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Because of the Lockwoods
The story is deceptively the entanglement of two families in a northern town called Aldworth. One, the Lockwoods, wealthy and powerful, in a position to patronise and help the second family, the poor Hunters, who have been left fatherless with a weak, ineffectual mother. Though the thudding heart of the story draws the reader inexorably along, hoping for the meek to conquer the strong, it is a surprising book in many ways, not least for its subversive portrayal of family – the children are often the adults, the parents the untrustworthy, unwise ones, and Whipple makes it clear that what we call today the nuclear family is not the answer to happiness. But what may be most satisfying about the book is how the climax is reached as a result of character.This is twentieth-century British fiction at its very best.
378 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1949
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1257 people want to read
About the author
Dorothy Whipple
29 books344 followersBorn in 1893, DOROTHY WHIPPLE (nee Stirrup) had an intensely happy childhood in Blackburn as part of the large family of a local architect. Her close friend George Owen having been killed in the first week of the war, for three years she worked as secretary to Henry Whipple, an educational administrator who was a widower twenty-four years her senior and whom she married in 1917. Their life was mostly spent in Nottingham; here she wrote Young Anne (1927), the first of nine extremely successful novels which included Greenbanks (1932) and The Priory (1939). Almost all her books were Book Society Choices or Recommendations and two of them, They Knew Mr Knight (1934) and They were Sisters (1943), were made into films. She also wrote short stories and two volumes of memoirs. Someone at a Distance (1953) was her last novel. Returning in her last years to Blackburn, Dorothy Whipple died there in 1966.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 94 reviews
January 4, 2025
Another great read by Whipple.
This one is about snobbery and class differences between neighbours in a Northern town-- the wealthy, privileged Lockwoods, the Hunters struggling to keep up with the upper classes after the death of Mr. Hunter, and the working class Reades who use ingenuity and hard work to get out of poverty.
But it is also about the deeply infuriating way the rich are able to take advantage of the poor, often in the guise of being charitable. It is truly astounding-- though, in Whipple's hands, completely believable --how it seems the Lockwoods have genuinely convinced themselves they are the good guys, offering charity to those in need, at the very same time as they take advantage of their position.
Well-drawn characters, commentary on divisions of class and sex, love affairs and enough unfairness to keep the pages turning. Anyone can see how this one has to end, but anticipating it makes it all the sweeter!
This one is about snobbery and class differences between neighbours in a Northern town-- the wealthy, privileged Lockwoods, the Hunters struggling to keep up with the upper classes after the death of Mr. Hunter, and the working class Reades who use ingenuity and hard work to get out of poverty.
But it is also about the deeply infuriating way the rich are able to take advantage of the poor, often in the guise of being charitable. It is truly astounding-- though, in Whipple's hands, completely believable --how it seems the Lockwoods have genuinely convinced themselves they are the good guys, offering charity to those in need, at the very same time as they take advantage of their position.
Well-drawn characters, commentary on divisions of class and sex, love affairs and enough unfairness to keep the pages turning. Anyone can see how this one has to end, but anticipating it makes it all the sweeter!
February 27, 2018
Of all of the authors I thought about when I was compiling my Birthday Book of Underappreciated Lady Authors, I think that Dorothy Whipple is the one whose long neglect is most inexplicable and the one I would be most confident in putting in the hands of a devoted reader who doesn't know how wonderful books from the recent past can be.
She wrote such absorbing and compelling novels, filled with beautiful writing, with characters who live and breathe and happenings that ring so very true. Her books are so alive that it impossible to put one down without spending a great deal of time thinking about what had happened and what might be happening in the world that she brought to life after her story ended.
In this book, she tells the story of the Hunters and the Lockwoods, who are neighbours in a Northern mill town. They had been peers, with children of similar ages, but that changed after the sudden death of Richard Hunter. His practice as an architect had suffered during the war, he had hoped that business would improve when peace came, but he didn't live long enough to find out; and so Mrs Hunter and her three children must adapt to much humbler circumstances, and the relationship between the two families must change.
The situation would always be difficult and it was exacerbated by the characters of the two women, who were friends but not close enough to be anything other than Mrs Lockwood and Mrs Hunter to each other; the former inclined to be grand and gracious and the latter inclined to be accepting and appreciative ...
Mrs Lockwood asked her husband, a solicitor, to help Mrs Hunter to deal with her late husband's papers. He was reluctant to get involved, and utterly graceless, but after relying on her husband to deal with everything and having no idea what to do, Mrs Hunter was so grateful for his advice, and accepted it all without a moment's hesitation.
She didn't know that Mr Lockwood had taken advantage of her ignorance, and let her believe that her husband repaid a loan that he had granted after seeing that his receipt was missing. The way he suggested he should recoup the loan cost her a great deal, and his advice, which was inadequate but authoritative, would cost her a great deal more over the years.
Mrs Lockwood continued her to visit Mrs Hunter, even after she moved to a less desirable part of town. She enjoyed having someone who was always ready to listen to stories of her family and what they had been doing, who she could make presents of clothing that she had been seen in enough times, and somebody who would always be grateful for an invitation. Mrs Lockwood thought that she was being kind, and Mrs hunter was grateful.
Thea, the youngest of Mrs Hunter's three children, came to bitterly resent the family that she saw was patronising hers, the family that had so many things she would have loved and took them for granted.
Her feelings grew stronger when Mr Lockwood arranged for her older siblings, Martin and Molly, to leave school at the earliest opportunity and take uncongenial jobs because he didn't want the trouble of helping to find a way for them to follow the career paths that they wanted. She wanted to make sure that the same thing wouldn't happen to her, but she didn't know how.
When Thea found out that the Lockwood girls were going to school in France for a year she was desperate to find a way to go to. It seemed impossible, but a teacher who saw that she had a great deal of potential found a way for her to go to the same school and work for her keep. The Lockwoods were horrified that she didn't know her place, that she should think that she could have the same advantages as their daughters; but she took to the new school and life in France in a way that they never would.
Thea's sojourn in France ended in tears, but an unexpected find in the lining of her father’s old bag and the generosity of spirit of a new neighbour would be a catalyst for change for the Hunters and that Lockwoods ...
I felt so much as I read about them.
I was angry at the Lockwoods completely unjustified sense of superiority, but at the same time I could see that they were oblivious and that they really did think that they were doing the right thing.
I was moved when Mrs Hunter was shattered by the loss of her husband and unable to face the future, but there were times when I thought that she really could have, should have, done a little more to help herself and her children.
Thea was a joy to read about. I loved her spirit and her ambition for herself and her family. I worried when she made mistakes, when she wouldn't listen to anyone, but I appreciated that her heart was in the right place and that she would learn.
I appreciated the intelligence of the writing, the very real complexity of the characters and the relationships, and the wonderful emotional understanding of everything she wrote about that Dorothy Whipple had.
There is so much more than I have written about, but I can only - I should only - say so much.
I loved what the author had to say.
She said that families who looked in on themselves - and both the Lockwoods and the Hunters were guilty of this - would not thrive and grow as families who looked out to the world could and would.
She spoke of social injustice and of how society was changing after the war.
And she wove this into her story quite beautifully, so that you could think about how cleverly she wrote or you could simply enjoy the drama, the romance, the suspense ....
Mr Lockwood's misdeeds hang over this story, until it comes to a dark and dramatic conclusion.
I loved all of the book but I think I loved the final act most of all, because it was so profound and so emotional.
The ending was sudden, I was left wondering what happened next. I would have loved to have been told, but I think I know, and sometimes it is nice to be able to speculate ...
She wrote such absorbing and compelling novels, filled with beautiful writing, with characters who live and breathe and happenings that ring so very true. Her books are so alive that it impossible to put one down without spending a great deal of time thinking about what had happened and what might be happening in the world that she brought to life after her story ended.
