If I could choose a novel to live in, Greenery Street by Denis Mackail would be as perfect a choice as any. Do other readers do this? Flip through novel after novel, auditioning characters, settings, and plotlines in search of that combination which suits them best, a sort of literary Goldilocks? But how could you not want to live in a world with such sweet young residents as Ian and Felicity Foster of Number Twenty-three, Greenery Street?
Like most well-loved comfort reads (which this certainly is), Greenery Street isn’t about anything in particular. It is a simple and delightful chronicle of the first year of a marriage, full of humour and affection. How often do we see happy marriages in fiction? Happy courtships most certainly, but so many novels dealing with married life seem to revolve around infidelities, abuse, or depression. Cheerful stuff. So to see a novel that celebrates the married state, revealing in its benefits to both partners, is most encouraging.
I found Ian, the husband, to be a particularly touching character for his close resemblance to so many young males of my acquaintance. His appalled reaction to Felicity’s revelation that she does in fact want to have children, despite her having insisted otherwise during their courtship, was identical to that of some of my newly married friends (and, I am assured, of my doting father who, when he married my mother at the age of twenty-two, was certain he did not want children). And even if Ian hadn’t endeared himself to me after his marriage (which he did, time and again), I think I would have remained fond of him for his enthusiasm and awkwardness on first dining with Felicity’s parents.
I must admit that I initially harboured some contempt towards Felicity for her inability to balance her chequebook but she really is a loveable creature and, like Ian, I couldn’t find it in me to stay mad at her for long. Instead, I choose to blame her mother for this omission in Felicity’s education – a much more satisfactory conclusion. Felicity’s cataloging of Ian-related knowledge over the first months of the marriage felt so very true to the behaviour of a new wife coming to terms with her husband and cohabitant, a very different and more complex creature than the young man who courted her. Felicity is also the source of some rather comical maxims, stemming from her deep maturity and knowledge as a married woman and remarked on with amusement by the narrator:
‘…if I had a daughter and she got married, I should say: “now, then, my dear; I’ll tell you anything that you really want to know, but otherwise I’m not going to ask you any questions or give you any advice at all.”’
Would you really, Felicity? What an extremely remarkable mother you would be. (p.92)
I am intensely jealous of her though. I would dearly love to believe that after I marry my days will consist of lunching with my mother, giving directions to the servants, and visiting the library but, tragically, modern realities intrude. Married or not, my life is most likely to resemble Ian’s daily grind in the City. In fact, Mackail’s description of Ian’s work life sounds remarkably familiar:
In the course of three years he had learnt enough to be able to do nearly all the work of the man immediately above him, and to make the man immediately below him do almost all the work that he was supposed to do himself. This system is known as ‘efficient co-ordination’, and carried to its logical conclusion implies that the head of the firm does no work at all, and that the junior office boy is ultimately responsible for everything. Roughly speaking, this sums up the position in any smooth-running organization. (p.19)
From beginning to end, I was charmed by the Fosters and their dear house on Greenery Street. All the delights of finding and setting up their first home together (and the less delightful task of paying off the related bills), of learning one another’s quirks and habits, and of dealing or, as the case may be, not dealing with disciplining the servants could not have been read with more amusement or interest. Knowing, as the narrator forewarns us, that any couple’s time in Greenery Street is limited – those charming homes so well-suited for couples proving not quite equal to the housing of hopeful families – made the novel more precious, for even as I anticipated the announcement of a young Foster I couldn’t help but lament what his or her arrival would mean for Ian and Felicity and their beloved first home.
The Persephone foreword assures me that there are not one but two sequels to Greenery Street: Tales from Greenery Street and Ian and Felicity. Has anyone managed to track copies of these down? I’ve fallen rather in love with Denis Mackail based both on this book and on Rebecca Cohen’s description of him as a shy but loyal man, bullied by his elder sister (Angela Thirkell), devoted to his wife, and considered by P.G. Wodehouse to be a ‘genius’, and feel I must read more of his works.
The Captive Reader 
What a beautiful cover – I have the persephone edition. I never read the foreword (I think I read it initially in another edition) so never new about the sequels – must try to find them!
I have the Persephone edition as well but this cover is so much more exciting than the plain grey. I only went back and read the foreword after I finished the novel, which is always so much more interesting than reading it beforehand!
The elusive sequels must be found!
Sounds like another Persephone that is going on my list. I hope you do manage to find the sequels!
Yes! Put it at the top of your list!
I LOVE this book. So warm and lovely despite the annoying wealth and privilege of the characters. Personally I thought Felicity’s life sounded a little aimless…no wonder they have children so soon on Greenery Street – something for the little wives to do!
The sequels are terribly hard to find and ruinously expensive- I nearly cracked and bought one a while back but couldn’t justify the expense. I’d love to read them though!
I (obviously) was not bothered by the Fosters’ ‘annoying wealth and privilege’ but then those are things I rather appreciate rather than revile. To each their own!
As for ruinously expensive, how expensive are we talking? I’ve seen some copies online in the $60-70 (Cdn) range which, while expensive, isn’t necessarily outrageous. We’ll see if I cave eventually. Definitely time to start writing letters to urge Persephone to publish both of them!
I love your opening line – there could be nothing better than a novel to live in! After reading about this book here and in other places, I can’t tell you how much I want to read it … but this is one of the few books that I’ve ever searched our library system for and not found. I guess I’ll have to wait for my someday trip to Persephone Books. 🙂
(And I thought he must be connected someone to my beloved Angela Thirkell, now I know how!)
