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Greengates
A man retires from his job but finds that never were truer words said than ‘for better, for worse but not for lunch’. His boredom, his wife’s (suppressed and confused) dismay at the quiet orderliness of her life being destroyed, their growing tension with each other, is beautifully and kindly described.
Then one day they do something they used to do more often – leave St John’s Wood and go out into the countryside for the day. And that walk changes their lives forever: they see a house for sale, decide to move there, and the nub of the book is a description of their leaving London, the move, and the new life they create for themselves.
Then one day they do something they used to do more often – leave St John’s Wood and go out into the countryside for the day. And that walk changes their lives forever: they see a house for sale, decide to move there, and the nub of the book is a description of their leaving London, the move, and the new life they create for themselves.
319 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1936
33 people are currently reading
1057 people want to read
About the author
R.C. Sherriff
25 books150 followersRobert Cedric Sherriff was an English writer best known for his play Journey's End which was based on his experiences as a Captain in World War I. He wrote several plays, novels, and screenplays, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) and two British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 143 reviews
February 12, 2023
I'm so glad to have stumbled upon this little-known gem of a novel! It was a little Conservative at times, but I can forgive that, as it WAS written in the 1930s. Whatever its politics, this is one hell of a character study, and easily one of the most charming books I've read in the past few years 📚 😀
April 2, 2022
Mr. Baldwin has decided to retire after 36 years on the job. Mrs. Baldwin was all for it until she realized what that would mean for her. He took the most comfortable chair in the parlor for his after lunch reading, depriving her of her cherished afternoon nap. He took note of every penny spent, needed to be entertained and made note of, ticked off the maid with trying to reorganize her work. As Ada, the maid, thought to herself: " They ought to take retired men in hand and teach them to do things, like they did blind people."
Poor Edie, his loyal wife, had her own realizations. "Happily as they had always lived together, she knew today more clearly than ever before that this happiness depended upon a regular, daily period of absence from each other. How could she say that his constant presence in the house was making her unhappy? That his only way of helping her would be to go out, and stay out, for eight hours a day?"
Not that Mr. Baldwin was all that happy himself. He was bored and crotchety and depressed. They decided to go to the country and take a nature walk one day to get out of the house, and through a series of events, without meaning to at all, ended up having a house built for them in a new development, selling their house in London, auctioning off all their old furniture, and creating a new life for themselves. This is the story of how that happened, and why, and what a difference it made. Gently told, with gentle humor, but with perfect pitch and just enough suspense in everyday details to keep you holding your breath.
As is usually the case with these books by Persephone Press, I loved the story, loved the characters, and enjoyed my time with them.
Poor Edie, his loyal wife, had her own realizations. "Happily as they had always lived together, she knew today more clearly than ever before that this happiness depended upon a regular, daily period of absence from each other. How could she say that his constant presence in the house was making her unhappy? That his only way of helping her would be to go out, and stay out, for eight hours a day?"
Not that Mr. Baldwin was all that happy himself. He was bored and crotchety and depressed. They decided to go to the country and take a nature walk one day to get out of the house, and through a series of events, without meaning to at all, ended up having a house built for them in a new development, selling their house in London, auctioning off all their old furniture, and creating a new life for themselves. This is the story of how that happened, and why, and what a difference it made. Gently told, with gentle humor, but with perfect pitch and just enough suspense in everyday details to keep you holding your breath.
As is usually the case with these books by Persephone Press, I loved the story, loved the characters, and enjoyed my time with them.
December 2, 2018
Set in London in the 1930's, we meet Mr Tom Baldwin and his wife Edith.The story opens with Tom clearing away his personal belongings from his desk, where he has spent the last forty years of his life working as Chief Cashier at Temple Insurance Office.
Travelling home on the train that day with his retirement gift of a gold carriage clock, Tom starts thinking about his future and how he is going to fill his time.
After weeks of gardening and getting under his wife's feet, Tom starts getting depressed and shuts himself away from everyone.
Increasingly desperate,one day Edith suggests they both take a long walk out in the countryside and here everything changes...
I absolutely loved this adorable and very funny story and would recommend everyone read R.C.Sherriff
Travelling home on the train that day with his retirement gift of a gold carriage clock, Tom starts thinking about his future and how he is going to fill his time.
After weeks of gardening and getting under his wife's feet, Tom starts getting depressed and shuts himself away from everyone.
Increasingly desperate,one day Edith suggests they both take a long walk out in the countryside and here everything changes...
I absolutely loved this adorable and very funny story and would recommend everyone read R.C.Sherriff
March 13, 2019
R. C. Sherriff is best remembered for writing the play ‘Journey’s End’, which is a major work about life in the trenches on the Western Front that is is still studied and performed. That is probably as it should be, but his novels deserved better than to be forgotten until they were rescued by the lovely Persephone Books.
This book is a story of ordinary and unremarkable people, the plot could easily be summed up in a sentence or two, and yet it is captivating; because its wonderful insight into character makes book lives and breathes, and allows the reader to believe that the author is speaking honestly and respectfully of people that he knew well.
This story begins on Tom Baldwin’s last day of work for a city insurance company before he retires. He knew how the final hours of his working life would play out, because he had worked in the same place for a great many years, and he played along; but as he waited for his train home he couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed that nobody had thought that he was a long-serving member of staff who had been present at – and helped with – many other departures – and that maybe they might do something just a bit little different.
Mr. Baldwin felt unreasonably self-conscious standing on Broad Street platform with the clock under his arm. Although it was done up in brown paper and nobody could possibly guess what it was, he could not help feeling that a placard reading “RETIRED!” hung around his neck.’
A report in his newspaper about a man who had killed himself because he couldn’t cope with being retired was unsettling; bur Tom was quite sure that things would be different for him.
He planned to study history, and to write an accessible and engaging history of England for the reader who didn’t want to study but was interested in knowing a little more. He planned to go out and about with his wife, Edith, because there was still much they had to see, and learn, and discuss. And he planned to spend more time tending his garden, and to attend to all of the jobs around the house that he had been putting off.
It was a lovely plan, but it didn’t quite work in practice. A suburban garden only needed so much time and attention, the jobs around the house that had been put off time and time again over the years were still unappealing, and publishers made it clear that the market for popular history was already completely saturated.
Edith was supportive, and she appreciated the difficult transition that her husband was going through; but she was also rather put out by the changes to her own well-established routines that were forced by Tom’s constant presence.
Together all of the time, the couple found that they had little to tell each other, and nothing much to talk about
This was retirement as a tragedy; as a downward slope towards the end of life.
Was there an alternative?
One day Edith suggests a walk to a favourite spot in the countryside that the couple had enjoyed visiting on weekends before the war. The fresh air reinvigorated them and they chatted happily about things they were seeing and things that they remembered. They were had a lovely time, until they reached their destination and found that the lovely valley views they had been looking forward to had been spoiled by the building of a new housing estate.
