Young Anne

by Dorothy Whipple

Young Anne (1927), was Dorothy Whipple’s debut novel. It is about the first twenty years of a girl’s life: she lives at home mostly looked after by the kindly Emily, goes to school, falls in love and finally marries someone else.

Young Anne is Dorothy Whipple’s first and most autobiographical novel.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, British Literature, Historical Fiction, Coming Of Age, World War I, Novels

292 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1927

About the author

Born 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.

Reviews

[Diane Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not Dorothy Whipple's best novel, because it was her first, but since it was semi-autobiographical it was a joy to read. We meet Anne at the age of 5 and follow her life until her mid-twenties. There's a bit of melodrama in this one, which I think was typical of the time. She was able to control that tendency in her later novels, but is the reason this one lost a star for me. Even so, I thoroughly enjoyed it because our heroine made the right decision in the end.

This is also special because it was a gift from a friend, who knows how much I love Persephone books.

[JimZ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I started this on Wednesday and really did not have any intention of finishing it on Thursday, but I couldn’t help myself. Blame it on Whipple! She writes too damn well! 😊🙃

This was really a different kind of book I was used to after having read 3 other books by this very fine author (The Priory; Because of the Lockwoods; Someone at a Distance). This one was on the dark side. It was her first novel. The publisher Heinemann had rejected it…Jonathan Cape however accepted it, and it was very well received by the public.

I took 4 pages of notes. I would have to say that when I take a lot of notes on a book, I tend to like that book.

Aunt Orchard was a great-niece of Anne’s. She was anything but great. She took Anne in after her father died, but not out of the goodness of her heart since she didn’t have any goodness or a heart. One night Anne was sleeping and she woke up to find Aunt Orchard standing over her bed and staring at her. She screamed. A maid who was kind to Anne asked Aunt Orchard what she was doing and she said, “I only wanted to see how she would look when she was dead.” 😲

That’s not dark enough for you? Anne’s father was getting annoyed at Anne because she was a wild child (she was only a little girl) and he sent her off to school. Two old maids ran the school. One day the schoolhouse door was locked. Turns out one of the sisters had died of starvation! A teacher was literally starving to death in front of the pupils because she was so impoverished.
• “Anne wondered why starvation should be a thing to hide. Her imagination wrought painfully in her, and in the dark at nights, she saw again Miss Kate’s burning eyes staring at the packages the girls had brought for lunch.”
• It turns out that this was more than fiction. Dorothy Whipple in her childhood did go to a school run by two “well-meaning unqualified sisters, the extent of whose desperate impoverishment is only discovered when – just as in real life – one sister dies of starvation and the other is removed to an asylum when her mind finally gives way under the strain of such chronic stress and suffering.”

Anne and her family (dysfunctional I might add) live in the town of Bowford (apparently a fictional name) in England and it has a cotton mill in it. There must have been a lot of pollution from such mills, because every time the family’s garden is referred to, it is described as “sooty”.
The book follows Anne from when she was 5 to probably in her late 20s. She gets sent to the school run by the old maids and then to a convent school run by nuns (although she is Protestant). She has a friend Mildred Yates whose cousin, George, goes to church with them. George figures prominently in the novel in that he becomes a love interest of Anne’s. Anne’s mother is rather disinterested in Anne. The father is a solicitor and has little time for Anne, and neither do her two brothers have time for her. Their maid, Emily, has a soft spot in her heart for Anne and is in the book from start to finish. There is a cousin, Vera, who is attractive and sophisticated, and is much older than Anne and she rocks Anne’s world by telling her that Anne’s mother and father had to get married because of premarital sex leading to a pregnancy, which was a lie, and it was a momentous one, because at that time Anne was falling in love with George. Once she learned about her parents and why they married she was so distraught she broke off her relationship with George, and he ended up going off to fight in WWI and she ended up marrying an older physician…not so much out of love but out of awe that such a smart man would want to marry her. She has to take on the role of the doctor’s wife and hobnob with a bunch of stuck-up rich ladies, and does not have a fulfilling life. Anne’s husband is more concerned about his garden than he is of Anne. What becomes of Anne who is now unhappy in her life and lonely? George comes back from the war. Does she still have feelings for him? Does he have feelings for her? Well, as per usual, I shan’t tell. 😉 I hope you read the book and find out for yourself!

