Jumping the Queue

by Mary Wesley

Matilda Poliport, recently widowed and largely estranged from her four adult children, has decided to End It All. She has cleaned her cottage, given away her beloved pet goose and burnt any incriminating letters. Now all that remains for her to do is eat her picnic, take her pills and swim out into the ocean. But her meticulously planned bid for graceful oblivion is interrupted when she foils the suicide bid of another lost soul - Hugh Warner, on the run from the police - and life begins again for them both.

Life, however, is never that simple and awkward questions demand answers. What, for example, was Matilda's husband Tom doing in Paris? Why does Matilda's next door neighbour see UFOs in the skies of Cornwall? And why did Hugh kill his mother?

Genres: Fiction, British Literature, Contemporary, Audiobook, Womens, Romance, Classics

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Mary Wesley, CBE was an English novelist. She reportedly worked in MI5 during World War II. During her career, she became one of Britain's most successful novelists, selling three million copies of her books, including 10 best-sellers in the last 20 years of her life.

She wrote three children's books, Speaking Terms and The Sixth Seal (both 1969) and Haphazard House (1983), before publishing adult fiction. Since her first adult novel was published only in 1983, when she was 71, she may be regarded as a late bloomer. The publication of Jumping the Queue in 1983 was the beginning of an intensely creative period of Wesley's life. From 1982 to 1991, she wrote and delivered seven novels. While she aged from 70 to 79 she still showed the focus and drive of a young person.
Her best known book, The Camomile Lawn, set on the Roseland Peninsula in Cornwall, was turned into a television series, and is an account of the intertwining lives of three families in rural England during World War II. After The Camomile Lawn (1984) came Harnessing Peacocks (1985 and as TV film in 1992), The Vacillations of Poppy Carew (1986 and filmed in 1995), Not That Sort of Girl (1987), Second Fiddle (1988), A Sensible Life (1990), A Dubious Legacy (1993), An Imaginative Experience (1994) and Part of the Furniture (1997). A book about the West Country with photographer Kim Sayer, Part of the Scenery, was published in 2001. Asked why she had stopped writing fiction at the age of 84, she replied: "If you haven't got anything to say, don't say it.

From Mary Wesley

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary Wesley famously had her first novel published at the age of seventy - and what a novel it is. When we meet Matilda Poliport, she is in her fifties, widowed and with little contact with her children. Her dog and cat are both dead and she has re-homed her goose, Gus. Free of all ties, she is about to commit suicide, but events conspire against her. That evening she has aquired another dog and also a runaway, the 'matricide' Hugh Warner. Even Gus the goose returns home!

This then is a story that will be understood by many women. No longer needed in their childrens lives, their future appearing lonely and unwanted, Matilda is a darkly funny and tragic character. As her and Hugh come to terms with each other, they probe each others wounds. For little in Matilda's life is how it appears - neither her marriage nor the staid, conventional background she appears to have. Some have called this book depressing, but ultimately it is, in many ways, uplifting. It also about love - from Mr Jones hankering after his neighbour, to Matilda's staid refusal to see her husband in a bad light, to Hugh's feelings towards his rescuer. This is a rewarding, intelligent and deeply compassionate novel and I recommend it highly.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lonely fifty-something widow decides to commit suicide with dignity and one final repast to review her life. Matilda Poliport decided to end her life before she lost all resources but instead met people and became involved in events that pique her interest in life anew.


Ms Wesley was 71 when she published this, her first novel for adults. (She was 57 when she published her first of three books for children)
* Jumping the Queue (1983)
* The Chamomile Lawn (1984)
* Harnessing Peacocks (1985)
* The Vacillations of Poppy Carew (1986)
* Not That Sort of Girl (1987)
* Second Fiddle (1988)
* A Sensible Life (1990)
* A Dubious Legacy (1992)
* An Imaginative Experience (1994)
* Part of the Furniture (1997)
* Part of the Scenery (2001)- autobiography

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

She always writes such interesting and complicated characters that are fascinating to read about.

[Belle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first of Mary Wesley''s books that I have read. I prefer this to the Camomile Lawn because I found the ending of Jumping the Queue to be braver. Considering that this is a book about suicide I still found humour. I was impressed with the plot twists. This was a quick read and I was suitably impressed to move straight on to the Camomile Lawn.

Before reading this book i had read Mary Wesley's biography and it helped to make this book all the more poignant. Jumping the Queue also helped soften my view of Mary Wesley considerably. I also knew from reading the biography that Mary Wesley had pet geese, which explains how she could write so tenderly of Gus.

I give this book 4.5 star rating.

[Laura Rittenhouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book opens with the main character, Matilda, tidying her life (literally and figuratively) in preparation for what we soon learn is her planned suicide. A curious beginning but it manages to draw the reader in to Matilda's life and immediately we're interested.

