Book review: Stanley and Elsie by Nicola Upson

I love Nicola Upson’s “Josephine Tey” novels, in which a fictionalised version of the Golden Age crime writer investigates mysteries. Here, though, Nicola has turned her attention to other real-life people, and I suspect stuck much closer to reality than in the Josephine stories. Indeed, the extraordinary true story of the Spencers and those around them needs little embroidery, and must have proved an almost irresistible subject for a novel.

The artist Stanley Spencer, his wife Hilda Carline, also an artist, and the remarkable sagas which surrounded them, neighbour Patricia Preece, and her lover Dorothy Hepworth, are seen here largely through the eyes of their long-standing (and often long-suffering) maid - and subject of two paintings - Elsie Munday. The perceptive, vibrant and down to earth Elsie is, with the possible exception of Stanley and Hilda’s daughters Shirin and Unity, by far the most likeable character and the first half of the book is entirely from her perspective. Later, we also begin to see the viewpoints of other characters. The lifelong relationship of Preece and Hepworth would surely make a fascinating book in itself.

I loved this story, about people of whom I previously knew little, though I now feel considerably better informed. I love it when a book teaches me something, and Stanley and Elsie had me frequently looking up more information, particularly about the distinctive art of Stanley Spencer and Hilda Carline. My researches led me to clips of the recent documentary “Stanley and his Daughters” - if anyone knows where I can watch the whole thing, please tell!

Nicola Upson is a wonderful writer and has excelled here in creating the world of Stanley and Elsie, evoking a real sense of the artworks and the rural locations of Burghclere and Cookham. I now really want to visit the chapel, though unfortunately it’s a bit far away from my home in Scotland.

An excellent read.