Middle class blues
Mollie Panter-Downes' stories show the decline of the middle classes in Britain after WWII. Her stories show the effects of the social and economic changes the war brought, the problem of getting servants, the hardships of being on a fixed income, the falling standards of young people who had experienced more freedom and responsibility than their parents could ever have dreamed of.They are honest yet unsentimental stories of people who suddenly don't fit in. In "The exiles", Colonel and Mrs Stanbury decide to emigrate to an outpost of "Empire" in the hope that they can keep up their position in society as they are no longer able to do at home. In "Minnie's room", the Sothern family are devastated when their cook, Minnie, fulfills her dreams of leaving service and having a room of her own. The story says a lot about the arrogant assumptions of the family in their attitude to Minnie and what they see as her betrayal. These stories are beautifully written, they were first published in the New Yorker in the 1950's, and they recreate an England that has gone forever.