The Sidmouth Letters

by Jane Gardam

Jane Austen's love life — long the subject of speculation — is finally, delightfully dealt with in the title story of this collection. Many of the other stories, like 'The Sidmouth Letters,' bring together past and present — with sometimes hilarious, sometimes disturbing, often intensely moving results.

With quiet elegance and devastating accuracy, Jane Gardam probes many and varied lives. We meet a trio of Kensington widows, mean-spirited and middle-aged, paying improbable tribute to a long exploited nanny; we await — with dread — a stranger to tea in an English home; we witness the mercurial changes that take place in young love, and we watch as a bohemian, passionate past returns to tempt domestic bliss.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Literary Fiction

148 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Jane Mary Gardam was an English writer of children's and adult fiction and literary critic. She also penned reviews for The Spectator and The Telegraph, and wrote for BBC Radio. She lived in Kent, Wimbledon, and Yorkshire. She won numerous literary awards, including the Whitbread Award twice. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours.

Reviews

[Diane Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great collection of short stories by Jane Gardam. I love anything she writes, but these were particularly satisfying because of her use of irony. Most of these stories ended on a satisfying note of gentle revenge, mostly unplanned and unsought for, in a "what goes around comes around" sort of way. The title story was the jewel of the bunch, but I enjoyed them all. For all fans of Jane Gardam.

[Eleanor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book of short stories by the ever admirable Jane Gardam. My favourite was the final one in the book, The Sidmouth Letters. What if Jane Austen had sent letters to a man with whom she was in love, who did not receive them, so that they were returned to the address where she had been staying? If you were given them, what would you do with them? A delicious moral dilemma about the right to privacy no matter how famous a person is.

I also particularly enjoyed The Tribute, showing up the selfishness and hypocrisy of three grandes dames discussing what might be a fitting tribute to a dead woman whom each of them had exploited as nanny to their children. In the end, they decided that their lunch together was appropriate as a tribute: "... instead of the first idea of putting something in the paper. More lavish. And romantic. And very much nicer for us."

Wonderful stuff.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jane Gardam is such a wonderful writer that I’d probably give her grocery list 4 stars. In this collection of short stories she inhabits a wild variety of personae and is absolutely believable in each one. I was moved to tears in several places, especially by the 2nd story in the collection, and driven to laughter in others. My, she does know how to slip in the knife, in a graceful, ladylike manner of course.

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jane Gardam is an one of those authors that usually provides guaranteed reading pleasure, but this collection of stories from 1980 was something of a mixed bag. I’d read four of the stories before in The Stories (a comprehensive late career selection of her best work in the shorter format), and those are the ones that stand out in this volume. Particularly successful are The Tribute, a tale of mean spirits and revenge served cold, and The Great, Grand, Soap-Water Kick, a joyful, experimental story about a tramp taking a bath.

[lethe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the plots were a little too blatant for my taste, but on the whole it's a nice collection. My favourite stories were the last three: "Dossie", "A Spot of Gothic", and the title story.

[Alex Ankarr · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this collection quite young -- late teens maybe, somewhere around there. And did not realise at the time just how patronising and appropriative 'The Great, Grand Soap-water Kick' was. Now I'm not much of a one for knee-jerk intersectionalist super-woke virtue-signaling drool. By and large.

Mostly because of narcissistic arrogant bullying scummers I've met along the way, flying that flag. #fandom

But I think it's true, as a thing to point out, in some cases, and in this case.

That doesn't mean it isn't a good story, nor a beautiful little object made of language. It is. The two can co-exist.

I wouldn't dispute her right-to-write it. I disapprove of slobbering book-burners.

I also have the right to find it obliviously offensive, and super-bourgeois, and appropriating. And to say so, frequently. Language with language, kiddies. That's how you do it.

ETA 22/03/2025: I wonder - is this the one with an Austen-ish bit of fun, where Jane calls Cassandra a cunt?! Or am I mixing Gardam up with another writer altogether?

[Renata Dingemanse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twee korte verhalen (waar in de Engelse versie 11 staan).

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a a wonderful collection of eleven stories. It's great reading. Gardam has an ear and a pen for dialogue, and has assembled an inventive group of stories unlike each other in plot and personnages. There is a precision to her characterizations, to the extent that in reading the first page of a story whose gender was not revealed, it was clear to me (and accurate) that it was male.

The tone ranges from story to story -- wry and subtle in "The Tribute,' satirical in "For he heard the loud bassoon," a bit sad ("The Dickies") and laugh-out-loud funny in "Lychees for Tone." Only "The Tribute" and "Lychees" are truly gems, but all are good reads, intelligent and well-crafted.

If I have a ctiticism, it's that the stories share one trait which begins to wear on the reader: every one ends with a twist. On several occasions ("Tribute," "Lychees," and "The Dickies") they really work, and you finish the story with a smile. But that's hard for a writer to achieve every time out of the gate, and some of the stories, including the final one after which the book is named peter out a bit at the end.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A charming collection of short stories by Jane Gardam that hit on her usual themes: class, the Raj, and men. The eponymous story in the collection is rather interesting in that it features a bundle of letters by Jane Austen that purport to prove the existence of a relationship with a man who later died.

Not her best, but fairly good.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I laughed out loud so many times while reading this book. The pompous and the idiot elite are skewered on their own pomposity in ways that are hilarious and so completely deserved. The last story, from which this collection of short stories gets its title is so very spot on I nearly cried with delight. Jane Gardam cannot miss a note as far as I'm concerned. Well done!

[Jemima · Rating 5 out of 5]

Schmuckausgabe von Edition 5 Plus. Schöne Kurzgeschichte über die Suche nach geheimen Briefen, die Jane Austen geschrieben haben soll. Lesenswert!

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorites were The Dickies, Lunch with Ruth Sykes, and the title story. She is such a fine writer, and always ends with little twisted surprises.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are eleven short stories in this collection by, perhaps, my favourite author Jane Gardam. Her "Old Filth" trilogy is just brilliant, I think her novels are better than the shorter versions listed below:
THE TRIBUTE
A lunch is arranged in remembrance of Denchie. The elderly Nelly, Mabel and Fanny are meeting in Harrods. Nelly has driven there (well these were written over 44 years ago). "She eased her legs out of the car and felt for Hans Crescent with her Dr. Scholls". The talk is about how Denchie looked after all their children for just bed and board. "I wonder if she had the OAP (old age pension)?" But nobody had bought a stamp. Denchie's niece is late and this is when the story takes a decidedly unexpected turn.
HETTY SLEEPING
Is it all a dream? Or just part of this story. You have to guess.
TRANSIT PASSENGERS
The weakest of all the stories.
FOR HE HEARD THE LOUD BASSOON
A proper short story where an unexpected event happens. Our narrator looks in at an almost deserted church. But a wedding in a small chapel needs him as a witness and from there there is an amazing turn of events.
LYCHEES FOR TONE
Absolutely priceless. Narrated by Tone's mother in her northern accent. Her husband is dead and Tone is bringing home a bird to stay. She ruminates for ages about how this is not right, driving herself mad. Then a huge twist at the end.
THE DICKIES
A small dinner party in Pam's garden. Our guest is there with her mother and other mature people. Who arrives but the two Dickies, a strange relationship. Very strange.
THE GREAT, GRAND, SOAP-WATER KICK
Narrated by Horsa, actually a tramp. Not quite illiterate but almost. His lucky day (see title).
LUNCH WITH RUTH SYKES
Or maybe not. Rosalind's mother tells the story of lives in a muddle.
DOSSIE
Pass.
A SPOT OF GOTHIC
The captain's wife narrates as he has left for a posting abroad, leaving her alone in the best army house they have ever found. Here in the North Yorkshire hills he was worried she would feel isolated by the wary locals. But no, the opposite turns out to be the case. Then leaving a dinner to which she has been invited, and driving in the dark out of Wensleydale, she thinks a woman waves to her at the side of the road? Should she have stopped? She goes back later to investigate. What follows is pure Gardam genius.
THE SIDMOUTH LETTERS
The last of these stories gives the book it's title and no wonder. Annie tells us about an American professor when she was chosen for a post graduate year at a mid-west university. Shorty Shenfold arrives in the UK, now a writer and plagiarist. He is becoming successful despite having had three wives in tow. Annie is now also a success and, despite him having hi-jacked her thesis, agrees to accompany him and his latest wife Lois to look at some Jane Austen writing in her old cottage, now a museum. But the next morning Lois has died while they were staying at Claridges and Annie is persuaded to carry out a chore for Shorty. That is where it all gets very interesting. He had forgotten her link to Devon where her arrival causes a stir. Wonderful.

