introduction to sally: british library women writers 1920s

A Pygmalion-style story told with von Arnim’s characteristic wit and charm, this novel introduces us to Salvatia (known as Sally), a much longed-for child to humble shopkeepers. Sally grows up to be an extremely beautiful girl, attracting the attentions of every man who sees her. When her mother dies, her father decides it is just too difficult to defend her virtue and marries her to the first man who proposes.

But Jocelyn is about to learn a lesson in marrying for looks alone. The two are from very different classes and have nothing in common: beauty can only bridge the gap so far. Meanwhile, his mother is being pursued by her own unsuitable suitor - debating if she can tolerate his crass personality in return for the security of his wealth.

Von Arnim turns her ironic humor to great effect in showing us the follies of her cast of characters, whom we can’t help wishing the best for, despite everything.

Part of a curated collection of forgotten works by early to mid-century women writers, the British Library Women Writers series highlights the best middlebrow fiction from the 1910s to the 1960s, offering escapism, popular appeal, and plenty of period detail to amuse, surprise, and inform.

Elizabeth von Arnim (1866-1941) published her first - heavily autobiographical - novel Elizabeth and Her German Garden in 1898. She is perhaps best remembered for The Enchanted April. Her 1931 novel Father was published in the Women Writers series in 2020.