The Sunday Salon – The 1930’s

Do you ever find yourself pausing and wondering how your reading interests come about? My interest in 1930’s is entirely new, and it comes from the fact that I happen to have noticed that over the past few months I’ve read several excellent books from this decade: Nightingale Wood and Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons, Dorothy L. Sayers’ superb mysteries, Alas, Poor Lady and The Brontës Went to Woolsworth by Rachel Ferguson, Ballet Shoes by Noël Streatfeild, and so on.

The 1930’s were also the decade of such classics as The Good Earth, The Grapes of Wrath, Brave New World, Gone With the Wind, Rebecca, The Hobbit, The Big Sleep, Tender is the Night or The Waves, just to name a few. Some of these were books I enjoyed; others have been on the TBR list for far too long.

My interest in the decade also has to do with Virginia Nicholson’s excellent Singled Out, which made me add novels from the 1930’s to my wishlist like there was no tomorrow. And last but not least, I’m under the influence of Verity from Connie Willis’ To Say Nothing of the Dog, a historian who specialised in the 1930’s and whose passion for the period and its literature was contagious.

What I find so interesting about this period is the fact that this is a time when the world was already very distinctively modern, yet at the same time the decade is so tied to an even more distinctive past that it feels very remote. Some of the people born in the 1860’s or 1870’s were still around in the 1930’s, which means they had lived to see cars become more and more common; the first flights; the popularisation of electric lightening; of telephones and cinema; etc. What a transition this was from hansom cabs and gas-lit streets. As Nick Hornby once pointed out, it’s a little strange to think that Thomas Hardy lived to see movie adaptations of his novels. And this not to mention, of course, the countless social changes. Much of the older population was still distinctively Victorian in their values and outlooks. What did they think of the world that surrounded them, of the changes in gender roles, in the class system, and so on? Some of the aforementioned novels deal with this very question, and the answer, or the many answers, absolutely fascinate me.

At first glance, the 1930’s may seem less distinctive than the “roaring 20’s”, but the decade was so eventful, and so interesting in so many ways. These were, needless to say, dark times: there was the Great Depression, the Spanish Civil War, Hitler’s rise to power, and the approach of yet another world war. What did those who remembered the horrors of WWI feel as the possibility of another war became more and more inevitable? In Dorothy L. Sayer's final two mysteries, WWII is a dark shadow looming on the horizon. My heart breaks when I think of what her characters would have to endure for the second time—as it breaks for the real human beings that saw another world war approaching with the first one so close behind them. I thought it was interesting (and very saddening, though understandable) that Sayers decided she couldn’t write any more mysteries once World War II broke out.

The fact that many of these novels deal with individuals responding to what we now know to be big historical events is part of what makes them so interesting. But there’s also the fact that the decade, especially its early years, has some of the same glamour that we associate with the 1920’s. All of this appeals to me, so I know that over the next few months I’ll be reading more books from, set in, or about the 1930’s.


Which is why I thought I’d invite those of you interested to read along with me. I know that reading challenges have gone from being hugely popular in the book blogging world to being somewhat disliked, as most bloggers seem to have tired of them. I promise I won’t be hurt if nobody accepts my invitation. But what I have in mind is very relaxed:

• Three months (April 18th – July 18th);
  
• You’d only need to read a minimum of one book, though you’d of course be welcome to read more than one;
  
• No need for a sign-up post or a reading list;
  
• Just enter your name, read your book(s), and then come back and leave me a link to your post about what you’ve read.

If there were enough posts to merit it, at the end of the three months I’d do a link round-up so that we could all add even more interwar literature to our wishlists. And then perhaps I could draw a name, and the winner would get to pick one of the books read for the mini-challenge. What do you say?



As you've probably noticed, many of the books on the Persephone catalogue are from the 1930’s, so those of you doing Verity and Claire’s Persephone Week next month could easily kill two birds with one stone, or at the very least get some excellent reading suggestions. There’s also some overlap with the wonderful Classic Circuit’s Golden Age of Detective Fiction Tour, which will take place in May and June. Have I tempted you yet?

(ETA: And some overlap with Chris’ brand new and much, much too tempting Daphne Du Maurier’s Challenge. Overlaps are of course totally allowed.)


Are you a fan of literature from the 1930’s? Any recommendations? Or do you have any decades/time periods that particularly interest you? How did your interest come about?

ETA: I've added a second McLinky where you can leave your reviews and see everyone else's: here.