Near Neighbours

by Molly Clavering

Miss Dorothea Balfour was nearer seventy than sixty, but there was something childlike about her . . . She felt rather like a child, a lost, bewildered child, and she was doing what Belle had always objected to so staring out of the window at 'those rather odd persons next-door' . . .

Shy, uncertain Miss Balfour is still finding her way after the sudden death of her domineering sister Belle, who-following a failed marriage many years ago-had returned home and made a career of brow-beating her meeker sibling (her memorable final words were 'Don't be a fool Dottie'). But Dorothea soon begins exploring her newfound freedom, observing and then becoming happily enmeshed in the doings of her neighbours, the widowed Mrs. Lenox and her five unusual and charming children, with whom Belle had always forbidden contact. Domestic challenges, romantic difficulties, and efforts to aid a painter's abandoned family-all are facilitated by Dorothea's calm intelligence. And before long she has drama of her own, from her spontaneous rescue of an endangered child to her encounter with Belle's long-lost husband, from whom she learns some surprising secrets.

Molly Clavering was for many years herself a near neighbour and friend of bestselling author D.E. Stevenson, and they may well have influenced one another's writing. Originally published in 1956 and set vividly in postwar Edinburgh, Near Neighbours is one of Clavering's most cheerful and amusing tales. This new edition includes an introduction by Elizabeth Crawford.

Genres: Fiction, British Literature, Scotland, Historical Fiction, Classics, Romance, Cozy

292 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1956

About the author

AKA Marion Moffatt.

Molly Clavering was born in Glasgow, but lived in the country from an early age. After six years' service wiith the WRNS, she settled in Moffat, Dumfriesshire, where she served on the Town Council.

Reviews

[Antoinette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful! Charming! A light, cozy read that is a balm for the soul! I am so glad to have been introduced to this author by Tania.

We meet Miss Balfour shortly after her sister’s passing. She is 67 yrs old and has been dominated all her life, firstly by her father and then by her sister. Finally and unexpectedly, she can do and say what she pleases.

“ It was not given to many people on the threshold of old age to discover themselves with new friends and a place in the world for the first time, and needed by somebody, as she was..”

I loved following Miss Balfour as she came out into the world. Loved meeting her neighbours, the Lenox’s. If you are looking for a light, comforting read, this is it. Definitely will try and find more books by this author.

Published: 1956

[Diane Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a comforting book for the gray days of January. I fell in love with Miss Balfour, whose domineering sister has just died, leaving her room to become her real self at the age of 68. I fell in love with the Lenox family, mother and 5 grown children in various life circumstances, who are her next door neighbors. They become friends and there are a lot of story threads merging and weaving in and out of the novel. My only nitpick is that some entirely unknown characters emerged at various times to save the day, but it was such a fun story that I let it go. I was afraid that the ending would be wrapped up in a big red bow with Happy Ever After for all, but that wasn't the case. A couple of Happy, a couple of What Now, one or two I'm Sad but I'll Get Over It......just like life.

I'll take more Molly Clavering please. This is my second by her, and I really like this publishing company, Furrowed Middlebrow, that reprints some of these older English authors, making them very inexpensive on Kindle.

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartwarming.

This was a light and fluffy read, and the perfect antidote to the January blues. Just right for lifting the spirits.

[Alisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in Edinburgh. A spinster lady in her 60s, Dorothea Balfour, has just lost her older sister in death. Her older sister was rather a bully, and before that Dorothea was subject to the whims of her father. Thus, for the first time in her 60-odd years, Dorothea is truly her own mistress. She begins hey new chapter by befriending her neighbors, the Lenoxes, a family consisting of a single mother and five grown or nearly grown children. The friendship that springs up between the neighboring houses changes both sides for the better. A nice story of decent people (my favorite kind!), a few romances, and gentle optimism.

There are a couple plot lines/characters that fizzle out. Some might see this as problematic, but these "slice of life" books often feel more realistic because of things like that. After all, how many people and things are there in life that pass briefly onto your horizon but don't hold a starring role there? The fact is that sometimes things don't work out like you assume they will, and when book characters experience this, I feel akin to them. (Not that I wouldn't like a couple loose ends tied up, but I could live with them in this case.)

This author was a friend and neighbor of D.E. Stevenson, and their writing styles are very similar!

