The protagonist Violet Speedwell somehow reminded me of the unmarried rather liberated woman from the postwar diaries I read recently. Though in this book, she had less agency as she is financially precarious.
One of the 'surplus women' left after WW1 - she lost brother and fiancé in battles - Violet is seemingly doomed to the intentional and unintentional slights of sad spinsterhood but is trying to find a more satisfying place in a world difficult for women who don't toe the line.
This book was made all the more interesting to me as I grew up in the area described in the book especially her walk from Winchester to Salisbury. I was born in Winchester, went to college in Salisbury and lived between the two for the first 19 years of my life.
