling her to stop feeling sorry for herself and to “buck up”. At times I did not like her. I liked her at the beginning of the novel and halfway through was disliking her.
When I was done with this novel, I was sad that I knew I had very few books left of Holtby’s to read. She died so early...at age 37. I guess I just need to be thankful that we have what we have from her. Her masterpiece, ‘South Riding’, was finished shortly before her death, but it was not published until afterwards and only with the able assistance of her very dear friend, Vera Brittain.
Crowded Street was re-issued by Virago Modern Classics in 1981 (reprinted 1982, 1984). It was also re-issued by Persephone Books (2008).
Note:
• I was dismayed in reading what one of the protagonists said about Jews. My mouth dropped open...it was so vitriolic. I hope Holtby was not anti-Semitic. I’ve read nothing so far that indicates that. I’m clueless as to why she wanted one of her characters to say such a thing (not once but twice).
Reviews (if you are thinking about reading the book don’t read these until afterwards...some of them give way too much away...which I think will reduce the pleasure of reading this book...but read afterwards because they are all good)
• https://rohanmaitzen.com/2012/04/03/w...
• https://shereadsnovels.com/2018/02/09...
• https://whatcathyreadnext.wordpress.c...
• https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2012/...
• https://reading19001950.wordpress.com...
The title of the book came from this passage: ‘Then suddenly we find ourselves left alone in a dull crowded street with no one caring and our lives unneeded, and all the fine things we meant to do, like toys that a child had laid aside.’ (And it was also in a quote from Vera Brittain that was on a page before the table of contents page.)
We meet Muriel when she is a young girl, 11 years old, unsure of herself and wishing to please her mother. Throughout the book she is aiming to please her mother. And her mother does nothing to discourage it. The book ends with Muriel at the age of 29. That age is considered going into spinsterhood back in those days (post World War One). The book clearly shows what limited options women had back then. She wanted to study astronomy at an early age and was told no, that was for males. A love interest of hers, Godfrey Neale, expected that his wife would be attentive to his needs in running the estate and being a mother to their children.
Muriel had a younger sister, Connie, and what happened to her was a significant part of the novel. It was interesting, but I am not sure I totally got it.
At times I felt sorry for Muriel. At times I felt like shaking her and telling her to stop feeling sorry for herself and to “buck up”. At times I did not like her. I liked her at the beginning of the novel and halfway through was disliking her.
When I was done with this novel, I was sad that I knew I had very few books left of Holtby’s to read. She died so early...at age 37. I guess I just need to be thankful that we have what we have from her. Her masterpiece, ‘South Riding’, was finished shortly before her death, but it was not published until afterwards and only with the able assistance of her very dear friend, Vera Brittain.
Crowded Street was re-issued by Virago Modern Classics in 1981 (reprinted 1982, 1984). It was also re-issued by Persephone Books (2008).
Note:
• I was dismayed in reading what one of the protagonists said about Jews. My mouth dropped open...it was so vitriolic. I hope Holtby was not anti-Semitic. I’ve read nothing so far that indicates that. I’m clueless as to why she wanted one of her characters to say such a thing (not once but twice).
Reviews (if you are thinking about reading the book don’t read these until afterwards...some of them give way too much away...which I think will reduce the pleasure of reading this book...but read afterwards because they are all good)
• https://rohanmaitzen.com/2012/04/03/w...
• https://shereadsnovels.com/2018/02/09...
• https://whatcathyreadnext.wordpress.c...
• https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2012/...
• https://reading19001950.wordpress.com...
August 7, 2024
The Crowded Street was Winifred Holtby’s second novel published when the author was 26. In it Winifred Holtby examines closely the lot of young women, expected to marry, and watched endlessly by society. At the centre of the novel is Muriel Hammond the eldest of two daughters, her mother’s one ambition for her is that she marries. Muriel firmly believes that
“Men do as they like” while women “wait to see what they will do” The rather sad figure of her unmarried Aunt Beatrice is a warning of what awaits her should she not manage to achieve the ultimate prize of a husband.
When we first meet Muriel she is 11 – attending her first party with almost breathless anticipation – where she must fill her dance card and behave beautifully in front of the watching eyes of Marshington’s mothers.
“All the way to Kingsport, dangling her legs from the box seat of the brougham – she always rode outside with Turner, because to ride inside made her sick – Muriel had watched the thin slip of a moon ride with her above the dark rim of the wolds, and she had sung softly to herself and to the moon and to Victoria, the old carriage horse, “I’m going to the Party, the Party, the Party.” And here she was.”
Unfortunately Muriel’s first taste of Marshington society is not a success – and the poor girl goes home in disgrace. This disastrous beginning sets the tone for the next 20 years. Muriel is shy, lacking confidence she worries too much what society thinks of her. At the start of the first world war Muriel falls for local god Godfrey Neale – but he seems to remain forever just out of reach. Meanwhile Muriel’s younger sister Connie strains to break free of the ties that bind her to the suffocating atmosphere of home and Marshington by taking a job as a land girl on a farm. It is here however that Connie’s attempt to make a life for herself brings potential scandal to the Hammond’s door and leads ultimately to disaster.
Winifred Holtby’s story of Muriel Hammond in Yorkshire at the beginning of the twentieth century – is not dealt with in the conventional way. Like Connie – although in a different way – Muriel is allowed to be master of her own destiny. Her fate is different to that of her aunt and sister, but not what her mother has spent years dreaming of. Writing in the 1920’s Winfred Holtby believed that women should have their own work, be allowed to strike out and create lives for themselves.
Winifred Holtby’s great friend Vera Brittain’s work Testament of Youth is said to have been great inspiration for The Crowded Street. I’ve not read Testament of Youth – one day I must. I love Winifred Holtby – and although I had read this one once before – a long time ago – I remembered little of it, except for poor Muriel’s first party. This is a wonderful novel and I found Muriel an engaging and sympathetic character.
“Men do as they like” while women “wait to see what they will do” The rather sad figure of her unmarried Aunt Beatrice is a warning of what awaits her should she not manage to achieve the ultimate prize of a husband.
When we first meet Muriel she is 11 – attending her first party with almost breathless anticipation – where she must fill her dance card and behave beautifully in front of the watching eyes of Marshington’s mothers.
“All the way to Kingsport, dangling her legs from the box seat of the brougham – she always rode outside with Turner, because to ride inside made her sick – Muriel had watched the thin slip of a moon ride with her above the dark rim of the wolds, and she had sung softly to herself and to the moon and to Victoria, the old carriage horse, “I’m going to the Party, the Party, the Party.” And here she was.”
Unfortunately Muriel’s first taste of Marshington society is not a success – and the poor girl goes home in disgrace. This disastrous beginning sets the tone for the next 20 years. Muriel is shy, lacking confidence she worries too much what society thinks of her. At the start of the first world war Muriel falls for local god Godfrey Neale – but he seems to remain forever just out of reach. Meanwhile Muriel’s younger sister Connie strains to break free of the ties that bind her to the suffocating atmosphere of home and Marshington by taking a job as a land girl on a farm. It is here however that Connie’s attempt to make a life for herself brings potential scandal to the Hammond’s door and leads ultimately to disaster.
Winifred Holtby’s story of Muriel Hammond in Yorkshire at the beginning of the twentieth century – is not dealt with in the conventional way. Like Connie – although in a different way – Muriel is allowed to be master of her own destiny. Her fate is different to that of her aunt and sister, but not what her mother has spent years dreaming of. Writing in the 1920’s Winfred Holtby believed that women should have their own work, be allowed to strike out and create lives for themselves.
Winifred Holtby’s great friend Vera Brittain’s work Testament of Youth is said to have been great inspiration for The Crowded Street. I’ve not read Testament of Youth – one day I must. I love Winifred Holtby – and although I had read this one once before – a long time ago – I remembered little of it, except for poor Muriel’s first party. This is a wonderful novel and I found Muriel an engaging and sympathetic character.
