Reading Notes: Mollie Panter-Downes

I never really realized how much a book's cover illustration and jacket description makes an impression on me.  I know you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but you can still glean all sorts of things about its contents (accurate or not) by what you see and read on the outside.  So what happens when you get a book published in the 1920s, with no jacket, and no description (or very little)?  I really enjoyed reading Mollie Panter-Downes's One Fine Day, and had to look for her other novels.  She only published a few, and it seemed easiest to just borrow them via my library's ILL service.  So now I have two.  One has no description at all and the other just the vaguest.  Strangely, it's the tiniest bit disorienting.  I don't have a lot of experience just reading an author without knowing about the contents of their books.  But that's sort of what's happening now.

The Storm Bird was published in 1930 by G.P. Putnam's Sons and all I can tell you (I've only read the first three or so pages) is it seems to be about a man who's been recently widowed.  The title page has a quote by Swinburne, "...the storm birds of passion, that ruffle Wild wings in a wind of desire".  Hmm.  Any guesses on what the plot of this one will look like?  I've set this one temporarily aside, since I have a copy of The Shoreless Sea as well (and I can't renew it, so I need to read it first).  This one came from one of California's university libraries, but it was previously owned by 'The Booklovers Library of Los Angeles--Established 1892' according to the plate inserted in the back of the book.  The description it gives (someone was kind enough to type in this information on the plate...thank you): Time-1921-4, Place-England, Gen'l Character-Triangle Romance, Subject Matter-Romantic adventures of a young girl, who marries to escape her unhappy home-environment: and afterwards, renews an intercepted passion of her earlier youth.  I love looking at these old books and imagining who might have read it and when.  This was published in 1924 also by G.P. Putnam's Sons.  It's in a very fragile condition and I'm amazed that it was loaned out to us (and probably why they won't allow it to be renewed).  This book also has not one but two quotes, "Fate is a sea without a shore," also by Swinburne (I like that).  And from The Song of Solomon, "Many waters cannot quench Love, neither can the floods drown it...For Love is strong as Death--".  I know where we're headed with this one, however.

The nice thing about Virago Modern Classics (which is the edition I have for One Fine Day) is the wonderful introductions they include.  My curiosity was piqued when I read:

"Mollie Panter-Downes's first novel, The Shoreless Sea, was published by John Murray when she was just seventeen and went into eight editions in the course of a year and a half, helped, no doubt, by the Daily Mirror's purchase of second serial rights and the slogan on the side of London Buses saying 'read The Shoreless Sea'.  (The writer Elizabeth Jenkins who was then eighteen remembers 'devouring' the instalments as they appeared).  Even today the novel has quite enough distinction to set it apart from the conventional love story, its tone and attitudes(though not its theme) being more than a little reminiscent of Rosamund Lehmann's The Dusty Answer which was published four years later." (1985)

I plan on reading Rosamund Lehmann's The Dusty Answer when I finish Elizabeth von Arnim's The Enchanted April.  The thing with reading Viragos is I read an author and love the book and then want to read all their books.  Or I read a book and the introduction mentions another book or author and then I have to read that!  So many of these older Viragos were books published originally in the 20s and 30s it seems or one author was an influence on another author from a later generation that they all fit so well together. Since I'm curious about this period, one book quickly leads to the next!

As for The Shoreless Sea, I'm reading it very carefully (fearful the pages are going to come detached from the spine), but I've gotten about 50 pages in.  While I don't think it's as well done as One Fine Day, I'm still very impressed that it is a first novel by a seventeen-year-old woman (and am enjoying it nonetheless)!  It will be interesting to see how it anticipates Lehmann's later novel, and then how many novels did Rosamund Lehmann write?  I'll be curious about all her books as well.  It's only a pity that so many of these books are out of print and hard to find.  I can't say this enough, but thank heavens for libraries and even more so for ILL!

Comments

[Andi]

I've felt that sense of disorientation without a cover blurb or even a cover illustration before. Sadly, many of those books languish unread on my stacks for that very reason.

[Danielle]

Andi--I'm always sort of curious about what's inside the covers of those books--something good? But I'm not always adventurous enough to find out.

[Dorothy W.]

She wrote it when she was 17! Wow. And it's very cool to be able to get things through ILL -- I've used that service a LOT at various times in my life -- it's a wonderful thing!