In this book, she tells the story of the Hunters and the Lockwoods, who are neighbours in a Northern mill town. They had been peers, with children of similar ages, but that changed after the sudden death of Richard Hunter. His practice as an architect had suffered during the war, he had hoped that business would improve when peace came, but he didn't live long enough to find out; and so Mrs Hunter and her three children must adapt to much humbler circumstances, and the relationship between the two families must change.
The situation would always be difficult and it was exacerbated by the characters of the two women, who were friends but not close enough to be anything other than Mrs Lockwood and Mrs Hunter to each other; the former inclined to be grand and gracious and the latter inclined to be accepting and appreciative ...
Mrs Lockwood asked her husband, a solicitor, to help Mrs Hunter to deal with her late husband's papers. He was reluctant to get involved, and utterly graceless, but after relying on her husband to deal with everything and having no idea what to do, Mrs Hunter was so grateful for his advice, and accepted it all without a moment's hesitation.
She didn't know that Mr Lockwood had taken advantage of her ignorance, and let her believe that her husband repaid a loan that he had granted after seeing that his receipt was missing. The way he suggested he should recoup the loan cost her a great deal, and his advice, which was inadequate but authoritative, would cost her a great deal more over the years.
Mrs Lockwood continued her to visit Mrs Hunter, even after she moved to a less desirable part of town. She enjoyed having someone who was always ready to listen to stories of her family and what they had been doing, who she could make presents of clothing that she had been seen in enough times, and somebody who would always be grateful for an invitation. Mrs Lockwood thought that she was being kind, and Mrs hunter was grateful.
Thea, the youngest of Mrs Hunter's three children, came to bitterly resent the family that she saw was patronising hers, the family that had so many things she would have loved and took them for granted.
Her feelings grew stronger when Mr Lockwood arranged for her older siblings, Martin and Molly, to leave school at the earliest opportunity and take uncongenial jobs because he didn't want the trouble of helping to find a way for them to follow the career paths that they wanted. She wanted to make sure that the same thing wouldn't happen to her, but she didn't know how.
When Thea found out that the Lockwood girls were going to school in France for a year she was desperate to find a way to go to. It seemed impossible, but a teacher who saw that she had a great deal of potential found a way for her to go to the same school and work for her keep. The Lockwoods were horrified that she didn't know her place, that she should think that she could have the same advantages as their daughters; but she took to the new school and life in France in a way that they never would.
Thea's sojourn in France ended in tears, but an unexpected find in the lining of her father’s old bag and the generosity of spirit of a new neighbour would be a catalyst for change for the Hunters and that Lockwoods ...
I felt so much as I read about them.
I was angry at the Lockwoods completely unjustified sense of superiority, but at the same time I could see that they were oblivious and that they really did think that they were doing the right thing.
I was moved when Mrs Hunter was shattered by the loss of her husband and unable to face the future, but there were times when I thought that she really could have, should have, done a little more to help herself and her children.
Thea was a joy to read about. I loved her spirit and her ambition for herself and her family. I worried when she made mistakes, when she wouldn't listen to anyone, but I appreciated that her heart was in the right place and that she would learn.
I appreciated the intelligence of the writing, the very real complexity of the characters and the relationships, and the wonderful emotional understanding of everything she wrote about that Dorothy Whipple had.
There is so much more than I have written about, but I can only - I should only - say so much.
I loved what the author had to say.
She said that families who looked in on themselves - and both the Lockwoods and the Hunters were guilty of this - would not thrive and grow as families who looked out to the world could and would.
She spoke of social injustice and of how society was changing after the war.
And she wove this into her story quite beautifully, so that you could think about how cleverly she wrote or you could simply enjoy the drama, the romance, the suspense ....
Mr Lockwood's misdeeds hang over this story, until it comes to a dark and dramatic conclusion.
I loved all of the book but I think I loved the final act most of all, because it was so profound and so emotional.
The ending was sudden, I was left wondering what happened next. I would have loved to have been told, but I think I know, and sometimes it is nice to be able to speculate ...
April 16, 2021
I very much liked this book. I was just a tad disappointed, I would say, with the last 70 or so pages of the 355 pager. I would have preferred some other ending than the one written by Dorothy Whipple but then it’s my business to read and hers to write. And as I say overall, I liked it a lot. Just as with the other novel I read by her “Someone at a Distance” I was content to read on and on and stay in the lives of the characters in this novel.
I have ordered two more books by her (‘The Priory’ and ‘Greenbanks), and given my enthusiasm after just reading this book along with “Someone at a Distance”, I think I had better just order everything I can get my hands on that was written by this woman. 😊 Elizabeth von Arnim, move over! (There’s another woman in my life. 🙃)
The plot is relatively uncomplicated. A book mainly about The Hunters, Mrs. Hunter, a woman widowed relatively early in life, and her children—Thea (main character), Molly, and Martin, and the Lockwoods, Mr. Lockwood, a pompous and domineering (over Mrs. Hunter) lawyer, Mrs. Lockwood, a spoiled full-of-herself woman who treats her neighbor Mrs. Hunter like a piece of garbage, and her daughters, a nice girl, Clare, and two twins older than Clare—Bee and Muriel. Settings are the town in England in which they reside, and also a small provincial town in France where the girls go off to boarding school.
Here are a couple of lines (there were quite a few) that I found to be hilarious while reading:
• “Of course I have a very small foot,” she {Mrs. Lockwood] would say, extending it for inspection. Thea inspected it. It was small and puffy; it was like a marshmallow. But Mrs. Lockwood was pleased with it. She always spoke of it in the singular: “My foot is very difficult to fit,” she would say. “But as Mr. Shaw said to me the other day: ‘Well madam, if you will have such an expensive foot, you know…” Whereupon Mrs. Lockwood laughed delightedly about her foot and Mrs. Hunter obligingly laughed with her, though Thea couldn’t see anything really funny about it. She gathered, though, that Mrs. Lockwood was a very important person.
• As she [Mrs. lockwood] proceeded from table to table, Thea thought she looked like a boiled lobster walking on its tail.
• “Don’t tell them anything, Mother,” she murmured as little Mrs. Barrett and tall Miss Wood came towards them like a giraffe out with a small kangaroo…. Oh, you’re home, Thea,” exclaimed the friends. “…Did you come home before the others then?” When Thea admitted that she did, they still stood, expecting to be told why. Mrs. Wood peering down, Mrs. Barrett looking up, they waited.
Lastly, I will include from my review of “Someone at a Distance” a quote from a British novelist, Nina Bawden, who reviewed that book, and I include it here because everything she said about that book holds true for this book in my estimation. Dorothy Whipple had me in her clutches, and she wouldn’t let me go!
• “…It is as I said, a fairly ordinary tale. But it is a great gift to be able to take an ordinary tale and make it compulsive reading. It is all in the telling and Dorothy Whipple is a storyteller—an art that cannot be taught, cannot be learned, an art only a few writers are lucky enough to be born with. At the end of the novel, you can look back and see how it was done, how the author held your attention and persuaded you how one thing was bound to lead to the next, but while you are reading you are only aware of the suspense, the need to turn the page.”
Reviews (I see I am not the only one smitten with Dorothy Whipple!):
• https://hogglestock.com/2011/06/05/bo...
• https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2014/...
• https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2...
• https://leavesandpages.com/2014/04/12...
• https://beyondedenrock.com/2018/02/26...
I have ordered two more books by her (‘The Priory’ and ‘Greenbanks), and given my enthusiasm after just reading this book along with “Someone at a Distance”, I think I had better just order everything I can get my hands on that was written by this woman. 😊 Elizabeth von Arnim, move over! (There’s another woman in my life. 🙃)
The plot is relatively uncomplicated. A book mainly about The Hunters, Mrs. Hunter, a woman widowed relatively early in life, and her children—Thea (main character), Molly, and Martin, and the Lockwoods, Mr. Lockwood, a pompous and domineering (over Mrs. Hunter) lawyer, Mrs. Lockwood, a spoiled full-of-herself woman who treats her neighbor Mrs. Hunter like a piece of garbage, and her daughters, a nice girl, Clare, and two twins older than Clare—Bee and Muriel. Settings are the town in England in which they reside, and also a small provincial town in France where the girls go off to boarding school.
