Miss Veal and Miss Ham is so wonderfully British. This is more a novella to me of the story between two women who are and have been partners for years in Britain. They've become old and they are losing their home and store to not being able to pay their bills. It's a sad tale. It's a quick read and quite lovely, although reader beware, it is a sad ending. Highly recommended reading!

1951. Dora Ham and Beatrix Veal are respected spinster ladies who live together. What no one knows is that they are secretly a couple. Now they are being kicked out of their home. What will they do next?
I enjoyed this book very much. Not a lot is written about lesbians in that day and age, so the material felt fresh and original. I did guess a major plot point but it in no way interfered with my enjoyment of this book. Highly recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

Vikki Heywood's Miss Veal and Miss Ham is one of those novels that at first seem straightforward, but that keep unfolding in one's mind into increasingly complex works—not because of plot twists, but because the simplicity of the story allows the reader to see how very complicated even a simple story can be.

Veal is the younger of the pair by about ten years and identifies as what I would call butch, while the older Ham leans femme. I'm using these terms because I think the women themselves would approve of them and because they aptly describe parts of their personal style and their relationship with one another. Veal and Ham met in London between the two World Wars and moved to the countryside as World War II began. Men were going off to war, and what had once been men's work was now becoming women's work—but only until the men return, mind you.

The pair run a small, local post office that they have expanded to include a candy shop as well. Veal staffs the post office; Ham staffs the candy shop, with Veal doing all the bookkeeping. Most of the lower floor of their home is taken up by these retail efforts, with just a small kitchen and dining area behind. Upstairs, each of the two has her own bedroom, though they always sleep together.

Early on in their countryside move, they would travel back into London for evenings at a favorite lesbian bar, but those trips ended when the blitz began. And as the war continues, the candy shop produces even less than its usual small profits—sugar is being rationed, so anyone's ability to purchase sweets is limited even should they have the money. The women have sunk into debt and are on the brink of being evicted without any clear sense of where to go.

The novel's action takes place over the course of a single day—the day that will be their last in their home. Their plans are still vague, but the reality of their situation is looming over them, casting an increasingly dark shadow.

A single day, two very closeted women, a home both loved and held in ambivalence: when explored in the right way, these offer the makings of a complicated tale. Much is bleak in the novel, but there are moments of light and possibility, even if the possibilities are limited. If you enjoy queer lit or historical fiction set in the mid-20th Century, you'll find riches here. Heywood offers them in a straightforward manner leaving readers to see the layers upon layers of experience and action embedded within that 24-hour period.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

In 1951 Buckinghamshire, Dora Veal and Beatrix Ham look like ordinary spinsters behind their post office counter.

But their secret, private past is rather more colourful.

Until their world starts to unravel...

i picked this up on a whim a couple of days ago – it isn’t often that i’m able to read about older lesbians, and the opportunity to do so during pride month seemed altogether timely. the entirety of this book takes place over a single day – a life changing one, for the titular misses veal and ham – and i felt entirely immersed in it through the lens of beatrix’s point of view (that’s miss veal, for the uninitiated).

i find it particularly interesting when a day that is, indeed, life changing isn’t necessarily action-packed. i actually found myself reminded a lot of the buffy the vampire slayer episode “the body” – i don’t want to reveal too much, but the feelings it invoked and the impact it left on me felt similar. i do wish we’d seen a bit more glimpses of beatrix and dora originally falling in love, but i suppose that would’ve spoiled the purity of the single day narrative. regardless, though this work wasn’t very long, it left a touching, emotional impact.

I was very intrigued by this premise and the rich lives led by the ladies described in the blurb. I love a story of a quiet, mundane daily life hiding all manner of passion, experience, and a life fully realized. Unfortunately the writing here is quite amateurish, with grammatical errors, incomplete sentences, a matter-of-fact delivery, and an overall sense of a first effort.