The Avenue, Part II

The first novel covers the 1920s and 30s- the Depression, the General Strike, the rise of fascism, and so on. It also covers subjects like social life in the 20s, women having more freedom, and divorce. Edgar Frith, an assistant at an antique shop has an unhappy marriage with a woman who dislikes both him and sex. THey have 2 children, Elaine and Sydney.. but the marriage ends in divorce, when Edgar falls in love with a woman who works in his shop and who has had a daughter by a a soldier who died in the War. Divorce was slowly becoming more common even among lower middle class people, though working class people could not usually afford it. Edgar leaves his wife and marries Frances, his love and Elaine who is beautiful and sensuous, tries to find a rich man who can satisfy her sexual needs but also provide her with a comfortable lifestyle. She attracts Esme Fraser, but he tends to worship her from afar. Elaine leaves home and takes a variety of jobs, in places like circuses and cinemas and hotels. But Esme continues to carry a torch for her - not noticing that Judy, Jim Carver's younger daughter, has always been in love with him. Edgar's son, Sydney, is his mother's favourite and wants to get out of lower middle class life and get on. He dabbles with Mosleys Union of Fascists but does not like the rough stuff and drops out. Judy gets interested in horse riding and takes a job at a riding school, teaching, and she meets Tim Ascham, a young man from a military family and they plan to marry. Esme meets Elaine again and they get married, not long before war breaks out. James is depressed during the 1930s. He has found steady work as a lorry driver and his children are growing up, and financially life is easier... but he finds that his labour movement friends are pacificists and he realises that the only way of stopping Hitler is to go to war. Over the years, he still believes in improving the world, but he is disillusioned with a lot of his comrades. He grows friendly with a middle aged spinster, Edith Clegg, a vicar's daughter, who lives in the Avenue with her sister Becky, who had a breakdown years ago and has to be looked after. Edith is not well off.. coming from a clergy family. She takes in lodgers, gives music lessons and for a time plays piano in the local cinema. She often asks Jim for advice and they get on well. JIm lives next door to Harold and Eunice, but he thinks of Harold as a Tory who is good natured but wrong thinking.. while Harold thinks of Jim as a nice chap but dangerously left wing.