April 30, 2018
“In books things always happen to people. Why doesn’t somebody write a book about someone to whom nothing happens – like me?”
The Crowded Street follows Muriel Hammond through the years 1900 to 1920. The reader first glimpses Muriel as a nine year girl attending her first formal party and experiences with her the anguish of feeling left out and unable to understand the expected rules of behaviour, to the disappointment of her status conscious mother.
This early experience sets a pattern for Muriel throughout the book. Serious, thoughtful but timid, lacking in self-confidence and with a liking for certainty, Muriel finds herself always the one left without a partner – whether at a dance, the tennis club, even at school. ‘Was she more stupid than other people, or did everyone feel like this at first? She was travelling in a land of which she only imperfectly understood the language.’
This changes when the confident and worldly Clare Duquesne joins Muriel’s school and offers her the friendship she has always sought. Clare ignites a sort of hero worship in Muriel. Clare seems to be everything that Muriel isn’t. As time goes on it turns out others are equally in thrall to Clare.
Muriel allows herself to be persuaded by others that her academic interests, in astronomy and mathematics, are not suitable subjects for her to pursue. Her headmistress asks: “How will it help you, dear, when you, in your future life, have, as I hope, a house to look after?” No, Muriel’s duty lies in staying at home and assisting her mother until a suitable marriage can be made. Indeed, her mother’s sole ambition seems to be to manoeuvre Muriel and her sister, Connie, into a position in society where they can secure themselves husbands. This overwhelming desire will have tragic consequences and act as a stifling influence on Muriel, making her feel that life is passing her by.
The outbreak of the First World War and the renewal of an old acquaintance bring change and the possibility of a different future for Muriel if only she can find the courage to grasp it. ‘A respectable marriage had not always been the one goal of her life. She had dreamed dreams. She had seen visions, but her visions had faded before the opinion of others; she had lacked the courage of her dreams.’
Living in an age where equal opportunities are for the most part a given, I’ll admit I found it difficult at times to understand Muriel’s inability to escape from her situation and her lack of…gumption, I suppose. However, on the other hand, I’m guessing the author intended to create a sense of righteous anger in the reader, at the waste of talent and at the prevailing notion that a woman’s role was merely as an appendage or helpmeet to a man and not as a person in her own right. Like me, you may give a silent cheer at the end of the book. “The thing that matters is to take your life into your hands and live it, following the highest vision as you see it.”
The Crowded Street follows Muriel Hammond through the years 1900 to 1920. The reader first glimpses Muriel as a nine year girl attending her first formal party and experiences with her the anguish of feeling left out and unable to understand the expected rules of behaviour, to the disappointment of her status conscious mother.
This early experience sets a pattern for Muriel throughout the book. Serious, thoughtful but timid, lacking in self-confidence and with a liking for certainty, Muriel finds herself always the one left without a partner – whether at a dance, the tennis club, even at school. ‘Was she more stupid than other people, or did everyone feel like this at first? She was travelling in a land of which she only imperfectly understood the language.’
This changes when the confident and worldly Clare Duquesne joins Muriel’s school and offers her the friendship she has always sought. Clare ignites a sort of hero worship in Muriel. Clare seems to be everything that Muriel isn’t. As time goes on it turns out others are equally in thrall to Clare.
Muriel allows herself to be persuaded by others that her academic interests, in astronomy and mathematics, are not suitable subjects for her to pursue. Her headmistress asks: “How will it help you, dear, when you, in your future life, have, as I hope, a house to look after?” No, Muriel’s duty lies in staying at home and assisting her mother until a suitable marriage can be made. Indeed, her mother’s sole ambition seems to be to manoeuvre Muriel and her sister, Connie, into a position in society where they can secure themselves husbands. This overwhelming desire will have tragic consequences and act as a stifling influence on Muriel, making her feel that life is passing her by.
The outbreak of the First World War and the renewal of an old acquaintance bring change and the possibility of a different future for Muriel if only she can find the courage to grasp it. ‘A respectable marriage had not always been the one goal of her life. She had dreamed dreams. She had seen visions, but her visions had faded before the opinion of others; she had lacked the courage of her dreams.’
Living in an age where equal opportunities are for the most part a given, I’ll admit I found it difficult at times to understand Muriel’s inability to escape from her situation and her lack of…gumption, I suppose. However, on the other hand, I’m guessing the author intended to create a sense of righteous anger in the reader, at the waste of talent and at the prevailing notion that a woman’s role was merely as an appendage or helpmeet to a man and not as a person in her own right. Like me, you may give a silent cheer at the end of the book. “The thing that matters is to take your life into your hands and live it, following the highest vision as you see it.”
Read
November 28, 2025I hate to say it, but I disliked this novel. It made me feel glum as I read it. I really wish this was a Comfort Book club read so we could discuss it thoroughly. I thought the last 50 or so pages were the most interesting. The first 250 were too long; too much time was spent on Muriel’s repressed selfhood and on her relationship with her mother and sister. There isn’t a single likable male either. This dearth of male characters who are genuinely nice human beings was odd and off-putting. I don’t need a romance but it would have been nice to have male characters who had more depth. The male character we get the most of in the novel almost emerged from being unlikable only to sink back into a worse unlikability than before.
While the whole Connie episode was interesting in showing the desperation of an unmarried woman raised in a town like Marshington, it didn’t jive with the rest of the novel. Similarly Clare’s role didn’t play out very effectively. She is such a thoughtless character. Mr and Mrs Hammond never felt quite real either. They both felt too much like types, the lower-class-but-wealthy father with his extramarital indiscretions and the tightly-controlled-mother who cares only about social advancement and marrying off her daughters. I did very much like the Vicar and Delia but they got too little page time and Delia becomes caricatured at the end. I also think there wasn’t enough development towards Muriel’s transformation, though I did love a decision she makes and cheered for her. She knew exactly what choice to make after a novel full of dithering. The best chapter in the novel is her conversation with Delia at the rectory (around page 260).
I suppose the kind of marital pressure from the prim and proper society in Marshington portrayed in the novel was real pre-WWI?? It was grim! I’ve read lots and lots of novels from this time period and about these types of women (Delia, Muriel): women with brains and skills and desires who were absolutely stifled in their provincial families and/or towns until they escaped in some way. This one really takes the cake though with the stifling. Plus Muriel is not a compelling character. There were glimmers of possibility in her at the very beginning and at the very end. But in the middle—couldn’t she at least have had a little charm or backbone or something?? I just read The Rector’s Daughter by F.M. Mayor in September. It has many similar themes and is set slightly earlier than this book. It is much more cohesive as a novel, though, and its main character, Mary, is a lovely person. She is timid and bound to her family home and a spinster, like Muriel, but there is something in Mary’s nature that beguiles the reader. She is another Anne Elliot with emotional depth and genuine care for others. Muriel is all empty duty; Mary’s duty was undergirded by love.
I hate feeling so mean about a book, so I do invite comment from anyone who has read this and has a different opinion about it. I’d love to hear other perspectives.
While the whole Connie episode was interesting in showing the desperation of an unmarried woman raised in a town like Marshington, it didn’t jive with the rest of the novel. Similarly Clare’s role didn’t play out very effectively. She is such a thoughtless character. Mr and Mrs Hammond never felt quite real either. They both felt too much like types, the lower-class-but-wealthy father with his extramarital indiscretions and the tightly-controlled-mother who cares only about social advancement and marrying off her daughters. I did very much like the Vicar and Delia but they got too little page time and Delia becomes caricatured at the end. I also think there wasn’t enough development towards Muriel’s transformation, though I did love a decision she makes and cheered for her. She knew exactly what choice to make after a novel full of dithering. The best chapter in the novel is her conversation with Delia at the rectory (around page 260).
