The Margery Sharp Collection Volume Two

This New York Times–bestselling trilogy follows an artistic girl as she grows up to become a painter—from the “highly gifted” author of Cluny Brown (The New Yorker). A master of the twentieth-century comedy of manners, British author Margery Sharp has been praised as “one of the most gifted writers of comedy” (Chicago Daily News) and “a wonderful entertainer” (The New Yorker). In her New York Times bestseller, The Eye of Love, she introduced nine-year-old artist Martha, a character so fascinating Sharp continued her story into adulthood in two beautifully wrought follow-up novels. “[Martha] offers a completely unique portrait of female genius, in all its single-minded dedication and selfishness” (The New York Times). The Eye of Love: They met at the Chelsea Arts Ball: He came as a brown paper parcel, she as a Spanish dancer. Dolores and Harry have been passionately in love ever since. But ten years later, during the Great Depression, Harry must marry his colleague’s daughter to rescue his nearly bankrupt business. Yet with help from Dolores’s artistically inclined, orphaned nine-year-old niece, Martha, the couple may still find their way to happily ever after, in this New York Times bestseller. “This postwar novel is one of her best.” —The New York Times “A double-plotted . . . masterpiece with a great deal of wit and not an ounce of sentimentality.” —The Guardian Martha in Paris: Now eighteen, Martha is blessed with the opportunity of a lifetime: an all-expenses-paid trip to Paris to study painting. Despite her single-minded pursuit of creativity, she attracts an admirer in the City of Light—not a debonair Frenchman, but a homesick British bank clerk. When an unexpected complication arises, Martha deals with the consequences in her usual sensible, independent fashion. “Chalk up another for Margery Sharp’s collection of offbeat heroines and outrageously funny novels.” —Newark Evening News Martha, Eric, and George: In the decade since her time in Paris, Martha has become a successful artist in England. Now, as she returns to Paris to attend an exhibition of her work, she must face some unfinished business—namely her ten-year-old son, George, who’s been raised by his father, Eric, and doting grandmother. In this precocious Parisian boy, she is finally about to meet her match. “Amusing, enjoyable, Miss Sharp is a born storyteller.” —The Times (London)

Four charming, witty novels—including The Nutmeg Tree—from the “highly gifted” New York Times–bestselling author of Cluny Brown (The New Yorker). A master of the twentieth-century comedy of manners, British author Margery Sharp has been praised as “one of the most gifted writers of comedy” (Chicago Daily News) and “a wonderful entertainer” (The New Yorker). Available for the first time in a single volume, this quartet of novels provides a shining example of “her brilliantly acerbic fiction . . . [and] one of her greatest talents, creating female characters of toughness and complexity” (The New York Times). Something Light: In 1950s London, professional dog photographer Louisa Datchett has decided it’s high time she snared herself a husband. Up until now, she’s been indiscriminately fond of men, who’ve taken shocking advantage of her good nature. At age thirty Louisa is ready for someone to take care of her and sets out on her romantic quest, in this New York Times bestseller. “Brisk, bright, sly, engaging . . . a pleasure to read.” —Chicago Tribune The Nutmeg Tree: Motherhood was never really free-spirited Julia Packett’s thing. Following the loss of her husband in World War I, Julia turned to her well-heeled in-laws to raise her daughter. Now twenty, Susan invites her mother to France for the summer to persuade her grandmother to allow her to marry. When Julia arrives, she quickly sees that her proper daughter is mismatched with a playboy. And when Susan’s distinguished legal guardian, Sir William Waring, shows up, romantic complications ensue. “Original, subtle, and consistently entertaining.” —Kirkus Reviews The Flowering Thorn: In 1929 London, socialite Lesley Frewen impulsively decides to adopt an orphaned boy. Moving to the tiny village of High Westover, Lesley finds herself challenged by a whole new way of life and changed by a young boy who begins to awaken her capacity to love. “To those who ‘discovered’ Margery Sharp with The Nutmeg Tree, the reissue of this earlier novel . . . will be good news. The city-bred-country-won theme is handled with gay humor and enough of sentiment for general appeal.” —Kirkus Reviews The Innocents: As World War II separates a three-year-old, mentally challenged girl from her parents, a British spinster takes on the responsibility of raising her and the two grow closer. But when the war is over and the girl’s mother returns, Antoinette doesn’t want to be separated from the only person who’s ever really understood her. “Marvelously crafted . . . believable and heart-wrenching . . . [Sharp] is an incredibly perceptive writer.” —The Literary Sisters