As Lucy Mangan points out in the preface the novel is light on plot, as you can probably tell from my description of the book. But, oh, don’t be fooled by the light plot. Whipple draws you in with her novels…hard for me to describe why, other than to say she sure as hell is not boring and she sure as hell is a wonderful writer. And I was thoroughly engrossed in the novel when reading it. What more could one want I ask you? 🙂 🙃 😉

Note: Lucy Mangan wrote the preface for this book and a fine preface it was. I think I will get a memoir of hers, “Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading”. It looks interesting from reading a review of it: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2019/...

Reviews:
• https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2018/...
• https://bagfullofbooks.com/2018/04/23... (I have to agree with this reviewer when she says this: The characters are flawed, the situations created in the novel are perverse, and like all of Whipple’s most excellent creations, we are on the edge of our seats to find out what happens next.)
• https://www.thebooksatchel.com/doroth...
• https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2... …this reviewer puts it well and I’ll be in the same boat soon that she finds herself in (her having read all of Whipple’s oeuvre): Now, which one shall I re-read first?

[Antoinette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here’s what happens when I start a Dorothy Whipple novel- I can’t put it down until I’m done. In this case, it’s not because of a riveting plot, but because of our title character, Young Anne,

The book follows Anne from a young girl of 5 to a young woman in her mid twenties. At age 5, she was forever getting into trouble. She grew up in a household with a strict father and a blasé, detached mother. Anne was a thinker- she questioned!

“Jesus was a private, invisible friend of hers, that’s all. God was Jesus’s father. Anne sympathized with Jesus. She knew what fathers were, and God and Henry Pritchard (her father) had much in common. They were everywhere at once, and all- powerful.”

Anne has much to contend with as she grows up- her schooling, a first love, a secret that unmoors her, becoming independent through work, and marriage. She is a restless soul who finds it hard to conform. I grew to love her, even when she was making bad choices.

This novel is semi autobiographical, Dorothy Whipple’s first novel, which takes aspects of her life and puts it within these pages. I don’t think it is as tightly written as her later novels, but I fell under the Whipple spell once again and for that it gets all the stars.


Published: 1927

[Katie Lumsden · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly brilliant read. Clever, funny, thought-provoking and powerful.

[Hilary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anne is a small child when we meet her, misunderstood by her parents, who are disinterested, damaged and products of their time. Luckily Anne has one constant and caring person in her life, their servant Emily Barnes. The story follows Anne through school, friendship, her first relationship, starting work, the war and marriage. Although the ending seemed wrapped up quickly, the characters were so absorbing that I couldn't put this down and longed for a sequel. The story seems quite autobiographical although Anne's George returns from the war whereas Dorothy's George tragically doesn't Dorothy observes family life, relationships and class prejudices accutely and the culmination of Mr and Mrs Yates dreams for their daughter are particularly fitting.

[Quirkyreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my very first Dorothy Whipple story and I loved it. The following is the link to my blog with a full review: https://quirkyreader.livejournal.com/...

[Kirsty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Young Anne by Persephone favourite Dorothy Whipple is one of the publishing house's new titles for Spring 2018. First published in 1927, Young Anne is Whipple's debut novel, and the final book of hers which Persephone will be printing, bringing as they have done all of her wonderful novels back into print.