Whether you wait to actually visit the Persephone shop or purchase the book online (as I did, my library also not being particularly useful when it comes to readily supplying titles from our favourite publisher), I’d definitely recommend getting a hold of this one! It’s certainly not a purchase I regret!
For those new to Thirkell, where would you recommend starting?
I’m reading ‘Greenery Street’ at the moment. And I’m also a Thirkell newbie – I read (and thoroughly enjoyed) ‘High Rising’ last month and will read ‘Wild Strawberries’ next.
My library’s collection of Thirkell seems to be rather sparse. Even worse, some titles will appear in the catalogue but when you go to look where the copies are it will say ‘NONE’. Well done library!
Hope you’re enjoying Greenery Street!
This sounds absolutely adorable. I agree, there are far too few books about happy marriages. And yes, I sometimes think that as much as I enjoy many books, I don’t know that I would want to live in all of them!
Adorable is certainly the right word. I think you’d love this one.
Ah, this one will move up to the top of my Persephone wishlist. I wonder if Persephone has any plans to publish the sequels? Maybe if enough people politely ask (and they aren’t protected or owned by some other pub. house)? We can hope. Thanks for the review. I love books with “good” marriages portrayed as well.
Greenery Street is absolutely deserving of being at the top of your wishlist. At least Persephone makes Christmas shopping easy for our loved ones!
We can certainly hope that the sequels are being considered for future publication – and write many, many letters begging that they be!
I love walking along King’s Road and peering along what is ‘Greenery street’. I read it on honeymoon and it was the most perfect time to read it. I didn’t know that there were sequels but as they’re expensive and hard to find I shall try and forget this piece of information.
A honeymoon would be the perfect time to read this. I’m actually rather jealous of you for having read it at such a serendipitous moment!
This sounds like a delightful book – I had never heard of it before. And yes, there’s part of me jealous about women in books who spend their days ‘making calls’ and such, especially after I’ve had a particularly drudgery day of work.
It is a delightful book – I’m glad to be able to bring it to your attention!
Greenery Street sounds lovely and refreshing–a happy marriage? Wonderful! It sounds like a good book to pick up when you need a break both from life and from the usual sort of novel out there today.
It is the perfect book to take you away from your troubles and any depressing fiction that might have been troubling you recently. I read it while sick and it was a perfect comfort during that time!
It’s lovely, isn’t it? And what a lovely review too. My favourite bit is the exchange Felicity has in the library – I think it might be quoted in A Very Great Profession. I read it back in 2004, and have been keen to find the sequels – but to no avail. One day I might sit in the Bodleian and read them…
At least you know the sequels are near at hand in the Bodleian for when you get desperate!
Greenery Street is the Persephone-I-am-currently-coveting-most; I am DESPERATE to read it! I was -at the influence of Joan Hunter Dunn- going to wait to read them on my honeymoon, whenever that may be, but I don’t think I can hold out any longer… your review may have finally pushed me over the edge!
On the plus side, my local library resource centre has BOTH sequels so all I need to do is pay the 50p request charges for each.
As lovely as it would be to read on a honeymoon, it really is too good to put off for long! Really, you must read it so that you can then read and review the sequels which none of the other Greenery Street enthusiasts seem to have access to! We’ll have to live vicariously through you!
Hee hee. I have to share this. I typed in Greenery Street at the Toronto Public Library catalogue, and got 5 hits. All of them swing or jazz recordings, such as The Best of Mel Tormé and Forever Ella. Clearly there’s some hidden link.
But no book by Denis Mackail.
Hahaha, that is funny. The Calgary library doesn’t even come up with that much!
This sounds sweet. I am kind of in the market for a sweet book, so I am adding this to my list! You’re right – there aren’t nearly enough portrayals of happy marriages in literature.
It’s definitely a very sweet book! If that’s what you’re looking for, I couldn’t recommend this more!
[…] had, due to reviews by Claire (The Captive Reader) and Karenlibrarian at Books and Chocolate, are Greenery Street and Miss Buncle’s Book. My library is pretty good at ordering books upon request though, so […]
Tales of Greenery Street is about a variety of people who live in several houses on the street. I didn’t know about the other two books until I stumbled ion this site.. I got the Tales… book from my library’s interlibrary loan system.It wasn’t in the county system, so they searched regionally, found it , and had it sent to my library in Pittsburgh. I like to get a lot of out-of-print books this way. I order and renew them online, too.
I was interested to hear that Denis Mackail was Angela Thirkell’s brother, especially after rereading some of her books recently and a book about her grandmother and great aunts called Circle of Systers. (The four MacDonald sisters either married someone famous, or had a famous son, among them, several famous painters, Rudyard Kipling and a British prime minister.) Maybe you have already reveiwed it on your site.
Have you read the books by Lady Winifred Fortescue? Perfume from Provence and Sunset House tell about her fixing up houses in Provence in the 1930s. She must have been the first one to write about it! She wrote about 4-5 other books, spanning WW I and II that are most interesting. There’s Rosemary, There’s Rue and Trampled Lilies are two of my favorites.
[…] years, I have been looking forward to Tales from Greenery Street by Denis Mackail. Mackail’s Greenery Street, which I first read back in 2010 and which remains one of my favourite Persephone titles, is a […]
[…] letter was the one below, written to Denis Mackail on the publication of the entirely wonderful Greenery Street (still one of my favourite Persephone titles). Whatever issues I may have with Wodehouse, his […]