The three Sylvester women are big, blonde, beautiful and ebullient, married to big, dark, handsome men who never waste a word. The family farm in Devon is a cheerful, sunny, happy place until Stephen, the fourth and smallest Sylvester, makes a trip to Plymouth and returns with a thin little fiancee. It's the 1870s, and every summer the narrator, an eleven-year-old girl from London, a distant cousin, looks forward to her two month stay at the Sylvester farm. She writes lovingly about the sunny parlour, the crab-apple tree outside her bedroom window, and the brusque and affectionate Sylvester women. Everything changes when Fanny, Stephen's fiancee arrives. On the eve of her wedding she goes into a decline, takes over the parlour, demands quiet and makes everyone miserable except the narrator who, with a childish lack of judgement, has become Fanny's supporter. But in the end the narrator, a good-hearted busybody who doesn't understand what's going on, precipitates a crisis.

Another well-written, enjoyable book from Margery Sharp, with beautifully drawn female characters. ( )

This was a LOVELY read.
Narrated by an 11 year old girl (shades of the "Go Between") who looks forward all year to spending the holidays with her warm, loving aunts down on a Devon Farm. From her cold, repressed London home, the three women (married to three silent farmer brothers) represent an affectionate golden world.
Then the youngest brother brings his intended home...an ex-milliner, most unlike the other three. But as she awaits the nuptials...and meets his nephew....she falls into a state of decline, too frail to do anything but recline on the sofa and have friends over...
Torn between her love for her aunts...and for the new arrival, who seeks to make her her "little friend"- the narrator tries to decipher the adult machinations and to fix the awkward situation..
While I couldnt entirely believe in Ms Sharp's menfolk, I couldnt put it down! Utter delight. ( )

3.5 stars. This had its problems (the title is obviously one of them*) but the style is unparalleled--- told by an adult, but experienced as a child and the naive but wise, observational tone is lovely.

The rowdy, semi-dated family atmosphere brings a nostalgic feeling. Also enjoyable is the view of a family where women rule the manor/farm. It's not a normal period piece. Nor is it a unique story. But Sharp verbally illustrates it incredibly well.

*Title refers to hair color. The term's not even used in the book. But it's definitely one of the few issues with the book. ( )

A city child sent off to stay with country relatives for the summer---initially for her health, and annually thereafter because it was so convenient for her parents (whom we never meet)---finds her Amazon aunts and silent farmer uncles to be just what she needs, but when the youngest of her uncles picks a bride of a different tribe, the whole household gets thrown a bit off track for a time. Just delightful.
December 2019 ( )

1954. I greatly enjoyed this novel. Set mostly on a farm in Devonshire in the 1870s, and a bit in London near Kensington Gardens. It is about women trying to get married. The strong Sylvester women, led by Aunt Charlotte, are content on the farm until Fanny Davis comes along. She spends three years in a nervous, hysterical state on the couch in the parlour while conniving to take control of the farm by marrying the eldest son. The narrator is a niece who comes from London every summer. A keen observer of life on the farm and a willing meddler in grown up affairs. Women is Margery Sharp books are always very independent-minded and not necessarily going to do what's considered proper. There are six women in this one, all doing their own thing. Eventually it all works out for the best, but I was on the edge of my seat until the end. ( )