‘The desolate charm of it – the wild, fragrant peace – had gone for ever: through the soft gorse field stretched broad hideous gashes of naked yellow clay, and clustering along them, like evil fungus to a fallen tree were hideous new houses – stacks of bricks – pyramids of sewage pipes – piles of white timber – mud stained lorries and sheets of hunched tarpaulin – a nightmare of perverted progress.’
They went down to take a look at the works, and to find out where they could complain about what was happening; but they found themselves being charmed by an extremely capable young salesman. He invited them to take a look around the show home, and curiosity got the better of them. They were captivated by the clean, modern lines of the house and its modern conveniences, they loved its peaceful rural setting in an area they knew and loved, and each of them began to dream of a different life.
Back at home, they were delighted when they found that they both had the same dream. They began to look at their finances and at practicalities, and they came to think that they might be able to make that dream a reality.
That would be retirement as an exciting new chapter in life.
I found myself completely drawn into the lives of Tom and Edith Baldwin. They were ordinary people and they were so very well drawn that I found myself making comparisons with my grandparents, who I know moved from Devon to Cornwall around the time that this book was published. I saw their strengths and weaknesses, I understood their hopes and fears, and I was anxious to know what life had in store for them.
R. C. Sherriff wrote about them in a way that was beautiful and felt completely natural. I loved his turn of phrase, and I loved the way he caught domestic details and made me understand exactly what life in suburbia was like for the Baldwins, and what a new home and a different life could mean.
This is first and foremost a human drama, exploring the disappointments that can pull a life down and the delights than can pull it back up; but it is also a record of a time when ideas of how people might live were changing, exploring what that change might mean for ordinary men and women.
I was captivated and I only wished that the story could have gone on for longer, that I might have seen more of the minutiae of life in suburbia and life in the country.
The final chapter – a different perspective from some point in the future – didn’t quite work for me, but that was a small disappointment.
I loved the people I met, and I loved the book as a whole.
This book is a story of ordinary and unremarkable people, the plot could easily be summed up in a sentence or two, and yet it is captivating; because its wonderful insight into character makes book lives and breathes, and allows the reader to believe that the author is speaking honestly and respectfully of people that he knew well.
This story begins on Tom Baldwin’s last day of work for a city insurance company before he retires. He knew how the final hours of his working life would play out, because he had worked in the same place for a great many years, and he played along; but as he waited for his train home he couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed that nobody had thought that he was a long-serving member of staff who had been present at – and helped with – many other departures – and that maybe they might do something just a bit little different.
Mr. Baldwin felt unreasonably self-conscious standing on Broad Street platform with the clock under his arm. Although it was done up in brown paper and nobody could possibly guess what it was, he could not help feeling that a placard reading “RETIRED!” hung around his neck.’
A report in his newspaper about a man who had killed himself because he couldn’t cope with being retired was unsettling; bur Tom was quite sure that things would be different for him.
He planned to study history, and to write an accessible and engaging history of England for the reader who didn’t want to study but was interested in knowing a little more. He planned to go out and about with his wife, Edith, because there was still much they had to see, and learn, and discuss. And he planned to spend more time tending his garden, and to attend to all of the jobs around the house that he had been putting off.
It was a lovely plan, but it didn’t quite work in practice. A suburban garden only needed so much time and attention, the jobs around the house that had been put off time and time again over the years were still unappealing, and publishers made it clear that the market for popular history was already completely saturated.
Edith was supportive, and she appreciated the difficult transition that her husband was going through; but she was also rather put out by the changes to her own well-established routines that were forced by Tom’s constant presence.
Together all of the time, the couple found that they had little to tell each other, and nothing much to talk about
This was retirement as a tragedy; as a downward slope towards the end of life.
Was there an alternative?
One day Edith suggests a walk to a favourite spot in the countryside that the couple had enjoyed visiting on weekends before the war. The fresh air reinvigorated them and they chatted happily about things they were seeing and things that they remembered. They were had a lovely time, until they reached their destination and found that the lovely valley views they had been looking forward to had been spoiled by the building of a new housing estate.
‘The desolate charm of it – the wild, fragrant peace – had gone for ever: through the soft gorse field stretched broad hideous gashes of naked yellow clay, and clustering along them, like evil fungus to a fallen tree were hideous new houses – stacks of bricks – pyramids of sewage pipes – piles of white timber – mud stained lorries and sheets of hunched tarpaulin – a nightmare of perverted progress.’
They went down to take a look at the works, and to find out where they could complain about what was happening; but they found themselves being charmed by an extremely capable young salesman. He invited them to take a look around the show home, and curiosity got the better of them. They were captivated by the clean, modern lines of the house and its modern conveniences, they loved its peaceful rural setting in an area they knew and loved, and each of them began to dream of a different life.
Back at home, they were delighted when they found that they both had the same dream. They began to look at their finances and at practicalities, and they came to think that they might be able to make that dream a reality.
That would be retirement as an exciting new chapter in life.
I found myself completely drawn into the lives of Tom and Edith Baldwin. They were ordinary people and they were so very well drawn that I found myself making comparisons with my grandparents, who I know moved from Devon to Cornwall around the time that this book was published. I saw their strengths and weaknesses, I understood their hopes and fears, and I was anxious to know what life had in store for them.
R. C. Sherriff wrote about them in a way that was beautiful and felt completely natural. I loved his turn of phrase, and I loved the way he caught domestic details and made me understand exactly what life in suburbia was like for the Baldwins, and what a new home and a different life could mean.
This is first and foremost a human drama, exploring the disappointments that can pull a life down and the delights than can pull it back up; but it is also a record of a time when ideas of how people might live were changing, exploring what that change might mean for ordinary men and women.
I was captivated and I only wished that the story could have gone on for longer, that I might have seen more of the minutiae of life in suburbia and life in the country.
The final chapter – a different perspective from some point in the future – didn’t quite work for me, but that was a small disappointment.
I loved the people I met, and I loved the book as a whole.
May 30, 2024
I've yet to read a book by Sherriff that I didn't enjoy; sadly, I've come to the end of the novels published by Persephone Books.
February 23, 2022
Why does it have to be, that an author like this is a) almost completely forgotten and disregarded nowadays and b) has written so few of these wonderful books?
I first met R.C. Sherriff's work in 'A Fortnight in September' and it has fast become one of my favourite books ever. Sherriff has a knack of writing about nothing in particular, but making all his characters so wonderful and interesting that you can't help but fall in love with his writing style. He also writes in an incredibly relatable way and after now having read two of his books I feel like I understand how he was as a person and that if we had ever met I am sure we would've had a connection.
'Greengates' is one I have been desperate to read and I wasn't disappointed. I alternated between rushing through it because I was loving it so much and also trying my hardest to read it slowly so as to appreciate all of the wonderful nostalgia that the book was enveloping me in.
