A review by sarahmatthews
The Town in Bloom by Dodie Smith

lighthearted reflective medium-paced

The Town in Bloom by Dodie Smith

Read on audio 

Narrator: June Tobin for RNIB Talking Books

William Heinemann Ltd. 

Pub. 1965, 271pp

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I chose this as my  final book of 2024 as It looked to be a lovely easy read for our car journey home from a Christmas break. It’s based on the experiences of the author, and The blurb reads:

 “One spring afternoon, in the middle 20s, a determined young actress arrived in London from Lancashire intent on a stage career. This is her story, told by herself with the utmost candour”

I found it to be a wonderful read, very nostalgic, as an older woman looks back to being 18; confident, adventurous and excited by the possibilities of London theatre life. it reminded me of those first days at uni, trying to make friends and understand how the shared accommodation worked, only this is the 20s so “Mouse”, as our narrator is nicknamed, is staying in a boarding house where large rooms of 6 girls are partitioned by thin walls. She’s lucky to meet two girls already working on the stage on the first night and they take her under their wing:

“Why were they so kind to me? Later I asked them and Molly said ‘ You looked so funny and pathetic, a sort of Little Black Riding Hood.’  I wore a little circular black cape and a black straw hat that resembled a coal scuttle bonnet, placed well back on my head to show the thick brown fringe of my childish straight bobbed hair.My dress was pale grey, tight boddiced and full skirted, not for me nude little stockings, mine were grey, and my black shoes had cut steel buckles”

I loved the world of their first summer together, totally clueless and getting into all kinds of scrapes. They named their shared room “The Village”, ate large amounts of veda bread as they were so short of money and would come home at all hours.

As time goes on life gets more complicated as they all fall in love and things get messy. Mouse ends up working as a secretary at a central London theatre and tries to get on the stage, with some amusing results!

This story isn’t all light hearted though and as it’s told looking back from the 60s we get to understand her motives, regrets and difficult choices.

I think I went into this book wanting to read the coming of age part of it but the characters and writing are so warm I was hooked right through to the last page.