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Sally on the Rocks
‘You’re not out for romance at thirty-one; it’s business.’
Sally Lunton is on the rocks and in search of a husband. As the First World War grips Europe, she flees Paris to the safety of life in Little Crampton under the roof of her guardian, the Reverend Adam Lovelady. Sally is a warm-hearted, spirited heroine, who is determined to settle into a comfortable life now she is in her early thirties. But she has a rival for the affections of the village’s ‘most eligible’ bachelor, and her pursuit is further frustrated by a soldier tortured by his experience at the Front and a secret in her bohemian past which follows her home.
Sally Lunton is on the rocks and in search of a husband. As the First World War grips Europe, she flees Paris to the safety of life in Little Crampton under the roof of her guardian, the Reverend Adam Lovelady. Sally is a warm-hearted, spirited heroine, who is determined to settle into a comfortable life now she is in her early thirties. But she has a rival for the affections of the village’s ‘most eligible’ bachelor, and her pursuit is further frustrated by a soldier tortured by his experience at the Front and a secret in her bohemian past which follows her home.
319 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1915
19 people are currently reading
402 people want to read
About the author
Winifred Boggs
13 books4 followersEnglish short story writer and novelist.
She was the eldest of seven children.
Very little is known about Winifred Boggs’ personal life. She was recorded in the 1911 census living with her mother and two unmarried sisters in Ormskirk, her profession given as Novelist. By 1920 she was living in a flat in Belsize Park in London and in the same year attended two literary dinners there, a 'Novelist’s Dinner' and a 'War Writer’s Dinner'. In an interview in 1921 she said that she got her best ideas while lying in the bath and that her interests were bridge and tennis.
Winifred Boggs died of a cerebral aneurysm in Hampstead on 16 November 1931 aged 57.
Abridged from Wikipedia
She was the eldest of seven children.
Very little is known about Winifred Boggs’ personal life. She was recorded in the 1911 census living with her mother and two unmarried sisters in Ormskirk, her profession given as Novelist. By 1920 she was living in a flat in Belsize Park in London and in the same year attended two literary dinners there, a 'Novelist’s Dinner' and a 'War Writer’s Dinner'. In an interview in 1921 she said that she got her best ideas while lying in the bath and that her interests were bridge and tennis.
Winifred Boggs died of a cerebral aneurysm in Hampstead on 16 November 1931 aged 57.
Abridged from Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
November 22, 2021
4.5
Sally is a fantastic character, and I just loved the way the story panned out. It was much funnier than I expected, with some quite serious messages woven into the plot.
Little Crampton is a small village, ruled by Miss Maggie Hopkins. Miss Hopkins has a talent for finding out things about people they would rather keep hidden, so if she decides you're out, then you're out. "Acidity had left the speaker a revolting skeleton. Her bones seemed to clank as she walked.". She writes to Sally to suggest she comes back to Little Crampton because the bank manager there is "rolling in it", and unmarried. As it happens, there is a young widow who is also trying to land him as a husband. Miss Maggie isn't looking out for Sally's interests (as Sally believes), she is looking forward to the drama.
Bingly is hardly a catch, although he certainly believes he is. Sally soon realises "He plays at being the perfect gentleman all the time, and merely suceeds in being the imperfect lady.". He shows He is a man of three p's - principals, prejudices and platitudes. The two women agree that they will both fight fair but 'to the death'. Neither of them really want him, they just want security, the novel has a lot to say about womens position in society. Naturally, things become complicated when Sally's ex lover turns up in the village.
I came across it when it was reviewed on the 'Stuck in a Book' blog.
*Edit. I came across a great Booktube review of the book here - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zSGKwm1...
Sally is a fantastic character, and I just loved the way the story panned out. It was much funnier than I expected, with some quite serious messages woven into the plot.
Little Crampton is a small village, ruled by Miss Maggie Hopkins. Miss Hopkins has a talent for finding out things about people they would rather keep hidden, so if she decides you're out, then you're out. "Acidity had left the speaker a revolting skeleton. Her bones seemed to clank as she walked.". She writes to Sally to suggest she comes back to Little Crampton because the bank manager there is "rolling in it", and unmarried. As it happens, there is a young widow who is also trying to land him as a husband. Miss Maggie isn't looking out for Sally's interests (as Sally believes), she is looking forward to the drama.
Bingly is hardly a catch, although he certainly believes he is. Sally soon realises "He plays at being the perfect gentleman all the time, and merely suceeds in being the imperfect lady.". He shows He is a man of three p's - principals, prejudices and platitudes. The two women agree that they will both fight fair but 'to the death'. Neither of them really want him, they just want security, the novel has a lot to say about womens position in society. Naturally, things become complicated when Sally's ex lover turns up in the village.
I came across it when it was reviewed on the 'Stuck in a Book' blog.
*Edit. I came across a great Booktube review of the book here - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zSGKwm1...
November 22, 2024
"My dear lady, you must admit a man of forty doesn't get his head turned."
Miss Maggie tittered. "Perhaps not; only once it starts turning it simply whizzes. There's no fool like an old fool."
This book is lively and quite wonderfully bitchy -at the start anyway - & it was first published in 1915.
Miss Maggie is a bored & miserable natured spinster who sets people in her tiny village against each other for her own entertainment. Mr Bingley (interesting choice of surname) has arrived in the village of Little Crampton. He is a very eligible, if somewhat dull, bachelor & already has a very determined widow chasing after him. Miss Maggie decides that there would be more entertainment to be had, if 31 year old Bohemian Sally - a spinster by the standards of the time - returns home & joins the chase, so writes to her in Paris. Sally is indeed 'on the rocks' - & the Paris of 1915 would be starting to feel dangerous! Miss Maggie does indeed have a lot of fun - & some of the best scenes!
He spoke in a tone of condescending reproof, which did not annoy Miss Maggie in the least. She had her rapier and some skill with which to confront his clumsy pin-prick.
&, as a bonus, there is both a rival for Sally's affections & Sally's past turns up to haunt her...
The start of this book is just wonderful, especially for the time it was written (1915) but of course it wasn't possible for Sally to be the free spirit she appears to be. I have never read anything by this author before, so I don't know if the times constrained Ms Boggs into taking a more moralistic tone than she wanted to.
The book did need a bit of a prune, as some of the characters' struggles were a bit repetitive. Too many things were wrapped into a neat, tidy parcel, yet there wasn't a They simply disappeared from the story.
But this book is well worth the read for the awful Miss Maggie alone & for the insights into English village life at the start of The Great War.
https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...
November 9, 2021
I would give this book 2.5 stars. A common whine from me — for what the story told and all it conveyed, it was too long.
Sally goes off when she’s 18 to explore the world, and eventually finds herself at age 25, in Paris and living with some guy, Jimmy, who she is in love with. He likes her well enough but they eventually split up. She comes back to her small village in England, Little Crampton. There is a wicked busy-body old maid who loves to gossip maliciously about people in the village, Miss Maggie. Wouldn’t she like to know about Sally’s past, given that in 1915 this could indelibly stain a woman’s reputation and make her chances of getting married null and void? Sally is already approaching over-the-hill-dom in that she is 31 years old. (That’s not me saying she is over the hill…that’s the gist of the storyline).
