Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves

by Rachel Malik

A story of the land, friendship and of secret lives.

When Rene Hargreaves is billeted to Starlight Farm as a Land Girl, far from the city where she grew up, she finds farmer Elsie Boston and her country ways strange at first. Yet over the days and months Rene and Elsie come to understand and depend on each other. Soon they can no longer imagine a life apart.

But a visitor from Rene's past threatens the life they have built together, a life that has always kept others at a careful distance. Soon they are involved in a war of their own that endangers everything and will finally expose them to the nation's press and the full force of the law.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Queer, British Literature, LGBT, Contemporary

320 pages, Hardcover

First published April 27, 2017

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves is the author’s debut novel and is the fictionalised story of her own grandmother, the Hargreaves of the title. What an accomplished debut this is – the prologue of a woman being released from Holloway prison pulled me in straight away – who is it and why? It is a very intricate and gentle story of two woman, neither of whom fit neatly into a pigeonhole of how society considers that they should live. For themselves, they are happy enough in their own lives and just want to be left alone to live how they wish.

When Rene Hargreaves first meets Elsie Boston, it is as a Land Girl in 1940 when Rene has been sent to Elsie’s small farm, ‘Starlight’ in Berkshire. Elsie is a fair bit older, set in her ways and the more reclusive of the two; being used to her own company – she doesn’t take to strangers and is not too keen on the idea of Rene coming to live with her but after a while the two women settle into a comfortable and co-dependent friendship/relationship.

Unlike Elsie who has always lived in the country, Rene lived in Manchester and enjoyed the city life especially the movies. However Rene leaves her old life behind, reinvents herself and becomes a Land Girl. She has a history of her own and her actions do not show her in a particularly good light; as much as I admired her for her fortitude and strength of character, I did find it hard to forgive and found it difficult to really warm to her.

Although it is never made explicit, it seems clear that a relationship forms between the two woman, they look out for and care for each other and it is this which sustains them through difficult times. Following a great injustice by the authorities during the war, they are forced to become itinerant workers, travelling around the country seeking work and accommodation. Through hard graft and Elsie’s talent for making a comfortable home from not very much together with Rene seeking work from wherever she can to bring in money, they manage to live quite contentedly with their animals until someone from Rene’s past endangers everything they have and their life together.

Rachel Malik has a very engaging way with words and very ably weaves the factual with the fictional to produce an engrossing tale. The descriptions of the landscape, wherever the setting, are rich with detail and the characters are brought to life with their foibles and flaws and the simplicity of their lives. As soon as I started reading, I thought that the carefully constructed narrative together with the descriptive prose and the gentle pace would make it a perfect fit for the literary fiction genre, perhaps more so than that of commercial fiction. Although having said that I think that anyone who favours historical fiction would enjoy this.

This is not a book to race through but one to be savoured and I thoroughly enjoyed being transported to both a different era and way of life, immersing myself in the lives of Elsie and Rene and going through every triumph and tribulation with them. It’s not all about feeding chickens and their domestic routines of who makes the cocoa, however. There are some surprises within the story and the courtroom drama in the second half made for compelling reading. The story is set between 1940 and the 1960’s and the prejudices against people who dare to want a different life to the norm are clear to see.

The story of Misses Boston and Hargreaves is one of friendship, love and loyalty. It is also a commentary of those times. I definitely recommend that fans of this genre give it a try.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Their lives were so very ordinary, except perhaps in one or two respects.” Malik was inspired by the life of her maternal grandmother, Irene Hargreaves, who left her husband and three children behind in Manchester before the start of World War II and moved down to Berkshire to work as a land girl on Elsie Boston’s Starlight Farm. After Elsie lost the farm, they were itinerant laborers and eventually settled down together in Cornwall – presumably as lovers – and got caught up in a manslaughter case in the 1950s. They lived together for the rest of their lives. “What did Rene and Elsie look like from the top of common-sense hill? In summary: odd, most certainly odd, and probably lesbians, odd and poor and gradually ground down by a situation that tainted them.”

Despite the rather scandalous premise, this is a very quiet, low-key book that will probably appeal to readers of Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand and the like. I liked the capitalized advertisements, war propaganda sayings, etc. interspersed through the first half, and it was neat to see some Berkshire places I’m familiar with used as settings. Overall, though, this couldn’t hold my interest. I gave it a quick skim of an afternoon.

I won a proof copy in a Goodreads giveaway.

Releases April 27th.

[Kirsty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have wanted to read Rachel Malik's debut novel, Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves, since its 2017 publication.  I have seen relatively few reviews of the book, but my interest was piqued by the praise on its cover.  Penelope Lively calls it 'a skilful recreation of a time and a climate of mind, enriched by persuasive period detail', and Elizabeth Buchan says that it is 'quietly gripping and intriguing'.  The novel is loosely based upon the life of the author's grandmother, who left her family home and three children to become a Land Girl during the Second World War.

