"The Closed Door," by Dorothy Whipple

What a joy it is to discover a “new” author (for me), even if that author was actually writing in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. Where has Dorothy Whipple been my whole life? I am not sure how I completely missed her fiction until now. An acquaintance happened to mention liking her, and I was glad to find that my university library carried several of her books. I started with “The Closed Door and Other Stories” (Persephone, 2007), a collection of Whipple’s stories originally published in much earlier decades. Persephone, by the way, is one of the wonderful presses that have rediscovered and republished women authors who might otherwise be out of print and forgotten. I wrote about other such presses on 2/17/10 (Virago Press) and 7/17/11 (The Feminist Press), and I am most grateful to these publishers for “saving” many women writers from oblivion. Persephone has recently reprinted several of Whipple’s books, which although they were popular in the early-to-mid-20th century, were mostly out of print until Persephone revived them. But back to “The Closed Door”: These stories are mostly about women characters who, because they lack power in the world, try to exert power in their family and romantic lives in various ways. These characters find inventive, resourceful, and understandable, if not always completely laudable, ways of dealing with a difficult, male-oriented world. The stories are full of intriguing characters, relationships, and surprises. Some stories are just a wee bit schematic, but compelling nevertheless. The characters are closely observed and realistic. The stories are enjoyable to read, although they remind us of the limitations on women’s lives. The pleasure of reading this book is enhanced by the beautiful production of this volume, with a lovely light grey cover; clear, easy to read pages; and, notably, gorgeous colorful endpapers “taken from a 1930s dress fabric.” I now look forward to reading more fiction by Whipple.

(An "anniversary" note: I started this blog two years ago today. I have enjoyed writing it, and hope you have enjoyed reading it.)