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Bewildering Cares
'It's a storm in a tea-cup, of course, but then we happen to live in a tea-cup!'
So begins Camilla Lacely's charming, witty diary of life as a vicar's wife in a mid-sized town outside of Manchester in the anxious, early days of World War II. The 'everything and nothing' that happens include a controversy swirling around the curate's pacifist sermon (through which, alas, Camilla napped, making it difficult for her to discuss with outraged parishioners), servant problems, anxieties about Camilla's son off training with his regiment, the day-to-day worries of friends, and a potential romance in the town ... or are there two romances?
Readers of Bewildering Cares might well be reminded of the likes of E.M. Delafield or Angela Thirkell, but Peck offers her own distinct take--sometimes hilarious, sometimes touching--on the ironies and heartbreaks (not to mention the storms in teacups) of domestic life, community, faith and life during wartime. This new edition includes an introduction by social historian Elizabeth Crawford.
'(Winifred Peck) deserves our real gratitude for making us laugh in these troublous days' Times Literary Supplement
'A romantic who was as sharp as a needle' Penelope Fitzgerald
So begins Camilla Lacely's charming, witty diary of life as a vicar's wife in a mid-sized town outside of Manchester in the anxious, early days of World War II. The 'everything and nothing' that happens include a controversy swirling around the curate's pacifist sermon (through which, alas, Camilla napped, making it difficult for her to discuss with outraged parishioners), servant problems, anxieties about Camilla's son off training with his regiment, the day-to-day worries of friends, and a potential romance in the town ... or are there two romances?
Readers of Bewildering Cares might well be reminded of the likes of E.M. Delafield or Angela Thirkell, but Peck offers her own distinct take--sometimes hilarious, sometimes touching--on the ironies and heartbreaks (not to mention the storms in teacups) of domestic life, community, faith and life during wartime. This new edition includes an introduction by social historian Elizabeth Crawford.
'(Winifred Peck) deserves our real gratitude for making us laugh in these troublous days' Times Literary Supplement
'A romantic who was as sharp as a needle' Penelope Fitzgerald
206 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1940
67 people are currently reading
346 people want to read
About the author
Winifred Peck
22 books9 followersLady Winifred Peck (née Knox), born 1882, was a member of a remarkable family. Her father was Edmund Arbuthnott Knox, the fourth Bishop of Manchester, and her siblings were E. V. Knox, editor of Punch magazine, Ronald Knox, theologian and writer, Dilly Knox, cryptographer, Wilfred Lawrence Knox, clergyman, and Ethel Knox. Peck’s niece was the Booker Prize-winning author Penelope Fitzgerald who wrote a biography of her father, E. V. Knox, and her uncles, entitled The Knox Brothers.
She read Modern History at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. Her first book was a biography of Louis IX in 1909.
In 1911 she married James Peck, a British civil servant, who was awarded a knighthood in 1938. They had three children.
In 1919 she began her novel-writing career which saw twenty-five books over a period of forty years, including House-Bound (1942) which was reprinted in 2007 by Persephone Books. She also wrote two books about her own childhood, A Little Learning (1952) and Home for the Holidays (1955).
She read Modern History at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. Her first book was a biography of Louis IX in 1909.
In 1911 she married James Peck, a British civil servant, who was awarded a knighthood in 1938. They had three children.
In 1919 she began her novel-writing career which saw twenty-five books over a period of forty years, including House-Bound (1942) which was reprinted in 2007 by Persephone Books. She also wrote two books about her own childhood, A Little Learning (1952) and Home for the Holidays (1955).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
February 7, 2017
The Furrowed Middlebrow reprints from Dean Street Press are a great idea, bringing forgotten books back into print, including a number from the 1930s and 40s. Adapted from newspaper columns, this book is somewhat along the same lines as Diary of a Provincial Lady or the amusing fictional wartime diary Henrietta Sees It Through, but slightly more serious in tone.
Written by Winifred Peck, who came from a clerical family, it follows a week in the life of a vicar's wife in early 1940, before the Blitz. She and her family live in Stampfield, a small provincial town in "North Midlandshire". Camilla is in her 50s and has an overworked husband, Arthur, and a refreshingly irreverent grown-up son, Dick, who is in military training in Essex.
A lot of the book consists of fairly minor incidents, such as a cake sale, various church services, and a meditation day, but even material which could easily be boring is anything but, because of the very readable writing style. The main drama is a sermon by a left-wing, pacifist curate, which causes outrage among the great and the good of Stampfield.
I especially liked a passage where Camilla finds an old "worry list", full of mystifying comments such as "What D said last week", and is immediately worried that she can't remember what she was worried about when she wrote this down! My rating is really 3 1/2 stars, since there is slightly too much focus on religion for me (hardly surprising as the book is about a vicar's wife!). All the same, I still enjoyed it.
Written by Winifred Peck, who came from a clerical family, it follows a week in the life of a vicar's wife in early 1940, before the Blitz. She and her family live in Stampfield, a small provincial town in "North Midlandshire". Camilla is in her 50s and has an overworked husband, Arthur, and a refreshingly irreverent grown-up son, Dick, who is in military training in Essex.
A lot of the book consists of fairly minor incidents, such as a cake sale, various church services, and a meditation day, but even material which could easily be boring is anything but, because of the very readable writing style. The main drama is a sermon by a left-wing, pacifist curate, which causes outrage among the great and the good of Stampfield.
I especially liked a passage where Camilla finds an old "worry list", full of mystifying comments such as "What D said last week", and is immediately worried that she can't remember what she was worried about when she wrote this down! My rating is really 3 1/2 stars, since there is slightly too much focus on religion for me (hardly surprising as the book is about a vicar's wife!). All the same, I still enjoyed it.
July 3, 2021
I first came across Winifred Peck on the Persephone list, her novel House-Bound didn’t sound that promising but turned out to be a well-executed, intelligent, comfort read. Like House-Bound, Bewildering Cares is set during WW2, it's the story of a vicar’s wife struggling with the enormous changes that accompanied the advent of war. Her son’s been called up for army training and her husband’s parish, in a town near Manchester, presents quite a few challenges. Peck goes into a lot more detail about religion and the world of the church here than I might have liked but also, presumably in keeping with her Christian-Socialist background, includes a wealth of fascinating information about how families managed financially, and otherwise, in those early war years. It’s also a bonus that the central character Camilla’s mostly quite engaging and everything’s seen from her perspective. The blurb compares this to work by E. M. Delafield and Angela Thirkell, possibly because they’re referenced in the narrative but this doesn’t match up to their stronger pieces. In fact, it isn’t one of those vintage books I’m likely to urge anyone to seek out, I didn’t find it as entertaining, gripping or accomplished as some other titles from the Furrowed Middlebrow imprint, Verily Anderson’s or Frances Faviell’s wartime memoirs for example, but if you like social history or delving into the minutiae of domestic life during the early 1940s then it’s worth considering.
Rating: 2.5/3
Rating: 2.5/3
August 14, 2021
After a long time, I found myself reading a book from among my own books (the last was Daphne du Maurier’s The Breaking Point back in May for Daphne du Maurier Reading week), rather than my NetGalley pile (the only others of my own books I’ve read since have been Agatha Christies and all revisits).
Bewildering Cares (1940) is one of the Furrowed Middlebrow books and is essentially the diary of a vicar’s wife, Camilla Lacely, over one week of Lent during the early days of the war. While largely a humorous look into Camilla’s life and excessively busy schedule, this also has a much more serious touch both because of the period in which it is set (the war), and some of the issues it goes into—life, death, and religion, among them.
In the book, we are in a small parish, Stampfield, somewhere between London and Manchester where Arthur Lacely is vicar; Arthur and Camilla have one son Dick who is away serving in the war, and at home, a maid Kate, good at heart, but not particularly efficient helps Camilla run the ten-room house as best as they can. Each of the chapters covers either an entire day or part of it, and each is rather eventful. As the book opens, Camilla receives a letter from an old-friend Lucy, with whom she has lost touch over time, and who is now is asking after her and wants to know how she spends her days. The diary is meant partly as a response to that inquiry.
Through the chapters, we follow Camilla as she goes through her very busy routine—managing house (or rather struggling to do so)—cleaning, preparing meals, and budgeting; visiting the sick; helping various parishioners with their problems (from money to clothes to filling in forms and applications); serving on countless committees (much more than she usually would for so many people are away because of the war that the older residents must make up for this), attending bazaars, delivering lectures and also finding time to do the things she enjoys most—reading—something she can’t often find the time for. At the midst of this is a little (or perhaps not so little) parish scandal—Mr Lacely’s curate, Mr Strang has preached a rather controversial sermon advocating pacifism and peace at a time when nearly everyone is focused on and is serving in the war; this gets everyone’s hackles up, especially Mr Weekes, churchwarden and the wealthiest man in town who contributes much to the town’s relief. Mr Weekes and others are expecting Arthur to take strict action (that is, seek Strang’s resignation), while Arthur is attempting to find a more peaceful solution. Poor Camilla is asked for her opinion wherever she goes, but is at a loss for she had been asleep when he was delivering it and also wants to leave matters to Arthur.
This book has been compared to the Diary of a Provincial Lady a book which I love very much. While I can see where the comparisons are coming from—the thread of humour that runs through a lot of the book, also the observations that Camilla makes on people and events around her, and her struggles to balance looking after her home in wartime and her rather endless duties in the parish—this isn’t overall as funny or light-hearted (with more serious themes and threads) but an enjoyable read all the same. Another element in which it can be compared to Provincial Lady is the various books referenced all through (something that we saw there as well)—for Thirkell to Provincial Lady itself, Charlotte M Yonge to Just William—needless to say, this was something I loved.
The elements I enjoyed most in the book were Camilla’s daily troubles and struggles managing her day (and her ever missing engagement book)—I was honestly rather surprised as just how much she had to fit in every day—and the scandal around Mr Strang—how it played out and how it ended up being resolved; one example in particular which Arthur brings up being exactly the course the matter ends up taking (as he seems to have realised much before any of the others). I also enjoyed Camilla’s wandering mind—one can’t really blame her for wanting a bit of rest or for her mind going to matters of meals and home when the Archdeacon is expected just at the time her maid Kate has asked for the weekend off. In these elements, the tone is light-hearted, and Camilla’s observations rather witty. I also enjoyed following the stories of some of the other characters like Miss Croft a spinster of few means who runs a tea shop; Mr Elgin the rather morose pianist at church, and of course Dick, the Lacely’s son, whose letters arrive from time to time bringing some good cheer, though initially the lack of news from him is a cause for much worry (while he only appears in person towards the end, he is present throughout through his observations which Camilla always things of). That the doctor was called Mr Boness was a fun little note as well (reminding me a little of Trollope’s solicitors Slow and Bideawhile).
Of the more serious threads, an aspect that stood out to be was the entire social support system in the parish—while Mr Weekes seems to object to any form of state support (or social legislation as we would term it), he and Mrs Weekes are always willing to support with money and other aid any of the poorer members of the community, especially during difficult times like illness. Even their strong feelings against Mr Strang do not prevent them from extending every help when he falls ill and his young wife is at a loss for what to do. Alongside we also have both Arthur and Mrs Lacely visiting everyone who needs a hand, or just a comforting presence, and also being ever willing to give all they have (money, clothes, time) to those who need it. Camilla even gives up the money she had saved for a new hat (Arthur’s reaction when she finally gets the hat is priceless). The state no doubt provides a lot of the same or similar assistance, but what stands out in this context is both the feeling of community and the personal touch and concern that was involved in helping those in need.
Religion is of course another theme that runs through the book, and this is the part with which I felt the most disconnect. I did love how Camilla talks about her own faith—how she expresses it, but otherwise, I didn’t find these sections as absorbing as the lighter ones.
Death too, is something we frequently deal with in the book, Arthur being a vicar is frequently called to deathbeds (though we don’t follow him as such), and Camilla too must visit some who are about to pass. I liked this one observation:
Certainly I was praying for victory now, I realized dreamily, for victory over death. Isn’t that the victory we all are praying for, in spite of human experience? And why do we do it when death is the only escape from fear…
But not going into the more sombre themes any further, for the most part this book is humorous and good fun; especially as I’ve already written, in Camilla’s daily struggles and her observations of people and situations. There may be deaths and sadness, but there is also love (a couple of love stories actually) and joy (including in books), and the promise of future happiness. Aside from the few segments I mentioned, I enjoyed reading the book very much.
3.75 stars rounded off to 4
Bewildering Cares (1940) is one of the Furrowed Middlebrow books and is essentially the diary of a vicar’s wife, Camilla Lacely, over one week of Lent during the early days of the war. While largely a humorous look into Camilla’s life and excessively busy schedule, this also has a much more serious touch both because of the period in which it is set (the war), and some of the issues it goes into—life, death, and religion, among them.
In the book, we are in a small parish, Stampfield, somewhere between London and Manchester where Arthur Lacely is vicar; Arthur and Camilla have one son Dick who is away serving in the war, and at home, a maid Kate, good at heart, but not particularly efficient helps Camilla run the ten-room house as best as they can. Each of the chapters covers either an entire day or part of it, and each is rather eventful. As the book opens, Camilla receives a letter from an old-friend Lucy, with whom she has lost touch over time, and who is now is asking after her and wants to know how she spends her days. The diary is meant partly as a response to that inquiry.