The protagonists of the piece are two women, Rene Hargreaves and Elsie Boston.  Rene is billeted to the rural Starlight Farm in Berkshire, far from her home in Manchester, in the summer of 1940.  At first, she finds Elsie 'and her country ways' decidedly odd.  However, once the women come to know one another, a mutual understanding and dependence is formed.  Their life with one another is quiet, almost idyllic, until the peace is shattered by the arrival on Starlight Farm of someone from Rene's past.  At this point, they face trials which endanger everything which they have built, 'a life that has always kept others at a careful distance.'

The prologue, in which the figure of a solitary woman standing at a window is captured, is beautifully sculpted, and sets the tone of the rest of the novel.  Malik writes: 'Closer, and you would see that she is waiting.  There is something of that slightly fidgety intensity, that unwilling patience.  A good deal of her life has been spent waiting, one way and another. She'll carry on waiting, but from today the waiting will be different.'  Chapter one then opens with Elsie's preparations for her new guest, and Rene's journey.  

Elsie has been alone in her familial home for some time; her parents and three brothers 'died such a long time ago', and her sisters have variously married and moved away.  The arrival of the Land Girl fills her with dread and uncertainty: 'She was seeing everything double and she didn't like it, it put her all at sea.  She pulled off her scarf and and rubbed her hands through her hair, trying to clear her thoughts.'  When Rene arrives, her first impressions of the place leave her a little doubtful too: 'She found it hard to imagine a woman, or a man, living here on their own.  It seemed a little strange.  Yet she liked the soft red brick of the house, and the orchard with its shrunken fruit trees.'  Interesting dynamics are apparent between the protagonists as soon as they have become acquainted: 'Rene found herself thinking back to that first afternoon.  She had offered her hand to Elsie, and Elsie had reached out hers but it wasn't a greeting - Elsie had reached out as if she were trapped and needed to be pulled out, pulled free.'

As time goes on, and their anxiety settles, Malik writes of the women's growing relationship with one another: 'Elsie wasn't quite like other people, but that didn't matter to Rene.  Elsie, who had been to the pictures only twice, so long ago, and hated it; Elsie, who didn't know how to gossip, who had never been to a dance or ever seen the sea; none of it mattered to Rene one bit, because she had fallen hook, line and sinker for Elsie's lonely power.'  The friendship between Rene and Elsie grows quickly; they come to reveal things about themselves in embarrassment at first, and then with real feeling.  Both characters are unusual and believable.

Throughout, I enjoyed Malik's writing; in the early few chapters, many of the gloriously structured sentences are filled with curious information about her characters.  I really liked the gentle way in which she introduced new topics into the story, particularly when these connected with the problems in the wider world.  She writes, for instance: 'As is common when fates are being decided, the two women had no sense of gathering storm clouds.'  The sense of place which Malik crafts, and the way in which this has been woven throughout the novel, feels almost like a point of anchorage: 'Elsie had known the canal all her life.  It was already falling into disrepair when the Bostons came to Starlight.  Now, for long stretches, the canal was a memory, an imprint: some overhanging branches where shape suggested a curve below, a patch of bricked walkway of a sudden uneasy flatness in the view ahead; Rene could pick out the weeping willows. And then you came upon the soft red curve of a broken bridge, a sudden hole-punched hole of black water, visible only for a moment.'  Malik's authorial touch is gentle at times, and firm at moments of crisis; there is a lovely balance struck between the two.

Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves is a novel which has a quiet power.  A few reviews have mentioned that it starts almost too slowly, but I did not personally feel that this was the case.  Malik simply takes a great deal of care in setting her scenes and building the complex relationships between her main characters.  I found Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves a lovely, thoughtful, and immersive novel.  It is not a happy book, and it took a series of turns which I was not expecting, but this made it all the more compelling.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story is based on the life of Rachel Malik’s own grandmother but, as she states, the book is ‘a fiction and not a speculation and it should be read as such’. Initially, it took me a while to adapt to the rhythm of the author’s writing style: ‘For they were all gone: two sisters married and third moved away; three brothers, dead such a long time ago – their names engraved on the memorial to prove it; her mother and her father as well’. However once I did, I really became immersed in the story and totally engaged with the two main characters, Rene and Elsie.

From the start, Elsie is an enigmatic character, cherishing her solitude and resisting intrusion from neighbours, seeing this as ‘encroachment’. At the same time, she has a ‘lonely power’ that proves strangely attractive to Rene: ‘Elsie wasn’t quite like other people, but that didn’t matter to Rene.’ Elsie’s strangeness is communicated in small ways, such as by gestures. When Rene first arrives at Starlight Farm: ‘She had offered her hand to Elsie, and Elsie had reached out hers but it wasn’t a greeting – Elsie had reached out as if she were trapped and needed to be pulled out, pulled free’. Gradually, they find each meets a kind of need in the other – Elsie, for companionship and a conduit to the outside world, and Rene, for refuge from her past: 'Elsie knew that Rene fitted. A stranger to be sure, but one who didn’t make her feel strange.’

