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Table Two
"It's awful to think that there are nine of us here to-day at this table and in six months' time we may all be dead," said Miss Purbeck. "There were thousands killed last night, so the bus conductor told me."
“You certainly are our little ray of sunshine,” said Elsie scornfully.
Marjorie Wilenski's only novel, as biting and funny as Barbara Pym at her crankiest, follows an office of women translators at the fictional Ministry of Foreign Intelligence in London as they bicker, manuever, and shift allegiances just before and then in the thick of the London Blitz. Its two main characters are sharply contrasted — the clever, efficient but terminally bitter middle-aged Elsie Pearne and the cheerful, pretty young newcomer Anne Shepley-Rice, whose once affluent family has fallen on hard times. Their colleagues include a fresh air fanatic, a busybody, an inept supervisor and her trusty deputy, the dithering, chatty Mrs Jolly, and a former lady’s companion who delights in bad news and disaster.
The cast of Table Two are instantly recognizable to any office worker of today. But this portrayal of a 1940s office is a rare treasure for modern readers, showing, with vivid detail and dark humour, how a group of independent, capable women experienced some of the darkest days of World War II.
'The most striking novel about women war workers this war has produced' Elizabeth Bowen
“You certainly are our little ray of sunshine,” said Elsie scornfully.
Marjorie Wilenski's only novel, as biting and funny as Barbara Pym at her crankiest, follows an office of women translators at the fictional Ministry of Foreign Intelligence in London as they bicker, manuever, and shift allegiances just before and then in the thick of the London Blitz. Its two main characters are sharply contrasted — the clever, efficient but terminally bitter middle-aged Elsie Pearne and the cheerful, pretty young newcomer Anne Shepley-Rice, whose once affluent family has fallen on hard times. Their colleagues include a fresh air fanatic, a busybody, an inept supervisor and her trusty deputy, the dithering, chatty Mrs Jolly, and a former lady’s companion who delights in bad news and disaster.
The cast of Table Two are instantly recognizable to any office worker of today. But this portrayal of a 1940s office is a rare treasure for modern readers, showing, with vivid detail and dark humour, how a group of independent, capable women experienced some of the darkest days of World War II.
'The most striking novel about women war workers this war has produced' Elizabeth Bowen
236 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1942
31 people are currently reading
177 people want to read
About the author
Marjorie Wilenski
1 book1 followerMarjorie Wilenski was born 6 June 1889.
She attended the University of London just before World War I. She later married art critic and historian Reginald Wilenski, and the couple lived in St. John’s Wood, London.
In 1939, just before the war that provided the setting for her one novel, Table Two, she was employed at a department store. The setting of the novel itself, which followed in 1942, strongly suggests she took on important war work in London during the conflict.
Marjorie Wilenski died 25 May 1965.
She attended the University of London just before World War I. She later married art critic and historian Reginald Wilenski, and the couple lived in St. John’s Wood, London.
In 1939, just before the war that provided the setting for her one novel, Table Two, she was employed at a department store. The setting of the novel itself, which followed in 1942, strongly suggests she took on important war work in London during the conflict.
Marjorie Wilenski died 25 May 1965.
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October 18, 2024Office novel set during the Blitz. It's about a group of women translators, mostly a pack of silly biddies, focusing on the upper-middle country type Anne (young, pretty, nice, deserves happiness) and the lower-middle self-made working woman Elsie (unattractive, embittered, sour, repressed lesbian, common, bad mannered, and every possible stereotype of a woman nobody wants).
It is not, frankly, a terribly pleasant book what with the massive misogyny and classism masquerading as observation. Interesting in the depiction of life in the Blitz.
It is not, frankly, a terribly pleasant book what with the massive misogyny and classism masquerading as observation. Interesting in the depiction of life in the Blitz.
October 29, 2021
Recently republished by the Furrowed Middlebrow imprint, this is Marjorie Wilenski's only novel, which was written and set during the Blitz in London.
The story is set in an office of women translators. They are a diverse set of characters, some have had to work all their adult lives, and some are just 'doing their bit' for the war effort. Elsie Pearne seems to dominate the women working on table two with her bad manners and worse temper. Into the group comes Anne Shepley-Rice. She has recently become an orphan at 22 and her formerly affluent life had come to an end, she will now have to work for her living. Nevertheless, unlike Elsie, who is very bitter at the way her life has turned out, Anne is cheerfully optimistic. The machinations of the women begin when it's found that the post of Deputy Language Supervisor is up for grabs.
In the beginning of the story we hear that the people of London hear the distant rumble of guns in the distance but feel quite safe, then one night, the enemy planes break through and all changes, bombs start falling on an almost nightly bases and the shock of Londoners quickly becomes a sort of grim resignation/determination. It's always fascinating to read books written during this time, the have an immediacy to them that is usually lacking in historical fiction. I really enjoyed this story of women bickering in the office while the bombs dropped in the background.
The story is set in an office of women translators. They are a diverse set of characters, some have had to work all their adult lives, and some are just 'doing their bit' for the war effort. Elsie Pearne seems to dominate the women working on table two with her bad manners and worse temper. Into the group comes Anne Shepley-Rice. She has recently become an orphan at 22 and her formerly affluent life had come to an end, she will now have to work for her living. Nevertheless, unlike Elsie, who is very bitter at the way her life has turned out, Anne is cheerfully optimistic. The machinations of the women begin when it's found that the post of Deputy Language Supervisor is up for grabs.
In the beginning of the story we hear that the people of London hear the distant rumble of guns in the distance but feel quite safe, then one night, the enemy planes break through and all changes, bombs start falling on an almost nightly bases and the shock of Londoners quickly becomes a sort of grim resignation/determination. It's always fascinating to read books written during this time, the have an immediacy to them that is usually lacking in historical fiction. I really enjoyed this story of women bickering in the office while the bombs dropped in the background.
August 14, 2020
This novel – the only one by author Marjorie Wilenski – is deservedly back in print; if for no other reason than it is historically so interesting. It is set in an office of female translators at the Ministry of Foreign Intelligence, housed in London, during the early days of WWII. The two main characters are the intelligent, but bitter, Elsie Pearne and young, optimistic, Anne Shepley-Rice. The two are complete opposites. Elsie, whose education was thwarted by having to go to work when young and not take up a scholarship, had a successful career in Europe, but war has forced her home. Needing to work, she takes the job at the Ministry for lower pay and feels frustrated. With her bitter tongue and short temper, she is disliked in the office, but decides she wishes to befriend the new girl, Anne. Anne, much younger and prettier, has decided to work, after her mother died and leaves her in genteel poverty. However, fussed over by an old family servant, and with a wealthy grandmother, she does not quite need to rely on her wits as Elsie does. Besides, there is the handsome Sebastian, who has decided he wants nothing more than to marry Anne and so she has the romantic life that Elsie also dreamed of, but never obtained.
