Old Baggage

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Moving, funny and the most satisfying of reads, Old Baggage is a delight from start to finish.’ The Independent Noel is a ten-year-old boy who has lived with his Godmother Mattie for most of his life. We don't know why he lived with her and not his parents, but she has moulded him into a tiny shadow of herself. Mattie was a suffragette, she didn't agree with school, or with war and Noel has had a most unusual childhood. The story begins with Mattie's demise into senile dementia, and Noel does his best to cover up for her, but it's clear that he can't carry on for much longer. Perfectly timed for the centenary of the women’s vote in 2018, Old Baggage takes a unique approach to the lives of the women who fought so hard to win us the vote. And we have 50 copies to give away as part of our July book club. Matilda Simpkin is living in 1928 London. She’s found a wooden club, something she hasn’t seen for a while, and along with it comes the memories she associates with that item. Set in the late 20s and early 30s, it’s the prequel to ‘Crooked heart’ - also a ripping read - starring the majestic Matty Simpkin, a colossus of a main character, former WSPU firebrand, and a woman for whom the word ‘indomitable’ was invented.

While the primary journey of this novel was such a delight to read, I did feel that the story didn’t deliver an entirely satisfying conclusion for several strands within it. There are some periphery characters who we’re given touching private moments with, but their individual dilemmas feel slightly left behind in the greater sweep of Mattie’s story. She’s undeniably the centre of the novel and she’s such a mesmerising figure she deserves to be the focus. But when she reaches a certain crisis point and fall from grace it feels like everyone else is somewhat short-changed in the process of her redemption. However, the pleasures of this novel are manifold and the skill demonstrated in rendering history in such a lively, complex way is so admirable. It also felt especially moving at the end of “Old Baggage” reading about the genesis of a substitute parent-child relationship which changes so dramatically at the beginning of “Crooked Heart”. Mostly I admire Lissa Evans’ creative and imaginative style of writing about ornery characters in a way that makes me love them. But when Mattie’s mind began to fail, when she began to lose her memory and to act oddly, Noel struggled to cope. He didn’t ask for help, because he knew that Mattie wouldn’t want that. Tragedy ensued. She’s the kind of woman often derogatively labelled “an old bag”; forthright in her opinions and unafraid to share them. In Mattie’s case, she faces up to a young man who steals her handbag but also gives an earful to the police constable who questions her about the incident. Mattie in short, is a woman who has energy, drive and a burning passion to make the world a better place. Unfortunately for Vera (known as Vee), not all her ploys – even her legal ones – work out as she hopes. For example, having taken out an insurance policy on the life of a very elderly and frail-looking neighbour, Vera is frustrated to find the old lady continues to enjoy rude health. As Vee reflects, “That was what happened when you tried to do something straight: the world simply laughed at you.” But Mattie has never given up the fight, and ten years later she is still on the lecture circuit, attempting to enlist a new generation of women into the cause. She’s failing, and her lectures are increasingly poorly attended.

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The problem for me lies in the characters. Noel initially refuses to talk, Vee's mother can't talk, and her son is never around to talk. The characters carry on in their own orbits, sometimes not even circling the same planet. Other books that employ multiple perspectives and parallel narratives draw you in with well-developed characters, each with his/her own internal struggles and moral dilemmas. Not so in this case. We know so little about Vee's mother and son that we can neither empathize with nor understand their erratic behavior. They show no concern others, and I really felt no concern for them. They each had their own story arc, but honestly, the book would have been just as good (or bad) without them. For those who have read Crooked Heart and had their heart stolen by Noel, prepare for a repeat experience. I also enjoyed getting to know the characters living in Green Shutters, the lodging house run by Vee Sedge – with help from Noel and his newfound culinary skills. Never one to miss an opportunity, Vee has enlisted some of the lodgers in tutoring Noel providing him with an eclectic pool of knowledge. Wartime London vividly depicted. The difficulties and challenges along with the undeniable danger all halting. Very affecting allowing the reader to comprehend the lengths taken for basic survival.

I loved this quirky and fun story. Mattie is a brilliant and charming main character. She’s formidable and fights hard for her life passions. She’s a leader and isn’t afraid to say and do the hard things. How inspiring is that? She made me think and feel and those are the things I love most in a main character. It is intriguing and thought-provoking to consider after good portions of their lives dedicated to endlessly fight for the right to vote, what did these women go on to do, once voting rights were granted? How does one find purpose again after a victory won in that way? Mattie is very human, makes mistakes (one in particular resonates). Florrie is the calming influence and her relationship with Mattie is central to the book. There is a great deal of humour in the novel: Old Baggage would probably have remained unread but for the fact I found a copy in a little free library on the very day I felt the need for some lightish reading material to serve as an antidote to the darkness of Hilary Mantel’s Cromwell trilogy.When I finished reading Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans, my first thought was that it reminded me of a cross between Cold Comfort Farm, I Capture The Castle and Goodnight Mr Tom. Those aren't comparisons I would ever make lightly - in fact, it's about as strong an endorsement you could get from me. Matilda Simpkin, Mattie to her friends is all the things I have described and more. She is a lady of a certain age, who having been a militant activist within the Suffragette movement has now reached a stage in life where she finds she is of no use, she has no purpose. She is simply seen by others as Old Baggage. Friendship is born at that moment when one man says to another: "What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . ."” I have read and loved two books by Lisa’s Evans, Crooked Heart and Old Baggage, and V for Victory is the stunning follow-up to these two books. You can read it on its own, but it’s so special to read it after the other two because of the richly drawn characters. Old Baggage is a funny and bittersweet portrait of a woman who has never given up the fight and the young women who are just discovering it.

It’s been a few years since I read Lissa Evans’ excellent novel “Crooked Heart”, but I remember loving her vivid characters and witty writing style. So when I heard that her new novel is a prequel to this earlier book I become intensely curious. “Crooked Heart” opened with a poignant description of Mattie, an aging intellectual who was very active in the Suffragette movement, before describing the journey her ward Noel takes out of London to escape the The Blitz in 1940. “Old Baggage” tells Mattie’s story prior to when the boy Noel came to live with her and depicts Britain at an interesting stage of its political history. The story begins when Mattie, striding across the Heath, has her bag stolen. Attempting to stop the thief, she accidentally hurts young Ida Pearse, who later threatens to press charges, due to loss of work. Flo manages to smooth things over and offers Ida work in their house – especially as she has had more than enough of their daily, Mrs Bowling. I fell in love with Noel. Noel is a witty, charismatic boy with uncanny intelligence. The wisdom lent him by his godmother before she past has left him with a problem solving nature. He uses his first encounters with strangers to observe without interruption. This leaves people to think he may be slow or something. Noel is anything but slow! Vera, or Vee, is a bit hard to take at first. Once I learned her story it made sense that she would not welcome a strange child into her world. The two of them together is really magic. We get to learn a lot about Donald in this story as well. By venturing into places he shouldn’t, Donald gets himself into a whole mess of trouble.However, times have changed and they are moving in a different direction and when Mattie encounters someone from her past what she believes in suddenly becomes lost in some other campaign. The world of V for Victory is one where things often feel untethered, scary and tragic, but the characters take care of one another, form new relationships, repair existing ones, and manage to keep going. There's humour to be found in virtually every situation, no matter how dire, and on the whole, the end of the war brings hope (however tentative). We were a battering ram, Mattie was won’t to say. Together, we broke down the door, but beyond that splintered door had been a dozen more doors, and scattered by their momentum, some women had tried one and some another, and some had given up and turned away and it seemed to The Flea that all that unity and passion had dissipated. Old Baggage by Lissa Evans