#20BooksofSummer: Whispers in the Village by Rebecca Shaw

Turnham Malpas is a village like no other. For a start, almost every inhabitant goes to church, and they universally adore their vicar Peter Harris and his GP wife Caroline. Similarly Peter and Caroline's children Beth and Alex are perfect in every way.

So much, so annoying. I've read quite a few of the books in this series, and sometimes I'm not sure what keeps me coming back for more - but it must be something. In Whispers in the Village, the Harrises are off to Africa to do Good Works.  I was quite excited about the prospect of a story without this far-too-saintly lot, but the villagers are apparently devastated. When they find out that their locum priest is a woman - and a single one at that;

'It had been a serious shock....They'd narrowly escaped having their own railway station, tolerated the coming of the wireless, then the telephone poles and TV, they'd embraced computers, mobile phones.....but a woman rector! This was one step too far.'

Pause for a minute to consider. We are not in the 1950s, nor even the 60s or 70s. This book was written in 2005. The first 32 women priests in the Church of England were ordained in 1994, so eleven years are supposed to have elapsed. I know there are some very High churches that still don't want to accept female priests, but this is a small country parish, and to be honest they are quite lucky to have found a locum at all, and not to have had to become part of a 'linked ministry.'

When Anna Sanderson appears, she has some new ideas of her own. Needless to say they do not go down well in Turnham Malpas - where, before they've even met her, the locals are saying things like;

'No one living could replace Peter. He was one in a million. And so was Caroline.'

Nice welcome.

Anna is a determined woman, and is not prepared to give up her wish to modernise the services . She also does not want the assistance of Sylvia, the Harrises' cleaner. Two black marks already. Sylvia is a force to be reckoned with and can't bear the thought of Anna dusting Caroline's Staffordshire figurines - and worse is to come. Anna decides to give a temporary home to small time crook Paddy Cleary, but soon finds that he is not quite as reformed as she'd thought. The figurines soon end up in the nearest pawn shop, and the bad behaviour doesn't end there. Paddy starts to dominate the house, making no contribution, financial or otherwise, and expecting to have his own way about everything.

Although he's a bit of a caricature, I found Paddy an interesting character. It's perhaps not surprising that he can't settle in the rarified surroundings of the rectory, but when someone has the bright idea of asking another (more 'normal') family to take him on as a lodger, things start to improve. What I found harder to accept, though, was the way in which Anna is immediately seen as naive, inexperienced and in need of guidance from a member of the 'upper classes' - and, naturally, a male one. Sir Ralph Templeton, retired diplomat, soon sorts her out with his 'paternal' guidance, liberally peppered with 'my dears' (does anyone actually say that?) - she is, after all, a misguided, weak and feeble woman...

As usual, it is events away from the church that provide the real meat of the story. One of the older characters is showing clear signs of dementia despite his wife trying her best to cover up for him; this is such a familiar scenario nowadays, and here it is well handled. A younger villager finds himself struggling to fit back in after three years away at Cambridge; being 'educated out of your class' may become increasingly rare with the demise of student grants, but in my own generation it was all too real. Our parents would have liked to have gone to university but their families could neither afford to pay for this nor to go without their incomes; our own children can only go if they are prepared to take on huge loans, or have family funds sufficient to cover them. Dean Jones finds it hard to match the cocksure confidence of his old school friend Rhett, who has stayed local and works as a gardener at the Big House. Dean has an excellent degree but has settled for accountancy training with a local firm - can Anna persuade him to set his sights a little higher without encouraging his unreciprocated crush on her?

Shaw also examines the extent to which parents should interfere in their adult children's lives. Sheila Bissett is concerned about her daughter - Louise is happily married to a wonderful man, but they live in a tiny cottage with their five young children; when Sheila finds out that the sixth is on its way, she is beside herself with worry. She risks alienating Louise if she says too much - and both Louise and Gilbert are firmly opposed to abortion (so much so that Louise refuses to have any scans or tests, something that I find quite unlikely in a non-Catholic family in the 21st century - but here it is pivotal to the plot) - in fact they are both delighted with their news. Gradually Sheila realises this pregnancy is not going as well as the others; can she and her husband Ron support the family without causing trouble? This strand of the story is sensitively handled and thought-provoking.

Sheila is also much taken up with the Women's Institute and in particular its decision to raise funds for Peter's overseas mission. The events they plan are far more ambitious than the usual coffee mornings and sponsored walks, and have poor Sheila in a state of panic over her role as Chair of the branch. I felt that some of the fundraisers were unconvincing and overworked, in particular the sponsored hair-dying, but the race night was fun (despite its predicable outcome). When another event results in a house fire and a car in the village pond, I did find the respective owners' lack of concern unconvincing;

'Well at least everything's insured. And no-one was hurt..we've made over £500 ....so I call that a successful night!'

Hmm  - not sure I'd be quite that laid back as this resident if my dining room and hall had just gone up in flames. But this is Turnham Malpas, and by the time you get to this stage in the story you just have to go with the flow.

One of my hobby-horses of late has been the use of Americanisms in books supposedly set in the English countryside. Shaw writes fluent prose and is not nearly as bad an offender as some, but even she insists on making people say 'I'll go see Louise' and 'I'll go talk to him.'  The repeated use of 'cos' is also distracting. Far too many characters 'laugh themselves silly' over things that are only mildly amusing, if that.

When things start to go terribly wrong for the Harrises, all of the villagers are beside themselves with worry, which does give Shaw the opportunity to touch briefly on the sense of taking two children to a remote and politically volatile part of the world to assuage ones conscience (for yes, even Perfect Peter has a Past...). Again this is an interesting question - would many families choose instead to send children to boarding school, or to live with relatives, in these circumstances?

The final pages of the book resolve many of the issues raised, but leave other plot lines open for the next installment. Whispers in the Village is eleventh in a series of nineteen books, and there would no doubt have been more if Rebecca Shaw had not sadly died in 2015.

I know I have not always been complimentary about the Turnham Malpas books, and I do find them flawed in some ways, but there is no getting away from the fact that they are immensely popular. Shaw used to receive lots and lots of letters from readers thanking her for the support and escape her writing had given them when they were enduring troubles of their own, and despite my criticisms, I always want to know what happens to everyone.

Rebecca Shaw (image: Fantastic Fiction)

I've just been looking at Shaw's author website, which gives synopses of the plots of each novel, and just reading those has made me want to find the next book - Shaw does have that priceless ability to keep you turning the pages, because her characters do ring true, if not always for the reasons that she probably intended. I can't stand Caroline, she is so, so Good and True and Understanding that I want to slap her - but I used to know someone who was just like her, and really that is the important thing. If you can recognise a type, you become easily invested in that character and it doesn't matter if the author thinks they're wonderful and you don't.

If you enjoy village stories and series that allow characters to develop, the Turnham Malpas books are definitely worth a try.

Whispers in the Village by Rebecca Shaw is is published by Orion. Most libraries also have copies of Rebecca Shaw's books.

Rebecca Shaw's website can be found at https://www.rebeccashaw.me/