The story is yet again simple - we follow a man named Mr Baldwin on his last day working in his office in London before retiring and then his subsequent battle with trying to keep himself motivated and busy when he is then at home in the coming months. His wife Edith is in equal measures happy and frustrated that her husband is now at home all day long disturbing her routine and her peace, and they are soon clashing over almost everything that could possibly be made into an argument. Finally, Edith decides that she is going to go doolally if her husband doesn't have a slight change of scene, so she suggests that they go for a walk to one of their favourite haunts from before the war to take in the countryside and stop off at a teashop they always visited. However, they are amazed and heartbroken to see that the unspoilt land has now got the makings of a new and entirely modernised estate. But then something amazing happens - I won't spoil it, but it changes both of their lives for the better.
It's just such a poignant and gentle story. And shows the melancholic side of people retiring and not knowing how to fill their time or even wondering if they even have a purpose anymore. Mr Baldwin is definitely a flawed man (all Sherriff's characters are to a degree) but this is what makes him human, and this in turn makes me love him. There is a slight bittersweet element to this story, highlighting the very real fear many face that when they retire there is nothing left to look forward to, and the slow ascent closer to your last day on this earth. But I found myself crying at the end of this story with happy tears and relief that however old you might be, there is a possibility that things can get better, and that the twilight years of retirement can actually be the best years of your life, if you'll let them.
I first met R.C. Sherriff's work in 'A Fortnight in September' and it has fast become one of my favourite books ever. Sherriff has a knack of writing about nothing in particular, but making all his characters so wonderful and interesting that you can't help but fall in love with his writing style. He also writes in an incredibly relatable way and after now having read two of his books I feel like I understand how he was as a person and that if we had ever met I am sure we would've had a connection.
'Greengates' is one I have been desperate to read and I wasn't disappointed. I alternated between rushing through it because I was loving it so much and also trying my hardest to read it slowly so as to appreciate all of the wonderful nostalgia that the book was enveloping me in.
The story is yet again simple - we follow a man named Mr Baldwin on his last day working in his office in London before retiring and then his subsequent battle with trying to keep himself motivated and busy when he is then at home in the coming months. His wife Edith is in equal measures happy and frustrated that her husband is now at home all day long disturbing her routine and her peace, and they are soon clashing over almost everything that could possibly be made into an argument. Finally, Edith decides that she is going to go doolally if her husband doesn't have a slight change of scene, so she suggests that they go for a walk to one of their favourite haunts from before the war to take in the countryside and stop off at a teashop they always visited. However, they are amazed and heartbroken to see that the unspoilt land has now got the makings of a new and entirely modernised estate. But then something amazing happens - I won't spoil it, but it changes both of their lives for the better.
It's just such a poignant and gentle story. And shows the melancholic side of people retiring and not knowing how to fill their time or even wondering if they even have a purpose anymore. Mr Baldwin is definitely a flawed man (all Sherriff's characters are to a degree) but this is what makes him human, and this in turn makes me love him. There is a slight bittersweet element to this story, highlighting the very real fear many face that when they retire there is nothing left to look forward to, and the slow ascent closer to your last day on this earth. But I found myself crying at the end of this story with happy tears and relief that however old you might be, there is a possibility that things can get better, and that the twilight years of retirement can actually be the best years of your life, if you'll let them.
February 28, 2017
When Mr. Baldwin retires from his position as an insurance clerk, he looks forward to filling his leisure time with gardening and history, while his wife Edith expects that he will fit into her daily routine with ease. But boredom sets in, and their orderly lifestyle is upended by the growing tension between them as they struggle to adapt to their new circumstances. Then one day, they take a walk, and find a dream house where they least expected it.
In addition to being a beautifully delineated character study, Greengates also sheds light on its time and place, 1920s Britain, when many people left the city to take up a new suburban existence. As in The Fortnight in September, Sherriff excels at the small details which create the characters, setting, and situation. The style is simple, yet held my attention as I grew to know Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin and sympathize with their plight.
This is a very worthy addition to the Persephone line, and I hope they continue to reprint Sherriff. (Ooh, they've also done The Hopkins Manuscript, so I guess I'll have to get that soon.)
In addition to being a beautifully delineated character study, Greengates also sheds light on its time and place, 1920s Britain, when many people left the city to take up a new suburban existence. As in The Fortnight in September, Sherriff excels at the small details which create the characters, setting, and situation. The style is simple, yet held my attention as I grew to know Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin and sympathize with their plight.
This is a very worthy addition to the Persephone line, and I hope they continue to reprint Sherriff. (Ooh, they've also done The Hopkins Manuscript, so I guess I'll have to get that soon.)
April 24, 2019
This book as so much fun! Those of us who are retired can really appreciate the humor and honesty of this story of Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin and their adjustments to retirement.
April 12, 2025
What a delightful book, I'm so glad I found it. The central drama will be familiar to most midlife people or ones at the age of retirement but the telling was so engaging that I would have loved to read more chapters.
December 14, 2018
In this 1936 novel, Mr Baldwin starts retirement from his London bank job with high hopes, but he runs into assorted challenges, and his wife Edith and the elderly maid Ada find their own challenges with having him home 24/7. Mr. Sherriff nails everyday details and feelings with precision and often with humor, such as the sad fate of the “purple shape”, so I enjoyed most of the story, but towards the end, the plot took a twist which showed a snobbier side of Mr Baldwin (and the author), and I lost interest. (BTW, since three pages of the preface are spent summarizing the story, I recommend reading the preface last.)
March 24, 2023
Liever "Twee weken weg" dan "Een tweede leven"...
July 8, 2021
Well-written and enjoyable story about a man who retires and becomes isolated and morose and drives his wife batty. Their lives take a turn for the better when they decide to make a major change in the form of a new house and a move to the countryside.
I have to say I was enjoying it more when it was dark and depressing because that seems more true-to-life to me. I've seen this scenario played out in my own home and it ended sadly.
Glad for the characters' good fortune of course but it did seem like a fairy tale in its way.
I have to say I was enjoying it more when it was dark and depressing because that seems more true-to-life to me. I've seen this scenario played out in my own home and it ended sadly.
Glad for the characters' good fortune of course but it did seem like a fairy tale in its way.
April 19, 2016
What a lovely story.
Tom retires and all is not as it should be.
Edith finds it difficult with Tom at home but a walk in the country soon changes all that.
They rekindle their relationship and end up moving to the country!
Tom retires and all is not as it should be.
Edith finds it difficult with Tom at home but a walk in the country soon changes all that.
They rekindle their relationship and end up moving to the country!
August 13, 2024
What a lovely story (written in 1936) about an older couple in 1930s England beginning the process of "retirement."
It starts with Mr. Baldwin's last day at his job at an insurance office, and his carrying home the "retirement clock" given to retirees. He wonders what he will do next, but decides he will make the best of it. He will start a gardening project and do research on the history of England that he loves so well, but as we all know, "the best laid plans".....