I suppose the kind of marital pressure from the prim and proper society in Marshington portrayed in the novel was real pre-WWI?? It was grim! I’ve read lots and lots of novels from this time period and about these types of women (Delia, Muriel): women with brains and skills and desires who were absolutely stifled in their provincial families and/or towns until they escaped in some way. This one really takes the cake though with the stifling. Plus Muriel is not a compelling character. There were glimmers of possibility in her at the very beginning and at the very end. But in the middle—couldn’t she at least have had a little charm or backbone or something?? I just read The Rector’s Daughter by F.M. Mayor in September. It has many similar themes and is set slightly earlier than this book. It is much more cohesive as a novel, though, and its main character, Mary, is a lovely person. She is timid and bound to her family home and a spinster, like Muriel, but there is something in Mary’s nature that beguiles the reader. She is another Anne Elliot with emotional depth and genuine care for others. Muriel is all empty duty; Mary’s duty was undergirded by love.
I hate feeling so mean about a book, so I do invite comment from anyone who has read this and has a different opinion about it. I’d love to hear other perspectives.
March 20, 2022
Conocía a Winifred Holtby cuando leí Distrito del Sur.
Allí me enamoré de su estilo, pausado, sencillo y envolvente, de esas descripciones de la campiña inglesa, de los sentimientos y emociones de sus personajes. Y lo mismo que entonces, cuando he terminado esta lectura me ha dado muchísima pena abandonar a los habitantes de Marshington y sus vidas.
De 1900 a 1920 compartiremos la vida con Muriel Hammond, desde que tenía 11 años. Veremos su evolución personal, una niña, una joven y una mujer que siempre se ha sentido excluida y por tanto ha vivido siempre con esa angustia.
Una Muriel seria, tímida y sin confianza en sí misma, que quería estudiar astronomía pero que el deber autoimpuesto de estar a la altura de lo que los demás consideraban adecuado logró que solo viera como único futuro el matrimonio. Pero... Eso no era tan sencillo porque nadie se fijaba en ella.
Así que Muriel vive deseosa de encajar, temerosa de decepcionar, angustiada por su miedo a herir a los demás y constantemente complaciendo a todos ."Siempre dirigida, creyendo en un carnaval extraño y rico. Pero de repente se encontrará sola en una calle abarrotada de gente sin nadie que la necesite o se preocupe de ella" . Y entonces se dará cuenta de que puede y debe responsabilizarse de su vida y ser feliz.
Una novela maravillosamente escrita, ambientada en la campiña inglesa que tan evocadora me resulta y con unos personajes secundarios sus padres, su hermana Connie, Clare Duquesne, Godfrey Neale, Delia... sumamente importantes para comprender la vida de Muriel.
Teneis que leerla es una maravilla.
Allí me enamoré de su estilo, pausado, sencillo y envolvente, de esas descripciones de la campiña inglesa, de los sentimientos y emociones de sus personajes. Y lo mismo que entonces, cuando he terminado esta lectura me ha dado muchísima pena abandonar a los habitantes de Marshington y sus vidas.
De 1900 a 1920 compartiremos la vida con Muriel Hammond, desde que tenía 11 años. Veremos su evolución personal, una niña, una joven y una mujer que siempre se ha sentido excluida y por tanto ha vivido siempre con esa angustia.
Una Muriel seria, tímida y sin confianza en sí misma, que quería estudiar astronomía pero que el deber autoimpuesto de estar a la altura de lo que los demás consideraban adecuado logró que solo viera como único futuro el matrimonio. Pero... Eso no era tan sencillo porque nadie se fijaba en ella.
Así que Muriel vive deseosa de encajar, temerosa de decepcionar, angustiada por su miedo a herir a los demás y constantemente complaciendo a todos ."Siempre dirigida, creyendo en un carnaval extraño y rico. Pero de repente se encontrará sola en una calle abarrotada de gente sin nadie que la necesite o se preocupe de ella" . Y entonces se dará cuenta de que puede y debe responsabilizarse de su vida y ser feliz.
Una novela maravillosamente escrita, ambientada en la campiña inglesa que tan evocadora me resulta y con unos personajes secundarios sus padres, su hermana Connie, Clare Duquesne, Godfrey Neale, Delia... sumamente importantes para comprender la vida de Muriel.
Teneis que leerla es una maravilla.
May 29, 2025
- Reread in August 2014 -
I finally bought a copy for myself and reread it straight away. This is one of the very very best books I've ever read. I can't tell you how much it means to me and how often I've thought about it for the past three years. I was also very touched to read my review (below) from when I first read it as I've come a long way since and have indeed fulfilled my dream of becoming a teacher, following my vision as Muriel finally realises she has to do in the book at the expense of a perhaps satisfying to some but ultimately dull relationship. This is one of those few books that can change a life, right up there with South Riding (by the same author would you believe - Winifred Holtby was a genius). Let's meet again in three years, I say, and see if it still resonates with me as beautifully as it does now.
- Original Review in 2011 -
I'd listened to the BBC radio adaptation of The Crowded Street a few years ago and thought it a really good story about the plight of girls who have been brought up thinking there isn't any life worth living without marriage. I read it then as an interesting piece of women's history in fiction form - it was vivid and beautifully written but not something that resonated with my personal life.
I've just finished reading the book now that I find myself in a situation very similar to that of Muriel, the main character, as I'm about to end the most fulfilling relationship I've had to pursue a career.
The end of the novel is particularly poignant as Muriel realizes that happiness, not marriage, should be her goal in life 'I can't be a good wife until I've learnt to be a person, and perhaps in the end I'll never be a wife at all. But it doesn't matter. The thing that matters is to take your life into your own hands and live it, following the highest vision as you see it.' I hope I too will 'have the courage to face the happiness I might have known' and follow my vision as I see it, for better or worse.
This book is really dear to me, I'm very grateful I was able to finish it at this moment of my life. In a way, I like to think that The Crowded Street closes a chapter of my life and that South Riding picks up right after. That I had Muriel's realization that one must follows one's dreams only to become Sarah, fulfilling her vision of education as a headmistress. Only time will tell.
I finally bought a copy for myself and reread it straight away. This is one of the very very best books I've ever read. I can't tell you how much it means to me and how often I've thought about it for the past three years. I was also very touched to read my review (below) from when I first read it as I've come a long way since and have indeed fulfilled my dream of becoming a teacher, following my vision as Muriel finally realises she has to do in the book at the expense of a perhaps satisfying to some but ultimately dull relationship. This is one of those few books that can change a life, right up there with South Riding (by the same author would you believe - Winifred Holtby was a genius). Let's meet again in three years, I say, and see if it still resonates with me as beautifully as it does now.
- Original Review in 2011 -
I'd listened to the BBC radio adaptation of The Crowded Street a few years ago and thought it a really good story about the plight of girls who have been brought up thinking there isn't any life worth living without marriage. I read it then as an interesting piece of women's history in fiction form - it was vivid and beautifully written but not something that resonated with my personal life.
I've just finished reading the book now that I find myself in a situation very similar to that of Muriel, the main character, as I'm about to end the most fulfilling relationship I've had to pursue a career.
The end of the novel is particularly poignant as Muriel realizes that happiness, not marriage, should be her goal in life 'I can't be a good wife until I've learnt to be a person, and perhaps in the end I'll never be a wife at all. But it doesn't matter. The thing that matters is to take your life into your own hands and live it, following the highest vision as you see it.' I hope I too will 'have the courage to face the happiness I might have known' and follow my vision as I see it, for better or worse.
This book is really dear to me, I'm very grateful I was able to finish it at this moment of my life. In a way, I like to think that The Crowded Street closes a chapter of my life and that South Riding picks up right after. That I had Muriel's realization that one must follows one's dreams only to become Sarah, fulfilling her vision of education as a headmistress. Only time will tell.
December 2, 2012
The Crowded Street is Winifred Holtby's second novel, published in 1924 when she was 26. Like her other novels, it is set in the East Riding of Yorkshire, evoking the wild moors, the stifling village of 'Marshington', and Scarborough during the time of the German bombardment of 1914. She was in Scarborough as a school girl at that time and dramatizes the episode as a moment of epiphany, and futility.
The story spans twenty years and unfolds in a prologue and five 'Books' or sections, each named for and revealing of a character important in Muriel Hammond's life: the glamorous school friend, Clare; Mrs Hammond; Muriel's younger sister, Connie; Delia, the free-thinking daughter of the vicar. The last, and shortest, section is 'Muriel'.
Muriel is hopeful, energetic, intelligent and intent on doing her duty. She is thwarted when she dares express the desire to study the stars, or develop her aptitude for mathematics. As a child, she attends a disastrous party which becomes a metaphor for her experiences of life. Social success in Marshington is judged by a girl's full dance card, and her skill in finding a suitable husband. Mrs Hammond pours her considerable energy into nurturing the right connections for her daughters. In spite of this, Muriel appears destined to stay at home and be her mother's support, a surplus woman who has failed to find a role in life. Only war and its aftermath break the suffocating bonds and allow Muriel to find a different way of being.
At a low point, after a visit to a married friend, she wonders, 'What on earth shall I do when I get home? Read? All books are the same - about beautiful girls who get married or married women who fall in love with their husbands. In books things always happen to people. Why doesn't someone write a book about someone to whom nothing ever happens - like me?' But a great deal does happen, centring on private moments, moral choices and quiet courage.
This is a fine and truthful novel, although Holtby herself was disappointed with the work, saying that there were "some good things in it." An accolade for some novels is for the reader to say that she could not put it down. I had to put this down now and then because Holtby writes so on the nerve ends that it becomes too intense to read on. I almost felt that I could take the character's pulse.
The story spans twenty years and unfolds in a prologue and five 'Books' or sections, each named for and revealing of a character important in Muriel Hammond's life: the glamorous school friend, Clare; Mrs Hammond; Muriel's younger sister, Connie; Delia, the free-thinking daughter of the vicar. The last, and shortest, section is 'Muriel'.
Muriel is hopeful, energetic, intelligent and intent on doing her duty. She is thwarted when she dares express the desire to study the stars, or develop her aptitude for mathematics. As a child, she attends a disastrous party which becomes a metaphor for her experiences of life. Social success in Marshington is judged by a girl's full dance card, and her skill in finding a suitable husband. Mrs Hammond pours her considerable energy into nurturing the right connections for her daughters. In spite of this, Muriel appears destined to stay at home and be her mother's support, a surplus woman who has failed to find a role in life. Only war and its aftermath break the suffocating bonds and allow Muriel to find a different way of being.
At a low point, after a visit to a married friend, she wonders, 'What on earth shall I do when I get home? Read? All books are the same - about beautiful girls who get married or married women who fall in love with their husbands. In books things always happen to people. Why doesn't someone write a book about someone to whom nothing ever happens - like me?' But a great deal does happen, centring on private moments, moral choices and quiet courage.
This is a fine and truthful novel, although Holtby herself was disappointed with the work, saying that there were "some good things in it." An accolade for some novels is for the reader to say that she could not put it down. I had to put this down now and then because Holtby writes so on the nerve ends that it becomes too intense to read on. I almost felt that I could take the character's pulse.
May 20, 2012
As with all Persephone books, a well-written story of the frustration and sometimes tragedy of unmarried women, or hastily married women, or even happily married women who consider the matrimonial state and the opinions of others more important than their own ideals and dreams. Muriel, the heroine of this book, finally grows into a mature woman and learns to consider herself an interesting and valuable person who has a right to happiness. I liked this book enough to order 2 more titles by this author.
April 22, 2024
¿Te has sentido alguna vez muy sola, a pesar de estar rodeada de gente? ¿Has pensado que si desaparecieras ahora mismo, nadie se daría cuenta?. Pues Muriel Hammond, la protagonista de esta novela sí se ha sentido así. En la calle abarrotada vamos a conocer a Muriel con once años y la acompañaremos hasta su vida adulta. A través de sus vivencias veremos una sociedad clasista, hipócrita y que medía el éxito de una mujer respecto al marido que pescase. Y si no pescas… pues has fracasado. Por ello los bailes no son fiestas donde disfrutar y pasarlo bien, no. Los bailes son un campo de batalla en los que se juega la reputación y la admiración de las jóvenes. Y las jóvenes que no saben jugar, acaban sentadas en un rincón esperando, esperando y esperando.
Muriel es una joven que ha jugado respetando siempre las reglas. Sin mancha, recatada, sumisa, alejada de lo pecaminoso y „turbio“. Eso es lo que se espera de ella, es su deber. Y a cambio, Muriel espera una recompensa por parte de la vida, es decir, si cumple su deber lo lógico es que fuera una buena esposa y que la vida le sonriese. ¿Pero porqué no ocurre? ¿Porqué no hay recompensa después de todos estos años de entrega a los demás? ¿Porqué cada vez tiene que renunciar a más cosas que le interesan mucho más que el matrimonio?. Mientras, a su alrededor, la vida sigue para los demás y ella siente esa soledad y ese aislamiento de todo y de todos, a pesar de estar rodeada de gente.
Una novela con una prosa que me ha cautivado, las descripciones de los bailes son bellísimas. La campiña inglesa en estado puro. La narración es muy envolvente y ha sido una delicia leerlo. El personaje de Muriel está tan bien llevado que durante casi toda la novela, quieres sacudirla para que despierte. Me ha puesto de los nervios en más de una ocasión, lo que demuestra que la autora sabe plasmar muy bien la situación opresiva de la mujer de la época.
Si visitas Marshington, ten bien a mano tu carnet de baile, y asegúrate de que esté lleno. Eso es una lucha sin cuartel.
Muriel es una joven que ha jugado respetando siempre las reglas. Sin mancha, recatada, sumisa, alejada de lo pecaminoso y „turbio“. Eso es lo que se espera de ella, es su deber. Y a cambio, Muriel espera una recompensa por parte de la vida, es decir, si cumple su deber lo lógico es que fuera una buena esposa y que la vida le sonriese. ¿Pero porqué no ocurre? ¿Porqué no hay recompensa después de todos estos años de entrega a los demás? ¿Porqué cada vez tiene que renunciar a más cosas que le interesan mucho más que el matrimonio?. Mientras, a su alrededor, la vida sigue para los demás y ella siente esa soledad y ese aislamiento de todo y de todos, a pesar de estar rodeada de gente.
Una novela con una prosa que me ha cautivado, las descripciones de los bailes son bellísimas. La campiña inglesa en estado puro. La narración es muy envolvente y ha sido una delicia leerlo. El personaje de Muriel está tan bien llevado que durante casi toda la novela, quieres sacudirla para que despierte. Me ha puesto de los nervios en más de una ocasión, lo que demuestra que la autora sabe plasmar muy bien la situación opresiva de la mujer de la época.
Si visitas Marshington, ten bien a mano tu carnet de baile, y asegúrate de que esté lleno. Eso es una lucha sin cuartel.
April 16, 2012
Like so many of Persephone's books, The Crowded Street tells of a woman whose life is constricted by the role she must play in the society of her time. Muriel Hammond's story starts at a dance in 1900, when she's in her early teens; already she feels the pressure to be attractive to boys, so that she may make a good marriage someday. Muriel is quiet and shy, yearning for a career or some way to be of service to others, but the only opportunities she's given are to marry (a chance which never seems to come her way) or to stay home and help her mother, who doesn't really need her help.
This was Holtby's second novel, and it does show some immaturity of style and plot: one section, dealing with Muriel's sister Connie, is overly melodramatic, and Muriel's final transformation is too much told and not shown. But Holtby's depiction of Muriel's plight is sympathetic to Muriel, yet biting to her family and society, and her clear wish for better opportunities for women shines through the novel.