Matilda's perfect suicide is interrupted by some less-than-sensitive young people and then the whole thing is put on hold when a very interesting stranger crosses Matilda's path.

Ms Wesley's enjoyable book leads the reader to question what really makes life worth living. Is it family, friends, lovers, home, variety, health...? The more she discovers about her own life, the more Matilda grows disenchanted with all of the above.

An easy read, a compelling story, a heroine that could be anyone you know.

[The Idle Woman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read The Camomile Lawn as a student and, being young and naive, was impressed by its suave, sophisticated, witty characters. With this in mind, I happily snaffled Mary Wesley’s Jumping the Queue when I found it on a bookshop expedition to Winchester with H. Now I wonder whether, if I were to reread The Camomile Lawn, I would find there the negatives that I noticed here alongside the wit and sophistication: detached indifference; clever people behaving horribly to one another; a rather nihilistic view of the world. What, really, is the point? That’s the question we find the recently widowed Matilda Poliport contemplating as the book starts. Carrying a basket of wine, cheese and fresh bread, she’s heading down to the beach for a picnic before she ends it all. When her plans are frustrated, she heads back to a life that she thought she had all neatly tied up; but this time she has an unexpected companion: a soul almost as lost as she is. Be warned. This is not a cosy piece of classic fiction. This is fiction with claws. And teeth...

For the full review, please see my blog:
https://theidlewoman.net/2019/07/31/j...

[Mack · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had a lot of important characters and was a story about Matilda, a widow in her fifties, who lives alone in England. She is so troubled by her husband's death she decides to tidy up her life and then planning the perfect suicide. This is foiled but reveals a lot of nasty secrets and many questions.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! This sleeper blew me away. I have no idea how I acquired this slim paperback but I'm thankful it found me. I want to read everything written by Mary Wesley now.

[sarah]

Can honestly say I didn't expect the incest.

[Tony Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. It is the author's first adult novel (she was then 71) and does have that feel. It includes a rather bitter look at how sexual expression is denied to those in late life.

[Lemongrass · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a very clever author who can write a book nominally about suicide and make me like it. Suicide is a sad, desperate hateful act of despair in general and yet the heroine of this book takes her decision without letting me cast her down for it, even though she does it for selfish reasons. Spiritually questionable then, but emotionally gratifying.

[Michele Harrod]

I just saw a picture of a woman walking a goose and immediately remembered this book - I read it years ago. I adore this author and I am now going to read everything she wrote, all over again!

[Les Jardins d'Hélène · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah cet humour so british, si impertinent ! J’adore Mary Wesley, découverte en 2009 avec Rose, sainte-nitouche
Matilda Poliport est veuve, son chat et son chien sont morts également, elle se résout à céder Gus, son jars de compagnie avant d’aller faire le grand saut, maison briquée du sol au plafond, pique-nique chargé dans la voiture, cachets et vin rouge dans le panier pour un dernier repas sur la plage avant de sauter. Mais rien ne va se passer comme prévu, on ne peut même plus se suicider tranquille, et parfois il y a embouteillage au-dessus du pont ! C’est ainsi que Matilda fait la connaissance d’Hugh Warner, un homme recherché parce qu’il a tué sa mère d’un coup de plateau à thé, et qu’elle va ramener dans son cottage bien propret.

C’est le début d’un récit aussi délicieux que grinçant, on ne compte plus les amants transis ou refoulés, les ingratitudes des enfants, la fidélité sans faille des animaux jusqu’à leur mort, les secrets bien cachés, à demi oubliés, et les ressorts déjantés de l’intrigue.
Malgré une fin qui attriste le lecteur, le plaisir de lecture est présent tout du long, tant c’est audacieux, piquant, désinvolte, et parfois dérangeant.

Une vieille dame qui balaie d’un revers de la plume tous les clichés sur son genre et son âge.

[Gavin Lightfoot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely characters and witty conversation, there's nothing better than being absorbed in a Mary Wesley novel.

[Marlene Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Apart from the brilliant writing, quirky plots and razor sharp wit, you never quite know what you're in for when you pick up a Mary Wesley novel...she is a master of her craft. When Matilda's plan to jump the queue was abandoned, I found myself thinking, how lovely, a mature woman's romance with a younger man. It wasn't until Folly met his maker that I figured there was going to be an unexpected twist. And what a twist! No clandestine rendezvous in Prague, no Matricide returning with his tail between his legs proclaiming undying love, no brother confessing to murder and freeing-up Hugh to start a new life together with Matilda, none of the happy endings I had imagined. Instead, I was stunned and disturbed by Wesley's finale. It wasn't until I reflected on the story, after I got over the shock of the ending, that I realised why I felt so disturbed. Matilda was dealing with what many women have to face, the gradual loss of connectedness to life as we age. Children grow up - and these days, often move away, the husband dies (or maybe finds a new love interest), people we have known move on, or away...and we end up with pets for company. Admittedly, Matilda's solution to her predicament was extreme but it certainly wasn't far fetched. Mary Wesley was no stranger to loss and grief during her life and I suspect Jumping the Queue reflects Mary's own experience of grappling with matters of existential moment. I found this novel to be a brilliant read and certainly one that has provoked a great deal of thought and self-reflection. I would recommend this book to anyone brave enough to contemplate their later years.