Here are a couple of lines (there were quite a few) that I found to be hilarious while reading:
• “Of course I have a very small foot,” she {Mrs. Lockwood] would say, extending it for inspection. Thea inspected it. It was small and puffy; it was like a marshmallow. But Mrs. Lockwood was pleased with it. She always spoke of it in the singular: “My foot is very difficult to fit,” she would say. “But as Mr. Shaw said to me the other day: ‘Well madam, if you will have such an expensive foot, you know…” Whereupon Mrs. Lockwood laughed delightedly about her foot and Mrs. Hunter obligingly laughed with her, though Thea couldn’t see anything really funny about it. She gathered, though, that Mrs. Lockwood was a very important person.
• As she [Mrs. lockwood] proceeded from table to table, Thea thought she looked like a boiled lobster walking on its tail.
• “Don’t tell them anything, Mother,” she murmured as little Mrs. Barrett and tall Miss Wood came towards them like a giraffe out with a small kangaroo…. Oh, you’re home, Thea,” exclaimed the friends. “…Did you come home before the others then?” When Thea admitted that she did, they still stood, expecting to be told why. Mrs. Wood peering down, Mrs. Barrett looking up, they waited.
Lastly, I will include from my review of “Someone at a Distance” a quote from a British novelist, Nina Bawden, who reviewed that book, and I include it here because everything she said about that book holds true for this book in my estimation. Dorothy Whipple had me in her clutches, and she wouldn’t let me go!
• “…It is as I said, a fairly ordinary tale. But it is a great gift to be able to take an ordinary tale and make it compulsive reading. It is all in the telling and Dorothy Whipple is a storyteller—an art that cannot be taught, cannot be learned, an art only a few writers are lucky enough to be born with. At the end of the novel, you can look back and see how it was done, how the author held your attention and persuaded you how one thing was bound to lead to the next, but while you are reading you are only aware of the suspense, the need to turn the page.”
Reviews (I see I am not the only one smitten with Dorothy Whipple!):
• https://hogglestock.com/2011/06/05/bo...
• https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2014/...
• https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2...
• https://leavesandpages.com/2014/04/12...
• https://beyondedenrock.com/2018/02/26...
March 23, 2023
“Constance Hunter was not the sort of women who stiffened to meet the blows of fate. She was crushed by the loss of her husband and bewildered by the responsibilities thrust upon her. Richard was dead. He was gone; and now they told her that everything that had so far made up her life must go too: the house, security, all the plans for the children, everything”.
While Mrs. Hunter(Effie)was trying to sort out her husband’s private papers, bills, and share certificates, one afternoon, Mrs. Lockwood, her neighbor called.
Effie volunteered her husband William to help sort out those papers at no charge for Mrs. Hunter.
William didn’t want to take the time to do unprofitable work. “You shouldn’t run me into these things he said, testily, as if Effie made a habit of it, which she did not”.
But….
William said yes — grudgingly to his wife. He would help Mrs. Hunter.
Mrs. Hunter was grateful.
Before Mr. Hunter died, the Lockwoods and the Hunters were in the same economic class. After he died — little money had been saved, leaving Mrs. Hunter and their three kids financially hurting.
The Lockwoods also had three children….all close in age with the Hunter kids.
The relationship between these two families changed dramatically. The storytelling and character unraveling was superb.
The type of book one reads in one or two sittings.
The kids in this story acted out overtly…..especially Mrs. Hunter’s daughter, Thea.
Thea was angry, resentful, and jealous of what the Lookwood kids had that she didn’t….but also for the obtrusive ways they flaunted their wealth.
Thea grew stronger ….. and in time her tenacity and bold outrageous self-expression was a satisfying breath of fresh air.
Mr. Lockwood was sneaking….and both he and his wife carried their ‘holier-than-thou’ attitudes high like an umbrella on a rainy day (like today in California) ☔️
Mrs. Hunter was timid- gracious- ‘outwardly’ appropriate—but I wanted to see some fortitude from her…..and I was dying to see how things would end…..
…..which ended perfectly!
There is a lot going on with the characters ….and I loved it!
This was my first Dorothy Whipple novel. It won’t be my last.
Powerful, heartfelt, sublime!!!
Thank you *Antoinette* who first put Dorothy Whipple on my radar.
And …. Cynthia, who also inspired me.
Diane - and other friends here in the land of Goodreads— all were ‘must read’ inspirations.
Thank you - to all the other Dorothy Whipple fans.
I’ve got several more of Whipple’s books to gobble up!
I’ve joined the *Dorothy Whipple* fan club.
While Mrs. Hunter(Effie)was trying to sort out her husband’s private papers, bills, and share certificates, one afternoon, Mrs. Lockwood, her neighbor called.
Effie volunteered her husband William to help sort out those papers at no charge for Mrs. Hunter.
William didn’t want to take the time to do unprofitable work. “You shouldn’t run me into these things he said, testily, as if Effie made a habit of it, which she did not”.
But….
William said yes — grudgingly to his wife. He would help Mrs. Hunter.
Mrs. Hunter was grateful.
Before Mr. Hunter died, the Lockwoods and the Hunters were in the same economic class. After he died — little money had been saved, leaving Mrs. Hunter and their three kids financially hurting.
The Lockwoods also had three children….all close in age with the Hunter kids.
The relationship between these two families changed dramatically. The storytelling and character unraveling was superb.
The type of book one reads in one or two sittings.
The kids in this story acted out overtly…..especially Mrs. Hunter’s daughter, Thea.
Thea was angry, resentful, and jealous of what the Lookwood kids had that she didn’t….but also for the obtrusive ways they flaunted their wealth.
Thea grew stronger ….. and in time her tenacity and bold outrageous self-expression was a satisfying breath of fresh air.
Mr. Lockwood was sneaking….and both he and his wife carried their ‘holier-than-thou’ attitudes high like an umbrella on a rainy day (like today in California) ☔️
Mrs. Hunter was timid- gracious- ‘outwardly’ appropriate—but I wanted to see some fortitude from her…..and I was dying to see how things would end…..
…..which ended perfectly!
There is a lot going on with the characters ….and I loved it!
This was my first Dorothy Whipple novel. It won’t be my last.
Powerful, heartfelt, sublime!!!
Thank you *Antoinette* who first put Dorothy Whipple on my radar.
And …. Cynthia, who also inspired me.
Diane - and other friends here in the land of Goodreads— all were ‘must read’ inspirations.
Thank you - to all the other Dorothy Whipple fans.
I’ve got several more of Whipple’s books to gobble up!
I’ve joined the *Dorothy Whipple* fan club.
June 16, 2024
5 Stars!!
Have you ever read a book that took all your will power not to skip to the end to see how everything would be resolved? Well, this book had me so agitated I could barely stop reading. Dorothy Whipple is such a fine writer of domestic drama!
This book revolves around 2 families- the Lockwoods and the Hunters. Initially they are on somewhat of an equal footing, but then Mr Hunter dies, leaving his family poorly off. Mr Lockwood, a lawyer, reluctantly agrees to help Mrs Hunter sort through all her papers.
“Besides he hardly thought of the Hunters as individuals; to him they were a nuisance to be disposed of as quickly as possible. They were like parcels put before him to tie up for the post; he tied them up without examining the contents. The Hunters were something he had to get off.”
Wouldn’t you like having this despicable man handle your affairs?
Mrs Lockwood, who used to be friends with Mrs Hunter, now treats her as a subservient, someone to give her discarded clothes to and expect her to fawn all over her.
What seems like an ordinary story about 2 families, one coasting through life, the other struggling to get by is elevated in the hands of Dorothy Whipple. We get to know each family member from both sides- of course, I loved the Hunters, although i really wanted to shake Mrs Hunter and tell her to get some backbone.
On the Hunters street comes the Reade family. Oliver Reade, the oldest son, is such a delight. A self made success, he decides to better himself taking classes and deportment lessons.