So, the main story line is Sally, who is quite attractive, wanting to get married, and she doesn’t want to get married for love, but for the easy life. She wants a sugar daddy and she finds one in the bank manager, Mr. Bingley. He has the hots for Sally (he is 41) but is a fuss-budget (and that’s putting it kindly) and he frequently consults something in his house called The Book. Something his mother left behind for him when she passed away — 1001 warnings about who not to get involved with or to marry. So he wants to propose to Sally because he is drawn to her, but some of the comments she makes alarms his rigid Puritan, misogynistic mind and so he reigns in his impulses to propose. A safer bet is to marry the widow, Mrs. Dalton with her daughter Nina. Mrs. Dalton also wants to marry Mr. Bingley because she wants to live a life that is better than she currently is living. Neither Sally nor Mrs. Dalton are the least bit attracted to Mr. Bingley. They both tell each other that if they are to marry him, they will have as little to do with him as possible thereafter.
The other character in the book is Robert Kantyre, who is an ex-soldier and is disgraced (in his eyes, and maybe he deserves it in my eyes) because he does not follow orders and leads the men he is commanding to their deaths. Only he and a couple of other men survive a battle he draws his men into. So, he is haunted by that and makes his way to the village where Sally is at, determined to commit suicide in a forest (he’s not from the village), but she sees him right when he is ready to pull the trigger and prevents that.
I won’t say anything more…well actually I will.
One interesting thing is that Winifred Boggs wrote this in 1914 and 1915, when England had just entered the war against Germany (i.e., WWI). Boggs makes reference to the Lusitania being sunk and also makes reference to soldiers being gassed on the battlefield, and she presages that there will be many, many more deaths to come. And she was right.
This book was re-issued by the British Library Women Writers series (see https://shop.bl.uk/collections/britis... for a listing of some of their books), which is a “curated collection of novels by female authors who enjoyed broad, popular appeal in their day. In a century during which the role of women in society changed radically, their fictional heroines highlight women’s experience of life inside and outside the home through the decades in these rich, insightful and evocative stories.”
And to my mind, this book did achieve that — I saw how unfair life was back in the day when women had such few options relative to men. And what was OK for men (to have casual sex) was absolute anathema if women engaged in that.
Winifred Boggs (1874-1931) was the author of more than a dozen novels under her own name and two pseudonyms. Little is known about her, and she was often listed on her book covers as ‘By the author of ‘The Sale of Lady Daventry’ which was published in 1914.
Reviews
• https://www.stuckinabook.com/sally-on...
• https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2021/...
Sally goes off when she’s 18 to explore the world, and eventually finds herself at age 25, in Paris and living with some guy, Jimmy, who she is in love with. He likes her well enough but they eventually split up. She comes back to her small village in England, Little Crampton. There is a wicked busy-body old maid who loves to gossip maliciously about people in the village, Miss Maggie. Wouldn’t she like to know about Sally’s past, given that in 1915 this could indelibly stain a woman’s reputation and make her chances of getting married null and void? Sally is already approaching over-the-hill-dom in that she is 31 years old. (That’s not me saying she is over the hill…that’s the gist of the storyline).
So, the main story line is Sally, who is quite attractive, wanting to get married, and she doesn’t want to get married for love, but for the easy life. She wants a sugar daddy and she finds one in the bank manager, Mr. Bingley. He has the hots for Sally (he is 41) but is a fuss-budget (and that’s putting it kindly) and he frequently consults something in his house called The Book. Something his mother left behind for him when she passed away — 1001 warnings about who not to get involved with or to marry. So he wants to propose to Sally because he is drawn to her, but some of the comments she makes alarms his rigid Puritan, misogynistic mind and so he reigns in his impulses to propose. A safer bet is to marry the widow, Mrs. Dalton with her daughter Nina. Mrs. Dalton also wants to marry Mr. Bingley because she wants to live a life that is better than she currently is living. Neither Sally nor Mrs. Dalton are the least bit attracted to Mr. Bingley. They both tell each other that if they are to marry him, they will have as little to do with him as possible thereafter.
The other character in the book is Robert Kantyre, who is an ex-soldier and is disgraced (in his eyes, and maybe he deserves it in my eyes) because he does not follow orders and leads the men he is commanding to their deaths. Only he and a couple of other men survive a battle he draws his men into. So, he is haunted by that and makes his way to the village where Sally is at, determined to commit suicide in a forest (he’s not from the village), but she sees him right when he is ready to pull the trigger and prevents that.
I won’t say anything more…well actually I will.
One interesting thing is that Winifred Boggs wrote this in 1914 and 1915, when England had just entered the war against Germany (i.e., WWI). Boggs makes reference to the Lusitania being sunk and also makes reference to soldiers being gassed on the battlefield, and she presages that there will be many, many more deaths to come. And she was right.
This book was re-issued by the British Library Women Writers series (see https://shop.bl.uk/collections/britis... for a listing of some of their books), which is a “curated collection of novels by female authors who enjoyed broad, popular appeal in their day. In a century during which the role of women in society changed radically, their fictional heroines highlight women’s experience of life inside and outside the home through the decades in these rich, insightful and evocative stories.”
And to my mind, this book did achieve that — I saw how unfair life was back in the day when women had such few options relative to men. And what was OK for men (to have casual sex) was absolute anathema if women engaged in that.
Winifred Boggs (1874-1931) was the author of more than a dozen novels under her own name and two pseudonyms. Little is known about her, and she was often listed on her book covers as ‘By the author of ‘The Sale of Lady Daventry’ which was published in 1914.
Reviews
• https://www.stuckinabook.com/sally-on...
• https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2021/...
June 13, 2022
All the emotions!! I started reading this late last night and couldn't get in to it but thought I'd persevere and so glad that I did. I've been reading this all day! Sally reminded me a bit of Miss Mole from Miss Mole. My favourite character was Old John!
November 30, 2021
What a delightful read! And lessons to be learnt too. What a funny and delicious, happy and dramatic story altogether. I loved this book! I went through all different kinds of emotions while reading it (I finished it in a day) and I am still overwhelmed by how beautiful this book is.
March 17, 2024
Very funny, and ahead of its time, I think! This novel opens in 1915 as 31-year-old Sally Lunton of the title, a struggling artist in Paris, receives a letter.
It’s a gossipy missive from one of the nastiest, most vicious gossip hounds I’ve met in all my years of reading, Miss Maggie of Little Crampton, England. Sally’s guardian, Mr. Lovelady, is vicar of the village, and she was raised there. Miss Maggie writes that there is a bachelor bank manager who’s “rolling in it”, and she urges Sally to come home and try her luck!
Unknown to Sally, Miss Maggie is so malicious she’s not doing a friendly turn - she wants to set up a love triangle between pompous git Alfred Bingley, Sally, and a widow with a little girl already living in the village, and trying to get Mr. Bingley to propose.
World War I is underway, Belgium has already been invaded, and it looks like Paris is next. Sally had a love affair six years previously, feels Paris could become dangerous, and she’s not getting any younger. She heads home, anxious also to see her dear guardian “Lovey”, one of my favorite characters; Boggs writes him as a heartbroken widower who lost his beloved wife and little girl in a horrific rail accident years ago, and has never quite gotten over it. He is loving, kind and forgiving, though, and tries to be a patient and understanding vicar.
