“Nellie put a match to the fire so that Mrs Lyons wouldn’t catch her death. She grudged every morsel of coal burned in summer time, but she couldn’t afford to lose her customers. Even so, the room took some time to warm, and it wasn’t till Mrs Lyons had left that the benefit could be felt. Nellie made a pot of tea before getting ready for bed, spooning the sugar into Marge’s cup and hiding the basin before Marge could help herself. The aunts put on their flannel nightgowns over their clothes and then undressed, poking up the fire to make a blaze before removing their corsets. The girl sat withdrawn on the sofa, stroking the spine of the cat, while the two women grunted and twisted on the hearth rug, struggling to undo the numerous hooks that confined them, until, panting and triumphant, they tore free the great pink garments and dropped them to the floor, where they lay like cricket pads, still holding the shape of their owners, and the little dangling suspenders sparkling in the firelight. Dull then after such exertions, mesmerised by the heat of the fire, the aunts stood rubbing the flannel nightgowns to and fro across their stomachs, breathing slow and deep. After a while they sat down on either side of the fender and removed their stockings. Out on the woollen rug, lastly, came their strange yellow feet, the toes curled inwards against the warmth.” ( )

The cats name was rather unfortunate. ( )

Set in Liverpool in the late days of WWII, the novel is more psychological than active, and possibly its subject matter had not been so widely explored when it was first published, but most of it felt a bit shabby from use to me, much like its characters. Poor Rita, raised by two repressed and frustrated aunts (one technically not "maiden" as she had been briefly married to a soldier who died in the First War) with occasional assistance from her father, their brother, whom she calls "Uncle Jack". Naive as she is, when she is invited to a neighbor's party and meets an American GI, Rita seizes what she sees as an opportunity to experience some other sort of life, although her fantasies are somewhat cloudy. She tries to hide her trysts from the family, thereby increasing their significance in her mind. Naturally it is clear to the reader that this will not end well, but the actual ending (reminiscent of something written by Susan Hill or Shirley Jackson) came as a surprise to me. None of the characters, although well-drawn for stereotypes, struck up any sympathy in me despite their misery and dysfunction; I neither liked them nor found them particularly interesting. And I found the author's inability to settle on one name for Auntie Margo (or was she Marge?) maddening. Characters and narrator interchange the two names randomly, or at least without any rhyme or reason I could discern. I thought at first that might be a glitch in the edition I have, but I checked Amazon's "look inside" feature for a much earlier paperback edition, and it occurs there as well. That alone took my rating down to 2 1/2 stars (I tend to work up or down from 3); the ending inched it back up to neutral. ( )

After reading several novels by Bainbridge, I've come to the conclusion that I will never be a huge fan. I didn't outright dislike them; they just didn't do much for me. Aside from a few moments, this one was pretty milquetoast until the very end, when something unexpected occurs--and then it just stops with no satisfying conclusion. I guess the point she is making is simply to show how insular this particular family is. Nellie, the dressmaker of the title though perhaps not the main character, is in a love/hate relationship with his sister, Margo. The two share their home with "our Rita," the seventeen-year old daughter of their brother, Jack. When his wife died, Jack sold his house, gave Rita into the care of his sisters, and moved into a flat above a butcher shop. He is still extremely involved in all of their lives, but Rita, who knows he is her father, calls him "Uncle Jack," probably just to go along with Auntie Nellie" and "Auntie Margo." Nellie is the reserved, responsible one; Margo is the daring and sometimes wild one. She had been married to a soldier who came back from the trenches suffering from the effects of gas attacks. It was Nellie, however, who nursed him until his death.

Set in the aftermath of World War II, the story revolves around young Rita falling in love with an American GI named Ira. As teenage girls still do, Rita initially hides her beau from her family, using the ploy that she is visiting her friend Cissie--whom the aunts have never met. If you like reading about the sappiness of teenagers in love, this part of the story should appeal to you, because Rita is one of the sappiest. There are the usual dreams of marrying Ira and flying off to live in the US. And a lot of worrying about whether or not Ira will call, show up for a scheduled rendezvous, write her a letter, doesn't talk enough, wants too much, wants too little. It becomes clear early on that this is an ill-suited pair and a one-sided romance. The remainder of the novel, as one would expect, focuses on what happens when a neighbor tells Nellie that Rita has been stepping out with an American soldier and when Ira decides that she is way too young (i.e., immature) for him. And as I said above, there is an unexpected and rather unresolved conclusion.

Good writing, fleshed out if stereotypical characters, but nothing to get excited about. ( )

Gosh after just reading the books description lower down the page, I am surprised as this isn't the book I read, the 17 year old girl didn't marry a GI at all, she was a young girl from a somewhat dysfunctional and old fashion family. She has been brought up to be emotionally retarded as she has not been allowed to be herself (a young girl) She has lived with these elderly people all her life, and does not have a clue how to act around a young man of her own age, clouding her judgment as to the young mans character. A very strange little book (it is only 150 pages long) and I can't say what I felt about it! Sad for the girl I think and angry about her upbringing, by people who really should not have had the responsibility of it. ( )