Tove Jansson, Celia Dale, jobs in books! Welcome to episode 110
A bit of a longer break than usual because I lost my voice. But we’re back, asking – in the first half of the episode – whether we care where characters work? Are we drawn to books about workplaces?
In the second half, we compare two very good novels – Tove Jansson’s The True Deceiver and Celia Dale’s A Helping Hand.
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The books and authors we mention in this episode:
Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
Oleander, Jacaranda by Penelope Lively
Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson
Managing Expectations by Minnie Driver
How We Love by Clementine Ford
High Wages by Dorothy Whipple
Business As Usual by Jane Oliver and Ann Stafford
Babbacombe’s by Susan Scarlett
A Pin To See The Peepshow by F. Tennyson Jesse
Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers
Dangerous Ages by Rose Macaulay
The Doctor’s Children by Josephine Elder
The Citadel by A.J. Cronin
Thrush Green series by Miss Read
Hostages to Fortune by Elizabeth Cambridge
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
Fresh From The Country by Miss Read
Observatory Mansions by Edward Carey
Little by Edward Carey
The Swallowed Man by Edward Carey
The Maintenance of Headway by Magnus Mills
The Restraint of Beasts by Magnus Mills
Three To See The King by Magnus Mills
The Good Companions by J.B. Priestley
Wise Children by Angela Carter
Love of Seven Dolls by Paul Gallico
War Among Ladies by Eleanor Scott
Nice Work by David Lodge
The British Museum is Falling Down by David Lodge
Swing Time by Zadie Smith
A Snowfall of Silver by Laura Wood
A Sky Painted Gold by Laura Wood
Sarra Manning
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
Full House by M.J. Farrell
Good Behaviour by Molly Keane
LOL, I suspect it depends very much on the book! In some novels the workplace is central or at least essential; but in others I really couldn’t care!!
The True Deceiver is one of the few Tove books I haven’t read, and the Celia Dale sounds marvellous – so I may have to get a copy and make my own comparison!
A novel which had teaching at its heart was A Jest of God by Margaret Lawrence which Simon recommended earlier this year I followed it up and thought it so very good indeed And as a retired teacher, I thought it most compelling and convincing
I am very much enjoying this episode of the podcast too, but had to take a break and reminisce about some fine Canadian writing !
oh yes, of course! My book of the year – so glad you enjoyed it too.
Loved the podcast as always! I do love books set in workplaces (just as I love boarding house books and books set in hotels, trains, boats, vacation resorts, etc.) Some of my favorites are Imperial Palace by Arnold Bennett, (set in a hotel); The Ladies’ Paradise by Emile Zola (a department store); Bond Street Story by Norman Collins (another department store) and I also enjoyed The Women in Black by Madeleine St. John (an Australian department store, after WWII).
The Eye of Love by Margery Sharp has a character who has a failing fur business and there are also a lot of workplace scenes, it’s very good. It’s the first of the Martha series, and the other two books are mostly about Martha, an artist, some of them have scenes in her art studio, so I suppose that would also count as a workplace, wouldn’t it?
And many congratulations to Rachel for the new job, it sounds so exciting! Best of luck!
Thanks Karen, and for these great suggestions – I have another of Bennett’s hotel novels waiting to be read. And I have read The Eye of Love but clearly remember nothing about it…
The topic made me think immediately of Flora Thompson’s Candleford Green where she works in a country post office and then becomes a letter carrier—immensely readable with plenty of detail of the nuts and bolts of that profession in the 1880s. I think probably if the author has actually done the job, there’s a far greater feeling of authenticity in the descriptions, rather than just observing a worker from the outside.
Oh yes, of course – I watched the series but never read the book.
Thank you both for another great podcast. Your new job sounds wonderful Rachel. Congratulations on the appointment!
I care about where characters work as I find it interesting to learn about different working environments and office/workplace dynamics can also be fascinating. I think of A Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym and More Women than Men (office and school respectively).
Haven’t read either of the books you discussed yet, but I enjoyed hearing your thoughts. They both sounded quite dark so I would have to be in the mood to feel able to cope with them!
Thanks Sarah – I don’t think I’ve read that Pym, but do have it, hurrah
I agree with Rachel about ‘Murder Must Advertise’, which is great fun (also, you mentioned publishers: PD James set one of her crime novels in a publishing house – ‘Original Sin’). Working near Fleet Street, I loved Michael Frayn’s book set in the dying world of the ‘old style’ newspaper industry ‘Towards the End of the Morning’, which is very funny. And I’d also recommend Joshua Ferris, ‘Then we Came to the End’ which is a cruelly accurate portrayal of modern office life (well, pre-Covid anyway!). Not sure how far back you want to go, but I think Dickens was quite good at featuring working life – especially the grinding drudgery of some jobs! And, of course, it’s hard to resist books featuring bookshops (like ‘Riceyman Steps’ by Arnold Bennett, or Orwell’s ‘Keep the Aspidistra Flying’).
I was trying to remember that Joshua Ferris title while we were recording and failed to remember author or title :D But I don’t know that Frayn, and I do like him, so will have to keep an eye out for it. Riceyman Steps is wonderful, I agree!