Through the chapters, we follow Camilla as she goes through her very busy routine—managing house (or rather struggling to do so)—cleaning, preparing meals, and budgeting; visiting the sick; helping various parishioners with their problems (from money to clothes to filling in forms and applications); serving on countless committees (much more than she usually would for so many people are away because of the war that the older residents must make up for this), attending bazaars, delivering lectures and also finding time to do the things she enjoys most—reading—something she can’t often find the time for. At the midst of this is a little (or perhaps not so little) parish scandal—Mr Lacely’s curate, Mr Strang has preached a rather controversial sermon advocating pacifism and peace at a time when nearly everyone is focused on and is serving in the war; this gets everyone’s hackles up, especially Mr Weekes, churchwarden and the wealthiest man in town who contributes much to the town’s relief. Mr Weekes and others are expecting Arthur to take strict action (that is, seek Strang’s resignation), while Arthur is attempting to find a more peaceful solution. Poor Camilla is asked for her opinion wherever she goes, but is at a loss for she had been asleep when he was delivering it and also wants to leave matters to Arthur.
This book has been compared to the Diary of a Provincial Lady a book which I love very much. While I can see where the comparisons are coming from—the thread of humour that runs through a lot of the book, also the observations that Camilla makes on people and events around her, and her struggles to balance looking after her home in wartime and her rather endless duties in the parish—this isn’t overall as funny or light-hearted (with more serious themes and threads) but an enjoyable read all the same. Another element in which it can be compared to Provincial Lady is the various books referenced all through (something that we saw there as well)—for Thirkell to Provincial Lady itself, Charlotte M Yonge to Just William—needless to say, this was something I loved.
The elements I enjoyed most in the book were Camilla’s daily troubles and struggles managing her day (and her ever missing engagement book)—I was honestly rather surprised as just how much she had to fit in every day—and the scandal around Mr Strang—how it played out and how it ended up being resolved; one example in particular which Arthur brings up being exactly the course the matter ends up taking (as he seems to have realised much before any of the others). I also enjoyed Camilla’s wandering mind—one can’t really blame her for wanting a bit of rest or for her mind going to matters of meals and home when the Archdeacon is expected just at the time her maid Kate has asked for the weekend off. In these elements, the tone is light-hearted, and Camilla’s observations rather witty. I also enjoyed following the stories of some of the other characters like Miss Croft a spinster of few means who runs a tea shop; Mr Elgin the rather morose pianist at church, and of course Dick, the Lacely’s son, whose letters arrive from time to time bringing some good cheer, though initially the lack of news from him is a cause for much worry (while he only appears in person towards the end, he is present throughout through his observations which Camilla always things of). That the doctor was called Mr Boness was a fun little note as well (reminding me a little of Trollope’s solicitors Slow and Bideawhile).
Of the more serious threads, an aspect that stood out to be was the entire social support system in the parish—while Mr Weekes seems to object to any form of state support (or social legislation as we would term it), he and Mrs Weekes are always willing to support with money and other aid any of the poorer members of the community, especially during difficult times like illness. Even their strong feelings against Mr Strang do not prevent them from extending every help when he falls ill and his young wife is at a loss for what to do. Alongside we also have both Arthur and Mrs Lacely visiting everyone who needs a hand, or just a comforting presence, and also being ever willing to give all they have (money, clothes, time) to those who need it. Camilla even gives up the money she had saved for a new hat (Arthur’s reaction when she finally gets the hat is priceless). The state no doubt provides a lot of the same or similar assistance, but what stands out in this context is both the feeling of community and the personal touch and concern that was involved in helping those in need.
Religion is of course another theme that runs through the book, and this is the part with which I felt the most disconnect. I did love how Camilla talks about her own faith—how she expresses it, but otherwise, I didn’t find these sections as absorbing as the lighter ones.
Death too, is something we frequently deal with in the book, Arthur being a vicar is frequently called to deathbeds (though we don’t follow him as such), and Camilla too must visit some who are about to pass. I liked this one observation:
Certainly I was praying for victory now, I realized dreamily, for victory over death. Isn’t that the victory we all are praying for, in spite of human experience? And why do we do it when death is the only escape from fear…
But not going into the more sombre themes any further, for the most part this book is humorous and good fun; especially as I’ve already written, in Camilla’s daily struggles and her observations of people and situations. There may be deaths and sadness, but there is also love (a couple of love stories actually) and joy (including in books), and the promise of future happiness. Aside from the few segments I mentioned, I enjoyed reading the book very much.
3.75 stars rounded off to 4
November 9, 2018
It may be hard to explain just why this book is so delightful. Mostly it's because nobody writes things like this. This is a novel that gives us the fictional journal of a week in the life of a vicar's wife in an industrial town in northern England during the Phony War. It was written in 1940. It's funny. But it's not at all the way you would think.
It's unashamedly and centrally about a fifty year old woman who is a believing Christian, and loves her husband even when he is exasperating.
It does her central relationships -- with her husband, her son (who is in the forces), and God, extremely well and in ways that are extremely unusual in fiction at all. You can't call them unconventional relationships, but there are standard ways of doing these things which Peck doesn't even glance at. This is extremely impressive.
There is a lot of love in this book, and three couples get engaged at the end, but I have never read anything where romance is less of an issue. It's just not where the focus or the attention are, and that's refreshing.
The events of the week mostly concern a storm in a teacup over a pacifist curate. But the book is about being caught up in petty details that in fact are life and are important and matter, and doing a million things while worrying about not doing enough.
This is not a great masterpiece, and not the kind of book everyone ought to read, but it's interesting and unusual and I'm very glad to have stumbled across it.
It's unashamedly and centrally about a fifty year old woman who is a believing Christian, and loves her husband even when he is exasperating.
It does her central relationships -- with her husband, her son (who is in the forces), and God, extremely well and in ways that are extremely unusual in fiction at all. You can't call them unconventional relationships, but there are standard ways of doing these things which Peck doesn't even glance at. This is extremely impressive.
There is a lot of love in this book, and three couples get engaged at the end, but I have never read anything where romance is less of an issue. It's just not where the focus or the attention are, and that's refreshing.
The events of the week mostly concern a storm in a teacup over a pacifist curate. But the book is about being caught up in petty details that in fact are life and are important and matter, and doing a million things while worrying about not doing enough.
This is not a great masterpiece, and not the kind of book everyone ought to read, but it's interesting and unusual and I'm very glad to have stumbled across it.
January 27, 2020
Checked out from the kindle unlimited library.
I've been enjoying the Furrowed Middlebrow reissues from Dean Street Press, and this one is no exception. Set in WWII, the main character is the wife of a vicar and the topic of the novel is a week in her life - worries about her son, who may or may not be engaged and who is serving in the military; worries about the parish; worries about the very young curate, who has preached a sermon on pacifism that has turned the entire congregation against him, and who is also a new father.
