The Right Kind of Girl
The Right Kind of Girl is a classic Betty Neels English romance, relying on a marriage of convenience, a dastardly Other Woman, well-written minor characters, a kind and upstanding hero/love interest, and a sweet-tempered, kind, generous, uncomplaining heroine, Emma. I read this about a year ago and wrote a short review then, this review is longer and I’ll spend more time on why this is both a very good and a frustrating read.
Emma lives with her mom in a small English country town and works as a companion for Mrs. Smith-Darcy, a thoroughly nasty woman. Emma and her mom rely on mom’s small pension and Emma’s small wages; life is difficult but Emma has the gift of happiness. She isn’t exactly content with her unpleasant job but she loves her mom and loves living in the English moor town.
When her employer feels ill after overeating, Dr. Paul Wyatt, subbing for the local GP, makes a house call and meets Emma as she grovels on the carpet picking up the bills Mrs. S-D tossed around. Paul (aka Dr. Wyatt, our hero) is intrigued by Emma’s calm, matter-of-fact approach to her employer. (Paul claims later that he fell in love with her then.)
Emma’s mother collapses from a perforated ulcer while she and Emma are out driving narrow back roads on the moor; luckily Paul is driving by and takes mom to the hospital, operates and saves her life. He gives Emma rides back and forth for a week while mom recovers. Nasty Mrs. S-D fires Emma, but that’s OK, Emma finds work with Doreen Hervey caring for her newborn, her home, cooking and Doreen herself. Doreen is cheerful and pleasant but completely incapable of looking after herself, not to mention her baby. Paul is good friends with the Herveys and stops by to say hello; of course he knows Emma will be there.
Paul brings Emma fish ‘n chips one night, drives her to and from the hospital, spends a few moments having tea or talking with her. But remember, they have probably spent no more than 12 hours together, not a lot of time. Emma has demonstrated her kindness, charitable nature, generosity of spirit, even temper, warmth and empathy. Paul has shown himself to be somewhat remote, not at all chatty, kind in an impersonal way in the car, then personal, friendly and kind when he brings Emma fish ‘n chips and washes the dishes.
Emma’s mom dies, leaving Emma alone. Paul comes to the rescue, proposing a marriage of convenience. As in all Neels’ marriages of convenience (MOCs), the two agree to be friends, companions, not lovers. Emma has no idea Paul loves her and she is numb after her mom’s death. Paul and Emma marry after a couple minor contretemps, leaving Emma to realize she loves Paul only when walking up the aisle.
Sadly Emma runs afoul of Diana, a lovely woman who runs a nursery for abandoned kids where Emma volunteers. Diana claims to have Paul’s love and Emma has no hold on him. It isn’t clear whether Diana wants to marry Paul or just likes to make trouble.
Emma figures Diana is exaggerating – after all Paul chose Emma, not Diana – but she’s modest and not confident that Paul has much feeling for her. Diana purposely endangers Emma by sending her to a tinker camp in the moor during a storm, then lies to Paul, claiming Emma wanted to be a glory hound. Of course Paul should have known better; the last thing Emma wants is the spotlight. But he’s known Diana for a couple of years and respects her.
The worst happens when Paul confronts Emma about the tinker camp: “Diana is worth a dozen of you.” Yes. He actually says this. Bloggers on The Uncrushable Jersey Dress call this the equivalent of the unforgivable curse in Harry Potter, and they are right.
How is Emma now supposed to believe that Paul cares about her? Diana tells Emma constantly that Paul doesn’t and never will love her, and now Paul has corroborated that. “Diana is worth a dozen of you.” Emma still is reluctant to believe Paul would have married her while in love with Diana, but then Paul says he’s going on a 4-month lecture tour. Alone. Now Emma has reason to believe that Paul wants her gone, that regardless how he feels about Diana, he certainly doesn’t love or want Emma.
Unforgivable or not, the “worth a dozen of you” isnt’ the worst part of the story. The part that astounds me is that Paul has the colossal nerve to tell Emma that “she doesn’t trust him”! Hello! Earth to Paul! Wake up, buddy. You just told your wife a few days before that she’s not worth the stuff on the bottom of your shoe, and now you are upset that she believes nasty Diana? I have a real problem with this part, especially since Emma thinks she needs to apologize! What about Paul needing to wake up and realize you don’t tell your wife that she’s worthless, and then expect her to trust that you aren’t having an affair?
Here’s where Betty Neels’ genius with minor characters plays its part. Maisie, an older woman, works in the nursery and sees right through Diana. Maisie warns Emma, and reassures her that Diana is sneaky and nasty. Finally Maisie positions herself to eavesdrop when Paul (finally!) confronts Diana, and steps in to explain to Paul exactly how deceitful Diana has been. Paul goes home to find Emma is planning something.
The rest of the novel is a delight. Paul and Emma realize each loves the other and Paul foils Emma’s attempt to slide out of his life and slip anonymously into the workforce. Plenty of kissing and I love yous ensue.
Let’s see what makes The Right Kind of Girl such a good example of Betty Neels, and why I enjoy it so much.
+++ The first third of the novel is Emma’s straightforward story. Poor, yes, spineless, no. Kind, generous, hard working, yes. We like Emma.
++ We don’t get to know Paul very well in the first part. Obviously he’s interested in Emma and yes, he too is kind and generous. We get hints that he’s falling in love.
+++ The middle part, after Emma’s mom dies and before she starts volunteering at the nursery (about a 5 week period) is charming. Emma isn’t too sure about this marriage idea, isn’t too sure Paul will be satisfied with someone like her, worries whether his family and friends will like her. Emma is reluctant to marry a rich man and a little fearful she might not be satisfactory in her social role, but that’s relatively minor worry.
++ Emma has enough common sense that she takes Diana with a big shaker of salt, but just enough modesty and self-awareness to also realize that there could be just a drop of truth in there.
——- (If I put in all the minus signs it needs I wouldn’t have room to write words.) Diana is a piece of work. Paul is mostly taken in by her, and he’s foolish enough to believe her idiotic accusation that Emma wanted to star in the Rescue of the Tinkers. That’s bad. The Unforgivable Curse (Diana is worth a dozen of you) is really bad. Paul at this point is clueless and digging his own hole with a pile driver.
+++ Neels wrote several great characters. Maisie is a delight. She’s shrewd, full of common sense, and not averse to plain speaking. Doreen Hervey, incompetent mom and homemaker, is a great character. She’s written as loving and lovable, just not too bright and not at all capable. Mrs S-D, she of the nasty temper is a stock character, the stuck up rich lady. Mr. Dobbs, who owns the garage that rents cars to Emma, appears mostly as a voice on the phone, someone willing to feed Emma’s cat. Emma’s mom has a small role, enough to show us how close she and Emma are and allow Emma to display her kindness and fortitude.
I hope you can see why The Right Kind of Girl is well worth reading. It’s classic Neels, completely clean, and warm and cozy. Reading it is like sitting by the fire, all wrapped up in a warm afghan with a cat on your lap. On the other hand, Paul’s two or three jarring comments and Diana’s non-stop undermining make it a bit difficult to enjoy completely. I’m sure Emma has forgiven Paul for his ghastly remark, but we readers have a harder time forgetting it.
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