Much of this novel is really interesting. The way the women do not feel that the Germans will ever ‘break through,’ to the daily reality of endless bombing raids, of rationing and lack of sleep. There is also the reality of office politics, with all the usual suspects. The scatty one, the talkative one; those that need to work, as opposed to those who feel it is a wartime duty. We have class, personality conflicts, tensions, gossip and despair, as the novel unfolds. Elsie is really the most interesting character in the novel. Bullied as a child, her chances always seeming to end in nothing, she is dislikeable, but also poignantly sympathetic. Some of the other characters are a little wooden, but I liked the office and the wartime setting and am glad this is back in print and I had the chance to read it.
Much of this novel is really interesting. The way the women do not feel that the Germans will ever ‘break through,’ to the daily reality of endless bombing raids, of rationing and lack of sleep. There is also the reality of office politics, with all the usual suspects. The scatty one, the talkative one; those that need to work, as opposed to those who feel it is a wartime duty. We have class, personality conflicts, tensions, gossip and despair, as the novel unfolds. Elsie is really the most interesting character in the novel. Bullied as a child, her chances always seeming to end in nothing, she is dislikeable, but also poignantly sympathetic. Some of the other characters are a little wooden, but I liked the office and the wartime setting and am glad this is back in print and I had the chance to read it.
August 23, 2020
What a novel! The ending has left me in a state of mental whirling. I didn't expect it to end like it did. Marjorie Wilenski has taken her readers on a tumultuous novel set during the Blitz of London. The readers are introduced to the cast of women who serve as translators (Table Two) for fictional Ministry of Foreign Intelligence. The two lead characters are Elsie Pearne and Anne Shepley-Rice.
Elsie Pearne is extremely competent, efficient and dedicated to her job. She's also bitter, cynical, and downright awfully mean to others. She has a sense of grandiosity and angrily reflects on the stupidity of others frequently compared to her own intelligence. I also think she suffers from an undiagnosed mental health disorder. Even if she did seek treatment, would she have really been treated correctly and fairly due to the antiquated views on mental health disorders and the fact that she was a woman during this time period? (That's a whole other conversation for another time though) Wilenski has created such an unlikable character in Elsie. However, knowing Elsie's upbringing with her mother and aunt, the disappointments, the loss of dreams, and the thrusting of her into the workforce despite earning a scholarship to Oxford, we the readers, have a measure of sympathy for her. She's horrible but fascinating. She's also lonely.
Enter Anne Shepley-Rice. The foil to Elsie's character. Anne is young, vibrant, cheerful, naive, and honestly, a bit dim. Yet, she's also likable. Anne is determined to make her own way in the world. Anne grew up privileged until her father passed away in debt. After selling the manor house, Anne and her mother moved to a smaller home. They had to economize. When Anne's mother passes away, Anne is left with even less money, "until the dividends turn around". Her wealthy grandmother tries to come to the rescue but Anne wants to be independent. She tries to rebuff a former love in her quest for independence but eventually relents to his attentions. Anne really isn't much of a free thinker and tends to follow whatever a stronger personality dictates to her. We see this occurring with both Seb (her love interest) and Elsie. Elsie is drawn to Anne, almost uncomfortably so at times, and wants to be her friend.
The novel has a few things happening at once: the war- London is being Blitzed. We get to see how people coped, lived, and managed to continue on with life in the face of potential death daily. Anne and Elsie's odd friendship that culminates in a horrible outcome. Office life with familiar characters if one has ever worked in an office. And class differences. I thought it was an incredibly interesting read which left some thoughts to be digested. A Furrowed Middlebrow book I would definitely recommend.
Elsie Pearne is extremely competent, efficient and dedicated to her job. She's also bitter, cynical, and downright awfully mean to others. She has a sense of grandiosity and angrily reflects on the stupidity of others frequently compared to her own intelligence. I also think she suffers from an undiagnosed mental health disorder. Even if she did seek treatment, would she have really been treated correctly and fairly due to the antiquated views on mental health disorders and the fact that she was a woman during this time period? (That's a whole other conversation for another time though) Wilenski has created such an unlikable character in Elsie. However, knowing Elsie's upbringing with her mother and aunt, the disappointments, the loss of dreams, and the thrusting of her into the workforce despite earning a scholarship to Oxford, we the readers, have a measure of sympathy for her. She's horrible but fascinating. She's also lonely.
Enter Anne Shepley-Rice. The foil to Elsie's character. Anne is young, vibrant, cheerful, naive, and honestly, a bit dim. Yet, she's also likable. Anne is determined to make her own way in the world. Anne grew up privileged until her father passed away in debt. After selling the manor house, Anne and her mother moved to a smaller home. They had to economize. When Anne's mother passes away, Anne is left with even less money, "until the dividends turn around". Her wealthy grandmother tries to come to the rescue but Anne wants to be independent. She tries to rebuff a former love in her quest for independence but eventually relents to his attentions. Anne really isn't much of a free thinker and tends to follow whatever a stronger personality dictates to her. We see this occurring with both Seb (her love interest) and Elsie. Elsie is drawn to Anne, almost uncomfortably so at times, and wants to be her friend.
The novel has a few things happening at once: the war- London is being Blitzed. We get to see how people coped, lived, and managed to continue on with life in the face of potential death daily. Anne and Elsie's odd friendship that culminates in a horrible outcome. Office life with familiar characters if one has ever worked in an office. And class differences. I thought it was an incredibly interesting read which left some thoughts to be digested. A Furrowed Middlebrow book I would definitely recommend.
September 2, 2019
A perfect snapshot of London life during the Blitz for a group of mostly middle aged women working in a Government office. Air raid warnings and sirens, coffee rotas and petty bickering, jockeying for promotion and crushing bureaucracy, the Official Secrets Act and hypocrisy at the highest level, all mingling to show what daily life was actually like in those dark days.
The class divide is well represented as the barriers between the gentry and the common folk had not yet been broken down by years of wartime deprivation and the common cause of beating the enemy. The lower class character of Elsie is not a comic figure as servants and lower class characters so often are; her biography is the longest given and is handled with sensitivity and compassion. The disappointments that thwarted her prospects have shaped her personality and the author is forgiving of her sharp tongue and tactless manner, knowing that she didn’t have a soft or easy life.
Ultimately all the characters successfully navigate the Blitz, when it begins, after the long phoney war eventually comes to a close. They drink cocktails and go out for tea in spite of the bombs and the damaged streets and the threat of invasion. Table Two is not just a perfect slice of social history but also a novel with recognisable people living their daily lives, and worth a read on both counts.
The class divide is well represented as the barriers between the gentry and the common folk had not yet been broken down by years of wartime deprivation and the common cause of beating the enemy. The lower class character of Elsie is not a comic figure as servants and lower class characters so often are; her biography is the longest given and is handled with sensitivity and compassion. The disappointments that thwarted her prospects have shaped her personality and the author is forgiving of her sharp tongue and tactless manner, knowing that she didn’t have a soft or easy life.
Ultimately all the characters successfully navigate the Blitz, when it begins, after the long phoney war eventually comes to a close. They drink cocktails and go out for tea in spite of the bombs and the damaged streets and the threat of invasion. Table Two is not just a perfect slice of social history but also a novel with recognisable people living their daily lives, and worth a read on both counts.
