Strange Journey

Overview

Part of a curated collection of forgotten works by early to mid-century women writers, the British Library Women Writers series highlights the best middlebrow fiction from the 1910s to the 1960s, offering escapism, popular appeal and plenty of period detail to amuse, surprise and inform.

In this body swap comedy from the 1930s, the minds of two strangers, aristocrat Lady Elizabeth and middle-class Polly Wilkinson, switch places with baffling and hilarious results. With wry observations on class, behavior and relationships, as both attempt to navigate the different social settings and awkward situations they suddenly find themselves thrust into – the switches taking place randomly with very little warning – the two women are eventually able to contrive a meeting and learn to control their ‘gift’ and effect positive changes in each others’ lives.
 

Author Biography

Maud Cairnes was the pseudonym for Lady Maud Kathleen Cairnes Plantagenet-Hastings Curzon-Herrick. As a member of the aristocracy, she would have had personal insight into the lifestyle and manners of Lady Elizabeth, but she also creates Polly’s character with equal skill, bringing authenticity to her language and household.