Young Anne, which includes a lovely preface by Lucy Mangan, is a 'quasi-autobiographical novel about a young girl's journey to womanhood.' Mangan addresses the double-edged sword which comes with the publication of the final Whipple novel; whilst thrilled that all of her fiction is now readily available for scores of new fans to discover, she writes that 'to be reaching the end of her work entire feels positively injurious to health.' Mangan explores the ways in which protagonist Anne's life echoes that of Whipple's, and the way in which, even as a debut novel, this has many of the qualities which can be found and admired in her later work: '... naturally her unmistakeable voice is already there.' She goes on to write: 'Whipple, from the off, keeps her ego and her insecurities in check. As in all her later, more experienced works, she is not a showman but a patient, disciplined archaeologist at a dig, gently but ceaselessly sweeping away layers of human conventionality and self-deception, and on down to deeper pretences to get at the stubborn, jagged, enduring truths about us all beneath.'

In Young Anne, Anne Pritchard, the youngest of three children and the only girl, is first introduced when she is a small child. Whipple's description of her feels fresh and perceptive, and one is immediately captivated: 'Anne at five was indescribably endearing. A small, sweet, wild-rose thing. Her hair came diffidently out in tendrils of gold, curling outwards and inwards, this way and that, trying to make a softer thing of the stern sailor cap that proclaimed itself "Indomitable" above her childish brow. Her folded mouth had, for the moment, the gravity of the very young.' At this point in time, Anne is scolded rather regularly for small misdemeanours, such as for her 'favourite occupation' of sinking her teeth into the wood of the pews at church. Her only confidant comes in the form of the Pritchards' housekeeper, Emily, whose tasks are many; they consist of 'running the house, of keeping Gerald in his place, Anne out of scrapes, Philip from overeating, of coping with her mistress's indifference, her master's indigestion and his righteousness.'

From the outset, Anne feels so realistic, filled as she is with childish whims and ideas. Whipple pays so much attention to her sense of humour and imagination, which are always getting her into trouble with her father. In one memorable instance, Whipple recounts something which leads young Anne into disgrace: 'Henry Pritchard was outraged. He was dumbfounded. The impertinence of the child to come in and laugh at his singing! To laugh at him!' Anne's response to this is as follows: 'She knew what fathers were, and God and Henry Pritchard had much in common. They were everywhere at once, and all-powerful.' The other characters portrayed in Anne's world are, even when secondary figures, described with such vivacity and depth. Of Mildred, a spoilt playmate of Anne's, Whipple writes that 'she was a very correct young person. She even ate jelly with a fork at tea.' Anne's formidable Aunt Orchard is described as follows: she 'did not hold for higher education for women, but she liked to destroy people's pet hopes, or at least scratch them a little in passing.'

Whipple's writing, as ever, is gloriously detailed. When, early in the book, Anne leaves home early in the morning to catch a silver fish at the local park, the following is described: 'No one about. She had the world to herself, and the pink-and-white hawthorn blossom was thick on the trees and the laburnum dangled tassels of gold. Here was quiet pool under a tree. Just the place where a silver fish might be! She lay down on the grass and peered into the water. The ends of her hair slid into the pool, her breath ruffled its surface. What a strange was there under the water, green moss, spread in waving patterns, silver bubbles coming up from nowhere, and under the roots of the tree, dim caves...'.

Time passes rather quickly in Young Anne; our protagonist skips from young child to teen, and then to young adult, at the beginning of successive chapters. She is soon sent to a convent school, which allows her some semblance of freedom. After her first day, as she is walking home, 'she had an exciting sense of having started a new life away from the paternal eye at last.' The advent of the First World War then ensues, and both of Anne's brothers are sent to the Front. When she goes to the local station near their Lancashire home to say goodbye, Whipple observes: 'Anne waved them away, her difficult control terribly shaken by the wet faces of the women round her; mothers, sisters, sweethearts, who, like animals, would have hidden themselves when they were hurt, but were compelled to stand out on the crude, cruel railway station and expose their inmost souls.'

