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The Finest Type of English Womanhood
It's 1946, and seventeen-year-old Laura Trelling is stagnating in her dilapidated Sussex family home, while her quietly eccentric parents slip further into isolation.
Then she meets Paul Lovell - a chance encounter that will change the course of her destiny, and bring her a new life in pre-apartheid South Africa.
Three years earlier, and many miles north, sixteen-year-old Gay Gibson is no less desperate to escape England. Gay's heart is set on stardom - but first she must find a way out of Birkenhead and the dreary prospect of secretarial college.
When their paths cross in Johannesburg, Laura is exposed to Gay's wild life of parties and liaisons. Thrown together, each with her own agenda, the girls find their lives inextricably entangled, with fatal consequences ...
A highly accomplished, startling debut, The Finest Type of English Womanhood is a chilling portrait of racial tension, social immorality, betrayal and love, and an assured and atmospheric examination of the end of innocence.
Then she meets Paul Lovell - a chance encounter that will change the course of her destiny, and bring her a new life in pre-apartheid South Africa.
Three years earlier, and many miles north, sixteen-year-old Gay Gibson is no less desperate to escape England. Gay's heart is set on stardom - but first she must find a way out of Birkenhead and the dreary prospect of secretarial college.
When their paths cross in Johannesburg, Laura is exposed to Gay's wild life of parties and liaisons. Thrown together, each with her own agenda, the girls find their lives inextricably entangled, with fatal consequences ...
A highly accomplished, startling debut, The Finest Type of English Womanhood is a chilling portrait of racial tension, social immorality, betrayal and love, and an assured and atmospheric examination of the end of innocence.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
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53 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 29, 2010
This is the sort of book that you can end up with when your bookstore is running a buy-two-get-one-free deal. You’ve picked up the two that you want to read and are looking for the third free one. The choices are limited, but you’re less picky because you’re getting it for “free.” So you pick a book with a catchy title. Catchy to me at least. I thought I should find out what the finest type of English womanhood looks like, since I live in England now.
The book has a decent plot – supposedly inspired by true events – and is a very easy read. I wouldn’t have minded watching a 90-minute movie based on it, but reading it was a disappointment for the most part.
The book has a decent plot – supposedly inspired by true events – and is a very easy read. I wouldn’t have minded watching a 90-minute movie based on it, but reading it was a disappointment for the most part.
October 8, 2021
A dark and intriguing novel. Beautifully written in every way. Characters are well developed, plausible if not totally likeable however, I didn't mind that at all. An excellent read!
January 8, 2013
Sitting on the just returned trolley, this book grabbed my attention as I walked further into the library. I was encouraged to read due to the blurb. The book begins in bleak postwar England, a young girl Laura is disillusioned with her life. She meets a wealthy gentleman at a party and the pair fall in love. They then return to his homeland- South Africa where she meets and forges a connection with another woman called Gay (also a Brit). Gay is a vibrant, larger than life character who is an aspiring actress and has an unquenchable hunger for fame. The pair are opposites. The book explores how their life's change with regards to their desires in life and pursuing these. All that Laura wanted was to escape England and have a good marriage. Gay on the other hand threatens to destroy herself and morals in pursuit of fame. Her personal life has many scandals. The culmination is the pairs return to Britain and their voyage is not a smooth one. Central to the novel is the fictionalisation of a real crime that occurred aboard a ship- "The Pothole Murder". I did quite enjoy this book, it is a fairly simple tale but not a page turner and will be easily forgettable. Did enjoy the setting in South Africa, the characters, their relationship, the period and the criminal aspect.
November 20, 2012
Recommended by one of the ladies at Dummer Book Club and considerably easier to read than Dickens!
Although the book is actually based on the true events of the murder of a young actress called Gay Gibson, for me the main story was of a very english girl from the country "saved" from her crumbling family estate and boringly damp parents by a idealistically confused chap who takes her "home" to South Africa where he grew up (although English born).
Interesting to read about post war SA politics from the points of view of the various characters in the book.
Its hard to believe anyone can be as naive as Laura. The two leading ladies are such opposites as to beg the question whether the author was perhaps exploring the contrasting sides of her own personality. Strangely in Laura's naivety is a kind of strength that finds its way to the fore as her experiences form her, indeed taking her from childhood to womanhood. Her naivety is also her saving grace in situations which would have gone completely the other way had her character been any different.
Sad to think that the atrocities and mistakes of the passed are ongoing in a country that would be stronger in every way if power and greed were not the order of the day.
In all, just another love story.
Although the book is actually based on the true events of the murder of a young actress called Gay Gibson, for me the main story was of a very english girl from the country "saved" from her crumbling family estate and boringly damp parents by a idealistically confused chap who takes her "home" to South Africa where he grew up (although English born).
Interesting to read about post war SA politics from the points of view of the various characters in the book.
Its hard to believe anyone can be as naive as Laura. The two leading ladies are such opposites as to beg the question whether the author was perhaps exploring the contrasting sides of her own personality. Strangely in Laura's naivety is a kind of strength that finds its way to the fore as her experiences form her, indeed taking her from childhood to womanhood. Her naivety is also her saving grace in situations which would have gone completely the other way had her character been any different.
Sad to think that the atrocities and mistakes of the passed are ongoing in a country that would be stronger in every way if power and greed were not the order of the day.
In all, just another love story.
April 4, 2011
In the late 1940s the paths of two young Englishwomen cross when they move to start new lives in South Africa. Laura has quickly met and married Paul so must move in with his parents and put up with her husband's many absences and political ideas. Gay wants a career on stage and screen and doesn't care how she gets it.
The jumping off point for this is a true story of a notorious legal case - I didn't know about this until I'd finished the book, so it's safe to say you don't need to have heard about it to enjoy the novel.
I enjoyed the book and read it quite quickly. The device of seeing South Africa through Laura's eyes is a successful one as it allows Rachel Heath to tell us in detail about things that we don't know about. I did find Laura too "drippy" at times and wanted to give her a good shake, but also found Gay a bit too much "larger than life" - these portrayals seemed realistic though and say something about the options for British women just after the Second World War. The male characters don't, in the main, come out of the novel well.
An interesting book, worth reading for the characters, plot and for the historical context.
The jumping off point for this is a true story of a notorious legal case - I didn't know about this until I'd finished the book, so it's safe to say you don't need to have heard about it to enjoy the novel.
I enjoyed the book and read it quite quickly. The device of seeing South Africa through Laura's eyes is a successful one as it allows Rachel Heath to tell us in detail about things that we don't know about. I did find Laura too "drippy" at times and wanted to give her a good shake, but also found Gay a bit too much "larger than life" - these portrayals seemed realistic though and say something about the options for British women just after the Second World War. The male characters don't, in the main, come out of the novel well.
An interesting book, worth reading for the characters, plot and for the historical context.
April 19, 2013
A debut novel by author Rachel Heath which, as I found out after having read the book, actually combines fact with fiction, the story of the totally fictional Laura with the 'largely truthful' story of Eileen/Gay.
Written in two very different styles, Gay's story is told as a series of diary entries which I felt impeded the momentum of the novel, the fact that Laura's account dominated much of the book didn't help matters as it just further added to the overall disjointed feel of the whole thing.
Set in a post-war, pre-apartheid South Africa The Finest Type Of English Womanhood (a title I'm still puzzled by) does go some way in raising the political and racial tensions of that era but ultimately concentrates more on what are after all some unbelievably one dimensional characters, their actions increasingly implausible.
Perhaps expecting too much, I really think all of the hype and endorsements on a book cover can be detrimental, leading you to believe a book is something more than it is. Still, as always, each to their own, I know of several others who rave about this book.
Copyright: Petty Witter @ Pen and Paper.
Written in two very different styles, Gay's story is told as a series of diary entries which I felt impeded the momentum of the novel, the fact that Laura's account dominated much of the book didn't help matters as it just further added to the overall disjointed feel of the whole thing.
Set in a post-war, pre-apartheid South Africa The Finest Type Of English Womanhood (a title I'm still puzzled by) does go some way in raising the political and racial tensions of that era but ultimately concentrates more on what are after all some unbelievably one dimensional characters, their actions increasingly implausible.
Perhaps expecting too much, I really think all of the hype and endorsements on a book cover can be detrimental, leading you to believe a book is something more than it is. Still, as always, each to their own, I know of several others who rave about this book.
Copyright: Petty Witter @ Pen and Paper.
May 28, 2014
The title and the front cover of this book I despise and it initially put me off reading it as it gives the book a very mumsy look. But I'm glad I continued. The cover did not do the book justice. The story is original and interesting. It is the story of two girls from England who both end up in South Africa. Initially it is like to separate accounts and then the lives of the two girls become intertwined. Laura is at first very naieve and young, she marries Paul vowing to follow him anywhere. As the book progresses she becomes a stronger character and stands up to her in-laws who are hostile towards her and don't welcome her as part of the family. The book has a macabre and thrilling ending that I didn't see coming. It is based on a true murder.
It also provides an interesting insight into the politics and segregation in South Africa.
It also provides an interesting insight into the politics and segregation in South Africa.
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August 7, 2011it was well written i guess as it did pull me in and I carried on reading as wanted to find out what happened. However, didnt particularly like the book; not one character was likeable and all were very flawed. BAck cover said "excellent on .... the lure of South Africa" but i dont think it did really explain it.
May 4, 2017
There is something so satisfying in these types of books -I've loved them since i was a pre-teen... Victoria Holt used to do it too -the heroine is odd and misunderstood -victimized by everyone and in the end, well - I won't spoil it. ... strangely satisfying.
November 2, 2016
Apparently based on a notorious murder trial from 1947 this is a leisurely but intriguing tale of thwarted hope. The stirrings of Apartheid in post war South Africa are disturbing as is the general bottled up emotions and feelings of most of the characters. Doom laden but not uninteresting.
December 13, 2009
A good idea for a novel, being based on a true story but I found it sooo slow going at the beginning. It perked up but not enough for me!
August 29, 2012
Hard to like the characters or understand them in any way. But hard to put the book down regardless. Maybe a 2.5??
March 19, 2013
Takovou blbost jsem už dlouho nečetla :o(
October 4, 2013
I really enjoyed this until the end where I found I lost momentum
March 5, 2015
Not bad
Want to read
October 29, 2010NO
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews