Old Baggage

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The central characters from Crooked Heart, relocated to London, are at the heart of this novel, but Evans brings in a broader cast of characters: a female air raid warden whose husband is a prisoner of war, her self-obsessed twin sister, and a cast of characters that populate the boarding house run by Vee (now living under an alias), who also serve as tutors to the perspicacious Noel. The novel starts slowly, giving readers familiar with Crooked Heart a chance to reconnect with Vee and Noel and giving time for them to gradually come to know the new characters. The real action begins at the halfway point and speeds up from there to a swift denoument that feels utterly natural. When she finds herself under the watch of the police again after a street robbery, she soon finds a new way of feeling involved in the world and inspiring a new generation of young girls to be educated and feel inspired to think more of themselves as she starts a Girls Club on Hampstead Heath, teaching them a variety of skills. Friendship is born at that moment when one man says to another: "What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . ."” However, times have changed and they are moving in a different direction and when Mattie encounters someone from her past what she believes in suddenly becomes lost in some other campaign. The story begins when Mattie, striding across the Heath, has her bag stolen. Attempting to stop the thief, she accidentally hurts young Ida Pearse, who later threatens to press charges, due to loss of work. Flo manages to smooth things over and offers Ida work in their house – especially as she has had more than enough of their daily, Mrs Bowling.

We were a battering ram, Mattie was won’t to say. Together, we broke down the door, but beyond that splintered door had been a dozen more doors, and scattered by their momentum, some women had tried one and some another, and some had given up and turned away and it seemed to The Flea that all that unity and passion had dissipated. Old Baggage by Lissa EvansOverall I thought this was a beautifully written, absorbing book which held my attention the whole way through. It isn’t a fast paced book but this gives the reader plenty of opportunities to savour the interesting plot and to get to know the characters. It’s a lovely story which accurately portrays what life was like during the war, with some quite dark humour at times as people try to deal with an impossible situation. I can’t wait to read more from this series. Mattie Simpkin, former suffragette, is referred to by the disparaging epithet of the book’s title only once, by an insignificant young man (all the males in this novel are peripheral). It’s 1928 and at last the suffrage is to be extended to women over 21. It doesn’t come soon enough for Emmeline Pankhurst, who dies mere weeks before the act is passed, but Mattie and her fellow radicals, now stout and bedraggled, can finally celebrate victory. Except that Mattie is not the sort of person who can relax. A chance discovery leads to a daring plan of action, which risks being scuppered by the other kind of old baggage – the emotional sort. I realised from reading the prologue that Lissa Evans had written the book that the film Our Finest was based on. The book was called Our Finest Hour and a Half. I remember this film was in a similar vein to this series in that it took a serious subject and gave an everyday down-to-earth and often humorous approach to it. I'll have to put that on my "to read" list now. Noel, a ten year old boy, has been raised by his eccentric, ex-suffragette godmother Mattie. In addition to his normal schooling, Mattie always took the time to give what she referred to as “proper schooling” which included discussions on the obscure and essay topics that gave you more reasons to think such as “What Is Freedom?” and “All Things are Difficult Before They Are Easy”. Mattie imbued in him her particular understanding of the world causing him to develop the most intriguing personality making him an immediate addition to my favorite quirky children in literature shelf. In addition to the impending war causing the residents of London and its outskirts to be constantly on their toes, Noel is attempting to handle the seriousness of Mattie’s decline into senile dementia. Instead of evacuating London with the rest of the children, he opts to stay with Mattie to take care of her knowing that soon she’s not going to be able to take care of him much longer let alone herself. The introduction of Noel and Mattie is fantastically succinct and encompasses the Prologue alone. It set an amazing tone and heightened expectations for the rest of the story. I’m so very pleased to say that it never disappointed and only continued to impress me.

It’s been a few years since I read Lissa Evans’ excellent novel “Crooked Heart”, but I remember loving her vivid characters and witty writing style. So when I heard that her new novel is a prequel to this earlier book I become intensely curious. “Crooked Heart” opened with a poignant description of Mattie, an aging intellectual who was very active in the Suffragette movement, before describing the journey her ward Noel takes out of London to escape the The Blitz in 1940. “Old Baggage” tells Mattie’s story prior to when the boy Noel came to live with her and depicts Britain at an interesting stage of its political history. Set in the late 20s and early 30s, it’s the prequel to ‘Crooked heart’ - also a ripping read - starring the majestic Matty Simpkin, a colossus of a main character, former WSPU firebrand, and a woman for whom the word ‘indomitable’ was invented. The men in this novel are very much on the periphery. Did you find that refreshing or would you have liked at least one to play a more major role? I’ve just realized that the title of this book is a bit of a pun. The main character, Mattie Simpkin, is referred to as an “old baggage”, meaning a cantankerous old woman. But the point of this story is that she is also carrying a lot of “old baggage”, as in emotional baggage. And that the old baggage actually isn’t carrying her old baggage terribly well, leading to the crisis point in the story. Old Baggage, can mean different things to different people. It can be used as a description of some older lady, past her prime and of no use to anyone or society. It can be the baggage we bring from the past into the present. It can be actual tangible items, it can be thoughts, emotions and feelings. It can simply be an old bag with treasures inside that has sat unopened for a long time.

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I fell in love with Vee and Noel in the previous book. Vee, aka Mar, has left the scamming behind and instead runs a lodging house, giving Noel a stable home. Their lives are as good as they can be, given the times. But when Vee is called as a witness to an accident, their carefully constructed life may come crumbling down. As far as everybody else is concerned, Vee is known as Mrs Margery Overs. The reasons why, we discover later on. Noel also has a complicated past, some of which it seems was covered in a previous book – this is one time where I wished I had read the others. Matilda Simpkin is living in 1928 London. She’s found a wooden club, something she hasn’t seen for a while, and along with it comes the memories she associates with that item. Together they cook up an idea. Criss-crossing the bombed suburbs of London, Vee starts to make a profit and Noel begins to regain his interest in life. London 1944. In a large house in Hemstead Heath, Vee Sedge is just about scraping by. She takes in lodges so that she can feed, clothe and educate her young charge, Noel. She witnesses a road accident and finds herself in court. But this could be potentially disastrous for Vee and Noel as neither of them are who they say they are.