July 18, 2021
Table Two is the place where a group of women translators sit to work in the Ministry of Foreign Information at the start of the Blitz in London. The book was only published in 1942. I can only imagine its depiction of (i) the public’s initial disbelief that bomb drills were necessary (why bomb London when there was no manufacturing there?) followed by (ii) the bombing of London and the publics horrified response at becoming random targets of the war, which in turn was followed by (iii) inurement to the death and destruction caused by the bombs as they become commonplace, must be fairly accurate. It find it interesting to read books written actually during the war because usually they are a lot less dramatic about life during wartime than later, historical fiction.
The drama here is not the war between Axis and the Allies but between the middle aged, lower middle class, bitter Elise Perne and the rest of Table Two. Elsie had to leave her well paid job in Europe due to the war and finds herself surrounded by people she considers her inferiors in ability. However, when fresh faced Anne Stepley-Rice joins the team, Elsie hopes she can take her under her wing and have a friend at last. But Elsie might not be playing with a full deck. She seems to see subterfuge and ill intentions when none are meant. And upper class Anne, while down on her luck a bit, isn’t the right person to become Elsie’s protégé. While she is living under reduced circumstances and determined to “make it on her own”, she still has Grandma and her small investments to live on, in contrast to most of the other women in the office who have no safety net at all, should they lose their job.
This was an interesting look at class in England at the midcentury and probably at mental illness, though I don’t know if the author would have necessarily understood Elsie as such.
The drama here is not the war between Axis and the Allies but between the middle aged, lower middle class, bitter Elise Perne and the rest of Table Two. Elsie had to leave her well paid job in Europe due to the war and finds herself surrounded by people she considers her inferiors in ability. However, when fresh faced Anne Stepley-Rice joins the team, Elsie hopes she can take her under her wing and have a friend at last. But Elsie might not be playing with a full deck. She seems to see subterfuge and ill intentions when none are meant. And upper class Anne, while down on her luck a bit, isn’t the right person to become Elsie’s protégé. While she is living under reduced circumstances and determined to “make it on her own”, she still has Grandma and her small investments to live on, in contrast to most of the other women in the office who have no safety net at all, should they lose their job.
This was an interesting look at class in England at the midcentury and probably at mental illness, though I don’t know if the author would have necessarily understood Elsie as such.
August 6, 2020
This novel tells the story of a group of women working as translators during WWII. The main characters are Elsie Pearne, clever and competent but lacking in social graces, and the new addition to the team, Anne Shepley-Rice. Anne is from a wealthy family who have lost their money, but her cheerful optimism and family connections help her to feel comfortable in her new environment. The other workers are a mixed bunch, all doing their bit to help the war effort. When the post of Deputy Supervisor becomes available, the tensions in the group begin to build.
The main strength of this book is the social history. Marjorie Wilenski wrote this book during WWII and her descriptions of the horrors of the Blitz, work in the Ministry with its plethora of acronyms and stuffy bosses, and wartime privations are wonderfully detailed and full of life. The office politics are convincing, and there is a mood of stoicism and determination which creates an authentic wartime atmosphere.
As a novel, though, I found it a little disappointing. The writing style is rather stilted, and there are clunky passages of backstory which could have been more smoothly integrated into the narrative. Apart from Elsie and Anne, there is only sketchy character development, with the other characters being more types than people - the scatty one, the gloom-and-doom one, the older matriarch type etc. Even allowing for the time of its writing, the class snobbery is very pronounced, with both Elsie (working class) and Mary (new money) condemned as not being the 'right sort'.
Overall, I felt that the author had a good concept and some good ideas, that would perhaps have made an excellent non-fiction memoir, but didn't really execute them skilfully as a novel. The writing lacked a lightness of touch and a carefully planned structure that would have made the novel more enjoyable. As it was her only novel, we will never know if she would have developed these skills in later novels, which is a real shame.
The main strength of this book is the social history. Marjorie Wilenski wrote this book during WWII and her descriptions of the horrors of the Blitz, work in the Ministry with its plethora of acronyms and stuffy bosses, and wartime privations are wonderfully detailed and full of life. The office politics are convincing, and there is a mood of stoicism and determination which creates an authentic wartime atmosphere.
As a novel, though, I found it a little disappointing. The writing style is rather stilted, and there are clunky passages of backstory which could have been more smoothly integrated into the narrative. Apart from Elsie and Anne, there is only sketchy character development, with the other characters being more types than people - the scatty one, the gloom-and-doom one, the older matriarch type etc. Even allowing for the time of its writing, the class snobbery is very pronounced, with both Elsie (working class) and Mary (new money) condemned as not being the 'right sort'.
Overall, I felt that the author had a good concept and some good ideas, that would perhaps have made an excellent non-fiction memoir, but didn't really execute them skilfully as a novel. The writing lacked a lightness of touch and a carefully planned structure that would have made the novel more enjoyable. As it was her only novel, we will never know if she would have developed these skills in later novels, which is a real shame.
March 8, 2020
As the bombs fell during the London blitz, they put all types of strains on those who lived there and tried to work. This novel was originally published in 1942, and was a closely observed picture of what the author knew well: a group of women who worked together in a random group while under immense strain.The wonderful Dean Street Press have recently reprinted this unique novel of bravery under fire, together with all the very real challenges of jealousy, relative poverty and unrequired passions. Not that this is a wholly gloomy book, as the wit of a dialogue with an authentic sound is in contrast with some of the events of a life dominated by sirens and explosions. The main characters of women depicted in this book are a fascinating collection of the relatively well off and the women left behind by life. There is some bitterness, but also the clash between women working in the Ministry for the money, having been struggling to make a living for many years, and the well off working for the War effort. The only novel by this thoughtful and skilful writer, this book represents a very readable insight into a time when the outcome of the Second World War was far from certain. I was so pleased to have the opportunity to read and review this intense but entertaining novel.
Anne is the heroine, a young woman from a wealthy background recently left impoverished and so working at the Ministry in the translation department. Her background of friends and relatives mean that she has resources beyond the dreams of her co workers. As she starts working at “Table Two” of the translation department, she encounters the older Elsie Perne, able and efficient but starved of affection in her life of working throughout Europe, a situation ended by the onset of war. While the other women are talkative, noisy, jealous, depressive and childlike in all their accurate humanity, Elsie Perne is determined to do better, gain more status and regain her sense of self worth. She sees Anne as the only colleague who is not already biased against her, and in her desperation for simple friendship she becomes even less tactful. There are some set pieces of drama as the raids, previously discounted as empty threats, actually consume much work time and threaten the safety of the workers. Despite the London gloom, there are still glimmers of hope in a city transformed and no longer familiar, as every character must come to terms with shortages, lack of sleep and the need for concentrated work.