In the meantime, Mrs. Baldwin and their live-in housekeeper, Ada, have their regular schedules at home of when they do each of their chores: breakfast, making beds, shopkeepers' deliveries, run errands, make dinner, serve dinner, clean up dinner -- well, you know how it goes. But, of course, Mr. Baldwin did not know "how it goes," and his presence changes the women's whole schedule, and they don't like it ;)
So, the Baldwins must figure out how they can handle their new living arrangements. They are starting to get pretty upset with each other, and with themselves for being upset, until.... they almost literally stumble onto a new adventure -- a new house!
At this point, the story really begins with all their planning, the ups and downs of a big move after having been in the same place for so long. Will it work out? Are they making the right decision?
You'll see ;)
This is such a wonderful story, not big and dramatic, but real life with characters that feel like they could be your neighbors. And R.C. Sherriff is such a wonderful writer that he calmly takes the characters through each situation. His writing is just a joy!
This book is a little bit difficult to get ahold of, but if you enjoy this era of story and writing, you will love this one! And I highly recommend anything by R.C. Sherriff! Also, look for: The Fortnight in September and The Hopkins Manuscript.
Enjoy!!
It starts with Mr. Baldwin's last day at his job at an insurance office, and his carrying home the "retirement clock" given to retirees. He wonders what he will do next, but decides he will make the best of it. He will start a gardening project and do research on the history of England that he loves so well, but as we all know, "the best laid plans".....
In the meantime, Mrs. Baldwin and their live-in housekeeper, Ada, have their regular schedules at home of when they do each of their chores: breakfast, making beds, shopkeepers' deliveries, run errands, make dinner, serve dinner, clean up dinner -- well, you know how it goes. But, of course, Mr. Baldwin did not know "how it goes," and his presence changes the women's whole schedule, and they don't like it ;)
So, the Baldwins must figure out how they can handle their new living arrangements. They are starting to get pretty upset with each other, and with themselves for being upset, until.... they almost literally stumble onto a new adventure -- a new house!
At this point, the story really begins with all their planning, the ups and downs of a big move after having been in the same place for so long. Will it work out? Are they making the right decision?
You'll see ;)
This is such a wonderful story, not big and dramatic, but real life with characters that feel like they could be your neighbors. And R.C. Sherriff is such a wonderful writer that he calmly takes the characters through each situation. His writing is just a joy!
This book is a little bit difficult to get ahold of, but if you enjoy this era of story and writing, you will love this one! And I highly recommend anything by R.C. Sherriff! Also, look for: The Fortnight in September and The Hopkins Manuscript.
Enjoy!!
November 28, 2018
A sweet and funny meditation on the adage about retirement: “I married you for better or worse, but not for lunch.”
A conventional couple, suburban Londoners, shake up their late middle age by decamping to a new community, where the somewhat pompous man of the family is encouraged to lead a newly formed club.
And why not? “His year as Treasurer of the Acacia Tennis Club had been a golden one. He had been popular in the office and the younger men especially had shown their respect for him. Many a potentially great leader had passed through life in obscurity—because the man and the hour had never synchronised. Was this the hour?—was he the man?” Also, “He remembered how once, in an emergency, he had captained the office cricket team—how easily and smoothly he had moved his fieldsmen about—how effortless had been his duty in ushering the opposing team into the luncheon tent and seating them between his own men—“
Meanwhile, his timid wife “saw now how futile had been her vision of a cheerful, resourceful woman, encouraging a husband to face the demoralising fears of retirement. She had foreseen Tom’s battle, but she had not foreseen her own; and while his battles were clear to understand and easier to grapple with, hers were obscure—the more difficult because she must fight on lonely fields in secret.”
It all comes out well in the end, with a few chuckles along the way.
A conventional couple, suburban Londoners, shake up their late middle age by decamping to a new community, where the somewhat pompous man of the family is encouraged to lead a newly formed club.
And why not? “His year as Treasurer of the Acacia Tennis Club had been a golden one. He had been popular in the office and the younger men especially had shown their respect for him. Many a potentially great leader had passed through life in obscurity—because the man and the hour had never synchronised. Was this the hour?—was he the man?” Also, “He remembered how once, in an emergency, he had captained the office cricket team—how easily and smoothly he had moved his fieldsmen about—how effortless had been his duty in ushering the opposing team into the luncheon tent and seating them between his own men—“
Meanwhile, his timid wife “saw now how futile had been her vision of a cheerful, resourceful woman, encouraging a husband to face the demoralising fears of retirement. She had foreseen Tom’s battle, but she had not foreseen her own; and while his battles were clear to understand and easier to grapple with, hers were obscure—the more difficult because she must fight on lonely fields in secret.”
It all comes out well in the end, with a few chuckles along the way.
April 28, 2019
This is a quietly humorous domestic novel first published in 1936, set in the mid 1920's, and republished in 2015 by Persephone Books. The subject is the effect of retirement on Tom Baldwin and his wife Edith, which sounds rather dull with little plot, but is actually very entertaining in an everyman/woman type of way. The story begins on the day of Mr. Baldwin's retirement from an insurance company in London after forty-one years, where he attends a farewell office ceremony and receives a clock, no different from all the other leaving ceremonies he's attended and contributed to the gift collected from the coworkers through the years. On his train ride home an article entitled Tragedy of Retirement catches his eye, about a man who hangs himself in his garage due to his depression and loss of interest in things since his retirement. The poor man didn't have any hobbies. Mr. Baldwin resolves that this will not be his fate. The small garden in the back needed work and he did enjoy reading history. The calm flow of their lives is interrupted by Tom's presence at home, and his wife Edith tries to accommodate him with good grace, but as Tom quickly loses interest in the pitiful garden plot and his efforts at re-writing history for the layman fail, they increasingly get on each others' nerves. Tom turns into a grumpy hypochondriac and Edith, in a desperate attempt to revive his spirits, suggests a favorite climb in the countryside as an antidote. The old sights of the country walk restored some of their lost enthusiasm, but as they cleared the crest of the hill overlooking their favorite valley, they were appalled to see it torn up for a housing estate. After descending the hill for a closer inspection on the way to their favorite tearoom, a real estate agent talks them into viewing the showhouse. And their lives changed.
As someone who has retired and moved to a new location, I found the small domestic melodramas humorous and relatable. What if they committed to buy a new house, but didn't get enough from selling their old one? Their old dark heavy furniture was totally wrong for a new bright house, and they'd have to spend money for new furnishings as well. Were they throwing away their retirement security? Would life be truly better in a new location? Would they feel out-of-place with new and younger neighbors? Would they miss their old life? Were they being snookered by a developer and short changed by auctioning their furniture?
I'm a house person and always enjoy a book with a house, or houses, at the center of the story, as well as insights into how people lived and decorated their homes in the past. Here we learn that not only is there a housing boom in the 20's outside of London, but the character of houses are changing enormously, ushering in a new era in modern housing. Compared to London's dark Victorian high-ceilinged houses heated by coal burning fireplaces, with iffy lighting, basement kitchens, and dank bathrooms, the new houses were light, bright, clean, and airy, with all the mod cons including efficient central heating and hot water, built-in cupboards and closets, a half bath on the main floor (no having to go upstairs to the only bathroom), and cute windows with views of trees and countryside. There were individual houses on separate plots of land, set well back from the street, with plenty of room for a garden. It must have seemed like heaven. Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin were entranced.