This was Holtby's second novel, and it does show some immaturity of style and plot: one section, dealing with Muriel's sister Connie, is overly melodramatic, and Muriel's final transformation is too much told and not shown. But Holtby's depiction of Muriel's plight is sympathetic to Muriel, yet biting to her family and society, and her clear wish for better opportunities for women shines through the novel.
June 27, 2018
I loved the beginning of this Persephone novel with its deft portrayal of Muriel’s childish excitement about going to a party and her social naïveté. While the author goes on to tell an interesting (and sometimes sad) story of how Muriel and her sister try to find a way to happiness through the social expectations and limited options of their time, I didn’t think the writing and character development lived up to the wonderful, imaginative opening scenes.
March 3, 2020
Muriel is such a frustrating heroine, she behaves so uselessly for much of the book (that very much being the point of the novel), but the story is totally engrossing and I found myself desperately cheering Muriel on and relating to her sensitivity to life's slights and humiliations. Thank goodness for Delia and Mr Vaughn finally coming to the rescue.
Overall, it made me grateful (again) to be a woman in 2020 not 1920.
Overall, it made me grateful (again) to be a woman in 2020 not 1920.
September 9, 2014
I liked this more than her better-known South Riding, despite the melodrama of the bucolic episode!
April 22, 2022
4,5
Mi mejor lectura de 2021 fue una novela de esta autora «Distrito del Sur. Un paisaje inglés» así que cuando me enteré de que Hermida editorial publicaba otra historia suya fui de cabeza a por ella.
Antes de hacer esta reseña he estado cotilleando por Goodreads y Babelio opiniones y me gustaría aclarar algo: las novelas de esta autora no son novelas románticas, tampoco son libros trepidantes y llenos de aventuras, son historias para leer con calma y saborearlas con tranquilidad, te trasladan de lleno a la época y a veces no pasa nada solo estás viviendo el día a día de la protagonista. Es un estilo similar a Louisa May Alcott (autora de «Mujercitas»). A mí este estilo de novelas me fascinan.
Dicho esto, si no conocíais a esta autora y os llama la atención, os recomiendo por empezar con este para que veáis si su estilo os convence o no, es una novela mucho más corta que «Distrito del Sur».
La novela se compone de cinco libros y coinciden más o menos con un personaje secundario, aunque a lo largo de todo el libro iremos acompañados de Muriel, la protagonista. Conoceremos a Muriel a la tierna edad de once años, es una muchacha tímida y obediente, solo busca no decepcionar a su madre y no ser el centro de atención. A lo largo de los años (de 1900 hasta 1920) veremos cómo la muchacha es apartada en los eventos sociales, como si de un fantasma se tratara, le cuesta relacionarse y eso le pasa factura. Es educada, tranquila e inteligente.
Cuando un niño de su edad le presta algo de interés, ella no puede evitar ver un rayo de luz, y durante años coloca al joven en un pedestal, ella suspira por reencontrarse con él y por conseguir que se fije en ella. Sus deseos se ven cumplidos y coinciden en varios eventos, aunque la cosa no avanza como a ella le gustaría. Para ella, el chico está en otro nivel, fantasea en su cabeza con su futura relación, creando unas expectativas altísimas e imaginándose cómo es él en realidad.
La muchacha ve en silencio cómo él va haciendo su vida, mientras Muriel espera su turno. No obstante, Muriel va conociendo personas a lo largo de esta interminable espera, mujeres que no se parecen en nada a ella: decididas, descaradas y con carácter; ellas atraen a los hombres y saben desenvolverse con desparpajo. Actúan como confidentes de Muriel y la ayudan a encontrarse a sí misma, con sus consejos ayudan a que la joven madure y busque su camino; aunque algunas acaben por decepcionar a la protagonista.
Con el paso del tiempo, veremos una evolución bestial en Muriel, y como vamos acompañados de ella en todo momento sabremos el significado de cada cambio, de cada toma de decisión. Y nos llevará por distintos lugares hasta que Muriel encuentra por fin su destino. Al final no somos lo que tenemos ni con quién estamos, lo importante es estar bien con uno mismo. Nuestro camino no depende de nada ni de nadie.
Una novela exquisita, si no conocéis a esta autora solo os puedo animar a que le deis una oportunidad.
Mi mejor lectura de 2021 fue una novela de esta autora «Distrito del Sur. Un paisaje inglés» así que cuando me enteré de que Hermida editorial publicaba otra historia suya fui de cabeza a por ella.
Antes de hacer esta reseña he estado cotilleando por Goodreads y Babelio opiniones y me gustaría aclarar algo: las novelas de esta autora no son novelas románticas, tampoco son libros trepidantes y llenos de aventuras, son historias para leer con calma y saborearlas con tranquilidad, te trasladan de lleno a la época y a veces no pasa nada solo estás viviendo el día a día de la protagonista. Es un estilo similar a Louisa May Alcott (autora de «Mujercitas»). A mí este estilo de novelas me fascinan.
Dicho esto, si no conocíais a esta autora y os llama la atención, os recomiendo por empezar con este para que veáis si su estilo os convence o no, es una novela mucho más corta que «Distrito del Sur».
La novela se compone de cinco libros y coinciden más o menos con un personaje secundario, aunque a lo largo de todo el libro iremos acompañados de Muriel, la protagonista. Conoceremos a Muriel a la tierna edad de once años, es una muchacha tímida y obediente, solo busca no decepcionar a su madre y no ser el centro de atención. A lo largo de los años (de 1900 hasta 1920) veremos cómo la muchacha es apartada en los eventos sociales, como si de un fantasma se tratara, le cuesta relacionarse y eso le pasa factura. Es educada, tranquila e inteligente.
Cuando un niño de su edad le presta algo de interés, ella no puede evitar ver un rayo de luz, y durante años coloca al joven en un pedestal, ella suspira por reencontrarse con él y por conseguir que se fije en ella. Sus deseos se ven cumplidos y coinciden en varios eventos, aunque la cosa no avanza como a ella le gustaría. Para ella, el chico está en otro nivel, fantasea en su cabeza con su futura relación, creando unas expectativas altísimas e imaginándose cómo es él en realidad.
La muchacha ve en silencio cómo él va haciendo su vida, mientras Muriel espera su turno. No obstante, Muriel va conociendo personas a lo largo de esta interminable espera, mujeres que no se parecen en nada a ella: decididas, descaradas y con carácter; ellas atraen a los hombres y saben desenvolverse con desparpajo. Actúan como confidentes de Muriel y la ayudan a encontrarse a sí misma, con sus consejos ayudan a que la joven madure y busque su camino; aunque algunas acaben por decepcionar a la protagonista.
Con el paso del tiempo, veremos una evolución bestial en Muriel, y como vamos acompañados de ella en todo momento sabremos el significado de cada cambio, de cada toma de decisión. Y nos llevará por distintos lugares hasta que Muriel encuentra por fin su destino. Al final no somos lo que tenemos ni con quién estamos, lo importante es estar bien con uno mismo. Nuestro camino no depende de nada ni de nadie.
Una novela exquisita, si no conocéis a esta autora solo os puedo animar a que le deis una oportunidad.
August 28, 2017
Reading this book was such a relief. Isn't it a wonderful thing about books, that they can take place 100 years ago and yet still feel like a strangely comforting answer to questions you're struggling with today?
The Crowded Street covers 20 years of Muriel's life, from 9 to 29. We meet her first as a shy young girl, nervous but excited to go away to school and learn maths and astronomy. But - it's the 1900s, and that's not the reality. Whilst one girl in her village, Delia, goes away to Cambridge University, all the other girls are expected to stay and find a nice boy to marry. Muriel's plagued by the lack of love in her life - she loses her ambitions and her drive through a series of events. World War One happens here at some point, barely noticeable,coming 'to Marshington with the bewildering irrelevance of all great catastrophes'. By the end, Muriel is vaguely involved in something political, is mostly indepedent - and has rejected a proposal!
