Press Coverage Autumn 2006

‘Mere excellence will not secure the survival of a work of fiction,’ wrote Nicholas Clee in the Times Literary Supplement. ‘Novels that fail to attain classic or cult status disappear rapidly from view; their only chance of resurrection is to enter the radar of an enterprising firm such as Persephone. Princes in the Land is a happy discovery: while it has no claims to be considered imperishable, it is astute and skilful, and is certainly as well worth reading as most of the new fiction on the market today. It opens as a cool, sharp social comedy… The narrative changes tone as it reaches the heroine’s married life in the 1920s. This is not a proto-feminist novel; Cannan has no critique to make of the roles of men and women. But she does give an affecting account of the suppression of personality that her heroine undergoes in order to adapt herself as a wife and mother. She focuses her thwarted desires on her children – who of course do not turn out as she hoped.’

In the Observer Rachel Cooke was asked for her ‘best ever beach read’: ‘That’d be a toss-up between The Making of a Marchioness by Frances Hodgson Burnett (plain girl bags an aristo) or almost anything by Georgette Heyer.’ And in The Tablet Mary Blanche Ridge chose five Persephone books for her Summer Reading: ‘Doreen, Princes in the Land, There Were No Windows, Alas, Poor Lady and The Woman Novelist and Other Stories are all from the 1930s and 1940s, a glorious backlog of recent Persephone reprints, which are always riveting, always thought-provoking – and beautifully produced.’

In the Cumnor Parish News Harriet Bretherton wrote about Princes in the Land, ‘set largely on Cumnor Hill [near Oxford]… For the local reader the themes of social change and the role of women in the ‘30s are played out against the familiar backdrop of Botley and North Hinksey…The bus already ran from Carfax under the railway bridge to Botley; on the bus Patricia reflects on her need for false teeth and on the children’s growing indep-endence. Now they no longer need her, she asks herself, what was the point of it all?’

The Good Book Guide recommended Gardener’s Nightcap as ‘an ode to everything garden, written in beautiful prose. Inspiring and educational in equal measure, the book is a quirky mix of ‘how-to’ gardening advice and insights into life in twentieth-century England. Covering everything from boarders and beavers to winter decorations and trees in spring, this gem is a unique little gift for every garden enthusiast. Beautifully presented, with illustrations by Philip Gough, the descriptions are humorous and a lasting insight into Muriel Stuart’s England.’

In July Every Eye by Isobel English came out in the US; it is so far the first of our books to have been published over there. The Wall Street Journal reviewer wrote: ‘Words like self-effacing, self-critical and perfectionist only begin to describe this remarkably gifted, all but forgotten British writer whose fiction has been likened to that of Elizabeth Bowen, Muriel Spark and Anita Brookner, all of whom admired her work. Although Ms English may have some of Ms Bowen’s deft insight, a touch of Ms Spark’s wry humour and Ms Brookner’s sensitivity to nuance, she has a finely wrought yet cauterising style that is all her own. A good place to sample it is Every Eye (1956), Ms English’s fine second novel… Beyond its literary merits, which are considerable, Every Eye provides a wonderful opportunity for American readers to become acquainted with the entrancing voice of a truly original writer.’ And in another long review of Every Eye in the New York Sun Benjamin Lyal concluded that ‘almost every sentence presents a visual surprise’, yet it has ‘charms beyond language.’