Anna Apparent

Bawden is a precise and observant writer, and the wartime evacuation sections in particular have the density and texture of lived experience. But Anna's chronic passivity across multiple life roles — evacuee, wife, mother, mistress — can make her more a surface for others to act upon than a character to root for, and the infidelity subplot limits the audience. Worth seeking out for serious fans of mid-century British women's fiction, but not a first recommendation.