[Hendrik Dejonckheere · Rating 3 out of 5]

Twee korte verhalen waarvan het eerste verder borduurt op "Een onberispelijke man" maar feitelijk niets meer toevoegt. De stijl is wel nog steeds Gardam's in de kleine tussenzinnen komt des poepels kern naar voren. De geheime brieven laten mij in ieder geval de vrijheid om over de inhoud van de brieven te speculeren. Het verhaal zelf is wel meeslepend. Ondanks de kortheid vind ik ze niet scherper dan het boek dat ik eerder las. Je kan overigens wel merken dat "de geheime brieven" uit een eerdere periode van haar schrijverschap afkomstig zijn. Vlot maar niet bijzonder.

[Judith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here are eleven engrossing Jane Gardam stories. The title story is indeed extraordinary, but most of the others are thoroughly delightful, as well. Don’t miss “The Tribute,” “For He Heard the Loud Bassoon,” “Lunch with Ruth Sykes,” or “A Spot of Gothic,” either. Every story draws you in and many will surprise you.

[George M]

Half of an egg, an old flame revived, hippies revisited, two fags and a girl, he brings a bird home, the roles they play, a visit from a hobo, mother and daughter not getting along, "family" spread very thinly, ghosts send her to Hong Kong and was sent to buy them, was gifted them, then burned them, the title letters of Jane Austen (?), i.e.

[Brad Wilber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since the most comprehensive one-volume traversal of Gardam's short fiction is still just "Selected Stories," you can't ignore the individual collections. I read the five pieces that didn't overlap with my bigger book. "Lychees for Tone" my favorite!

[Jane Macnaghten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the various short stories. Each quite different from the others. Sharp observation mostly of a middle class sometimes bohemian world.

[Cazzaman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art of the short story… pack in a lot to reflect on in a short space … is very well demonstrated here.

[Moira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Minor Jane Gardam is still better than 90% of the books published last year. I will die on this hill.

[Terese · Rating 4 out of 5]

I usually find short story collections a little unsatisfying, but these were fabulous. Can’t believe it has sat on my bookshelf so long. Highly recommended

[Rita · Rating 4 out of 5]

1980

Simply excellent. As evident from her novels as well, Gardam has a strong ability to present an astonishing variety of personalities and different backgrounds.

Like Gardam's other books, I feel I could read these stories again and again.

I love what goodreads reader "Ruth" says:

"In this collection of short stories she inhabits a wild variety of personae and is absolutely believable in each one. I was moved to tears in several places, especially by the 2nd story in the collection, and driven to laughter in others. My, she does know how to slip in the knife, in a graceful, ladylike manner of course."

Once in a while there is a passage that I imagine may reflect on Gardam's own situation as an author, e.g.:
p 143 [The protagonist's aged aunt speaking, and Enid is her daughter, the p's cousin:]
"[The TLS says she writes CLEVER books.] They can't be THAT clever, I said to Enid, or I wouldn't understand them."
[It is very true that Gardam does not 'show off' in her writing. There is no pomposity in the language, no writing to impress the reader with her erudition. Some readers may mistake the simple-sounding prose for a lack of cleverness -- a huge mistake.]

p 147
The I-figure notes:
"The old guilt was back, the old problem, the hostility, the fight between love and privacy."
[Here she is referring to the push-pull she feels around her relatives back in the village. Characteristically, Gardam leaves it at this and does not give a detailed analysis of the feeling.]

[Imogen Siantonas · Rating 5 out of 5]

These short stories are all so exquisitely written that it only takes a few lines to become really invested in each story and its characters. These stories all tell us of the lives of women from the late 1970s within these stories many lives are told from the relationships between mothers and children, husbands and friends all from very different backgrounds. There is also a story when the narrator is a homeless woman called Horsa. These stories are mainly narrated by women but there are a few narrated by men. The stories end sometimes with an enigmatic ending, it's up to the reader what happens to these characters. This book of amazing short stories, I thoroughly recommend. The 'Guardian' blurb on the front cover says of the stories 'deliciously barbed, perceptive, entertaining'. Which sums the book up perfectly.

[Elizabeth Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gardam is great in the short story form... hope Europa reprints this so it gets more attention!

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this author!

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great stories, wonderful author.

[False · Rating 2 out of 5]

A collection of short stories, many of which I read in a current collection just released. Gardam seems to be having a summer revival, and I'm reading all of her works.

[magda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een pareltje weer. Zo genieten. Klein en fijn.

[Gusta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twee prachtige korte verhalen!

[Kay Robart · Rating 4 out of 5]

See my review here:

https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2022...