To the stranger it would have appeared deserted… a cold glitter of water beside it, a cold glitter of glass window when clouds moved in the sky.’ At this point in time, the young women are in the nursery, surrounded by a dressmaking pattern. When the reader is introduced to the Priory, it is ‘… still dark. The sisters are described by the publishers as being ‘more infantile than most’ they have been sheltered from the outside world throughout their lives, and have very little independence to speak of. Like much of Whipple’s work, it follows a central family, as well as those connected, in various ways, to them.Īt the heart of this novel are the Marwoods the widowed Major father, and two adult daughters, Penelope and Christine, who still live at home. The novel takes place in Saunby Priory, a ‘large house somewhere in England which has seen better times’. I therefore settled down to read this on a gloomy September day.įirst published in 1939, and set in the late 1930s, The Priory was the third of Whipple’s novels to be republished by Persephone.

A chunky novel such as The Priory provides an even better treat. Take it from me – there is little better than a new Persephone to get stuck into when the rain is pouring down outside, and you’ve finished running all of your errands. I had been saving the fortieth Persephone publication, Dorothy Whipple’s The Priory, for a literal rainy day.

The priory novel