Old Baggage

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The characterisation in Crooked Heart, is just superb – and it occurred to me while reading how visual this novel is (if that makes sense). The author quite obviously binging her experience of working in film and television to her writing.

Old Baggage is a funny and bittersweet portrait of a woman who has never, never given up the fight.

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But when Mattie’s mind began to fail, when she began to lose her memory and to act oddly, Noel struggled to cope. He didn’t ask for help, because he knew that Mattie wouldn’t want that. Tragedy ensued. The research with regard to historical detail comes through clearly and the dialogue brings the characters to life; the writing is both poignant and humorous – the latter especially where Vee is involved. She is quite a character and although she has clearly looked after Noel, (although at times it does seem like the other way around!) she doesn’t come over as a natural Mother Earth person. If an opportunity comes her way, she will take it. I appreciate the theme of this book. Who benefits from war and can benefiting from war be moral? Most people would first think about major war profiteers; for instance, large companies that make and supply arms, tanks, planes, anything used for fighting. Not Evans. She writes about the minor war profiteers, the small time swindlers trying to make a bit of extra cash. This is an interesting idea but the execution of it in this book just didn't work for me. The characters were well-drawn but they were all a bit too silly. This reminds me of watching British comedy shows from Monte Python to Absolutely Fabulous. Everyone in the room with me is laughing except for me. Same with this book. I didn't laugh when I knew I was supposed to laugh, I wasn't charmed when I was supposed to be charmed. Perhaps the cold Colorado winter has frozen my heart. 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.

What happens isn't really the point; the story is about people whose love for each other is the breath of life for them. And how much that costs. And who, in the end, must pay for it. That is the sum total of living life, after all, counting costs and weighing benefits and, in the end, accepting the evidence of honest and trustworthy scales as The Truth. But Mattie has never given up the fight, and ten years later she is still on the lecture circuit, attempting to enlist a new generation of women into the cause. She’s failing, and her lectures are increasingly poorly attended.The paragraph above was the first paragraph of my review of British author Lissa Evans’s novel, “Crooked Hearts”. The book was a wonderful picture of 1939 England, right after war had been declared on September 3rd. The government, frightened by predicted bombings by the Germans, made arrangements to send the children of London to safety elsewhere in England. The children, usually sent in school groups, were “adopted” by people living in small towns or suburbs, who were paid by the British government to look after the children. “Paid by the government”, is the important fact here. As always, the delight of reading Evans comes from the way in which the mundane and the magical collide: a Christmas dinner is saved from disaster by a game of sardines; a bombed-out landscape becomes a country of half-hidden treasures. Overall 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. Having said that, this was a thoroughly enjoyable story set during the time leading up to the end of the war. There is no one big plotline to follow but lots of smaller strands which show off the excellent characterisations and storytelling, which include Vee witnessing a road accident leading to unexpected friendships and a slightly more sinister occurrence of which I will say no more.

When Mattie is no more, Noel finds himself evacuated to St Albans. He is billeted with Vera Sedge, her elderly mute mother and her lazy, fat son Donald. Once again, Noel finds himself living in a strange household, with very strange people. This family is so far away from anything that he knows, yet in Vera, he finds an unlikely friend. Both wily-minded, they work together to beat the system, and despite the troubles they encounter along the way, their unorthodox means of making a living bring them together and they become a family. 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. Together, they cook up a scheme. Crisscrossing the bombed suburbs of London, Vee starts to make a profit and Noel begins to regain his interest in life. But there are plenty of other people making money out of the war—and some of them are dangerous. Noel may have been moved to safety, but he isn’t actually safe at all.Mattie is undeterred. She keeps the flame of the suffragette movement alive through public lectures (somewhat dispiritingly her audience is less than enthusiastic) and stands ready to fight again. Though women were granted a vote in 1918, it was only a partial victory – as a property owner, Mattie is entitled to vote, but The Flea cannot. “The battle is not yet over; every day brings fresh skirmishes,” announces Mattie. Old Baggage is funny and a bittersweet portrait of a woman who has never, never given up the fight. The writing is fantastic layered as well as mixed with deep emotions, which has an ability to tug the readers' heart strings. The narrative is absolutely engaging layered with dark humor and wit with Vee's comical narrative as well as demeanor. The prose is evocative and the author has vividly captured the essence of a particular location through her story.