Old Baggage

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I realised from reading the prologue that Lissa Evans had written the book that the film Our Finest was based on. The book was called Our Finest Hour and a Half. I remember this film was in a similar vein to this series in that it took a serious subject and gave an everyday down-to-earth and often humorous approach to it. I'll have to put that on my "to read" list now.

I love books that speak to the human condition - life, love, death and everything that comes in between. Even more poignant in wartimes. Evans easily captures all of the above. I liked Mattie as a book character, but might find her somewhat exasperating in real life. I certainly wouldn't want to share a house with her. It was understandable that she wanted to help out her niece, but seemed out of character for her to cheat and the low point of the story. This was such a well written historical novel. Told entirely in 3rd person, I got a good look into the lives of these people. The places are described beautifully, not that they are exactly beautiful, but I got a real feel for the locations. Also, the language and customs were right on point. This story takes place in England during WWII, so the slang required me paying close attention. It might be a bit difficult for readers who, like me, aren’t used to it. Also, there were a few gaps in the story but mostly when we were focused on Vee, who was the type of person to just take someone at their word.

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But upon discovering a wooden club in an old bag, she wonders perhaps if there is still not more to do and can you still be idealistic and principled ten years after the main event. Old Baggage is a funny and bittersweet portrait of a woman who has never, never given up the fight. At once funny and moving: the brisk kindness of the wardens will bring a lump to your throat. I could not have loved it more' Susie Steiner The book is very character driven, from the growth in confidence and blossoming of Vee and Noel, to the various lodgers and unexpected visitors, through to the re-emergence, of well loved characters (both real and remembered) from the preceding books. More than four, just not quite up to a whole half-star up. For all that I liked the read, it was very sentimental and a bit heart-stringy.

If Old Baggage was more companion to Crooked Heart than sequel, V for Victory unites the two stories. The characters of Heart are now living in the house which was so much the focus of Baggage. Mattie may be no longer physically present but even the reader can feel she is still very much there in spirit. Indeed, there are traces of sadness throughout the book for those absent friends from previous books. When a certain someone does make a reappearance, I got genuinely teary. But again, this is not a sad book. It is full of love. It's about finding people who will love you fiercely and never give up. And reading this final chapter to the tale conjures up the same feeling of satisfaction as when one slots the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle into place. A tender story of survival, loss, the necessity for love, and how an unlikely pair can end up forming a powerful team. Not as much grifting, though, which was one of the things I adored about the previous novel. The story muddled a bit in the middle, with storylines I wasn’t sure would connect. It made things not as fast-paced or funny for me, and my heartstrings weren’t as taut as before. I’ve immediately begun the author’s next book ( ‘Old Baggage’), which includes some of the same characters, but the events of which take place before this book. Mattie Simpson has appeared in a previous novel, “Crooked Heart,” and I was delighted to meet up with her again. It is 1928 and Mattie is living in Hampstead Heath with Florrie Lee, ‘the Flea.’ Both were heavily involved in the suffragette movement and Mattie still gives talks about women’s rights.These days I rarely take on review requests, but for this book I made an exception. I loved the first in the series Crooked Heart, and have only recently finished Old Baggage. Consequently I was delighted to be approached by the publishers and offered V for Victory ahead of publication. The ending was certainly surprising, but satisfying that Mattie and Florrie reconciled and Mattie was able to help Ida out both economically and with her child. I am reading Crooked Heart now, for which this book is a prequel, so I already know what Mattie does next. The depictions of London during wartime was very well done, and the story touched on interesting aspects of life in wartime, some of which I hadn’t thought about before. It was utterly engaging; I was there, I was involved, I cared. In short, this a poignant as well as witty historical fiction where the author has successfully as well as brilliantly depicted the dark side of the war in London, where survival meant the only thing. Mattie is undeterred. She keeps the flame of the suffragette movement alive through public lectures (somewhat dispiritingly her audience is less than enthusiastic) and stands ready to fight again. Though women were granted a vote in 1918, it was only a partial victory – as a property owner, Mattie is entitled to vote, but The Flea cannot. “The battle is not yet over; every day brings fresh skirmishes,” announces Mattie.

