What: Broadly speaking, Crewe Train counts as a comedy of manners. More accurately, though, it's a comedy against manners. Newly orphaned Denham Dobie, a somewhat awkward young woman who's used to running wild in Spain, goes to live with her high-society relatives in London. Denham is blunt, straightforward, and utterly confounded by her new life. Her new life is pretty confounded by her, too.
Comparable to: Cold Comfort Farm, in reverse.
Representative quote: "Anyhow, she thought, I shall give up going to parties and things. I'll go to parties or have a baby, but I won't do both." [Denham reflects on the up side to her pregnancy.]
You might not like it if: You balk at author Rose Macaulay's dedication, which is, "To the philistines, the barbarians, the unsociable, and those who do not care to take any trouble."
How to get it: Sorry, but I seem to be on a run of suggesting books that are out of print. Like this one. Libraries and used bookstores are wonderful things!
Connection to previous Wreckage: I love this book, and I also love its reverse, Cold Comfort Farm (Rec. #34).
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