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was perfectly lovely and delightful. Miss Dorothea is a dear, and I adore her relationship with the Lenox family. Monty is a character! I liked him. I think he’d be an abominable husband and a delightful father. He’s a great companion for Miss Dorothea. Thoughtful, even though he’s not particularly steady.

The Lenox family is lovely. There is the widowed mother Mrs. Lenox, her son Murray, and her four daughters who are named after trees: Willow, Hazel, Rowan, and Holly. Molly Clavering does a splendid job of matching the personalities of the trees to the person. For example, Holly is just 16 years old and so has the spikes of awkward adolescence still, but there’s a sense that she’ll grow into the glossy beauty of her leaves some day. (Side note, she reminds me immensely of Lydia Keith in the early Angela Thirkell books, which is delightful because Lydia is a spiffing character.)

I love the basic plot line of a lonely, repressed older woman who is brought back to life by her connection with her neighbors. And they find that there is just as much to love about her as she loves about them. There are many subplots that are handled beautifully and the ending is subtle and rather splendid. Understated and yet satisfying. I think Rowan and Miss Dorothea are at the heart of the novel with their gentle optimism, open-hearted generosity, and care for the welfare of others.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful! 5 stars

[Abigail Bok · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was thoroughly charmed by this unpretentious novel, set in Edinburgh in the 1950s.

The scene opens on a timid elderly spinster, Miss Balfour, curled up in a window seat overlooking her neighborhood. The sister with whom she lived has just died and she is rather wistfully watching the cheerful family next door. We soon learn, however, that Miss Balfour is to be congratulated, not condoled with—her sister, and her father before, were cruel bullies, and this is the first time in decades that Miss Balfour has any chance at happiness.

And Miss Balfour has a gift for happiness. A combination of naïveté and willingness to change sets her feet on the path. When one of the daughters of the family next door impulsively drops by to offer awkward sympathy, Miss Balfour sees behind the manner to the kindness, she eagerly accepts the outreach, and soon the two families are friends.

Before long, most of the focus shifts to that next-door family, a widowed mother, son, and four daughters. All the kids but the youngest girl are adults just starting out in life, and they are floundering in the usual ways of young adults. It’s a lovely depiction of how family members quarrel, tease, observe, and support one another, and like Miss Balfour I enjoyed peeping in on their lives. Not that Miss Balfour is entirely neglected: her offbeat wisdom and a little risk-taking help her find her way into a life in which she is both loved and needed.

Nothing really drastic happens, and that’s fine; the point of the story is resilience and making the best of what is left to you. A reader looking for the secret to happiness can find it here.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an utter delight and made me fall in love with Molly Clavering’s writing. This story of a lonely spinster and the family Nextdoor who befriend her is such a balm to my soul. If you want lovely characters and a charming story of daily life in Edinburgh, Scotland in the early part of the twentieth century, then look no further. I’m already looking forward to my next reread of it!

[Gina House · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really wonderful story! Even though it always takes me a full chapter to get used to the writing in Molly Clavering's books, it's definitely worth it. I loved the characters of the Lennox family and also Miss Dorothea Balfour.

The way that these neighbors come together is so sweet, touching, and also realistic. I love reading the thoughts behind each of the main characters and the way that they view each other. Once I reached the halfway point, the book was very hard to put down.

I'm excited to read some of her other books to see if any are similar in tone and style. I adore stories about families and neighborhoods. This is definitely one of the best books I've read so far in 2022. Highly recommended for a cozy, satisfying reading experience.

[Lynnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first Molly Clavering and I really enjoyed it. It was charming and gentle, Miss Balfour and the Lenox family were all endearing, Monty was sweet. A wonderful story.
I also loved the descriptions of the streets in Edinburgh.

[Barb in Maryland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely bit of mid-century (20th) 'women's fiction'. A bit of romance, a bit of Cinderella, a lot of day to day domestic life, all wrapped up in a story of friendship and found family.
Wonderfully warm and cozy, with oodles of goodwill to all.

I read this while I was struggling with the Head Cold from Hell. It was a perfect remedy for the 'blahs'. Even better when accompanies by a pot of hot tea and some lemon cookies.