Very little happens in this book. There are no car chases; no espionage, not even the odd murder in an English village (I didn't actually know that there WERE English villages where murder didn't happen), no little old ladies knitting and crime solving, no blackmail, no evacuees or German invaders. It's just a brief character study of the wife of a vicar during wartime.
The voice of our main character is charming, and the supporting characters are pleasant. It's better than a lot of books, not so good as some, and overall, I enjoyed it.
I've been enjoying the Furrowed Middlebrow reissues from Dean Street Press, and this one is no exception. Set in WWII, the main character is the wife of a vicar and the topic of the novel is a week in her life - worries about her son, who may or may not be engaged and who is serving in the military; worries about the parish; worries about the very young curate, who has preached a sermon on pacifism that has turned the entire congregation against him, and who is also a new father.
Very little happens in this book. There are no car chases; no espionage, not even the odd murder in an English village (I didn't actually know that there WERE English villages where murder didn't happen), no little old ladies knitting and crime solving, no blackmail, no evacuees or German invaders. It's just a brief character study of the wife of a vicar during wartime.
The voice of our main character is charming, and the supporting characters are pleasant. It's better than a lot of books, not so good as some, and overall, I enjoyed it.
July 24, 2021
It was, I regret to say, eleven o'clock on Friday morning before I began my Quiet Day"
The reader is treated to a diary-esque accounting of a Lenten week in the life of Camilla Lacely, wife of Arthur Lacely, the Vicar of Saint Simon's, Stampfield, North Midlandshire. Camilla copiously writes a full accounting of church committees, women's groups, keeping the peace amongst parishioners, managing her home with help of Kate, and supporting her husband. A curate preaches a pacifist sermon in 1940 England. The village is outraged, the Archdeacon is summoned, and a wealthy family is gathering a group of parishioners to leave the parish over it. Camilla and Arthur are managing the fall out with grace, dignity, and mild sense of humor.
This novel was enjoyable. The back blurb mentions it being similar to E.M. Delafield and Angela Thirkell's writing. There were some elements there that I could see but I didn't find it to be all that similar. I partially wondered at the comparison happening due to Winifred Peck mentioning both authors several times in the novel. Camilla mentions reading Wild Strawberries about thirty times. And Delafield is quoted during a very apt hat shopping excursion Camilla takes. If you enjoy a gentle novel that centers around the role of church and community, I think you'd like this one. Camilla will ramble on with her musings on religion, life, and class changes which make for a serious tone. Yet also we are treated to Lenten trips to the butcher shop, her lamenting at black out curtains while the Archdeacon is spending the night, and struggling to do without a library subscription as she's given it up for Lent. Camilla Lacely is a character I wish I knew in real life.
The reader is treated to a diary-esque accounting of a Lenten week in the life of Camilla Lacely, wife of Arthur Lacely, the Vicar of Saint Simon's, Stampfield, North Midlandshire. Camilla copiously writes a full accounting of church committees, women's groups, keeping the peace amongst parishioners, managing her home with help of Kate, and supporting her husband. A curate preaches a pacifist sermon in 1940 England. The village is outraged, the Archdeacon is summoned, and a wealthy family is gathering a group of parishioners to leave the parish over it. Camilla and Arthur are managing the fall out with grace, dignity, and mild sense of humor.
This novel was enjoyable. The back blurb mentions it being similar to E.M. Delafield and Angela Thirkell's writing. There were some elements there that I could see but I didn't find it to be all that similar. I partially wondered at the comparison happening due to Winifred Peck mentioning both authors several times in the novel. Camilla mentions reading Wild Strawberries about thirty times. And Delafield is quoted during a very apt hat shopping excursion Camilla takes. If you enjoy a gentle novel that centers around the role of church and community, I think you'd like this one. Camilla will ramble on with her musings on religion, life, and class changes which make for a serious tone. Yet also we are treated to Lenten trips to the butcher shop, her lamenting at black out curtains while the Archdeacon is spending the night, and struggling to do without a library subscription as she's given it up for Lent. Camilla Lacely is a character I wish I knew in real life.
March 16, 2025
3 Stars
Based on the description, I was expecting this to be clever and funny, like E. M. Delafield's books. Instead it was a portrait of a minister's wife who spends her days mentally flip-flopping between agreeing with her scholarly, saintly husband Arthur, or her waspish, mean spirited son Dick. I found it difficult to like a number of the characters as the snobbishness and constant sniping (particularly at other women), got me down.
It was interesting to see how wives of the clergy contributed to their communities, and acted as unpaid curates. These women were essentially Christian social workers; providing people with guidance or small amounts of money, in addition to spiritual and emotional support.
I admired several women for their willingness to step up and provide much needed leadership. They did an enormous amount of war work; making an invaluable contribution to the Allied victory over Nazi Germany.
This is a book of it's time and place, and well worth reading just to see how much the Church of England has evolved since 1940.
Based on the description, I was expecting this to be clever and funny, like E. M. Delafield's books. Instead it was a portrait of a minister's wife who spends her days mentally flip-flopping between agreeing with her scholarly, saintly husband Arthur, or her waspish, mean spirited son Dick. I found it difficult to like a number of the characters as the snobbishness and constant sniping (particularly at other women), got me down.
It was interesting to see how wives of the clergy contributed to their communities, and acted as unpaid curates. These women were essentially Christian social workers; providing people with guidance or small amounts of money, in addition to spiritual and emotional support.
I admired several women for their willingness to step up and provide much needed leadership. They did an enormous amount of war work; making an invaluable contribution to the Allied victory over Nazi Germany.
This is a book of it's time and place, and well worth reading just to see how much the Church of England has evolved since 1940.
August 23, 2025
This is an absolutely delightful slice-of-life book presenting one week in the wife of country vicar during WWII. I only stumbled on this author because of a note that some of her e-books were on sale, so I grabbed several - a happy decision. :) I love books with rural settings, that focus on everyday people, set in England before, during or right after a World War, that are clean, with a bit of humor. This book is all of those.
Camilla Lacely's husband Arthur is the Vicar in the very small town of Stampfield, somewhere between London and Manchester. The book gives one week of her life during Lent from her delightful perspective. She's the mother of two grown children, including a son in the Army, so when the local curate gives a strong sermon on pacifism, which she slept through, she's torn between loyalty to her husband's underling and the desire to see Hitler destroyed. One of the things that delighted me about this book is the fact that Camilla really tries to be a good Christian but sometimes find life makes it difficult. Her musings on the poor timing of services and other practical matters made me smile.