I loved this interaction:
“ How long will it take me to get educated?”
“All your life”
Oliver frowned.
“But I’ve only got a year. I want to do it in a year.”
“All your life,”repeated vulliamy firmly. “And the you’ll die knowing nothing.”
“What’s the good of beginning then?’ Said Oliver.
“You’ve got to begin, to know that you know nothing.”
“But why begin at all.?”
“ Because it makes life immensely interesting to know that there is so much to know that you can know nothing.”
“Right you are, I’ll begin.”
I thought the ending surprising but perfect. Even after 466 pages, I was not ready to leave this story behind.
Loved this book! Love Dorothy Whipple! An immediate favourite!
Published : 1949
Have you ever read a book that took all your will power not to skip to the end to see how everything would be resolved? Well, this book had me so agitated I could barely stop reading. Dorothy Whipple is such a fine writer of domestic drama!
This book revolves around 2 families- the Lockwoods and the Hunters. Initially they are on somewhat of an equal footing, but then Mr Hunter dies, leaving his family poorly off. Mr Lockwood, a lawyer, reluctantly agrees to help Mrs Hunter sort through all her papers.
“Besides he hardly thought of the Hunters as individuals; to him they were a nuisance to be disposed of as quickly as possible. They were like parcels put before him to tie up for the post; he tied them up without examining the contents. The Hunters were something he had to get off.”
Wouldn’t you like having this despicable man handle your affairs?
Mrs Lockwood, who used to be friends with Mrs Hunter, now treats her as a subservient, someone to give her discarded clothes to and expect her to fawn all over her.
What seems like an ordinary story about 2 families, one coasting through life, the other struggling to get by is elevated in the hands of Dorothy Whipple. We get to know each family member from both sides- of course, I loved the Hunters, although i really wanted to shake Mrs Hunter and tell her to get some backbone.
On the Hunters street comes the Reade family. Oliver Reade, the oldest son, is such a delight. A self made success, he decides to better himself taking classes and deportment lessons.
I loved this interaction:
“ How long will it take me to get educated?”
“All your life”
Oliver frowned.
“But I’ve only got a year. I want to do it in a year.”
“All your life,”repeated vulliamy firmly. “And the you’ll die knowing nothing.”
“What’s the good of beginning then?’ Said Oliver.
“You’ve got to begin, to know that you know nothing.”
“But why begin at all.?”
“ Because it makes life immensely interesting to know that there is so much to know that you can know nothing.”
“Right you are, I’ll begin.”
I thought the ending surprising but perfect. Even after 466 pages, I was not ready to leave this story behind.
Loved this book! Love Dorothy Whipple! An immediate favourite!
Published : 1949
January 23, 2023
A wonderful Whipple! I didn't want it to end.
May 24, 2017
"You have a wonderful power of taking quite ordinary people in quite unromantic surroundings, in their normal ways of life and making them live and press themselves on your readers' minds in a way that really grips." This quotation is attributed to Sir John Murray, who wrote it to author Dorothy Whipple when congratulating her on her novel They Were Sisters. Author Harriet Evans includes it in her Preface to this book, and I refer to it because I think it sums up Whipple's writing so perfectly. All of her novels are immensely satisfying to read and I think it is mostly because of that ability to make her characters - and their triumphs and tragedies - so real and relatable.
The novel begins with two families: the Hunters and the Lockwoods. They are neighbours in the northern industrial town of Aldworth, where Mr. Hunter is an architect and Mr. Lockwood is a lawyer and businessman. The families are of equal social status, although the Hunters have the edge when it comes to breeding; but when Mr. Hunter dies unexpectedly, he leaves his gentle wife and their three small children in a financially precarious position. Mr. Lockwood takes advantage of Mrs. Hunter's grief and incompetence in handing her own affairs, and then for the next twenty years the family are locked into an uneasy relationship of dependence/resentment on one side, and patronage/disdain on the other.
The protagonist of the novel is Thea Hunter, the youngest of the three Hunter children. Intelligent, sensitive and observant, Thea suffers the most from her family's poverty and social diminishment. She is painfully aware of the Lockwoods' poor treatment of her family. I hesitate to give away any more of the plot, because there is such great pleasure in how the events unfold. Harriet Evans also describes Whipple as an 'intensely moral' writer, and this is one of the qualities I truly love about her novels. Whipple is absolutely the mistress of the telling detail, and her characters are always both consistent and nuanced. She doesn't write stock villains or perfect ingenue heroines, and I think that is why her novels still seem so real and alive - nearly 100 years after the time period in which they were set. My only regret in the novel is that Whipple does not tie up all of the emotional loose ends - instead choosing to end the novel on a rather dramatic climax. She hints at what will happen to the characters I became so attached to, but I wish that she would have written at least another 100 pages!
The novel begins with two families: the Hunters and the Lockwoods. They are neighbours in the northern industrial town of Aldworth, where Mr. Hunter is an architect and Mr. Lockwood is a lawyer and businessman. The families are of equal social status, although the Hunters have the edge when it comes to breeding; but when Mr. Hunter dies unexpectedly, he leaves his gentle wife and their three small children in a financially precarious position. Mr. Lockwood takes advantage of Mrs. Hunter's grief and incompetence in handing her own affairs, and then for the next twenty years the family are locked into an uneasy relationship of dependence/resentment on one side, and patronage/disdain on the other.
The protagonist of the novel is Thea Hunter, the youngest of the three Hunter children. Intelligent, sensitive and observant, Thea suffers the most from her family's poverty and social diminishment. She is painfully aware of the Lockwoods' poor treatment of her family. I hesitate to give away any more of the plot, because there is such great pleasure in how the events unfold. Harriet Evans also describes Whipple as an 'intensely moral' writer, and this is one of the qualities I truly love about her novels. Whipple is absolutely the mistress of the telling detail, and her characters are always both consistent and nuanced. She doesn't write stock villains or perfect ingenue heroines, and I think that is why her novels still seem so real and alive - nearly 100 years after the time period in which they were set. My only regret in the novel is that Whipple does not tie up all of the emotional loose ends - instead choosing to end the novel on a rather dramatic climax. She hints at what will happen to the characters I became so attached to, but I wish that she would have written at least another 100 pages!
June 16, 2024
This was my last Dorothy Whipple novel, which is rather sad; she really is a wonderful writer. I look forward to many a re-read, and I still have some short story collections.
In this one we follow the Hunters and the Lockwoods, who start out as neighbours. When Mr Hunter dies, Mrs Lockwood offers the services of her husband (much to his annoyance), who is a lawyer, to help sort out the oapers. Mrs Hunter gratefully receives his help. Mr Lockwood discovers that Hunter had bought the paddock that lies between the two, something he had been trying to do for ages, but the owner was reluctant to do. After some very shady dealings he managed to make it his.
The Hunters downsize, but keep in touch with the Lockwoods. Thea, the youngest daughter, particularly resents their patronage. The Lockwood daughters are rather superior in manner and less than friendly.
As always with Whipples writing she completely draws you into the story and I found myself caring deeply how it would all turn out. The ending was a little abrupt, and I thought I would have liked an extra chapter, but perhaps this was for the best.
In this one we follow the Hunters and the Lockwoods, who start out as neighbours. When Mr Hunter dies, Mrs Lockwood offers the services of her husband (much to his annoyance), who is a lawyer, to help sort out the oapers. Mrs Hunter gratefully receives his help. Mr Lockwood discovers that Hunter had bought the paddock that lies between the two, something he had been trying to do for ages, but the owner was reluctant to do. After some very shady dealings he managed to make it his.
The Hunters downsize, but keep in touch with the Lockwoods. Thea, the youngest daughter, particularly resents their patronage. The Lockwood daughters are rather superior in manner and less than friendly.
As always with Whipples writing she completely draws you into the story and I found myself caring deeply how it would all turn out. The ending was a little abrupt, and I thought I would have liked an extra chapter, but perhaps this was for the best.
June 13, 2023
This may be my favorite Dorothy Whipple yet! Such compelling reading, and I adore Thea! And Oliver! I hope to write more soon.