The thing that makes this so funny and unexpectedly modern is when the two women of the “love triangle” meet, they share a humorous glance at the situation, and even joke with each other about it, refusing to become enemies over the battle for Mr. Bingley’s affections (and more importantly, his worldly goods). The author does a great job showing the iniquities and imbalance of the situation, and inherent unfairness for women. She also holds Mr. Bingley up for a fair skewering for his rigid morality, self-righteousness, and greed. At 41 he is too old to enlist (at the time), but complains how war-related shortages are inconveniencing his elaborate and luxurious meals!
There was a lot to interest me: Sally is a wonderful, warm, self-deprecating character; the humor, as Boggs takes swipes at the pompous Mr. Bingley and the malicious Miss Maggie; the impact of the war as the devastation and death toll come closer.
As this was published in 1915, the outcome of the war was unknown. Boggs hints toward the end at the growing impact as Sally looks out to sea one evening, and has horrible visions of the the recently sunk Lusitania, and the civilian loss of life. With the light, humorous, almost irreverent tone of the novel up to that point, this struck an oddly discordant note, but understandable as the author was living through it.
I also appreciated how Boggs actually managed to make Bingley a bit more human in the end; he had seemed like an absolute parody up to that point, full of his own worth, reading his dead mother’s wisdom out of “The Book” every night. I was cheering a bit for him when he finally saw the light and grew up a bit in the end! No spoilers as to who ended up together, but recommended as a clever, humorous story.
It’s a gossipy missive from one of the nastiest, most vicious gossip hounds I’ve met in all my years of reading, Miss Maggie of Little Crampton, England. Sally’s guardian, Mr. Lovelady, is vicar of the village, and she was raised there. Miss Maggie writes that there is a bachelor bank manager who’s “rolling in it”, and she urges Sally to come home and try her luck!
Unknown to Sally, Miss Maggie is so malicious she’s not doing a friendly turn - she wants to set up a love triangle between pompous git Alfred Bingley, Sally, and a widow with a little girl already living in the village, and trying to get Mr. Bingley to propose.
World War I is underway, Belgium has already been invaded, and it looks like Paris is next. Sally had a love affair six years previously, feels Paris could become dangerous, and she’s not getting any younger. She heads home, anxious also to see her dear guardian “Lovey”, one of my favorite characters; Boggs writes him as a heartbroken widower who lost his beloved wife and little girl in a horrific rail accident years ago, and has never quite gotten over it. He is loving, kind and forgiving, though, and tries to be a patient and understanding vicar.
The thing that makes this so funny and unexpectedly modern is when the two women of the “love triangle” meet, they share a humorous glance at the situation, and even joke with each other about it, refusing to become enemies over the battle for Mr. Bingley’s affections (and more importantly, his worldly goods). The author does a great job showing the iniquities and imbalance of the situation, and inherent unfairness for women. She also holds Mr. Bingley up for a fair skewering for his rigid morality, self-righteousness, and greed. At 41 he is too old to enlist (at the time), but complains how war-related shortages are inconveniencing his elaborate and luxurious meals!
There was a lot to interest me: Sally is a wonderful, warm, self-deprecating character; the humor, as Boggs takes swipes at the pompous Mr. Bingley and the malicious Miss Maggie; the impact of the war as the devastation and death toll come closer.
As this was published in 1915, the outcome of the war was unknown. Boggs hints toward the end at the growing impact as Sally looks out to sea one evening, and has horrible visions of the the recently sunk Lusitania, and the civilian loss of life. With the light, humorous, almost irreverent tone of the novel up to that point, this struck an oddly discordant note, but understandable as the author was living through it.
I also appreciated how Boggs actually managed to make Bingley a bit more human in the end; he had seemed like an absolute parody up to that point, full of his own worth, reading his dead mother’s wisdom out of “The Book” every night. I was cheering a bit for him when he finally saw the light and grew up a bit in the end! No spoilers as to who ended up together, but recommended as a clever, humorous story.
November 2, 2021
A delightful story of a free-minded woman looking for stability and respect.
Sally on The Rocks is a splendid story of strong women living in a male world and trying to make the best of it.
Sally, the heroine, was in her thirties and tired of a life of recklessness. She longed for stability and respectability, both things she thought she could get by returning to her hometown and marrying a promising local bachelor.
Like many other small rural towns, Little Crampton was full of respectable citizens guarding the town’s morality and not immune to the occasional gossip.
At the heart of all gossiping was Miss Maggie, a bitter spinster with an investigative personality used to dig people’s secrets and manipulate them for her own amusement.
With less than honorable intentions, Miss Maggie tempted Sally to return from Paris to pursuit the town’s great catch, Mr. Bingley, a man in his forties whose most excellent quality was the balance in his bank account.
The book was very witty, and the social critique was so rich and engaging. I loved all the characters! Good or bad, they seemed so real, like someone I have met somewhere or another.
I immensely enjoyed the love triangles, especially the friendly relationship between Sally and her rival, Mrs. Dalton. They respected each other and played fair and square.
Sally’s character evolves so much. She went from a mere egocentric ambition to realizing her needs were much more complex and could not simply be bought with money.
I was positively impressed by the progressive views of the author, considering the time the book was written (1915). In addition, I found her portrait of women very positive, full of self-awareness, and hopeful for the future.
I highly recommend all the books in this series, and especially Sally on the Rocks.
These beautiful books bring knowledge, entertainment, and a trip to the past through the eyes of first-hand witnesses. An invaluable experience!
Disclosure: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Sally on The Rocks is a splendid story of strong women living in a male world and trying to make the best of it.
Sally, the heroine, was in her thirties and tired of a life of recklessness. She longed for stability and respectability, both things she thought she could get by returning to her hometown and marrying a promising local bachelor.
Like many other small rural towns, Little Crampton was full of respectable citizens guarding the town’s morality and not immune to the occasional gossip.
At the heart of all gossiping was Miss Maggie, a bitter spinster with an investigative personality used to dig people’s secrets and manipulate them for her own amusement.
With less than honorable intentions, Miss Maggie tempted Sally to return from Paris to pursuit the town’s great catch, Mr. Bingley, a man in his forties whose most excellent quality was the balance in his bank account.
The book was very witty, and the social critique was so rich and engaging. I loved all the characters! Good or bad, they seemed so real, like someone I have met somewhere or another.
I immensely enjoyed the love triangles, especially the friendly relationship between Sally and her rival, Mrs. Dalton. They respected each other and played fair and square.
Sally’s character evolves so much. She went from a mere egocentric ambition to realizing her needs were much more complex and could not simply be bought with money.
I was positively impressed by the progressive views of the author, considering the time the book was written (1915). In addition, I found her portrait of women very positive, full of self-awareness, and hopeful for the future.
I highly recommend all the books in this series, and especially Sally on the Rocks.
These beautiful books bring knowledge, entertainment, and a trip to the past through the eyes of first-hand witnesses. An invaluable experience!