In learning to take risks, Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin find new purpose and social connections. Tom Baldwin has almost a Walter Mitty side to him, with self-congratulatory aspirations well beyond his career as a clerk in an insurance office. A new neighbor fans these embers of ambition in encouraging Mr. Baldwin to lead the efforts to start a new social club. Many a potentially great leader had passed through life in obscurity - because the man and hour had never synchronized Was this the hour? - was this the man? Mr. Baldwin finds that he is not content with a pleasant life; he wants work, responsibility, and, undoubtedly, more self-importance. I was a bit disappointed in these final chapters. For one, I was shocked by a particularly vile racist comment from the new neighbor. Even though the statement was an obvious exaggeration for effect, Mr. Baldwin's reaction is amazement, not horror, and he felt it was in perfect keeping with the "free, devil-may-care life of the pioneers" of the new development, which included himself. This cost the book a star in my rating. Also we come to see that Mr. Baldwin is rather a snob, though he likes to think it's character that is important, as long as he gets to be the judge. However, his snobbishness is still humorous:
For general purposes he divided the human race into three broad categories:
a) Men who referred to their wives as 'my wife.'
b) Men who referred to them as 'the wife.'
c)Those who called them 'my old lady.'
The final chapter of the book was jarring with a first person narrator summing up ten years of the Baldwins' life and the new 'Metroland' of countryside turned suburbia. Where did this narrator come from? Who was he?
All in all, an enjoyable read. I would recommend reading the preface of the Persephone edition after completing the book because there is an entire summation of the plot. That's what I did and was glad that I had.
As someone who has retired and moved to a new location, I found the small domestic melodramas humorous and relatable. What if they committed to buy a new house, but didn't get enough from selling their old one? Their old dark heavy furniture was totally wrong for a new bright house, and they'd have to spend money for new furnishings as well. Were they throwing away their retirement security? Would life be truly better in a new location? Would they feel out-of-place with new and younger neighbors? Would they miss their old life? Were they being snookered by a developer and short changed by auctioning their furniture?
I'm a house person and always enjoy a book with a house, or houses, at the center of the story, as well as insights into how people lived and decorated their homes in the past. Here we learn that not only is there a housing boom in the 20's outside of London, but the character of houses are changing enormously, ushering in a new era in modern housing. Compared to London's dark Victorian high-ceilinged houses heated by coal burning fireplaces, with iffy lighting, basement kitchens, and dank bathrooms, the new houses were light, bright, clean, and airy, with all the mod cons including efficient central heating and hot water, built-in cupboards and closets, a half bath on the main floor (no having to go upstairs to the only bathroom), and cute windows with views of trees and countryside. There were individual houses on separate plots of land, set well back from the street, with plenty of room for a garden. It must have seemed like heaven. Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin were entranced.
In learning to take risks, Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin find new purpose and social connections. Tom Baldwin has almost a Walter Mitty side to him, with self-congratulatory aspirations well beyond his career as a clerk in an insurance office. A new neighbor fans these embers of ambition in encouraging Mr. Baldwin to lead the efforts to start a new social club. Many a potentially great leader had passed through life in obscurity - because the man and hour had never synchronized Was this the hour? - was this the man? Mr. Baldwin finds that he is not content with a pleasant life; he wants work, responsibility, and, undoubtedly, more self-importance. I was a bit disappointed in these final chapters. For one, I was shocked by a particularly vile racist comment from the new neighbor. Even though the statement was an obvious exaggeration for effect, Mr. Baldwin's reaction is amazement, not horror, and he felt it was in perfect keeping with the "free, devil-may-care life of the pioneers" of the new development, which included himself. This cost the book a star in my rating. Also we come to see that Mr. Baldwin is rather a snob, though he likes to think it's character that is important, as long as he gets to be the judge. However, his snobbishness is still humorous:
For general purposes he divided the human race into three broad categories:
a) Men who referred to their wives as 'my wife.'
b) Men who referred to them as 'the wife.'
c)Those who called them 'my old lady.'
The final chapter of the book was jarring with a first person narrator summing up ten years of the Baldwins' life and the new 'Metroland' of countryside turned suburbia. Where did this narrator come from? Who was he?
All in all, an enjoyable read. I would recommend reading the preface of the Persephone edition after completing the book because there is an entire summation of the plot. That's what I did and was glad that I had.
May 8, 2016
Greengates is the 1936 novel by R C Sherriff who before Persephone books started re-issuing his novels was probably best known for his play Journeys End.
In his novel A Fortnight in September R C Sherriff wrote about the annual two-week holiday enjoyed by countless ordinary working families. In this novel Sherriff again turns his attention to the working man in the story of Mr Baldwin and his wife. Greengates is a novel about the realities of retirement; it is also a novel about houses and the homes they become. Yet this is also a novel about the dream that was persistent in the 1920’s/1930’s – the dream of a home of one’s own, a home of modern conveniences which would allow the occupants to live a happier, better life. The changes taking place in land use at this time is also highlighted – as we see the continuing urbanisation of parts of the English countryside.
The setting is 1925; and the novel opens on the day that Tom Baldwin retires from the insurance company where he has worked for forty-one years. On his last day at the office Mr Baldwin is allowed rather longer than usual for lunch – told not to hurry back. In the afternoon he anticipates the presentation of a clock that he has witnessed so many times before – happening to other men. He travels back home to the house called ‘Grasmere’ in Brondesbury Terrace that he shares with his wife Edith. The small cheap clock is in a box under his seat as she sits on his commuter train for the final time reading the newspaper. In the newspaper that day is an article about the ‘tragedy of retirement’ and relates the story of a man who never having adjusted to his retirement has killed himself. Tom Baldwin determines to find a purpose – to be active, to do something for which he can still gain recognition. He is, after all, still only fifty eight.
Full review: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2016/...
In his novel A Fortnight in September R C Sherriff wrote about the annual two-week holiday enjoyed by countless ordinary working families. In this novel Sherriff again turns his attention to the working man in the story of Mr Baldwin and his wife. Greengates is a novel about the realities of retirement; it is also a novel about houses and the homes they become. Yet this is also a novel about the dream that was persistent in the 1920’s/1930’s – the dream of a home of one’s own, a home of modern conveniences which would allow the occupants to live a happier, better life. The changes taking place in land use at this time is also highlighted – as we see the continuing urbanisation of parts of the English countryside.
