I liked Mattie a lot, though I think she would drive me mad if she was a friend of mine with her insistence that she is right, even when she probably isn't. I liked the way she mostly loved by her principles and she was kind. She also never gave up on anyone, which in part contributed to the disaster when she cheated over the quiz. She was so desperate to engage Inez that she told her the answer. She also had blind spots, but I liked that she was willing to listen when her friends told her about them.

There are some writers whose books you can’t wait to get your hands hands on. Lissa Evans is one of those. Old Baggage is warm, tender, hilarious and so clever" - Paula Hawkins Old Baggage gives an inspiring model of womanhood. Moving, warm and wry. It is wonderful!" - Marian Keyes Few novelists write as well about the daily grind of wartime life as Lissa Evans. Two previous books, Their Finest Hour and Crooked Heart, perfectly captured the frustrations and the humour of those at home, trudging through the Second World War. 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? It was only on a second read that I realised that the male character feature so much on the edges. Evans draws them so well, that I saw them as playing a much more major part. The old friend she has lunch with, or the husband that brings a drink to the car. I thought the scene at the end when she realises that Inez's father is a good father was very telling.The ending was certainly surprising, but satisfying that Mattie and Florrie reconciled and Mattie was able to help Ida out both economically and with her child. I am reading Crooked Heart now, for which this book is a prequel, so I already know what Mattie does next. I liked Mattie as a book character, but might find her somewhat exasperating in real life. I certainly wouldn't want to share a house with her. It was understandable that she wanted to help out her niece, but seemed out of character for her to cheat and the low point of the story.

The book group choice this month is Old Baggage by Lissa Evans. It's the story of a suffragette in middle age, and it was one of my favourite reads of last year. Funny and moving it is a quite short and easy read. You can find out more here.The real love story, however, is that between Vee and Noel. Evans has us rooting for this makeshift mother and son throughout her story’s many twists and turns towards a satisfactory ending in which her characters can be seen to move forward with their lives post war. V for Victory is a book to be treasured and returned to again and again. The ending, what did you make of that, and what do you think Mattie will do now. I wasn't sure, as it all seemed a bit far fetched, and I wasn't at all sure how you could make it a legal adoption. I must read the next book and find out. I was very glad that Ida, even if she didn't become a doctor, had the potential for a good career and a way to care for her aunt. 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? It seemed pretty convincing to me. I liked the fact Evans didn't try to hard to include historical details, but it felt right for the time and place. I know Hampstead and the health, and I don't think it's probably changed that much over the years. V for Victory is a sequel to Crooked Heart (taken with her last novel, Old Baggage, which told the story of former suffragette Mattie, the three books form a loose trilogy). It’s 1944 and the Blitz is in full swing. Vera “Vee” Sedge is running a boarding house, while trying to ensure that her smart and streetwise charge Noel, now nearly 15, receives the education a boy of his “quality” deserves.

I think it was mostly convincing, but don't know much about the time period. History focuses on the World Wars, roaring twenties and the Great Depression, but 1928 seemed an uneventful year compared to those before and after, verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ 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. Perfectly timed for the centenary of the women’s vote in 2018, Old Baggage takes a unique approach to the lives of the women who fought so hard to win us the vote. And we have 50 copies to give away as part of our July book club. I liked her – strong, feisty and well-meaning, but also flawed as we see with the cheating on the treasure hunt. And she would indeed be irritating to live with.

Like Mili and Sarasa I didn’t really notice. I did feel while I read it that there was something familiar about the style particularly in the middle sections, and then I realised – school and Guiding stories. There weren’t any men in them either. In fact the schools and colleges founded in the late C19 often and very deliberately had no men around at all, except perhaps the gardener or janitor. I still find the idea of men at Girton odd – none in my day except the man who fixed the bicycles. Old Baggage is funny and a bittersweet portrait of a woman who has never, never given up the fight. Evans is funny, too, with Noel’s burgeoning relationship with a young girl next door a highlight: “He re-read the Christmas card he’d received from Genevieve Lumb, which she had signed with five Xs. He remained a little troubled by the message, which mentioned that she was spending Christmas ‘with my cousins Andrew, Lloyd and Alistair. Alistair had just won the South of England under-16s long-jump trophy, although, as you know, I don’t care much about sports’.”