REVIEW: Elizabeth, Young Policewoman
Nov. 4th, 2013 09:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feather_ghyllElizabeth, Young Policewoman: Valerie Baxter. The Bodley Head Third Impression 1963
These career novels are fascinating bits of social history. Written at a particular time, when it was admitted that several young women needed to work for a living and even wanted to – even admitting that some would like a career other than being a wife and mother, but not yet at the point where a woman was allowed to have both, these books appeared as a taster for the girls about to decide what to do with their futures. Their purpose was to give a general idea of what various jobs were like, with a heroine who would be attractive to the reader, the type who would be competent at her job (as opposed to World Distributor where the career girl’s sleuthing drove the story.)
Elizabeth’s story was quite an absorbing read. She’s already bored after a short time as a secretary. She’d like to work with people, not typewriters, and enjoys volunteering at a youth club more than fending off the boss’s son. An incident with one of the girls at the club leads to Elizabeth crossing paths with a WPC. Watching the officer deal with a drunken father who has hit one of his daughters leads to Elizabeth considering joining the force.
We follow Elizabeth through the selection process, an intense training course, six weeks shadowing more experienced WPCs, a little more training and then on her own on a night shift facing a crime that just happens to be taking place near the beauty shop that her sister manages. (Serving the community by being a police officer is clearly better, in the authoress’s view, than being a beautician. I hope the writer of the Bodley Head book about that job listed on the dust jacket never read this one.)
It is fascinating. The author has Elizabeth come across very chatty characters – trainers like to make their points through anecdotes and everyone is willing to share their experiences with the probationer. Elizabeth is a sensible girl, who has found her metier. The ins and outs of the job are set out. At this point, WPCs were often treated equally to their male counterparts, with some allowance for physical differences and an expectation that they’d deal more with women and children.
Perforce, it shows a seamier side of life than most career novels or books for girls of the 1950s (which is when this was originally published). Elizabeth has to face up to the fact that the home she was brought up in was cosier and more privileged than she realised as a secretary, living the life that other career novels trumpeted. When I say ‘seamy’, I mean relatively speaking, but neglected and mistreated children are a special concern in this book. Christianity has an almost presence, the youth club Elizabeth volunteered at was in a former chapel, but the writer says that youth club was the most useful thing for the area. There’s a reference to original sin being prevalent among the children Elizabeth deals with and, in case anyone thought that it was more prevalent among the lowest classes, we learn that Elizabeth’s sister Monica is guilty of being unforgiving. However, that’s it.
Still, there’s idealism among Elizabeth and her co-workers. The idea of serving their community in the broadest sense (not their neighbourhood) and an interest in people is oft repeated as a motivating factor in applying for the job. Elizabeth comes in contact with people who are hardened against authority, or in the process of hardening, even though it’s shown that there’s general respect for the uniform. The scale of social problems isn’t shirked, but there’s a strong seam of pragmatism here too – tea is a panacea and the officers all repeat the mantra that ‘it’ll all come out in the wash’. The writer thanks specific officers she talked to, so there’s the tang of realism to all this.
It was also interesting that a few of the characters seem to be named after other writers in the BH career novels stable – Elizabeth even comes across a Valerie.
These career novels are fascinating bits of social history. Written at a particular time, when it was admitted that several young women needed to work for a living and even wanted to – even admitting that some would like a career other than being a wife and mother, but not yet at the point where a woman was allowed to have both, these books appeared as a taster for the girls about to decide what to do with their futures. Their purpose was to give a general idea of what various jobs were like, with a heroine who would be attractive to the reader, the type who would be competent at her job (as opposed to World Distributor where the career girl’s sleuthing drove the story.)
Elizabeth’s story was quite an absorbing read. She’s already bored after a short time as a secretary. She’d like to work with people, not typewriters, and enjoys volunteering at a youth club more than fending off the boss’s son. An incident with one of the girls at the club leads to Elizabeth crossing paths with a WPC. Watching the officer deal with a drunken father who has hit one of his daughters leads to Elizabeth considering joining the force.
We follow Elizabeth through the selection process, an intense training course, six weeks shadowing more experienced WPCs, a little more training and then on her own on a night shift facing a crime that just happens to be taking place near the beauty shop that her sister manages. (Serving the community by being a police officer is clearly better, in the authoress’s view, than being a beautician. I hope the writer of the Bodley Head book about that job listed on the dust jacket never read this one.)
It is fascinating. The author has Elizabeth come across very chatty characters – trainers like to make their points through anecdotes and everyone is willing to share their experiences with the probationer. Elizabeth is a sensible girl, who has found her metier. The ins and outs of the job are set out. At this point, WPCs were often treated equally to their male counterparts, with some allowance for physical differences and an expectation that they’d deal more with women and children.
Perforce, it shows a seamier side of life than most career novels or books for girls of the 1950s (which is when this was originally published). Elizabeth has to face up to the fact that the home she was brought up in was cosier and more privileged than she realised as a secretary, living the life that other career novels trumpeted. When I say ‘seamy’, I mean relatively speaking, but neglected and mistreated children are a special concern in this book. Christianity has an almost presence, the youth club Elizabeth volunteered at was in a former chapel, but the writer says that youth club was the most useful thing for the area. There’s a reference to original sin being prevalent among the children Elizabeth deals with and, in case anyone thought that it was more prevalent among the lowest classes, we learn that Elizabeth’s sister Monica is guilty of being unforgiving. However, that’s it.
Still, there’s idealism among Elizabeth and her co-workers. The idea of serving their community in the broadest sense (not their neighbourhood) and an interest in people is oft repeated as a motivating factor in applying for the job. Elizabeth comes in contact with people who are hardened against authority, or in the process of hardening, even though it’s shown that there’s general respect for the uniform. The scale of social problems isn’t shirked, but there’s a strong seam of pragmatism here too – tea is a panacea and the officers all repeat the mantra that ‘it’ll all come out in the wash’. The writer thanks specific officers she talked to, so there’s the tang of realism to all this.
It was also interesting that a few of the characters seem to be named after other writers in the BH career novels stable – Elizabeth even comes across a Valerie.