The setting is 1925; and the novel opens on the day that Tom Baldwin retires from the insurance company where he has worked for forty-one years. On his last day at the office Mr Baldwin is allowed rather longer than usual for lunch – told not to hurry back. In the afternoon he anticipates the presentation of a clock that he has witnessed so many times before – happening to other men. He travels back home to the house called ‘Grasmere’ in Brondesbury Terrace that he shares with his wife Edith. The small cheap clock is in a box under his seat as she sits on his commuter train for the final time reading the newspaper. In the newspaper that day is an article about the ‘tragedy of retirement’ and relates the story of a man who never having adjusted to his retirement has killed himself. Tom Baldwin determines to find a purpose – to be active, to do something for which he can still gain recognition. He is, after all, still only fifty eight.
Full review: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2016/...
July 13, 2017
I had not read a Persephone book before and this came to my attention from the 'tea or Books' podcast and what a joy it was both in the physical object but also a charming and entertaining story. I'm still mulling how the very mundane subject could have been crafted what became a page turner that I rattled through in a weekend and this has to be down to the excellent writing and hence again the joy of lost classics being republished.
The story starts as Tom retires from his job as an insurance clerk in London in the early 1920's . In his 50's he imagines a life occupied with plenty but his days soon drift and he lacks purpose to the frustration of his wife Edith (albeit she may be frustrated by losing her ability to have a nap in front of the fire in her favourite armchair). A chance country walk sees them decide to move house.
As I say a very domestic story and so long as you can slip into the mind set of the middle class in the 1920's with their servants and finances it is a fascinating look at a period. At times I did wonder about the wider world as this an era of in many areas sever post war poverty and general strikes but that didn't deflect from what I found to be a very interesting a readable book as a result of which I have now acquired Persephone Book number 1.
The story starts as Tom retires from his job as an insurance clerk in London in the early 1920's . In his 50's he imagines a life occupied with plenty but his days soon drift and he lacks purpose to the frustration of his wife Edith (albeit she may be frustrated by losing her ability to have a nap in front of the fire in her favourite armchair). A chance country walk sees them decide to move house.
As I say a very domestic story and so long as you can slip into the mind set of the middle class in the 1920's with their servants and finances it is a fascinating look at a period. At times I did wonder about the wider world as this an era of in many areas sever post war poverty and general strikes but that didn't deflect from what I found to be a very interesting a readable book as a result of which I have now acquired Persephone Book number 1.
January 24, 2017
Just a lovely, lovely novel. I was introduced to Persephone books when my mom told me about Dorothy Whipple. After devouring all of her works, I went on to read many similar domestic novels of that time period and found R.C. Sherriff. After reading A Fortnight in September, I was hooked.
Greengates describes the life of one childless couple right as the husband is retiring from work in the city. The life he envisioned for himself after leaving work does not come to fruition and the couple finds themselves at odds and definitely at loose ends. A chance encounter with a real estate agent changes their focus and gives them something to aspire to.
At times, I was almost having a panic attack thinking these people were the biggest fools I ever read about and then I was overcome with sympathy and was cheering them on. Like the better novels of this genre, these are fantastic character studies that don't need a murder or sex or anything sensational to hook you. The beauty of the prose (and sometimes the humor!) and the love in which Sherriff describes his characters is masterful. Highly recommend.
Greengates describes the life of one childless couple right as the husband is retiring from work in the city. The life he envisioned for himself after leaving work does not come to fruition and the couple finds themselves at odds and definitely at loose ends. A chance encounter with a real estate agent changes their focus and gives them something to aspire to.
At times, I was almost having a panic attack thinking these people were the biggest fools I ever read about and then I was overcome with sympathy and was cheering them on. Like the better novels of this genre, these are fantastic character studies that don't need a murder or sex or anything sensational to hook you. The beauty of the prose (and sometimes the humor!) and the love in which Sherriff describes his characters is masterful. Highly recommend.
April 17, 2016
When Mr Baldwin retires from his job in an insurance office in the City, at the age of 58, he's sure he's on the verge of a bright new future. But he only succeeds in mooning around the house and getting in his wife's way. They argue as they never did before, and life seems more and more depressing ... until they take a trip to the country one day, and see something that will make their lives take an unexpected turn.
This is a lovely 1930s novel. R.C. Sherriff has a knack for taking humdrum characters and events that seem to contain no romance or drama, and turning them into a wonderful, involving story.
This is a lovely 1930s novel. R.C. Sherriff has a knack for taking humdrum characters and events that seem to contain no romance or drama, and turning them into a wonderful, involving story.
January 18, 2023
4+++++++++ ⭐️
First of all: Persephone books are works of art to behold.
And then the enjoyment of reading this novel about the Baldwins in their elder years and of finding their way when Mr Baldwin retires was just what I wanted to read right now.
Another beloved novel by the same author was The Fortnight in September. Highly recommend both.
*****
One small caveat about a very brief, but jarring and horrifying to me, racist conversation towards the end.
First of all: Persephone books are works of art to behold.
And then the enjoyment of reading this novel about the Baldwins in their elder years and of finding their way when Mr Baldwin retires was just what I wanted to read right now.
Another beloved novel by the same author was The Fortnight in September. Highly recommend both.
*****
One small caveat about a very brief, but jarring and horrifying to me, racist conversation towards the end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 11, 2018
Sometimes you are fortunate enough to read a book that just perfectly fits your reading needs, allowing you the perfect place to cuddle up in when you most need it. I have been lucky enough to find that in two books by R.C. Sherriff (Greengates and The Fortnight in September) both beautifully published by Persephone Books.
November 20, 2018
A quiet masterpiece! What a beautiful piece of writing. Wonderfully paced, heartfelt characters, dialogue and language is sublime and it really comments on something bigger if you want to look beyond. A giving treasure I'm so glad I found.
Toast
Toast
December 18, 2024
Londra, anni Trenta. Quella che per la maggior parte dei pendolari della City è una giornata di lavoro come tante altre, di certo non lo è per il signor Tom Baldwin: dopo oltre quarant’anni di ligio servizio presso un’agenzia di assicurazioni, è giunta l’ora del suo pensionamento. Può sgomberare la sua postazione, pensare agli ultimi saluti, ringraziare il direttore e i colleghi; un momento dal sapore dolceamaro, che inevitabilmente porta con sé pensieri malinconici. Ma durante il viaggio sul treno che per l’ultima volta lo riporterà alla quiete dei sobborghi dove vive con la devota moglie Edith, si scatena in Tom un profondo cambio di prospettiva. Se poco prima, infatti, l’uomo aveva la certezza che il pensionamento avrebbe segnato l’inizio della sua fine, una volta arrivato a destinazione è totalmente rinfrancato. La sua mente è piena di nuovi entusiasmanti progetti: finalmente avrà il tempo di dedicarsi alla casa e al giardinaggio, ma potrà anche soddisfare il suo appetito intellettuale, mettersi a studiare, realizzare il sogno di diventare uno storico e, grazie a qualche portentosa scoperta, farsi un nome tra gli esperti del settore. Una nuova vita lo aspetta! Sin dal primo giorno, però, le cose non vanno proprio come aveva immaginato. Cambiare completamente vita non è semplice, e presto se ne accorge anche la signora Baldwin, la cui quotidianità, fatta di piccole abitudini, è destinata a essere sconvolta dalla fastidiosa e costante presenza del marito...