This book is very readable and enjoyable as a piercing view of people working together in nearly impossible circumstances. The humour is dark, the understanding of human dynamics painfully accurate, the variation between the women brilliantly drawn. I found the image of some of these women once more coming to terms with war moving, and this book is an incredible testament to the human spirit. I found the comparison with the very few male characters very interesting; they tend to be quite stock people like women often are in many books of the period. It is sad that this is the only novel published by this writer. I really enjoyed this book in every way.
Anne is the heroine, a young woman from a wealthy background recently left impoverished and so working at the Ministry in the translation department. Her background of friends and relatives mean that she has resources beyond the dreams of her co workers. As she starts working at “Table Two” of the translation department, she encounters the older Elsie Perne, able and efficient but starved of affection in her life of working throughout Europe, a situation ended by the onset of war. While the other women are talkative, noisy, jealous, depressive and childlike in all their accurate humanity, Elsie Perne is determined to do better, gain more status and regain her sense of self worth. She sees Anne as the only colleague who is not already biased against her, and in her desperation for simple friendship she becomes even less tactful. There are some set pieces of drama as the raids, previously discounted as empty threats, actually consume much work time and threaten the safety of the workers. Despite the London gloom, there are still glimmers of hope in a city transformed and no longer familiar, as every character must come to terms with shortages, lack of sleep and the need for concentrated work.
This book is very readable and enjoyable as a piercing view of people working together in nearly impossible circumstances. The humour is dark, the understanding of human dynamics painfully accurate, the variation between the women brilliantly drawn. I found the image of some of these women once more coming to terms with war moving, and this book is an incredible testament to the human spirit. I found the comparison with the very few male characters very interesting; they tend to be quite stock people like women often are in many books of the period. It is sad that this is the only novel published by this writer. I really enjoyed this book in every way.
June 18, 2021
Quite an enjoyable story about a group of women working as translators in a government department in London during the Blitz. The two main characters are middle aged Elsie, clever and efficient but bad tempered and rude, and young, pretty Anne to whom Elsie takes an unexpected fancy. Although it is quite an interesting story and the descriptions of London in the Blitz are fascinating, I was a bit disappointed that none of the other characters at Table Two are very well developed, and in fact I couldn’t really remember who was who. But nevertheless an interesting story.
April 3, 2025
This novel centers around an office of female translators during WWII during the London Blitz. Wilenski describes all of the translators through the bitter and unkind eyes of one of its main characters, 52 year old Elsie Pearne. When young newcomer Anne Shepley-Rice arrives, Elsie is quick to take Anne under her forceful wing, eager to make a friend and form and alliance.
Wilenski is an expert at describing the distinct personalities of the women of the office and their motivations for working as translators. I've only briefly worked in an office but to be working so closely amongst people, with competition, grudges, silent campaigns, and shifting alliances, would be trying enough for everyone.
Americans didn't experience the horrors of war in the way that citizens in England did, certainly not Londoners who lived through the daily and nightly bombings or bomb warnings that went off at all hours of the day or night every day. The fact that these women were able to keep calm and carry on without pulling out their hair and get any work done at all is a testament to all workers at this time.
This book is compared to Angela Thirkell's writing, and while it took awhile for me to get into, I'm glad I stuck it out because it did become interesting to me as I became more invested in the two main characters.
3.5 stars
Trigger warning: There is a racial slur in this book that was also used as the title of one of Agatha Christie's books before it was renamed. The epithet came out of nowhere, didn't add anything to the plot, and was completely unnecessary. Be forewarned that this may leave a bad taste in your mouth.
Wilenski is an expert at describing the distinct personalities of the women of the office and their motivations for working as translators. I've only briefly worked in an office but to be working so closely amongst people, with competition, grudges, silent campaigns, and shifting alliances, would be trying enough for everyone.
Americans didn't experience the horrors of war in the way that citizens in England did, certainly not Londoners who lived through the daily and nightly bombings or bomb warnings that went off at all hours of the day or night every day. The fact that these women were able to keep calm and carry on without pulling out their hair and get any work done at all is a testament to all workers at this time.
This book is compared to Angela Thirkell's writing, and while it took awhile for me to get into, I'm glad I stuck it out because it did become interesting to me as I became more invested in the two main characters.
3.5 stars
Trigger warning: There is a racial slur in this book that was also used as the title of one of Agatha Christie's books before it was renamed. The epithet came out of nowhere, didn't add anything to the plot, and was completely unnecessary. Be forewarned that this may leave a bad taste in your mouth.
June 6, 2023
4 Stars
January 5, 2025
Another great read from Dean Street Press! 4.5 Stars.
I love that this was set and written during the thick of WWII. The depictions of everyday life for a working British woman felt so true to life due to the level of detail the author gives us: the anxiety of ever-looming German bombs, the exhausting air raid evacuations, sleeping in dirty shelters with neighbors and strangers and still having to go to work the next day - all of these details really made you feel as if you were there.
I also adored the character dynamics - especially between Elsie and Anne. Elsie is a bit of her own worst enemy and you can’t help but feel sorry for her when she tries to do better but falls back into her own insecurities. The author does a great job of giving us glimpses into Elsie’s past in order to sympathize with her frustrating actions. I thought it was so funny to read about the strained dynamics and petty drama among all of the women working together - some things never change in the work force! All in all, this was such an enjoyable read and I could have done with 100 pages more.
I love that this was set and written during the thick of WWII. The depictions of everyday life for a working British woman felt so true to life due to the level of detail the author gives us: the anxiety of ever-looming German bombs, the exhausting air raid evacuations, sleeping in dirty shelters with neighbors and strangers and still having to go to work the next day - all of these details really made you feel as if you were there.
I also adored the character dynamics - especially between Elsie and Anne. Elsie is a bit of her own worst enemy and you can’t help but feel sorry for her when she tries to do better but falls back into her own insecurities. The author does a great job of giving us glimpses into Elsie’s past in order to sympathize with her frustrating actions. I thought it was so funny to read about the strained dynamics and petty drama among all of the women working together - some things never change in the work force! All in all, this was such an enjoyable read and I could have done with 100 pages more.
April 7, 2022
Elsie is a great character in this, one of those spiteful miserable women who you actually feel sorry for by the end , the historical context is worth reading it for as it was written during the war and it’s very much about women.
April 1, 2022
A rather obscure but delightful classic.
May 14, 2023
Marjorie Wilenski's "Table Two" is a novel published in 1942, considering British office workers during the September 1940 London Blitz. At the time the uncertainty of how WW2 would end and not knowing if Germany would win or lose. Different personalities bring humor to the office politics during this dark time. I enjoyed the Anne/Sebastian/Elise scenario. Though Elise Pearne can be blunt and unsociable, I hoped that things would work out for her in the end.
Story in short -Ministry of Foreign Intelligence Table Two government women workers are a varied sort.
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Marjorie Wilenski’s only novel, as biting and funny as Barbara Pym at her crankiest, follows an office of women translators at the fictional Ministry of Foreign Intelligence in London as they bicker, manoeuvre, and shift allegiances just before and then in the thick of the London Blitz. Its two main characters are sharply contrasted—the clever, efficient but terminally bitter middle-aged Elsie Pearne and the cheerful, pretty young newcomer Anne Shepley-Rice, whose once
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affluent family has fallen on hard times. Their colleagues include a fresh air fanatic, a busybody, an inept supervisor and her trusty deputy, the dithering, chatty Mrs Jolly, and a former lady’s companion who delights in bad news and disaster.