Bianca and Bernard, agents for The Prisoners' Aid Society of Mice, rescue prisoners and outwit villains in this enchanting story, made world-famous by the Walt Disney film.

Margery Sharp’s enchanting New York Times–bestselling novel about the profound ways that love can change our view of other people and the world around us Miss Dolores Diver and Harry Gibson have been passionately in love ever since they met at the Chelsea Arts Ball: He came as a brown paper parcel, she as a Spanish dancer. Only the eye of love could have transformed plain Dolores into a Spanish rose and stout Harry into the man of Dolores’s dreams. But ten years later, during the Great Depression, Harry must marry his colleague’s daughter in order to save his nearly bankrupt business. The course of true love never runs smoothly but with some inadvertent help from Dolores’s keenly observant nine-year-old niece, Martha, Harry’s grasping fiancée, and Dolores’s calculating lodger, Harry might succeed in both averting financial ruin and reclaiming his beloved.

Originally published: Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1937.

It was indeed very difficult for the Laventie children not to be a little priggish. Ann Laventie, the youngest of three children in a long line of anti-social Sussex gentry, doesn't quite fit the mould of her intellectual, elegant, ultra-modern siblings Dick, an artist, and Elizabeth, a high-brow writer. Their father is scholarly and just wealthy enough to focus all his attention on reading and other highbrow pursuits. Ann, on the other hand, worries about being plump, is what might be called a 'people person, ' and appreciates the simpler pleasures. As the young Laventies spend more and more of their time in the glitter of London, their differences grow more pronounced, and when Ann returns home with an unsuitably ordinary fiancé, this dazzling, witty battle of the brows reaches its exhilarating climax. Rhododendron Pie, one of Margery Sharp's rarest and most sought-after novels, was her debut, reportedly written in one month while Sharp worked as a typist and shared a flat in Paddington with two other girls. But it already shows all the charm, humour, and sophistication that characterizes Sharp's beloved later work. First published in 1930, it has, inexplicably, never been reprinted. Until now. This new edition features an introduction by twentieth-century women's historian Elizabeth Crawford. 'A first novel of quite unusual charm, pointedly and gracefully written, and whimsically human' Yorkshire Post

A young woman learns about painting—and more—in 1940s Paris in this “outrageously funny” novel by the New York Times–bestselling author of The Eye of Love (Newark Evening News). Eighteen-year-old Martha is blessed with the opportunity of a lifetime: an all-expenses-paid trip to Paris to study where some of the world’s greatest painters lived and worked. Despite her single-minded pursuit of creativity, she attracts an admirer in the City of Light. It isn’t a debonair Frenchman who seduces her, but a homesick British bank clerk who offers her all the creature comforts of home. And when an unexpected complication arises, Martha deals with the consequences in her usual sensible, independent fashion. Witty, tender, and richly evocative of late 1940s Paris, Martha in Paris is a beguiling portrait of the artist as a young woman as she learns the facts of life.

In 1950s London, a career girl decides it’s high time she snared herself a husband Professional dog photographer Louisa Datchett is indiscriminately fond of men. And they take shocking advantage of her good nature when they need their problems listened to, socks washed, prescriptions filled, or employment found. But by the age of thirty, Louisa is tired of constantly being dispatched to the scene of some masculine disaster. It’s all well and good to be an independent woman—and certainly better than a “timid Victorian wife”—but the time has come for her to marry, and marry well. With the admirable discipline and dedication she’s always displayed in any endeavor involving men, Louisa sets out on her own romantic quest.