The development of Elsie and Rene’s relationship over time is tenderly observed without explicitly stating its nature. Instead their growing mutual dependence is indicated by small things, like shared evenings listening to radio plays or the way they address each other: 'A "we" was creeping into their talk, sometimes an "us"'. Eventually, Rene shares more details about her own history and the choices she has made. The War beings tumultuous change but also new beginnings for the pair. Then a figure from Rene’s past disrupts their way of life with grave consequences that puts their life together under an unwelcome and potentially life-changing spotlight.

This book is probably not everyone’s cup of tea (not that there isn’t plenty of tea drinking in it) but I absolutely fell in love with it.

I received an advance review copy courtesy of NetGalley and publishers, Penguin Books UK, in return for an honest review.

To read reviews of other great books, visit my blog: https://whatcathyreadnext.wordpress.com/

[Theresa Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first came across this novel, Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves when it featured as part of a blog tour earlier this year on a blog I like to follow, What Cathy Read Next. Cathy combined an author interview with her review of the novel and it sounded like the sort of historical read I usually enjoy. The novel has since been longlisted for The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, “a prize that celebrates quality, and innovation of writing in the English language, and is open to books published in the previous year in the UK, Ireland or the Commonwealth.”



I’m always drawn to historical fiction that is inspired by fact, be it events or real people, and Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves falls into that category. I’ll begin at the end with this extract from the author’s historical note:

“This novel began while I was trying to find out about the life of my mother’s mother, Rene Hargreaves—a black sheep if ever there was one.

Like most ordinary people, Rene’s life would have been nearly invisible in the official sense—but for her encounters with the criminal justice system and the rigours of wartime documentation. What I found suggested a partial chronology for Rene and, to a lesser extent, Elsie; the police records also revealed some tantalising details about their life together.

It should be clear that Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves is a fiction and not a speculation and it should be read as such.”



I thought it was interesting to note how the author referred to Rene Hargreaves as “her mother’s mother” as opposed to her grandmother, a telling turn of phrase to indicate that Rene Hargreaves wasn’t a grandmother in any way. And indeed, she did abandon her children when they were at very young ages and never saw them again. Contrary to the book description here, Rene left her youngest child, a baby, with a woman who had been her brother’s nanny, and the older two children were put onto a train and sent to her sister-in-law, a woman she didn’t even like and who had nothing but contempt for Rene. We are given the background on why Rene felt she needed to leave her husband, but leaving your husband and giving your children away are two entirely different things, and I will admit that this clouded my liking of Rene. I was mollified to some degree to note that within the story, this weighed heavily on Rene for the rest of her life, but even she acknowledges that she didn’t need to abandon them to have left her husband. She could have gotten them back, particularly given the fact that her husband had died and would not have challenged her for custody. So I can clearly understand why the author would have referred to Rene in that manner, for not only was she not a mother to her own daughter, she certainly was never a grandmother to her grandchildren.



The final statement in this historical note is also of interest to me, that reinforcement that Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves is a fiction, not a speculation. To me, this just goes to show how little was known about these women, other than the information that entered the public domain. They really did live a rather secluded life, which in itself is not a big deal, the majority of us don’t have pages of info coming up on us with an internet search, but more than this is the implication that their families did not know very much about them. It’s that kind of seclusion that begs interest. I can see how this would have inspired a bit of digging, if I had a phantom grandmother, I might have done the same.



The novel itself is what I like to term, a quiet unfolding. It’s more of a character study than a plot driven tale. It plods along to a certain extent, but I must admit this appealed to me. I could pick it up and just sink into the day to day lives of these two women, a gentle ebb and flow of history unfolding before me. And it’s very atmospheric, quite rich in the detail of the land and life, during and after WWII. When the novel opens, we meet Elsie (Miss Boston), owner of Starlight Farm, quite nervous about the imminent arrival of her assigned land girl, Rene (Miss Hargreaves). It doesn’t take long for these women to fall into a rhythm with each other. I was particularly saddened by the circumstances that led to Elsie’s loss of her own farm. That kind of underhanded taking advantage of women really angers me, all the more because it would have happened just that way. Two women, working hard and making a go of the farm, having it stolen out from under them by a lazy, sneaking man, who wasn’t even doing his own bit for the war anyway. I was quite incensed. This set them on a wandering path and it was some years until they finally settled into a place of their own again, this time in Cornwall.