I fell in love with Noel. Noel is a witty, charismatic boy with uncanny intelligence. The wisdom lent him by his godmother before she past has left him with a problem solving nature. He uses his first encounters with strangers to observe without interruption. This leaves people to think he may be slow or something. Noel is anything but slow! Vera, or Vee, is a bit hard to take at first. Once I learned her story it made sense that she would not welcome a strange child into her world. The two of them together is really magic. We get to learn a lot about Donald in this story as well. By venturing into places he shouldn’t, Donald gets himself into a whole mess of trouble. The paragraph above was the first paragraph of my review of British author Lissa Evans’s novel, “Crooked Hearts”. The book was a wonderful picture of 1939 England, right after war had been declared on September 3rd. The government, frightened by predicted bombings by the Germans, made arrangements to send the children of London to safety elsewhere in England. The children, usually sent in school groups, were “adopted” by people living in small towns or suburbs, who were paid by the British government to look after the children. “Paid by the government”, is the important fact here. I listened to this book on audiobook narrated by Joanna Scanlan, and I highly recommend this method of reading this book as Joanna just impersonated the character of Mattie so so well, and if there was ever to be a movie made of this book, she is the only person who could play Mattie.While the primary journey of this novel was such a delight to read, I did feel that the story didn’t deliver an entirely satisfying conclusion for several strands within it. There are some periphery characters who we’re given touching private moments with, but their individual dilemmas feel slightly left behind in the greater sweep of Mattie’s story. She’s undeniably the centre of the novel and she’s such a mesmerising figure she deserves to be the focus. But when she reaches a certain crisis point and fall from grace it feels like everyone else is somewhat short-changed in the process of her redemption. However, the pleasures of this novel are manifold and the skill demonstrated in rendering history in such a lively, complex way is so admirable. It also felt especially moving at the end of “Old Baggage” reading about the genesis of a substitute parent-child relationship which changes so dramatically at the beginning of “Crooked Heart”. Mostly I admire Lissa Evans’ creative and imaginative style of writing about ornery characters in a way that makes me love them. There’s plenty of emotional ‘old baggage’ in the book too. The legacy of past actions from their campaigning days in the suffragette movement looms large in the lives of some of Mattie’s and Florrie’s comrades. The government’s response to their protests – imprisonment, force-feeding – has wrought physical and psychological damage in some cases. In addition, Mattie discovers an unexpected legacy of those years much closer to home – ‘a hand from the past, reaching out to grasp hers’. In trying to set right what she sees as the mistakes of the past, she acts in a way that is completely out-of-character and that will have unforeseen consequences. Unfortunately, what Mattie doesn’t realise is that she’s not the only one with emotional ‘old baggage’. I’ve just realized that the title of this book is a bit of a pun. The main character, Mattie Simpkin, is referred to as an “old baggage”, meaning a cantankerous old woman. But the point of this story is that she is also carrying a lot of “old baggage”, as in emotional baggage. And that the old baggage actually isn’t carrying her old baggage terribly well, leading to the crisis point in the story.

Oh, I'm telling you right up front that Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans is going to be one of my top reads for 2015!After three books, the house in Hampstead feels wonderfully familiar. Since the long ago days when it provided sanctuary for suffragettes, it has been a place of safety and refuge. I loved how Victory made it feel as if those who had passed through its doors were still present. Florrie's photograph is still in the house. Noel imagines Ida scrubbing the floors and realises that they have probably used the same potato peeler. Someone looks at Noel and remarks that he is very like Mattie. These characters feel like old friends. I would love to think that one day we will see them again. Noel has the makings of a fine young man, gifted in all subjects and a whizz in the kitchen to boot. Seeing him sweetly befuzzled by his letter from the lovely Genevieve Lumb from next door though reminds us that he still has lots of growing up to be done and many adventures ahead. But I think that he may have just walked off into the sunset and that is fine too. For those who have read Crooked Heart and had their heart stolen by Noel, prepare for a repeat experience. I also enjoyed getting to know the characters living in Green Shutters, the lodging house run by Vee Sedge – with help from Noel and his newfound culinary skills. Never one to miss an opportunity, Vee has enlisted some of the lodgers in tutoring Noel providing him with an eclectic pool of knowledge. Old Baggage would probably have remained unread but for the fact I found a copy in a little free library on the very day I felt the need for some lightish reading material to serve as an antidote to the darkness of Hilary Mantel’s Cromwell trilogy.