And it's weird, because 100 years later, I feel like things should have changed - and they have, a little. No one's expecting me to get married, but everyone is expecting me to have a serious boyfriend, and to consider limiting myself in some capacities for this hypothetical boyfriend. ("Don't study so far away, what if you meet a nice boy this year and you have to go long distance, or break things up?") It's a comfort, to read stories like this. It's a largely autobiographical novel based on Holtby's experiences, and it's not exactly a joy to read. The last line is so depressing. It takes Muriel almost the entire book to get her arse in gear. But it's still so lovely to see women who become independent - and remain single.
It still feels so weirdly uncommon in literature, even though it's everywhere in life.
The Crowded Street covers 20 years of Muriel's life, from 9 to 29. We meet her first as a shy young girl, nervous but excited to go away to school and learn maths and astronomy. But - it's the 1900s, and that's not the reality. Whilst one girl in her village, Delia, goes away to Cambridge University, all the other girls are expected to stay and find a nice boy to marry. Muriel's plagued by the lack of love in her life - she loses her ambitions and her drive through a series of events. World War One happens here at some point, barely noticeable,coming 'to Marshington with the bewildering irrelevance of all great catastrophes'. By the end, Muriel is vaguely involved in something political, is mostly indepedent - and has rejected a proposal!
And it's weird, because 100 years later, I feel like things should have changed - and they have, a little. No one's expecting me to get married, but everyone is expecting me to have a serious boyfriend, and to consider limiting myself in some capacities for this hypothetical boyfriend. ("Don't study so far away, what if you meet a nice boy this year and you have to go long distance, or break things up?") It's a comfort, to read stories like this. It's a largely autobiographical novel based on Holtby's experiences, and it's not exactly a joy to read. The last line is so depressing. It takes Muriel almost the entire book to get her arse in gear. But it's still so lovely to see women who become independent - and remain single.
It still feels so weirdly uncommon in literature, even though it's everywhere in life.
Read
May 22, 2018I read this as a follow-up to Vera Brittain's THE DARK TIDE and was interested to find a very Vera-like character in Muriel's friend (frenemy? employer?), Delia.
The book could be stressful to read at times, but I found the ending quite perfect (and such a relief!).
I so passionately wish the BBC radio serialization was available on CD or for download. I'm linking Rohan Maitzen's discussion of the book for future reference.
So that's two Holtby novels down and only four to go. I must pace myself!
The book could be stressful to read at times, but I found the ending quite perfect (and such a relief!).
I so passionately wish the BBC radio serialization was available on CD or for download. I'm linking Rohan Maitzen's discussion of the book for future reference.
So that's two Holtby novels down and only four to go. I must pace myself!
June 27, 2014
From BBC Radio 4 Extra:
Dramatisation of Winifred Holtby's novel about Muriel Hammond's journey to womanhood and independence
Dramatisation of Winifred Holtby's novel about Muriel Hammond's journey to womanhood and independence
May 3, 2021
Sometimes frustrating and sad, but surprisingly satisfying.
January 23, 2019
Just loved this book. The more I read of Winifred Holtby the more I love her work. The descriptions of East Yorkshire life, the full bodied and real characters - flawed in their own ways, but never judged through the writing. It's all for you to make your own mind up about. This one starts... oh, I think it was 1906 or something and finishes in the 1920s, and is about the lives of women. Or perhaps the existence of women, because their goals in life are to get married and have children, keep a comfortable home for the husband and play the polite social politics game of looking good in front of the neighbours and improving chances of their children getting married. It's all about worrying about what other people think of you and not causing a fuss.
Except life doesn't work out like that. Sometimes bad things happen, such as World War One, which kill off some women's men so that they will never marry. But even without disasters, sometimes it just doesn't happen. And what then? What is the point of the woman? Has she become an utter failure for it?
The story follows several women through this period of time, from Mrs Hammond, who is oh so good at this political manouvering in polite society and fixing problems to her benefit. But in the way she ends up stifling her daughters, forcing Connie in to a marriage she doesn't want (with tragic repercussions), and Muriel into staying at home for 'mother's sake' and just being this depressed shadow. It's so sad how Muriel is being stopped and repressed right from the word go (she tells her school teacher she'd like to learn about astronomy, and basically told girls don't do such things. So she switches off that part of herself) and because this is the society they're all living in, why question the mantra that you must do as everyone else wishes? It's only towards the end of the book, when she's finally moved away from her mother and is starting to grow up completely, that she has an ephiany and in her own words: "I can't be a good wife until I've learned to be a person" said Muriel, "and perhaps in the end I'll never be a wife at all." (p.270). And yes, she's sometimes so awkward and passive and shy, but I can relate to that as I've been lacking in gumption myself at times... but here's the thing. Have any of us been born perfect? We are all in development, and to become the finished article at age 20 doesn't say much about your ultimate potential, does it? So I loved growing up with Muriel through this book.
Her sister Connie has gumption and spark, but her outcome is so sad. I just started my Winifred Holtby course today and heard that what happened to Connie was based on Winifred's own sister... so I am going to have to try and find out more about that. And then there's wonderful Delia, the vicar's daughter, who is outspoken and inconsiderate of other's feelings, yet she is the saviour of Muriel in the end. And what about Godfrey, who throughout the book is set up as the hero to sweep Muriel off her feet at the very end... and man, how I loved the end!
Except life doesn't work out like that. Sometimes bad things happen, such as World War One, which kill off some women's men so that they will never marry. But even without disasters, sometimes it just doesn't happen. And what then? What is the point of the woman? Has she become an utter failure for it?
The story follows several women through this period of time, from Mrs Hammond, who is oh so good at this political manouvering in polite society and fixing problems to her benefit. But in the way she ends up stifling her daughters, forcing Connie in to a marriage she doesn't want (with tragic repercussions), and Muriel into staying at home for 'mother's sake' and just being this depressed shadow. It's so sad how Muriel is being stopped and repressed right from the word go (she tells her school teacher she'd like to learn about astronomy, and basically told girls don't do such things. So she switches off that part of herself) and because this is the society they're all living in, why question the mantra that you must do as everyone else wishes? It's only towards the end of the book, when she's finally moved away from her mother and is starting to grow up completely, that she has an ephiany and in her own words: "I can't be a good wife until I've learned to be a person" said Muriel, "and perhaps in the end I'll never be a wife at all." (p.270). And yes, she's sometimes so awkward and passive and shy, but I can relate to that as I've been lacking in gumption myself at times... but here's the thing. Have any of us been born perfect? We are all in development, and to become the finished article at age 20 doesn't say much about your ultimate potential, does it? So I loved growing up with Muriel through this book.
Her sister Connie has gumption and spark, but her outcome is so sad. I just started my Winifred Holtby course today and heard that what happened to Connie was based on Winifred's own sister... so I am going to have to try and find out more about that. And then there's wonderful Delia, the vicar's daughter, who is outspoken and inconsiderate of other's feelings, yet she is the saviour of Muriel in the end. And what about Godfrey, who throughout the book is set up as the hero to sweep Muriel off her feet at the very end... and man, how I loved the end!
September 6, 2019
This was the second of Winifred Holtby’s books I read, after her most famous work, South Riding. I would say I preferred the latter on the whole, but I still very much enjoyed The Crowded Street. It had all of the aspects I really like about Holtby’s work, including the thoughtfully drawn female protagonists.
The novel tells the story of Muriel Hammond, a young woman in the early 1900s who isn’t allowed to work and lives with parents, unable to secure a husband.
What I really liked about this book was how quickly it went by while still giving us quite a detailed look into different stages of Muriel’s life. It’s told in multiple parts, all of which are assigned to different women who play prominent roles in Muriel’s tale (including Muriel, herself). But even when the story shifts to another woman - such as Muriel’s sister, Connie - we are still well-informed about how everything coming to pass affects Muriel.
