Lettice Cooper (1897–1994)
Author of The New House
About the Author
Works by Lettice Cooper
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Cooper, Lettice
- Legal name
- Cooper, Lettice Ulpha
- Birthdate
- 1897-09-03
- Date of death
- 1994-07-24
- Gender
- female
- Education
- University of Oxford (Lady Margaret Hall)
- Occupations
- writer
reviewer
novelist - Organizations
- Writers' Action Group(co-founder)
Time and Tide - Awards and honors
- Order of the British Empire (Officer)
Freedom of the City of Leeds - Relationships
- Cooper, Leonard (brother)
Cooper, Leo (nephew)
Cooper, Jilly (niece-in-law)
Fielden, Lionel (friend) - Short biography
- Lettice Cooper grew up in Yorkshire, where her father ran an engineering firm, and afterwards lived in London for more than 50 years. She read Classics at Oxford University and then worked for some years in the family business. She had begun writing as a child and published her first novel, The Lighted Room, in 1925. She was a devoted friend of Lionel Fielden, creator of All India Radio, friend of J.R. Ackerley and E.M. Forster, and often visited him at his villa in Antella, a few miles outside Florence. She loved Tuscany and used it as the setting for several of her books. After a brief period at the feminist weekly Time and Tide, she worked at the Ministry of Food during World War II. She never married, and lived with her sister Barbara although they were political opposites. She was president of the English Centre of International PEN (1977-1979) and helped to establish the Public Lending Right program in the UK.
- Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- Eccles, Lancashire, England, UK
- Places of residence
- London, England, UK
- Place of death
- Coltishall, Norfolk, England, UK
- Associated Place (for map)
- England, UK
Members
Reviews
Natalie Powell's daughter Rhoda has sacrificed her life to take care of her aging parents in the family home. After Natalie's husband dies, it becomes financially necessary for her to sell the house and move to a smaller place. The story is about the big moving day, and although the novel covers pretty much just that one day, the characters' thoughts and conversations explore their shared history, the choices they've made, the lives that are the result of those choices, and the choices that show more are now available to them.
Rhoda realizes that she gave up a life of her own to take care of her folks, and she wonders now whether this move to a new house is the ideal time to make a change. Or is it too late? Would it be selfish of her to leave now to pursue a life for herself, just when her mother needs her most? There is a deeper question, too -- does Rhoda like her life of being needed?
Delia understands that she escaped the life that Rhoda is in, and she would like Rhoda to finally have a shot at an independent life, too. Delia tells Rhoda that she will leave her job in London soon when she gets married, and that she could probably get her boss to hire Rhoda when Delia leaves.
Rhoda's and Delia's brother Maurice lives nearby with his society-minded wife, Ellen, and their adored daughter. He's dissatisfied with the way his married life has turned out, but there's no way he's going to become their mother's main caretaker.
Lots of meaty life questions here, and because of the way Lettice Cooper writes about the characters, I wanted everyone to have a happy ending. It isn't clear whether they do.
Some good passages:
Life was never closed to you as long as you went down any avenue that was open.
If you don't fight for yourself you die, and if you do, you are always liable to damage other people.
A tyranny is not all the tyrant's fault; it is the fault of those who submit to be slaves.
And, because I have a dear sister, I especially liked this: If your sister was also your great friend, there was nothing else like it, and you had one piece of luck whatever else you missed. show less
Rhoda realizes that she gave up a life of her own to take care of her folks, and she wonders now whether this move to a new house is the ideal time to make a change. Or is it too late? Would it be selfish of her to leave now to pursue a life for herself, just when her mother needs her most? There is a deeper question, too -- does Rhoda like her life of being needed?
Delia understands that she escaped the life that Rhoda is in, and she would like Rhoda to finally have a shot at an independent life, too. Delia tells Rhoda that she will leave her job in London soon when she gets married, and that she could probably get her boss to hire Rhoda when Delia leaves.
Rhoda's and Delia's brother Maurice lives nearby with his society-minded wife, Ellen, and their adored daughter. He's dissatisfied with the way his married life has turned out, but there's no way he's going to become their mother's main caretaker.