The majority of the novel is concerned with the life that the ladies were living. Like I mentioned earlier, it’s a character study, of both as individuals but also of them as a unit. What were they to each other? Friends? Lovers? It not explicit. There is certainly plenty of innuendo along the way, particularly at the end when Rene is under examination for breaking the law. What I enjoyed about this novel was its lack of explicit definition. Elsie and Rene were important to each other. They loved each, leaned on each other, and lived their lives linked as any ordinary couple would. They didn’t however define themselves, nor did they constantly explain their relationship to others. It simply was. I pondered quite often on this, and I think it’s very much indicative of the era, as much as the ladies themselves. When something is rare, or to a certain extent unknown, experiencing it yourself doesn’t automatically make it something you can define, or even something that you would want to. I feel that for Elsie and Rene, their relationship was constantly evolving for themselves, what other people thought was incidental, and if at any point in time, one of them had been asked if they were lesbians, I’m quite certain the suggestion would have been met with astonishment. It was a love borne out of companionship rather than sexual desire, that was very much apparent, and for this, I found it all the more authentic and meaningful.



The unwanted visitor that comes to stay was an interesting character. I couldn’t quite put my finger on his behaviour. I kept thinking there was some element of dementia, certainly substance abuse, but there were other oddities that threw me. He would have tested a saint, honestly. Some of his behaviour was so bizarre it bordered on disturbing. I really began to fear for Elsie and his strange fixation on winding her up. I liked how this all played out in the end, and I felt once again, that ring of authenticity that made it all seem that much more plausible.



Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves is quite possibly not a novel that all will enjoy. Many might find its gentle pace under stimulating, the focus on characters rather than plot too wandering. To me, it’s an excellent example of historical fiction. A clear snapshot of life in rural Britain, during and post WWII. It perfectly encapsulated the rural mindset, the mistrust of women who have no men in their lives. Dangerous beings, women who opt to think and work for themselves. Clearly not to be trusted and definitely up to something. The subtle way Rachel Malik threads this throughout the narrative is testimony to her skill within this genre. I have no idea if Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves will make the shortlist for The Walter Scott, but its placement on the longlist is well deserved. Possibly not a good book club recommendation, I did put this forward to my own book club and reactions have been mixed. But if you like literary historical fiction, then this is a novel you may well appreciate.

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves is Rachel Malik’s debut novel, and it is a hugely impressive beginning to what I can only suppose will be a very successful publishing career. The story is based heavily on the life of the author’s maternal grandmother; Rene Hargreaves. While the author makes it quite clear that this is a work of fiction, she kept the names the same and all the incidents in the book seem to have come straight from Rene’s life – and it is a wonderful story spanning more than twenty years.

Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves is the story of two unconventional women, who are brought together by a world gone mad. Elsie Boston is a farmer, working the farm her father signed over to her, the best she can, her brothers killed in the first World War, her sisters have left to get married and as another war gets under way she is alone at Starlight, happy in her solitude and with the animals and the land she loves. In 1940, Elsie applies for a landgirl to help out, gets the spare room ready, nervous about having another person in the house.

Rene Hargreaves arrives, a little older than Elsie had expected, she is a city woman, a widow drawn to work on the land like Elsie. Rene’s past is more complex than Elsie realises at first, she carries the shadows of it with her, never quite escaping her own sense of guilt.

Rene and Elsie come to understand one another quickly, they develop an easy way of life together, playing patience, doing jigsaws and listening to the wireless in the evenings after the work of the farm is done.

Full review: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2017/...

[Robert Sheard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves is the second novel I’ve read of the six titles short listed for this year’s Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction.

It’s set in England, right as World War II is beginning, but it’s not about the war per se. Elsie Boston owns a small farm called Starlight, but her sisters have married or moved away, and her brothers are dead as a result of the war. So she applies for assistance from the Land Girls, an organization that sends young women to help on farms like Elsie’s because of the absence of male farmworkers. Rene Hargreaves is the young woman assigned to Starlight.

The novel covers the next twenty or so years, and is a loose fictional account of some of the events in the author’s grandmother’s life (Rene’s history). I don’t want to discuss details of the story here because it will spoil too much. But there is a mystery element to some of the story, even with a twist at the end, but the book is more about the relationship that develops between the two women, and society’s uncomfortable speculation about that relationship.

The portions of the novel that are in the present are quite good, but Malik is trying to work some of Rene’s back story into the novel through fragmentary memories and associations, and I found those to be vague enough that they were a distraction. I almost wish she had just laid out Rene’s past somewhere in the beginning since it really didn’t need such an indirect treatment.

Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves is Malik’s first novel, so it will be interesting to see where she goes from here, and if writing about another subject that’s not linked directly to her family will change how she builds plots.

[Bettie]

Whilst I do not fancy for myself at this time, it is available on Net Galley.

[Helen White · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elsie owns a small farm and gets a land girl Rene to help her. They become good friends who work well together and when Elsie is cheated out of her farm they strike out together to find a new home. After a lifetime together they are only parted after a dramatic police visit.

[Michelle Ryles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves is a beautiful, gentle story with characters who were real people, in fact Miss Hargreaves is the author's maternal grandmother. I love stories that have a nugget of truth in them, however small the nugget may be. Rachel Malik came up with the idea for the book when she decided to find out more information about the elusive Miss Hargreaves, and what a beautiful story she has created from so very little information. Aside from the few facts stated in the Historical Note, we are reminded that Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves is ultimately a work of fiction.