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The cast of Table Two are instantly recognizable to any office worker of today. But this portrayal of a 1940s office is a rare treasure for modern readers, showing, with vivid detail and dark humour, how a group of
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 11
independent, capable women experienced some of the darkest days of World War II.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 36
Marjorie Isola Harland (1889-1965) was born in Kensington, London, the elder daughter of Wilson Harland, an engineer, and his wife, Marie.
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 37
Her younger sister, Eileen, was born in 1893. Other details of Marjorie’s life are infuriatingly sketchy. The papers filed by both parents in a long-drawn-out case for judicial separation suggest that in her early years Marjorie witnessed many upsetting scenes in the family home, her mother citing in lurid detail numerous instances of her husband’s drunken violence and swearing. By 1902 the couple had separated, Wilson Harland returning to live with his mother
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 40
in Brixton while Marie retained custody of her daughters. In 1907 the three were living at 37 Dorset Square, Marylebone when Eileen died, aged only 14.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 43
Nothing else is known of Marjorie’s early years other than that she was clearly well-schooled
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 43
schooled for she graduated from Bedford College in 1911 with a 2nd class degree in history. Three years later, on 5 August 1914, she married Reginald Howard Wilenski (1887-1975) at Kensington Registry Office. At this stage of his life Wilenski was something of a bohemian, having cut short his time at Oxford to try his luck as an artist in Paris. Returning to London he maintained a Kensington studio until 1915 but finding that creating art did not pay instead
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 47
turned his hand to art criticism, for which he became renowned. During the First World War he spent some time working in the intelligence department of the War Office and by September 1939 had again been recruited for war work, this time by the Ministry of Information. Marjorie, meanwhile, appears on the Register taken on 29 September 1939 as ‘luggage buyer in a department store’, a situation that would certainly have provided her with plenty of opportunity to
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 50
observe her fellow workers. With a nod to her own experience, one of the occupants of Table Two, Mrs Just, had previously been ‘an assistant-buyer in an Oxford Street store’. In fact Marjorie’s position in that department store might have been similar to that once held by 48-year-old Elsie Pearne, perhaps the novel’s most intriguing character, dominating as she does Table Two with her bad temper and sharp tongue. She had once ruled over offices in
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 53
Paris, Berlin, Barcelona, and Geneva but now, driven out of mainland Europe by war, was forced to accept work with lower status and pay. Like Elsie, four others of the group had worked all their lives to support themselves and now in 1940 faced worrying uncertainty as businesses closed or moved out of London, putting thousands out of work. No wonder Miss Purbeck, who had spent a lifetime in Italian pensions tending the demands of a series of old ladies, was so fearful
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 56
of losing her position as a translator. Others at the Table are voluntary ‘war workers’, never before having undertaken paid work but prepared now to ‘do their bit’ for their country. Like them, the pretty heroine, Anne Shepley-Rice, had never expected to work, but orphaned and with the family money lost, is setting out, aged 22, to earn her own living. Luckily she had the contacts and an ability in Portuguese to ensure she landed on Table Two. For what the women
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 59
have in common is a facility in at least one foreign language. For some, like Elsie, this had been earned through hard study; for others it is a by-product of an entirely different way of life. Aristocratic Hon. Cecilia Dunkerley had learned ‘several uncommon and useful languages’ when accompanying her diplomat father to the Balkans. The tension between the ‘professional workers’ and the volunteers is palpable, with, at its heart, the relationship between Elsie, soured by
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 63
life’s treatment, and Anne, on the brink of her new life and with romance blossoming. The author’s description of Elsie’s rented room in Brondesbury, which she had tried to make fashionable with a ‘carefully thought out’ colour scheme of yellow ochre and green, touches the heart. Hanging on the wall is a print of Titian’s ‘Young man with Gloves’, a faint likeness of a long-lost, nebulous, romantic attachment; while in her Kensington room Anne is able to display a photograph of Sebastian, her childhood sweetheart. We first meet Table Two at lunchtime on 2 September 1940 in the Ministry of Foreign Information, which Marjorie Wilenski places on the edge of Lincoln’s Inn Fields, as Elsie and Anne watch an aerial dogfight high in the ‘deep blue sky’. At this time ‘no-one in London was then expecting air-raids’ but five days later everything changed. On 7 September the women have their first experience of the Blitz,
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 69
night-time bombing that was to dominate life through the autumn. They, like other Londoners, become used to sleeping in shelters and rising the next morning to ‘gape and gaze at the great craters in the streets – [which] by Friday were just a familiar and tiresome obstruction to traffic; there were too many other things to think of . . .’ But this cataclysm is merely a background to the bickering and jousting for position around Table Two when it is revealed
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 72
that a new Deputy Language Supervisor will soon be required.
Elise really had no personalities skills and sometimes had a paranoia that seemed to stem from her inability to relate to others which started in her childhood. When she saw a chance at a new friend though more than 20 years younger, she wanted Anne to be this person and dreamed of them being roommates. Elise was jealous of anyone getting in the way of this friendship and not only that she was jealous of Anne's youth and her having someone who loved her. Elise was used to a life alone and though she caused the trouble with the lost letter, she also could not see someone else pay for something she did. She had lost her chance as a buyer by clearing Anne but in the end she had the job.
Many of the women were annoying and petty, especially since several were not very proficient in their assigned languages. The doom and gloom who got excited when tragedy happened was indeed sickening. Elise was very good at her job but did not have the skills to keep peace in the office. Back biting especially against Elise was top on the list. Anne started to change her attitude towards Elise after the dinner out with Sebastian because of her rudeness to him and O'Connor. Miss Saltman being in charge yet she needs the help of the Deputies.
Anne loved Sebastian but he seemed a bit like a coward when he had not told Mary about his engagement and his putting off cancelling his going to her friend's party. He even was going to kiss Mary when he thought she was expecting him to but the fire distracted him. I am sure that he will be true now but it seems that Anne will have to step up for certain things.
I loved that Anne and Mrs. Doweson loved dogs and any mention of them was delightful.
Story in short -Ministry of Foreign Intelligence Table Two government women workers are a varied sort.
➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 4
Marjorie Wilenski’s only novel, as biting and funny as Barbara Pym at her crankiest, follows an office of women translators at the fictional Ministry of Foreign Intelligence in London as they bicker, manoeuvre, and shift allegiances just before and then in the thick of the London Blitz. Its two main characters are sharply contrasted—the clever, efficient but terminally bitter middle-aged Elsie Pearne and the cheerful, pretty young newcomer Anne Shepley-Rice, whose once
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 7
affluent family has fallen on hard times. Their colleagues include a fresh air fanatic, a busybody, an inept supervisor and her trusty deputy, the dithering, chatty Mrs Jolly, and a former lady’s companion who delights in bad news and disaster.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 9
The cast of Table Two are instantly recognizable to any office worker of today. But this portrayal of a 1940s office is a rare treasure for modern readers, showing, with vivid detail and dark humour, how a group of
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 11
independent, capable women experienced some of the darkest days of World War II.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 36
Marjorie Isola Harland (1889-1965) was born in Kensington, London, the elder daughter of Wilson Harland, an engineer, and his wife, Marie.
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 37
Her younger sister, Eileen, was born in 1893. Other details of Marjorie’s life are infuriatingly sketchy. The papers filed by both parents in a long-drawn-out case for judicial separation suggest that in her early years Marjorie witnessed many upsetting scenes in the family home, her mother citing in lurid detail numerous instances of her husband’s drunken violence and swearing. By 1902 the couple had separated, Wilson Harland returning to live with his mother
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 40
in Brixton while Marie retained custody of her daughters. In 1907 the three were living at 37 Dorset Square, Marylebone when Eileen died, aged only 14.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 43
Nothing else is known of Marjorie’s early years other than that she was clearly well-schooled
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 43
schooled for she graduated from Bedford College in 1911 with a 2nd class degree in history. Three years later, on 5 August 1914, she married Reginald Howard Wilenski (1887-1975) at Kensington Registry Office. At this stage of his life Wilenski was something of a bohemian, having cut short his time at Oxford to try his luck as an artist in Paris. Returning to London he maintained a Kensington studio until 1915 but finding that creating art did not pay instead
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 47
turned his hand to art criticism, for which he became renowned. During the First World War he spent some time working in the intelligence department of the War Office and by September 1939 had again been recruited for war work, this time by the Ministry of Information. Marjorie, meanwhile, appears on the Register taken on 29 September 1939 as ‘luggage buyer in a department store’, a situation that would certainly have provided her with plenty of opportunity to
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 50
observe her fellow workers. With a nod to her own experience, one of the occupants of Table Two, Mrs Just, had previously been ‘an assistant-buyer in an Oxford Street store’. In fact Marjorie’s position in that department store might have been similar to that once held by 48-year-old Elsie Pearne, perhaps the novel’s most intriguing character, dominating as she does Table Two with her bad temper and sharp tongue. She had once ruled over offices in
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 53
Paris, Berlin, Barcelona, and Geneva but now, driven out of mainland Europe by war, was forced to accept work with lower status and pay. Like Elsie, four others of the group had worked all their lives to support themselves and now in 1940 faced worrying uncertainty as businesses closed or moved out of London, putting thousands out of work. No wonder Miss Purbeck, who had spent a lifetime in Italian pensions tending the demands of a series of old ladies, was so fearful
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 56
of losing her position as a translator. Others at the Table are voluntary ‘war workers’, never before having undertaken paid work but prepared now to ‘do their bit’ for their country. Like them, the pretty heroine, Anne Shepley-Rice, had never expected to work, but orphaned and with the family money lost, is setting out, aged 22, to earn her own living. Luckily she had the contacts and an ability in Portuguese to ensure she landed on Table Two. For what the women
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 59
have in common is a facility in at least one foreign language. For some, like Elsie, this had been earned through hard study; for others it is a by-product of an entirely different way of life. Aristocratic Hon. Cecilia Dunkerley had learned ‘several uncommon and useful languages’ when accompanying her diplomat father to the Balkans. The tension between the ‘professional workers’ and the volunteers is palpable, with, at its heart, the relationship between Elsie, soured by
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 63
life’s treatment, and Anne, on the brink of her new life and with romance blossoming. The author’s description of Elsie’s rented room in Brondesbury, which she had tried to make fashionable with a ‘carefully thought out’ colour scheme of yellow ochre and green, touches the heart. Hanging on the wall is a print of Titian’s ‘Young man with Gloves’, a faint likeness of a long-lost, nebulous, romantic attachment; while in her Kensington room Anne is able to display a photograph of Sebastian, her childhood sweetheart. We first meet Table Two at lunchtime on 2 September 1940 in the Ministry of Foreign Information, which Marjorie Wilenski places on the edge of Lincoln’s Inn Fields, as Elsie and Anne watch an aerial dogfight high in the ‘deep blue sky’. At this time ‘no-one in London was then expecting air-raids’ but five days later everything changed. On 7 September the women have their first experience of the Blitz,
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 69
night-time bombing that was to dominate life through the autumn. They, like other Londoners, become used to sleeping in shelters and rising the next morning to ‘gape and gaze at the great craters in the streets – [which] by Friday were just a familiar and tiresome obstruction to traffic; there were too many other things to think of . . .’ But this cataclysm is merely a background to the bickering and jousting for position around Table Two when it is revealed
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 72
that a new Deputy Language Supervisor will soon be required.
Elise really had no personalities skills and sometimes had a paranoia that seemed to stem from her inability to relate to others which started in her childhood. When she saw a chance at a new friend though more than 20 years younger, she wanted Anne to be this person and dreamed of them being roommates. Elise was jealous of anyone getting in the way of this friendship and not only that she was jealous of Anne's youth and her having someone who loved her. Elise was used to a life alone and though she caused the trouble with the lost letter, she also could not see someone else pay for something she did. She had lost her chance as a buyer by clearing Anne but in the end she had the job.
Many of the women were annoying and petty, especially since several were not very proficient in their assigned languages. The doom and gloom who got excited when tragedy happened was indeed sickening. Elise was very good at her job but did not have the skills to keep peace in the office. Back biting especially against Elise was top on the list. Anne started to change her attitude towards Elise after the dinner out with Sebastian because of her rudeness to him and O'Connor. Miss Saltman being in charge yet she needs the help of the Deputies.
Anne loved Sebastian but he seemed a bit like a coward when he had not told Mary about his engagement and his putting off cancelling his going to her friend's party. He even was going to kiss Mary when he thought she was expecting him to but the fire distracted him. I am sure that he will be true now but it seems that Anne will have to step up for certain things.
I loved that Anne and Mrs. Doweson loved dogs and any mention of them was delightful.
March 12, 2022
This is an interesting piece of social history, as WWII fiction written by somebody who was living through it at the time and possibly working in a similar sort of classified government job as the women in the novel. I was interested in how pragmatic they were in their daily lives negotiating the Blitz; amongst the nightly bombings and lack of essential services they continued to go out for daily restaurant lunches, drink cocktails, attend parties and even make it into the office each morning.
The writing was occasionally a little simplistic, notably when describing a character’s inner thoughts, and I would’ve liked to know more about the lives of other translators working on Table 2, but Wilenski also presents one of the most finely-drawn and layered antiheroes I’ve experienced in Elsie Pearne. Bitter, wronged, highly capable but twisted into unstable, anxious knots, I suspect she was drawn from intimate personal knowledge; she reminded me of some women I’ve worked with in the past and I felt empathy for her situation and thankful for my own easier life in today’s society.
