As we settle into autumn here, with the days growing shorter and the rain falling all day and all night, it is undoubtedly the time to start picking up cosy books to be read by the fireside. Penny Plain by O. Douglas, if you haven’t read it yet, would be a perfect choice.
At twenty-three, Jean Jardine is entirely responsible for her two teenage brothers and one younger, adopted brother. She keeps their tiny cottage in the small Scottish town of Priorsford as warm and as welcoming as you could wish a home to be, despite their limited funds. Though she hardly considers it, hers is a life of duty: she always puts others before herself, patiently and generously giving her time and energy to her family and neighbours. When Pamela, an aristocratic Englishwoman in her early forties, comes to stay on holiday near Jean, she immediately recognizes the younger woman’s sterling qualities and strikes up a warm friendship with her. Pamela quickly identifies herself as worthy of our respect after proving that she shares her new friend’s passion for reading:
‘I needn’t ask if you are fond of reading,’ Pamela said.
‘Much too fond,’ Jean confessed. ‘I’m a ‘rake at reading’.’
‘You know the people,’ said Pamela, ‘who say, ‘Of course I love reading, but I’ve no time, alas!’ As if everyone who loves reading doesn’t make the time.’
Pamela dreams of using her own wealth to help Jean see more of the world and to give her a bit of pleasure after years of necessary servitude. And when Pamela’s brother Lord Bidborough arrives he is even more entranced.
There is something very old and staid about Jean – far too old for a girl of twenty-three – that makes her unusually appealing. Yes, I admire an energetic do-gooder brimming with happiness and optimism as much as the next person but Jean is better than that: she is steady, reliable and deeply responsible. This is exactly what her brothers need her to be but she has not made herself over for their convenience: this is who she is. As she complains to Pamela,
‘I never know why people talk so much about youth. What does being young matter if you’re awkward and dull and shy as well? I’d far rather be middle-aged and interesting.’
Jean isn’t precisely charming nor is she winsome (those are adjectives I’d probably reserve for Pamela) but, better than that, she is sensible. There is something very refreshing about a heroine who you can respect, of whom you can think “yes, this is someone I would trust completely.” And she is very, very good without somehow being insufferable. Anyone who she encounters is sure to be met with kindness, from the lowliest beggar to the loftiest millionaire. This is precisely how Jean finds herself with a large and very surprising inheritance that changes her circumstances dramatically.
Penny Plain is a sweet book in the very best sense of the word. It is not challenging or ground-breaking and the characters are not original or even particularly memorable. But as you read you feel wrapped up in their world, in the cosy but occasionally cloying community of Priorsford and, more specifically, in the close-knit Jardine family. Jean’s fairy tale is quite straightforward – there is an upright hero as well as a mysterious benefactor and a sort-of fairy godmother – but it is immensely satisfying. As much as I love witty quips and sharp satirical observations, sometimes a sentimental story simply told is just what I need. This is an ideal comfort read, the perfect book to be read next to a fire on a cold, wet night, curled up under a blanket, with tea close at hand.
The sequel, on the other hand, is less impressive. Priorsford came out in 1932 and picks up the story of Jean and her family a decade after the events of Penny Plain. With her husband out of the country for an extended period of time, Jean (now living in England) packs up her children and heads north to Scotland. It has been a while since I read this and I can remember absolutely nothing about it. Actually, that’s not true: I do remember a surprising amount about Jean’s husband’s travels but that is far from the focus of the novel. What goes on in Priorsford has completely faded from my mind, though I’m sure it was very pleasant and inoffensive. Suffice it to say, the sequel doesn’t exactly improve on the original.
The Captive Reader 
I’m going to add this to my wish list, although I’m quite sure I won’t be able to find a library copy. **sigh** The older gems are often so hard to find.
Debbie, I’m not sure what your thoughts are about ebooks but Penny Plain, since it was published in 1920, is available via Project Gutenberg. Greyladies Books in Edinburgh has been reprinting a number of O. Douglas’s other books in recent years (Eliza for Common, Pink Sugar, The Proper Place, The Day of Small Things) but not these ones – yet.