We get to see Muriel over the course of quite a few years, including throughout World War I. Holtby illustrates her waning and waxing familial, friendly, and romantic relationships. Oftentimes, Muriel feels stagnant and lost, and she can’t seem to leap far enough to make any full change to her situation.
But at the heart of the story are the feelings and thoughts of a young woman who’s trying to figure out where she fits.
Holtby does an excellent job shaping Muriel and giving the reader a thorough view of who this character is. It’s a well-written, quick read. The style very much matched that of South Riding, and I would easily recommend The Crowded Street to anyone who thinks it could be of interest to them.
The novel tells the story of Muriel Hammond, a young woman in the early 1900s who isn’t allowed to work and lives with parents, unable to secure a husband.
What I really liked about this book was how quickly it went by while still giving us quite a detailed look into different stages of Muriel’s life. It’s told in multiple parts, all of which are assigned to different women who play prominent roles in Muriel’s tale (including Muriel, herself). But even when the story shifts to another woman - such as Muriel’s sister, Connie - we are still well-informed about how everything coming to pass affects Muriel.
We get to see Muriel over the course of quite a few years, including throughout World War I. Holtby illustrates her waning and waxing familial, friendly, and romantic relationships. Oftentimes, Muriel feels stagnant and lost, and she can’t seem to leap far enough to make any full change to her situation.
But at the heart of the story are the feelings and thoughts of a young woman who’s trying to figure out where she fits.
Holtby does an excellent job shaping Muriel and giving the reader a thorough view of who this character is. It’s a well-written, quick read. The style very much matched that of South Riding, and I would easily recommend The Crowded Street to anyone who thinks it could be of interest to them.
March 19, 2022
La protagonista es Muriel Hammond, una jóven de la burguesía rural inglesa, tímida y poco agraciada que sueña con convertirse en matemática o astrónoma. Pero que debido a las ideas clasistas de la época su única ambición es casarse y contraer un matrimonio respetable, económicamente sólido y socialmente correcto.
Ése será el objetivo principal de su vida. Viéndose obligada a olvidarse de sus sueños e ilusiones. Todo ésto cambiará cuando Delia, una amiga militante feminista le revelará que lo verdaderamente importante de la vida, es vivirla.
Este libro muestra la verguenza que sentían las mujeres cuando no conseguían un "buen matrimonio" O cuando no conseguían pareja de baile en una fiesta, haciéndolas sentir fracasadas. El sentimiento de culpabilidad y el de no estar a la altura de las expectativas.
El libro está muy bien estructurado, con una narración sencilla. Y los personajes están muy bien desarrollados.
Me ha encantado la lucha por encontrarse a sí misma. Y como finalmente se enfrenta con valor y valentía a su nueva vida. Dónde deja atrás la culpabilidad por haber aceptado las "normas" y no luchar por cambiarlas.
Esta novela fue publicada en 1924. La autora, periodista socialista, pacifista y militante de un grupo feminista era gran amiga de la también escritora Vera Brittain (testamento de juventud) en quien, según dicen, se inspiró para el personaje de Delia.
Ése será el objetivo principal de su vida. Viéndose obligada a olvidarse de sus sueños e ilusiones. Todo ésto cambiará cuando Delia, una amiga militante feminista le revelará que lo verdaderamente importante de la vida, es vivirla.
Este libro muestra la verguenza que sentían las mujeres cuando no conseguían un "buen matrimonio" O cuando no conseguían pareja de baile en una fiesta, haciéndolas sentir fracasadas. El sentimiento de culpabilidad y el de no estar a la altura de las expectativas.
El libro está muy bien estructurado, con una narración sencilla. Y los personajes están muy bien desarrollados.
Me ha encantado la lucha por encontrarse a sí misma. Y como finalmente se enfrenta con valor y valentía a su nueva vida. Dónde deja atrás la culpabilidad por haber aceptado las "normas" y no luchar por cambiarlas.
Esta novela fue publicada en 1924. La autora, periodista socialista, pacifista y militante de un grupo feminista era gran amiga de la también escritora Vera Brittain (testamento de juventud) en quien, según dicen, se inspiró para el personaje de Delia.
February 8, 2024
Muriel is a quirky young lady spurred on by an ambitious mother to eventually become a good wife to a young man. I found it interesting because Muriel made friends with shallower young women and I enjoyed the contrast. I've also made friends with basic women throughout my life and they've frequently slapped their foreheads and said, "are you all there?" Same thing happened to Muriel. I love dichotomies and frequently seek out the company of those personalities that are the shallow to my deep. So, it was good to see my own character on these pages, if you take into account that we read to know ourselves. Perhaps "The Crowded Street" indicates that there are few men available to many women and we must conform to ordinary standards if we are to secure a man.
I was quite enjoying this until Holtby lost control of the plotline. She lost focus on her main character, Muriel and it splayed into all different directions, and I became bored with it. I wanted a more linear path focused on Muriel's progression from school to life, but so many other people got in the way, Clare & Godfrey and I stopped wondering, when it began to ramble, what would become of her. I tried to stay with it anyway, but at pg. 72 I've put it down. It needed more bite to it. I found much to love & learn in the earlier chapters, but it seemed that she let go of the reigns and it fizzled.
I was quite enjoying this until Holtby lost control of the plotline. She lost focus on her main character, Muriel and it splayed into all different directions, and I became bored with it. I wanted a more linear path focused on Muriel's progression from school to life, but so many other people got in the way, Clare & Godfrey and I stopped wondering, when it began to ramble, what would become of her. I tried to stay with it anyway, but at pg. 72 I've put it down. It needed more bite to it. I found much to love & learn in the earlier chapters, but it seemed that she let go of the reigns and it fizzled.
Read
August 27, 2007OK, I'm cheating a little here, as I've just listened to it serialised on BBC radio 4 while doing artwork.
It's set in small town Yorkshire pre World War one, and it's a very English tale about respectability, Changing times, Feminism and it's effects largely on a Mother and her two daughters.
It also deals with longing and the illusions of love, which change little it seems to me.
Suprisingly enjoyable, the great thing about these BBC radio 4 things is that you cah "try them out" as they are only 15 minutes a day. This one left me wanting more.
I missed one installment, so I don't know what went wrong with Clair Du Quesne's marriage in South America.
If anyone out there can tell me, the tale will be complete. Thanks.
It's set in small town Yorkshire pre World War one, and it's a very English tale about respectability, Changing times, Feminism and it's effects largely on a Mother and her two daughters.
It also deals with longing and the illusions of love, which change little it seems to me.
Suprisingly enjoyable, the great thing about these BBC radio 4 things is that you cah "try them out" as they are only 15 minutes a day. This one left me wanting more.
I missed one installment, so I don't know what went wrong with Clair Du Quesne's marriage in South America.
If anyone out there can tell me, the tale will be complete. Thanks.
August 23, 2018
3.5 Stars
While I liked this novel, I didn’t love it. It’s a perfectly enjoyable story of Muriel, a young girl struggling to find her place within the confines of a restrictive Edwardian society in a small Yorkshire village, a world where marriage seems to be the only option available to ladies of her class. That said, it lacks some of the bite of other stories I’ve been reading lately, particularly those by women writers from the mid-20th century, a favourite period of literature for me.
To read the rest of my thoughts, please click here:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2018...
While I liked this novel, I didn’t love it. It’s a perfectly enjoyable story of Muriel, a young girl struggling to find her place within the confines of a restrictive Edwardian society in a small Yorkshire village, a world where marriage seems to be the only option available to ladies of her class. That said, it lacks some of the bite of other stories I’ve been reading lately, particularly those by women writers from the mid-20th century, a favourite period of literature for me.
To read the rest of my thoughts, please click here:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2018...