I found it a refreshing change to have a book set during World War II which shows us the war from the perspective of the farmers and the countryside. There are no bombs and air raid shelters, although they might see a passing aircraft that has veered off course. With the men away to war, help on the land arrived in the form of land girls. Rene Hargreaves is allocated to Starlight Farm, owned by Elsie Boston. The pair get on so well that they naturally become good friends, but Rene is weighed down by secrets that threaten her new life in the countryside. We all know that secrets don't stay hidden for long in books, and Rene is about to see some devastating consequences when her past and present collide.

Like life in the country, the pacing is quite slow so it did take me a while to get into the book. I think it really livened up when Ernest came to live with the ladies, although he was like a naughty child leaving his sticky fingerprints everywhere. It did make me chuckle imagining him eating and drinking Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves out of house and home.

The whole story becomes more poignant when you read the Historical Note at the end as Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves evolve from 'characters' to 'people'. I didn't know until I read this that it was based on real people and it certainly made me pause for thought at the turn of events in the book. I think this would make a great book to ponder over with friends at book club; the quality of Rachel Malik's writing is very impressive, she has such an amazing attention to detail that enables her to draw beautiful pictures with her words. Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves is a beautiful, moving and impeccable debut.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this novel while browsing in the library, what appealed to me was of course that the title has two female names. It’s still unusual to find novels that focus this intensely on the relationship between two women. Although the narrative is coy about whether their relationship is sexual, it is evidently romantic and the titular pair are life partners. ‘Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves’ tells the story of how they met and a decade in their lives together. Although I found the main characters appealing, interesting, and well-drawn, the pacing was rather odd. For once in my life (and this really is the only time I will ever say this), I agree with the Daily Mail quote on the back: ‘Part period piece, part courtroom drama, this is a touching love story’. The pieces don’t necessarily fit together smoothly, although perhaps this was more obvious because I read the entire thing in one go on a train journey. I also found the relationships outside the central one seem rather flat. Nonetheless, the novel more or less works because of the central pair and their endearing bond. It also paints a neat portrait of genteel poverty after the Second World War, although the characters are too secluded for any meaningful sense of social change to intrude.

Overall, I want to give it four stars for its focus on the intense bond between two older women, but can only manage three because of the erratic pacing, the odd choice to put a flashforward at the beginning which implies the plot will be more of a conventional crime mystery, and perhaps an excess of delicacy.

[Claire Fuller]

This book really grew on me (not that the start was bad, just that it was quiet), until I was so curious about the two main characters, Elsie and Rene. It's beautifully written, and partly set in my home town (although I couldn't recognise the places), Winchester. Definitely will be looking out for Malik's next book.

[Trisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though this novel is based on events in the life of the author's grandmother, Rachel Malik says it's “a work of fiction not a speculation.” And the real life Rene Hargreaves was definitely a skeleton in the family closet. Not only because she abandoned her husband and children during WWII and disappeared to work as a Land Girl for a woman farmer. But also because she was eventually convicted for the murder of her husband.

Malik has taken these facts and spun them into a story that goes much deeper than it appears on the surface. Despite everything that’s difficult to forgive about Rene Hargreaves she emerges as a genuinely sympathetic character as does Elsie Boston, the reclusive and undeniably eccentric older woman who is trying to manage what’s left of the family farm on her own.

Set in England, the book spans nearly 30 years, during which time the two women develop a most unconventional friendship bonded together by genuine affection and the desire to live a simple, uncluttered life. Forced to give up her farm Elsie grows to depend more and more on Rene as the two of them move throughout the rural countryside as itinerant farm workers.

This is one of those books where much is left unsaid and up to the reader to decipher, including the nature of the women’s relationship. It’s entirely possible they were lovers but if so Malik didn’t consider it important enough to dwell upon. What matters is their amazing resiliency and determination to create a life together despite how unconventional it may have looked to outsiders.

This is a thoughtful book filled with sharply drawn descriptions of rural life in the 40’s, 50’s and early 60’s. And the fact that there really was a Rene Hargreaves and Elsie Boston made their story all the more interesting to read. More information about the real Miss Hargreaves and Miss Boston is available at https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/fe...

[Terri Stokes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book through one of the goodreads giveaways.

The first thing I have to say, is that I actually really enjoyed reading this novel, although it was a little slow to get in to at first, but I think that was just mainly because I didn't have a lot of time when I first started.
The prologue is something which caught my attention straight away and as you read on through the novel and towards the end, you find out that the prologue kind of actually told you what happened without telling you.

Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves, follows the life of two women during the early part of world war two and through out as they settle on different farms to work after loosing Miss Boston's own home and farm. We move along with the two ladies as they find another small cottage and live tidly for a few years before an old friend of Miss Hargreaves passes away and her husband is brought to the cottage to live. Sadly, this ends up 'messing' things up for the two ladies since he is quite rueful and not very easy to deal with. As we get to the end of the novel, we soon find out the truths of different things which has happened before Miss Hargreaves and Miss Boston resume their daily lives.

A story filled with twists and turns on all occasions, Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves is a novel which is greatly written and thought through. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good read.

[Contrary Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thomas Hardy made me think I didn’t like pastoral stories: Rachel Malik has corrected this. It is really nice to read a story that covers female friendship- especially one with a framework of truth behind it. It has evolving settings and life circumstances, a dash of intrigue and more than a whiff of that decaying sense left in the aftermath of WW2. It reminded me a little of Starlight by Stella Gibbons (minus supernatural terror) and that can only be a good thing.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book, it poodles along quite mundanely but the last half is quite a shock. I didn't see it coming at all.

[iana · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Windy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely excellent. Wonderful characters and I sped through the second half in one sitting

[Jane Willis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won my copy in a Good Reads Giveaway.

One of the best books I have read for a very long time, this book follows the close friendship of two women, Elsie and Rene, who, for different reasons, do not fit in with the rest of society. Through the war years and the 1950s we are taken gently through their changing homes and workplaces, until a promise made by Rene many years before needs to be fulfilled, bringing a visitor who disrupts both their lives unbearably.

The story is a gentle, slowly unfolding one, despite the fact there is a murder, and it really is a book to read slowly in order to savour the wonderful writing rather than to speed through to see whodunit.

One tiny criticism, though - which, as mine was an uncorrected proof, may have been dealt with in the finished version. During the trial, Wheal Rock cottage was described as having no electricity. However during the late 1950s, the ladies had enjoyed listening to the wireless, and old secondhand one that they had been given, in the evenings. Now I can remember the wirelesses everyone had in the late 50s - they were huge things that ran on mains electricity. There was much excitement in our family when a battery operated radio was bought - at much expense - in about 1960. So the cottage must have had electricity in order for the wireless to have operated!

[Mandi A · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did enjoy this debut novel which continues to work at many levels in one's mind after you have closed it. Social history, maternity and being a woman, rural life, gender and class issues, British topography and intriguingly, a strong sense of Englishness given Rachel's mixed heritage. Always interesting to see what creative writing & literature tutors produce when they start publishing. I'm looking forward to reading Rachel's next book 'Belvedere'. The paperback of Miss B and Miss H is out now and Rachel is on a blog tour talking about writing, also at the beautiful Gladstone Library in North Wales in April.

Jane Willis (June 2017 review) doesn't remember pre-transistor radios. The old valve radios worked on huge square 9 volt batteries. Rachel also mentioned a wartime colour photograph that made me stop and think and yes, they did exist.

[Kay · Rating 1 out of 5]

I finished this book out of stubbornness, I had planned to abandon this halfway through. I didn't like the pacing, the characters didn't have much depth, not a lot actually happened, and much of it was implied rather than stated. Not for me.

[Heather Hyde · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't finish it just couldn't get into it!

[Katherine Sunderland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because of it's elegant prose, this novel possibly leans towards literary fiction but there is no doubting Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves is very readable, charming and engaging. It has echoes of a Kate Summerscale book, although the author is very clear that this is a fictionalised account of what might have happened to these women who did exist in real life, rather than an historical truth. The author strikes a great balance between retelling the lives of the two main characters (one of which was Malik's grandmother) and the historical events in which they become involved as well as weaving an entrancing tale of companionship and friendship. There is no denying that the reader cannot help but be intrigued by the relationship that develops and grows across the pages, or by affected by the fact that this relationship has such an impact on both the lives of the two women.

I enjoyed Malik's ability to capture the relationship between the two women with such understated language. It must be a challenge to write about your family history but Malik successfully weaves what she has learned about her grandmother into a piece of fascinating fiction. Her ability to evoke the era in which the novel is set is effortless and perfectly done. She firmly roots the reader within the time and place of the story with language, dialogue, description and detail that creates an atmosphere capturing the period. This secure placing within the historical setting then ensures the full significance of the events which unfold are felt by the reader.

Malik's prose is considered, thoughtful, atmospheric and graceful. The characters are well crafted, easy to picture, easy to invest in and to care about. The interjection of phrases unique to the wartime is well done, as is the way Malik is able to convey class and social standing with one or two key details. There is also a lingering sense of tragedy and being haunted by the past which adds a sense of melancholy but never becomes too much or too distracting.

The last third of the book focuses on a court case and there is a definite change of pace and style for this section of the book. I had been meandering along the pages and suddenly I was racing through, my attention awakened fully by the increase in dialogue, pace, revelations and drama. I was engrossed by the shock, scandal and cruelty that befell these endearing, harmless, well meaning and private people. The final section of the book is more powerful because of the time Malik has spent from the beginning of the novel developing these nuances, subtle moments and tender depiction of the relationship between the characters.

This is a very well crafted, well executed and polished novel. It is beautifully controlled and accomplished for a debut novel and the author's background in academic writing does show through. It is a historical fiction and it is more literary than commercial in style but it is engaging, entrancing, tender and well worth a read. I thought the evocation of characters, time and place was exceptionally well presented and I found myself caring about the characters much more than I realised once the story had finished!

Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves is currently available in Hardback and will be published in Paperback in February 2018.

[Janet Emson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elsie Boston is not keen on opening up her farm and her life to a stranger. But a Land Girl is coming to Starlight farm to help Elsie during the war. Little does Elsie realise that Rene Hargreaves will change her life irrevocably.

There is a gentleness to the story, one that allows the reader to be pulled along with the story. Time passes by swiftly, so much so that months or years can pass in a single chapter. This speeding up of time means that the story has a slight surreal quality to it. One minute Rene Hargreaves has arrived at Starlight Farm, the war in full swing, then the next the war is over, though it seems that Rene is still only the new girl.

The relationship between Rene and Elise is hinted at, discreet suggestions dropped in chapters to show how their relationship develops from strangers, to friends, to something deeper and more life-altering.

Elise is portrayed as a simpler, quieter soul, one who would prefer to be left alone with her animals and work, and later with Rene. Though not a people person she is well liked by those she knows. She is somewhat coddled by Rene, who prepares them for any moves they have to make, organising and sorting so that Elsie is not worried. However it does appear that Elsie has an inner strength and drive that doesn’t always have the opportunity to make its presence felt. It almost felt as if Elsie was from another age at times. Rene is a more complex character. Arriving at Starlight with her own secrets, her past is slowly revealed. I have to admit as much as I warmed to Rene as the book progressed, for she a determined, kind, hardworking woman, the fact that she left her family always cast a shadow over her, and made me unable to like her as much as I wanted to.

The story is engaging. During the first half of the novel not much happens yet everything happens. We see Rene and Elsie meet, become friends, become inseparable. We see them go through winters and summers, through personal trials and through the everyday mundane aspects of life. The book is well written, the prose at times almost poetic, with a cadence that lulls the reader. The second part of the novel is more matter of fact, with a tone that is both different and recognisable.

Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves is loosely based on the life of Rachel Malik’s maternal grandmother which made the story all the more fascinating for me. I found myself carrying out internet research after I had finished the book, keen to see if I could find out anything about the real Miss Hargreaves.

Don’t pick up this book if you want lots of action and adventure. Do try it if you want a gently told tale that takes you away to another time and place, and that works its magic on you slowly.

[Thelastwordreview · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of Rachel Malik’s own Grandmother, but told in a fictional novel that I found so tender and loving. Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves is a remarkable debut from an author I am really looking forward to reading more from in the future. If like me, you missed the hardback copy when it was released in April 2017 then you will be delighted to know the paperback will be released on 1st February through Fig Tree (Penguin Books UK).

Before the outbreak of World War II Rene Hargreaves walked out on her husband and three young children. Her husband had an addiction to gambling. But to walk away from three young children is something that is nothing short of a crime. Rene had to break free and soon she found herself with a new life on ‘Starlight Farm’ living with Elsie it would not be long before they both would become totally inseparable from each other. Rene’s new life had begun.

Both women at first are different from each, Elsie is more a woman who enjoys the peace and freedom of being on her own and does not bother too much with locals but Rene comes across as more the opposite. But now Elsie has offered a chance to Rene on the farm. Both find that theirs is a unique relationship and it seemed to just right for each other. Despite the constant pressure of running a farm and with some of the locals looking on hoping they would fail and seeing a land grab opportunity.

The ever present threat of World War II finally arrives and everyone’s lives are about to change. Details of Rene’s past are now shared and then the past comes back to haunt Rene with consequences that will have dire effect on both Rene and Elsie’s lives.

There is so much about this story and how Rachel Malik weaved a fictional account of her grandmother’s life. It is a book that just written so eloquently and reads so gently. There are secrets to uncover and a painful past that has far reaching consequences for them both. This was not an easy life for Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves but their life was a quiet and gentle life. They wanted to bother no-one and wanted no-one to look into their lives. But sadly in the early 1940’s life was not going to leave them alone. This is a story of love and loyalty to each other and also of secrets from the past. Beautiful and rich a story I really fell in love with and one I hope you will too.

Thank you Hannah Ludbrook for the review copy of Miss Boston & Miss Hargreaves

[Nicola Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think there is something very appealing about books with the names of the characters in the title. Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves spoke to me of the people within, it made me curious as to what their story would be.

Elsie Boston lives at Starlight and runs the farm there single-handedly. It's wartime and she is under more scrutiny because of the importance of farms during that period. She takes on a land girl, Miss Hargreaves, who is less a girl than a woman, with quite a back story. This character is based on the author's own grandmother, a story which is fascinating.

Over 20-30 years these two women form a strong alliance, one that we are left to draw our own conclusions about. It's a touching relationship, a happy friendship. Until something quite shocking happens to shake their very existence, something that I could never have imagined would happen.