Penny Plain was my introduction to O. Douglas, and I re-read it with quiet pleasure numerous times before discovering via the wonderful world of the book blogging community that it was merely one of a number of similar stories by this author.
I did acquire Priorsford this summer, but only dipped into it before setting it aside; I do intend to continue at some point, but my initial impression was as yours, Claire, not quite as immediately gripping as some of the other O. Douglas stories.
My favourite so far remains The Proper Place and its sequels, The Day of Small Things and Jane’s Parlour.
It’s grand that O. Douglas has a number of works published through Gutenberg, and if all else fails I use that as a reading resource, but there’s still nothing quite like a “paper” book for true reading enjoyment, especially an obviously well-read “vintage” volume! My poor Penny Plain was a bit tired when I acquired it; I have since read the covers right off it, rather to my shame, but if a book must “go”, what better way?! 🙂
Penny Plain was only the second O. Douglas book I read and, after not particularly enjoying Eliza for Common, it was exciting to discover that yes, I do really like her work! Right now, I’d have to say my favourites of her books are Taken by the Hand, Olivia in India, and, of course, The Proper Place.
I’m nearly finished reading Penny Plain myself, having started it several days ago. My copy is a 1923 edition (19th printing, or thereabouts) from Hodder and Stroughton, with very very very brown brittle pages and a weak-at-the-knees cover. It’s been on my shelves (unread) forever, acquired in the dim murky past at some sale or other, where it sat until just recently when I started hearing about O. Douglas (through the Dessies and Leaves and Pages) and began acquiring a few of her books here and there.
Before beginning reading PP, however, I had to spruce it up in a new dress, so made a facsimile jacket from this delectable picture.
Besides being pretty, it helps hold it together.
I’m enjoying Penny Plain immensely. Priorsford (with another lovely jacket) is on its way to me from over the sea, so I expect it soonish.
I started reading O. Douglas and DES in earnest at around the same time, Susan, so they will forever be linked in my mind! Their type of book or at least the purpose their books serve for readers is so similar that I can’t help comparing them. Most of the time, I think DES does it better (she wins major points for not including pages and pages of dialogue from characters with heavy Scottish accents) but I still really enjoy O. Douglas’ books, especially the ones I mention above in my response to Barb – Taken By the Hand, The Proper Place, and Olivia in India. I am so pleased that you’re enjoying Penny Plain (and what a wonderful cover picture you’ve used for your DIY dustjacket!) and know you will love Douglas’ other books even more!
Oh – nice cover! Good find.
Penny Plain sounds like a delightfully cosy book! I love the quote about loving reading and time for it.
It’s interesting that she de-glorifies youth, in a way. I don’t yearn for middle age exactly, but over the last several years I’ve felt as though I increasingly have grown into my age, though I’m still quite young. It’s always fascinating to come across an old for her age character and I think that you find fewer of those characters by the time they’re in their early twenties. (I can think of many, many books about old for their age or wise for their years six or eight year olds, and some about restless teenagers, but by a certain age, those traits tend to disappear.)
Thanks for the review; I’ll have to add this book to my list of those to keep in mind when I’m looking for something to read.
O. Douglas’ characters are always reading and talking about books – it is part of what makes her books so enjoyable! Here, Jean is a great Shakespeare admirer and there is a trip to Stratford-upon-Avon towards the end of the novel so she can visit the birthplace of her favourite author. Who doesn’t appreciate some literary tourism?
I think your point about there not being a lot of old-for-his/her-age young adult characters in comparison to a surplus of precocious children is a very interesting one, Jordan. They seem to show up more in these kind of comfort-read novels (particularly books from the 1920s through to the early 1950s) than in modern literary fiction. But there are still lots of examples in classic novels, so we have that at least! Trollope seems to have written quite a few young women wise beyond their years and Mrs Gaskell’s two most famous heroines – Margaret Hale and Molly Gibson – are both unusually sober compared to their companions.
We’ll always have Gaskell! (The more I read of, and about, her, the more I continue to be impressed.)
My library didn’t have a copy, and my usual online sources had only expensive copies available, so I was very happy to see a free Kindle edition!
Yes, e-book to the rescue! Enjoy!