The writing was occasionally a little simplistic, notably when describing a character’s inner thoughts, and I would’ve liked to know more about the lives of other translators working on Table 2, but Wilenski also presents one of the most finely-drawn and layered antiheroes I’ve experienced in Elsie Pearne. Bitter, wronged, highly capable but twisted into unstable, anxious knots, I suspect she was drawn from intimate personal knowledge; she reminded me of some women I’ve worked with in the past and I felt empathy for her situation and thankful for my own easier life in today’s society.
May 22, 2020
2.49 stars. This book was a hard one to rate, because in many ways, I found it very interesting. The description of life during the Blitz working in a government office is fascinating, and the author does a great job of making me feel like I'm there. I read a lot of books about women in Britain during WWII, most of the them written by people who experienced it, and this is as good as any of them in that sense.
The reason why I am not giving it more than 2.5 stars is because of the characters. The author makes them very vivid and interesting, but each one is a type, and there are only one or two that every really break out of their type. Like a lot of British female writers of that time period, she's pretty nasty about them. I don't like reading a book where the author treats the characters with contempt, and the author seems to hate Elsie, who is in many ways the main character, most of all. The fact is, Elsie has had a hard life in a lot of ways, and it is to some extent understandable why she turns out the way she does. Because she is so unpleasant, what is technically a very well-written book just wasn't much fun to read. I think similar characters in the hands of somebody like D. E. Stevenson could have become something I would have personally found a lot more enjoyable.
The reason why I am not giving it more than 2.5 stars is because of the characters. The author makes them very vivid and interesting, but each one is a type, and there are only one or two that every really break out of their type. Like a lot of British female writers of that time period, she's pretty nasty about them. I don't like reading a book where the author treats the characters with contempt, and the author seems to hate Elsie, who is in many ways the main character, most of all. The fact is, Elsie has had a hard life in a lot of ways, and it is to some extent understandable why she turns out the way she does. Because she is so unpleasant, what is technically a very well-written book just wasn't much fun to read. I think similar characters in the hands of somebody like D. E. Stevenson could have become something I would have personally found a lot more enjoyable.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 10, 2020
Another fine entry in the Dean Street Press-Furrowed Middlebrow partnership to reprint novels by women written in World War II. This one captures how, even during war, personality clashes and petty politics can run rampant in an office setting--in this case, in a group of women translators.
The author's characterizations of the main characters are rich--particularly when she examines the constrained options for middle-aged single women of the time, and also how class differences and small slights or misunderstandings can become magnified under stress. The small frustrations and inconveniences, as well as the terrors, of living and working in London as the Blitz begins are well portrayed. The secondary characters aren't as well distinguished (I had trouble telling some of them apart), and the ending is a bit rushed. But it's still a rewarding read.
The author's characterizations of the main characters are rich--particularly when she examines the constrained options for middle-aged single women of the time, and also how class differences and small slights or misunderstandings can become magnified under stress. The small frustrations and inconveniences, as well as the terrors, of living and working in London as the Blitz begins are well portrayed. The secondary characters aren't as well distinguished (I had trouble telling some of them apart), and the ending is a bit rushed. But it's still a rewarding read.
August 12, 2020
What a wonderful read this was! Sharply etched characters. Incredibly British, matter-of-fact narration of their lives and hopes, fears and heartache. Really captures the atmosphere of pre-WWII London from the perspective of female office workers of different ages, natures, and classes.
It's such a pity that Marjorie Wilenski wrote just this one book. She's definitely an author I'd have read more of.
It's such a pity that Marjorie Wilenski wrote just this one book. She's definitely an author I'd have read more of.
January 29, 2025
(3.5 Stars)
Every December for the past few years, fellow blogger Liz Dexter has shone a spotlight on books published by Dean Street Press (DSP), an independent publisher specialising in reissuing golden age crime fiction and classic books by women writers from the mid-20th century. Their line-up of authors includes Dorothy Wentworth, D. E. Stevenson, Stella Gibbons, Marjorie Sharp and many more. Time usually gets the better of me in the run-up to Christmas, but for once, I’ve been able to get my act together in time, largely due to a lovely birthday gift from Heaven Ali earlier this year.
First published in 1942, Table Two was Marjorie Wilenski’s only novel; nevertheless, it’s a valuable addition to the Dean Street Press list for its insights into the lives of working women during World War Two. The story is set in an office of female translators at the London-based fictional Ministry of Foreign Intelligence during the early years of the war. Naturally, as in any office environment, there are different personality traits, petty grievances and points of tension at play, and Wilenski makes the most of these in this enjoyable story.
The two central characters could hardly be more different from one another. Middle-aged Elsie Pearne is intelligent, efficient, and well-versed in various European languages from her previous experience working abroad; nevertheless, she is also bitter, short-tempered and intolerant of her co-workers’ shortcomings. Following a successful business career in Europe, Elsie has been forced to return to the UK due to the war, leaving her little alternative but the role of translator at the Ministry for a third of her former salary. Unsurprisingly, her resentment of the situation frequently spills over into her attitude at the office, and she is strongly disliked by the other translators at Table Two.
Wilenski’s counterpoint to Elsie is newcomer Anne Shepley-Rice, who starts her new job at the Ministry during the novel’s opening chapters. Young, innocent and full of the optimism of youth, Anne comes from a formerly wealthy family; however, a downturn in their fortunes has left her in severely reduced circumstances. Following the death of her parents, Anne is determined to make an independent living for herself, starting as a translator at the Ministry, which she finds rather bewildering at first. Sensing the newcomer’s malleability and eagerness to make a good impression, Elsie decides to take Anne under her wing, mainly for selfish reasons. Nevertheless, Anne is grateful for Elsie’s friendship, initially at least.
Alongside the two central characters, Wilenski quickly introduces us to the other translators at Table Two, highlighting their different personalities and eccentricities. Heading up the team is Language Supervisor Miss Saltman, a rather disorganised middle-aged woman who relies very heavily on her uber-efficient Deputy, Mrs Just, to sort everything out for her. Young, clever and well turned out, Mrs Just is smart enough to keep each translator onside, divvying up the work appropriately across the team.
To read the rest of my review, please visit:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2024...
Every December for the past few years, fellow blogger Liz Dexter has shone a spotlight on books published by Dean Street Press (DSP), an independent publisher specialising in reissuing golden age crime fiction and classic books by women writers from the mid-20th century. Their line-up of authors includes Dorothy Wentworth, D. E. Stevenson, Stella Gibbons, Marjorie Sharp and many more. Time usually gets the better of me in the run-up to Christmas, but for once, I’ve been able to get my act together in time, largely due to a lovely birthday gift from Heaven Ali earlier this year.
First published in 1942, Table Two was Marjorie Wilenski’s only novel; nevertheless, it’s a valuable addition to the Dean Street Press list for its insights into the lives of working women during World War Two. The story is set in an office of female translators at the London-based fictional Ministry of Foreign Intelligence during the early years of the war. Naturally, as in any office environment, there are different personality traits, petty grievances and points of tension at play, and Wilenski makes the most of these in this enjoyable story.
