Old Baggage
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Description
'The work of a novelist in her prime' Daily Telegraph
'Wise and witty' Sarah Hughes, Observer
'Essential . . . Evans is a brilliant storyteller' Stylist
'A timely, bittersweet comic novel' Guardian
'A thoughtful, funny, companionable novel' Sunday Times
_______________________________
What do you do next, after you've changed the world?
It is 1928. Matilda Simpkin, rooting through a cupboard, comes across a small wooden club - an old possession of hers, unseen for more than a decade.
Mattie is a woman with a thrilling past and a chafingly uneventful present. During the Women's Suffrage Campaign she was a militant. Jailed five times, she marched, sang, gave speeches, smashed windows and heckled Winston Churchill, and nothing - nothing - since then has had the same depth, the same excitement.
Now in middle age, she is still looking for a fresh mould into which to pour her energies. Giving the wooden club a thoughtful twirl, she is struck by an idea - but what starts as a brilliantly idealistic plan is derailed by a connection with Mattie's militant past, one which begins to threaten every principle that she stands for.
Old Baggage is a funny and bittersweet portrait of a woman who has never, never given up the fight.
Book Information
Posts
I loved it. Not much actually happens except and aging militant suffragette has a midlife crisis that blows up her comfortable retirement wounding everyone in the vicinity, and makes her re-evaluate what she has. In this respect it’s a common story- except it’s not usually told about women. Mattie is a great character, more an old battle axe than old baggage. The heart of the novel is the Flea, her quiet and unassuming companion who works as a midwife, and who probably achieves more good with less bluster. The ending was very sweet. I think it’s a four star book but I enjoyed it too much to give it less than five. Made me laugh out loud in places.
Description
'The work of a novelist in her prime' Daily Telegraph
'Wise and witty' Sarah Hughes, Observer
'Essential . . . Evans is a brilliant storyteller' Stylist
'A timely, bittersweet comic novel' Guardian
'A thoughtful, funny, companionable novel' Sunday Times
_______________________________
What do you do next, after you've changed the world?
It is 1928. Matilda Simpkin, rooting through a cupboard, comes across a small wooden club - an old possession of hers, unseen for more than a decade.
Mattie is a woman with a thrilling past and a chafingly uneventful present. During the Women's Suffrage Campaign she was a militant. Jailed five times, she marched, sang, gave speeches, smashed windows and heckled Winston Churchill, and nothing - nothing - since then has had the same depth, the same excitement.
Now in middle age, she is still looking for a fresh mould into which to pour her energies. Giving the wooden club a thoughtful twirl, she is struck by an idea - but what starts as a brilliantly idealistic plan is derailed by a connection with Mattie's militant past, one which begins to threaten every principle that she stands for.
Old Baggage is a funny and bittersweet portrait of a woman who has never, never given up the fight.
Book Information
Posts
I loved it. Not much actually happens except and aging militant suffragette has a midlife crisis that blows up her comfortable retirement wounding everyone in the vicinity, and makes her re-evaluate what she has. In this respect it’s a common story- except it’s not usually told about women. Mattie is a great character, more an old battle axe than old baggage. The heart of the novel is the Flea, her quiet and unassuming companion who works as a midwife, and who probably achieves more good with less bluster. The ending was very sweet. I think it’s a four star book but I enjoyed it too much to give it less than five. Made me laugh out loud in places.