Notes of Cheer - April: Eight Mid-20th Century Novels To Read In Springtime

Uplifting reading in a wonky old world. Plus cheering things to watch, buy and do.

Hello. How are you?

Did you get a rest over Easter? Are you full of chocolate? I am. It’s not due to Easter eggs, it’s just one of those things. As I write this I’m contemplating having a chocolate mousse.

Anyway, welcome to April’s newsletter - which comes hard on the heels of last month’s as I’m trying to get into a start of the month routine. Get me!

I don’t have tons of real news so I’ve decided to do a Spring Reading List which I really hope you’ll like. I love a list. This one consists of eight novels written in the mid-C20th that I reckon are the right sort of thing for this time of year. And also when it feels as if the world has gone nuts. Some are set in the spring, some of them start in the spring, and some are purely cheerful and feel right for the spring.

There are old favourites and others that are new to me and I’d love to know what you think. And do share your go-to novels from this era in the comments below. The mid-C20th novels you recommend to anyone looking for a shot of joy, comfort or cheer. Bring on the bloomscrolling!

OK, off we go. (It’s a long one so if you’re reading this on email, click on the title at the top for your improved viewing pleasure).

First, one of my absolute go-to authors on the joy front:

Mrs Tim Gets A Job - D.E. Stevenson

It’s actually the law in this town that all lists have to have at least one D.E Stevenson novel in them, as she is one of my all-time favourite authors. Mrs Tim Gets A Job (1947) is perfect for a spring read as it’s set from February to April, but most of all because it is full of the warmth, intelligence and wit that is trademark DES.

It’s the third in the series and with the war over but her husband still away serving in Egypt, Hester Christie gets a job running a hotel for the fearsome Erica Clutterbuck.

Written in diary form as with all the Mrs Tims, MTGAJ is full of joys including the rude (and also excellent) Erica, a succession of lovable army officers (“Gorgeous night!” exclaims Adam, sniffing the air like a young warhorse.) (Which is one of my favourite lines ever), and Hester’s jolly friend Pinkie Loudon who holds a firm view on the decision to take on gainful employment:

“I can’t imagine you doing a job, Hester. Honestly, I can’t. What sort of things will you have to do?”

“I shall just do what I’m told.”

“It sounds frightful,” says Pinkie.

My kind of friend.

My kind of novel.

It’s a total cheer up, and with those subtle reminders of the grimness of war that Stevenson is so very good at in her wartime novels.

I love it.

The Diary of a Provincial Lady - EM Delafield

First published 1930, The Diary of a Provincial Lady is the perfect cheer up. Funny, escapist and an absolute classic both in general and within the genre of self-deprecating, I Can Barely Cope With Tying My Own Shoes characters who are actually completely competent and brilliant to be around, and you’d very much like to be their friend.

And occasionally highly relatable, too. This entry is from March:

Bank Manager kind, but if he says the word ‘security’ once, he certainly says it twenty times…Eventually emerge into the street with purpose accomplished, but feeling completely unstrung for the day. Rose is kindness personified, produces Bovril and an excellent lunch, and agrees with me that it is All Nonsense to say that Wealth wouldn’t mean Happiness, because we know quite well that it would.

Hard agree. I am of the view that the only people who say that WWMH are rich ones with no imagination. They could very easily give half their money to a dog and cat rescue* which is guaranteed to make anyone happy and if it doesn’t they’ve only themselves to blame. (I realise this is a stern view but there we are).

*Other species, humans included, also vg re giving away rich people’s money.

Anyway, TDOAPL is a classic and rightly so. And Rose is clearly an excellent friend other than I don’t like Bovril.

Cider with Rosie - Laurie Lee

Full disclosure - I’ve only just read Cider with Rosie (1959), which means I’ve missed out on half a lifetime when I could have been reading pure joy on repeat. I’m an idiot! Laurie Lee’s memoir of his childhood in rural Gloucestershire is so beautiful. The writing! Ach. I don’t know why I even bother to try. I may give up and just read.

Beginning in 1919 when he is three, it is of course such a hugely different world, but while bucolic in part, it doesn’t shy away from the hardships, cruelty and tragedies of its time.

I’ve found myself reading it out loud. Passages that are as much a treat to say, as to read.