I don't live in England and am not an Anglican so I'm a little fuzzy on Vicars, curates, rectors, etc. But it didn't matter because this is really a book about a good woman struggling to be patient with frustrating people, generous when she barely has enough money to feed her own family and kind in a world which isn't always. As Camilla muses, much of what she deals with are really storms in a tea cup, but "tea cups are important when you live in them." She's often urged to spend more time meditating while being expected to participate in every committee and good cause that comes by. Frankly it reminded me of being a young stay-at-home mother, and I found myself in great sympathy with her, in a pleasant way. :)
The author was the daughter of a rector and part of an obviously educated family. The book is well written and moves quickly. There's not much of a plot, more a series of small events, but I like that type of book when it's done well. In fact I liked this one so much I tried very hard to read it slowly and often when I picked it up I'd back up a chapter or two and reread. Like a cross between Miss Read, Jan Karon and D. E. Stevenson, I enjoyed every little occurrence and am really happy that I own this so I can reread it whenever I like. Highly recommended to fans of these simple, humane stories.
Camilla Lacely's husband Arthur is the Vicar in the very small town of Stampfield, somewhere between London and Manchester. The book gives one week of her life during Lent from her delightful perspective. She's the mother of two grown children, including a son in the Army, so when the local curate gives a strong sermon on pacifism, which she slept through, she's torn between loyalty to her husband's underling and the desire to see Hitler destroyed. One of the things that delighted me about this book is the fact that Camilla really tries to be a good Christian but sometimes find life makes it difficult. Her musings on the poor timing of services and other practical matters made me smile.
I don't live in England and am not an Anglican so I'm a little fuzzy on Vicars, curates, rectors, etc. But it didn't matter because this is really a book about a good woman struggling to be patient with frustrating people, generous when she barely has enough money to feed her own family and kind in a world which isn't always. As Camilla muses, much of what she deals with are really storms in a tea cup, but "tea cups are important when you live in them." She's often urged to spend more time meditating while being expected to participate in every committee and good cause that comes by. Frankly it reminded me of being a young stay-at-home mother, and I found myself in great sympathy with her, in a pleasant way. :)
The author was the daughter of a rector and part of an obviously educated family. The book is well written and moves quickly. There's not much of a plot, more a series of small events, but I like that type of book when it's done well. In fact I liked this one so much I tried very hard to read it slowly and often when I picked it up I'd back up a chapter or two and reread. Like a cross between Miss Read, Jan Karon and D. E. Stevenson, I enjoyed every little occurrence and am really happy that I own this so I can reread it whenever I like. Highly recommended to fans of these simple, humane stories.
May 12, 2020
Quite charming! I enjoyed Camilla Lacely’s voice so much as the conscientious, kind-hearted, overworked vicar’s wife who likes to make all the pointed observations in her own mind that she is too polite to speak out loud. It was also interesting to have it set so early in WW2 before the severe rationing was in place and there was only talk of air raid wardens, bombing, etc.
I could identify so much with Camilla’s constant worry and preoccupation with small things, especially about having enough food. I bet she would be a self preservation subtype on the Enneagram. I saw another person comment that while there is romance in the book it’s a minor thread in the book and not at all the focus. I found this refreshing as well. I loved reading about the network of relationships that Camilla has. It was so true to my own life and my web of relationships that are at once profound and also can get caught up in absurdities.
I was reading this at the same time I was reading The Bell Family. Alex Bell is a vicar and he is very similar to Arthur Lacely. Both broad minded, both easygoing and earnest, both work hard and aren’t paid enough, both are well loved by their congregations. I like this portrayal of clergymen who really care and really have faith as opposed to a lot of 19th century portrayals of clergymen who are only in it for a suitable position for a younger son.
I will happily read this again.
I could identify so much with Camilla’s constant worry and preoccupation with small things, especially about having enough food. I bet she would be a self preservation subtype on the Enneagram. I saw another person comment that while there is romance in the book it’s a minor thread in the book and not at all the focus. I found this refreshing as well. I loved reading about the network of relationships that Camilla has. It was so true to my own life and my web of relationships that are at once profound and also can get caught up in absurdities.
I was reading this at the same time I was reading The Bell Family. Alex Bell is a vicar and he is very similar to Arthur Lacely. Both broad minded, both easygoing and earnest, both work hard and aren’t paid enough, both are well loved by their congregations. I like this portrayal of clergymen who really care and really have faith as opposed to a lot of 19th century portrayals of clergymen who are only in it for a suitable position for a younger son.
I will happily read this again.
Want to read
May 7, 2023I think that this book was another case of "it's not you. It's me." I like reading historical books. Whether fiction or nonfiction, I always feel like I can get something out of them. Even though I'm not from England and was never taught anything about the country, I feel like I could pick things up through context. But with this book, I feel like it was lost in translation, the irony being that there was no translation.
Not having a background on England's ecclesiastical history or the day to day life of small town villagers, I found things going over my head and it felt like everyone was in on the joke without me. I'm sure people living in England can understand everything that was being bandied about but for me, without more context, I was perplexed and, eventually, bored by what I read of this book.
Not having a background on England's ecclesiastical history or the day to day life of small town villagers, I found things going over my head and it felt like everyone was in on the joke without me. I'm sure people living in England can understand everything that was being bandied about but for me, without more context, I was perplexed and, eventually, bored by what I read of this book.
July 9, 2021
A week in the life of a clergyman's wife during the 'phoney war' period of WW2. I have seen it likened to The Provincial Lady in Wartime several times; I didn't think it was similar, apart from the setting. I'd expected it to be more humorous than I found it and perhaps as a consequence I found the first half dragged, but I quite enjoyed the rest of it once I had got used to it.
October 28, 2016
Over the last few years I've read a lot of books by female British authors that depict civilian life during WWII. This one was not quite as funny or lighthearted as some of the others I've read, but I liked it because it seemed very real. It depicts in detail a week in the life of an Anglican minister's wife; in a few places it is probably a little too detailed. I'm not suggesting that it is entirely accurate, but it felt accurate, which is hard to do sometimes. The main character was very likeable, but she wasn't perfect, which was nice. The parishioners and townspeople have their quirks, but most of them turn out to be better than expected, instead of worse. That is a nice change from some books in this genre that I've read.
January 4, 2018
If you are interested in what life in England was like during World War Two, skip the historical fiction and read this delightful book by a writer who lived through this time period. Once again, Dean Street Press and Scott of Furrowed Middlebrow Fiction are to be commended for republishing this charming book about an Anglican parish during the early years of the Second World War. A middle-aged vicar’s wife keeps notes of a week in her life and what an interesting life it is! Other reviewers have given detailed descriptions of this book, so I will simply give it a high recommendation. 4.4.
February 3, 2022
This book was a delight. I particularly loved the references to authors Angela Thirkell and Dorothy Whipple whom I read now but would have been ‘contemporary’ reads to this author in 1940.
#12books12months2022 challenge
#12books12months2022 challenge
January 15, 2017
This was a delightful book and I recommend it to any any Trollope lovers. Winifred Peck was the sister of Ronald Knox, priest and mystery writer and she tried her own hand at mysteries.
