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Our Spoons Came from Woolworths
Our Spoons Came from Woolworths | Barbara Comyns
8 posts | 13 read | 17 to read
I told Helen my story and she went home and cried. So begins Our Spoons Came from Woolworths. But Barbara Comynss beguiling novel is far from tragic, despite the harrowing ordeals its heroine endures. Sophia is twenty-one and nave when she marries fellow artist Charles. She seems hardly fonder of her husband than she is of her pet newt; she cant keep house (everything she cooks tastes of soap); and she mistakes morning sickness for the aftereffects of a bad batch of strawberries. England is in the middle of the Great Depression, and the money Sophia makes from the occasional modeling gig doesnt make up for her husbands indifference to paying the rent. Predictably, the marriage falters; not so predictably, Sophias artlessness will be the very thing that turns her life around.
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review
Litsi
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Pickpick

A couple rushes to marry & then make the most to set up house with little money and a lot of paint and hope. The course of their marriage, though unknown to them, is written when the jeweler refuses to give them the traditional silver spoons upon their engagement. Disappointment follows. Their love fails; lovers and babies come and go. The wife never gives up her hopes and dreams despite some dreary circumstances. A great read.

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quietjenn
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Thankful for so much today, not least of which is all the good books and good friends I've found via Litsy. Also, that my life is not the least like poor Sophia, in the book I've spent much of today reading. Happy Thanksgiving to those to whom it should apply and happy Thursday to everyone else. 🧡

BarbaraBB This title has been calling my name for years. Looking forward to your thoughts. Happy Thanksgiving 🤍 3y
Leftcoastzen Happy Thanksgiving! I finished one book ! 3y
Ruthiella Happy Thanksgiving! I found this book depressing. Poor Sophia is right. 😢 (edited) 3y
See All 7 Comments
LeahBergen Happy Thanksgiving to you! ❤️ 3y
erzascarletbookgasm Happy Thanksgiving! 3y
Cathythoughts Happy Thanksgiving 😘 3y
quietjenn @BarbaraBB isn't it such an evocative title? That was the same for me but recent Comyns readings spurred me to finally pick it up. As @Ruthiella notes, it's not the happiest of books, but I thought it was terrific. 3y
58 likes2 stack adds7 comments
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Jas16
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Pickpick

Sophia, our very naive protagonist, marries young in a rushed wedding that no one approves of. What follows are years of poverty as she supports her artist husband and child. She never loses her spirit but she also never really seems to mature. I frequently wanted to shake her but that just shows how vivid the writing was. Sometimes funny, often harrowing all in under 200 pages. What book by Comyns should I read next?

vivastory The Vet's Daughter! That was my first by Comyns, but I def recommend & I will be reading more. Magical realism meets suburban gothic 3y
Jas16 @vivastory That sounds fantastic! Adding it to TBR immediately. Thanks. 3y
batsy Sounds really good. We just did a group read of The Vet's Daughter and I need more Comyns in my life! 3y
Jas16 @batsy I didn‘t realize you were all reading one of her books until after going back look at some of her other titles but I am excited to see that you all liked it. 3y
62 likes6 stack adds4 comments
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sisilia
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Pickpick

3.5⭐️ If Sophia Fairclough was my sister or my daughter, I would have pulled her out of her misery. A dimwit as a husband is enough to deal with, and yet she let herself be in repetitive failures 🙄 A mistake made more than once is a decision! Gaaahhh!!! What a frustrating ride!

BarbaraBB Great review. I just read another book by her and was wondering if I should read yours too. 4y
sisilia Ooohh I have The Vet‘s Daughter and I heard it‘s quite unusual. I‘ll keep that for next year 😂 Our Spoons is a quick read; I liked it despite my frustration with the narrator 😆 4y
LeahBergen Happy Birthday! 📚❤️📚❤️ 4y
batsy Happy birthday! 🎈🧁📚💜 4y
sisilia Thank you @LeahBergen and @batsy 😘🥳 4y
50 likes5 comments
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emilyhaldi
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#nyrb #bookhaul alert!! 🚨
Thanks to @MicheleinPhilly for informing me of their last sale, whereupon I lost all self control 😬😘❤️😜🤗💸

Kalalalatja Those covers 😍 6y
MicheleinPhilly 😍😍😍Always happy to be an enabler! 6y
erzascarletbookgasm Love those covers! Love nyrb covers generally! 6y
See All 13 Comments
saresmoore Yay! 6y
LeahBergen Awesome! I have the three in the middle. 😆 6y
BarbaraBB Such great covers! 😍😍 6y
batsy Nice!! 😍 6y
DivineDiana Love! I need to pay attention to @MicheleinPhilly alerts! 😉 6y
MicheleinPhilly You mean you weren‘t already @DivineDiana??? RUDE! 😜 6y
DivineDiana @MicheleinPhilly Closer attention that is! 😉❤️👍🏻 (edited) 6y
Reviewsbylola So glad I didn‘t know about this!! 6y
Mdargusch Looks like I will have to reconfigure some Christmas presents I bought from this sale. 🤦🏼‍♀️ 6y
emilyhaldi Oh no!! @Mdargusch sorry 😬😬😬 (edited) 6y
94 likes13 comments
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HotCocoaReads
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Pickpick

What a tragic and important book! The simple, yet clever, voice makes this difficult book seem like light reading and is also where the book gets its humor. I found it sad that even though destitute, she couldn‘t (or wouldn‘t) talk about what horrible conditions she and her child were living in. Although thankfully, things do look up toward the end of the book.

batsy Fabulous covers 😍 6y
HotCocoaReads @batsy These Virago editions are fun! 6y
19 likes2 comments
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Deblovestoread
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1. The tagged book and Furiously Happy on audio.
2. Born a Crime, The Hate U Give and Circe
3. Historical Fiction and Mysteries
4. Teapots, mugs, bookmarks, magnets
5. All littens who want to play

#latenightthoughtswithMisty

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Jess_Read_This
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"I had a kind of idea if you controlled your mind and said, 'I won't have any babies' very hard, they most likely wouldn't come. I thought that was what was meant by birth-control, but by this time I knew that idea was quite wrong."

?Quite wrong. Horrifically wrong.

Today's #BookMail was a welcome surprise after my three day battle with UPS over the condition of my driveway being quite safe to drive a truck. ???‍♀️ #seriously #problems

elkeOriginal Love these covers! 7y
Leftcoastzen Goodness! You over the river and through the woods? I fought with mine at another place, Small driveway , busy St. 7y
Jess_Read_This @Leftcoastzen According to Spencer, my regular UPS driver, my trees hang too low for the truck. Then the next day, he had concerns about his tires in the dirt. I had to leave a pickup in the mailbox even though it was against the rules. 🙄 So last night we were tree trimming since my Prime Day stuff is imminently arriving! Lol!! 7y
Jess_Read_This @elkeo I'm obsessed with them too. I love pretty books. 7y
69 likes5 comments