Young Anne is an accomplished debut, and as Mangan points out, Whipple's wonderful writing and 'unmistakeable voice' are already prominent throughout. The novel is a heartfelt, searching, and introspective character study. Anne comes up against many hurdles in her life, and Whipple seems concerned, above all, with how she deals with, or overcomes, them. As all of Whipple's later novels can contest, Young Anne is poignant and thoughtful, shrewd and intelligent. I became absorbed within the story immediately, and found the character arc which Whipple has so deftly crafted eminently believable. The human condition is centre stage here, and rightly so; Whipple has much to say about the difficulties of growing up, and so much compassion for its consequences.

[Megan Gibbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Young Anne’ follows the life of Anne Pritchard from a young girl of five to a grown woman in her early twenties, it was Dorothy Whipple’s debut novel and partly autobiographical which is why I think I found it so poignant. I’m only surprised I seem to be the first among my admittedly small group of GR friends to have read it, as I thought it absolutely superb and easily a 5 star read. As with her other books, Dorothy Whipple strength lies not in the plot but in the attention to detail of her female protagonists.

‘As in all her later, more experienced works, she is not a showman but a patient, disciplined archaeologist at a dig, gently but ceaselessly sweeping away sandy layers of human conventionality and self-deception, and on down to deeper pretences to get at the stubborn, jagged, enduring truths about us all beneath.’ Lucy Mangan

Anne is so lovingly and sensitively portrayed; we witness her moments of joy, of sadness, her passion and ambition as well as her flaws of impetuousness and selflessness. I was utterly swept away into Anne’s world and the highs and lows of her romance and heartbreak and I shall remember her for a long time to come.

[Emily May · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dorothy Whipple's debut is still good, but the bar is set so high with her later novels that this one is noticeably the work of an author who is just starting out.

Young Anne is less subtle, perhaps a tad more self-indulgent in how, I feel, Whipple uses Anne to vent her own views and frustrations. Anne is a complex and well-developed character, but the secondary characters are less so, which stands out here because Whipple is at her most brilliant when she's writing about whole families and their complex web of relationships and loyalties.

This one focuses pretty much solely on Anne's coming-of-age, as she wrestles with nihilism, loss of faith, and struggles to find purpose in her life. Much of it is autobiographical, and it is obvious that Whipple was nursing a lot of anger about the restrictions placed on women by their family and society, as well as anger at class inequalities.

It goes a long way toward explaining the mindset of the author who wrote about so many women being held back, being dependent on men who fail them, being manipulated and being left destitute.

[Beth Bonini · Rating 4 out of 5]

It hasn’t been long since I’ve read Elizabeth Taylor’s A Game of Hide and Seek and I couldn’t help but notice parallels between that mid century novel and this story - set a generation earlier. In Taylor’s novel, the young heroine’s mother has been seriously involved in the Suffragette movement; that has been the defining struggle of her life. Anne, Whipple’s protagonist, comes of age during that same period - her young adulthood coincides with World War I - but while the war provides a brief stint of work as a secretary, what is more noteworthy about Anne’s life is how little scope she has for her intelligence and energy. There is a strong sense, in both books, of how claustrophobic and stultifying the life of a middle-class girl/woman could be. There is no sense of politics or social change in her northern town. Religion and money are still the dominant forces. Family provides little to no comfort, and Anne’s only real friend and ally in the domestic circle is an older servant.

In both novels, the heroine has an adolescent romance with a very unsatisfactory young man. Insecurities and misunderstandings cause the young lovers to part; but long after the young heroines have ‘settled’ into dull but suitable marriages with older men, the first love shows up to make an emotional mess of things. In both cases, there is a strong sense that such a crisis could have been averted in a life less disappointing and boring.

In Young Anne, the ‘romantic’ hero is called George Yates - and he is the poor relation of her friend Mildred Yates. Mildred is the petted only child of a couple who have grown prosperous through cotton manufacturing. Mrs. Yates has grand social ambitions for Mildred, and in the depiction of the Yates family, Whipple is able to explore the nuances of social class that were so important in English culture. Although George has the intelligence and drive to win a scholarship to Cambridge, his shame about his relative poverty is a source of insecurity that calf love cannot overcome. Anne, on the other hand, is shamed by sexual revelations from an older and bitter female cousin. George and Anne’s emotional inarticulacy is very much of its time, but brought to life in Whipple’s clear, unmelodramatic style, it’s still very believable even for a modern reader.