This is one of my more tome-like Persephones, but it absolutely flew by! This is the story of the relationship between the uppity, wealthy Lockwood family and the fallen-on-hard-times Hunter family. The Lockwood family is a father, mother, twin daughters, and a younger daughter. The Hunter family is an ineffectual widowed mother and her daugher, son, and younger daughter. The Lockwoods are almost unbearably snobby and condescending to the Hunter family over the 12 or so years of this novel and the story largely moves forward as we see how Mrs. Hunter and her son Martin and daughter Thea interact with the Lockwoods. They all have very different approaches to the Lockwoods and Dorothy Whipple explores the intricacies of their approaches so brilliantly.
Thea is the odd one out in both families. She has a burning sense of justice and is sensitive
early on to the Lockwoods' patronizing attitude towards her family. (They could give Lady Catherine a run for her money!) As her understanding of how they have been wronged grows, her desire for revenge grows as well and it carries the story to a fascinating and unexpected climax. I would say it's a redemptive climax as well.
Thea is a fantastic heroine. She is intelligent and bold, honest and ambitious. But she's also very sensitive to the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" and has to contend with her own snobbishness as well when the Reade family moves across the street and the son Oliver begins to take an interest in her. Like Thea's family, Oliver and his sister lost their father when they were young, but the Reades have climbed up the social and economic ladder while the Hunters have slipped down it. They meet in an uneasy middle. The romance in the story is unique, but I would say satisfying. It forms a large part of the second half of the novel, but in the end the story remains more about the spiritual and emotional well being of its individuals rather than of its couples. I really enjoyed that.
Reading this was a relief after the tragic tone of the other recent Whipple I read, They Were Sisters. I much preferred this novel, even though they're both written excellently with memorable characters. As many others have said, Whipple excels at capturing the industrial midlands in her novels and Because of the Lockwoods is no exception. She explores the psyche of the town's class structure brilliantly. Likewise, her descriptions of the Lockwood girls and Thea in France are delightful and sometimes nearly painful with how accurate she captures being in a different country with very different habits and values.
Highly recommend!
This is one of my more tome-like Persephones, but it absolutely flew by! This is the story of the relationship between the uppity, wealthy Lockwood family and the fallen-on-hard-times Hunter family. The Lockwood family is a father, mother, twin daughters, and a younger daughter. The Hunter family is an ineffectual widowed mother and her daugher, son, and younger daughter. The Lockwoods are almost unbearably snobby and condescending to the Hunter family over the 12 or so years of this novel and the story largely moves forward as we see how Mrs. Hunter and her son Martin and daughter Thea interact with the Lockwoods. They all have very different approaches to the Lockwoods and Dorothy Whipple explores the intricacies of their approaches so brilliantly.
Thea is the odd one out in both families. She has a burning sense of justice and is sensitive
early on to the Lockwoods' patronizing attitude towards her family. (They could give Lady Catherine a run for her money!) As her understanding of how they have been wronged grows, her desire for revenge grows as well and it carries the story to a fascinating and unexpected climax. I would say it's a redemptive climax as well.
Thea is a fantastic heroine. She is intelligent and bold, honest and ambitious. But she's also very sensitive to the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" and has to contend with her own snobbishness as well when the Reade family moves across the street and the son Oliver begins to take an interest in her. Like Thea's family, Oliver and his sister lost their father when they were young, but the Reades have climbed up the social and economic ladder while the Hunters have slipped down it. They meet in an uneasy middle. The romance in the story is unique, but I would say satisfying. It forms a large part of the second half of the novel, but in the end the story remains more about the spiritual and emotional well being of its individuals rather than of its couples. I really enjoyed that.
Reading this was a relief after the tragic tone of the other recent Whipple I read, They Were Sisters. I much preferred this novel, even though they're both written excellently with memorable characters. As many others have said, Whipple excels at capturing the industrial midlands in her novels and Because of the Lockwoods is no exception. She explores the psyche of the town's class structure brilliantly. Likewise, her descriptions of the Lockwood girls and Thea in France are delightful and sometimes nearly painful with how accurate she captures being in a different country with very different habits and values.
Highly recommend!
July 8, 2020
I thank my GR friends who have been reading and suggesting books from Persephone Press. This is the second book from Persephone which I've read in as many weeks (the first was Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day) and I have enjoyed them immensely. The current novel was very engrossing, well-written and satisfying with well-drawn, compelling characters. This story reminded me of the "old-fashioned" stories of Theodore Dreiser and Neville Shute. The ending came abruptly but was an excellent ending for this book; I just wasn't ready to leave the characters and the world in which I'd become so invested and engrossed.
July 18, 2018
I'd never heard of Dorothy Whipple until a few months ago and it was only through the praises of another reader on Goodreads she came to my attention. After reading this, I—like many other readers—am astounded her books are not more well-known and saddened they aren't very accessible. (My local library system does not have a single one of her books but fortunately I was able to get a copy through interlibrary loan.)
When I read the description of the plot it seemed rather humdrum and ordinary, and despite some glowing reviews I was completely unprepared for how exceptional this book is. Because of the Lockwoods is written with such remarkable straightforward simplicity and eloquence, such clarity of complex human emotion that I found it difficult to put down. So while this may have been my first encounter with Whipple's writing it most certainly will not be the last. A new favorite.
Highly recommended.
When I read the description of the plot it seemed rather humdrum and ordinary, and despite some glowing reviews I was completely unprepared for how exceptional this book is. Because of the Lockwoods is written with such remarkable straightforward simplicity and eloquence, such clarity of complex human emotion that I found it difficult to put down. So while this may have been my first encounter with Whipple's writing it most certainly will not be the last. A new favorite.
Highly recommended.
January 2, 2016
Dorothy Whipple is so insanely readable. I'm glad Persephone have republished so many of her books, as I don't think I'd have found her otherwise. This is the latest one they've done, and I think it will end up being a favorite.
The story has to do with a rich family defrauding and patronizing a newly poor one, and as usual, the characters are beautifully drawn. Even the nastier characters have moments where one can't help but sympathize with them, and the sympathetic characters have their own flaws. I really liked the intelligent, headstrong heroine, Thea, and I loved Oliver, the eventual hero. I must admit to not finding the ending completely convincing, or this would have been a five-star book for me.
The story has to do with a rich family defrauding and patronizing a newly poor one, and as usual, the characters are beautifully drawn. Even the nastier characters have moments where one can't help but sympathize with them, and the sympathetic characters have their own flaws. I really liked the intelligent, headstrong heroine, Thea, and I loved Oliver, the eventual hero. I must admit to not finding the ending completely convincing, or this would have been a five-star book for me.
August 21, 2016
Another un-put-downable Dorothy Whipple.
The respectable Lockwoods look down on the Hunters, a widow and her three children. Mr Lockwood looks after Mrs Hunters affairs, but Thea suspects corruption. The way the Lockwards looked down upon the Hunters and the Hunters (or at least to begin with ) looked down upon Oliver was reminiscent of the Two Ronnies sketch !
Wonderful characters. So enjoyed reading about Thea, I loved the way she refused to be looked down upon, Oliver's hard work and tenacity was admirable.
The ending could have been better, I felt there were many story lines left unfinished, enough to warrant a sequel.
The respectable Lockwoods look down on the Hunters, a widow and her three children. Mr Lockwood looks after Mrs Hunters affairs, but Thea suspects corruption. The way the Lockwards looked down upon the Hunters and the Hunters (or at least to begin with ) looked down upon Oliver was reminiscent of the Two Ronnies sketch !
Wonderful characters. So enjoyed reading about Thea, I loved the way she refused to be looked down upon, Oliver's hard work and tenacity was admirable.
The ending could have been better, I felt there were many story lines left unfinished, enough to warrant a sequel.
June 30, 2020
Another great family saga from one of my favourite Persephone authors Dorothy Whipple.
