Stevie‘s review of The Young Clementina by D.E. Stevenson
Classic Women’s Fiction published by Sourcebooks Landmark 02 Jul 13
I was vaguely aware of D.E. Stevenson before this book came up for review, mainly through seeing her possibly better-known Miss Buncle’s Book, promoted on and off in book catalogues over the last couple of years. She was the daughter of a cousin of the now more famous Robert Louis Stevenson, but sold an awful lot of books in her time. As her era was the 1930s, and I read a lot of books set then, I’m always keen to read more romances and women’s fiction written in the era to see how the stories compare and how they stand up to a modern reading. I wasn’t disappointed this time.
Written as a series of ‘conversations’ with an imaginary friend and then later as a memoir, The Young Clementina sets down the life, loves, and dilemmas of Charlotte Dean. Charlotte, the older of a country parson’s two daughters, lives a quiet life in London, seeing little beyond her tiny, over-furnished flat and the private library where she works. Charlotte’s life may be about to change, and in order to decide whether to make a momentous step into the unknown, she sets out her story as if talking to a woman she met only once – briefly, on a bus – whom she names ‘Clare.’
Growing up, Charlotte’s best friend and almost constant companion is Garth, the son of the local squire. When Garth goes away to Eton, Charlotte looks after his dog and his pony, and when he returns from Oxford in the summer of 1913, the pair study Latin together, it being Garth’s one weak subject. The pair draw closer during Garth’s 21st birthday party in 1914, when Charlotte is 18, but then Charlotte’s mother dies and soon after that war breaks out.
Garth returns from the war, somewhat later than many other men due to having been involved in communications, and appears greatly changed. He distances himself from Charlotte, and then announces his engagement to her sister. Charlotte’s father dies soon after the wedding, and that’s when she moves to London to take up the post in the library, which specialises in travel books and which Garth, a travel writer himself, has arranged for her.
Garth’s marriage is not a happy one. He divorces his wife for adultery, with Charlotte and her charwoman as witnesses – unbeknown to Charlotte, when her sister visited one night, she didn’t stay in Charlotte’s room, but instead crept out to meet her lover – but now he has the opportunity to travel again and to write a new book about his experiences. He asks Charlotte to move back to the manor in order to care for it and his daughter – Charlotte’s niece, named Clementina after her mother and grandmother.
Having set down her history and this current dilemma – can she face the manor after everything that happened before? – Charlotte tells ‘Clare’ that she will go.
Charlotte finds the manor much changed – although some of the staff remember her – and her niece is very distant for fear that she will come to love her aunt only to lose her again. The pair bond over a passion for horses and hunting, and then Charlotte begins to win round their neighbours, who have shunned the family since the scandal of Garth’s divorce. She even rediscovers the woman she met on that bus all those years before, and they become true friends.
I won’t spoil the story of what happens with Garth, but it is all very emotional and set me in mind a little of The Railway Children. My one slight issue with the book, and the reason why I didn’t give it top marks, is the infatuation one of their neighbours develops for the young Clementina. Charlotte deals with everything in a way that fits the era and the characters, and goes on to discuss the situation with her female friends, acknowledging that not everyone would have been as understanding about the problem as she had been, but I do feel that her solution might squick some modern readers. (Highlight following for spoiler.) She tells the man to take up the four-year foreign posting he has been offered and to see if he feels the same way for Clementina when he returns, by which time she will be 17.
I will definitely be looking out for more of Stevenson’s books, preferably in print. The cover on this one is very pretty, although I’m not sure if the UK edition is going to match up to it.
Grade: A
Summary:
Love, Loss, and Love Again…
Charlotte Dean enjoys nothing more than the solitude of her London flat and the monotonous days of her work at a travel bookshop. But when her younger sister unceremoniously bursts into her quiet life one afternoon, Charlotte’s world turns topsy-turvy.
Beloved author D.E. Stevenson captures the intricacies of post-World War I England with a light, comic touch that perfectly embodies the spirit of the time. Alternatively heartbreaking and witty, The Young Clementina is a touch tale of love, loss, and redemption through friendship.
Read an excerpt.