The two central characters could hardly be more different from one another. Middle-aged Elsie Pearne is intelligent, efficient, and well-versed in various European languages from her previous experience working abroad; nevertheless, she is also bitter, short-tempered and intolerant of her co-workers’ shortcomings. Following a successful business career in Europe, Elsie has been forced to return to the UK due to the war, leaving her little alternative but the role of translator at the Ministry for a third of her former salary. Unsurprisingly, her resentment of the situation frequently spills over into her attitude at the office, and she is strongly disliked by the other translators at Table Two.
Wilenski’s counterpoint to Elsie is newcomer Anne Shepley-Rice, who starts her new job at the Ministry during the novel’s opening chapters. Young, innocent and full of the optimism of youth, Anne comes from a formerly wealthy family; however, a downturn in their fortunes has left her in severely reduced circumstances. Following the death of her parents, Anne is determined to make an independent living for herself, starting as a translator at the Ministry, which she finds rather bewildering at first. Sensing the newcomer’s malleability and eagerness to make a good impression, Elsie decides to take Anne under her wing, mainly for selfish reasons. Nevertheless, Anne is grateful for Elsie’s friendship, initially at least.
Alongside the two central characters, Wilenski quickly introduces us to the other translators at Table Two, highlighting their different personalities and eccentricities. Heading up the team is Language Supervisor Miss Saltman, a rather disorganised middle-aged woman who relies very heavily on her uber-efficient Deputy, Mrs Just, to sort everything out for her. Young, clever and well turned out, Mrs Just is smart enough to keep each translator onside, divvying up the work appropriately across the team.
To read the rest of my review, please visit:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2024...
August 16, 2022
Another of the Furrowed Middlebrow reprints, this is the only book by Marjorie Wilenski (about whom little is known) and was published in 1942. I wonder why she didn't write more - there is a lot of potential in this story about Elsie (lower class, poor, lonely and bitter) and her workmate Anne (upper class, not rich but certainly not poor, young and pretty) as they toil in a ministry office doing translations during the London Blitz. Elsie is an interesting if somewhat sad and paranoid character. Life has not always been easy for her. Meanwhile, Anne is on the brink of a new and exciting life.
Dogs figure in the book, not as main characters or even as secondary characters, but they are there and described with a lot of affection. Wilenski must have been an animal lover; she writes sensitively about them. The following passage describes Robert, a bulldog, when he is told to go to his bed and not mooch food: "Robert flung himself on his back and lay with his four paws in the air pretending that he was unable to move. His mistress prodded him with her foot and he gave a broad smile and flopping on his side began to snore loudly with one eye half open to see if she was noticing that he was now fast asleep." There is also a passage where Anne helps a veterinarian evacuate the dogs from his kennel because an unexploded bomb is lying nearby. I thought these dog passages were well-written and sympathetic to dogs.
Dogs figure in the book, not as main characters or even as secondary characters, but they are there and described with a lot of affection. Wilenski must have been an animal lover; she writes sensitively about them. The following passage describes Robert, a bulldog, when he is told to go to his bed and not mooch food: "Robert flung himself on his back and lay with his four paws in the air pretending that he was unable to move. His mistress prodded him with her foot and he gave a broad smile and flopping on his side began to snore loudly with one eye half open to see if she was noticing that he was now fast asleep." There is also a passage where Anne helps a veterinarian evacuate the dogs from his kennel because an unexploded bomb is lying nearby. I thought these dog passages were well-written and sympathetic to dogs.
May 3, 2025
Anyone who has spent most of their working life in offices will find themselves identifying similar characters to the ones that appear in this novel. I'm sure I'm not alone in recognising 'Elsies' from my own working life. They are the type of people who move from job to job or position to position without ever achieving the all-round success they expect. Failures are always the fault of someone else.
Elsie is not the only recognisable character and readers may find themselves wondering how they would fit in to Table Two, I know I did. Perhaps you feel you are Mrs. Just with a dash of Bobbie or Mrs. Jolly or perhaps Mrs. Saltman and Mrs. Doweson in equal measure. Who we choose as a favourite character probably also says more about ourselves than it says about the novel. My favourite is Mrs. Doweson
At first, I had wondered what the point of the story was but I think the point is more about the relationship between the reader and the people in the novel than the story itself. For me, this made Table Two a 5 star read.
Elsie is not the only recognisable character and readers may find themselves wondering how they would fit in to Table Two, I know I did. Perhaps you feel you are Mrs. Just with a dash of Bobbie or Mrs. Jolly or perhaps Mrs. Saltman and Mrs. Doweson in equal measure. Who we choose as a favourite character probably also says more about ourselves than it says about the novel. My favourite is Mrs. Doweson
At first, I had wondered what the point of the story was but I think the point is more about the relationship between the reader and the people in the novel than the story itself. For me, this made Table Two a 5 star read.
September 20, 2022
This reprint from Dean Street Press is fascinating for several reasons:
1. It was written during WW2 so it has an immediacy to the Blitz as its happening, before the outcome of the war is known.
2. It doesn't exactly have a main character. Elsie Pearne and Anne S-R are the two that get the most "screentime" but it's an ensemble cast. And, all these characters have faults and failings that can be off-putting. Especially Elsie, who is one of the prickliest most unlikeable characters I've ever read where you still feel bad for her and wish her past / present / future could be different from what it was / is / will probably be.
3. It's funny and insightful but "earthier" than some cozy fiction (for example: Stevenson, Cadell, etc.). There's more swearing or cursing, more tawdry or cheap behavior (nothing too explicit), and a little bit more cynicsm (balanced with a fairly optimistic view of life from Anne).
1. It was written during WW2 so it has an immediacy to the Blitz as its happening, before the outcome of the war is known.
2. It doesn't exactly have a main character. Elsie Pearne and Anne S-R are the two that get the most "screentime" but it's an ensemble cast. And, all these characters have faults and failings that can be off-putting. Especially Elsie, who is one of the prickliest most unlikeable characters I've ever read where you still feel bad for her and wish her past / present / future could be different from what it was / is / will probably be.
3. It's funny and insightful but "earthier" than some cozy fiction (for example: Stevenson, Cadell, etc.). There's more swearing or cursing, more tawdry or cheap behavior (nothing too explicit), and a little bit more cynicsm (balanced with a fairly optimistic view of life from Anne).
June 7, 2023
I did not like this as much as I thought I would. It was much less 'office drama during the war' and more 'Elsie obsessing over Anne' which was uncomfortable to read. The ending was very surprising and as soon as I finished I wanted to throw it away lol
June 21, 2020
Delightful.
August 30, 2021
The old ladies in this book cracked me up. London right as the Blitz started. Wish there had been more on all the characters as the book is "Table Two", not "Elsie and Anne." Still pondering this one because it all felt rushed, or forced, or fake in some way.
December 27, 2022
A glimpse of women doing war work in London 1940 - and not getting along very well.
https://perfectretort.blogspot.com/20...
https://perfectretort.blogspot.com/20...
December 3, 2020
There's nothing quite like reading a blitz set book by an author who actually experienced it.
November 19, 2021
#FurrowedMiddlebrowClub on Litsy - July 2021
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