[Margaret Powling]

Could you please explain what ILL is?
We've become accustomed to very 'discriptive' book covers, have we not? Covers which 'introduce' to us the theme of a book before we open it. We can usually tell whether something is a thriller or an historical romance, can't we? But in the 20s and 30s covers were quite plain and many people simply removed them and threw them away; this is why early books with covers are rare, covers weren't considered worth keeping. Similarly, I've just bought Mollie Panter-Downes' Letters from London which is just a plain red book, but in its plainness it is of its time and I like it all the more for that.

[Litlove]

Yes, I'm not good with jacketless books - I need something to set up my expectations. But I do love the tone of this kind of woman writer from this kind of era - Elizabeth Jenkins, Elizabeth Taylor, Rosamund Lehmann - there is something elegant and yet bold about their writing that I really appreciate.

[Jeane]

That's very interesting. I don't put much stock in cover descriptions, and so it doesn't bother me when they're missing.I've had in my posession many older books (circa 1930s, 1920s) which had no jackets or descriptions. I just plunge in and read 'em. Some are good, some are bad, some just pathetic! I guess I rather like the discovery of not really knowing what I'm going to get until I've read twenty pages or so.

[iliana]

I'll echo Litlove's sentiment and say I prefer books with jackets. I like to have a bit of a clue as to what I'm getting into.
I'm really glad to hear you are enjoying Mollie Panter Downes' books. I have two of hers and one of these days I will get to them :)

[Danielle]

Dorothy--I thought it was pretty impressive that she wrote her first book at such a young age and it was quite popular, too. I love ILL--I use it quite a lot. It's certainly much cheaper than looking for used books.
Margaret--ILL is interlibrary loan. I'm sure your familiar with it (I shouldn't abbreviate and assume everyone knows). If my library doesn't have a book they'll borrow it from another library that does have it. It's been great with older or British books that I don't have access to--I can usually find most books this way. The nice thing is I get to use the service free since I am an employee (the students need to pay postage costs). I didn't even realize that older books had dustjackets. It seems rare to find an old book with one! It's just strange now not seeing a book blurb and knowing what the book is about.
Litlove--I too like to have some idea of what I'm getting into with a book, but I liked Mollie Panter-Downes's other book so much, I'm willing to give her other books a try. I'd not heard of Elizabeth Jenkins until I saw her name mentioned. I will have to see if my library has any of her books. I love discovering new authors.
Jeane--You're right when you say the cover may not match the contents! I've thought about just browsing in the library where I work and looking for an interesting title and checking it out without knowing the contents. It could be a fun adventure, though, I don't ever do it. May have to give it a try now, though.
Iliana--Which two do you have? One Fine Day is excellent if you've got a copy! I'd love to find some of her other books to own, but at least I have access to library copies!

[Jaimie]

I know what you mean about wanting to read all of an author's books. With the Virago's it is Molly Keane. They all look so good!
I like cover art too and I'm starting to lose interest in collecting older books, sorry to say. Enjoy Enchanted April!

[Cornflower]

Fascinating post! I've just started a re-read of Mollie's wartime stories (Good Evening, Mrs. Craven.

[Danielle]

Jaimie--I'm totally enjoying Enchanted April! And I have Molly Keane on my pile to read, too. Which have you read? I've never been one to collect older books, but I'm willing to look for them if that is the only way I can find a work by an author.
Cornflower--I'm going to have to order both of her books of short stories soon! What a fascinating woman!

[Margaret Powling]

Of course, I should've realized: ILL - inter library loan! I used to borrow so many books from our local library that I asked for handfuls of library request cards at a time! As books are now relatively inexpensive on Amazon and Abe I tend to buy more books than I borrow. But when I did used to borrow many books each month, some would eventually appear after many weeks, having been dragged up from long-forgotten stacks in libraries in the outer most reaches of the country! Or conversely I would read reviews and order books pre-publication so that I was first in the pecking order!

[Page]

Ah -- Love your site. Found it through the Mollie Panter Downes reference. Am so jealous that you've found her early novels. I've heard that her second one is the weakest, as she doesn't totally succeed with a male character. I adore One Fine Day, as well as a book of her short stories I purchased by chance in Paris, looking for something in English to give me an excuse to sit in a cafe for a while.......