May 6, 2021
Some may call this dated. Some may call this feminist political hogwash. Some may call this heroine worship gone mad. Some may call this luke warm gay literature. Some may call this principaled idealism. I call it 3.5 and food for thought, especially after reading about Surplus Women. I get it but I also think there is an awful lot of it and it wanders about all over the place to get it's message across. Having said that, I did read it and finish it. I did enjoy the characters and sense of place and story development. Great literature it ain't but story with heart and a message - oh yes it is. A great book for discussion.
Toast
Toast
May 4, 2022
I did not have any fellow-feeling for anyone in this book. Perhaps because I am lucky and never had to face a life like Muriel's? I found parallels to "Alas Poor Lady" which I read a week or two before I picked up this one. I wanted to scream at times for these poor deluded bored women, and then I just plodded on to get it over with. Hate giving a Persephone just 2 stars, but, well, not everything can be perfect.
March 6, 2014
A lovely read
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 20, 2019
I loved the ending of this book!
December 30, 2023
This is Winifred Holtby’s 2nd novel written at age 26 in 1924. It is the tale of a young girl named Muriel Hammond as she grows up on the Yorkshire town of Marshington from the age of 11 in 1900 until she’s 31 in 1920. Muriel is fairly intelligent with some skills but one of which is not self-confidence.
The story is about Muriel’s development into the woman she becomes at 31. Muriel is pigeon-holed into a future as a housewife by society and her socially ambitious blueblood born mother. The story details how Muriel fails to achieve these goals, albeit more from her own diffidence than from defiance or societal pressures and how she eventually learns to get out of her own way and find her own goals in life and not just the ones that society and her mother have chosen for her. Her path toward self-awareness is assisted by her relations with her female peers, such as her sister Connie, her high society school friend Clare and especially her local friend, the curate’s spunky daughter Delia. Also vital is Muriel’s long-time relationship with her life-long crush, local wealthy scion Godfrey Neale.
Muriel is an especially interesting creation. My reaction to her was similar to that expressed in this passage from another Goodreads reviewer:
“At times I felt sorry for Muriel. At times I felt like shaking her and telling her to stop feeling sorry for herself and to “buck up.” At times I did not like her. I liked her at the beginning of the novel and halfway through was disliking her.”
Yet, even at moments when I either disliked her or wanted to shake her, I always empathized with Muriel.
In this story, Holtby’s major theme was a feminist one: to address how society and parents limit and impose their goals on their young women so that young woman must, by living away from home, develop their own personalities and life goals. To address this theme, Holtby made this story both a societal novel, one about the pressures and workings of early 20th Century ‘society’ in this Yorkshire town and a feminist novel, one critical of that society’s limitations on one young woman.
To tell this story, Holtby creates the high society of a town that, to me, often felt more like an early 20th century wealthy city suburb than a small Yorkshire town. The members of this society seemed more sophisticated than I expected in a 1900-1920 era Yorkshire town. Marshington High Society meets at the tennis club and holds formal dances for young women and men to mingle. Mr. Hammond escapes his family to go drink with his buddies at the club. At times I was visualizing London suburbs or Booth Tarkington’s Indianapolis and at other time visualized Arnold Bennett’s Potteries.
Despite the ambiguity for my visualization, I was still able to greatly enjoy reading about the workings of that society, especially the women leading the cultural and social structures for their young sons and daughters’ interactions and hoped-for futures. As she did with the political and educational institutions of South Riding, Holtby successfully created a dynamic and vital Marshington society for her heroine to operate in.
However, in the book’s second half, I felt that Holtby overdid the feminist theme at the expense of effective storytelling. In the very last section, Holtby wrote too many preachy and gimmicky moments while also leaving a critical step in Muriel’s character growth to occur off-stage.
Holtby is a great writer whose characterization and storytelling I admire and feel comfortable with. Her South Riding was my favorite novel 2022. Holtby’s skills had me thinking that this book, while inferior to South Riding, could also possibly be a 5-star book. But my disappointment with how Holtby closed out the story tips the scale to a 4.3-star rating rounded to 4-stars.
The story is about Muriel’s development into the woman she becomes at 31. Muriel is pigeon-holed into a future as a housewife by society and her socially ambitious blueblood born mother. The story details how Muriel fails to achieve these goals, albeit more from her own diffidence than from defiance or societal pressures and how she eventually learns to get out of her own way and find her own goals in life and not just the ones that society and her mother have chosen for her. Her path toward self-awareness is assisted by her relations with her female peers, such as her sister Connie, her high society school friend Clare and especially her local friend, the curate’s spunky daughter Delia. Also vital is Muriel’s long-time relationship with her life-long crush, local wealthy scion Godfrey Neale.
Muriel is an especially interesting creation. My reaction to her was similar to that expressed in this passage from another Goodreads reviewer:
“At times I felt sorry for Muriel. At times I felt like shaking her and telling her to stop feeling sorry for herself and to “buck up.” At times I did not like her. I liked her at the beginning of the novel and halfway through was disliking her.”
Yet, even at moments when I either disliked her or wanted to shake her, I always empathized with Muriel.
In this story, Holtby’s major theme was a feminist one: to address how society and parents limit and impose their goals on their young women so that young woman must, by living away from home, develop their own personalities and life goals. To address this theme, Holtby made this story both a societal novel, one about the pressures and workings of early 20th Century ‘society’ in this Yorkshire town and a feminist novel, one critical of that society’s limitations on one young woman.
To tell this story, Holtby creates the high society of a town that, to me, often felt more like an early 20th century wealthy city suburb than a small Yorkshire town. The members of this society seemed more sophisticated than I expected in a 1900-1920 era Yorkshire town. Marshington High Society meets at the tennis club and holds formal dances for young women and men to mingle. Mr. Hammond escapes his family to go drink with his buddies at the club. At times I was visualizing London suburbs or Booth Tarkington’s Indianapolis and at other time visualized Arnold Bennett’s Potteries.
Despite the ambiguity for my visualization, I was still able to greatly enjoy reading about the workings of that society, especially the women leading the cultural and social structures for their young sons and daughters’ interactions and hoped-for futures. As she did with the political and educational institutions of South Riding, Holtby successfully created a dynamic and vital Marshington society for her heroine to operate in.
However, in the book’s second half, I felt that Holtby overdid the feminist theme at the expense of effective storytelling. In the very last section, Holtby wrote too many preachy and gimmicky moments while also leaving a critical step in Muriel’s character growth to occur off-stage.
Holtby is a great writer whose characterization and storytelling I admire and feel comfortable with. Her South Riding was my favorite novel 2022. Holtby’s skills had me thinking that this book, while inferior to South Riding, could also possibly be a 5-star book. But my disappointment with how Holtby closed out the story tips the scale to a 4.3-star rating rounded to 4-stars.
November 1, 2023
"Only sorrow comes upon us with a sudden blow, but happiness is built from long years of small pleasant things. You can't put that into a short story."
I'm a little torn on how to rate this one. Holtby's writing is wonderful, thoughtful, and expressive, weaving effortlessly through time, from the adolescence and into the maturity of Muriel Hammond. Nearly all of the characters engage in a certain level of complexity — each has their faults and their virtues, and while they at first might seem to occupy stock roles in Muriel's life, Holtby never allows them to follow into such shallow pits.
However, as a modern reader, it's hard not to be infuriated by the social paralysis that plagues Muriel throughout this period in her life. The novel takes place over a time where opportunities and mobility were rapidly changing for women, so it's hard to understand why Muriel seems so unable to seize hold of these opportunities, or even speak up for herself at all. Tradition and lack of self-confidence certainly play a huge role in charting Muriel's course of action (or lack thereof) — I can understand that. It's the point of the whole novel, really. But that doesn't make it any less infuriating.
I kind of knew the end was coming, and while part of me suddenly wanted her to
I wouldn't say that this is up there with any of my favorite Persephones, but it's certainly gotten me interested in exploring more of Holtby's writing. Always love a little Yorkshire rep as well.
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