The Seven Ages of Woman: Marriage and Relationships

Possible suggestions:

The Tortoise and the Hare - Elizabeth Jenkins
Our Spoons Came from Woolworths - Barbara Comyns
A Touch of Mistletoe - Barbara Comyns
A Note in Music - Rosamund Lehmann
The Little Ottleys - Ada Leverson
Vera - Elizabeth Von Arnim
The Curate's Wife - E H Young

There must be many more, so please add yours!

Edited to add
A Woman of My Age - Nina Bawden

Edited to add
Marriage - Susan Ferrier

Dee, does Thank Heaven Fasting, which you gave me for Secret Santa, fit this theme?

>2 lauralkeet:, the quest for marriage is the central theme in Thank Heaven Fasting, so I would say yes.

>3 Soupdragon: woo hoo! I was planning to read it in January regardless. The blurb was sufficiently vague that I wasn't certain whether it fit the theme. I'm glad it does!

Other options I can think of:

Marriage:
The Pastor's Wife by Elizabeth von Arnim
Greenery Street by Denis George Mackail

Affairs/adultery themes:
Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple
The Weather in the Streets by Rosamond Lehmann (from the point of view of the mistress)

I'd also add Together and Apart by Margaret Kennedy.

I'm thinking The Semi Attached Couple sounds like it should fit too.

>4 lauralkeet: I hope you enjoy Thank Heaven Fasting, Laura. It's one that stayed with me for a long time after reading.

>6 BeyondEdenRock: I had been planning to only read books for this which I already owned, but am loving The Forgotten Smile so much that I'm really tempted to buy Together and Apart.

Out of all of the suggested books here I have only read Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple which I absolutely adored. I think I will pull The Tortoise and the Hare & Vera from my shelves for this portion of the read.
Lovely listing of choices ladies.

And also A Game of Hide and Seek? Elizabeth Taylor.

>9 Heaven-Ali: Oh yes, that's one of the few Elizabeth Taylors I haven't read yet and I have a copy!

>8 rainpebble: Belva, Tortoise and the hare and Our spoons are two of my highest-rated Virago reads. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Wow, there are plenty to choose from for this category - A note in music, Vera and Together and apart have all been sitting on the TBR shelves waiting for a while so I'll try and read them all.

I would add Playing the Harlot and One Way of Love to the list.

Ooh I have Playing the Harlot.

So do I! :)

So do I! :)

So many harlots. Oh my. :)

Thank you for my first giggle of the day Laura! lol

😄

Thank Heaven Fasting proved to be a very good read for this age of woman. You can find my review on the book page, here

For anyone who hasn't read straight through yet on Antonia White, The Sugar House definitely fits "Marriage and Relationships" and so does Beyond the Glass.

>20 CurrerBell: agreed they do and are both fabulous.

>20 CurrerBell:: & 21:
Mike & Ali; That entire quartet is wonderful and all four of them most likely fit into our categories somewhere.

>20 CurrerBell: I haven't and am planning to read them this year so thanks for reminding me!

>22 rainpebble: Frost in May for childhood. The Lost Traveller maybe for coming-of-age?

Over the long weekend here in the US I read Daddy's Gone a-Hunting by Penelope Mortimer. This was my fourth Mortimer and it was very good! Could be read as part of Motherhood or Marriage. Plus one more Persephone to strike off the list!

I just started reading Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston for the 2015 Category Challenge group read for Black Hisory Month.

As I was reading the introduction to the book, on my Kindle, this afternoon, I thought to my self, it would make sense if this was published by Virago and low and behold, it was!

And I think it will fit nicely here.

>26 ccookie::
I envy you Cathy, your first read of this beautiful masterpiece by Hurston. I believe it is my favorite Virago along with Story of an African Farm by Olive Schreiner. I recommend that you take your time and savor it.

I really must get around to reading The Curate's Wife--I enjoyed Jenny Wren immensely. Liana also comes to mind as fitting this category.

I have the curate' s wife and Liana. Just need time to read all these lovely books now.

The last two nights in bed I read Midsummer Night in the Workhouse by Diana Athill, a slim volume of short stories written between the late 50s and early 70s. I don't always do well with short stories. I read The Woman Novelist by Diana Gardner over the summer and hated it. It seemed to me that Gardner's stories had no plot and no point. Athill, on the other hand, writes stories with a beginning, middle and an end, about well-educated 1950s women trapped in boring marriages, who go on to take full advantage of the 1960s.

Athill's personal life makes interesting reading (see Wikipedia). And another Persephone done!

Not Virago or Persephone, but Australian writer Elizabeth Harrower sounds as though she could have been - I haven't read her books yet but want to. Her five novels have been reprinted or published as Text Classics - this series from an Australian publisher produces books with quite a similar appeal to that of VMCs - I think they've also brought out books by Henry Handel Richardson including those published in VMC.

Her 5th novel, put away unpublished in 1971, was brought out last year by Text and it's currently £1.19 on Kindle. If I can find them at some point I also appear to have both a hardback and a paperback copy, so will try to bring them to some future meet up.

>31 elkiedee: Thanks for the heads-up, Luci. I've just downloaded In certain circles. I always like finding new-to-me Australian and NZ writers.

I've just finished The sugar house, which was an absorbing but very sad read. Poor Clara is as fated to be miserable as one of Hardy's heroines. But her descent into depression is sensitively told and makes for a compelling read. I loved the scenes of life on a theatrical tour of the provinces, all grimy lodgings and witty banter from the other actors. I was saddened that the moment of understanding between Clara and her mother from the end of The lost traveller didn't last, and they failed to connect in this book as Clara walled herself off again. Perhaps White is a bit heavy handed in the scenes that show how like children Clara and Archie are, playing at life while failing at it in every way. But it worked for me. However, I'm now moving onto High Rising, my first Thirkell Barsetshire story, for something more cheerful!

> Sakerfalcon

I have just finished Beyond the Glass the final book in the quartet. It is a graphic and realistic portrayal of Clara's mental breakdown and her long tragic hospitalization. It is so believable because it was based on Antonia White's own experiences. It is hard to read about her treatment by her father and the impact that it has on her self esteem. White has become one of my favorite VMC writers.

>34 kayclifton: White's short-story anthology Strangers has a includes a story about a mental hospitalization. It's been quite a while since I've read this one -- in fact, I read it before I even read Beyond the Glass, which was a mistake and I really should go back and do a reread.

>34 kayclifton: >35 CurrerBell: I read that collection at the end of last year, there are a couple of stories that feel very autobiographical