Someone at a Distance was Dorothy Whipple's last book, hailed by many as her best. The story charts the gradual breakdown of a marriage through the eyes of those involved. Whipple deftly and persuasively explores the minds of her characters, particularly the two women. This audio edition is read by Susan Wooldridge.
Ellen and Avery North share a stable and secure life. Everything is well looked after: their teenage children, their garden, and Avery's elderly mother who lives nearby. In time, old Mrs North decides she is in need of a live-in companion, and Louise Lanier arrives after responding to a newspaper advert. When Louise sets out to seduce Avery for the fun of it, her behaviour threatens to destroy Ellen and Avery's peaceful life together.
Someone at a Distance is part of the Persephone Audiobook Collection, a series of forgotten classics including neglected fiction and non-fiction by women writers. First published in 1953, this edition includes a preface by author Nina Bawden. Born in 1893, Dorothy Whipple grew up in Blackburn. She was a secretary to Henry Whipple, who was a widower twenty-four years her senior. They married in 1917. Their life was mostly spent in Nottingham, where Whipple wrote her eight novels. Two of her books, They Knew Mr Knight and They Were Sisters, were made into films. Returning in her last years to Blackburn, Dorothy Whipple died there in 1966. A moving story by Dorothy Whipple set in the 1950s.
