Kate Hardy by D.E. Stevenson – an unexpected look at class

Title: Kate Hardy
Author: D.E. Stevenson
Publication: Dean Street Press, paperback, 2022 (originally 1947)
Genre: Fiction
Setting: English countryside

Description: Richard Morven is surprised when someone buys the Dower House he has put on the market sight-unseen and everyone in the village of Old Quinings is agog to see Kate Hardy when she moves in. When he calls on his new neighbor, Richard is immediately captivated by the outgoing woman he guesses to be about 30. Bestselling author Kate has moved to the country to concentrate on her writing – and to get away from her sister and niece, who have been not only living off her in London but also annoying her by their complaining. Kate is intrigued by Richard but he has a wife and child in America, so is off-limits – or is he? Kate soon finds herself in the midst of village life and becomes especially fond of Mrs. Stack, a kind-hearted widow who is concerned about her son Walter, newly returned from World War II. The only rift in the lute is poison pen letters Kate receives, which threaten to spoil her new friendships.

My Impression: This is another delightful reprint from Furrowed Middlebrow and Dean Street Press and I think it is one of Stevenson’s most unusual books. There is usually a very clear line of demarcation between the classes in her fiction – her characters (usually the heroines) may be hard up but they are undeniably well-bred. Here, Stevenson highlights the situation of Walter Stack, whose mother is a former nanny and whose sister works at the local pub (not that there's anything wrong with honest work!). A builder before the war, Walter was in the Territorial Army, a volunteer reserve force, so he was sent to France where he was made a lieutenant and then a major, leapfrogging him to the status of officers more or less born to it. Although his mother has a hard time putting her worries into words, she is concerned that he won’t be satisfied with village life after seeing the world. What is worse is that not only is Walter miserable as he tries to resume his old job, his friends also resent him for having moved up in the world. I can’t remember another character who moves from working class to upper-middle class as Walter does, and it is a painful process:

“I need friends badly,” admitted Walter. “I don’t seem to have many in Old Quinings.”

“So that’s the trouble,” said Kate in a thoughtful voice.

Walter helped himself to a little gingerbread cake. “That’s the trouble,” he said. “I shall live it down in time, of course, but at present it isn’t easy. My old friends don’t like me very much. They dislike the way I speak, for one thing.” He paused. “You know, Miss Hardy,” he continued in a thoughtful voice, “I believe that’s the real cause of the trouble – such a silly little detail, isn’t it?”

Kate was not sure. It seemed a silly little detail, but was it? She had a feeling that it was a symbol of everything Walter had become, a symbol of the fact that Walter, who had been one of them, was one of them no longer.

It’s a little surprising to me that Stevenson is on Walter’s side because I think of her as delightfully snobbish, but perhaps as an officer’s wife she witnessed such situations and sympathized with them.

The other unusual thing about this book is that Richard Morven has not seen his nine-year-old daughter for years and no one finds this strange. Even more bizarre is that Kate invites the girl to stay with her, right next door to her father, which seems like a situation that would energize every gossip in town, although she did not intend to interfere. Once he gets over his surprise, Richard is grateful to Kate for hosting his daughter and rejoices that they get along very well, but the situation is very peculiar. There would be nothing unusual about a girl visiting her father, especially when he has ample household help but it takes quite a while for it to occur to Richard that Susan should stay with him. Stevenson makes a rare snide comment (through Kate’s trusted servant Martha) that a man isn’t a proper man if he can’t keep his wife in order; while I do not think it is his fault that his wife left him, I do blame him for ignoring his daughter’s existence and allowing his wife to mismanage the child’s upbringing. Maybe it’s part of his class to be aloof from his child but it is an unattractive aspect to his character. Richard is also revealed as not being very perceptive about people, which is another strike against him: he thinks Kate’s sister is charming and he is condescending to Walter, so maybe not hero material after all.  Any thoughts, if you have read this one?

Kate writes adventure stories featuring a character called Stephen Slade and is half in love with her own creation. The descriptions of her trying to write despite nonstop interruptions are amusing and ring true, clearly based on Stevenson’s experience.

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Source:  Brand new personal copy

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