It was important to Caroline to do things right, to do whatever she did to the best of her ability. She saw beauty in ordinary little things and took pleasure in it (and this was just as well because she had very little pleasure in her life.)

Caroline Dering, the main protagonist of Vittoria Cottage, is a selfless, caring woman. She had been married as an eighteen-year-old to Arnold an older man who, ‘…did not enjoy life, nor did he add to the enjoyment of life.’ When Arnold died she was left with only enough to make ends meet. Of their three children, James the eldest at 22 years of age was serving in Malaya. He was the most like his mother and they had a warm relationship. Leda at 19 was pretty but as selfish and as unsatisfied as her father was. Bobby at 17 was an energetic tomboy who dashed around on her bicycle with Joss the dog tearing after her.

She had sunk her whole personality to be Arnold’s wife, but even that was not enough, he was still unsatisfied…he took everything and still wanted more. Sometimes Caroline had felt that a woman of stronger, tougher fibre might have made a better wife for Arnold, a woman who could have stood up to him and remained a whole person.

After her husband’s death, Caroline had channeled all her energy into raising her children and had immersed herself in village life, but everything was about to change. One day a stranger came to stay at the village inn and he and Caroline met when she was out picking blackberries. Caroline learned about Robert Shepperton’s tragic past and they become good friends.

Caroline’s younger sister Harriet was a celebrated actor who lived in London and they had a very close relationship. Harriet came for a visit and stayed longer than she had originally planned for she had fallen in love with  Robert. When Caroline realised this she discovered that her feelings for him had grown from friendship into love. Believing that he reciprocated Harriet’s feelings, she withdrew from Robert.

What I loved about this book:

The sisterly affection between Caroline and Harriet withstood their individual self-interest.- unlike another book by the author that I’ve just read (The Young Clementina).

Harriet tackled Lena about her selfish behaviour towards her mother and insisted on taking Caroline to London for a holiday.

‘Mummy isn’t going,’ said Lena. ‘She can’t go away ‘now.’ It’s frightfully selfish of you to try to take her away.’

‘Selfish! What about you? You aren’t selfish, are you?’

‘Mummy’s place is here.’

‘Of course – slaving for you! Cooking for you! Ironing your clothes! She shouldn’t ever have a holiday, should she?’

‘She didn’t want a holiday until you put it into her head.’

‘My goodness!’ Harriet exclaimed. ‘I shouldn’t like to be you!’

This was not what Leda had expected to hear; in fact, it was so different from what she had expected to hear that she was interested. ‘You wouldn’t like to be me?’ she enquired.

‘Selfish people are nearly always unhappy,’ explained Harriet…’Sometimes they go on for quite a long time before Nemesis descends upon them and knocks them flat, but Nemesis always gets them in the end. I’m sorry for you, Leda. ‘

Comfort Podbury – a young woman who helped Caroline at Vittoria Cottage six days a week and was devoted to her. Comfort had been engaged and Sid, her fiancée, had gone to Canada to make good. He obtained a good position, found a house there and was coming back to England to marry Comfort. Comfort had been a plump, pretty girl but while Sid was away she had put on so much weight due to a thyroid condition that she was now colossal. He was dismayed to see her and couldn’t go through with the marriage. 

Caroline, who had taken Comfort out of the kindness of her heart, found she possessed herself of a treasure.

Comfort was slow but thorough and reliable. Caroline saw that ‘within that mountain of flesh there dwelt a romantic, sensitive soul.’ James saw that too but Lena did not like her and said,

‘She’s so repulsive…I can’t bear to see her waddling about the house. I don’t know what on earth people think when she opens the door.’

Vittoria Cottage is a delightful story with some very likeable characters and a couple of very unpleasant personalities.

My daughter-in-law didn’t have much of a reading life due to the fact that she was always studying when she was at school and played a lot of sport in any spare time she had. We’ve often talked about reading for pleasure (something she never did much of) and she’s often commented on how much my son (her husband) enjoys reading. My youngest daughter & I have similar reading lives (i.e. we both read a lot and like the many of the same authors) so we put our heads together and came up with some authors that we think would be a good starting point for someone who doesn’t have a lot of time, doesn’t handle dark themes and likes a happy ending – but the writing has to have a literary quality. D.E. Stevenson is one of these authors that fits the bill.

I like this type of book as a respite from heavier reading and while intellectual stimulation is important to me, a bit of light reading is a refreshing change.