Disclosure: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
October 15, 2021
This is a rather clever and humorous novel on a community during the First World War and how lives, loves and gossip can all intermingle together to form a poisonous atmosphere. And yet create such hilarious escapades. The main character Sally is so determined to marry for wealth and safety and ease she doesn’t notice that she’s being led by her nose by the one person who she really shouldn’t trust. Then there’s the other woman, who also wants the same end but for different reasons, they both of them acknowledge that really it’s most unfair that the man has all the advantage while the women have to scrabble and fight over them. This would be very good but I found it a bit dreary and a bit too much after while. It just felt a bit too cynical and just a bit too comical without any message to it. I wasn’t attracted to any of the characters and didn’t feel involved with them at all. But if you do love those sorts of stories I would highly recommend this book.
January 1, 2024
The premise of "Sally on the Rocks" may appear to be just an early twentieth century love triangle, yet it is so much more. Set in 1915, early into World War One, its about the consequences of war and it is also about society’s pressure on women and their need for security and their options to secure it.
Whilst I found this a little slow to start, all be it very witty start, further on it became a compelling read with life lessons, touching on unrequited love, unexpected love and how true love conquers all in the end. Winifred Boggs had me quickly turning the pages to find out what was to be for the engaging and warm spirited heroine, Sally.
Whilst I found this a little slow to start, all be it very witty start, further on it became a compelling read with life lessons, touching on unrequited love, unexpected love and how true love conquers all in the end. Winifred Boggs had me quickly turning the pages to find out what was to be for the engaging and warm spirited heroine, Sally.
November 14, 2021
It took me a bit to warm to Sally on the Rocks, but once I did, I loved it. Written in 1915, this village novel has plenty of humor but doesn’t shy away from the unfolding horrors of WWI or the plight of women who have few options in life. Sally is a great character and I’m glad I spent some time with her.
Another excellent entry in the British Library Women Writers reprint series. 4.5 stars rounded up.
Another excellent entry in the British Library Women Writers reprint series. 4.5 stars rounded up.
August 19, 2024
Well that was thoroughly enjoyable
August 30, 2022
3.5🌟 I have a feeling that this book would get better after reading it a couple of times. It reminds me of Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell and slightly similar to Miss Buncle’s Book, as well.
I’m not sure why, but it took me a couple of tries to really get into the story. But, once I got halfway through, I began enjoying it more. I truly sympathized with Sally’s character and also with Mrs. Dalton. Poor Reverend Lovelady is such a sweetheart, too.
Miss Maggie is one of those characters you love to hate and dream of justice coming to them with swiftness. Mr. Bingly (the object of both Sally and Mrs. Dalton’s interest) is incredibly unlikeable in most ways, but you can just make out one or two redeeming qualities.
I have a feeling that if I read this book again, I might more easily give it 4🌟. It was worth reading and I always love reading Simon Thomas’ thoughts are the end of the book 😍
I’m not sure why, but it took me a couple of tries to really get into the story. But, once I got halfway through, I began enjoying it more. I truly sympathized with Sally’s character and also with Mrs. Dalton. Poor Reverend Lovelady is such a sweetheart, too.
Miss Maggie is one of those characters you love to hate and dream of justice coming to them with swiftness. Mr. Bingly (the object of both Sally and Mrs. Dalton’s interest) is incredibly unlikeable in most ways, but you can just make out one or two redeeming qualities.
I have a feeling that if I read this book again, I might more easily give it 4🌟. It was worth reading and I always love reading Simon Thomas’ thoughts are the end of the book 😍
July 23, 2023
Originally published in 1915, SALLY ON THE ROCKS by Winifred Boggs is a charming and funny book that explores the insecurities women faced in England during World War I. The story follows Sally Lunton, a spirited and worldly woman who returns to Little Crampton feeling disillusioned and without prospects. The novel skillfully combines wry humor, sharp observations, and the realities of war, providing a captivating glimpse into English village life. The insightful storytelling makes it worth a read.
May 18, 2023
Sally on the Rocks is a story about a Bohemian single woman of a certain age. Forced out of Paris due to dire financial straits at the onset of WWI, she is forced back home to a place she left 12 years before. Only, it’s not really a home because her parents have died and the only person she has left is the poor vicar, Mr. Lovelady, who has unofficially adopted her. Sally is lured back by Miss Maggie, the vicious spinster and town gossip, who collects dirt on everybody to hold over everyone’s heads and expose their secrets for her malicious pleasure.
Sally returns back, determined to snag an eligible bachelor at any cost. Unfortunately, she had no resources outside of marriage to provide her with security and money. She becomes involved in a love triangle while another potential suitor enters the picture.
I found the prim Mr. Bingley to be an especially odious man and I was hoping Sally wouldn’t settle for him.
This was my first time reading a Winifred Boggs book and it did not disappoint.
Sally returns back, determined to snag an eligible bachelor at any cost. Unfortunately, she had no resources outside of marriage to provide her with security and money. She becomes involved in a love triangle while another potential suitor enters the picture.
I found the prim Mr. Bingley to be an especially odious man and I was hoping Sally wouldn’t settle for him.
This was my first time reading a Winifred Boggs book and it did not disappoint.
March 31, 2023
I absolutely loved this novel written in 1915 and republished by the British Library Press as part of their re-discovered women author series. Our writer on this occasion is the wonderfully old fashioned named: Winifred Boggs. In her hands, the main character, Sally returns to a little village to settle down and get married, at the grand old age of 30. She is feisty, she is funny, she is sad, and she is thoroughly modern, relatable and likeable. The novel has reminisces of Trollopian humour, it is light in touch but heavy in matter and I've never felt more in tune with the heroine than in this long forgotten creation of an author who has remained unpublished since the 1910s. There are so many modern parallels to be found in this book, with the world at the start of WWI, as we are now with the Russian war and in among these monumental changes, very little indeed has changed in the psyche of being a woman. A delicious read which I thoroughly enjoyed and recommend.
July 31, 2024
It took me a little while to like this book - but then I loved it! Darker than it might seem from the blurb.
October 10, 2022
I believe that the Bloomsbury Group would have classified Sally on the Rocks as middle brow, but must everything be high brow? Must women writes be debased if they write novels such as this?
Below what appears to be a lighter story is the darkness of the limitations, expectations, and restrictions placed upon people (especially women) in a bygone era. Alarmingly, whisps if these standards -- and the double standards -- exist today. They way in which women's morals are judged more harshly than a man's, the way in which we judge women for marrying money but make little judgement against the men who chase and marry youth and beauty.
I bounced between the print book and the audiobook. This was one of my least favorite narrations in quite some time.
Below what appears to be a lighter story is the darkness of the limitations, expectations, and restrictions placed upon people (especially women) in a bygone era. Alarmingly, whisps if these standards -- and the double standards -- exist today. They way in which women's morals are judged more harshly than a man's, the way in which we judge women for marrying money but make little judgement against the men who chase and marry youth and beauty.
I bounced between the print book and the audiobook. This was one of my least favorite narrations in quite some time.
