This week, Karen of Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings and Simon of Stuck in a Book are hosting another of their clubs for which bloggers read and write about books published in one particular year. This time the year is 1944 – an interesting one, as not only are there lots of intriguing books to choose from, but it’s also the first wartime year to be featured. I had a few options on my TBR and decided to start with this one, Gwethalyn Graham’s Earth and High Heaven, which has been reissued by Persephone.
The novel is set in Canada during World War II and, through the story of Erica Drake and Marc Reiser, explores some of the prejudices, inequalities and divisions which existed at that time. Erica is a twenty-eight-year-old journalist working for the Montreal Post, while Marc is a lawyer in his early thirties. The two are immediately drawn to each other when they meet at a cocktail party – it’s literally love at first sight and Erica is sure her parents will like him too. But when she attempts to introduce him to her father, Charles, she is horrified and embarrassed when Charles refuses to even look at Marc, let alone speak to him.
Erica struggles to understand her father’s reaction, but Marc is not at all surprised. The Reisers are a Jewish family whereas the Drakes are English-Canadians and these two groups – along with another major group in Montreal society, the French-Canadians – simply don’t mix with each other. However, Erica’s brother has recently married a French-Canadian and despite Charles Drake’s initial disapproval, he has accepted Tony and Madeleine’s relationship. Erica is sure that, in time, he will come to accept Marc too. To her disappointment and frustration, though, her parents don’t want to get to know Marc and aren’t interested in what he is like as a person – all that matters is that he is a Jew. Charles explains that he doesn’t want “a son-in-law who’ll be an embarrassment to our friends, a son-in-law who can’t be put up at my club and who can’t go with us to places where we’ve gone all our lives”.
Despite having grown up in Montreal, Erica has never given much thought to the level of division in society as it’s not something which has ever affected her directly. Marc, on the other hand, is under no illusions; he has been encountering attitudes like Charles Drake’s all his life and he knows exactly what he and Erica can expect if they get married. He tries to make Erica see what their lives would be like, but she is determined to stand by him no matter what.
Marc is very likeable from the beginning, which makes Charles’ attitude towards him all the more upsetting, while Erica is also easy to like and admire. Although we do see things occasionally from Marc’s point of view, it is through Erica’s eyes that most of the story unfolds and Erica who has the most to learn. Her relationship with her father is as much a part of the story as her relationship with Marc; she has always considered him a friend as well as a father and so it comes as a shock to her to find that he is so determined to oppose her wishes. At the same time, she becomes uncomfortably aware that she herself has prejudices of her own.
Earth and High Heaven is a fascinating novel; as so much of the story consists of various characters discussing their views on racism, prejudice and intolerance, it could easily have felt like nothing more than a polemic, but that never happens, which I think is largely due to the two main characters being so appealing and sympathetic. I cared about both of them from their first meeting in the opening chapter and I felt that the issues explored throughout the story arose naturally from the situations in which they found themselves.
This was a great read for the 1944 Club – and one which is still important and relevant today. I loved following Marc and Erica through all their ordeals, hoping and wondering whether they would find a way to be together in the end.
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I should have another 1944 book to tell you about later in the week, but for now here are a few reviews I have previously posted of books published in that year:
Friday’s Child by Georgette Heyer
Cluny Brown by Margery Sharp
Dragonwyck by Anya Seton
Towards Zero by Agatha Christie
Good Evening, Mrs Craven: The Wartime Stories of Mollie Panter-Downes
She Reads Novels 
I’m glad you’ve discovered this book — I really like Gwethalyn Graham and agree with you that this is a very readable book with sadly still very relevant themes.
I’m glad I discovered it too! I think it’s important that books like this are still read today – as you say, the themes are still very relevant.
Fun to choose books from a specific year. I’ve read Fridays Child and Dragonwyck from your list, and look forward to seeing the other books you read. I wonder if I own any books published in 1944. I’ll have to go look and see. Happy reading! 🙂
1944 seems to have been a great year for publishing. I was surprised to find that I’d already read so many books from that year.
I loved this book so much, though I never got around to writing about it. I cared about both Marc and Erica from the start as well, and I found them both so sympathetic, for different reasons. I also really liked Marc’s brother and I’d love to have a book about him. Reading your post makes me want to pull this off the shelf again!
I’m glad you loved it too, Lisa. Yes, Marc’s brother David was another very likeable character – I also wished we could have seen more of him.
Oh good, another Persephone to put on my list!
This is a great Persephone. I think you would find it interesting.
Sounds like a wonderful story, powerful stuff, and given Canada’s current reputation for tolerance perhaps a little unexpected! So glad you found a good 1944 read!
Yes, it was a bit surprising – not really the sort of story I would have expected to be set in Canada. It turned out to be a great choice for the 1944 club!
Excellent review! I adore this book and am so delighted that Persephone decided to reissue it. Marc and Erica are, as you say, very sympathetic but I also found the fathers, Charles and Mr Reiser, wonderfully drawn. They are both loving parents giving an unwelcome reality check to their children, concerned that love isn’t enough to make a marriage strong against the prejudices Erica and Marc will face.
Yes, I thought the fathers were great characters too. Although Charles annoyed and frustrated me at times, it was obvious that he only wanted what he believed was best for Erica.
I’m reading this one for the event as well and am about a third into the story, but can already agree on the matter of how immediately appealing the two characters are. They are astute observers and concerned with what is necessary and what is desirable and what’s in between, and I could relate to their awkwardness at the party from the start. Erica’s relationship with her father is interesting too; he is an observer, too, but his conditioning makes for conflict despite the loving relationship they share (that’s all I can say at this point).
I thought this was a fascinating book. I had never given much thought to the divisions in 1940s Canadian society so I felt that I was learning something as well as enjoying following the personal stories of the characters.
This sounds great! It’s one of the Persephones I haven’t heard much about, but can see I’m going to have to get a copy at some point.
Yes, it is! I wouldn’t say it has become an absolute favourite Persephone, but I did find it a fascinating read.
I’ve been meaning to read this for such a long time, and I’m glad thought so well of it.
I think you would like this book. Gwethalyn Graham writes so well about people and relationships.
I read this back in 2003. It was the #9 bestseller of 1945 in the United States. I like your review, especially your point that it never became a polemic. In fact, in my reading log I wrote that the end made me cry!
I had never heard of this book until recently, so it’s good to know that it was successful at the time. The ending was quite moving, so I understand why it made you cry!