I preferred this book to Taylor’s, mostly because I found the characters to be more sympathetic. There is also something, a something which is difficult to describe, which I find particularly compelling and yet comforting about Whipple’s writing style. Lucy Mangan’s really excellent Preface to the novel does such a good job of ‘explaining’ why Whipple’s fans, although not legion, are passionate in their love for her work. This first novel definitely has some weaknesses not found in her later works, but it was still a satisfying coming-of-age read.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Young Anne published in 1927 is Dorothy Whipple's first novel.
A lovely coming of age story that is based on Dorothy's own first twenty years of life.
Funny and heart breaking, a must read for all Dorothy Whipple fans.

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few years ago I was lucky enough to read The Other Day Dorothy Whipple's memoir of her childhood; it's very scarce but I my library has it, (it's amazing what you can come across in the library). This is her first novel and there are some scenes that I recognised from the memoir; most notably the school she went to run by the impoverished sisters, one of them did die of starvation, and she was sent to a catholic school after that.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite lovely.

[Wendy Greenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first of the Whipple novels and, having read all the others, was surprised to find I had missed this one.

Whipple's skill, to me, is conjuring up the quotidian and limited choices in women's lives (early twentieth century.) It occurred to me that I could (if I chose) relate the entirety of the plot without any spoilers because the substance is in the detail, the characterisation, birthright and choices of Whipple's women. We also have descriptions of men who similarly fall in different sides of the social divide but our attentions are focused on the women.

Whilst there is something of the melodrama in this small domestic novel, I was drawn beyond its boundaries into a battle between possibility and restriction. Anne doesn't "sing" as other Whipple protagonists do but has all the inner contradictions of pragmatism and fire in her belly of the later novels.

"Anne regarded the heated, frowsy picture Vera Bowden made among the cabbage roses and the black satin cushions. She found her rather dreadful"

The vitriol is slight in today's parlance but no less visceral and the fact of seeing the genteel setting makes it all the more powerful!

[Emma Glaisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely read. It felt like a period novel written today, so it was wonderful to remember that Dorothy Whipple’s modern-feeling insights into women’s lives are actually completely of their time. I’m off to find more of her work!

[Gina House · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful and incredibly poignant. This coming-of-age novel by one of my favorite authors is written a wonderfully simple writing style with complex undertones. The reader follows Anne from a small child until she is a married woman—knowing her innermost thoughts, feelings, and understanding her choices as she matures in age.

I always enjoy reading anything by Dorothy Whipple. This book was a slow and quiet read (which I love), but the story was also very somber and not at all cheerful. I was very relieved that it ends on a hopeful note.

Young Anne is incredibly impressive for a first novel and I'm so glad that I read it. I definitely recommend giving it a try.

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young Anne was Dorothy Whipple's first novel, published in 1927, and it was apparently semi-autobiographical in nature. It follows Anne Pritchard, the only daughter in a middle-class family in a Lancashire mill town, who surivives some idiosyncratic schooling and suffers from a passionate imagination which few of the people around her can share or even understand.

Dorothy Whipple lost her first love in the First World War, and I suspect that the later part of this book was a way of working out "what might have been" in a way that laid some ghosts to rest.

I read this last of her oeuvre, all now republished by Persephone, so the themes and style were familiar while being less polished than in some of her later work. But it was an enjoyable if sometimes painful read.

[Toast · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another well-made offering from DW. I adored the first half - the tales of young Anne as a child, not something I usually respond too. Found the middle a bit flabby - the tales of teenagers are always a bit self indulgent. Whilst the ending fell short for me. That's what is so wonderful about DW's work - they are so ordinary yet the writing, the class, the broader picture lift them above the average into such status now. Their humanity, their humour, their honesty make them books to cherish and their writing such a joy to behold. They can be cruel but they are human.
Toast

[Eleanor Slater · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possibly my favourite Whipple to date! Loved the autobiographical nature of Anne's childhood (which matched up almost perfectly to The Other Day) - only wish I could know how much of the rest resembles Whipple's own life! Why Persephone Books haven't re-released this yet I have no idea! It is utterly charming (as all her books are!) and made me laugh out loud and cry in turn. The perfect Sunday read.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

A novel by Dorothy Whipple never fails to disappoint. Her first novel, Young Anne is not a perfect one, but it is amazingly good.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Thanks to Persephone Books Dorothy Whipple's novels are finally accessible again to the average reader. Several years ago, I saw a number of Bookstagrammers posting about Young Anne, recently republished by Persephone and the earliest of Dorothy's novels. I had a feeling then that I wanted to read it and would like it, but I had never ordered books straight from England before and didn't actively look into how I could. Now I order books from England regularly, and I happened to receive this one for Christmas in 2020. I have read one other book by Dorothy Whipple, Greengates, and Young Anne fit nicely into my 1900-1950 Readathon category in May 2021, so I added it to my TBR stack.

Right away Anne herself is wonderfully likeable. She has that sensitivity to the world that I have myself and therefore love in a main character. She is out of place in her family from the beginning because of her capacity for wonder, beauty, and observation. Her family members are all abominably self-centered, but Anne has a friend/surrogate mother in the family's cook/housekeeper Emily. In the story, we follow Anne from a young girl through her early 20s, just a couple years into her marriage. She manages to find her way with very little guidance from those around her. Dorothy captures her hardships and her triumphs so beautifully and so realistically. Even a late 20th century/early 21st century gal like myself can empathize with Anne's early 20th century growing up woes and her struggle to find meaning for herself.

Anne ends up with two conflicting love interests and the story takes an unlikely path. It's a real test of character for Anne, and though the ending is ambiguous, I think that she'll end up happier for her choices than otherwise. She is certainly older and wiser and the older I get, the more I appreciate having wisdom (even when it comes with regret and consequences). Anne's relationship with Emily is a lovely one (and a class-breaking one). The plotline with Aunt Orchard is rather disturbing. George is a complex character, as is Richard. I wish we did get to know Richard a little better. I love the very small side plot with the Yates and their daughter Mildred. There is a ton to think about there. Indeed, I think Mildred ends up worse off than Anne, but her relationship with her parents and the ending scene is very touching. I believe Mildred too will end up wise, but with more of a cost.

Dorothy Whipple's writing is wonderful. It's simple and yet lovely. There's a clarity and a truthfulness about it that I find beguiling. I have quite a lot more of Dorothy Whipple's novels to read and only a few more to buy to have them all. I'm so delighted!

[Jenny King · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say that one thing that I love about the Persephone books is not knowing anything at all about the story before you start. By this point I can almost guarantee that the book will be a 4-5 star, but knowing nothing means that you have absolutely no preconceptions or expectations- so you can just enjoy the book for what it is.

This book is actually a very simple story, about a young girl growing up, becoming a young girl then a young woman, and then finally a wife. Much like other Persephone novels there is definitely a commentary in the book about the role of women, and even how that role is changing somewhat with the onset of the war. However this book is far more subtle about these things, and many of these issues are not about how the characters are treated, but rather by how they are not treated, and the everyday attitudes of the people surrounding them. I know that this is Dorothy Whipple’s debut novel, and you can certainly begin to see the style of writing that led her to High Wages, which I have also read.

Overall this is still a remarkable, enjoyable and easy to read story.

[Gill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Dorothy Whipple’s debut novel and about the first twenty years of a girl’s life: she lives at home mostly looked after by the kindly Emily, goes to school, falls in love and finally marries someone else. "So far, so unoriginal. Yet it is original. There is something about the description of Anne’s life which is quite simply superb. It is also (and this is a plot spoiler) a little bit heart-wrenching." (Persephone description).
For me it is her writing which is so heartfelt, without being sentimental that it has to be somewhat autobiographical, which sets it apart.