December 13, 2021
I cannot recommend enough the British Library's Women Writers series. This book is another gem, set in 1915. Sally is looking for a husband in a gossip ridden small town with Ms Maggie as the gossip queen. While the premise of the book sounds very Austenian, it is a fresh, modern, feminist novel which showcases the inequity women face but not in a moralistic way. Loved it!
April 2, 2025
4.5 or 4.75 rounded up :)
July 21, 2022
Winifred Boggs' "Sally on the Rocks" is my first British Library Women Writers Kindle book and I am looking forward to reading the rest. I absolutely loved this story and wished her other books were available on Kindle. This was published in 1915, World War I had barely started; the author and the world had no idea what a mess and tragedy was in store for their future. It was extremely heart breaking thinking of all the lost lives and how the male population had taken a terrible hit. Women had limited options and marriage was the only way for many, yet Boggs shows quite a modern view for her time which is interesting. The humor is delicious, especially the women's banter regarding the much sought out bachelor, and even the Book that his mother left for her son in what to look for in a wife is extremely hilarious! The double standards of what a man can do without troubles verses the woman and her complete loss is apparent. I wonder when Boggs wrote this story if she knew of any one who changed their hair color with the use of X-Rays and how dangerous that could be, lost hair or other symptoms? And is it possible? At first I didn't like Sally but my heart softened to her and others but Miss Maggie is quite a pathetic creature!
Story in short- The War is changing life in Paris, Sally needs to find a safe haven but can it be secure with a busy body spinster?
➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 83
1916 (January): The Military Service Act is passed, conscripting single men between the ages of
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18 and 41 (with some exceptions) to the army. This was extended to married men in May 1916. When Sally on the Rocks is published, recruits are still voluntary. 1919 (December): The Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 enables women to join the professions and professional bodies, sit on juries, and be awarded degrees.
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Winifred Boggs was the popular author of more than a dozen novels in the early twentieth century, but her reputation appears to have been short-lived and very little is now known about her life. During her lifetime, many of her novels appeared simply as ‘By the author
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of The Sale of Lady Daventry’, her sixth novel, from 1914, described by the publisher as ‘the novel that made a reputation’. Few biographical details were included alongside the early editions of these works, and it has not proved easy to discover much else about this elusive author. What is known is that Boggs was born in 1874, and published under the pseudonyms Edward Burke and Gloria Manning, as well as under her own name. She was a frequent contributor to The
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 99
Lady’s Realm, a woman’s magazine that targeted upper-class women readers and which closed in 1914 or 1915. Sally on the Rocks was originally published in 1915. The Times Literary Supplement said, ‘It is difficult now to give a fresh touch to satire on village life, but Miss Boggs has succeeded’; while another contemporary reviewer commented, ‘Sally is a personality in herself, one whom every reader will like, if only for her breezy charm and honesty’. Several of Boggs’ novels were
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translated into Spanish, including La Ruina de Sally. Her final novel, The Romance of a Very Young Man, appeared in 1930, and she died the following year.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 174
The Mountain really represented an object lesson, since it showed that in Little Crampton it was the habit to make mountains out of mole-hills. Neither was ‘The River’ as important as it sounded. There were other rivers in Europe, some of them larger. There were even people who had not heard of Little Crampton. There was the strangest, most
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wonderful sea, for though by climbing The Mountain you could get sight of it, sometimes hear a low murmur, and it seemed within a walk, yet it never was, and there was no road to it. It lay, like the magic of to-morrow, always just a trifle ahead. Maybe those of Little Crampton who had grasped the Great Adventure, and laid hands upon To-morrow, had reached its shimmer of gold and grey, but no living tongue claimed this feat, and many held that it was but a mirage. At any rate,
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it was only the very young, or rather foolish, that went on trying to reach it.
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert
❌❌❌❌
I was happy that Sally and Robert finally fell in love, even though Bingley changed for the better, he is still far from perfect. I am sure he will be less tyrannical in his feelings about women and it fairs better for Mrs. Dalton. I was happy that Sally did not cave to her materialistic ideas but let her heart win. I wished that Adam would have gone with Sally and Robert to Alberta but at least he was not left alone. Old John will soon follow, it was so sad about Adam's wife and baby's early death. Life in Crampton would be happier without Miss Maggie's doings, yet she helped Sally even though her decision was already decided.
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Linked with tragedy walked comedy; tragedy laughing, comedy weeping; bound together for all time, and sometimes hard put to it to say which was which.
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If you were a male stranger, ‘passed for the present’ by Miss Maggie, you would be sure to receive an invitation to dinner from Mr. Alfred Bingley—provided of course
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your balance at the bank was all it should be. After dinner you would probably have to hear about Mr. Alfred Bingley’s wonderful mother, and the wonderful book she had left behind her. You might even be favoured with extracts, after which it depended upon your own cook and your carnal appetite whether you ever accepted another invitation. On the whole, Mr. Bingley’s dinners were considered the best part of Mr. Bingley. When he was not thinking them out, or exercising to get an appetite, or
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 210
eating them, or banking, he was acting free curate for the good of the souls of Little Crampton. Even so a dull time had fallen upon Little Crampton, so dull a time, in spite of the war, that Miss Maggie Hopkins wondered if nothing could be done to introduce a certain liveliness. Suddenly she thought of Sally Lunton. Sally Lunton had been very lively indeed six years back, and made the tongue of gossip wag fast, for the Reverend Adam Lovelady’s black-eyed
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eyed ward was quite the liveliest specimen Little Crampton had ever found in its midst.
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Dear Sally, Mr. Lovelady says he hardly ever hears from you now, but that you are still at the same address, in spite of the war. How attractive you must find Paris to remain at such a time!
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I suppose this war will do away with your livelihood. It’s not any easier when people get older, is it? I’m sure it doesn’t seem like six years since you were here and celebrated your twenty-fifth birthday. Mrs. Dalton makes out she is only twenty-seven, but I should say she was as old as you are, perhaps even older.
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Last week it was about women attiring themselves in an unseemly fashion; he looked at Elizabeth’s hat. I am sure you would like him if you happened to meet him, though his name is Alfred. He’s so safe, and of course there’s the house and ‘perks,’ as well as the fifteen hundred. They say he asks a blessing at every meal, even at afternoon tea, though he always takes exercise for his digestion to be on the safe side. He reads prayers at the servants morning and evening.
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We want somebody to liven up things dreadfully. What a lot of exciting things must have happened during the six years you have so
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mysteriously disappeared from our ken! You must tell me all about them; as you know, they would be safe with me. Why shouldn’t women sow wild oats too when they get the chance? Of course, the nuisance is, they mostly don’t. Still, you were the kind to make your chances, and that’s always something.
Story in short- The War is changing life in Paris, Sally needs to find a safe haven but can it be secure with a busy body spinster?
➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 83
1916 (January): The Military Service Act is passed, conscripting single men between the ages of
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 85
18 and 41 (with some exceptions) to the army. This was extended to married men in May 1916. When Sally on the Rocks is published, recruits are still voluntary. 1919 (December): The Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 enables women to join the professions and professional bodies, sit on juries, and be awarded degrees.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 93
Winifred Boggs was the popular author of more than a dozen novels in the early twentieth century, but her reputation appears to have been short-lived and very little is now known about her life. During her lifetime, many of her novels appeared simply as ‘By the author
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 94
of The Sale of Lady Daventry’, her sixth novel, from 1914, described by the publisher as ‘the novel that made a reputation’. Few biographical details were included alongside the early editions of these works, and it has not proved easy to discover much else about this elusive author. What is known is that Boggs was born in 1874, and published under the pseudonyms Edward Burke and Gloria Manning, as well as under her own name. She was a frequent contributor to The
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 99
Lady’s Realm, a woman’s magazine that targeted upper-class women readers and which closed in 1914 or 1915. Sally on the Rocks was originally published in 1915. The Times Literary Supplement said, ‘It is difficult now to give a fresh touch to satire on village life, but Miss Boggs has succeeded’; while another contemporary reviewer commented, ‘Sally is a personality in herself, one whom every reader will like, if only for her breezy charm and honesty’. Several of Boggs’ novels were
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 104
translated into Spanish, including La Ruina de Sally. Her final novel, The Romance of a Very Young Man, appeared in 1930, and she died the following year.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 174
The Mountain really represented an object lesson, since it showed that in Little Crampton it was the habit to make mountains out of mole-hills. Neither was ‘The River’ as important as it sounded. There were other rivers in Europe, some of them larger. There were even people who had not heard of Little Crampton. There was the strangest, most
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 176
wonderful sea, for though by climbing The Mountain you could get sight of it, sometimes hear a low murmur, and it seemed within a walk, yet it never was, and there was no road to it. It lay, like the magic of to-morrow, always just a trifle ahead. Maybe those of Little Crampton who had grasped the Great Adventure, and laid hands upon To-morrow, had reached its shimmer of gold and grey, but no living tongue claimed this feat, and many held that it was but a mirage. At any rate,
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 180
it was only the very young, or rather foolish, that went on trying to reach it.
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert
❌❌❌❌
I was happy that Sally and Robert finally fell in love, even though Bingley changed for the better, he is still far from perfect. I am sure he will be less tyrannical in his feelings about women and it fairs better for Mrs. Dalton. I was happy that Sally did not cave to her materialistic ideas but let her heart win. I wished that Adam would have gone with Sally and Robert to Alberta but at least he was not left alone. Old John will soon follow, it was so sad about Adam's wife and baby's early death. Life in Crampton would be happier without Miss Maggie's doings, yet she helped Sally even though her decision was already decided.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 190
Linked with tragedy walked comedy; tragedy laughing, comedy weeping; bound together for all time, and sometimes hard put to it to say which was which.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 206
If you were a male stranger, ‘passed for the present’ by Miss Maggie, you would be sure to receive an invitation to dinner from Mr. Alfred Bingley—provided of course
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 207
your balance at the bank was all it should be. After dinner you would probably have to hear about Mr. Alfred Bingley’s wonderful mother, and the wonderful book she had left behind her. You might even be favoured with extracts, after which it depended upon your own cook and your carnal appetite whether you ever accepted another invitation. On the whole, Mr. Bingley’s dinners were considered the best part of Mr. Bingley. When he was not thinking them out, or exercising to get an appetite, or
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 210
eating them, or banking, he was acting free curate for the good of the souls of Little Crampton. Even so a dull time had fallen upon Little Crampton, so dull a time, in spite of the war, that Miss Maggie Hopkins wondered if nothing could be done to introduce a certain liveliness. Suddenly she thought of Sally Lunton. Sally Lunton had been very lively indeed six years back, and made the tongue of gossip wag fast, for the Reverend Adam Lovelady’s black-eyed
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 214
eyed ward was quite the liveliest specimen Little Crampton had ever found in its midst.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 216
Dear Sally, Mr. Lovelady says he hardly ever hears from you now, but that you are still at the same address, in spite of the war. How attractive you must find Paris to remain at such a time!
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 223
I suppose this war will do away with your livelihood. It’s not any easier when people get older, is it? I’m sure it doesn’t seem like six years since you were here and celebrated your twenty-fifth birthday. Mrs. Dalton makes out she is only twenty-seven, but I should say she was as old as you are, perhaps even older.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 234
Last week it was about women attiring themselves in an unseemly fashion; he looked at Elizabeth’s hat. I am sure you would like him if you happened to meet him, though his name is Alfred. He’s so safe, and of course there’s the house and ‘perks,’ as well as the fifteen hundred. They say he asks a blessing at every meal, even at afternoon tea, though he always takes exercise for his digestion to be on the safe side. He reads prayers at the servants morning and evening.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 240
We want somebody to liven up things dreadfully. What a lot of exciting things must have happened during the six years you have so
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 241
mysteriously disappeared from our ken! You must tell me all about them; as you know, they would be safe with me. Why shouldn’t women sow wild oats too when they get the chance? Of course, the nuisance is, they mostly don’t. Still, you were the kind to make your chances, and that’s always something.
September 15, 2023
I tried to imagine what my great grandmother would have thought of this book. You see I recognize the framing of the words and the pacing of the narrative are different than today's literature, so I was giving leeway to the times. But then I realized I had read many books written in that year that I liked. So then I decided it was actually the author's style that I disliked. Probably about the narrator's talking to herself all the time, perhaps. (In fact everyone talked to themselves all the time).
It was a tough book to get through. A good deal of harping on the "poor me" syndrome and of course the inequality of women in those times. Yes, it might have been a book of protest. A book of warning for women. A book to highlight the rights of women, and the imbalance of power between them and men.
But I came to loathe one character completely, strongly dislike another, pity another, and care about only three. So it was tough to say it was a comfortable or interesting read.
I read it for a book club, and it will be interesting to discuss it with them, so in that sense it was good. I don't think I'd recommend it otherwise. I know it was awful for women back then, but there are other books about women's rights and tough times out there that are better, in my opinion.
It was a tough book to get through. A good deal of harping on the "poor me" syndrome and of course the inequality of women in those times. Yes, it might have been a book of protest. A book of warning for women. A book to highlight the rights of women, and the imbalance of power between them and men.
But I came to loathe one character completely, strongly dislike another, pity another, and care about only three. So it was tough to say it was a comfortable or interesting read.
I read it for a book club, and it will be interesting to discuss it with them, so in that sense it was good. I don't think I'd recommend it otherwise. I know it was awful for women back then, but there are other books about women's rights and tough times out there that are better, in my opinion.
May 7, 2023
Ugh …not worth reading . Compared to other wonderful authors from this era , this is simply dreadful . Will not finish .
November 6, 2025
Sally, meid, je lijkt mij zo’n fantastische vrouw, maar waarom maak je het jezelf in godsnaam toch zo moeilijk???
“Sally on the Rocks” is, naar mijn gevoel, een prachtige representatie van een doorsnee dorp aan het begin van de twintigste eeuw. Terwijl de Eerste Wereldoorlog Europa langzaam in puin legt, kabbelt het leven in het kleine Little Crampton rustig verder, gevuld met dagelijkse roddels en liefdesperikelen. Tot Sally opeens weer komt aankloppen.
Sally Lunton is een fantastisch personage waar ik vanaf het eerste moment van hield. Ze is een vrije ziel die niet alleen een diepe indruk nalaat op de lezer, maar ook haar mannelijke medepersonages weet te betoveren. Het verbaasde me dan ook niet dat net zij in een amoureuze driehoek terechtkomt.