Con Nuove abitudini, pubblicato nel 1936 e sinora inedito in Italia, R.C. Sherriff si conferma un abilissimo cantore della vita ordinaria: questo delizioso romanzo, toccante ritratto di una coppia che, dopo decenni di routine condivisa, si trova ad affrontare un cambiamento radicale, ci mostra come la banalità del quotidiano nasconda spesso le più grandi verità.
Ma che belli sono quei libri che scivolano via senza che quasi ci se ne renda conto? Quelli che ti strappano più di un sorriso e ti rimettono in pace col mondo, anche se, tutto sommato, raccontano una storia semplice e senza grandi scossoni. E forse il segreto sta proprio in quella semplicità!
Nuove abitudini è un concentrato di piacevole autenticità, iniziando da quelli che sono, in pratica, gli unici protagonisti del romanzo: Mister Baldwin e la moglie Edith.
Tom Baldwin ha lavorato per oltre quarant'anni nella City; a 58 anni è giunto per lui il momento della pensione. Ed è proprio da qui che inizia questa storia, dall'ultimo giorno di lavoro di Mr Baldwin: le ultime ore in ufficio, la scrivania da svuotare, il saluto a quelli che, in parte, sono stati i colleghi di una vita e, infine, l'ultimo viaggio in treno verso casa.
Sono tanti, durante quel viaggio, i pensieri che attraversano la mente di Mr Baldwin; cullata dallo sferragliare delle rotaie, la mente vaga, timorosa, quasi spaventata all'idea della monotonia che la attende.
Finché la ragione prendere il sopravvento e Mr Baldwin realizza che, finalmente, avrà tempo per fare tutte quelle cose che ha sempre rimandato.
È con questo spirito propositivo e battagliero che, immerso nella nebbia londinese di inizio autunno, varca il cigolante cancello di casa... ecco la prima cosa da fare, una di quelle per le quali non ha mai avuto tempo: risistemare quel vecchio cancello!
A fare le spese della nuova e costante presenza in casa di Mr Baldwin saranno Edith e Ada, la loro anziana, burbera e fedele domestica.
Dopo anni interi trascorsi in una consolidata routine fatta di piccole quanto imprescindibili abitudini, le due donne dovranno rivedere del tutto la loro organizzazione domestica.
Forse è una cosa sulla quale ci si sofferma poco, ma a "fare le spese" dei pensionamenti degli uomini siamo sempre noi donne, che, dopo anni di parziale solitudine, routine e abitudini, ci troviamo a dover mettere in discussione spazi e tempo per far posto all'ingombrante presenza di un marito noioso e annoiato!
Edith si ritroverà così a fare da arbitro ai battibecchi tra Ada e Mr Baldwin, ma, allo stesso tempo, verrà privata di quella che era la sua quotidianità: niente più pisolino in poltrona, dopo pranzo, accanto fuoco del camino, perché sarà Tom ad accomodarsi lì, niente più pranzi frugali e consumati in fretta perché Tom si aspetta ben altro... E mentre le sue giornate tranquille si sgretolano miseramente, Mr Baldwin vede crollare, uno dopo l'altro, tutti i progetti che aveva fatto durante quell'ultimo viaggio di ritorno verso casa. Sarà così che in casa Baldwin la tensione inizierà a montare e i battibecchi tra i due coniugi diverranno quotidiani.
Saranno una lunga passeggiata tra i boschi e il ritorno a un luogo del cuore a dare una sferzata alla vita di Tom e Edith, che troveranno nel progetto di una nuova casa il modo perfetto per impiegare tempo ed energie!
Pubblicato negli anni Trenta, Nuove abitudini non risente affatto del suo quasi secolo di vita: lo stile di Sherriff è attuale, fresco e ironico al punto giusto.
I due personaggi principali, attorno ai quali ruota uno sparuto gruppo di comparse, suscitano tenerezza e affetto nel lettore, che, assieme a Tom e Edith corre di pagina in pagina, curioso di scoprire quale nuovo tormento affliggerà lui e quale escamotage escogiterà lei pur di non soccombere ai musi lunghi del marito!
I coniugi Baldwin sono l'esatto prototipo dei personaggi letterari a cui, inevitabilmente e un po' inconsapevolmente, ci si affeziona, coloro che lasciano addosso la sensazione di essere stati parte, anche solo per qualche ora, di una nuova famiglia!
Nuove abitudini non è certamente uno di quei libri che scavano l'anima, quelli che io definisco "libri da salvare in caso di incendio", ma è una piacevole compagnia per questi pomeriggi d'inverno, una storia in grado di farci far pace col mondo là fuori!
Con Nuove abitudini, pubblicato nel 1936 e sinora inedito in Italia, R.C. Sherriff si conferma un abilissimo cantore della vita ordinaria: questo delizioso romanzo, toccante ritratto di una coppia che, dopo decenni di routine condivisa, si trova ad affrontare un cambiamento radicale, ci mostra come la banalità del quotidiano nasconda spesso le più grandi verità.
Ma che belli sono quei libri che scivolano via senza che quasi ci se ne renda conto? Quelli che ti strappano più di un sorriso e ti rimettono in pace col mondo, anche se, tutto sommato, raccontano una storia semplice e senza grandi scossoni. E forse il segreto sta proprio in quella semplicità!
Nuove abitudini è un concentrato di piacevole autenticità, iniziando da quelli che sono, in pratica, gli unici protagonisti del romanzo: Mister Baldwin e la moglie Edith.
Tom Baldwin ha lavorato per oltre quarant'anni nella City; a 58 anni è giunto per lui il momento della pensione. Ed è proprio da qui che inizia questa storia, dall'ultimo giorno di lavoro di Mr Baldwin: le ultime ore in ufficio, la scrivania da svuotare, il saluto a quelli che, in parte, sono stati i colleghi di una vita e, infine, l'ultimo viaggio in treno verso casa.
Sono tanti, durante quel viaggio, i pensieri che attraversano la mente di Mr Baldwin; cullata dallo sferragliare delle rotaie, la mente vaga, timorosa, quasi spaventata all'idea della monotonia che la attende.
Finché la ragione prendere il sopravvento e Mr Baldwin realizza che, finalmente, avrà tempo per fare tutte quelle cose che ha sempre rimandato.
È con questo spirito propositivo e battagliero che, immerso nella nebbia londinese di inizio autunno, varca il cigolante cancello di casa... ecco la prima cosa da fare, una di quelle per le quali non ha mai avuto tempo: risistemare quel vecchio cancello!
A fare le spese della nuova e costante presenza in casa di Mr Baldwin saranno Edith e Ada, la loro anziana, burbera e fedele domestica.