[Teri-K · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely, quiet story of a woman in her late sixties in Edinburgh who suddenly finds herself free to live life according to her own desires. She takes an interest in her lively neighbors, a widow with four daughters and a son, and finds her life greatly enriched. I enjoyed this story and was eager to pick up the book and continue it. I did wish for a bit of a surprise, or even more plot, but the charm of the characters was enough. Recommended for those times when you want to spend some time with thoroughly nice people, and don't care if nothing much happens.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm already missing my friends from Near Neighbours! Would love to spend more time with them, find out what happens further along the paths they've chosen. Very highly recommended.

[Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

“It was not given to many people on the threshold of old age to discover themselves with new friends and a place in the world for the first time, and [to be] needed by somebody,” but that was exactly where 67-year-old Dorothea Balfour finds herself at the beginning of this unusual story.

After the death of her domineering sister, timid Dorothea is at a loss as to what to do with her life. But when the boisterous family next door (who she has often watched with interest from her parlor window) invites her to become a part of their lives, she discovers she’s not quite the foolish nit-wit her sister always declared her to be. It’s lovely to see her blossom into a more confident and caring person.

The only thing that kept it from being a truly cozy book was the interjection of the “b” word used twice to describe spiteful women. But I loved this book for its little family dramas and its glimpses of simple heroism.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gentle read with endearing characters. Perfect for fans of D. E. Stevenson. I look forward to reading more by the author.

[Dominika]

I didn't love this one as much as I thought I would. It was a little too sweet and there were so many characters, I felt like no individual person's story was explored deeply enough. The dialogue was a bit overdrawn and unnatural, too. It reminded me of the stilted scripts in some old black and white films.

However, it was a hard week, and this was a gentle, undemanding read.

[Susan in NC · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this story, my second book by Clavering; the first, “Dear Hugo” was also a delightful story set in Scotland, but in a small rural village. This book, published in 1956, is set in Edinburgh, which is lovingly described by the characters.

This book tells the story of the friendship that blossoms between the Lenox family, a war widow and her five young adult children, and the little old lady, Miss Dorothea, who lives next door. She and her bullyish elder sister, Belle, live a dreary existence; Belle had been married, but returned home shortly after the marriage, supposedly a widow. She was like their father, repressive, strict, humorless and contemptuous of scattered, meek “Dottie”, who supposedly took after their mother. I got the impression from inner monologues that all the love and softness passed out of her life when her mother died; Belle always admonished Dottie, in fact the last words she said, after chomping her way through another silent, large meal were rude. Then she keeled over dead!

At the beginning of the story, the day of Belle’s funeral, Dottie is watching the Lenox family next door out of the upper story window, long a secret pleasure. They are a loving, close, active family - this time young Rowan, getting laundry off the clothesline, spies her, realizes her sister has just been buried, and impetuously heads over for a visit.

It’s a delightful scene, and we realize Rowan is the “crusading sister”, always up for a cause. There are four daughters, Willow, Hazel, Rowan and Holly - all named for trees, and unique in personality, and their brother Murray - they along with their mother are a charming family, and I very much enjoyed reading about the budding friendship between the two households. I look forward to reading more by Clavering, her writing is charming, humorous and sentimental without being saccharine. A lovely story, about love and family and friendship.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Warmhearted, cozy, and really enjoyable. The perfect kind of comforting read for this time of year.

[Jerri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slice of life novel set in Edinburgh. Readers of the novels of D. E. Stevenson may feel they recognize the neighborhood, as it seems to be near the setting of the first part of her novel Listening Valley, although some years later.

An enjoyable read and a chance to "visit" my favorite city in the world.

[Christine PNW · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my 4th Dean Street Press title for Dean Street December. An absolutely lovely book - very reminiscent of a D.E. Stevenson novel, with some delightful young characters, and their interactions with a lonely elderly woman who lives next door. Loved it so much.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up. A wonderful book about kindness and generosity. I fell in love with Miss Balfour and the Lenox family. Written at a time so different than our own, I wish some of the goodwill and grace that underlie the story could somehow rise from the page and infuse our world of today. While the happy ending was predictable, it was the caring middle that touched me most of all. Highly recommended.

