A PIN TO SEE THE PEEPSHOW by F Tennyson Jesse
Virago ISBN: 086068 0843

Julia Almond, born to drab suburban life in Edwardian London, longs for more. Short-sighted and vain, she sees the world in an astigmatic blur, and yearns for the romantic fairy-tale she once glimpsed in a toy peepshow. We meet her at sixteen, an incurably romantic child-woman, careless of others, yet with a spirit and charm which is compelling.

The opening chapter reminded me of Katharine Mansfield, capturing the vivaciou...