Lots of meaty life questions here, and because of the way Lettice Cooper writes about the characters, I wanted everyone to have a happy ending. It isn't clear whether they do.
Some good passages:
Life was never closed to you as long as you went down any avenue that was open.
If you don't fight for yourself you die, and if you do, you are always liable to damage other people.
A tyranny is not all the tyrant's fault; it is the fault of those who submit to be slaves.
And, because I have a dear sister, I especially liked this: If your sister was also your great friend, there was nothing else like it, and you had one piece of luck whatever else you missed. show less
25 Dec 2008 - from Audrey
A book in which ostensibly nothing much happens - a woman and her daughter move from a large, family house to a smaller one because of money issues. The extended family pitches in to help, and that is where the glory of the book comes from - they are all so well observed, with their petty thoughts shown in a stream of consciousness style, undercutting spoken words and performed actions. Patterns that have occurred through the generations are examined, socialist show more principles are mulled over but never quite acted upon, and we wait to see if Rhoda makes up her mind.
My only worry with the book was the presence of a lovely cat and kitten - we all know why animals are often put in books - but no, they are OK. So I will be reassured about that when I re-read this lovely, gentle but perceptive book. show less
A book in which ostensibly nothing much happens - a woman and her daughter move from a large, family house to a smaller one because of money issues. The extended family pitches in to help, and that is where the glory of the book comes from - they are all so well observed, with their petty thoughts shown in a stream of consciousness style, undercutting spoken words and performed actions. Patterns that have occurred through the generations are examined, socialist show more principles are mulled over but never quite acted upon, and we wait to see if Rhoda makes up her mind.
My only worry with the book was the presence of a lovely cat and kitten - we all know why animals are often put in books - but no, they are OK. So I will be reassured about that when I re-read this lovely, gentle but perceptive book. show less
The New House takes place over one very long day that sees the “removal” of Natalie Powell and her adult daughter Rhoda from their large family home to a much smaller house on the other side of the town. The old house is to be demolished to make way for newer more modest housing for working class families. Rhoda’s sister Delia has arrived from London to help, and with her she brings the wind of change. The social order is a central theme to this wonderful novel. Natalie Powell has been show more a spoiled and petted woman her whole life, given to childlike rages when she doesn’t get her own way, she generally did, and she has become a selfish woman. Natalie and her sister Ellen – who also comes to help on moving day - are still living in their shared past, they were brought up in a certain way, the duties that they believed were due to their parents, they believe are due to Natalie. Natalie still recovering from her husband’s death, relies on Rhoda to help run the home, Rhoda in her early thirties, has become trapped. Aunt Ellen the dutiful sister and daughter who never married and now lives in a kind of hotel for ladies like herself is delighted to be back helping and organising and busy, and in her Rhoda recognises the woman she too could so easily become if she doesn’t break free. Delia planning soon to marry her fiancé Jim is eager to help Rhoda get away and suggests she takes her job in London when she leaves to get married in a few months. Rhoda is shaken by the suggestion, but keeps thinking about it throughout the day.
“Today, she thought, is like a crack in my life. Things are coming up through the crack, and, if I don’t look at them, perhaps I shall never see them again. Ordinary life in the new house will begin tomorrow and grow over the crack and seal it up.”
Maurice the son of the family, is also now living away from home, he is married to the fairly dreadful Evelyn, a young women not dissimilar to her mother-in-law. Although Evelyn is uncomfortable with Maurice’s family, and is quite disliked by Maurice’s two sisters. She is more concerned with lovely things, clothes and her social position than with her husband and his family.
“Evelyn got off her bus in the centre of the town, strolled along, looking at the shop windows, and finally turned in at the big doors of Varleys. It was like coming back into her familiar world. The warm air, scented with cosmetics, lapped her round. The bright lights shone on counters of expensive oddments, fantastic gloves, fragile stockings, handkerchiefs like bright flowers, handsome heavy bags. There were a lot of well-dressed people about, shopping or looking. The women behind the counters served them with skill and deference. Once you got inside those big doors, you were in a world which, provided that you had money to spend, existed for your convenience.”
Maurice although adoring of his little girl Tattie, is unhappy and dissatisfied with his life. The upheaval of the move from the family home throws everything up in to the air – releasing feelings in the members of the Powell family they are hardly aware of. He is still attached to the large family home that he moved out of five years earlier – and seeing his mother and sister leaving it is painful for him, forcing him, along with other members of his family, to take stock and look at his life.
The New House was first published in 1936 and re-issued by Persephone books in 2003 with a wonderful preface written by Jilly Cooper the wife of Lettice Cooper’s nephew Leo Cooper. It is that wonderful thing, a beautiful quiet novel, where nothing much happens, but through it you see the whole of the society which existed at the time it was written. I loved it and as I had a busy couple of days with family, I was forced to read it more slowly than I might have done otherwise. show less
“Today, she thought, is like a crack in my life. Things are coming up through the crack, and, if I don’t look at them, perhaps I shall never see them again. Ordinary life in the new house will begin tomorrow and grow over the crack and seal it up.”
Maurice the son of the family, is also now living away from home, he is married to the fairly dreadful Evelyn, a young women not dissimilar to her mother-in-law. Although Evelyn is uncomfortable with Maurice’s family, and is quite disliked by Maurice’s two sisters. She is more concerned with lovely things, clothes and her social position than with her husband and his family.
“Evelyn got off her bus in the centre of the town, strolled along, looking at the shop windows, and finally turned in at the big doors of Varleys. It was like coming back into her familiar world. The warm air, scented with cosmetics, lapped her round. The bright lights shone on counters of expensive oddments, fantastic gloves, fragile stockings, handkerchiefs like bright flowers, handsome heavy bags. There were a lot of well-dressed people about, shopping or looking. The women behind the counters served them with skill and deference. Once you got inside those big doors, you were in a world which, provided that you had money to spend, existed for your convenience.”
Maurice although adoring of his little girl Tattie, is unhappy and dissatisfied with his life. The upheaval of the move from the family home throws everything up in to the air – releasing feelings in the members of the Powell family they are hardly aware of. He is still attached to the large family home that he moved out of five years earlier – and seeing his mother and sister leaving it is painful for him, forcing him, along with other members of his family, to take stock and look at his life.
The New House was first published in 1936 and re-issued by Persephone books in 2003 with a wonderful preface written by Jilly Cooper the wife of Lettice Cooper’s nephew Leo Cooper. It is that wonderful thing, a beautiful quiet novel, where nothing much happens, but through it you see the whole of the society which existed at the time it was written. I loved it and as I had a busy couple of days with family, I was forced to read it more slowly than I might have done otherwise. show less
Ellen Fenwick, aka “Fenny,” accepts a summer position as a governess working in Italy for an English family. The setting is magical, and having become quite fond of the child in her care, she accepts a permanent position with the family. The novel opens in 1933 when fascism is just beginning to take hold, but the expatriate community is in a state of both ignorance and denial. The first part of this book takes us up to 1939, and Fenny’s life is filled with new experiences, personal show more growth, and heartbreak.
Then the book shifts abruptly to 1945 and beyond. Lettice Cooper provides minimal detail on how Fenny spent the war years; I can only guess she wanted to focus on the life of an independent woman before and after the war. Unfortunately, I found it difficult to buy into the post-war section (roughly the last third of the novel). New characters were insufficiently developed and the plot felt rushed. Some aspects were predictable and others seemed preposterous. This book got off to a good start, but ultimately fell short of my expectations. show less
Then the book shifts abruptly to 1945 and beyond. Lettice Cooper provides minimal detail on how Fenny spent the war years; I can only guess she wanted to focus on the life of an independent woman before and after the war. Unfortunately, I found it difficult to buy into the post-war section (roughly the last third of the novel). New characters were insufficiently developed and the plot felt rushed. Some aspects were predictable and others seemed preposterous. This book got off to a good start, but ultimately fell short of my expectations. show less
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