Acquire The Two Mrs. Abbotts Generated By D.E. Stevenson Edition

“Sarah!” said Barbara Abbott again,
“Yes, its me,” nodded Sarah who although aware that one should say “it is I,” could never bring herself to utter the words because for some reason or other it sounded as if one were God.

We are introduced once again to Barbara Abbott, nee Buncle, and her niece Jeronina Abbott, “Jerry for short.
Its rather a blot to be called Jerry these days but it was too much bother to make everyone change.
” We first met the younger Miss Abbott in the previous book, Miss Buncle Married, They are weathering the war years, Barbara happily married to her darling Arthur, and Jerry, missing her soldier husband, Sam, who is “somewhere in the desert.
”As with the last two books in the series, this novel consists largely of stories and glimpses into the lives of their friends and acquaintances.
Some are lovable and some not so lovable,

On the lovable side, we have “Dorky”, Barbaras childrens elderly Nanny, Hardworking Archie, Jerrys brother, Miss Janetta Walters, a lauded author of sappy romances, or “highpowered tushery” as Arthur calls them, a mysterious stranger in their midst, Jane Watt, and a young girl, Wilhemina Bowles, a diamond in the rough, who has taken refuge with Markie and Jerry from her slovenly and coarse family.
My favorite is the wondrous Sophonisba Marks, “Markie,” Jerrys beloved housekeeper and catcher of German Spies extraordinaire,

On the unlovable but still very entertaining side we have Helen Walters, Janettas domineering sister, Lancreste, Barbaras hapless and silly neighbor, Mrs.
Boles, the least said about her the better, and the very common and not very nice, Pearl, Lancrestes almost fiance.


There are many other characters as well, all beautifully portrayed and interesting, Their personalities were enhanced by the quirky interpretation of the narrator, Patricia Gallimore, The stories we follow most closely as we weave our way in and out of the lives of the select denizens of Wandlebury are the romance and courtship of confirmed bachelor Archie with a newcomer to the village, and the crises and fates of Wilhelmina, Lancreste, and Markie.
As these stories reach their satisfactory conclusions, we hate to leave the pretty English town and hope they all emerge from the war safely and happily.
Especially Sam and Jerry.

sitelink . D. E. Stevensons The Two Mrs Abbotts was first published in, and has been reissued by Persephone Books, Stevenson was an incredibly prolific author, and had over forty novels published during her writing career, The Two Mrs Abbotts is the third instalment in the books which feature Miss Buncle, both of which have also been published by Persephone.
There has been no introduction included here instead, readers are referred to the first two volumes,

The Two Mrs Abbotts opens in Archway House in the village of Wandlebury in an unnamed county, where nursery nurse Dorcas lovingly called Dorkie by her young charges is looking after Mrs Barbara Abbotts children, Simon and Fay: She was thinking how odd it was that children grew up so quickly and grownup people remained much the same.
The Abbotts home has been partially turned into a school for wartime children, or Vackwees, as Fay rather adorably calls them.
Throughout, both children have been written about in such a way that their characters are built up in a believable manner.
Simon, for example, professes that he is Four years older than the war I can even remember bananas and cream.
Later on, he is found hopping and skipping and talking hard as he always did except when he felt unwell.


One of the first events in the book is the arrival of Sarah Walker, a lecturer travelling around the country on behalf of the Red Cross.
Sarah is an old friend of Barbaras, and they have not seen one another since the latter left the village under a cloud of sorts: She had vanished in the night She had been obliged to go, of course, because she had written two very amusing books all about her neighbours and their little peculiarities, and her neighbours had not appreciated their portraits quite the reverse.
With these foundations, Barbara has gone on to marry her publisher, Arthur Abbott,

The family in their entirety is trying to cope as best they can in wartime, Arthurs nephew is away fighting, and his house has been taken over by a whole battalion of soldiers like a crop of dragons teeth.
His young wife Jerry the other Mrs Abbott of the books title has been left behind and tries to keep herself as busy as she possibly can, spending much of her time visiting Barbara and the children, and finding tenants for the small cottage which sits beside her house.
The lives of all are filled with daily duties, such as hosting tea parties for acquaintances in the village, having evacuee families to stay, and finding innovative ways of making recipes, due to the majority of the correct ingredients having been made unobtainable due to Second World War rationing.


Stevensons writing is rather amusing throughout, A young man from the village who has joined the RAF and is currently at home on sick leave, is said to have cultivated a small moustache which reminded one just a little of Hitler.
His lady friend Pearl Besserton, a woman whom nobody really likes, looked as if she had stepped straight off the stage of a thirdrate music hall without having taken the trouble to remove the greasepaint.
The novel is also, as one would expect, so very British, There is a chapter where Barbara goes to the villages annual bazaar, to which she had set out with the benevolent intention of buying something at every stall.
She then feels obliged to purchase a very ugly pair of vases which have been saved for her by a woman who is running one of the stalls, and muses over what she can possibly do with them.
Many of the scenes which Stevenson has woven in are almost farcical, and there is one faux pas after another at many points in the novel.


The characters which Stevenson has created are all interesting and unpredictable, and there is not a dull person amongst them.
Everyone is likeable, or at least admirable, in their different actions and mannerisms, It is rather refreshing to read a novel which veers off in unexpected directions as The Two Mrs Abbotts does, and the twists within its plot work marvellously.
The arc of events throughout is well paced, as is the introduction of characters, Stevenson writes about social aspects rather wonderfully, from the importance of and reliance which one can have upon the wider community, to the problems which evacuees encounter when living away from home.


It is not necessary to have read the first two books which focus upon Barbaras life, and no information which is important to the story within The Two Mrs Abbotts has been omitted.
The entirety of the book is quaint, amusing and rather lovely, It is a light, easy read which is certain to appeal to anyone who enjoys fiction written or set within the first half of the twentieth century, and is certainly a great addition to the Persephone list.
More like.but Ill round up.

I didnt love this, but it was still charming and overall was enjoyable, Its little vignettes about life in Wandlebury during WWII, Some are more enjoyable than others, but its charming, The love story seemed a bit tacked on, but I still liked it, Barbara was hardly in this, and we got some chapters about other people Miss Marks, Sam, the soldiers that I didnt love but added to the character of it.


Not bad, not the best, Definitely read Miss Buncles Book, but the other two arent as necessary unless you just want more, This wasn't as fun as the first two in the series, and now I've left it long enough that I can't remember the details to say why.
Some of it is likely that the secondary characters take over the story, and I don't love them as much as I do Barbara and Jerry.
But the romance is satisfying, and I wasn't sorry to have read the book, That's a very lackluster review, and I think the book is better than I made it sound, Just not by much. When I finished reading Miss Buncle Married I felt I wanted to read the next book The Two Mrs Abbotts right away.
I found out that Persephone are probably publishing it at some point but I wasnt sure I could wait, A quick look online revealed old copies fetching rather high prices I know D E Stevenson books can be quite sort after these days.
So I did a quick search on the Birmingham Library Catalogue there was one book I requested it, That was back in February and I had almost forgotten all about it, Then I received an email while I was away in Devon, the week before last saying the book was waiting to be collected.
I went after work last Monday, knowing it would have to be my next read, I started it very late on Wednesday night, reading slowly the next two days after work, trying to savour it but just gobbled up aboutpages this afternoon to finish it.

Since the events of the second “Miss Buncle book” several years have passed, It

is nowand people are living with the everyday realities of wartime, Barbara Abbott who was once Miss Buncle now has two young children, Simon and Fay, She and her husband still live in Wandlebury the faithful Dorcas still in attendance, Jerry Jeronina Abbott is married to Arthur Abbotts nephew Sam, Sam is fighting the war in Egypt and Jerry must manage things on her husbands estate Ganthorne with the help of her former governess Markie.
These include a family of dirty London evacuees living in an estate cottage, soldiers billeted on the estate, and rumours of a German spy in the vicinity.

Meanwhile Barbara is drawn unwillingly into a rather regrettable love affair between Lancreste Marvell who readers may remember from Miss Buncle married and a fairly unpleasant girl called Pearl.
There is also an adorable storyline involving a very successful romantic novelist, dominated by her sister,
Barbara Abbott takes a bit of a back seat in this novel, we see far more of Jerry, Markie and the other characters.
Fortunately they are all as lovely as Barbara, and although this novel is not quite as fabulous as Miss Buncles Book and Miss Buncle Married, it is wonderfully charming and hugely readable, and just absolutely hit the spot for me the last few days.
D E Stevenson may not be a great literary talent, but I think her writing may be quite underrated she creates a charming yet believable world, and her characters are adorable.
She can be very funny too, and really very observant of people, with a good ear for their voices,

I will definitely buy a copy of this if and when Persephone publish it just to add to my collection as I just know these are books I will come back to.
I was rather bereft at finishing it today which I think is exactly how I felt when I finished Miss Buncle Married.


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