A review by absolutive
At Mrs Lippincote's by Elizabeth Taylor

dark funny reflective tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is a funny novel filled with a series of  masterful set pieces about a woman's life during the Second World War. She is an RAF wife and a mother, and she also acquires responsibilities for her husband's superior officer and his adult cousin. Through humour, irony and vivid juxtapositions, we see the unwanted life thrust upon a woman in wartime Britain. Our heroine "realised that now, having no life of her own, all she could hope for would be a bit of Roddy's, what he might have left over and could spare." And yet, this book is filled with strong, independent women: Julia, our protagonist, who builds relationships with an ailing waiter fleeing the Blitz, various members of her husband's regiment and a local girl; Eleanor, a teacher, who befriends her colleagues and joins a Communist cell; a domestic worker who manages the home once a week and her timetable and clients, daily; Felicity, the Wing Commander's daughter, who climbs and fishes and can recognise the make, model and velocity of an aircraft as it flies overhead. There's also some nice discussion of the Brontes' work.