This, however, is my favorite of her books. The book is written as a diary of the life of a vicar's wife in the opening days of WWII. Camilla is not the ideal vicar's wife. She's a little too sharp and witty. Her mother-in-law tells her:" Remember, my dear, what a congregation likes is that one should look as if one has seen better days." Though this book has largely to do with life at parish level, the vicar and his wife, who have a son, Dick, in the service never forget the war: "For like everyone else in Europe, we have lived these last two years as people who know a thunderstorm is coming and , and now the storm is raging all the time, though the lightening has not struck Dick nor ruined our cities yet, and the only thing to do is turn away from the window at odd moments and try to forget as best you may, if you wish to keep your reason."
Peck nods to Trollope as her husband addresses her as "Mrs. Proudie," and as Barchester had the lodging for 12 elderly men so does this parish have the same for 9 old ladies. One of the most touching plot lines in this book involves Camilla's visits to Granny Hodge who is moved to the ladies' hospice to die.
The major disturbance in the village is when the curate preaches pacifism and the congregation takes offense. The curate is set up by some thuggish members of the parish and as his life hangs in the balance, the natural goodness of the vicar and his flock shine through
It could be that I like this book mostly because the author shares my love of reading. When she sees her her husband come in weary she runs to a book shelf to take down the copy of Wodehouse's Mr. Mulliner Speaks." Camilla chooses Wild Strawberries by Angela Thirkell. Says Camilla: "There is nothing so good for worried people as to read at their meals, and funny books if possible; for laughter grows so rusty in war time." For any of us who read books in time of duress this is a "feel good" book in the best sense of that term.
This, however, is my favorite of her books. The book is written as a diary of the life of a vicar's wife in the opening days of WWII. Camilla is not the ideal vicar's wife. She's a little too sharp and witty. Her mother-in-law tells her:" Remember, my dear, what a congregation likes is that one should look as if one has seen better days." Though this book has largely to do with life at parish level, the vicar and his wife, who have a son, Dick, in the service never forget the war: "For like everyone else in Europe, we have lived these last two years as people who know a thunderstorm is coming and , and now the storm is raging all the time, though the lightening has not struck Dick nor ruined our cities yet, and the only thing to do is turn away from the window at odd moments and try to forget as best you may, if you wish to keep your reason."
Peck nods to Trollope as her husband addresses her as "Mrs. Proudie," and as Barchester had the lodging for 12 elderly men so does this parish have the same for 9 old ladies. One of the most touching plot lines in this book involves Camilla's visits to Granny Hodge who is moved to the ladies' hospice to die.
The major disturbance in the village is when the curate preaches pacifism and the congregation takes offense. The curate is set up by some thuggish members of the parish and as his life hangs in the balance, the natural goodness of the vicar and his flock shine through
It could be that I like this book mostly because the author shares my love of reading. When she sees her her husband come in weary she runs to a book shelf to take down the copy of Wodehouse's Mr. Mulliner Speaks." Camilla chooses Wild Strawberries by Angela Thirkell. Says Camilla: "There is nothing so good for worried people as to read at their meals, and funny books if possible; for laughter grows so rusty in war time." For any of us who read books in time of duress this is a "feel good" book in the best sense of that term.
May 4, 2017
Vicar's wife's humorous observations of clerical and village life in the beginning of WWII.
April 1, 2017
O for the days when even an inept maid was only tenpence an hour!
May 23, 2018
A feeble attempt in my opinion to be an ecclesiastical Provincial Lady. This neo-diary format novel depicts the trials of a long suffering wartime vicar’s wife. (The protagonist is more like the dull vicar’s wife from whom Delafield tries to escape!)
While I personally have little time for organised religion, I do respect the huge amount of social work done on behalf of local people by unpaid clergy wives (visiting the sick, helping with official form filling and such like), holding the community together with good works amid the slings and arrows (and malicious gossip) of all-women committees. It is very worthy and deeply earnest but nonetheless the novel is just too pious for my liking, obsessed with Church ritual and achingly, painfully dull.
While I personally have little time for organised religion, I do respect the huge amount of social work done on behalf of local people by unpaid clergy wives (visiting the sick, helping with official form filling and such like), holding the community together with good works amid the slings and arrows (and malicious gossip) of all-women committees. It is very worthy and deeply earnest but nonetheless the novel is just too pious for my liking, obsessed with Church ritual and achingly, painfully dull.
Read
August 4, 2021It looks like this is the dnf-time of the year…
I have nothing concrete against this book, it’s not „bad“ in any way.
It simply feels like a tedious chore. It’s been lying around for a month now and I‘ve only managed around 50% by telling myself „You‘ve got to pick it up!“. Therefore, I‘ve decided to end it here and switch to some challenge books.
I have nothing concrete against this book, it’s not „bad“ in any way.
It simply feels like a tedious chore. It’s been lying around for a month now and I‘ve only managed around 50% by telling myself „You‘ve got to pick it up!“. Therefore, I‘ve decided to end it here and switch to some challenge books.
July 28, 2017
This is an enjoyable read, but it is especially valuable for its insight into the mindset and experiences of the people back home in England when the war begins. You see their concerns and fears juxtaposed next to their continuance of everyday life. Very interesting!
January 11, 2018
The main character felt vividly real and fully realized and I desperately wanted to meet her for tea and conversation at the end of the book.
February 26, 2025
Bewidering Cares by Winifred Peck
My Interest
I’m not shy in my praise for Dean Street Press–especially their Furrowed Middlebrow books! I just simply love them! That this book is a diary–an epistolary novel–and the diary of a clergyman’s wife, makes it all even more fun. Since I have been very slowly dipping in and reading bits of a REAL clergyman’s wife’s diary set at about the same time, its extra fun. For the record, this is the nonfiction book: A Vicar’s Wife in Oxford which I will now need to finish for the Nonfiction November fiction–nonfiction pairings, right?
I started this for Dean Street December. Absoutely no reflection on the book, that it has taken me till February and Read Indies to finish it. Life happens–and a lot has happened here in the USA since I started reading this one, all of which made it very hard to concentrate for a while, plus Christmas had to happen for my family–especially my two-years-old-next-week Grandson.
The Story
“But the question still remains as clamant as ever whether a clergyman has the right to use the pulpit for his own political propaganda or no. That is a big question, and one which exercises manyminds at present….”
“Christian forgiveness or sheer greed? “Both, but principally the latter…”
“I am in the happy, and perhaps not unusual, position of liking my husband’s sermons.”
Camilla Lacely is married to Arthur, the vicar in a town that sounds like the one I grew up in–very near to an industrial “city” [in our case “city” was used with a little wink and nod. No one would compare Muncie, Indiana to Manchester in the UK–that’s the city Camilla is near]. Her husband suffers the usual clergy problem–time for everyone’s lives but his own. Their son, Dick, is off training with his regiment waiting for the real World War II to start. (It’s still the “Phoney War” pre-Blitz at the start of the book). While Camilla doesn’t see much of her husband, like most such wives, she is rarely left alone. Not only is there a maid [still pretty normal back then] but parish busy-bodies, the needy and neglected, the clergy-clingers–they’re all there, almost constantly keeping her from the book she is reading. [I call them the “Gold Circle” in church–those who sit where the pastor can see them even with the lights in his eyes and laugh at anything that he has said that is supposed to be funny]. Clergy-groupies would be another word for them.
It was Camilla’s description of a daylong retreat for clergy wives that was the ultimate fun to me! It was exactly like every retreat I’ve ever attended, even though I’m not C of E [USA Episcopal] and have never been a clergy wife–just think Women’s Retreat–same thing. The same attendees–the pius one, the holier than thou one, the one who never speaks, the one you wish had stayed home, etc. They’re all there.
Her thoughts on husbands and motherhood are also very accurate. “I don’t know if women really dress for men or not, but they certainly should not bother about their husbands.” And, “…my tendency to flippancy and criticism have been sadly rejuvenated by a really amusing son, and never damped by a husband who values sincereity rather than conventional expressions of thought.”
My Thoughts
A week in the life was a great structure for this book. You get the picture very clearly of the rare joys, the good feelings from being useful, and the many ways in which Camilla is just plain human and wants to duck the boring, tediuous, or useless parts of her “professional” life.
This was such a fun read! You will enjoy it a little more if you’ve ever been a church member, but that experience is not necessary to find the book delightful.
My Verdict
4.0
For once I actually READ The book (didn’t listen) on my Kindle.
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My Interest
I’m not shy in my praise for Dean Street Press–especially their Furrowed Middlebrow books! I just simply love them! That this book is a diary–an epistolary novel–and the diary of a clergyman’s wife, makes it all even more fun. Since I have been very slowly dipping in and reading bits of a REAL clergyman’s wife’s diary set at about the same time, its extra fun. For the record, this is the nonfiction book: A Vicar’s Wife in Oxford which I will now need to finish for the Nonfiction November fiction–nonfiction pairings, right?
I started this for Dean Street December. Absoutely no reflection on the book, that it has taken me till February and Read Indies to finish it. Life happens–and a lot has happened here in the USA since I started reading this one, all of which made it very hard to concentrate for a while, plus Christmas had to happen for my family–especially my two-years-old-next-week Grandson.
The Story
“But the question still remains as clamant as ever whether a clergyman has the right to use the pulpit for his own political propaganda or no. That is a big question, and one which exercises manyminds at present….”
“Christian forgiveness or sheer greed? “Both, but principally the latter…”
“I am in the happy, and perhaps not unusual, position of liking my husband’s sermons.”
Camilla Lacely is married to Arthur, the vicar in a town that sounds like the one I grew up in–very near to an industrial “city” [in our case “city” was used with a little wink and nod. No one would compare Muncie, Indiana to Manchester in the UK–that’s the city Camilla is near]. Her husband suffers the usual clergy problem–time for everyone’s lives but his own. Their son, Dick, is off training with his regiment waiting for the real World War II to start. (It’s still the “Phoney War” pre-Blitz at the start of the book). While Camilla doesn’t see much of her husband, like most such wives, she is rarely left alone. Not only is there a maid [still pretty normal back then] but parish busy-bodies, the needy and neglected, the clergy-clingers–they’re all there, almost constantly keeping her from the book she is reading. [I call them the “Gold Circle” in church–those who sit where the pastor can see them even with the lights in his eyes and laugh at anything that he has said that is supposed to be funny]. Clergy-groupies would be another word for them.
It was Camilla’s description of a daylong retreat for clergy wives that was the ultimate fun to me! It was exactly like every retreat I’ve ever attended, even though I’m not C of E [USA Episcopal] and have never been a clergy wife–just think Women’s Retreat–same thing. The same attendees–the pius one, the holier than thou one, the one who never speaks, the one you wish had stayed home, etc. They’re all there.
Her thoughts on husbands and motherhood are also very accurate. “I don’t know if women really dress for men or not, but they certainly should not bother about their husbands.” And, “…my tendency to flippancy and criticism have been sadly rejuvenated by a really amusing son, and never damped by a husband who values sincereity rather than conventional expressions of thought.”
My Thoughts
A week in the life was a great structure for this book. You get the picture very clearly of the rare joys, the good feelings from being useful, and the many ways in which Camilla is just plain human and wants to duck the boring, tediuous, or useless parts of her “professional” life.
This was such a fun read! You will enjoy it a little more if you’ve ever been a church member, but that experience is not necessary to find the book delightful.
My Verdict
4.0
For once I actually READ The book (didn’t listen) on my Kindle.
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August 7, 2022
Camilla Lacely, clergy wife in a small Northern town in the early days of the Second World War, begins her week dealing with the fallout of the curate’s pacifist sermon - but unfortunately managed to sleep through it and had no idea what all the fuss is about. It seems as if the little world of the town is utterly remote from world affairs, but as the week goes by, Camilla finds amid the boring routine and irritations of everyday existence little sparks of romance, compassion, hope, and joy in being.
Very much in the tradition of Austen, Yonge; Thirkell, and Delafield (all referenced in this book), this study of the ‘two inches of ivory’ of small town life still resonates today. The pacifist curate and the townspeople who pride themselves on their patriotism and common sense could be today’s northern England with ‘wokeness’ versus the blue wall, which makes our narrator’s constant evocation of a past which to her was a simpler more stable time comic, given that today we look back on that era in very much the same way.
I also very much appreciated the way this book takes Camilla’s religion seriously, even if so many of its manifestations represent church battles no longer current. The book’s depiction of pre-welfare state health and social care is also a reminder of a world we have done well to have lost: a world where medical bills for a week’s flu can devastate a low-income household, and where much of the work is done by half-competent amateurs and depends on a few people’s charity. What I did not like was the way the class of the narrator - and author - is reflected in the constant complaining about the servant problem, and in the sense of ‘us and them’ between Camilla, not rich but from a solidly upper middle class background, and almost everyone else she meets. The nouveau riche are vulgar, the would-be intellectuals are pathetic, the petit bourgeoisie are annoying, and the lower classes have a certain earthy goodness but keep showing that they don’t know their place... There are also some attitudes and allusions that are very much of their time that today would be big red flags.
Altogether a book that has resonated with me a lot more than some of these interwar domestic novels do, and one to keep.
Very much in the tradition of Austen, Yonge; Thirkell, and Delafield (all referenced in this book), this study of the ‘two inches of ivory’ of small town life still resonates today. The pacifist curate and the townspeople who pride themselves on their patriotism and common sense could be today’s northern England with ‘wokeness’ versus the blue wall, which makes our narrator’s constant evocation of a past which to her was a simpler more stable time comic, given that today we look back on that era in very much the same way.