The scullery was water, where the old pump stood. And it had everything else that was related to water: thick steam of Mondays edgy with starch; soapsuds boiling, bellying and popping, creaking and whispering, rainbowed with light and winking with a million windows. Bubble bubble, toil and grumble, rinsing and slapping of sheets and shirts, and panting Mother rowing her red arms like oars in the steaming waves.

Beautiful.

I’m so glad I didn’t read this at school as lots of my peers had to. It was bad enough that our teacher put tons of us off Austen, Waugh and Durrell. (I know - it’s a scandal). I may have taken far too many years to find Cider With Rosie, but my word, better late than never.

The Easter Party - Vita Sackville-West

As far as I can see The Easter Party (1953) is out of print - which is odd as I think it’s a really interesting novel. (The gorgeous image is of a US first edition but you can find copies for less than £10 online). It’s definitely not a thighslapper like some of the others here, but I really enjoyed it. (And it has Easter in the title which is why it’s here).

I came across it when I was searching for new ideas for this list and I think it’s ripe for re-publishing. It’s set over the bank holiday weekend, when Rose Mortibois, who is in a (supposedly) voluntarily loveless marriage to Sir Walter, holds a house party at their country mansion. Invited are her far poorer but happier sister with her family, outrageous socialite Lady Quarles, and Walter’s enigmatic brain surgeon brother, Gilbert.

So far, so posh, but it’s more interesting than that, delving into appearances, happiness, and what, if anything, matters to people the most. Rose’s life is the quintessential gilded cage, Svend the dog is important enough to be the only character to get a photo at the start of the novel, Gilbert spontaneously defines athiesm (as you do), and there’s a shocking scene that had me wanting to write someone a very stiff letter. I’d love it as a book club read as it might well divide the room (it certainly does on Goodreads) and there’s loads to dig into. So you could spend a tenner and then give it to a friend.

Have you read it? If so, do leave me a comment telling me what you think.

The Enchanted April - Elizabeth von Arnim

I have a feeling I am going to include The Enchanted April (1922) in every list of recommended novels I ever write. I know it appears in loads. And rightly so.

Four women from very different backgrounds leave their (in some cases distinctly unenchanting) normal lives to go on holiday to an Italian villa on the Riviera. Which may be normal now, but certainly wasn’t back then.

Here, and in the most beautiful-to-read-about surroundings, they slowly find what they didn’t even know they wanted to find. Over a hundred years after publication it still feels hugely relevant.

If you haven’t read it but are reading this newsletter on a rainy April day when it feels as if spring will never actually stay for more than five seconds, then this is the novel for you. And if you have read it, then I bet you love it as much as I do. I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t. It’s like a holiday without having to pack. A delight.

Oh, and if you’re a fan of special editions, there have been tons of different editions over the years - all with increasingly lovely packaging. You could collect them all which would be lovely.

Onwards!

The Roman Spring of Mrs Stone by Tennesse Williams

The Roman Spring of Mrs Stone (1950) is another novel I came across for this list, and very happily so.

Mrs Stone is a very beautiful, very rich American actress whose success has largely been defined by her beauty rather than talent. Widowed and middle-aged, she has retired to Italy to avoid scrutiny as her looks fade (at least in the eyes of a youth-obsessed world), where a very unpleasant Contessa sets her up with the beautiful and self-infatuated gigalo, Paolo.

He’s the sort of bloke who looks over your shoulder at a party when he’s talking to you in case someone more important turns up, and whose main hobby is admiring himself in anything shiny, even if it’s only the back of a spoon. Dreadful.

Anyway, it’s a cracking exploration of beauty, dignity and self-respect, and in 2026 feels even more relevant as Mrs Stone struggles with aging in the public eye (and she’s only fifty!). She moves from a hotel as American tourists keep spotting her before she can put on her dark glasses and I couldn’t help but think of what it must be like now that everyone has a camera on their phone. No wonder there is such an insane amount of cosmetic ‘enhancing’ now. The pressure must be awful.

So yes, I really enjoyed TRSOMS especially with this in mind. (It’s also very short - 117 pages so you can feel you’ve Achieved Something in an afternoon). Mind you, I could have thrown Paolo over the balconey he is so fond of posing on. Show some respect, Sunshine, and also, get a proper job. Grrr.

