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The Girl From The Candle-Lit Bath
When Nan Mansfield arrives home to hear her husband, Roy, on the telephone arranging a clandestine meeting in Regent's Park, she is determined to find out what he is involved in. Is there another woman -- or can it be blackmail, drugs, even treason?Roy is a Member of Parliament who was helped into politics by Cyprian Slepe, a brilliant eccentric who lives with his sister, Celina, in a decaying Stately Home. Nan comes to believe that Cyprian is connected with Roy's mysterious activities. Helped by an engigmatic taxi-driver, she delves deeper and deeper, while her love and loyalty war with her ever-increasing suspicions, until at last she discovers that her whole life is in jeopardy.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1978
About the author
Dodie Smith
107 books1,313 followersBorn Dorothy Gladys Smith in Lancashire, England, Dodie Smith was raised in Manchester (her memoir is titled A Childhood in Manchester). She was just an infant when her father died, and she grew up fatherless until age 14, when her mother remarried and the family moved to London. There she studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and tried for a career as an actress, but with little success. She finally wound up taking a job as a toy buyer for a furniture store to make ends meet. Giving up dreams of an acting career, she turned to writing plays, and in 1931 her first play, Autumn Crocus, was published (under the pseudonym “C.L. Anthony”). It was a success, and her story — from failed actress to furniture store employee to successful writer — captured the imagination of the public and she was featured in papers all over the country. Although she could now afford to move to a London townhouse, she didn't get caught up in the “literary” scene — she married a man who was a fellow employee at the furniture store.
During World War II she and her husband moved to the United States, mostly because of his stand as a conscientious objector and the social and legal difficulties that entailed. She was still homesick for England, though, as reflected in her first novel, I Capture the Castle (1948). During her stay she formed close friendships with such authors as Christopher Isherwood and John Van Druten, and was aided in her literary endeavors by writer A.J. Cronin.
She is perhaps best known for her novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians, a hugely popular childrens book that has been made into a string of very successful animated films by Walt Disney. She died in 1990.
During World War II she and her husband moved to the United States, mostly because of his stand as a conscientious objector and the social and legal difficulties that entailed. She was still homesick for England, though, as reflected in her first novel, I Capture the Castle (1948). During her stay she formed close friendships with such authors as Christopher Isherwood and John Van Druten, and was aided in her literary endeavors by writer A.J. Cronin.
She is perhaps best known for her novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians, a hugely popular childrens book that has been made into a string of very successful animated films by Walt Disney. She died in 1990.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 12, 2007
It's too bad this book is such a rarity, because it really is quite good. Once again, Dodie tells the story of a young woman who embarks on a new relationship that takes her down strange paths. The protagonist's loyalty to her husband is frustrating, considering he is such a tool. However, I do think it is realistic, as it takes most married people a long time to recognize that their relationship is troubled.
The plot moves along at an admirable clip...it's a bit of a suspense story. I do think it ends too quickly...I would have liked to see this novel fleshed out a little bit more (it's only 155 pages.) Another 100 pages would have done The Girl from the Candle-lit Bath a world of good, as Dodie could have developed the characters more fully and added a few more quirky scenes. Still, one can never have too much of Dodie Smith as far as I'm concerned. Here's hoping this book makes it back to the printing press.
The plot moves along at an admirable clip...it's a bit of a suspense story. I do think it ends too quickly...I would have liked to see this novel fleshed out a little bit more (it's only 155 pages.) Another 100 pages would have done The Girl from the Candle-lit Bath a world of good, as Dodie could have developed the characters more fully and added a few more quirky scenes. Still, one can never have too much of Dodie Smith as far as I'm concerned. Here's hoping this book makes it back to the printing press.
March 1, 2011
I love Dodie Smith, but this is a very different book than her "I Capture the Castle." It is a mystery. She develops her character Nan slowly, and she seems a bit clueless and naive. What was amazing was the independent and modern attitudes of the women in the book. This was published in 1978, so would seem very progressive just after the height of the Women's Movement in England. The book was very hard to locate. I found it as an ex-Library book from the Transvaal Provence in Australia. If you are interested in reading it, promise to pass it on as I am doing, and I will send it to you. It was a good read.
