And Berry Came Too

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And Berry Came Too
And Berry Came Too, Yates, 1936.jpg
1936 first edition cover
Author Dornford Yates
SeriesBerry books
GenreComic novel
Publisher Ward Lock & Co [1]
Publication date
1936 [1]
Media typePrint
Pages320 [1]
Preceded by Adèle and Co.  
Followed by The House That Berry Built  

And Berry Came Too is a 1936 collection of comic short stories by the English author Dornford Yates (Cecil William Mercer), featuring his recurring 'Berry' characters.

Contents

Plot

The book consists of eight short stories, mostly set in Hampshire. According to an introductory note by the author, the action of the book may be presumed to have taken place during the summer between the events of chapters 1 and 2 of Berry and Co. , [2] ie some 16 years earlier. In addition to the regular "Berry & Co" characters this book also features the family's two-year-old Alsatian "The Knave", and a visiting American, Perdita Boyte.

Background

All of the stories in And Berry Came Too had originally appeared in The Windsor Magazine between May and December 1935. They were written while Mercer was settled at Pau with his second wife, Elizabeth (whom he thought of as 'Jill', and to whom the book was dedicated). [3]

Chapters

ChapterBook TitleWindsor TitleDateVolumeIssuePagesIllustrator
IHow The Knave set out for Cock Feathers, and Berry made an acquaintance he did not desireEnter The KnaveMay 1935LXXXI485715-734E G Oakdale
IIHow Berry perceived the obvious, and Daphne and I put spokes in each other's wheelsPeriod StuffJune 1935LXXXII48634-49E G Oakdale
IIIHow Berry prophesied evil, and The Knave purged his contemptThe Law And The ProphetJuly 1935LXXXII487173-183E G Oakdale
IVHow Daphne was given a present, and Jonah took off his coatBlack MagicAugust 1935LXXXII488274-288E G Oakdale
VHow Perdita bought a staircase, and Berry put on a raiment that was not hisA Roman HolidaySeptember 1935LXXXII489423-438E G Oakdale
VIHow Berry met his match, and a mule lay down with The KnaveSpade WorkOctober 1935LXXXII490649-665E G Oakdale
VIIHow Jill enjoyed herself, and Len and Winnie were made to waste valuable timeBig BusinessNovember 1935LXXXII491775-791E G Oakdale
VIIIHow Perdita left White Ladies, and Berry sat down with a lady who knew no lawLady FriendsDecember 1935LXXXIII49241-54E G Oakdale

Four of the stories were serialised in Woman's Home Companion during 1935, illustrated by Frederick Chapman - chapter 1 in March, chapter 2 in May, chapter 4 in July and chapter 5 in September, under the same titles as The Windsor.

Illustrations

The illustrations from the Windsor stories by E G Oakdale (presumed to be Edmund Oakdale, known for his railway travel posters) were not included in the book version.

Critical reception

Punch reviewed the book on 29 January 1936. The reviewer welcomed the return of Berry after an absence of five years and suggested that the publication would be met with "a loud and general cheer". There was, however, some criticism of the author's "curious blind spot" in his portrayal of women, and in particular the way in which the narrator, Boy, maintains a commentary on the beauty, sweetness and virtue of the female characters, and the way in which he enthusiastically and repeatedly likens his girlfriend to a child. AJ Smithers in his 1982 biography considered this criticism to be 'entirely fair'. [4]

Related Research Articles

Dornford Yates Writer (1885−1960)

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<i>The House That Berry Built</i> 1945 novel by Dornford Yates

The House That Berry Built is a 1945 humorous semi-autobiographical novel by the English author Dornford Yates, featuring his recurring 'Berry' characters. It is a lightly fictionalised recounting of the construction of the author's house Cockade in the commune of Eaux-Bonnes, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France.

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<i>B-Berry and I Look Back</i> 1958 fictionalised memoirs of Dornford Yates

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "British Library Item details". primocat.bl.uk. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  2. Yates, Dornford (1936). And Berry Came Too. Ward Lock & Co. Note before chapter 1.
  3. Smithers 1982, pp. 158, 167.
  4. Smithers 1982, pp. 167–168.

Bibliography