[Jude Hayland · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this so much and now want to read more by Dorothy Whipple. The ending was not what I expected - but then the characters' decisions are so conditioned by the times in which they were living - an insight and so different from how we propel our actions today.

[Liina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dorothy Whipple was a English author popular between the wars and now much loved again now, thanks to Persephone publishing that has reissued her work.
Young Anne is my third Whipple novel and it was just enjoyable as my previous encounters with her work. The writing is smart, occasionally funny and often heartbreaking.

It is the coming of age story of Anne and her struggles in professional and personal life. All the troubles Anne faces, all her insecurities and longings are timeless and therefore perfectly adjustable to contemporary times. That the setting is of a certain period (the book was written in 1927) makes the novel so cosy and such a comfort read. Think good Earl Grey and shortbread cookies and a light rain tapping on the window. Although I read it during a heat wave I think Whipple novels work best for early autumn.

Whipple is an author that doesn’t disappoint- this was her first novel and already a very strong achievement. I do plan to read the rest of her oeuvre in the future. Young Anne is a great introduction to Persephone books too, if you’re new to this publishing house.

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

Young Anne is the first novel by Dorothy Whipple and her most autobiographical. The story follows young Anne from childhood (5 years old) though to marriage. Anne grows up in a household with largely absentee parents - a strict father and self-obsessed Mother. When her father dies she is abandoned to the care of an elderly aunt. Whilst in her ‘care’ she falls in love with George.

There is an excellent introduction by Lucy Mangan to the Persephone edition which teases out the parallels between this story and the author’s own and Lucy describes Whipple’s writing talents far more eloquently than I can. Whilst this wasn’t my favourite of Whipple’s books that I have read so far, there is so much to love and praise in this story and oh my goodness what talent in a first novel.

Mangan describes the story as ‘slight’, writing that Whipple has written that she was more interested in characters than story. However, there is enough to hold our interest and characters who will win our heart or drive us mad in true Whipple style. It is a glimpse of Whipple herself and of plotlines and character types who will be echoed in her novels. Mr and Mrs Yates, for example, so adoring of their daughter Mildred took me back to the Laniers in Someone at A Distance.

At the centre of this story is Anne. Whipple writes Anne with such affection, introducing us to a gorgeous sweet child. At times Whipple betrays herself with a comment that reveals a deeper intimacy with her character. A comment for example about Anne’s choice of wedding outfit..
‘Demure and virginal they were. Anne had, as yet, no subtlety.’
Sexuality is a major theme in a novel where one relationship is ruined by a relative’s barbed comments about sex. What Whipple does so powerfully is describe the emotional landscape of a love triangle with Anne in an agony of decision making and Richard at the table with his head in his hands.

[Magdalena Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Dorothy Whipple's writing and, as this is only her second novel I've read, I can't wait to explore more of her books. Young Anne was her debut and similarly to the extraordinary They Were Sisters, it focuses more on the main character, on people, than plot, and I had a wonderful reading experience. We follow Anne from childhood, when she's only a five year old girl, through her adolescence until her mid/late 20s. It's definitely a coming-of-age story where a young woman grapples with her life, explores her beliefs, relationships, experiences love. I liked Anne, I really liked Emily, Anne's family's servant, who was with Anne throughout her life. I also got very invested in Anne's relationship with Richard and her feelings for George and I might not have been that satisfied with the ending, but I totally see why Whipple wrote it that way and it did feel right for Anne and for her story.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this one a lot! I struggled a bit through the first third where Anne is a child, but it really picked up for me when she grew up. I've heard Dorothy Whipple's other books are better than this one as well, so I will definitely keep an eye out for more.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written simple and beautiful story. Anne captures your heart and you want to whisper guidance to her all the while hoping she will listen, and she does.
My first Dorothy Whipple…won’t be my last:)

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5...she’s one of my favorites and this was very good but not quite as good as her other later novels.