February 27, 2018
My least favorite of her books, but seeing as she's Dodie Smith, that's not saying a lot. The writing is in her usual voice, and even a bit "Castle" like in the sense that it's epistolary in its own right. The ending is less magical and less indicative of the evocative title than I would have liked, but either way I finished the book and almost immediately wished to read it over again. I'm sure one day I will. For a die-hard Dodie fan like me, it was absolutely necessary to complete her entire collection. I highly recommend her four memoirs as well!
June 17, 2018
An unusual sort of almost mystery. I really like Dodie Smtih's writing, but didn't find this one quite as good as her other books.
March 8, 2025
I actually really love this book. I have read some terrible reviews, mostly claiming that the characters were under-developed and the plot weakened toward the end. Maybe if you are a lover of thrillers this one may pale in comparison to your previous reads, but my attention was peaked all the way to the end. I found myself skipping sentences as I was so eager to see how the chapter would turn out. Though Dodie Smith was 82 years old when The Girl From the Candle Lit Bath was published, her distinctive and wonderful writing style remains just as capturing as it always was. I love this book and can’t wait to re-read.
September 5, 2011
Understandably out of print.
Nan Mansfield used to be something of a name on stage and screen. She used to be happy and not full of ennui. This was all before Roy. Roy, the love of her life, the man she is now tailing in a taxi cab where she sees him suspiciously exchanging a package with an odd man. Well, she doesn't actually see the exchange, and she thought that the man was really a woman, but lucky for her Tim the Taxi driver saw it all. Luckily he is also a writer on the side who has specialized in spy fiction so he fills her head to brimming with ideas of what could be happening. Roy is after all a member of Parliament and therefore has governmental secrets, hence his insistence that his wife give up her unseemly career. But what could be more unseemly than meeting nefarious people in the park in the dead of night? But Nan insists that he can't be involved with the Russians, as he doesn't like them. She'd far rather it was an affair, because it's such a lesser crime than treason. In order to keep a hold of her sanity Tim suggests she records her thoughts. Nan, having an old tape recorder starts this process and finds that not only is it a good record of events, should something happen, but it helps her work things out. All of which leads to more and more questions.
Then things take a rather odd turn. Roy seems more his normal self and his old patrons, Cyprian and his sister Celina Slepe, odd siblings, possibly incestuous, possibly asexual, invite them to their ancestral pile for the weekend. It truly is a pile. A stately house not even worthy of the word house. There Nan meets a mysterious count and learns that Cyprian hates her, viewing she is too low class for Roy because her one claim to fame is a commercial where she baths by candlelight, where they insinuate but never show too much. The whole weekend is cut short and Roy encourages Nan to return to her career. But if the man chasing her through the theatre or the gunman in the alley have anything to say, it will be that Nan shall act or live no more.
Reading I Capture the Castle I instantly went on a hunt for more books by Dodie Smith that didn't have Dalmatians in them. I was surprised to find that the majority of them are out of print. After reading this book, I can see why, The Girl from the Candle-Lit Bath is very understandably out of print. Returning to themes utilized in I Capture the Castle, the lost illusory fame, the diary-like format, the moldering pile of a home in the country, Dodie fails miserably to recreate the magic of her previous book. The heroine is so unlikable, dumb and sycophantically devoted to a husband who shows her no love and has her sleeping in a tiny closet of a room. Yet she instantly starts to trust a taxi driver whom she doesn't even know? She'll suspect her true love but believe devotion from a stranger? She is too dumb for words. The supporting characters aren't able to make up for the failings of the lead because they aren't fleshed out. We have two creepy siblings, which could have gone somewhere, but they are quickly relegated to hasty caricatures and then left alone. I should also mention the mess of an ending. There is no way that you would have been able to figure out what is going on because everything is seen through the eyes of the dimwitted Nan; therefore we have to have not one, but two lengthy explanations as to what really happened. A book should tell the story throughout, not have to rely on a afterword to make it make sense! The only thing I found remotely appealing, aside from the fact I can return this to the library at once, where the actors hired to pretend to be country house servants, now there's something that was funny and I'd like to see explored more... maybe one day I should get around to writing a book, I couldn't do one this bad even if I tried.