Onwards!

Cheerfulness Breaks In by Angela Thirkell

If you read last month’s newsletter you’ll know I’m a Thirkell fan as are masses of people (thank you to everyone who left comments!), so I thought I’d include one of my favourites here. This one begins in June 1939 which astronomically is still spring so it’s legitimately, as well as cheer-wise, allowed on the list.

Cheerfulness Breaks In is daft, frothy and funny. As war looms, mad as a spoon Rose Birkett gets married to the brave (mainly for marrying her) Lt. Fairweather while the village prepares for war and with it the arrival of children from London.

As a social comedy published in 1940 it also very purposefully underplays anything about the possibility of war (“..if it came to a scrap…”), while wildly overplaying the importance of anything else, (“As for the bridegroom’s parents they were both dead, which simplified everything very much.”).

There is snobbery about the evacuees which is telling, and optimistic romance which is lovely. Personally, I couldn’t be happier than when a character says goodbye to a man she’s clearly mad about, and rather than actually telling him, just “crushed his hand to a jelly” before striding off.

He, of course, is already weak at the knees about her. Adorable! Will they get together? Well, what do you think?! Further firm handshakes required.

Storm in the Village by Miss Read

I’ve just started Storm in the Village which is the third of the Fairacre novels about a village school mistress, and promises to be a quiet and gentle balm which is no bad thing currently.

It was first published in 1958 and the plot is centred on plans for a new estate which means the village is having to face the prospect of New Homes, and I assume, Londoners. The horror! (I say that with tongue firmly in cheek as I’m from a London over-sprill family). Miss Jackson falls for a chap with a reputation for being “a bad lot with women” and the flower show causes consternation among the carrot entrants.

I am totally here for all this. If the worst that happens is Mr Willet falling out with Mrs Pringle over her onions then that’s about enough controversy your correspondent can handle at this current time. Who’s with me? I’ve enjoyed other Miss Read novels and this one makes happy escapist reading too.

So, there we have it. Eight suggestions for a cheerfing read. What do you think? As I say, do let me know your own favourite mid-century novels that fit a similar bill. I’d love to hear about them.

This has been a marathon so just time for a quick round up of some random nice stuff I’ve been enjoying recently:

Where Things Are Mostly Cheerful

• Still on the spring theme: are the birds singing in your garden? Embarrassed that you wouldn’t know the call of a Willow Warbler if asked? The Woodland Trust’s Bird Song and Call Identifier for Beginners is a list of lovely bird noises. Jaunty!

• The Other Bennett Sister. I know - : everyone is talking about it. But isn’t it lovely? I laughed, I cried, I shouted, ‘COME ON, MARY,’ and, ‘GET ON WITH IT, TOM,’ and, ‘WELL DONE, MRS GARDINER.’ I loved it and now I’ve finished it, I am bereft.

• Everyday heroes: this makes me laugh every time I watch. Relatable? Peculiarly British? It’s comedian Fil Ski’s Instagram account. Daft and funny.

• I really want to try this apple cake recipe which Karen Barnes linked to in her April Hot List Pt 2 this week. Karen’s Substack KB’s Joyous Things is excellent.

• Aren’t these handpainted ceramics by Emma Connolly lovely? I have ordered one and can’t wait for it to arrive.

• Journalist and artist Fiona Cumberpatch’s Instagram and Substack accounts are joyous explosions of colour and gardening loveliness. A real tonic.

• And very finally, to end up back on the spring thing, I went to a workshop held by Steph from Rabbit and the Rose and I made this spring wreath which makes me super happy and means I’m forever putting tiny things out in the bins so that I can see it on the front door. Cheery! Highly recommend having a go.

Right, I’d better let you get on. I’ll be back at the start of May.

Thank you for reading this. Don’t forget to tell me your favourite spring-ish novels, and if you enjoyed this marathon please give this post a ❤️or share it with Like Minded People.

See you soon.
Yours,

AJx

PS: If you’re new to Notes of Cheer you can find all my other posts (including vvg book lists) here and for information about all my own books, head to here or you can pre-order my latest book here🤓: