{"id":3767,"date":"2022-03-22T10:12:15","date_gmt":"2022-03-22T14:12:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/?p=3767"},"modified":"2022-03-22T16:33:49","modified_gmt":"2022-03-22T20:33:49","slug":"book-review-sally-on-the-rocks-by-winifred-boggs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/2022\/03\/22\/book-review-sally-on-the-rocks-by-winifred-boggs\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review\/\/Sally on the Rocks by Winifred Boggs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Sally Lunton is thirty-one and determined to find a husband. She has reached the end of her rope, the first World War is raging around her, and she wants safety and security. She receives a letter from Miss Maggie telling her about an eligible bachelor in her hometown and decides he is the man to provide that security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

“Mrs. Alfred Bingley,” she thought mockingly, “wife of a man who reads prayers at the servants twice a day, and ‘asks blessings’ at afternoon tea!” The thing seemed so incongurous and so ludicrous that she began to laugh, and laughed till the tears streamed from her eyes. “Alfred Bingley! Yet what’s in a name? Doubtless the John Joneses get somebody to love them; then why not the Bingleys with fifteen hundred a year? Really, it’s rather decent of Maggie Hopkins to make me a present of the Bingley man.”<\/p>

She had not quite grasped Miss Maggie’s intention. For Mr. Bingley to have fallen to Sally would have been neither interesting nor exciting. Miss Maggie’s idea was rather to dangle the rich bait before two eager fishes, and then snatch it away from both at the last moment. It was the pursuit, not the capture of the prize she sought to witness. She would have Mr. Bingley free for many a long year to come, and damsels, faint but pursuing, on his tracks. That was life–in Little Crampton.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Sally leaves Paris for Little Crampton and, upon her arrival finds there is another woman who is just as determined as her to marry Mr. Bingley. Mrs. Dalton is much more comfortable than Sally and she has a child. Mr. Bingley loves children. But Sally has charm and she captivates him. The women know it is going to be a battle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

She gave a sharp sigh, and Mrs. Dalton echoed it. The two women looked into each other’s eyes, hesitated, and laughted.<\/p>

“We may as well see what humour there is,” said Sally, “for it’s pretty beastly on the whole, isn’t it? We are not playing it low-down because we like it, but because we must. Let’s be friends,” she added impulsively, “as far as it’s possible.”<\/p>

“Why should we hate each other?” asked the widow. “It isn’t the –the person, only his things.”<\/p>

“Three thousand ‘things’!” laughed Sally. “It has made me–well, determined.”<\/p>

Mrs. Dalton thrust out a dogged jaw. “And me!” She looked towards the car. “I’ve simply ached<\/em> for one all my life,” she confessed.<\/p>

“And I for a home and ease,” said Sally.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

However, Sally has a past and one day her past shows up in Little Crompton. He is happily married now and Sally is all too well aware of the double standard by which society would judge her and Jimmy if word gets around of their previous relationship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

You are permitted to forget, but never I. Yet you have paid no price. Your wife forgave you and married you just the same, as women, wise or foolish, do the whole world over. You look at the matter one way and I the other–the man’s and the woman’s way. You ran no real risk of losing your wife by confessing. I lose everything in this world; some think everything in the next. No, such things are not on the same footing, after all.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Sally is the epitome of the expression “bloody but unbowed.” Her life has been hard and frequently unfair. She lacks security. The world around her has been at war. People are more than happy to judge her. But still, she goes on determined to make a secure life for herself and to pragmatically accept what that secure life means. She forges ahead with a sense of humor and a clear view of what she is doing. Then another man enters her life; a man who needs her and who has his own sorrows and stresses. Will Sally continue her pursuit of Mr. Bingley or will she throw everything over for a happy but not as secure life? I’ll leave you to find out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sally on the Rocks<\/em> is full of deeply human yet still likable characters. (Well, likable except for Miss Maggie. No one could like Miss Maggie.) It is an interesting portrayal of attitudes toward women and morality and how society and attitudes began to change around World War I. It confronts the horrors of war while also bringing to the forefront the plight of women who feel they have too few options in life and too little security. Winifred Boggs wrote a light and amusing book that has hidden inside it a biting commentary on women’s lives on the cusp of change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My thanks to the British Library for the review copy of this book. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sally Lunton is thirty-one and determined to find a husband. She has reached the end of her rope, the first World War is raging around her, and she wants safety and security. She receives a letter from Miss Maggie telling her about an eligible bachelor in her hometown and decides he is the man to provide that security. “Mrs. Alfred Bingley,” she thought mockingly, “wife of a man who reads prayers at the servants twice a day, and ‘asks blessings’ at afternoon tea!” The thing seemed so incongurous and so ludicrous that she began to laugh, and laughed till the tears streamed from her eyes. “Alfred Bingley! Yet what’s in a name? Doubtless the John Joneses get somebody to love them; then why not the Bingleys with fifteen hundred a year? Really, it’s rather decent of Maggie Hopkins to make me a present of the Bingley man.” She had not quite grasped Miss Maggie’s intention. For Mr. Bingley to have fallen to Sally would have been neither interesting nor exciting. Miss Maggie’s idea was rather to dangle the rich bait before two eager fishes, and then snatch it away from both at the last moment. It was the pursuit, not the capture of the prize she sought to witness. She would have Mr. Bingley free for many a long year to come, and damsels, faint but pursuing, on his tracks. That was life–in Little Crampton. Sally leaves Paris for Little Crampton and, upon her arrival finds there is another woman who is just as determined as her to marry Mr. Bingley. Mrs. Dalton is much more comfortable than Sally and she has a child. Mr. Bingley loves children. But Sally has charm and she captivates him. The women know it is going to be a battle. She gave a sharp sigh, and Mrs. Dalton echoed it. The two women looked into each other’s eyes, hesitated, and laughted. “We may as well see what humour there is,” said Sally, “for it’s pretty beastly on the whole, isn’t it? We are not playing it low-down because we like it, but because we must. Let’s be friends,” she added impulsively, “as far as it’s possible.” “Why should we hate each other?” asked the widow. “It isn’t the –the person, only his things.” “Three thousand ‘things’!” laughed Sally. “It has made me–well, determined.” Mrs. Dalton thrust out a dogged jaw. “And me!” She looked towards the car. “I’ve simply ached for one all my life,” she confessed. “And I for a home and ease,” said Sally. However, Sally has a past and one day her past shows up in Little Crompton. He is happily married now and Sally is all too well aware of the double standard by which society would judge her and Jimmy if word gets around of their previous relationship. You are permitted to forget, but never I. Yet you have paid no price. Your wife forgave you and married you just the same, as women, wise or foolish, do the whole world over. You look at the matter one way and I the other–the man’s and the woman’s way. You ran no real risk of losing your wife by confessing. I lose everything in this world; some think everything in the next. No, such things are not on the same footing, after all. Sally is the epitome of the expression “bloody but unbowed.” Her life has been hard and frequently unfair. She lacks security. The world around her has been at war. People are more than happy to judge her. But still, she goes on determined to make a secure life for herself and to pragmatically accept what that secure life means. She forges ahead with a sense of humor and a clear view of what she is doing. Then another man enters her life; a man who needs her and who has his own sorrows and stresses. Will Sally continue her pursuit of Mr. Bingley or will she throw everything over for a happy but not as secure life? I’ll leave you to find out. Sally on the Rocks is full of deeply human yet still likable characters. (Well, likable except for Miss Maggie. No one could like Miss Maggie.) It is an interesting portrayal of attitudes toward women and morality and how society and attitudes began to change around World War I. It confronts the horrors of war while also bringing to the forefront the plight of women who feel they have too few options in life and too little security. Winifred Boggs wrote a light and amusing book that has hidden inside it a biting commentary on women’s lives on the cusp of change. My thanks to the British Library for the review copy of this book.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3777,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-review"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3767"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3767\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3781,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3767\/revisions\/3781"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}