Nan Mansfield used to be something of a name on stage and screen. She used to be happy and not full of ennui. This was all before Roy. Roy, the love of her life, the man she is now tailing in a taxi cab where she sees him suspiciously exchanging a package with an odd man. Well, she doesn't actually see the exchange, and she thought that the man was really a woman, but lucky for her Tim the Taxi driver saw it all. Luckily he is also a writer on the side who has specialized in spy fiction so he fills her head to brimming with ideas of what could be happening. Roy is after all a member of Parliament and therefore has governmental secrets, hence his insistence that his wife give up her unseemly career. But what could be more unseemly than meeting nefarious people in the park in the dead of night? But Nan insists that he can't be involved with the Russians, as he doesn't like them. She'd far rather it was an affair, because it's such a lesser crime than treason. In order to keep a hold of her sanity Tim suggests she records her thoughts. Nan, having an old tape recorder starts this process and finds that not only is it a good record of events, should something happen, but it helps her work things out. All of which leads to more and more questions.
Then things take a rather odd turn. Roy seems more his normal self and his old patrons, Cyprian and his sister Celina Slepe, odd siblings, possibly incestuous, possibly asexual, invite them to their ancestral pile for the weekend. It truly is a pile. A stately house not even worthy of the word house. There Nan meets a mysterious count and learns that Cyprian hates her, viewing she is too low class for Roy because her one claim to fame is a commercial where she baths by candlelight, where they insinuate but never show too much. The whole weekend is cut short and Roy encourages Nan to return to her career. But if the man chasing her through the theatre or the gunman in the alley have anything to say, it will be that Nan shall act or live no more.
Reading I Capture the Castle I instantly went on a hunt for more books by Dodie Smith that didn't have Dalmatians in them. I was surprised to find that the majority of them are out of print. After reading this book, I can see why, The Girl from the Candle-Lit Bath is very understandably out of print. Returning to themes utilized in I Capture the Castle, the lost illusory fame, the diary-like format, the moldering pile of a home in the country, Dodie fails miserably to recreate the magic of her previous book. The heroine is so unlikable, dumb and sycophantically devoted to a husband who shows her no love and has her sleeping in a tiny closet of a room. Yet she instantly starts to trust a taxi driver whom she doesn't even know? She'll suspect her true love but believe devotion from a stranger? She is too dumb for words. The supporting characters aren't able to make up for the failings of the lead because they aren't fleshed out. We have two creepy siblings, which could have gone somewhere, but they are quickly relegated to hasty caricatures and then left alone. I should also mention the mess of an ending. There is no way that you would have been able to figure out what is going on because everything is seen through the eyes of the dimwitted Nan; therefore we have to have not one, but two lengthy explanations as to what really happened. A book should tell the story throughout, not have to rely on a afterword to make it make sense! The only thing I found remotely appealing, aside from the fact I can return this to the library at once, where the actors hired to pretend to be country house servants, now there's something that was funny and I'd like to see explored more... maybe one day I should get around to writing a book, I couldn't do one this bad even if I tried.
December 16, 2013
the usually steady dodie smith ventures a bit too far out of her comfort zone (gently humorous portraits of mannered characters) and stumbles. she doesn't exhibit sufficient attention to detail to succeed in writing a thriller. her character is an uninformed, passive woman, carried along by the plot and the men in her life ("he allowed us to get tea"), and unfortunately the narration doesn't indicate that the author has much more of a clue about what's going on, either.
it's a brief read, and her prose is still strong and fluid, so i won't advise smith fans to miss this, but it will definitely fall on the lower end of her best-to-worst list.
it's a brief read, and her prose is still strong and fluid, so i won't advise smith fans to miss this, but it will definitely fall on the lower end of her best-to-worst list.
June 2, 2009
This is a HARD TO FIND book! Written by Dodie Smith who I find to be an amazing writer!
It took months, literally, for me to get my hands on a copy of this RARE book. I was so excited. Sad to say that I was very disappointed.
There were one or two good moments in this book. Excellent writing. But overall very dissapointing!!!
It took months, literally, for me to get my hands on a copy of this RARE book. I was so excited. Sad to say that I was very disappointed.
There were one or two good moments in this book. Excellent writing. But overall very dissapointing!!!
Want to Read
August 1, 2008DODIE SMITH HAS WRITTEN OTHER BOOKS?!?!?!?!?!!? WAAA????
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews