When I am in the midst of reading something by Stevenson, I think she’s one of my favourite authors.

This was written -- and set -- early in WWII. It is about Frances, a young woman visiting Cairn, a Scottish fishing village. Frances has never had a holiday before; she had a lonely, old-fashioned, book-ish childhood, and then took over keeping house for her aunt and uncle. Her trip to Cairn is an opportunity to think about what she wants from life, and to mix with people her own age.

She meets a trio of officers’ wives who are looking for accommodation, as their husbands’ battalion is to camp at Cairn. Stevenson was herself an officer’s wife and it’s clear that she’s writing about sorts of people she understands well -- they’re so lively and they have amusing and interesting things to say about themselves and their experiences. And for Frances, they provide different portraits of being mothers and/or wives, and of the way shared circumstances can bonds people with different personalities together.

I enjoyed the evocative and insightful descriptions of people and places, and the way the story offers both an escape from -- and yet also a sharp reminder of -- the realities of wartime.

[Tommy] was elaborating her fairy story about the Princess Carginamel and everyone was listening.
“She was a very clever princess,” declared Tommy. “She ran her kingdom awfully well. It was a benevolent autocracy.”
“That’s a good one, Tommy.”
“Yes, isn’t it?” Tommy agreed. “She made all the laws and tried all the criminals herself. That kept her pretty busy, of course, but she was never late for anything. She--”
There was a storm of protest at this point in the narrative -- it was led by the three husbands.
“She wasn’t human,” Major Liston declared.
“Of course not,” cried Tommy, raising her voice above the din. “Haven’t I just told you she was a fairy princess? [...]”

That particular conversation set me thinking about how previous generations, in the days before television and the internet, entertained their friends and acquaintances. People still entertain each other, of course, and the ability of amusing at small gatherings is still valued, I just suspect it isn’t valued in the same way.

Another thing which set me thinking was the portrayal of an unpleasant character who is described with more than a touch racial prejudice. It’s a choice which seemed so unnecessary, especially given that Stevenson’s other books demonstrate that she was well aware that people who are white and British are capable of behaving badly! But not all of her books were written during a war. By implying that he wasn’t fully British, was she trying to -- either consciously or unconsciously -- disassociate this character from all those brave Englishmen currently fighting for their country, so as not to unpatriotically malign them by association? I don’t think it makes the racist undertones any more palatable (of course). But I wondered. ( )

D E Stevenson is so wonderful! I love these old fashioned stories. Great characters, superb sense of place. I just fall in, relax and enjoy. A lovely visit to another time and another world. Quite the page turner this one! ( )

One of D.E Stevenson's good ones... she's not always consistent in the quality of her books, and I'd hit a few I wasn't thrilled with, but this is a rather nice return to form.
Frances Field has been living with her uncle and aunt for most of her life, and she is an invisible, colorless sort of person. She is a slave to her aunt's whims, until one day a doctor casually reveals that her aunt is not really ill, just lazy, and Frances really should go away on holiday and find some time to enjoy herself. Suddenly Frances wants nothing more, and before you know it she's packed her bags for Cairn, Scotland, a place she saw once in a picture. (That's all it takes in books like these... an inkling of a good idea, and voilà! kindred spirits must follow!)
Cairn is a very quiet coastal village... until, that is, a battalion of soldiers shows up. (This is the middle of World War II.) They set up camp, and their wives follow. Frances makes friends with a few of the women, and suddenly finds herself in the middle of more excitement than she's ever known before. Some of it's good, some of it's stressful. Frances has an enjoyable voice as one who mostly observes and is only just beginning to participate in life. Overall this is a very enjoyable, relaxing, fast read. ( )

Frances was orphaned at four-years-old and brought up by her aunt and uncle. She's been educated by governesses, has never left London, has never had a friend, and now at 25 is looking after her hypochondriac aunt and managing the house with too few servants. Oh, the servant problem! The aunt has refused to leave London, despite the Blitz, but when a bomb lands nearby she stirs herself to move to the country. Frances manages to assert herself by refusing to go with her. Instead, she travels to a Scottish seaside village for her first ever holiday. She gets to know the locals, and makes friends with some army wives and their husbands.

Spring Magic starts very slowly with lots of landscape and lots of Scottish history, and I didn't warm to Frances. What's interesting is that the book was published in 1942, and was written during the blitz. Soldiers are camped nearby; army wives are searching for accommodation; there's a training manoeuvre involving the army and the civil defence; the village turns out to watch a dogfight over the ocean. These descriptions of life in WWII, from someone who was there, are what make the book worth reading. ( )