Full of great characters, 'Because of the Lockwoods' tells the story of two families in a small northern town called Aldworth. I agree with Harriet Evans who wrote the preface, that one of the main characters called Thea, is now one of my favourite heroines written by Dorothy Whipple.
I've loved reading all her books and with They Knew Mr. Knight only left to read, I will look forward to rereading them all again.
Full of great characters, 'Because of the Lockwoods' tells the story of two families in a small northern town called Aldworth. I agree with Harriet Evans who wrote the preface, that one of the main characters called Thea, is now one of my favourite heroines written by Dorothy Whipple.
I've loved reading all her books and with They Knew Mr. Knight only left to read, I will look forward to rereading them all again.
November 21, 2022
Here are five things that I think about this book:
1. This is a very long book and I read it in three hours.
2. I am now extremely hungry and wish I had some cakes baked by Molly
3. Oliver Reade is a modern equivalent of John Thornton and he is too good for this world.
4. The Lockwoods are universally horrible, except for maybe Clare, and I don't feel even a little bit bad for them.
5. I have read two books by Dorothy Whipple and they were both amazing. I must read everything she ever wrote.
That's all.
1. This is a very long book and I read it in three hours.
2. I am now extremely hungry and wish I had some cakes baked by Molly
3. Oliver Reade is a modern equivalent of John Thornton and he is too good for this world.
4. The Lockwoods are universally horrible, except for maybe Clare, and I don't feel even a little bit bad for them.
5. I have read two books by Dorothy Whipple and they were both amazing. I must read everything she ever wrote.
That's all.
December 2, 2020
This was almost a perfect book. Dorothy Whipple, I now know, was an extraordinary observer and understander of humanity.
My favorite Persephone so far, #3 for me (#110 for Persephone).
My favorite Persephone so far, #3 for me (#110 for Persephone).
May 19, 2011
4 1/2 Another recommendation from the booksnob blog. I think I have now read all the Dorothy Whipple I can get my hands on. If only I could fly to London and visit the Persephone Press bookstore. I love these books. The subject matter may seem light at first glance, but what Whipple does is tell how it really was to live as a woman between the wars in England and the constraints that are placed on them.
Charming, well written. I wish there were more.
Charming, well written. I wish there were more.
September 14, 2015
Love Dorothy Whipple.
This book was aptly named.
All because of the Lockwoods who are a well to do family.
The Hunters find hard times after Mr Hunter died.
Mrs Hunter relied on Mr Lockwood to sort her papers for her.
What happens to the Hunter children who have to do what the Lockwoods say?
A lovely story about the class divide through circumstance and how secret's are found out.
Well crafted characters who you really feel for.
A lovely story.
This book was aptly named.
All because of the Lockwoods who are a well to do family.
The Hunters find hard times after Mr Hunter died.
Mrs Hunter relied on Mr Lockwood to sort her papers for her.
What happens to the Hunter children who have to do what the Lockwoods say?
A lovely story about the class divide through circumstance and how secret's are found out.
Well crafted characters who you really feel for.
A lovely story.
June 12, 2018
Because of the Lockwoods
Dorothy Whipple’s penultimate novel, Because of the Lockwoods, was first published by John Murray in 1949, and republished by Persephone Books in 2014.
Because of the Lockwoods begins: ‘Mrs Lockwood decided to invite Mrs Hunter and her children to Oakfield for New Year’s Eve. It would be one way of getting the food eaten up…and by whom better than the Hunters, who certainly never saw such things elsewhere, since Oakfield was the only house of its kind they went to nowadays?’
It is a deceptively bland start. Whipple is not the kind of author to start a story with a gimmicky first paragraph, but this understated spark of an opener turned into a slow burn, that soon had me eager to read on.
Right from the outset it’s clear that there’s a symbiotic relationship between the Hunters and the Lockwoods. The Lockwoods need to patronise the Hunters to make them feel good about themselves, and the Hunters think they need the Lockwoods’ patronage to ensure their social status.
The two families had been neighbours in one of the best neighbourhoods in a Northern ex-Mill town. But when Mr Hunter dies, his lawyer and neighbour, Mr Lockwood, takes advantage of his widow’s naivety to commit a minor act of fraud against her dead husband’s estate. This sets in turn events that bind the two families into one dysfunctional mass, affecting the Hunter and Lockwood children until they reach adulthood, and beyond.
In Because of the Lockwoods I can quite see why Dorothy Whipple was compared to Austen. The snobbery and petty hierarchies of early twentieth century provincial life are keenly and wittily observed. And in Thea Hunter, we have a shrewd, but flawed, protagonist to carry us through the story (not dissimilar to Lizzie Bennet).
Thea is the youngest, and most intelligent, of the Hunter children. Through her eyes we see the arrogance of Mr Lockwood, and the spoilt smugness of his family. We see the Lockwoods treating their erstwhile neighbours as a charity case, and we feel Thea’s burning resentment at this. We see how Thea’s mother and siblings are resigned to the Lockwood’s patronage, and feel Thea’s frustration at her family’s compliance in their victimhood.
The British Class system has always provided fertile ground for fiction. Like Austen, Whipple turns her attention to the jostling paranoia and acute awareness of social place within the middle classes. In Because of the Lockwoods The Hunters are coming down in the world. They no longer have the money to go to the ‘right’ schools, social events, wear the ‘right’ clothes, or even have the ‘right’ kinds of careers. But because of their close association with the Lockwoods, who are on their way up, they are unable to forget their own loss of status: the richer, better-connected Lockwoods ensure the Hunters are continually, painfully reminded of the life they once enjoyed themselves, and is now lost to them (ironically through Mr Lockwood’s dodgy probate dealings). And nobody feels the hurt more than intelligent, beautiful, Thea, who retains a sense of injustice that propels the plot throughout.
Rather than seeing the entire story though a middle-class prism, Whipple also gives us the other ends of the class spectrum: we meet Angela, daughter of Sir and Lady Harvey, who doesn’t seem to care a jot about anyone’s wealth or background, and ultimately turns her back on it all. We also meet Oliver Reade, Thea’s neighbour in Byron Street (the less salubrious part of town the Hunter family had to move to after Mr Hunter died). Oliver is an ex-barrow boy, whose business nous means he’s moving up in the world, becoming rich and influential, despite his lack of education or expensively acquired manners. Seeing other characters ignoring the class system, and making a success of themselves in spite of it, gives added poignancy to the distress the Hunters suffer at losing their place in society.
Throughout the novel it feels as if Whipple is quietly shouting between the lines: ‘Who cares what the Lockwoods think? Who cares what anyone thinks? Who cares what class you are? Find your own happiness, and make your own future.’ Eventually Whipple allows her protagonist, Thea Hunter, to finally shake off the shackles of class-consciousness, as well as her dysfunctional link to the Lockwoods. However, the happy ending isn’t handed out on a plate. Whipple puts Thea in position where a wonderful future is within reach, but leaves the fairy-tale ending to the reader’s imagination.
I have no idea how I would try to sell Because of the Lockwoods as an idea to a publisher today – what would the ‘elevator pitch’ be? It is just a story about two unremarkable families in an unremarkable English town during an unremarkable time in history. There are no wars raging in the background, no murders, rapes, ghosts, illegitimate children, or improbable twists. It doesn’t have an opening paragraph that plunges me into the action, or chapter endings that leave me hanging. It begins domestically and unobtrusively with a middle-aged, middle-class woman in middle-England. It should not be a page-turner, and yet it is. Because of the Lockwoods folded me up in its arms and wouldn’t let me go, and I put this down to Whipple’s skills as a storyteller. She creates believable, flawed, nuanced characters, and lets them draw you through a perfectly paced plot to a deeply satisfying conclusion.
In short - Because of the Lockwoods: a beautifully observed coming-of-age story about class, overcoming victimhood, and self-determination.
Dorothy Whipple’s penultimate novel, Because of the Lockwoods, was first published by John Murray in 1949, and republished by Persephone Books in 2014.