[Andrea Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary Wesley's novel is a brilliant slice of life I've never known. If I can only be half as interesting as her characters when I get older I'll certainly be fascinating. She pulls the reader into the world of a young man on the run from the police and a recently widowed Matilda Poliport. The two meet when they are on a similar path to destruction. Their meeting changes the course of both of their lives. Mary Wesley had her first novel published at the age of seventy and thank God she did for the world would be a rather dull place without her insight into life.

[Maria (Discuss It Book Group) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having already lost the main book vote once over at our book group on Google Groups, `Jumping the Queue` was entered in our second chance vote. It beat `A Discovery of Witches` and `The Levels` and was discussed on our site in January 2012.

Overall, Discuss It Book Group rated this novel 3.7 out of 5, with the majority of the group having enjoyed it. It also generated a very interesting discussion.

[Karen Rittenhouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this one from the beginning right through.

A middle aged woman, her goose and a murderer are all brought together early on and meander together through this beautifully told story of what life can throw one's way.

Very easy read. I wish it had lasted longer!

[Beth (bibliobeth) · Rating 3 out of 5]

What an interesting quirky little book! Probably not something I would read again, but I was intrigued by the main character Matilda and her reasons for being suicidal. Funny in points (Gus is probably my favourite character), with a surprising ending for me, I'm glad I read this book.

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very different story, one that I think will resonate more with me later. I feel that its one of those books that while you are reading it, you are a little confused, but a week or a month later you are still thinking about it.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

An oldie, but a goodie. Filled with surprises, amusing and well developed characters, and an air of mystery. I love all the books I've read so far by this author.

[Des · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never thought that matricide could be a fascinating topic,With honesty, irony and insightful wit, this little gem carves a realistic path through a whole raft of family issues.

[Trena · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was so wonderfully written, that I took the journey and felt the frustrations. The character were just excellent

[Judith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hugely disappointing with unconvincing plot and characters!

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Jumping the Queue’ is a must-read for fans of Mary Wesley’s writing. It is a slim volume about a deadly serious topic. Widow Matilda Poliport prepares to commit suicide. She cleans the house, organises her papers, destroys anything incriminating and gives away her pets. On the day she judges the tide to be favourable, she makes a picnic and takes a bottle of wine to the beach. She plans to wade into the sea and drown. What happens changes the course of Matilda’s death, and life.
This is a quirky mixture of a book with heavy topics which, as you get older, become more familiar and understandable, with dark humour and a touch of forbidden romance. There is also betrayal, all kinds of betrayal actually – between husband and wife, between parents and children, between friends. As Matilda contemplates suicide, she thinks, ‘I am the great betrayer… That is my sin. I am not a sticker. I betray from laziness, fear and lack of interest.’
The story is told from Matilda’s point of view, at times despairing, at times wickedly funny and lusty. It’s hard to believe ‘Jumping the Queue’ was Mary Wesley’s first adult novel, published in 1983 when she was seventy; its topics are as pertinent today, as then.
Matilda and her husband Tom made a pact, to end it all when they were old and no longer enjoying life. But when Tom dies suddenly in Paris, Matilda is left alone in an isolated West Country house, rarely visited by her four children. The villagers pretty much leave her alone except for her neighbour Mr Jones, who carries a not-so-secret torch for Matilda. But not everything is as it seems. What was Tom really doing in Paris, why don't the children visit, and does Mr Jones really see UFOs?
When Matilda’s plan at the beach is interrupted by a group of holidaymakers, she retreats to the town to wait. There she meets The Matricide, a man on-the-run, wanted for killing his mother and whose face is in all the newspapers. Matilda is anything but conventional and she doesn’t fear for her safety. The Matricide, whose name is Hugh Warner, checks she understands who he is and that he killed his mother. ‘Of course’, says Matilda. ‘Lots of people long to. You just did it.’
At first glance, this could be a depressing novel about getting older and longing to be out of it. But in fact it is a tale of loyalty, love and trust; just in unexpected places. Thought provoking, sad and uplifting, all at the same time.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-revie...

