Winifred Peck (1882–1962)

An amusing addition to the Persephone cataglog, House-Bound is the story of Rose, a middle-aged woman with grown children who lives on a large Scottish estate. When WWII begins, all the servant class seems to disappear into war work and Rose decides she will care for her home and prepare meals for herself an her husband by herself. Luckily, after the first couple days, Mrs. Childe appears from the agency to lend a hand, but Rose still does the bulk of the work with humorous consequences. show more

This aspect of the book is light-hearted and amusing, but there is a deeper story here as well. Parenting adult children, managing a blended family with children from two different marriages, adult friendships, and the impacts of WWII on life are all part of this novel.

I really enjoyed it - another title that I would not have found without Persephone. show less

Winifred Peck has quite a pedigree - she was sister to The Knox Brothers and aunt to Penelope Fitzgerald as well as being daughter of a bishop. Previously the only one of her novels which was readily available was House-bound, reprinted by Persephone, which was a tongue in cheek look at an middle-class lady in Edinburgh learning to do housework during WWII due to the lack of servants. Thankfully Dean Street Press have now stepped into the breach and republished a further three novels by show more Peck: two crime novels, The Warrielaw Jewel and Arrest the Bishop? and one general fiction, Bewildering Cares.

Arrest the Bishop?, first published in 1949, is, as the title might suggest, a murder mystery set in a bishop's palace during 1920 and peopled with bishops, curates, deans and other clergy whose titles I have forgotten. An ordination service is to be held and several guests are staying over when the unpleasant Reverend Ulder arrives without notice and tries to blackmail most of the senior clergy present. The next morning when the Rev Ulder is found dead there is no alternative other than to call the local police in, and unfortunately the local constable is a Dissenter and decidedly not fond of the high church folk. I won't spoil it by telling you whether the bishop gets arrested or not but I thought this was an affectionate and often quite funny look at murder in an ecclesiastical setting. Although 1949 is strictly rather late for the golden age of detective fiction this had the feel of a golden age novel albeit there is probably more focus on the characters and the effects of them on a murder investigation than the strict mechanics of the crime. Very enjoyable. show less

21 Jan 2010 - from Ali

This is an intriguing book. Set in a thinly-disguised Edinburgh in the middle of WWII, it was actually written (as I discovered the wartime Provincial Lady book was the other day) in 1942 so there really is a sense of not knowing what was going to happen. After a glorious opening scene at a domestic service agency, our heroine, Rose, decides to run her, fairly large and oddly-arranged, house herself. Fortunately the marvellous Mrs Childe comes to help her in the show more mornings, and sets about educating her on the mysteries of cooking and cleaning. I'm sure there's some bottoming-out in there too. Mixed in with this interesting theme is a sub-plot regarding Rose's difficult daughter Flora and her troubles, and a bit of slightly wistful religious thinking and philosophising, to which some reviewers have taken exception; I found it fitted in with the style and period of the book and was not bothered by it. The best parts for me were the delicately drawn relationship between Rose and her reticent husband, Stuart, and Rose and her best friend, Linda. Interesting for its portrayal of lives under the strain of war, and a good balance of pathos, story and humour. show less

Thoroughly unfashionable mystery writing for the contemporary reader, flaunting a very slow, deliberate style that ambles along at a decorous gait, pausing to inspect the carpets and expatiate on the embroidery, whilst the reader mutters, "Get on with it, then!" As evidence, there is one of those quaint warnings to "STOP" at the end of Chapter 12. "THIS IS A CHALLENGE TO YOU," Ms. Peck alerts the reader, "At this point all the characters and clues have been presented. It should now be show more possible for you to solve the mystery." Yet there are four chapters and 69 pages to go! show less