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Topic: Jump In The Water's Fine!

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Last Reply: Nov 07, 2013 2:48 PM

Joined: Dec, 2007

Nov 03, 2013, 5:20 PM	5348
I have just read Blanche's book again and enjoyed her stories. It is interesting to read about Betty and her family from an "outsider's" perspective. I also found her descriptions about the day to day life and social customs of the era in which she and Betty lived fascinating.

Suz

Joined: Dec, 2007

Location: Pacific Northwest

Nov 07, 2013, 2:44 PM

5349

Pat, I liked those parts as well. The pressure for Blanche to keep up the facade that her family had a higher standard of living than they actually did, reminded me of the accounts I've read of upper class families in Victorian and Edwardian England, who had always had money, but who had fallen on hard times. Rather than downsize their homes or be seen to have fewer servants than they once did, they spent every spare cent on maintaining the visible parts of the house, hosting at least one ball or formal society dinner, and ate bread and gravy behind the scenes the rest of the year.

Suz

Joined: Dec, 2007

Location: Pacific Northwest

Nov 07, 2013, 2:48 PM

5350

While I'm thinking about it, I wanted to say that when reading the letter Betty wrote to Blanche about buying a dog from a breeder, I was struck by the fact that even though Betty was a little miffed at the woman, that breeder was decades ahead of her time. I do a lot of work with animal rescue and the questions the breeder asked Betty, and which Betty found intrusive, are standard questions now. I hate to think that Betty and I would have been at odds about anything, but in this case, I would have been on the breeder's side.

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