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zoer03's review
4.0
This is an intriguing story, about not just body swapping but also class swapping too, we follow a housewife find her (soul) transferred into a lady of the manor and vice versa. What follows is chaos, a little bit of fun and yet also they each learn about each other’s worlds, how one should open up more and that the other might need to look a bit outside her own world. But I did find I wasn’t as concerned about the plot, it felt a bit too worn and out of time and place. I didn’t actually like or sympathise with any of the characters who just felt a bit stiff and a bit too twee. It’s a good story but didn’t have much depth for me.
jaynecm's review
4.5
I have always loved body swap books, since reading Freaky Friday as a child.
This is a charming book, as we see middle class wife and mother Polly swapping with Lady Elizabeth. It is different to many body swap stories as the two women are strangers and the body swaps go backwards and forwards. This makes it infinitely more interesting as they never know when they will end up as each other.
A delight to read, as much for the 1930s lifestyles as for the main story. There are some comedic episodes as Polly attempts to navigate upper class life, but it is the heartfelt connection between the two women and how they help each other that makes it such a lovely book.
Perfect for an afternoon curled up by a cosy fire.
This is a charming book, as we see middle class wife and mother Polly swapping with Lady Elizabeth. It is different to many body swap stories as the two women are strangers and the body swaps go backwards and forwards. This makes it infinitely more interesting as they never know when they will end up as each other.
A delight to read, as much for the 1930s lifestyles as for the main story. There are some comedic episodes as Polly attempts to navigate upper class life, but it is the heartfelt connection between the two women and how they help each other that makes it such a lovely book.
Perfect for an afternoon curled up by a cosy fire.
thenovelbook's review against another edition
4.0
A fascinating example of what I think of as "domestic sci-fi," very much in the realm of Frank Baker's Miss Hargreaves. If you like the idea of fantastical happenings but still enjoy keeping your feet firmly planted in the polite world of drawing rooms and house parties, this 1930's body-swapping tale of two women from different social classes is for you.
It's neither overly comedic nor dramatic, but treads a nice middle ground. I read it in one sitting.
Newly republished this month (March 2022) and also available on Kindle Unlimited.
Fun quote:
Foley put me into an evening dress made of black velvet that showed a lot of back. It seemed rather plain to me, I looked very slim and straight in it. She then opened a big jewel case in which there were several tiers. I thought it looked like a real treasure chest, when I saw brooches and necklaces, bracelets, earrings and rings, all in velvet compartments. I just stared. Late for dinner or not, I had no intention of hurrying over my choice. I took a sort of collar of emeralds and diamonds, and put it round my neck; it looked wonderful. Then I found some emerald and diamond earrings, long ones, and some bangles; I put on two or three of these and a big diamond brooch like a spray, that cheered up the dress a lot.
Then I saw the pearls--three long ropes of them--and one shorter one. I put the ropes on and looked happily at my reflection in the mirror.
"I think I want something on my head now," said I, wondering if it was a grand enough party for a tiara.
Foley, who had been looking rather stunned, smiled respectfully as though I had made a joke. I gathered that it was not a tiara occasion.
It's neither overly comedic nor dramatic, but treads a nice middle ground. I read it in one sitting.
Newly republished this month (March 2022) and also available on Kindle Unlimited.
Fun quote:
Foley put me into an evening dress made of black velvet that showed a lot of back. It seemed rather plain to me, I looked very slim and straight in it. She then opened a big jewel case in which there were several tiers. I thought it looked like a real treasure chest, when I saw brooches and necklaces, bracelets, earrings and rings, all in velvet compartments. I just stared. Late for dinner or not, I had no intention of hurrying over my choice. I took a sort of collar of emeralds and diamonds, and put it round my neck; it looked wonderful. Then I found some emerald and diamond earrings, long ones, and some bangles; I put on two or three of these and a big diamond brooch like a spray, that cheered up the dress a lot.
Then I saw the pearls--three long ropes of them--and one shorter one. I put the ropes on and looked happily at my reflection in the mirror.
"I think I want something on my head now," said I, wondering if it was a grand enough party for a tiara.
Foley, who had been looking rather stunned, smiled respectfully as though I had made a joke. I gathered that it was not a tiara occasion.
xanadu_'s review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
ergative's review
3.75
NB: More coherent, edited review to come in Nerds of a Feather mid-March.
This was really cute: a 1930s body-swap book in which the two swappers differ wildly in class, each finding in the other something she'd been yearning for. Polly Wilkinson, a middle-class housewife, is dazzled by the glamour and luxury of the life Elizabeth Forrester, a wealthy aristocrat, lives, but what I found most striking was the brief commentary on the freedom that Elizabeth enjoys. Polly does not even have time to write letters to her own college friends, and can't find time to nip downtown and have a private meeting with a Elizabeth. And she hasn't even realized the constraints on her freedoms until she experiences the life without it. (Although I felt this particular point in her character arc was very underdeveloped).
Elizabeth has a strained marriage, and finds herself loving Polly's cosy domesticity and easy affection with her husband, and adores Polly's children, playing with them and telling them stories (which they then demand Polly continue, which Polly finds rather trying, since she doesn't know how the stories began).
Throughout their repeated unintentional swaps, they find themselves in a position to either cause trouble for the other, or perhaps smooth over difficulties that the other doesn't have the ability to handle. Polly finds herself determined to figure out what's wrong with Elizabeth's marriage and fix it, while Elizabeth helps Polly organize some visits and dinner events with Polly's husband's boss, since her superior social status insulates her from being overawed by them, as Polly had been hitherto.
Everything resolves itself in this book exactly as you might expect from a respectable novel of this era. A modern book would definitely dive deeper into a lot of things that are skipped over more delicately in the book. The tensions between Polly and Elizabeth, as each thinks the other is responsible for the swaps, and gets quite idignant and starts trying to make a bit of trouble, is very funny, but it could be taken much further, with corresponding consequences for when they finally meet each other in person. And the core of unhappiness in each that motivates the swap could be given a great deal more thoughtfulness. Elizabeth's unhappiness springs from exactly the tedious source you might expect in a book of this era, and is resolved just as tediously. Polly's is barely mentioned.
And then there are the ethics of sex in other people's bodies, when you yourself are married to someone else when you're in your own body. Elizabeth is careful never to sleep with Polly's husband; and despite Polly's efforts to reconcile Elizabeth's body with Elizabeth's husband Gerald, she nev never actually sleeps with him or even kisses him. She just evokes the potential without letting it go too far (which leaves some extremely mixed signals to poor Gerald). Suppose she did take it further. Would it be it cheating? More concerningly, would it be rape? If so, of whom? Of Gerald, who most certainly did not consent to sleep with Polly, whatever she looks like, or perhaps of Elizabeth, who is not on terms of sexual intimacy with Gerald and would not consent for her body to be used in this way? I'm not sure Maude Cairns ever got beyond the 'is it cheating' question in her head, but I'm pretty sure a modern book woud have at least one husband-wife pair sleep together, and use that to motivate the tension between the women when they meet later.
I'm reminded a bit of some discussions of Star Trek episodes involving the mirror universe, in which prime universe characters are put in positions of sleeping with mirror universe characters under the guise of being their own mirror universe selves. This is pretty unambiguously accepted as rape on the podcasts I listen to, since the prime characters are pretending to be someone they're not, so the mirror characters are not actually consenting to sleep with them. Body swapping feels like a similar situation in some respects (certainly with respect to the rights of the sexual partner), but differs in that the actual body performing the action is the 'correct' body, but the mind inside it is not.
Nevertheless, despite the missed opportunities for deeper consideration, this book is light and fun, and I had a great time reading it. The class-based mistakes are very funny, and it's quite striking how Polly's errors of class (e.g., calling Elizabeth's father 'Dad' instead of . . . Papa? Father?; brutally snubbing a concert pianist by criticizing his music, which has no good tunes in it) are taken as a joke, until they start causing offense; whereas Elizabeth's errors of class (being haughty and high-handed with tiresome relatives) make Polly's life easier. It's as if incorrectly importing aristocratic manners into middle-class life solve problems; while importing middle-class manners into aristocratic life creates them. Perhaps that asymmetry simply reflects the asymmetries inherent in a class-based society; or perhaps it springs from an inherent bias in the writer, who herself was a titled aristocrat. (Again, I'm reminded of Star Trek and the mirror universe--this time the TOS episode, in which Spock immediately detects the mirror universe imposters in the prime universe, because, he says, it is easier for a civilized man to pretend to be a barbarian than vice versa.)
Anyway: good book. Very fun. I'd love to see it redone for a modern audience. And it would make a terrific movie, with wonderful range for the actors who must play Elizabeth and Polly, with two distinct personalities in each body, that must nevertheless match across the actors' performances. Hollywood, take note!
This was really cute: a 1930s body-swap book in which the two swappers differ wildly in class, each finding in the other something she'd been yearning for. Polly Wilkinson, a middle-class housewife, is dazzled by the glamour and luxury of the life Elizabeth Forrester, a wealthy aristocrat, lives, but what I found most striking was the brief commentary on the freedom that Elizabeth enjoys. Polly does not even have time to write letters to her own college friends, and can't find time to nip downtown and have a private meeting with a Elizabeth. And she hasn't even realized the constraints on her freedoms until she experiences the life without it. (Although I felt this particular point in her character arc was very underdeveloped).
Elizabeth has a strained marriage, and finds herself loving Polly's cosy domesticity and easy affection with her husband, and adores Polly's children, playing with them and telling them stories (which they then demand Polly continue, which Polly finds rather trying, since she doesn't know how the stories began).
Throughout their repeated unintentional swaps, they find themselves in a position to either cause trouble for the other, or perhaps smooth over difficulties that the other doesn't have the ability to handle. Polly finds herself determined to figure out what's wrong with Elizabeth's marriage and fix it, while Elizabeth helps Polly organize some visits and dinner events with Polly's husband's boss, since her superior social status insulates her from being overawed by them, as Polly had been hitherto.
Everything resolves itself in this book exactly as you might expect from a respectable novel of this era. A modern book would definitely dive deeper into a lot of things that are skipped over more delicately in the book. The tensions between Polly and Elizabeth, as each thinks the other is responsible for the swaps, and gets quite idignant and starts trying to make a bit of trouble, is very funny, but it could be taken much further, with corresponding consequences for when they finally meet each other in person. And the core of unhappiness in each that motivates the swap could be given a great deal more thoughtfulness. Elizabeth's unhappiness springs from exactly the tedious source you might expect in a book of this era, and is resolved just as tediously. Polly's is barely mentioned.
And then there are the ethics of sex in other people's bodies, when you yourself are married to someone else when you're in your own body. Elizabeth is careful never to sleep with Polly's husband; and despite Polly's efforts to reconcile Elizabeth's body with Elizabeth's husband Gerald, she nev never actually sleeps with him or even kisses him. She just evokes the potential without letting it go too far (which leaves some extremely mixed signals to poor Gerald). Suppose she did take it further. Would it be it cheating? More concerningly, would it be rape? If so, of whom? Of Gerald, who most certainly did not consent to sleep with Polly, whatever she looks like, or perhaps of Elizabeth, who is not on terms of sexual intimacy with Gerald and would not consent for her body to be used in this way? I'm not sure Maude Cairns ever got beyond the 'is it cheating' question in her head, but I'm pretty sure a modern book woud have at least one husband-wife pair sleep together, and use that to motivate the tension between the women when they meet later.
I'm reminded a bit of some discussions of Star Trek episodes involving the mirror universe, in which prime universe characters are put in positions of sleeping with mirror universe characters under the guise of being their own mirror universe selves. This is pretty unambiguously accepted as rape on the podcasts I listen to, since the prime characters are pretending to be someone they're not, so the mirror characters are not actually consenting to sleep with them. Body swapping feels like a similar situation in some respects (certainly with respect to the rights of the sexual partner), but differs in that the actual body performing the action is the 'correct' body, but the mind inside it is not.
Nevertheless, despite the missed opportunities for deeper consideration, this book is light and fun, and I had a great time reading it. The class-based mistakes are very funny, and it's quite striking how Polly's errors of class (e.g., calling Elizabeth's father 'Dad' instead of . . . Papa? Father?; brutally snubbing a concert pianist by criticizing his music, which has no good tunes in it) are taken as a joke, until they start causing offense; whereas Elizabeth's errors of class (being haughty and high-handed with tiresome relatives) make Polly's life easier. It's as if incorrectly importing aristocratic manners into middle-class life solve problems; while importing middle-class manners into aristocratic life creates them. Perhaps that asymmetry simply reflects the asymmetries inherent in a class-based society; or perhaps it springs from an inherent bias in the writer, who herself was a titled aristocrat. (Again, I'm reminded of Star Trek and the mirror universe--this time the TOS episode, in which Spock immediately detects the mirror universe imposters in the prime universe, because, he says, it is easier for a civilized man to pretend to be a barbarian than vice versa.)
Anyway: good book. Very fun. I'd love to see it redone for a modern audience. And it would make a terrific movie, with wonderful range for the actors who must play Elizabeth and Polly, with two distinct personalities in each body, that must nevertheless match across the actors' performances. Hollywood, take note!
paperbacksandpines's review
3.0
Marketed as a bod-swap comedy, I found it less Freaky Friday and more like a swap between a commentary on the divide between Cora Crawley from Downton Abbey and one of the stay at home moms from her village.
I saw this book as commentary on the divide between the social classes and the changing nature of domestic "help" post WWI. The situations in which Polly found herself to be in both nail biting yet they enabled to become a more confident version of herself than she felt she could in her own life.
While this wasn't my favorite book in the British Library Women Writers line, I still enjoyed it for what it was.
I saw this book as commentary on the divide between the social classes and the changing nature of domestic "help" post WWI. The situations in which Polly found herself to be in both nail biting yet they enabled to become a more confident version of herself than she felt she could in her own life.
While this wasn't my favorite book in the British Library Women Writers line, I still enjoyed it for what it was.
holono's review
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
fenra's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
fun book, nice to see how they come together in the end
lene_kretzsch's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25