Enerzijds is er Mr. Bingley, de rijke bankier die vrouwen ziet als een commodity, zijn liefdesadvies haalt uit een boek geschreven door zijn eigen moeder, en zich dagelijks overvreet. Anderzijds is er de ondergedoken soldaat, die zich op het randje van de afgrond bevindt. Beiden zijn stapelverliefd op haar en nemen, overdonderd door passie, zonder enige moeite een onderdanige positie aan. En dan passeert haar ‘jeugdliefde’ ook nog eens de revue.
Dit complexe liefdesverhaal krijgt extra pit door de voortdurende tussenkomst van de dorpsspinster Miss Maggie. Zij is niet op haar mond gevallen en haalt er zichtbaar genoegen uit om anderen, op een achterbakse manier, openlijk te kijk te zetten. Alleen al deze combinatie van personages maakt het boek de moeite waard om te lezen.
Het verhaal verveelde me geen moment, mede dankzij de sluwe ingrepen van onze lieftallige Miss Maggie, die telkens weer voor een kleine plottwist zorgt. Het is een ontspannend verhaal dat een amusant beeld schetst van een klein, doorsnee dorpje, ver weg van de grote oorlog. Tot Sally terugkeert en de boel daar eens goed wakker schudt.
Gevangen tussen een financieel stabiele toekomst met een volgevreten macho van wie ze niet houdt, en een leven met de man voor wie een oprechte liefde in haar hart is opgebloeid, zoekt Sally haar eigen pad. Tussen verleiding, de slinksheid van Miss Maggie en haar verlangen naar liefde en vrijheid, maakt ze uiteindelijk haar keuze.
En ik ben zó blij met de weg die Sally uiteindelijk voor zichzelf kiest.
Een aanrader voor wie houdt van subtiele maatschappelijke kritiek, geleverd door een verstandig vrouwenhand.
“Sally on the Rocks” is, naar mijn gevoel, een prachtige representatie van een doorsnee dorp aan het begin van de twintigste eeuw. Terwijl de Eerste Wereldoorlog Europa langzaam in puin legt, kabbelt het leven in het kleine Little Crampton rustig verder, gevuld met dagelijkse roddels en liefdesperikelen. Tot Sally opeens weer komt aankloppen.
Sally Lunton is een fantastisch personage waar ik vanaf het eerste moment van hield. Ze is een vrije ziel die niet alleen een diepe indruk nalaat op de lezer, maar ook haar mannelijke medepersonages weet te betoveren. Het verbaasde me dan ook niet dat net zij in een amoureuze driehoek terechtkomt.
Enerzijds is er Mr. Bingley, de rijke bankier die vrouwen ziet als een commodity, zijn liefdesadvies haalt uit een boek geschreven door zijn eigen moeder, en zich dagelijks overvreet. Anderzijds is er de ondergedoken soldaat, die zich op het randje van de afgrond bevindt. Beiden zijn stapelverliefd op haar en nemen, overdonderd door passie, zonder enige moeite een onderdanige positie aan. En dan passeert haar ‘jeugdliefde’ ook nog eens de revue.
Dit complexe liefdesverhaal krijgt extra pit door de voortdurende tussenkomst van de dorpsspinster Miss Maggie. Zij is niet op haar mond gevallen en haalt er zichtbaar genoegen uit om anderen, op een achterbakse manier, openlijk te kijk te zetten. Alleen al deze combinatie van personages maakt het boek de moeite waard om te lezen.
Het verhaal verveelde me geen moment, mede dankzij de sluwe ingrepen van onze lieftallige Miss Maggie, die telkens weer voor een kleine plottwist zorgt. Het is een ontspannend verhaal dat een amusant beeld schetst van een klein, doorsnee dorpje, ver weg van de grote oorlog. Tot Sally terugkeert en de boel daar eens goed wakker schudt.
Gevangen tussen een financieel stabiele toekomst met een volgevreten macho van wie ze niet houdt, en een leven met de man voor wie een oprechte liefde in haar hart is opgebloeid, zoekt Sally haar eigen pad. Tussen verleiding, de slinksheid van Miss Maggie en haar verlangen naar liefde en vrijheid, maakt ze uiteindelijk haar keuze.
En ik ben zó blij met de weg die Sally uiteindelijk voor zichzelf kiest.
Een aanrader voor wie houdt van subtiele maatschappelijke kritiek, geleverd door een verstandig vrouwenhand.
May 23, 2024
Salome (Sally) is a 31-year-old woman who is middling in her career, has no love life, and practically no money to live on. WW1 is raging and life seems bleak. So Sally decides to head to the moor-side village of Little Crampton and persuade the banker Alfred Bingley to marry her. She isn't looking for love or companionship—she wants security and stability, which Bingley's ￡1500 a year will bring her.
The author doesn't judge Sally's business-like approach to marriage. Nor does she judge the widowed Mrs.Dalton who is Sally's rival for Bingley's attention—this lady's motivation is to secure her young daughter's future. All is fair in love and war, I suppose.
My favourite bits from the novel are (1) the relationship between Adam Lovelady and his dog Old John and (2) this exchange between Sally and her ex-lover.
Alfred Bingley is written as a patriarchal bore and therefore, not particularly likeable. But he isn't all bad either and the author has done justice to his character. Towards the end of the book, he has multiple occasions to shine and I was glad for that.
It's character arcs and exchanges like this and reflections on war and courage that made me like the book so much. But if you want a nice, happy ending, you get that too.
The author doesn't judge Sally's business-like approach to marriage. Nor does she judge the widowed Mrs.Dalton who is Sally's rival for Bingley's attention—this lady's motivation is to secure her young daughter's future. All is fair in love and war, I suppose.
My favourite bits from the novel are (1) the relationship between Adam Lovelady and his dog Old John and (2) this exchange between Sally and her ex-lover.
Alfred Bingley is written as a patriarchal bore and therefore, not particularly likeable. But he isn't all bad either and the author has done justice to his character. Towards the end of the book, he has multiple occasions to shine and I was glad for that.
It's character arcs and exchanges like this and reflections on war and courage that made me like the book so much. But if you want a nice, happy ending, you get that too.
August 2, 2022
Sally, single at 31, with her income from her paintings drying up and a scandalous past love affair which has left her heart-broken is “on the rocks”. Alone in Paris as the First World War progresses, Sally decides to return to Little Crampton, the English village she visited as a child, to stay with her benefactor, the Rev. Adam Lovelady (Lovey). Her decision to return is prompted by a letter she receives from the village gossip, Miss Maggie Hopkins, who writes to tell Sally that the “new bank manager (Mr Bingley) is a bachelor and simply rolling.”
Sally decides to ‘get’ Mr Bingley at all costs, competing with love rival, widow Mrs Dalton. Mr Bingley, however, will not enter easily into marriage, having been given a book written by his late mother, full of advice on which women to, or more accurately, which women, not, to marry.
What follows is a delightful romantic comedy in which Sally must decide if she wants a safe life, marrying the awful Mr. Bingley or real love and adventure with a disgraced, handsome soldier.
