As Little As Nothing
It’s 1938 in Hampshire, England, and residents are trapped in their dread of an impending war with Germany and their memories of the Great War they already survived. More immediately, they are also dealing with personal crises. Marion, a young wife, has survived another miscarriage and wonders what her future holds. Her husband, Edmund, the local grocer and postmaster, just wants to work in his garden and make Marion happy.
Audrey, a woman born into the landed gentry, defies her class restrictions to campaign and lecture for women’s rights to their bodies, including their rights to birth control and abortion. Her nephew, Frank, born with a club foot, dreams of achieving some glory by building and flying planes. Marion and Frank meet when they rescue a downed biplane pilot. The event ignites her desire to fly airplanes, for which she discovers she has a talent. Frank spurs her on. Edmund tries to cope with a different wife. Audrey struggles to put aside her fierce feminist crusade as patriotic duty to England becomes the most important reality.
The characters in this novel are well drawn and complex in their motivations, dreams, regrets about their pasts, and fears for their futures. Mulloy’s writing is tight; readers are immediately drawn into these people’s lives. The backdrop of England at the dawn of a new war is vivid and compelling.
