There is a tide — Reading Companion

The Train Encounter and Its Aftermath

The first excerpt introduces Mame Durrance and a man who calls her by name. The man is described as "big, handsome, muscular, clean and trim," with "all the snap of the smart New Yorker." He raises his "ten-dollar Stetson with an air of class." This detail, along with Mame's battered grip and second-rate air, immediately establishes a class and wealth disparity. The man offers her a job, but the terms are vague. The reader is left to infer that this meeting is the catalyst for Mame's new life in England. The dialogue is peppered with American slang like "I don't get you" and "go-getter," contrasting with the English setting.

Mame's New Position and Social Anxieties

In a later excerpt, Mame moves into an apartment at 16b Half Moon Street, having accepted a secretarial position from Lady Violet. The narrative notes that Mame spent money to smarten her luggage, fearing the judgment of Davis, Lady Violet's maid. The phrase "the nigger in the wood-pile was Davis" reveals Mame's anxiety about class and appearance. She feels relief at escaping "the gloom and the hostility of Fotheringay House," a place where she was seen as "the wrong kind of American." This section underscores the social hierarchies Mame must navigate, both among the English and within the American expatriate community.

The Business of Writing and Social Climbing

Lady Violet explains her need for a secretary: she writes a weekly letter to provincial papers, reviews books and plays, and composes "puffs for tradesmen." She describes the work as "donkey-work" but notes it "pays like fun." Mame, desperate for income, eagerly accepts the offer of a hundred pounds a year and keep. The exchange is transactional, yet Mame's internal reaction is one of joy and disbelief—"miracles are no longer in fashion, but just now they seemed to be happening." This section highlights the blend of commercial journalism and social maneuvering that will likely drive the plot.

Narrative Voice and Cultural Observation

Snaith's narrator frequently interjects with wry commentary. For example, when Mame considers her new job, the narrator says, "But what a funny world! Cinderella, secretly, was still in a maze." This fairy-tale allusion recurs, as Mame is earlier called "Cinderella" by Lady Violet. The narrative voice is detached yet sympathetic, often noting the gap between Mame's aspirations and her reality. The setting—London in the 1920s—is evoked through specific details like Bond Street luggage and ten-dollar Stetsons. The prose is efficient, with dialogue carrying much of the characterization and plot advancement.

Readers should pay attention to the recurring motif of performance and perception: Mame is constantly aware of how she appears to others, from her luggage to her accent. The novel's title, drawn from Shakespeare, suggests a theme of fate or opportunity, but the excerpts emphasize Mame's active, pragmatic choices. The brisk pacing and sharp dialogue reward close reading for social nuance.

Years after first meeting Mame Durrance in There is a Tide—that wry American eye landing on English customs—I found myself thinking of her quiet shrewdness while shelving our copy of Black April — Background and Themes. Both books share a certain loneliness beneath their surfaces, a watching from the edges. They sit on my shelf now, old friends, nodding to one another across the decades.