Virago Montly Reads: June 2018: Winifred Holtby

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Virago Montly Reads: June 2018: Winifred Holtby

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1lauralkeet
Jun. 3, 2018, 7:34 am



From Wikipedia:
Holtby was born to a prosperous farming family in the village of Rudston, Yorkshire. Her father was David Holtby and her mother, Alice, was afterwards the first alderwoman on the East Riding County Council. Holtby was educated at home by a governess and then at Queen Margaret's School in Scarborough. Although she passed the entrance exam for Somerville College, Oxford in 1917, she chose to join the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) in early 1918 but soon after she arrived in France, the First World War came to an end and she returned home.

In 1919, she returned to study at the University of Oxford where she met Vera Brittain, a fellow student and later the author of Testament of Youth, with whom she maintained a lifelong friendship. Other literary contemporaries at Somerville College included Hilda Reid, Margaret Kennedy and Sylvia Thompson. After graduating from Oxford, in 1921, Winifred and Vera moved to London, hoping to establish themselves as writers (the blue plaque at No. 52 Doughty Street refers).

Holtby's early novels – Anderby Wold (1923), The Crowded Street (1924) (re-published by Persephone Books in 2008, having been broadcast the previous year as a ten-part BBC Radio 4 dramatisation by Diana Griffiths) and The Land of Green Ginger (1927) – met with moderate success.

Holtby's fame was derived mainly from her journalism: she was prolific and over the next decade and a half she wrote for more than 20 newspapers and magazines, including the feminist journal Time and Tide (also serving on the board of directors) and the Manchester Guardian newspaper. She also wrote a regular weekly column for the trade union magazine The Schoolmistress. Her books during this period included two novels, Poor Caroline (1931), Mandoa! Mandoa! (1933), a critical study of Virginia Woolf (1932) and a volume of short stories, Truth is Not Sober (1934).

...

As well as her journalism, Holtby wrote 14 books, including six novels; two volumes of short stories; the first critical study of Virginia Woolf (1932) and Women and a Changing Civilization (1934), a feminist survey with opinions that are still relevant. She also wrote poetry, including poems about Vera Brittain's dead brother, Edward.

Holtby is best remembered for her novel, South Riding, edited by Vera Brittain and published posthumously in March 1936, which received high praise from the critics. The book won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for 1936 and has never been out of print. In 1938, it was made into a film directed by Victor Saville, in 1974 it was adapted by Stan Barstow for Yorkshire Television and in 2011, BBC One produced a three-part dramatisation by Andrew Davies. There have also been several radio adaptations, the most recent for BBC Radio Four in 2005.

2lauralkeet
Jun. 3, 2018, 7:38 am

Winifred Holtby became a favorite of mine through this group. I've read every one of her VMCs, except for Mandoa, Mandoa, which I've been irrationally holding on to because I don't want to run out of her books. This month seems like the best time to read it.

3surtsey
Jun. 3, 2018, 3:48 pm

I thought it would be interesting to start with Women and a Changing Civilization to get a sense of her views before reading South Riding. I was really excited about South Riding when I bought it -- I briefly worked in local government a few years ago and was fascinated by it, and I loved how the book was divided up into sections like Highways & Bridges, Public Assistance, Housing & Town Planning, etc. I've had trouble getting into it but hopefully I'll be able to finish it this month. It reminds me somewhat of The Thin Place by Kathryn Davis, which took me years to finish but made a big impression on me.

4lauralkeet
Jun. 4, 2018, 12:55 pm

>3 surtsey: I adored South Riding; I hope you're able to get back into it.

5vestafan
Jun. 5, 2018, 11:28 am

I loved South Riding when I read it and was tempted to reread it this month, but I've decided to read Mandoa, Mandoa! as I've had it for a while and never got round to it.

6souloftherose
Jun. 5, 2018, 1:30 pm

Another person who loved South Riding! I have several unread Holtby's in my TBR pile - I've tentatively selected The Crowded Street for this month's read.

7europhile
Jun. 5, 2018, 5:09 pm

I have also started with non-fiction. Virginia Woolf: A Critical Memoir was a very interesting and perceptive appreciation of Mrs Woolf's (as the author called her) early novels, stories and essays. This gave me an enhanced appreciation of Virginia Woolf's achievement and confirmed my intention to read more of her novels. I may also have to reread To the Lighthouse, which did not really appeal to me on first reading.

My first novel by Winifred Holtby will be Poor Caroline but I have a number of library books to read first.

8lauralkeet
Jun. 5, 2018, 7:02 pm

>5 vestafan: I've been warned by a reliable source in this group that Mandoa, Mandoa is "weird" but since I really have no alternative, I'm going for it.

9brenzi
Jun. 10, 2018, 6:09 pm

I also loved South Riding. I’ll be reading Anderby Wold this month.

10Sakerfalcon
Jun. 12, 2018, 8:48 am

I'm late starting this month due to being away from home, but will choose one of The land of green ginger, Anderby Wold or Poor Caroline.

11lauralkeet
Jun. 12, 2018, 12:44 pm

>10 Sakerfalcon: you have loads of time, Claire! I haven't started yet either.

12Sakerfalcon
Jun. 18, 2018, 5:33 am

I started Poor Caroline on the train to work today, and am very much enjoying it so far.

13lauralkeet
Jun. 18, 2018, 6:58 am

I started Mandoa, Mandoa yesterday.

14Sakerfalcon
Jun. 22, 2018, 4:48 am

Finished Poor Caroline and enjoyed it a lot. The titular character is seen through the eyes of others for the greater part of the book, which is constructed as a series of linked third person narratives. Caroline's great passion in life is The Christian Cinema Company, which she believes will simultaneously have a positive moral effect on Britain and also make her fortune. She draws others into her web, some because they think they can use her for their own ends, others almost against their will. To all it soon becomes clear that things are not going to be the success that Caroline hopes for - but is she just a deluded old lady or a swindler who's out to get what she can from people? Each character has their own opinion, but it's not until the end that we get a hint of the truth. I really enjoyed this satirical work which turns a jaded eye on idealism and gently reveals the truth behind people's pretensions and their public façade.

Now I've started The land of green ginger which is very different in tone although is just as well written.

15lauralkeet
Jun. 22, 2018, 7:07 am

I'm enjoying Mandoa, Mandoa more than I expected to, just moving slowly because I've had less reading time this week. Holtby really had a gift for satire.

16lauralkeet
Bearbeitet: Jun. 26, 2018, 3:14 pm

>15 lauralkeet: okay, I've now finished Mandoa, Mandoa and while I appreciate Holtby's satirical gift, this book became long and rambly and I found myself skimming the last few pages. It's a shame she departed from her usual Yorkshire-based novels, which are all very fine.

17CurrerBell
Jun. 27, 2018, 7:44 pm

I've just started South Riding – it's my first ever of Holtby and I picked it because it seems to have a reputation as Holtby's best. I've got the 2010 VMC edition with the preface by Shirley Williams. (I never realized Baroness Williams is Vera Brittain's daughter!)

I'm sure I'll get it finished by month's end because I've finished up my Reading Through Time books for the second quarter and for June. At this point, all I've got left on my agenda for the month. is The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie: A Drama in Three Acts that I'm including in HeavenAli's centenary #ReadingMuriel2018.

18Sakerfalcon
Jun. 29, 2018, 7:03 am

I finished The land of Green Ginger and enjoyed it though overall I think I like it least of the books by Holtby that I've read. If I hadn't seen the blurb on the back which described it as Holtby's "most delightful" novel I might have given up, as this story gets quite bleak. Joanna marries Teddy who seems to offer romance and escape from the drudgery of everyday life, but in fact they end up struggling to make ends meet on a lonely farm, with Joanna bearing most of the burdens because Teddy has TB. When foreign men come to work on a tree plantation, xenophobia and suspicion rear their heads in the small Yorkshire community. I did like the ending very much, but I would hesitate to describe book as delightful!

19SassyLassy
Jun. 29, 2018, 11:59 am

Just finished South Riding this morning, which was a very different book than what I had expected, and more enjoyable. I had previously read Poor Caroline, and see some of the same concerns expressed there in this book.

20CurrerBell
Jun. 30, 2018, 11:01 am

I just a few minutes ago finished South Riding and gave it 4**** – narrowly, perhaps, but still 4****. Somehow, the large assortment of characters in a country setting reminded me of Cranford – but nowhere near as good as Cranford, which is one of my favorite novels. For a moment, in the "Epilogue" chapter (when she encounters her school class at the Jubilee), Sarah seemed a bit Jean Brody-ish.

On to Poor Caroline, the other Holtby I've got, but I doubt I'll finish it by month's end.

21SassyLassy
Jun. 30, 2018, 6:51 pm

>20 CurrerBell: I think you may have just prompted me to get Cranford down from its TBR pile. For some unknown reason I have never read it.

22vestafan
Jul. 1, 2018, 4:56 am

I did intend to read Mandoa, Mandoa! honest, but circumstances intervened and I have to admit it didn't happen.

23lauralkeet
Jul. 1, 2018, 9:01 am

>22 vestafan: Some months are like that.

June seems to have zipped by. I can't believe it's already time for a new author.

24europhile
Jul. 1, 2018, 10:19 pm

My reading of Poor Caroline was very interrupted but I finally finished it today. It was good but not great. The satire seemed to me overdone at times. Still I felt both sympathy and frustration with the main character, and particularly liked her feminist cousin from South Africa, whose dilemma about choosing between riches and a career or possible marriage was well expressed. The approach of taking each main character's part in turn was also interesting.

25surtsey
Jul. 29, 2018, 1:14 pm

I finished South Riding last month and didn't like it as much as I'd hoped. I thought some of the characters were brilliant (Snaith was the most memorable for me), but I wasn't very engaged in the plot or with the writing style.

I tried watching the movie on Youtube yesterday and couldn't get into it - Carne was terribly miscast.