Small Bomb at Dimperley by Lissa Evans

For those of us who read a lot of WWII historical fiction, it is a natural progression to contemplate what happens after the war ends. Perhaps this is why I loved the television show Homefront, set in a Midwest town where everyone is excited to welcome back their menfolk but do not realize how their lives will be affected, especially women who worked outside the home doing war work but are now displaced in favor of the men. 

When I heard that Lissa Evans had a new book coming about a corporal returning home and having to adjust to a dilapidated estate, I was intrigued - although that description did not reveal the whole story!

Before he is released from the army, a fluke accident causes Corporal Valentine Vere-Thissett to lose the tips of three fingers, spoiling his triumphant return home after the war, although he is reasonably grateful to have survived. His elder brother did not, so Valentine has inherited a title, a property that is historic and falling apart, eccentric relatives expecting him to support them, and inadequate funds. During the war, the Dimperly estate was requisitioned as a maternity home. Zena Baxter arrived as a pregnant woman whose husband was overseas, and she and her daughter Allison are still there: Zena is doing secretarial work for Valentine’s uncle Alaric, who is obsessed with family history. Her observations on her upscale surroundings add dimension and humor to the story:

She sat down again and resumed her typed transcription of yesterday’s notes, part of a stunningly boring chapter on the agricultural reforms instituted by Selby Vere-Thissett in the 1790s and containing so many repetitions of the words ‘crop rotation’ that it required intense concentration on her part not to accidentally skip four lines or repeat the ones she’d just typed. Not that anyone sane would ever read it, obviously, but she had her professional pride.

Zena is intrigued by Dimperley and horrified to learn a) that expenses might cause the Vere-Thissetts to lose their home, and b) that the family is too impractical to come up with a solution, other than Valentine marrying for money. She herself does not really fit in at Dimperley but has nowhere else to go; nor is she the only misfit on the estate: Valentine’s teenage nieces are having a hard time adjusting, after having been evacuated to America during the war; their mother is newly widowed but has a lower class boyfriend; Hersey was once a ladies’ maid but as one of the few servants at Dimperley she now does a little of everything because she has no other home; and arrogant Lady Irene, incapable of affection except for her developmentally disabled middle son, Ceddy. 

Valentine is overwhelmed by the demands of those around him, some unspoken, some all too explicit, but his inarticulate assumption of responsibility for the family is appealing. Evans perfectly captures the stresses and changes of the time, mostly seen from Zena’s or Valentine’s perspectives. Their ability to see the humor of the situation sets them apart from the other inhabitants of Dimperley, although it is the fight to save the manor that brings them together. A very enjoyable and unusual comedy of manners!

The title refers to the disruption taking place at Dimperley, not simply by Valentine's return but also all the post-war expectations by various characters as they adjust to deprivations, loss of family, continued rationing, and shrinking incomes.  An actual bomb appears, reminding me of another show, Danger UXB, set during the Blitz and starring my favorite, Anthony Andrews, best known from Brideshead Revisited.  Back before VCRs and DVDs, I joined the Museum of Television & Radio in New York so I could watch the episodes I had missed.  

This is my third historical fiction review of the year for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge. Thanks to my sister Clare for bringing it back from London as it has not yet been published in the US.

Title: Small Bomb at Dimperly
Author: Lissa Evans
Publication: Doubleday UK, hardcover, 2024
Genre: Historical Fiction
Source: Personal copy