73 Dove Street by Julie Owen Moylan

Published by Penguin Michael Joseph

What They Say

When Edie Budd arrives at a shabby West London boarding house in October 1958, carrying nothing except a broken suitcase and an envelope full of cash, it’s clear she’s hiding a terrible secret.

And she’s not the only one; the other women of 73 Dove Street have secrets of their own . . .

Tommie, who lives on the second floor, waits on the eccentric Mrs Vee by day. After dark, she harbours an addiction to seedy Soho nightlife – and a man she can’t quit.

Phyllis, 73 Dove Street’s formidable landlady, has set fire to her husband’s belongings after discovering a heart-breaking betrayal – yet her fierce bravado hides a past she doesn’t want to talk about.

At first, the three women keep to themselves.

But as Edie’s past catches up with her, Tommie becomes caught in her web of lies – forcing her to make a decision that will change everything . . .

What I Say

Sometimes in life there are things you can control and things you can’t. When Amanda (@bookishchat) and I read That Green Eyed Girl back in 2022 we knew straight away that we wanted to feature Julie and her brilliant novel on our joint bookish channel Two Fond of Books, because we knew how many people would love it.

We were right, and as soon as we heard that Julie had a second novel coming out called 73 Dove Street, it was without question that we wanted to ask Julie back to Two Fond so we could celebrate the publication and shout about it as much as we could.

What we didn’t anticipate was that personal circumstances would throw us both a huge curve ball, and we would have to take the difficult decision to end Two Fond of Books before we could have the chance to celebrate Julie and 73 Dove Street.

The last few months have been challenging for me to say the least, for reasons that are not important here, but I always knew that I wanted to read 73 Dove Street when I could really stop and savour every page.

I am so glad I picked it up, and so glad I waited til now to read it, because it is a novel that you will be absolutely and totally immersed in from the very first page.

When Edie first arrives at 73 Dove Street clutching her battered cardboard suitcase, it is very clear to us that she is running from something and someone, and that she needs a place to stay so she can disappear for a while. As Edie’s dual narrative unfurls, we see how Edie’s relationship with her husband Frank goes from a seemingly loving one to a world where Frank controls every aspect of her life, and starts to physically and emotionally abuse her.

As Phyllis, the landlady of 73 Dove Street is dealing with her own marital breakdown after her husband Terry cheated on her with one of the tenants, letting Edie have the attic room works for her, and Edie’s appearance is a timely solution to her need for a new lodger. Phyllis is aware of how she is getting older, and becoming invisible to the world, and as her world slowly unravels, we start to understand how the devastating events of the past have shaped her world and her place in it.

Tommie who lives there already seems to be confident and assured – working for Mrs Vee in her huge Bayswater House by day, and at night living life to the fullest. Yet we also see how Tommie is attracted to a man who simply sees her as a commodity to be picked up and put down as he wants – and she can’t see how he will never want anything more from her.

Let’s get two things straight from the start. Julie Owen Moylan has written a novel that puts you right into the heart of 1950’s London. The sights, sounds, description and domestic detail that permeate every page of this story bring this world so vividly to life, and it feels utterly authentic.

The other thing is is that Julie totally understands women and what it meant to be a women at that time. In another writer’s hands, Edie, Tommie and Phyllis could have been paper thin stereotypes, but Julie’s pitch perfect characterisations mean that these women resonate so deeply with us as readers because they are authentic, vulnerable and flawed.

73 Dove Street is a nuanced and intelligent novel, which for me shows how much Julie absolutely understands her characters and also the people who are reading her words. Julie is not afraid to show that life is often not straightforward and that neat and tidy solutions to life’s problems are not always what happens, however much we would like them to be.

Each of the women has undoubtedly been through things in their lives, and what makes them resonate with us is that in 2023 we still recognise that these issues are still prevalent today. Edie, Tommie and Phyllis are women who may be dealing with significantly different things in their lives, but they are united by two things. The painful and difficult awareness of where they are in their lives and how they got there, and the eventual realisation that it is within them to be the catalyst they need to be to make sure that the next part of their lives is going to be entirely in their control. They just have to understand that they need to have the courage to embrace and acknowledge it.

I absolutely loved it.

Thank you so much to Livvi Thomas and Penguin Michael Joseph for my proof copy.