Summer Pudding

by Susan Scarlett, Noel Streatfeild

There was silence. In it Janet heard the twittering of innumerable birds chatting as they settled down for the night. Some rooks cawed overhead. The baa of a sheep came from a distant field. London had been so noisy, with its crashes at night, and blastings and hammerings at smashed buildings by day, that the quiet and peace fell on her spirit like a cold hand on a sprained ankle. Janet Brain has been bombed out of her job in a London office and comes to the village of Worsingford (surely a case of going from bad to Worsingford), where her self-absorbed sister Sheila and their mother Maggie are weathering the war. Maggie has a bad heart and should be resting, but Sheila's too busy fancying herself a film star to help out. Close at hand are Donald, a handsome young widower, and his adorable daughter, as well as Barbara, a charming girl whose love is away on active service, and Barbara's curmudgeonly but likeable old father, a retired colonel (not to mention the ghosts in his house). There should be happy endings for all, but Donald's possessive young housekeeper and a series of misunderstandings precipitated by Sheila's selfishness will have to be dealt with first. Summer Pudding is the eighth of twelve charming, page-turning romances published under the pseudonym "Susan Scarlett" by none other than beloved children's author and novelist Noel Streatfeild. Out of print for decades, they were rediscovered by Greyladies Books in the early 2010s, and Dean Street Press and Furrowed Middlebrow are delighted now to make all twelve available to a wider audience. "A writer who shows a rich experience in her writing and a charm" Nottingham Journal

Genres: Fiction, Romance, British Literature, Historical Fiction, World War II, Summer, Clean Romance

209 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1943

About the author

Pseudonym used by the English author Noel Streatfeild for publishing her romance novels.

Reviews

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unlike most novels about governesses, this is not a Gothic novel. There is a slightly Mrs. Danvers-ish housekeeper, along with a sister who could give Scarlett O’Hara a few pointers and a dog appropriately named Hoover.

This charming romance set during WWII is just the kind of frothy story I needed to help me escape the headlines. And it has the added bonus of including my favorite song, “Over the Rainbow.”

Thanks to Dean Street Press and Furrowed Middlebrow for providing me with an ARC. I can see these Susan Scarlett books are going to be a treat, and I’m glad there are so many to look forward to.

[Alisha · Rating 1 out of 5]

In this book, absolutely everyone is annoyed with everyone else. And everyone is also inane. It's a dud if I ever saw one.
If you're new to Susan Scarlett, please start with one of her other titles, like Clothes-Pegs or Sally-Ann, which are delightful. Not this one.

[Gina House · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25🌟 A light and sparkling summer novel! Susan Scarlett's (aka Noel Streatfeild) books are such a treat. So far, I've read half of them and they've all been wonderfully entertaining.

My Favorite Section:

"The cottage was as charming inside as out. There were beautiful oak beams in all the rooms, and they showed well against white distempered walls. There were two good sitting-rooms, a stone-flagged kitchen, a small scullery, four bedrooms, and halfway up the queer-shaped oak staircase, the pride of the cottage, a bathroom."

What I Loved:

☀️ Hardworking, helpful, independent, considerate and kind Janet Brain
☀️ Mrs. Maggie Brain and her determination to keep going and not give up on life
☀️ Lovely, thoughtful Barbara and her crusty-but-likable father, The Colonel
☀️ The sweet cottage at Worsingford
☀️ Adorable little Iris (she was my fav character!)

What I Didn't Love (and frustrated me greatly):

❊ The horribly selfish and self-centered sister, Sheila
❊ A somewhat rushed ending where things were resolved in a positive way, but all of the messed up situations were almost brushed over and forgotten.
❊ The misunderstanding between Donald and Janet that could have been resolved with just a few words.

I had mixed feelings about Gladys—I felt indignation for her possessiveness of Donald, unkindness to Iris and general bad behavior...but, I could also pity her for the position she was in and how much she loved and counted on Donald's return affection.

Overall, I had fun reading this Furrowed Middlebrow novel and I would read it again. The only reason why I didn't rate it higher was because of the way the ending was written and the detestable, immature Sheila. Ughhh!

Many thanks to my dear friend, Gina (@gina.stanyer.books on IG) for buddy reading this book with me for July!

Definitely a worthwhile read...especially for the summer months!

[Felicity · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've loved Noel Streatfeild since I was a child and was curious to see what her lighter adult novels were like.

I was pleasantly surprised by this. Especially as Streatfeild thought her Susan Scarlett novels were trashy. Considering the books we have now this is actually well written in comparison!

Janet Brain is leaving London to be with her sister Sheila and mother Maggie in their new house in a village as her work offices have been bombed. She meets a local girl Barbara who tells her that Sheila is going to be a governess which is news to Janet as Sheila is very spoilt and would do anything to avoid working...

When Janet sees her mother she realises that Sheila has not been doing the housework like promised and that her mother's heart has got weeker. Her plans of becoming a sailor undergo a sea change and after a couple of days her course of life has completely changed.

I don't want to give away too much but I loved the characters. Especially the relationship between Janet and Sheila who is a spoilt brat! I also loved Iris who is a brilliatly whimsical child and the men were also brilliantly drawn. The colonel made me laugh out loud and Donald was a well drawn character as well as Gladys!

An interestiing book which makes you feel involved with the characters but is an easyish read.

[Marisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was such an annoying, depressing book that took me forever to finish. It was too pathetic to read I could only handle a few pages at a time. It is far from the light, heartfelt, romantic dramadies that I usually associate with Susan Scarlett. If you are new to her books don’t start with this one or feel like it’s a model for her other books. Better yet, just skip it and start with Babbacombes or Sally-Ann.

[Christina Dudley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful! I'm happy to have discovered a new (old) author, since it's Noel Streatfeild of the "Shoes" series fame. A mother and two daughters escape bombed-out London in 1941 or -2 to rent a cottage in Worsingfold. Love and machinations ensue.

I also appreciated that this was contemporary fiction, not historical fiction, so there were plenty of wartime details and zero explanation of them. Great fun. I'm adding "Susan Scarlett" to my happy list.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

After really enjoying Ten Way Street, I was surprised by how unloveable I found Summer Pudding. It’s not a spoiler to say that Our Heroine is missing a crucial piece of information, allusions to which drag on (and on) through the book. I found the male love interest unappealing, and there’s a strange, almost gothic thing going on with the housekeeper. Overall, the book can’t seem to decide if it’s melodramatic trashy romance or sweet domestic fiction.

Not technically a DNF as I read the final chapter. But I skipped a big chunk of the story to get there. YMMV.

[Lesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure this was quite as delightful as some of the others, or perhaps after a bit she starts hitting the same notes and themes. Quite a nice read though.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a mess! So ridiculous but enjoyable.

[Louise Culmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Janet wanted to be a Wren, but has reluctantly given up the idea because of her mother’s poor health. Her mother Maggie and her younger sister Sheila are living in a cottage they are renting very cheaply from a local farmer, a handsome widower called Donald. Sheila was going to teach Donald’s eight year old daughter Iris, but now she is going to join the NAFFI, so Janet takes on the job of teaching Iris instead. Sheila isn’t keen on starting her new job and wants to hang around for some reason. Donald is mysteriously annoyed with Janet, but she has no idea why. The story is fairly pleasant but very far fetched, and I found it hard to swallow that everyone was so forgiving of Sheila’s quite outrageous behaviour.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

By far the most interesting thing about this story is that it’s set in the time it’s writing about (unlike most of the Scarletts I’ve read so far, which seem to be set in the early thirties, or maybe just a handwavy time that could be anywhere from 1918 to 1938). It’s 1941 in the book and in the writer’s life. WWII is halfway over but they don’t know that. It could go on for years and years for all they know. WOMEN COULD BE CONSCRIPTED! That seems to be a bigger concern than the lack of sugar, which I feel like is something that comes up way more in books written about this time as historical fiction. Everyone seems to be eating fine! Maybe it’s being in the country?

