Book-of-the-month Club - The July Selection - BRITANNIA MEWS

Sep 29, 2026

Uploaded by Liam

July 1946 selection from the Book-of-the-month Club introducing Margery Sharp’s novel “Britannia Mews”. John P. Marquand describes the work as a modern yet tradition-rooted narrative, marked by clarity, politeness, and biting realism. The text then recounts Adelaide Culver’s move from a London home to Britannia Mews, her early encounter with hardship, and her later attempt at marriage with Mr. Lambert, framing character evolution through Victorian to World War II changes.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages28

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

The July Selection

BRITANNIA MEWS

# Book-of-the-month Club nswsHARRY s CHE R MAN,E DITORJune 1946 ## The reproduction on the front cover is 1、REMBRAoa—See inside of back cover for description ED1TORIAL BoARD OF THE B OOK-OF-THE-MONTH CLUB Dorothy Canfeld Clifton Fadiman John P.Marquand Christopher Morley Henry Seidel Canby,Chairman ## THEJulySELE CTION BRITANNIA MIEWSBy Margery Sharp Price $2.75 "Margery Sharp's new novel,"writes John Marquand within,"willcome to many readers,as it did to this reviewer,as a blessed andreassuring relief after recent powerful literary roughage....Its effectis comparable to the depth of a full orchestra contrasted to jive onthe piano...in all its pages there is not a single dull or turgid moment." THE world is in aparlous state today,and so is the novel—in itself a littleworld.Being a duskyand uneven mirror oflife and thought it isnatural that contem-porary fiction shouldoften reflect the con- JoHn P.MARQUAND glomeration of our ideologies,and a deter-mined break from tradition.We have comea long way from the placid confidence of themasterpieces that Kipling once called theOld Three-Deckers,and we have often playedhob with style.We have resorted to four-letter words to express the insurgence thatis in us;we have cheerfully upset the applecart of literary convention.This turbulenceof fictioneers and this febrile search for newform is one reason why Margery Sharp's newnovel,Britannia Mews,will come to manyreaders,as it did to this reviewer,as a blessedand reassuring relief after recent powerfulliterary roughage. Miss Sharp has written a fine novel alongtraditional lines in a beautifully cultivatedstyle that is both polite and biting,and yetits whole complexion is devastatingly clearand modern.Without once deviating fromgood manners she can convey an illusion ofpitiless reality,and she has shown by herskill and precision that narrative art can stillrest on foundations of the past.BritanniaMews describes quietly and competently theevolution of character and customs in Eng-land from Victoria to World War II.Itseffect is comparable to the depth of a fullorchestra contrasted to jive on the piano,andit makes one think,wistfully and in turning-the-clock-back mood perhaps,thank Heaven for thc Victorians,for the George Eliots,theAustens and the Bröntes,who had the lei-sure and the wit to write a fully rounded tale.And one thing more,before we touch on itsplot and significance—in all its pages thereis not a single dull or turgid moment. Not long after Alice in Wonderland ap-peared in its first edition—in 1875,to be exact—Adelaide Culver,a carefully trained littlegirl of eleven then,who must have lookedvery much like Alice,stepped unescorted,but secure in her childish values,from theback of her family's house on Albion Placein London,not into a rabbit hole,but intothe stable area that lay behind her properdwelling.This noisome,but then essentialadjunct to middle-class British houses,was acobblestone alley known as Britannia Mews,where proper people's coachmen dwelt withtheir wives,progeny and horses.Even whenAdelaide first encountered it,BritanniaMews was falling into disrepute.Her scan-dalized gouvernante snatched her back al-most instantly,but not before Adelaide hadan encounter with a slum girl.The Culversmoved away from pretentious but decayingAlbion Place shortly after,and Adelaide wasnot to see the Mews again until,as an im-pressionable and unwise girl,she went thercto propose marriage to her drawing teacher,an ineffective Lothario and steady drinkcrnamed Mr.Lambert. It is a difficult feat fairly to describe thcconventions and the eccentricities of the in-sulated middle class of the Victorian era.Gently,with deft and kindly restraint,MissSharp draws the portraits of the Culver fam-ily—Adelaide's stodgily correct parents,hersilver cord brother,her nice sister,Alice,whomade a nice marriage,and her cousins,thcHambros,and Adelaide's father's sister who was not so nice,although one could notmention why in

FAQs

What is the July 1946 selection titled in the document?

The July 1946 selection is titled “BRITANNIA MEWS.”

Who is credited as the author of “Britannia Mews”?

“Britannia Mews” is attributed to Margery Sharp.

How does the excerpt describe the novel’s style and impact?

It is described as modern and devastatingly clear while written along traditional lines, conveying pitiless reality without deviating from good manners.

Sep 29, 2026

Uploaded by Liam