I’ve been a fan of Noel Streatfeild’s books for children since I was about eight or nine, when I came across ‘Ballet Shoes’, and ‘Party Frock’ and others on my grandmother’s shelves. I borrowed more Streatfeild books from the library in my teens, and gradually acquired copies of as many as possible.
But I hadn’t realised until relatively recently that she also wrote some books for adults, which were out of print until Bello - an imprint of Pan Macmillan - republished them. I read a few reviews and decided that some of them were probably not to my taste, but a couple of others intrigued me. So I put ‘I ordered a table for six’ on my wishlist, and was given it a little over a year ago. It’s taken me this long to read it…
I have to say, it doesn’t encourage me to buy any more of Streatfeild’s grown-up books. It’s a character-based novel, which is fine, and one or two of the people are quite likeable. There’s Letty, an excellent secretary/PA, who works hard and is quite observant. There’s Meggie, too, whom we don’t meet until later in the book. She’s nearly 17; she’s unspoilt, honest and finds it hard to behave like an adult. She’s the daughter of Adela - who’s a very strange, insecure person.
This book is set in the war years, and Adela has turned her London house over to a charity, making clothes for people who have been bombed. This sounds positive, but she’s a remarkably self-centred character who likes the esteem and admiration she gets from running this company - although many of the garments produced are uncomfortable and ugly. She’s funded by an American man who’s married to an old school friend of hers, and shortly after the book opens, we learn that he is coming on a visit.
So Adela decides to have a little dinner party at a local restaurant. Just six people: in addition to herself and her patron, she’s inviting her daughter (who normally lives in the country with her aunt and uncle), a young man who’s visiting the patron, Adela’s niece - who works all hours at canteens for air raid shelters - and a young man who one of her son Paul’s friends. Paul, we learn, was Adela’s pride and joy but did something so dreadful that she never wants to see him again. She was a terrible mother, who gave her son everything he could possibly demand, and yet neglected her daughter whom she didn’t much want.
Just typing all this makes me realise that the characters are well-drawn, even if mostly not very likeable, as I recall not just their names, but quite a bit about them. That’s partly because the viewpoint switches regularly, so that we see not just the actions but the thoughts of many of the different people, and gradually the past unfolds. It’s quite a readable book, and at times I found it difficult to put down, although there’s really not a whole lot of story.
However, unlike with the author’s books for children, I didn’t feel much empathy for anyone, and kept wondering when the story was going to start. It takes awhile to organise the dinner party - mostly done by Letty - and it’s only the last few chapters that feature it. There are some thought-provoking ideas gently raised, and there are also hints through the book that something terrible is going to happen. Letty’s young man is very against the idea that she might have to go to the party.; Meggie keeps wishing she could be in an air raid, and the young man at the dinner party is looking forward to being a fighter pilot, hoping he might eventually make his parents proud.
The climax comes shortly before the end of the book, clearly meant to be shocking, and yet with so much foreshadowing, I was expecting it earlier. What did shock me was the result - and the way the book then ended, with nothing encouraging for the future, other than one person beginning to wonder if there might be a God. We don’t know what happens to any of the characters, or how their particular problems were resolved (or not) .I know Streatfeild did tend to end her novels abruptly but there was usually at least some hint of resolution, and a way forward.
All in all, although I’m glad I’ve read this, I found it somewhat disappointing. Maybe I was expecting something lighter; I couldn’t help contrasting it negatively with the innocence and good relationships that tend to run through the author’s children’s books.
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