As usual there’s a devious and dumb hot girl who’s the sister of the MC this time. As per usual, there’s the seeds of a decently intricate novel here, where Sheila lies to Donald and Donald thinks Janet’s in on it, leading to understandable misunderstandings. There is, unusually, a B-plot romance with Janet’s mother and a local elder statesman, which is nice, except for how the three main relationships end in engagements ON THE SAME DAY. A little too neat, Susan! It’s frustrating that Scarlett never gave herself time and space in these books to develop what is clearly a talent for depicting psychological warfare. Then again, their function is likely to be what they were for me, which is a soothing read in a stressful time. They’re soothing because you know what to expect, and even those psychological depths I think are hidden waiting might lend themselves to a more ‘difficult’ read. So perhaps that is why Scarlett avoided their shoals.

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly I can't give more than 2.5 stars to this book. I really enjoyed the first half, it was light and funny and a good relaxing read. But then--oh then--not one but two characters decided to stir up a little duh-rammma. Together, yet. One of them, the MC's sister, says right out loud at one point, "I like rows." Well, I don't.
I'd bet a solid gold chocolate chip cookie that Essie Summers read "Scarlett" (Noel Streatfeild)'s ro-mance novels. This particular one seems like it could have been the template for a lot of Summers' output, particularly the ones I found most cringey.
I found myself skimming the last 30 pages or so just to finish. The ending was beyond belief; I think "Scarlett" realised what a mess she'd made and tried to redeem it by slapping on as many "happy endings" as possible.
ETA: Summer Pudding is made with sliced white bread (the kind you buy in a plastic bag), sugar and soft fruit like strawberries, blackberries etc. If like me you dislike industrial sliced bread, you won't like it. I should have known what was coming.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable setting and characters, but the story isn't as well crafted as in Angela Thirkell's or even Molly Clavering's books. The dialogue isn't quite as good either. Characters and attitude of narrator are less snobbish and much more down to earth than Thirkell however, which is a plus. Susan Scarlett's Clothes Pegs was also enjoyable, and I look forward to reading another of her books. She wrote for a female audience and always talks about clothes and hair and things we women want to read about.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summer Pudding or is it Just Deserts? Sibling rivalry and a failure to communicate are also at the heart of what happens between Janet, Sheila, and their mother, Maggie. But that girl Sheila lives in a fantasy world where a fairy godmother waves a wand and the world changes. One never has to work to get anything; one can rest on one's beauty, and the world will capitulate. In that case, Britain should send her to meet Hitler, and the war will be over.

[Adrienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightfully predictable. It’s easy to see how these books by Susan Scarlett ( Noel Streatfeild) would have provided a mental escape for women during wartime Britain. I enjoyed it, even though one of the characters was portrayed as so over-the-top in her delusions it’s amazing she could function at all.

[Sep · Rating 4 out of 5]

The heroine is bombed from her London job and follows her mother and sister into the country, where they have been living in a charming cottage for very cheap rent. The sister is too bad to be true, but an entertaining tale. Written by Noel Strathmore, author of the beloved " Ballet Shoes."

[L B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable

[P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent read which is a complicated tangle of who's in love with whom, which generally works.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delicious confection! I read it in a long evening, just the thing for raising my spirits.

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorable cozy read.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fabulous cozy story. Lots of romance, some confusion, and it waits until the very last minute to work things out. Lovely characters. A step away from reality but lots of fun.

[Farah Mendlesohn · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the better of Streatfeild's romances. It made for a nice cosy read.

[Kay Robart · Rating 3 out of 5]

See my review here:

https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2022...