[Roger Pettit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mary Wesley can serve as an inspiration to anyone who, like me, has reached a certain age and thinks they haven’t really achieved anything much with their life and that the opportunity to do so has passed them by. She became a successful novelist at the age of 70! And ‘Jumping the Queue’ was the work with which she did so. It’s not anything like as good as some of her subsequent successes - it’s much too quirky and eccentric for that (even though those characteristics are present in all her books) and the plot is far too implausible. But it’s nonetheless an inventive and readable work with a fascinating central character, the recently widowed Matilda Poliport, whose attempt at suicide in response to the grief she is experiencing because of her beloved husband’s death is disrupted by a chance encounter with a younger man, Hugh Warner. Warner has murdered his mother and is on the run from the police. Matilda takes pity on him and allows him to stay at her isolated rural cottage. As a result, all kinds of potentially nasty secrets come tumbling out of the cupboard, not least issues about Matilda’s late husband Tom: such as whether he had an incestuous relationship with one of their daughters, whether he had been involved in secret espionage activities and whether he was, in fact, homosexual. ‘Jumping the Queue’ is a black comedy. It’s a readable enough work but I found much of it far too improbable. I simply couldn’t believe, for example, that Warner’s criminal action, which was understandably featured in the press and other media, would have been quite so well-known to some of the characters who crop up in the novel as is the case here or that the nickname assigned to him by the media - ‘the Matricide’ - would have been on everyone’s lips quite as readily as Wesley portrays. Wesley’s prose and characterisation are good and the surprise ending is very effective. ‘Jumping the Queue’ is a good introduction to Mary Wesley’s work but it is far from her best.

[Jack Bates · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first MW, published when she was 70 or whatever. Second book in a week where it's suggested the protag is a bit mental due to menopause, which is nice. (It was first published in 1983.) In fact there's a lot about how old Matilda is, even though she's twenty years younger than MW was at the time. Anyway, I'm just touchy about people of fifty-ish being referred to as 'old', obviously.

Anyway, it's very well written but quite depressing I thought, although I'm not sure it's supposed to be? I don't know. She writes animals really well, Gus the gander is brilliantly described. And I like her writing. Her characters are often - not unlikeable, but have awkward corners I suppose, which is convincing.

Also it remined me of another book probably written at the same sort of time that I read decades ago where there's some father/daughter incest that seems to be perfectly okay? As in no one's disgusted by it or horrified and it's just presented as normal, or if not normal, not something to be too annoyed about. Is that what people thought in the eighties? I don't remember that being the case.

[Peter McGinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have seen many writers compared to Jane Austen over the years and I never quite see the connection. I would not make any in-depth comparisons To her with Mary Wesley either, but I will say that her writing revolves within her characters: how they speak to each other, and how they interpret events and interact with each other. So this book felt almost like a novel of manners to me, though much darker and, of course, more explicit than anything Austen wrote.

For those who like juicy plot twists, you shouldn't be disappointed. There is a journey of discovery here as we learn details both about the main character and about things along with her.

As with the last book I read by Wesley, there were a couple of cringeWorthy moments for me, such as once when we hear about a "pleasant" rape that felt to me like it had been written by a man. But they were fleeting irritants and did not detract from my enjoyment of the book. The ending was realistic though rather anticlimactic to me. I would have preferred an ambiguous finish where the reader decides exactly how things turned out. But that will not prevent me from reading more from Mary Wesley at some point.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first read by Mary Wesley, and the audio book version was wonderfully read by Anne Massey .. really brought the main character of Matilda to life ..

Yes, life .. when all Matilda wants is to end hers .. she us a widow, and her adult children never visit, and although she is happy living alone, she has her reasons for wanting to leave everything behind .. But when she finally goes to 'do the deed' things conspire against her, making her deviate from her well laid plans .. this leads her to bump into Hugh, a man on the run from the Police for the murder of his mother ..

A brilliant story of how making a few small decisions can ripple outwards and make significant changes to your life .. essentially the telling of Matildas' story, but so much more .. the layers, the twists, the devastation endured .. and eventually, the truth ..

From wanting an audio book to assist me with my chores, to finding a completely absorbing story that I couldn't switch off ..

Will definitely read another by this author ..

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read this morning a review describing this as a 'horrid' book, and referring to incest (as others did) I grabbed my TV-tie-in copy off the shelf and re-read it, probably for the 4th or 5th time.

I bought this (probably my first Mary Wesley) only after seeing the excellent BBC production with Sheila Hancock, and my only abiding memory from the book was of her blood-stained mouth. I recalled little else.

As before I enjoyed it immensely (though I can understand why others might not - Wesley was one of the best exponents of the white-jacket/watercolour image books so prevalent of that time, and I probably had my last binge-read of the eight or so titles I own in 2010, before I began using Goodreads.