I really enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the characters and I enjoyed the storyline, but most of all I enjoyed Lissa Evans’ use of language throughout the book. Lissa Evans has wonderfully descriptive, perceptive style of writing which immediately brings people, places and events to life.
Mattie, the central character, was ‘born into an era of change’ (page 21). Her personal history lies in the suffragette movement and by 1928, the time in which the novel is set, she feels that she has lost her sense of purpose, ‘I was no longer swimming upstream but treading water’ (page 8). The “Old Baggage” of the title could refer to Mattie herself who has essentially, in others’ eyes, served her purpose, or could refer to the memories of her past which remind her that she no longer has the position and importance of former times.
Three of the central characters, Mattie, Florrie and Inez, are each aptly described in a short word picture. Mattie ‘would never take a shortcut that might avoid the battlefield; she simply couldn’t dissemble, couldn’t mute her own reactions, couldn’t turn a blind eye’ (page 121).
Florrie ‘had grown up in a household where unchecked laughter had been seen as bodily failing, rather like breaking wind’ (page 11).
Inez was ‘utterly vapid, as restless as a marzipan lemon’ (page 139).
Wonderful phrases are scattered throughout the book. Swifts ‘tracing parabolas against a dappled sky’ (page 209); Ida’s tyrant aunt ‘a tigress of rare stripe’ (page 269) and (probably my favourite!!) ‘She stood up, a noise like that of a pepper grinder emanating from both knees’.
In order to regain her sense of purpose, Mattie forms The Amazons, a club for girls with a focus on being outdoors and engaging in physical activity. The storyline follows the progress of the girls, their club and their rivalry with The Empire Youth League. Mattie’s downfall comes when she organises a showdown between the two groups, the aftermath of which is devastating and quite unexpected.
Overall this is a very good read. The book held my attention from the start until the final chapter. I found the update to 1933 rather disappointing. In my view it was unnecessary. I felt it took the storyline in too new a direction and, frankly, seems to have been written only to introduce the possibility of a sequel. I would like to ask Lissa Evans if her intention was to use the final chapter as a trailer for the next instalment of Mattie’s life.