This is a novel full of humorous and memorable characters. It is also a novel which makes you laugh but which is also a poignant one, with the War ever in the background and the characters’ circumstances showing how life can throw you a poor deal but that one must keep one’s courage and remain true to oneself if one is not to lose all and live an unfulfilled life. A great read!
Sally decides to ‘get’ Mr Bingley at all costs, competing with love rival, widow Mrs Dalton. Mr Bingley, however, will not enter easily into marriage, having been given a book written by his late mother, full of advice on which women to, or more accurately, which women, not, to marry.
What follows is a delightful romantic comedy in which Sally must decide if she wants a safe life, marrying the awful Mr. Bingley or real love and adventure with a disgraced, handsome soldier.
This is a novel full of humorous and memorable characters. It is also a novel which makes you laugh but which is also a poignant one, with the War ever in the background and the characters’ circumstances showing how life can throw you a poor deal but that one must keep one’s courage and remain true to oneself if one is not to lose all and live an unfulfilled life. A great read!
December 6, 2021
Tiresome over-written story of the desperate need for a woman to find a wealthy husband in the period at the beginning of WW1. I repeatedly thought as I read on, thank heavens women are able to be independent and to support themselves today.
The trouble with Sally, the heroine in need of financial rescue, is that her situation makes her into a stalker of the worst type. She doesn't see the unfortunate Mr Bingley as anything other than a bank balance. To her he is an overweight figure of fun whose presence must be born because she needs his money. And she needs his money because she can't face the hard work of a poor husband or the grind of becoming a pioneering wife.
After many boringly repetitious chapters Sally reluctantly sees her need for the soft life is facile and this cunningly coincides with falling in love with a handsome young man who is emigrating to Alberta. She also realises for the first time that Mr Bingley is made of flesh and blood and entitled to his strong feelings without being labelled a buffoon.
It takes a long time for the various rather unpleasant characters to arrive at their moments of truth and by the end of the 260 pages of this 1915 reprint I was left thinking most decidedly that this was one I would have left in the archives.
The trouble with Sally, the heroine in need of financial rescue, is that her situation makes her into a stalker of the worst type. She doesn't see the unfortunate Mr Bingley as anything other than a bank balance. To her he is an overweight figure of fun whose presence must be born because she needs his money. And she needs his money because she can't face the hard work of a poor husband or the grind of becoming a pioneering wife.
After many boringly repetitious chapters Sally reluctantly sees her need for the soft life is facile and this cunningly coincides with falling in love with a handsome young man who is emigrating to Alberta. She also realises for the first time that Mr Bingley is made of flesh and blood and entitled to his strong feelings without being labelled a buffoon.
It takes a long time for the various rather unpleasant characters to arrive at their moments of truth and by the end of the 260 pages of this 1915 reprint I was left thinking most decidedly that this was one I would have left in the archives.
July 9, 2023
Sally On The Rocks by Winifred Boggs was first published in 1915. I read this for the Facebook book club I belong to. One would think a book written in 1915 would not be relatable in 2023 but, the heroine Sally is very much an independent woman with her own thoughts and ideas about the world. She does not want to be stomped on by men in her life yet she has an understanding that she has to abide by society’s rules that existed in 1915. Sally has returned to Little Crampton after fleeing from Paris in the midst of WWI. Her mission is to marry but, who? I had a hard time with the wordiness of this book and all the quotes but, eventually go used to it and finished most of the book in 24 hours. I am looking forward to our book group discussion.
October 10, 2023
“You’re not out for romance at thirty-one, it’s business”.
1915 Little Crampton
Sally is 31 years old and a spinster. Her mother is dead and her father has abandoned her. She must face reality - marry soon or face a life of poverty. When she receives a letter from the village busybody Miss Maggie, telling her about the new bank manager, Mr Alfred Bingley she decides to return to the village and make him fall in love with her.
But unfortunately for Sally, Alfred Bingley is not very handsome or likeable, and he is not entirely free either - his dead mother still controls everything he does by way of a book of rules that he reads every night and secondly he been pursuing a widow, Mrs Dalton for over a year - but nothing has come of it so far. While Bingley tries to decide between Sally and Mrs Dalton, Sally falls in love with another man, Robert Kantyre, a soldier who has had a difficult past and has many demons to overcome.
Meanwhile Miss Maggie, who after all did not write to Sally with good intentions for her happy future - instead investigates what happened to her in Paris. In her ruthless manner she finds out that Sally had a sexual relationship with another man, Jimmy who is now coincidentally living in the village with his wife, Dinah. And then Sally's Guardian, Reverend Loveday dies and Sally is left homeless and penniless. She loves Robert, but she must marry Alfred. She receives a proposal from Alfred and asks for a week to think about it. She then goes to see Robert - he forgives her for wanting to marry Alfred, he proposes (now that he is free of some of his demons) and they seek a new life in Canada. At the end of the book Mrs Dalton accepts Bingley and Sally and Robert go to Canada.
Set during WW1 the book explores society's convention that women must marry. It gives many reasons why Sally is a spinster - and why she may stay a spinster, including the war killing all the men, having no solid education to get a job, and that she is not a virgin. This is contrasted with Robert who is also a flawed character - he tries to kill himself and feels he has done wrong by disobeying orders as a soldier. And as for Miss Maggie she has to be one of the most villainous busybodies ever!
1915 Little Crampton
Sally is 31 years old and a spinster. Her mother is dead and her father has abandoned her. She must face reality - marry soon or face a life of poverty. When she receives a letter from the village busybody Miss Maggie, telling her about the new bank manager, Mr Alfred Bingley she decides to return to the village and make him fall in love with her.
But unfortunately for Sally, Alfred Bingley is not very handsome or likeable, and he is not entirely free either - his dead mother still controls everything he does by way of a book of rules that he reads every night and secondly he been pursuing a widow, Mrs Dalton for over a year - but nothing has come of it so far. While Bingley tries to decide between Sally and Mrs Dalton, Sally falls in love with another man, Robert Kantyre, a soldier who has had a difficult past and has many demons to overcome.
Meanwhile Miss Maggie, who after all did not write to Sally with good intentions for her happy future - instead investigates what happened to her in Paris. In her ruthless manner she finds out that Sally had a sexual relationship with another man, Jimmy who is now coincidentally living in the village with his wife, Dinah. And then Sally's Guardian, Reverend Loveday dies and Sally is left homeless and penniless. She loves Robert, but she must marry Alfred. She receives a proposal from Alfred and asks for a week to think about it. She then goes to see Robert - he forgives her for wanting to marry Alfred, he proposes (now that he is free of some of his demons) and they seek a new life in Canada. At the end of the book Mrs Dalton accepts Bingley and Sally and Robert go to Canada.
Set during WW1 the book explores society's convention that women must marry. It gives many reasons why Sally is a spinster - and why she may stay a spinster, including the war killing all the men, having no solid education to get a job, and that she is not a virgin. This is contrasted with Robert who is also a flawed character - he tries to kill himself and feels he has done wrong by disobeying orders as a soldier. And as for Miss Maggie she has to be one of the most villainous busybodies ever!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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