[Richard Kettlewood · Rating 4 out of 5]

RA

I'm not a reader offended by violence, sex or 'bad language', but occasionally I like to unwind with the sort of book people who deplore those things enjoy. Near Neighbours drew me due to the elderly protagonist finding freedom late in life. There is a villain, who is vanquished in the first chapter! But it takes time to escape their malevolent influence. It's a story strong on character, period and place. Set in Edinburgh, but only the 'lower orders' seem to speak with an accent (as attempted by the author). But I'm glad all the dialogue wasn't written in vernacular; unlike foul language, I find that irritating to read. It is an example of the novel as a middle class art form, and barely conscious of this. But it deals, if not with class (although there is the uncomfortable in polite company adopted 'highlander'), very well with personal development and age through subtle connections. The main theme is how an old woman, newly minted, and her young female neighbours both come to flower at the same time. Strong on bridging the age gap (still a contemporary problem in an aging demography that fetishises youth); strong on female characters (if still at the whim of the more lightly sketched male characters); full of empathy, if largely devoid of real menace. A period piece and a joy to read, for a change from higher octane fare.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming story set in Edinburgh. Dorothea Balfour has just attended the funeral of her domineering sister Belle and is looking into the neighbouring garden when she is spotted by her young neighbour Rowan Lenox. On impulse, Rowan goes round to pay her respects and this initiates a friendship between Miss Balfour and the Lenox family that brings happiness and comfort to both sides.

This is the perfect book to put a contented smile on one’s face. The Lenox family are lively and good humoured, and their gentle romances and family parties were heartwarming and engaging, while Miss Balfour is a kind soul who discovers a wisdom when dealing with her young friends that she never realised she possessed.

This was my first book by Molly Clavering and I would definitely read more to be transported to this world of genteel society where well mannered people treat each other with kindness and respect and a pinch of humour.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very enjoyable book. Almost impossible to find. Molly Clavering was a friend of D. E. Stevenson and wrote several books that are difficult to come across. I can't even remember now where I found mine, but I'm grateful to have a copy. The easiest of her books to find a copy of is 'Mrs. Lorimer's Family'.

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A cozy little domestic drama. A decorous daytime soap, in print. Good for what it is - sort of a novel for Enid Blyton fans who want to feel they are more grown up now. Unobjectionable, but much too tidy for me.

[Rena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really felt as if I'd discovered a new DE Stevenson!

[Debbie Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a delightful book! When I finished, I gave it a hug (actually, I hugged my Kindle because I read it as an e-book). It’s such a sweet book and reminds me of a 1940s classic movie. I’ll be revisiting Miss Balfour and the Lenox clan in the future, as well as other Molly Clavering books.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Molly Clavering is especially good at middle aged and older characters. I like that she empowers them and makes them central to the story. Miss Dorothea and her transformation at age 69, after the death of her repressive sister, was much more interesting to me than the four Lenox sisters next door, named after trees. (Willow, Hazel, Rowan, Holly.) But the young ladies each have their own story line, which intersect with Miss Dorothea's and that keeps things interesting. The unexpected reappearance of her unknown brother-in-law adds a bit of fun.
The setting in beautiful Edinburgh city is a change from the villages and countryside of Molly Clavering's other books. Except for sulky, unpleasant Angus, her young men are a bit one dimensional and hard to tell one from the other, in this book as well as her others.
Compared to Susan Scarlett, who seems to write all her books by the same formula, Molly's books each feel new to me when I start one. Often I'm surprised by the way things develop. In tone, story, and characters each book has it's own unique feel.
If your particular escapist fiction is down to earth books set in Scotland in the 50's, written for women by a woman, you will enjoy this. No sex, melodrama, or vulgarity here, and you won't miss it!

[Adrienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pure delight from start to finish.

[Catsalive · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miss Dorothea Balfour has been "cabined, cribbed, confined" all her life, first by her domineering father & then her bullying sister, Belle. With the death of her sister, Dorothea can finally expand her horizons. Her acceptance of people as they are & her sweet nature allow her to befriend Belle's estranged husband & the delightful Lenox family next door: a widowed mother & five children, Murray, Willow, Hazel, Rowan & Holly.

A lovely warm & gentle tale encompassing daily life, romance, family & friendships in post-war Edinburgh: delicious comfort food. I sped through this charming book & now I want to read more Molly Clavering.