Not That Sort of Girl

Can a long marriage and a long love affair go hand in hand? This is the central question of this quite astute and insightful story by the reliable Mary Wesley. Told in a no-nonsense, typically English way, it follows the memories of one Rose Peel i.e. Mrs. Ned Peel, just after being widowed. We first meet Rose just after Ned has died. Nicholas and Emily Thornby, her childhood friends, also show up in the first chapter (and fittingly, in the last).

And then Rose starts to reminisce, starting in childhood and her somewhat thorny, disquieting relationship with the twin siblings Thornby, and moving on to her youth and the two main men in her life: Ned Peel, hasty husband, and Mylo Cooper, lifelong passionate love. She meets both at the same show more time. So why does she opt to marry Ned if she really loves Mylo? Here begins the examination of Rose's character. Through the author's careful pulling back of the layers, you begin to see all the in-between shades of a person's choices, circumstances, motivations, and desires. Not only Rose but all the cast of characters blooms slowly under this insightful pen.

So we go along for the ride through the years before and after WWII. Rose matures quickly from a shy teenager into the confident mistress of an ancestral estate and its farms, mothers a child, and all the while continues to nurture her love for the elusive Mylo. Elusive because he works for the secret service and travels between England and France at highly erratic intervals. Thus Rose is stranded so to speak, once he leaves her after a rendevouz. Ned the husband is either away in the war or lives in London working during the week and this facilitates the lovers' meetings. Rose's housekeepers, the Farthings, play a surprising but important role in this relationship also.

Read the full review at: http://devikamenon.blogspot.com/2016/06/readings-not-that-sort-of-girl.html show less

A fairly typical Mary Wesley set amongst the British upper middle class, primariliy during the Second World War. Rose is "not that sort of a girl", not the sort to have affairs or to behave unconventionally - or so her friends think. Widowed at 67 she flees what is no longer her home (entailed to her son), and her well meaning friends to a small hotel where she reflects on her nearly 50 years of married life, the choices she made between love and security and the choice she is now free to make. A bit slow to start, you are gradually drawn in to Rose's story and the lives of her and her parents' generation. Probably not Wesley's very best but still well worth reading (she lived that period so she knows what she writes of!).

The second Mary Wesley I have read. She's on firm ground when writing about the insecurities faced by young women over the World War Two period. We observe Rose as she negotiates her way between the stable and tiresome husband, and her passion for her exotic French resistance lover, Mylo.

Rose, staying at a hotel after a funeral, reflects on her past life: both the one that everyone saw, and her secret thoughts. Clever and effective flashbacks alternate with the present, as she comes to terms with her future. Rather too much bad language for my tastes, but mostly believable people.

This is my first Mary Wesley book recommended by a friend and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Although The Times blurb on the front said 'part love story, part social comedy, full of jokes, sex and twists' I didn't find it particularly funny or full of jokes. The premise of the book - security over love is an age old story and one that women will always grapple with and I must admit I found it refreshing that Rose kept her promise and was rewarded in the end before it was too late to enjoy it.

28/2020. A lighter than average novel by this author, provided the reader doesn't mind heavy hints of consensual sibling incest, but still identifiably Mary Wesley in style and subject matter.

Reading notes

I spotted that the early one-liner about the plumbers was going somewhere but I didn't manage to guess where....

My favourite Wesleys ranked (apart from Mary, Fred, and -ton boot....)

1. Harnessing Peacocks
2. Camomile Lawn
3. A Suitable Life

I first picked this book up after seeing a recommendation in a fiction guide. It's not particularly funny, but Rose is a charming character who many readers can identify with. Her deliberation over choosing a man who can give her a stable life or choosing a man with passion unfolds into an interesting tale.