This is a gentle, touching, yet surprising tale. So much is implied in the writing, and yet I thought it was quite easy to know just what was implied. This is a testament to Malik's writing style that she was able to achieve this.

I don't think this is a book that should be rushed, indeed it cannot be rushed. Given that it's under 300 pages I was expecting to finish it a little quicker than I did but I just couldn't plough through it and needed to give it the time it deserved.

I think I most of all enjoyed reading about the day to day lives of these ladies. They didn't have much but they made the most of what they did have and lived a simple existence. Until all of a sudden they are forced to share their private lives with the world. The final third or so of the book is set around a trial in Winchester and is slightly different in pace, for both the characters and the reader.

I enjoyed this book for the most part and found it very interesting and very well-written. Every now and then my interest waned slightly - perhaps the detail was a little bit much or it was a little too gentle for my tastes. Overall, though, it's a lovely tender love story and a very accomplished debut for Rachel Malik.

[Penny Haw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves is the beautifully told tale of the relationship between two women who work the land in Britain during and after World War II. They meet when struggling farmer, Elsie (Boston) takes in Land Girl, Rene (Hargreaves). (Land Girls worked for farmers during the war.) They're essentially misfits; Elsie, a loner and woman farmer, and Rene, a run-away wife and mother.

The women form a strong bond and when misogynist "authorities" force Elsie off the farm, they travel the country, finding work together on other farms. They seem to have found peace and a home when Rene's past returns to haunt her.

It's a gentle story of friendship, hardship and living off the land. (There are several wonderful scenes involving animals that made my heart flutter with joy.) It's about fitting in, finding one's place in the world and being resourceful against the odds. It's also about guilt and regret. And, if it's possible, about finding the balance between doing what is considered appropriate and living the life that makes you happy.

Inspired by the life of the author, Rachel Malik's maternal grandmother (Rene) – though 'fictionalised', not 'speculative', she insists – Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves is fabulously observed, taking you through various settings and evolving circumstances. It's intriguing, surprising and moving with a sprinkling of crime.

It is Malik's debut novel and, written in 2017, collected several awards and nominations. Highly recommended for those who like rich, memorable novels.

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as it is one of the shortlisted novels for the 2018 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction - one of my favourite literary awards. The title suggests it could be seen as being a bit 'twee'- a novel all about two single women living in the countryside, in a war-time version of 'The Archers' (BBC radio drama). Granted, the two women feature, as does some gorgeously described pastoral landscape, but this book is by no means 'twee'.

Set in post-World War 2 England, and based on a true story, Miss Elsie Boston owns a farm-hold and Miss Rene Hargreaves is sent to help her manage it in her role as Land Girl. The story then follows the two women over the course of twenty years during which time we learn about the back story of Rene, the troubles of war-time farming, and are made aware of societal attitudes towards unconventional relationships at that time. At the core of the book is a dramatic event, which provides a twist in the plot and leads to the reconnection of old links.

I really enjoyed this book. It is cosy, it is a page-turner. I loved the author's portrayal of Elsie Boston, particularly in the second half of the book. I was disappointed that some characters didn't re-appear within the narrative, but those who did feature regularly are presented very well. Of the four books I have read so far, I think this is my second favourite.

[penelopewanders]

This came to me at the end of a bookcrossing ray (which means I'm free to do with it as I wish)... so it sat on a TBR shelf for a few months.
I'm not sure what to say about this - there were parts I found very slow, but the sense of being drowned in obstacles as women of that time and place came through -just as it must have for those affected...
The tenuous hold on the farm, and Elise's inability to fight for what was hers, and then the need to keep moving on. Fortunately the two women were able to find each other, and as Elise said (with less than ideal effect) - they were rich.
I felt the connection with the other women in Upper Rosenys was strangely truncated. We can surmise that it bolstered Rene in ways, but the reasons behind her inability or unwillingness to talk about that encounter with Elise left a great deal to imagination. Indeed, much of the book's strength is off the page, what can surmise from what is there.
The Ernest episode is quite horrific, and again, the consequences for the two women somewhat surprising, but again accentuating their impotence.
A rather strange but interesting book.

[Vicuña · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves

What an astonishing story; I was captivated from start to finish.

Rachel Malik has based this fiction on research into her own family background. Set predominantly in rural England of the 1940s to 1960s, it's a moving and multi layered tale. The ladies of the title form an unlikely friendship which grows to a point where each is reliant upon the other, but for very different reasons. There are family secrets, divided loyalties and ultimately an amiable companionship where they agree to look for work and a home in Cornwall. Their idyll is shattered by the arrival of an individual whose behaviour is disruptive and difficult and events spiral out of control.

Rachel Malik's writing often has a lilting poetic quality. It's gentle and lyrical and well suited to the times and the people. Her characters are wonderfully observed, rich in detail and each is very different. She's captured the era particularly well and I was totally absorbed. It's well paced, with a few surprises along the way. A wonderfully crafted story which I really enjoyed.