Happy Furrowed Middlebrow Friday! 🤩✨📚
After reading and loving Much Dithering in April, I knew I had to read ALL 4 of the upcoming Dorothy Lambert novels by Dean Street Press (being republished in July 2026!) Here are my thoughts on the first one!
All I Desire takes place in a small English village and centers on Holm Street. When Mrs. Hermia Carlisle (whom her daughter calls "Tabitha") moves into an empty manor house (aka The Manor) with her incorrigible daughter, Jeremy, it creates quite a stir in the neighborhood. The Holm Street "cats" now have something interesting to chat about—especially at the local grocery with horrible Mrs. Hogbin and at the post office with curious Mrs. Maycock.
Between the single girls vying for solitary and distinguished Major Southcote's attention, disdaining (but also yearning for) the young and attractive Ian Fenwick, or the mystery surrounding Mrs. Carlisle (and her disgraceful "past"), there is never a lack of drama, underhanded activity and downright jealousy infusing every day of the week.
I don't usually love books with so many unlikable characters, but Dorothy Lambert does an amazing job of creating characters that you love to hate. Specifically:
❊ Snobby, hateful and controlling Mrs. Fenwick
❊ Common, weak and close-minded Mrs. Marsh
❊ Frivolous, beautiful and selfish Chrissie Marsh (aka Marsh Mallow)
❊ Grumpy, plain and very difficult Alberta Marsh
❊ Trouble-making, stingy and nasty Mrs. Hogbin
These characters are balanced out by:
💖 Sparkling, impulsive, daring, bold, and free-spirited Jeremy (named after her cricket-playing father)
💖 Lovely, vague and frustrating author Hermia Carlisle
💖 Good-looking, gentlemanly and hardworking Ian (who is tied to his mother and sister Daphne)
💖 Solemn, responsible and independent Piers Southcote
💖 Well-meaning Mrs. Mannering and her kind, but ineffectual husband Vicar Mannering
💖 Eccentric, miserly, unwashed and humorous Miss Gosby (who I kept getting confused with Mrs. Hogbin for some reason!)
But, overall, my favorite character of all was Jeremy! Her energy just kept the story going and I adored every single conversation she had with her mother (or anyone, really.)
The descriptions of The Manor, the confusions caused by the proposed Shakespeare play, and the village "cats" searching for any reason at all to find fault with any action taken by Hermia or Jeremy make for a non-stop, delightful escapade!
MY FAVORITE PASSAGES:
He followed her across the dim hall into a room full of the evening sunshine, a pleasant room with cream walls and paint, gay curtains and bowls of flowers. Mrs. Carlisle was sitting in a low chair by the west window, doing embroidery. Her fingers were never idle. They had to keep pace with her busy brain. As she sewed, she worked out her stories. Sewing of any kind soothed her and allowed her fancy to roam into realms of romance.
She ran on like a tap that had lost its washer and couldn't be turned off, and Piers wondered how long he would be able to maintain his self-control and abstain from murder.
"No, thank you, darling, no 'purry' for me. I feel like a banana and a boiled egg; then a long, hot bath and I'd liked to sleep for a week." They had supper under the mulberry tree as usual. - Jeremy
"Possibly, we live too persistently on spaghetti to sparkle pictorially—too filling, dearest; bad for the lines of your figure and positively deathly to the expression, you know." - Jeremy
"When you are older, Jeremy, you will learn that the only way to be happy is to float on the surface. Never dive too deep or try to swim against the current; just float along gently, take life easily, never ask too much—" - Hermia
I'm so super grateful to Victoria at Dean Street Press for sending along this book (and three other new Dorothy Lambert books) for me to read and review! I'm never disappointed when I read a DSP Furrowed Middlebrow book—they're so perfect for picking up the spirits, getting in touch with tender moments and/or following along with the more mundane (but incredibly meaningful) details of everyday life...especially if they take place in a small village in England or Scotland!
I'm currently reading another Dorothy Lambert title and I can't wait to share my thoughts on three more novels! 🥳🎉
Let me know in the comments below which Dorothy Lambert book you're hoping to read next...or, if you've read them, which is your favorite!
Happy June and so many hugs, friends!! 💕🌸🤗🌸💕
Lovely to read a review of this one; I enjoyed "reading" it as I copy-typed it from a set of unscannable photographs of the book last year, but I couldn't review it at the time. It's exciting to see finished copies out in the wild as well as on my shelf!
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