Dopo anni interi trascorsi in una consolidata routine fatta di piccole quanto imprescindibili abitudini, le due donne dovranno rivedere del tutto la loro organizzazione domestica.
Forse è una cosa sulla quale ci si sofferma poco, ma a "fare le spese" dei pensionamenti degli uomini siamo sempre noi donne, che, dopo anni di parziale solitudine, routine e abitudini, ci troviamo a dover mettere in discussione spazi e tempo per far posto all'ingombrante presenza di un marito noioso e annoiato!
Edith si ritroverà così a fare da arbitro ai battibecchi tra Ada e Mr Baldwin, ma, allo stesso tempo, verrà privata di quella che era la sua quotidianità: niente più pisolino in poltrona, dopo pranzo, accanto fuoco del camino, perché sarà Tom ad accomodarsi lì, niente più pranzi frugali e consumati in fretta perché Tom si aspetta ben altro... E mentre le sue giornate tranquille si sgretolano miseramente, Mr Baldwin vede crollare, uno dopo l'altro, tutti i progetti che aveva fatto durante quell'ultimo viaggio di ritorno verso casa. Sarà così che in casa Baldwin la tensione inizierà a montare e i battibecchi tra i due coniugi diverranno quotidiani.
Saranno una lunga passeggiata tra i boschi e il ritorno a un luogo del cuore a dare una sferzata alla vita di Tom e Edith, che troveranno nel progetto di una nuova casa il modo perfetto per impiegare tempo ed energie!
Pubblicato negli anni Trenta, Nuove abitudini non risente affatto del suo quasi secolo di vita: lo stile di Sherriff è attuale, fresco e ironico al punto giusto.
I due personaggi principali, attorno ai quali ruota uno sparuto gruppo di comparse, suscitano tenerezza e affetto nel lettore, che, assieme a Tom e Edith corre di pagina in pagina, curioso di scoprire quale nuovo tormento affliggerà lui e quale escamotage escogiterà lei pur di non soccombere ai musi lunghi del marito!
I coniugi Baldwin sono l'esatto prototipo dei personaggi letterari a cui, inevitabilmente e un po' inconsapevolmente, ci si affeziona, coloro che lasciano addosso la sensazione di essere stati parte, anche solo per qualche ora, di una nuova famiglia!
Nuove abitudini non è certamente uno di quei libri che scavano l'anima, quelli che io definisco "libri da salvare in caso di incendio", ma è una piacevole compagnia per questi pomeriggi d'inverno, una storia in grado di farci far pace col mondo là fuori!
December 1, 2023
Een prettig boek over het leven van een gepensioneerde man. Er gebeurt eigenlijk niets maar de schrijver weet het toch spannend te houden. Makkelijk geschreven. Dus heerlijk ongecompliceerd boek in onze heftige tijd.
September 12, 2023
Aangename, ontspannende lectuur.
January 6, 2017
Is there a bad book amongst Persephone's ever-growing canon? If there is, I have yet to come across it. This wonderful independent publishing house (and I must stress that I have absolutely no involvement or financial interest in the company) has done it yet again. In breathing new life into many neglected and forgotten novels and non-fiction works of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, it is greatly enhancing our reading scope and pleasure. And it is also unearthing more than a few minor masterpieces. 'Greengates' by RC Sherriff (who is perhaps best known for his 1928 play 'Journey's End') is one such novel. It is quite simply superb.
Set in the 1920s, 'Greengates' is a story about the ordinariness of lower middle class domestic life, the need to prepare for retirement from work and the positive impact that a change of routine etc. can sometimes bring to a seemingly mundane existence. It features married couple Thomas and Edith Baldwin. It opens on the day that Thomas retires from his job at a London insurance company, for whom he has worked for around 40 years. He struggles initially to adjust to his newly-acquired life of leisure. His relationship with Edith changes slightly and he has a silly spat with their maid, Ada. Thomas becomes depressed. But then an opportunity for change presents itself. When they go on one of their favourite walks - to a secluded spot known as the Weldon Valley - Thomas and Edith become interested in a new housing estate which is being built there. They eventually take the plunge, buy one of the properties and move to the area from London. And thus begins a new chapter in their lives.
'Greengates' is not major literature. It's a subtle, deceptively unpretentious story that hones in on the seemingly trivial aspects of everyday life. The characterisation is excellent. And RC Sherriff has the knack of being able to get across very effectively in simple, unfussy, very readable prose the small pleasures, problems and pitfalls that we all face daily. 'Greengates' may be small fry in status. But it's actually a quietly powerful novel that has a timeless and resonant appeal. It definitely deserves to be made available to 21st century readers. I loved it. What a great start to a new reading year! 10/10.
Set in the 1920s, 'Greengates' is a story about the ordinariness of lower middle class domestic life, the need to prepare for retirement from work and the positive impact that a change of routine etc. can sometimes bring to a seemingly mundane existence. It features married couple Thomas and Edith Baldwin. It opens on the day that Thomas retires from his job at a London insurance company, for whom he has worked for around 40 years. He struggles initially to adjust to his newly-acquired life of leisure. His relationship with Edith changes slightly and he has a silly spat with their maid, Ada. Thomas becomes depressed. But then an opportunity for change presents itself. When they go on one of their favourite walks - to a secluded spot known as the Weldon Valley - Thomas and Edith become interested in a new housing estate which is being built there. They eventually take the plunge, buy one of the properties and move to the area from London. And thus begins a new chapter in their lives.
'Greengates' is not major literature. It's a subtle, deceptively unpretentious story that hones in on the seemingly trivial aspects of everyday life. The characterisation is excellent. And RC Sherriff has the knack of being able to get across very effectively in simple, unfussy, very readable prose the small pleasures, problems and pitfalls that we all face daily. 'Greengates' may be small fry in status. But it's actually a quietly powerful novel that has a timeless and resonant appeal. It definitely deserves to be made available to 21st century readers. I loved it. What a great start to a new reading year! 10/10.
May 2, 2016
The Fortnight in September is one of my favorite books; I didn't like this one quite as much, but it was still a very enjoyable read. It features much of Sheriff's wonderful ability to draw complete characters and make them fascinating, even if they're just "ordinary" people. The story of Tom and Edith Baldwin was touching and I desperately wanted it all to work out so they could be happy. Tom isn't always a perfectly nice guy, but I still sympathized with him and liked him. The book's also an interesting look at the growth of the London suburbs in the 30s , and the house, "Greengates," almost becomes a character itself.
April 28, 2021
This is beautifully written and RC Sherriff captures human life and emotion so well. Almost eerily well considering this retirement age couple lived a hundred years ago and Sherriff wrote them nearly that long ago. For these pieces of the novel, it is a five star read. It was a slow read for me and I never quite liked Tom, the main character, even though I could empathize with him at points and certainly knew him well as a character. Perhaps his life still felt a little shallow or something. I’m not quite sure. I’m giving it three stars for that reason. I didn’t want to have a cup of tea with the characters. I’m not sad to close the cover of the book on them.
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