Because of the Lockwoods begins: ‘Mrs Lockwood decided to invite Mrs Hunter and her children to Oakfield for New Year’s Eve. It would be one way of getting the food eaten up…and by whom better than the Hunters, who certainly never saw such things elsewhere, since Oakfield was the only house of its kind they went to nowadays?’
It is a deceptively bland start. Whipple is not the kind of author to start a story with a gimmicky first paragraph, but this understated spark of an opener turned into a slow burn, that soon had me eager to read on.
Right from the outset it’s clear that there’s a symbiotic relationship between the Hunters and the Lockwoods. The Lockwoods need to patronise the Hunters to make them feel good about themselves, and the Hunters think they need the Lockwoods’ patronage to ensure their social status.
The two families had been neighbours in one of the best neighbourhoods in a Northern ex-Mill town. But when Mr Hunter dies, his lawyer and neighbour, Mr Lockwood, takes advantage of his widow’s naivety to commit a minor act of fraud against her dead husband’s estate. This sets in turn events that bind the two families into one dysfunctional mass, affecting the Hunter and Lockwood children until they reach adulthood, and beyond.
In Because of the Lockwoods I can quite see why Dorothy Whipple was compared to Austen. The snobbery and petty hierarchies of early twentieth century provincial life are keenly and wittily observed. And in Thea Hunter, we have a shrewd, but flawed, protagonist to carry us through the story (not dissimilar to Lizzie Bennet).
Thea is the youngest, and most intelligent, of the Hunter children. Through her eyes we see the arrogance of Mr Lockwood, and the spoilt smugness of his family. We see the Lockwoods treating their erstwhile neighbours as a charity case, and we feel Thea’s burning resentment at this. We see how Thea’s mother and siblings are resigned to the Lockwood’s patronage, and feel Thea’s frustration at her family’s compliance in their victimhood.
The British Class system has always provided fertile ground for fiction. Like Austen, Whipple turns her attention to the jostling paranoia and acute awareness of social place within the middle classes. In Because of the Lockwoods The Hunters are coming down in the world. They no longer have the money to go to the ‘right’ schools, social events, wear the ‘right’ clothes, or even have the ‘right’ kinds of careers. But because of their close association with the Lockwoods, who are on their way up, they are unable to forget their own loss of status: the richer, better-connected Lockwoods ensure the Hunters are continually, painfully reminded of the life they once enjoyed themselves, and is now lost to them (ironically through Mr Lockwood’s dodgy probate dealings). And nobody feels the hurt more than intelligent, beautiful, Thea, who retains a sense of injustice that propels the plot throughout.
Rather than seeing the entire story though a middle-class prism, Whipple also gives us the other ends of the class spectrum: we meet Angela, daughter of Sir and Lady Harvey, who doesn’t seem to care a jot about anyone’s wealth or background, and ultimately turns her back on it all. We also meet Oliver Reade, Thea’s neighbour in Byron Street (the less salubrious part of town the Hunter family had to move to after Mr Hunter died). Oliver is an ex-barrow boy, whose business nous means he’s moving up in the world, becoming rich and influential, despite his lack of education or expensively acquired manners. Seeing other characters ignoring the class system, and making a success of themselves in spite of it, gives added poignancy to the distress the Hunters suffer at losing their place in society.
Throughout the novel it feels as if Whipple is quietly shouting between the lines: ‘Who cares what the Lockwoods think? Who cares what anyone thinks? Who cares what class you are? Find your own happiness, and make your own future.’ Eventually Whipple allows her protagonist, Thea Hunter, to finally shake off the shackles of class-consciousness, as well as her dysfunctional link to the Lockwoods. However, the happy ending isn’t handed out on a plate. Whipple puts Thea in position where a wonderful future is within reach, but leaves the fairy-tale ending to the reader’s imagination.
I have no idea how I would try to sell Because of the Lockwoods as an idea to a publisher today – what would the ‘elevator pitch’ be? It is just a story about two unremarkable families in an unremarkable English town during an unremarkable time in history. There are no wars raging in the background, no murders, rapes, ghosts, illegitimate children, or improbable twists. It doesn’t have an opening paragraph that plunges me into the action, or chapter endings that leave me hanging. It begins domestically and unobtrusively with a middle-aged, middle-class woman in middle-England. It should not be a page-turner, and yet it is. Because of the Lockwoods folded me up in its arms and wouldn’t let me go, and I put this down to Whipple’s skills as a storyteller. She creates believable, flawed, nuanced characters, and lets them draw you through a perfectly paced plot to a deeply satisfying conclusion.
In short - Because of the Lockwoods: a beautifully observed coming-of-age story about class, overcoming victimhood, and self-determination.
February 1, 2015
I think I've read nearly all of Whipple at this point--except for her short stories which are on my list. What interests me is how she constructs a story--perhaps most notably in Greenbanks and maybe less so in a book like Someone at a Distance (though I think it's still true)--she's not so interested in plot but in character. And that is what drives the book forward. So, her books feel organic and sometimes spontaneous and rich in thinking about "humanness." There are themes that reappear, and as a group, make up a complete body of thought or preoccupations that inform one another and feel necessary to one another. She'll take a position in one book and explore its opposite track in another. There is some brilliance to this. Some real willingness to follow a thing in every direction (not a single one).
I love these books. When I am reading one, I feel I am entirely inside the story. And I trust Whipple, wherever she goes.
I love these books. When I am reading one, I feel I am entirely inside the story. And I trust Whipple, wherever she goes.
August 28, 2021
I love her characters and her storytelling. Ending wasn’t what I’d hoped and a little melodramatic but I loved the book.
September 9, 2025
I can’t get enough of Dorothy Whipple. Her novels seem designed to be irresistible. This one hasn’t toppled They Were Sisters off its perch as my favourite of those I’ve read, but I really enjoyed it. A 20th century Jane Austen, with a touch of Mrs Gaskell, Whipple skewers class relations, snobbery, and especially the perilous status of being middle class, in northern England between the wars.
It’s lavish with detail, of both environment and character, making it rather long, but I didn’t find this a hardship; it’s a book you can wallow in. The relationship between Hunters and Lockwoods is set up from the first paragraph, with Mrs Lockwood planning to invite the relatively poverty-stricken Hunters to eat the scrappy remains of her Christmas catering and accept cast-off clothes as presents, while being subjected to her ghastly twin daughters’ show of their talents. The awkward relationships between the two families are beautifully depicted — the Lockwoods genuinely convinced they are nobly doing good, and Thea Hunter the only one who perceives their condescension and greed.
From urban northern England, Whipple takes Thea and the Lockwood girls to a ghastly boarding school in rural France, where the Lockwood girls avoid all education and exposure to another culture, and Thea is exploited as an unpaid teacher before being sent home early in disgrace. I really liked this part — such sharp observation of social mores,village life, and culture clash.
As far as plot is concerned, I loved the way Whipple introduces a critical piece of evidence of Mr Lockwood’s wrongdoing early on, and then hides it. Thereafter it pops up regularly, with characters unaware of its significance, until … no spoilers here!
I did think the working-class Oliver, a dynamic foil to the lethargic Hunters, was a bit too perfect. Especially when he basically finds or creates jobs for all of the utterly passive Hunter children, who had simply accepted the round holes Mr Lockwood had pushed their square pegs into. I’d have liked Whipple to make more of Oliver's efforts to educate himself, the only effects of which seem to be to make him more acceptable to the Hunters in terms of manners and appearance.
Finally, I note that some reviewers don’t like the ending, either because it’s melodramatic or because it doesn’t tie things up in a neat bow. It worked for me, because it didn’t quite go as expected, and also because Thea learns a life lesson about compassion, even for people who have done her wrong. And Whipple shows us that even Mr Lockwood isn’t all bad, his love for his family genuine.
So many good things to say about this novel, but I wish Whipple or her editor had been better at picking titles!