I also very much appreciated the way this book takes Camilla’s religion seriously, even if so many of its manifestations represent church battles no longer current. The book’s depiction of pre-welfare state health and social care is also a reminder of a world we have done well to have lost: a world where medical bills for a week’s flu can devastate a low-income household, and where much of the work is done by half-competent amateurs and depends on a few people’s charity. What I did not like was the way the class of the narrator - and author - is reflected in the constant complaining about the servant problem, and in the sense of ‘us and them’ between Camilla, not rich but from a solidly upper middle class background, and almost everyone else she meets. The nouveau riche are vulgar, the would-be intellectuals are pathetic, the petit bourgeoisie are annoying, and the lower classes have a certain earthy goodness but keep showing that they don’t know their place... There are also some attitudes and allusions that are very much of their time that today would be big red flags.
Altogether a book that has resonated with me a lot more than some of these interwar domestic novels do, and one to keep.
July 13, 2020
I expected to like this on the strength of reviews and descriptions comparing it to both E.M. Delafield and Angela Thirkell (both of whose books are fondly referred to by its protagonist). While Bewildering Cares is not quite as lively or laugh-out-loud funny as Delafield or Thirkell, it's less cynical and more thoughtful, more warmhearted. Narrator/diarist Camilla can be witty about and wearied by everyday mishaps, but her unabashed mutual affection for her husband and son and kindness to her friends and neighbors keeps her a thoroughly likable and sympathetic protagonist throughout.
Camilla's musings on her faith and its application in daily life add a nice little layer of extra depth—though I always find a tiny tinge of sadness in such English books featuring faithful, respectable, dyed-in-the-wool Church of England characters, in how it always seems to be the Church, the customs of the Church, the pronouncements and forms of worship of the Church, that are most in focus for them, rather than Christ.
The genre of lightly humorous English between-the-wars/Second World War domestic fiction has become very much a comfort-read type of book for me, and Bewildering Cares fits perfectly in that niche: a nice, relaxing, homey read that I stretched out over several days. Recommended if this is a niche you enjoy.
Camilla's musings on her faith and its application in daily life add a nice little layer of extra depth—though I always find a tiny tinge of sadness in such English books featuring faithful, respectable, dyed-in-the-wool Church of England characters, in how it always seems to be the Church, the customs of the Church, the pronouncements and forms of worship of the Church, that are most in focus for them, rather than Christ.
The genre of lightly humorous English between-the-wars/Second World War domestic fiction has become very much a comfort-read type of book for me, and Bewildering Cares fits perfectly in that niche: a nice, relaxing, homey read that I stretched out over several days. Recommended if this is a niche you enjoy.
May 29, 2025
3.5
A week in the life of a vicar’s with in a small town near Manchester during Lent 1940
Not much in the way of plot but mainly about the numerous small duties , neighbourly acts performed by the vicar’s wife
Some humour in the limited society of the ladies of the parish as they attend meetings , bazaars, sales of work etc and gossip
The main plot concerning the fallout from the curates sermon on pacifism and socialism as the true meaning of Christianity and some of the book is taken up with the arguments for and against this attitude
Although some sections are Camilla’s thoughts on religion , especially the Church of England it remains a social comedy with some information on the Home Front during the early part of WW2 (the Phoney War) but more serious than Angela Thirkell and EM Delafield , both of whom she name checks and reads during a work party instead of George Eliot’s Mill on the Floss
Like EM Delafield , Winifred Peck via her heroine is an admirer of Charlotte M Yonge especially her most famous books The Heir of Redclyff and The Daisy Chain
As I have been reading about Charlotte M Yongs’s books since I started reading The Chalet School books 50 years ago I feel I must track down a copy to read for myself
A week in the life of a vicar’s with in a small town near Manchester during Lent 1940
Not much in the way of plot but mainly about the numerous small duties , neighbourly acts performed by the vicar’s wife
Some humour in the limited society of the ladies of the parish as they attend meetings , bazaars, sales of work etc and gossip
The main plot concerning the fallout from the curates sermon on pacifism and socialism as the true meaning of Christianity and some of the book is taken up with the arguments for and against this attitude
Although some sections are Camilla’s thoughts on religion , especially the Church of England it remains a social comedy with some information on the Home Front during the early part of WW2 (the Phoney War) but more serious than Angela Thirkell and EM Delafield , both of whom she name checks and reads during a work party instead of George Eliot’s Mill on the Floss
Like EM Delafield , Winifred Peck via her heroine is an admirer of Charlotte M Yonge especially her most famous books The Heir of Redclyff and The Daisy Chain
As I have been reading about Charlotte M Yongs’s books since I started reading The Chalet School books 50 years ago I feel I must track down a copy to read for myself
July 31, 2021
I read this at the same time as Pym’s Jane and Prudence and in my mind often confused them, but Camilla is nothing like Jane and Winifred Peck is not as funny. I really enjoyed this novel. It is an easy to read genre, yet Peck touched on some deeper subjects. I found the description of the last few days and death of a neighbour particularly moving. Camilla works hard and appears very efficient (no forgotten meals or animal soaps her) I warmed to her, yet I prefer Jane. The literary references were fun and certainly there is also a similarity with our Provincial Lady novels. All in all a good read!
January 1, 2026
Dated, with obscure references, but still worth a read
A lot of the dated references went over my head, and weren't even solved with the internet, but there is wit and wisdom here. It's also a view into the wartime country life in England, with its home front deprivations, its efforts to do its part against Hitler, along with all the regular things that go on in life. And a view of the life of the wife of a vicar... exhausting just reading about it! I almost didn't finish, but I found it worthwhile.
A lot of the dated references went over my head, and weren't even solved with the internet, but there is wit and wisdom here. It's also a view into the wartime country life in England, with its home front deprivations, its efforts to do its part against Hitler, along with all the regular things that go on in life. And a view of the life of the wife of a vicar... exhausting just reading about it! I almost didn't finish, but I found it worthwhile.
August 30, 2022
Déception, je n'ai pas réussi à entrer dans l'histoire. Pourtant habituellement j'aime ce genre de livre. La vie quotidienne d'un petit village anglais pendant la seconde guerre mondiale, où l'on suit l'histoire du point de vue de la femme du vicaire. Dans ce genre de livre j'aime particulièrement Barbara Pym.
Je ne tire pas pour autant un trait sur cette auteure mais celui n'était vraiment pas pour moi j'ai du me forcer à le terminer en le lisant en diagonale.
Je ne tire pas pour autant un trait sur cette auteure mais celui n'était vraiment pas pour moi j'ai du me forcer à le terminer en le lisant en diagonale.
February 18, 2022
Truly just for "between the wars" fans, of which I'm one. No plot at all, but the diary of a bright and witty woman over the course of a week at the beginning of WWII. She's a middle aged wife of a minister with a lot of tedious duties, but her voice is lovely and she's loaded with literary references.
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