MRS. MINIVER

by Jan Struther ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 25, 1940

This is the perfect book for our crying need for ""escape reading"" that takes us out of the dark cloud of current problems, and brings us a new friend within the covers of a book. It is a book about which a good many discerning people can legitimately go ""quietly mad"" -- and on their enthusiasm sell many copies. There's far subtler enjoyment than given by With Malice Toward Some, the rapier thrust rather than the bludgeon, the lifted eyebrow rather than the mugging, the quiet friendliness rather than the over-hearty slap on the back. One grows to know Mrs. Miniver in many moods, to relish her acute perception, her amusing examination of externals, her happy pursuit of stray thoughts, her unexpected turn of phrase. Not fiction in its literal sense, for there's no defined plot, but merely a succession of episodes in somewhat chronological order during two years' span. There are interludes such as the return to London after the holidays, the new car, Christmas, the countryside, Scotland, gas masks, a trip to the dentist, journey abroad, -- each effortless, appealing, delightfully personal. One enjoys the quality of the writing, the characters, the observant freshness brought to bear on trivia. One might introduce Mrs. Miniver as another Provincial Lady, but she can readily stand on her own two feet and make her own staunch friends, as a genial, keen Englishwoman. You may gather we liked it!

Pub Date: July 25, 1940

ISBN: 0156631407

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harcourt, Brace

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1940

Categories: FICTION