I spent a quiet New Year’s Eve in the company of an old friend: Hester Christie. With Mrs Tim Carries On by D.E. Stevenson in hand, I saw out 2012 and also finished my first reading of the Mrs Tim books, for this was the last one I had left to discover (even though I have only – so far – reviewed the last book in the series). Though it is not my favourite of the four, I still loved this dearly.
Like Mrs Tim of the Regiment, the first book in the series, Mrs Tim Carries On is based on Stevenson’s own diaries and experiences as a military wife. Published in 1941, it focuses on Hester Christie’s diaries from February to December 1940. It is Hester’s perspective as a career military wife in wartime that I found particularly fascinating here. When Hester is called on to break the news to another of the regimental wives that her husband has been killed, we hear nothing more about it. Hester knows – as do all these women – the dangers their husbands face, just as they know how excited the men are (especially the younger officers) to have a war to fight after years of uneventful peace. The women have spent their entire marriages dreading war but they are at least prepared for it in a way the civilian population never could be.
But being prepared does not make the awfulness of war any less miserable, just slightly easier to bear. When the novel begins, Tim is stationed in France but, unlike other members of the regiment, does not make it home after the evacuations at Dunkirk. Hester must go on for several months not knowing if he is dead or alive, trying to stay cheerful for Bryan and Betty (their two children) and, most importantly, for herself:
None of us could bear the war if we allowed ourselves to brood upon the wickedness of it and the misery it has entailed, so the only thing to do is not allow oneself to think about it seriously, but just to skitter about on the surface of life like a waterbeetle. In this way one can carry on and do one’s bit and remain moderately cheerful.
When she does finally break down, she finds “in some strange way it is a relief to give way to misery. It does nobody any harm, for there is nobody to see. Just for a few moments I can take off the mask of cheerfulness. Just for a few moments I can allow myself to think.“ But Tim, after some perilous adventures, does return and, surprisingly, remains present through the rest of the book.
Tim’s presence allows the reader to contrast the Christie’s happy marriage with the stressed one of their younger friends, the MacDougalls. Jack and Grace MacDougall are always squabbling, putting one another down, and longing for opposite things. They are both so selfish and it is easy to see why other regimental wives disapprove of Grace, who can barely manage to be kind to Hester, her closest friend and, it seems, only defender. Hester and Tim, on the other hand, have a marriage of equals, described repeatedly as a partnership. They love but never crowd one another. Hester notices the changes in Tim after his experience in France and Belgium and accepts that these will mean a certain adjustment in how they relate to one another:
Now that I have time to observe Tim, I have discovered what the difference in him really is – the ‘something new’ which I noticed in him on the night he arrived home. Up to now I have always felt that I was older than Tim – not older in years, of course, but older in spirit. I have felt that Tim was my junior partner, a sort of large child to be humoured and managed and loved, but now our relationship has changed and, all of a sudden, Tim is the elder. He has borne tremendous responsibilities; he has met and overcome desperate dangers, and in the course of a few weeks he has endured a lifetime of suffering. When this is understood it is easy to see why he seems older.
It is a marriage that can keep growing as both its partners grow – a lovely thing to see.
As the war begins in earnest, Hester records many of the ways life – both for her and her extended family – has been altered. In London, her brother and his wife must get used to air-raid sirens and almost daily devastation during the Blitz. In the Norfolk countryside, Tim’s uncle and aunt are enraged by the machine gunning of civilians in fields and in villages by German planes. More happily, there are also Hester’s descriptions of how the small Scottish town where Tim’s regiment is based handles the sudden and overwhelming influx of Polish refugees – both soldiers and civilians. It is enjoyable to hear how the town adapts itself (shops put up notices in Polish, bookstalls sell Polish newspapers) and befriends these new arrivals. The Poles are certainly very present in Hester’s home: her teenage friend Pinkie, who stays with the Christie’s for almost the entire book, gathers a few Polish admirers who she can converse with in French; Tim and one of the officers find that though they lack a common language they can act out fine discussions of strategy; and Bryan (only twelve years old) becomes great friends with one of the younger soldiers and spends his school holiday playing with him and trying to teach him English. These encounters and details felt much more natural than Hester’s southern excursion to London and Norfolk, which had a feeling of being shoehorned into the book to give a survey of how other regions were being impacted by the war. It was a little too “Hester Experiences the War for Benefit of Posterity”.
While the war intrudes every now and then, most of the book is focused on Hester’s day-to-day life which, as usual, involves delicately managing her friends’ affairs, taking on far too many voluntary roles within the regiment, and being amused/horrified by her children. Though times are obviously tense, there is still plenty of fun and, because this is Hester, humour. Bryan, who writes horribly spelt but still wonderful letters from school, and Betty, who is as blunt and forward as ever, provide much of the humour but, really, it comes down to Hester herself and her wonderful attitude to life. The world may be ending but she can still laugh at herself:
The experience of listening to someone else waxing lyrical over the good qualities of my offspring is unprecedented, and I cannot help thinking that Mary is an exceedingly perspicacious woman, and that her conversation is intensely interesting…but fortunately I am able to smile at myself…
I read a lot of D.E. Stevenson in 2012 but, as much as I enjoyed some of those books, Mrs Tim remains my favourite D.E.S. creation. I could never tire of her and now that I have finished reading the books for the first time, I look forward to many years of rereading them.
I think this is my favourite of the Mrs. Tim books.
It’s interesting to compare this book with the American movie, Since You Went Away, covering the same sort of events and time period and themes as MTCO, and even has some very similar characters (including names, to the extent that when I first saw the movie years ago, I wondered if it had been based on MTCO).
I think I am going to have to read the series through another three or four times before I pick a favourite. 😉 Right now, I’m leaning towards Mrs Tim Flies Home.
I have seen Since You Went Away several times but never thought to consider the similarities with this! There are characters named both Tony and a Tim, aren’t there?
I wasn’t a total fan of Miss Buncle and her village but Mrs Tim sounds far more rounded out and plausible a creation. Will have to keep an eye out for her. I seem to remember seeing lots of Stevenson books at the antiquarian book fair in York last time I was there. 🙂
I am not a fan of Miss Buncle either, Alex, but I adore Mrs Tim. She is much more interesting than Miss Buncle and has a lovely sense of humour. I am terribly jealous that you’ve found a source for Stevenson books since they are very hard to come by here!
I especially love DEStevenson’s books written during WWII, Mrs. Tim Carries On, Spring Magic, The Two Mrs. Abbotts, and The Four Graces for example. Remembering that these books were written during the war when the outcome wasn’t yet known adds to their strenght.
In Mrs. Tim Carries On, there is a poem that one character wrote about Dunkirk, obviously instead written by Stevenson herself, and I can’t read it without being brought to tears. Stevenson wrote several books of poems, including children’s poetry, also published during WWII, although the war itself doesn’t enter those poems.
I have only read a couple of Stevenson’s wartime books (this, Celia’s House and Listening Valley) but am looking forward to reading more. I loved Listening Valley; even though some of the wartime details (e.g. the least covert spy ever) felt a little silly, I though she did a wonderful job of describing how the villages and villagers near air force camps were impacted when the men went on raids.
I think you have some real treats coming, if you can find copies! While Celia’s House and Listening Valley have some WWII in them, they also have a lot of “Pre-war” back story. I like them, but really love the others, Spring Magic in particular.
The Two Mrs. Abbotts is actually the “third” Buncle Book. In some ways it is a rather strange book, since the people you meet in the first chapters sort of fall out of the story and the end focuses on other characters. But somehow it sort of flows and works for me in spite of the apparent flaws of construction.
The Four Graces touches on some of the characters from The Two Mrs Abbotts, but the main story is about a completely different family, the widowed Mr Grace, a minsiter and his four daughters. Mr. Grace gave a guest sermon in Mrs. Tim Flies Home,when the unpleasent preacher was away, and I think he may earn a mention in another DEStevenson book. One of the joys of reading her entire output is the many little connections between many of the books. A character not worked into an actual sequel may still appear or be mentioned to bring fans up to date, but not in such a way to harm the enjoyment of those who don’t know the slightly related books.
Is that the poem about Dunkirk being likened to the Red Sea Crossing in the Bible? Tony
2013 is going to be the year I finally get to D.E. Stevenson. I have Mrs. Tim of the Regiment and Miss Buncle’s Book on the TBR stacks – and I’m torn which to read first, especially after your reviews of the Mrs. Tim books (I hope the others are easy to get through ILL).
Wonderful news, Lisa! I think you should read Miss Buncle’s Book first and thereby save the best for last. 😉
I just read and enjoyed the Miss Buncle books, and this series sounds even better.
It is even better!
Great review, Claire. I must read more of the Mrs. Tim series – I’ve still only read the first one, and I had mixed feelings (loved the first half, which was basically a direct copy of the Provincial Lady, and found the second half dragged a bit) but I would definitely read more – especially to see how the marriage develops, which you make sound so interesting.
I think all of the books improve after the first one, Simon, so I do hope you push on with the series one day! You don’t see much of Tim in the books – he spends most of Mrs Tim Gets a Job in the Middle East and is in Africa through most of Mrs Tim Flies Home – but when he is with Hester, they actually do things together and seem to enjoy one another’s company. As much as I love the Provincial Lady, Robert seems to spend all his time hidden behind the paper and is rarely part of her life.
Well I’ve had the first Mrs. Tim on the shelf for 2 years now, so it will be floating its way to the top of the stack soon.
Wonderful, Susan! The first half of the first book is excellent, the second half less so, but it gives a good taste of what Mrs Tim is like.
I wasn’t sure why you found it surprising that Tim was around for the rest of the book. Once the British army had returned, however belatedly, from Dunkirk, it was a long while before the invasion of Europe, so unless the regiment had been sent to North Africa, it was quite likely that he would be.
Tim is largely absent from the action in the other books, so it was a surprise to see so much of him in this one, that’s all.
I love Captive Reader and I’m delighted that you are a D. E. Stevenson fan. I her books and have found several titles including Miss Buncle at my wonderful local secondhand bookstore. Many others are available through the book aggregator site ADDALL which has a good many listed – though the Mr Tim books seem to me to be remarkably expensive!
Right now, the only D.E.S. titles I own are the ones that have been reprinted recently: the Persephone editions of Miss Buncle’s Book and Miss Buncle Married and the Bloomsbury Group edition of Mrs Tim of the Regiment. I would love to have the other Mrs Tim books but, as you see, they are quite expensive! I think I’ll just keep my fingers crossed that someone will reprint them soon.
That should read Mrs Tim!
Further to my comment of Feb 5th, I have found, in an antique shop, a handwritten copy of a poem, headed “Dunkirk 1940” and signed (printed) D.E. Stevenson. This copy is hard to read as the writing is rather “flowery”. I would like to see the wording of the printed poem to compare, and if possible a copy of D E’s handwriting. any offers? Tony
[…] the Regiment, was reprinted a few years ago and is still readily available but the later volumes (Mrs Tim Carries On, Mrs Tim Gets a Job, and Mrs Tim Flies Home) can be harder to find. My inter-library loan system […]