As it’s International Women’s Day, the British Library publishing team have been putting an especial focus on the Women Writers series today – hurrah! And that has culminated in unveiling the next two books in the series. They’ll be coming out in May, so there’s a couple months to wait – but it’ll be worth it, promise.
Tension by E.M. Delafield
This is one of EMD’s very best novels, in my opinion. I recommended it because I love Delafield and feel the series definitely needed something by her – and this one shows her funny and thoughtful sides perfectly. It was written a decade before the Provincial Lady, and the tension at the heart of it is rumours that a new typist at a school might have an affair with one of the teachers. It has a lot to say about rumours and morality, but it’s also a delight – look out for bohemian author Iris and her novel Why, Ben!, and two of the most life-like and irritating children in fiction.
Mamma by Diana Tutton
It’s no secret that I adore Tutton’s Guard Your Daughters, and was delighted when Persephone reprinted it – partly, I think, on my recommendation. While that is undoubtedly her masterpiece, she was not a one-trick pony. Mamma is about a widowed woman, Joanna, inviting her adult daughter Libby to live with her – and, of course, she brings her husband too. Steven is much closer to Joanna’s age than Libby’s, and they also discover they have a great deal in common. The prospect of an illicit love affair looms…
I’m really delighted that these two are coming out in the series, as both are quite hard to get hold of at the moment and deserve a far wider audience. Watch this space!