📚The Mumsnet 'Rather Dated' Book Group - All welcome to join📚

[MotherofPearl]

Welcome to the Mumsnet 'Rather Dated' Book Group, where we read and discuss fiction from the 1930s to the 1990s that would have been described as 'contemporary' in its day.

The best introduction to the 'rather dated' concept would be to read the wonderful thread which inspired this group:

www.mumsnet.com/talk/what_were_reading/4596284-rather-dated?reply=119670989

To summarise, a number of posters expressed disappointment that literature of the 20th Century is often dismissed as 'rather dated' because society has moved on from many of the values and lifestyles described.

Previous posters decided to create a reading group where the literary merits of such fiction can be appreciated, with any 'rather dated' elements being a point of interest rather than a reason to dismiss a novel.

We read one book a month. Our first book, that inspired the original thread, was The Road to Lichfield by Penelope Lively. We have been going for about 18 months now, and each new book gets its own discussion thread, started on the first of the month.

Our March 2024 book is Penelope Fitzgerald's The Bookshop. We will begin the discussion of this on 1 April.

Please do join the thread whether you want to take part in the discussion or just place mark to follow it.

Fellow Rather Dated people, please add anything important I might have missed!

(With huge thanks to ImJustMadAboutSaffron for the original thread and idea).

I hope Antarcticant, who started the last thread, won’t mind that I’ve started this new one.

That's fine! I've found a copy of it on Internet Archive.

Great. Thanks all. I’ve ordered a second hand copy.

Same, AbeBooks to the rescue.

I'll be reading it there too, I think 😊

There was a time when a copy of The Loved and the Envied, in the old Reprint Society edition, was in every secondhand bookshop everywhere, along with A Many-Splendoured Thing by Han Suyin, and Gertrude Lawrence as Mrs A by Richard Aldrich. DH and I used to take bets on who'd be the first to spot it. But I don’t think I ever actually bought it!

Yep me too. Not read anything by her.

@Terpsichore now every charity shop has 50 shades of Grey, an assortment of Dan Browns, and the Salt Path.
We could probably also start a thread on library books of the 70s and 80s which you would never see on the shelves now as they’d be deemed unacceptable.

And here it is! Not the Reprint Society edition but the first edition from 1951. The dust jacket cover is quite bold for the time I think, illustration by Cecil Beaton.

Very nice, @Waawo. Thanks for sharing.
I'm about ten chapters in and enjoying it. It's very engaging. It takes unexpected twists and turns and I can't guess what's going to happen next. Also, the writing is really good.

My copy has not arrived yet but hopefully not long now!

I enjoyed it so much that I kept reading and finished it while ago.

I won't say what I liked about it yet.
I'm thinking of rereading and counting the references to Ruby's beautiful face out of curiosity.

Still waiting for my copy to arrive. I’ll have to speed read it. The library didn’t have a copy, which I find astonishing.

We can delay our discussion for a bit.

I’ve only just started it….

I've just finished. Certainly a lot to think about

My copy arrived today! I won’t be able to start it for a couple of days so don’t worry @StellaOlivettiyou are not the only one.

Very nice! There's no rush, take your time.
I hope you enjoy it.

Hi! I’ve found you via the Stella Gibbons thread. I’m currently reading Westwood by her, but will look out for The Loved and the Envied by Enid Bagnold and attempt to read it in time - do you have a deadline?

Sorry - The Loved and Envied - would help to get the book title right!

I’m half way through. I love it. I’ve been reading it in bed this morning and feeling weepy.

I took a while to get started and then initially struggled to get into it, but now I’m thoroughly enjoying The Loved and the Envied. I’m about a third of the way through.

@fuzzyif you want to start the discussion thread, please do. Don’t wait for me - I’m notoriously slow as we know and currently juggling a very busy time at work with having my house redecorated! I will join the discussion as soon as I can.

Hello everyone! I've started a thread for discussing 'The Loved and Envied'.
Looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts.

Welcome! We will begin to discuss it soon.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/what_were_reading/5543015-the-rather-dated-bookclub-enid-bagnolds-the-loved-and-envied

Hopefully a link to the thread.

It's nearly July and time to start thinking about our next book. All suggestions welcome!

Pied Piper by Nevil Shute. Set during WW2, an Englishman who is on holiday in France finds himself agreeing to take two French children back to the safety of England. Things don't go quite to plan, as the title of the book suggests. Heartwarming poignancy.