A Pin to See the Peepshow

Jesse's novel is closely based on the story of Edith Thompson. Her chief character, Julia Almond, is a pretty girl who lives in East London. She has ambitions, but her parents are not very successful in making a living. She get a job in a ladies' clothes shop run by a couple of aristocratic women who for various reasons need to earn money. Julia is bright and good at selling and starts off doing errands and helping out. She has potential and her employers think of promoting her to be a buyer in due course. It is just before World War One, and Julia starts dating a young man who is killed in the early stages. Then her father dies and her mother has no money, so she ends up letting some relatives move into their house to share expenses. Julia does not make enough money to keep herself and her mother. She has to share a room with her cousin Elsa, whom she dislikes. She is increasingly unhappy, then Herbert Starling, a neighbour, begins to take an interest in her. He is a widower, and older than she is. He works in a gents' outfitters in the West End. He asks Julia to marry him. She is tempted because she hates living with her uncle and aunt and cousin, and would be glad to have a home of her own.