It’s lavish with detail, of both environment and character, making it rather long, but I didn’t find this a hardship; it’s a book you can wallow in. The relationship between Hunters and Lockwoods is set up from the first paragraph, with Mrs Lockwood planning to invite the relatively poverty-stricken Hunters to eat the scrappy remains of her Christmas catering and accept cast-off clothes as presents, while being subjected to her ghastly twin daughters’ show of their talents. The awkward relationships between the two families are beautifully depicted — the Lockwoods genuinely convinced they are nobly doing good, and Thea Hunter the only one who perceives their condescension and greed.
From urban northern England, Whipple takes Thea and the Lockwood girls to a ghastly boarding school in rural France, where the Lockwood girls avoid all education and exposure to another culture, and Thea is exploited as an unpaid teacher before being sent home early in disgrace. I really liked this part — such sharp observation of social mores,village life, and culture clash.
As far as plot is concerned, I loved the way Whipple introduces a critical piece of evidence of Mr Lockwood’s wrongdoing early on, and then hides it. Thereafter it pops up regularly, with characters unaware of its significance, until … no spoilers here!
I did think the working-class Oliver, a dynamic foil to the lethargic Hunters, was a bit too perfect. Especially when he basically finds or creates jobs for all of the utterly passive Hunter children, who had simply accepted the round holes Mr Lockwood had pushed their square pegs into. I’d have liked Whipple to make more of Oliver's efforts to educate himself, the only effects of which seem to be to make him more acceptable to the Hunters in terms of manners and appearance.
Finally, I note that some reviewers don’t like the ending, either because it’s melodramatic or because it doesn’t tie things up in a neat bow. It worked for me, because it didn’t quite go as expected, and also because Thea learns a life lesson about compassion, even for people who have done her wrong. And Whipple shows us that even Mr Lockwood isn’t all bad, his love for his family genuine.
So many good things to say about this novel, but I wish Whipple or her editor had been better at picking titles!
August 31, 2017
Two professional men, the lawyer Mr Lockwood and the architect Mr Hunter, are neighbours with young families in big houses on the edge of an industrial town. But Mr Hunter dies, and his family are left poorly off, reliant on Mr Lockwood for financial advice and Mrs Lockwood's patronage for their social standing. The resentment this causes, especially in young Thea Hunter, will affect all of their lives.
This is a typical Dorothy Whipple and I did enjoy it, although perhaps not as much as some of hers, because I didn't find any of the characters particularly sympathetic. But it was still a great study of life in a certain place at a certain time.
The introduction suggests that one of the reasons Dorothy Whipple isn't better known today is the terrible titles of her books. I certainly agree. This is one of the worst titles - so dreary. But don't let it put you off!
This is a typical Dorothy Whipple and I did enjoy it, although perhaps not as much as some of hers, because I didn't find any of the characters particularly sympathetic. But it was still a great study of life in a certain place at a certain time.
The introduction suggests that one of the reasons Dorothy Whipple isn't better known today is the terrible titles of her books. I certainly agree. This is one of the worst titles - so dreary. But don't let it put you off!
February 16, 2018
I LOVED this book!
It felt deliciously wicked. All about envy and greed, snobbery and put-downs. There were characters whom the reader is meant to love-to-hate, and I relished the chance. The subtle mockery at times had me grinning.
I also loved the way Dorothy Whipple had such a grip on human motivations and feelings.
An extra bonus was getting a used copy of this book from Amazon which was published specially for the People's Book Club in Chicago, and discovering the artwork on the inside covers, showing women in their dresses much like what my mother used to wear in the '40's (and therefore, the 50's since she never threw anything away) . . .
It felt deliciously wicked. All about envy and greed, snobbery and put-downs. There were characters whom the reader is meant to love-to-hate, and I relished the chance. The subtle mockery at times had me grinning.
I also loved the way Dorothy Whipple had such a grip on human motivations and feelings.
An extra bonus was getting a used copy of this book from Amazon which was published specially for the People's Book Club in Chicago, and discovering the artwork on the inside covers, showing women in their dresses much like what my mother used to wear in the '40's (and therefore, the 50's since she never threw anything away) . . .
February 2, 2015
Words cannot describe how much I loved this book - I want to read everything she ever wrote!
A simple yet clever plot, incredibly realistic and consistent characterisation, beautifully written prose style and a completely satisfying ending. Everything I could possibly want in a book...
A simple yet clever plot, incredibly realistic and consistent characterisation, beautifully written prose style and a completely satisfying ending. Everything I could possibly want in a book...
July 25, 2013
I love Dorothy Whipple! I'm sorry all of her books aren't available! Her writing is so enveloping that you can't stop reading!
August 27, 2015
My family kept telling me to read Dorothy Whipple's books and I'm so glad I listened! I could not put this book down. So beautifully written!!
March 13, 2024
Heerlijk boek met een rustig voortkabbelend verhaal. Whipple schrijft in de stijl van Elizabeth Jane Howard.
November 12, 2015
This human story of the almost overwhelmingly ‘ordinary’ injustices in life and how people strive to overcome such obstacles struck me more than I expected. Thea, our unwitting heroine, is very much a ‘real’ woman, so very flawed in her jealousies, passions, fatalism and untimely outbursts; a character to be frustrated by but who is all the more charming for her imperfections. The injustice of the unattractive, devious Lockwoods publicly lording it over a family less fortunate and, in the case of Mrs Hunter, far weaker than themselves, was almost too much to bear at times, making it all the easier to fly through this wonderful novel to its dramatic conclusion.
Choosing a bit of Whipple for my first Persephone read turned out to be a wise move. Not only is she their most published author (i.e. a safe bet) but her masterful management of her characters and cosy, gently progressing narrative made this an easy one to sink into. Thea’s flight to France gives us a welcome change of mood and scenery and allows, in her absence, peripheral characters such as neighbour and admirer Oliver Reade to transform himself from grade-a sleazeball to working-class hero. Mrs Hunter, on the other hand, I would have been quite glad to slap at times and I did find this novel, overall, difficult to place in time, something my hungry mind can’t help but find frustrating.
Perhaps the compelling characters drew me in, maybe it was the pleasing humdrum nature of the Hunters’ lives, or perhaps Whipple’s Northern setting spoke to my Mancunian soul. Whatever it was, I loved it, devouring this novel slowly in several sittings. More Whipple to warm me up please!
http://relishreads.com/2015/11/12/bec...
Choosing a bit of Whipple for my first Persephone read turned out to be a wise move. Not only is she their most published author (i.e. a safe bet) but her masterful management of her characters and cosy, gently progressing narrative made this an easy one to sink into. Thea’s flight to France gives us a welcome change of mood and scenery and allows, in her absence, peripheral characters such as neighbour and admirer Oliver Reade to transform himself from grade-a sleazeball to working-class hero. Mrs Hunter, on the other hand, I would have been quite glad to slap at times and I did find this novel, overall, difficult to place in time, something my hungry mind can’t help but find frustrating.
Perhaps the compelling characters drew me in, maybe it was the pleasing humdrum nature of the Hunters’ lives, or perhaps Whipple’s Northern setting spoke to my Mancunian soul. Whatever it was, I loved it, devouring this novel slowly in several sittings. More Whipple to warm me up please!
http://relishreads.com/2015/11/12/bec...
July 27, 2017
Dorothy Whipple has been called the Jane Austen of the 20th Century. She deserves it! She is that rare talent who creates characters with great depth and insight, and she's just as empathetic with her male characters as the wonderfully strong women within her books. The loving devotion she puts into her character development doesn't come at the cost of the plot, which is always moving forward at a joyful clip, pulling the reader along, and the succinct glimpses into the characters' lives never feels superfluous.
Because Of The Lockwoods is the fourth Whipple book I've read, and it's main character, Thea Hunter, is a pure delight. Willful and clearheaded, she is a young woman intent on pursuing her own ambitions without being pulled down by the classist society the rest of her family has to bear. Ms. Austen would approve!
Because Of The Lockwoods is the fourth Whipple book I've read, and it's main character, Thea Hunter, is a pure delight. Willful and clearheaded, she is a young woman intent on pursuing her own ambitions without being pulled down by the classist society the rest of her family has to bear. Ms. Austen would approve!
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