Book Review – Miss Veal and Miss Ham by Vikki Heywood @muswellpress

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About the Book

Public companions, private lovers….

It is 1951 and behind the counter of a modest post office in a leafy Buckinghamshire village Miss Dora Ham and Miss Beatrix Veal maintain their careful facade as respected local spinsters. But true story is one of passion: suffragist activists who fell in love in the 1900s, danced in London’s secret gay clubs between the wars, and comforted one another during the Blitz.  Together they have built a life of quiet dignity and service in rural England.

But now the harsh realities of the post-war world are encroaching, as over the course of one pivotal day their carefully constructed world begins to fracture, forcing Miss Veal and Miss Ham to face heart-breaking decisions.

Format: Paperback (134 pages) Publisher: Muswell Press
Publication date: 3rd July 2025 Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

I heard Vikki Heywood talk about her book at Winchester Books Festival back in April and liked the sound of it so much I bought a copy. It turned out to be a good decision as Miss Veal and Miss Ham manages to be a book that is both heartwarming and heartbreaking, quite a balancing act to achieve.

The story takes place over the course of a single day, unfolding from Beatrix’s point of view for reasons that will become apparent later in the book.

It’s a very significant day because tomorrow the bailiffs arrive. The post office that Beatrix ran for over thirty years has been closed as part of that dread word ‘rationalisation’ and because it was only ever a temporary contract, awarded because the male workforce were away at war, she is entitled to no pension, no redundancy pay. You could call it the first Great Post Office Scandal.

The continuation of sugar rationing has reduced takings from the sweet shop, Dora’s pride and joy, and their spiralling debts mean Beatrix and Dora must leave their home forever. After decades together, they face the unimaginable prospect of being parted; Dora, ten years Beatrix’s senior and growing increasingly frail, to a care home, and Beatrix to her sister Alice’s home, if she’ll have her that is.

There must be another way, and they believe they have found it. They have a carefully worked out plan, they just need to summon up the courage to follow it through.

To the outside world Beatrix and Dora are companions, carefully maintaining an outward show of ‘respectability’. Addressing each other as ‘Miss Veal’ and ‘Miss Ham’ when in the hearing of other people. Maintaining two bedrooms, although one is never slept in. Only their friend Oliver knows the truth, understanding himself what it’s like to have to live a lie.

It was all very different in earlier days when they were able to visit gay bars in London and for a few precious hours be their true selves. Dora loved dressing up and dancing, Beatrix usually watching from the sidelines happy to see Dora soaking up the admiration of others.

It would be wrong to think of Miss Veal and Miss Ham as an unremittingly sad book because there are moments of humour. For example, one of the regular visitors to the shop is Mrs Hodge who brings hand-knitted items for them to sell in the shop, the proceeds going to the charity Barnardo’s. (Beatrix secretly regards the mittens, hats and bootees as ‘disgusting little itsy, bitsy, bobitty, knits’.) The wool is provided by the vicar’s wife, unravelled from donations of unwearable garments and it turns out it’s a rather circular process.

I found the two women’s devotion to each other intensely moving. As Dora says, ‘We found each other and that has been the happiest of all things.’ Beatrix and Dora face a situation for which there is no easy answer, making the book’s enigmatic ending seem entirely appropriate.

In three words: Tender, intimate, poignant
Try something similar: Miss Boston and Mis Hargreaves by Rachel Malik

About the Author

Vikki Heywood was Executive Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 2003 to 2012 and before that Joint Chief Executive of the Royal Court Theatre. She has been an executive producer of many West End and Broadway productions, including Matilda the Musical.

She was Chairman of the RSA 2012-2018, and in 2020 was awarded a Damehood for services to the Arts. Miss Veal and Miss Ham is her first novel.

Connect with Vikki
Website | Instagram |

#WWWWednesday – 4th November 2026

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Hosted by Taking on a World of Words, this meme is all about the three Ws:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

Why not join in too?  Leave a comment with your link at Taking on a World of Words and then go blog hopping!

What I’m Currently Reading

Adder Stone by Clare Clark (ARC, Wilson Square)

It is 1963 and in north Wales the Jones family are being forcibly ejected from the land they have farmed for generations. Their valley is to be drowned, turned into a reservoir for the people of Liverpool.

While her husband Dai is grief-stricken, Olwen Jones privately sees it as a blessing, an unforeseen chance to escape the narrow confines of the valley. But for her teenage son Emyr, Liverpool’s careless arrogance is proof that Wales will never be free to decide its own future until, like Ireland, it breaks the shackles of English imperialism.

Based on true events, Adder Stone is an exploration of personal identity and the possibilities and limits of love. How far will we go for our child or for our country? Who are we when we lose the places and the people that define us? And how much, in the end, is it possible to forgive?

Julia Wakes by Zoe Caryl (Review copy, courtesy of the author)

It’s 1946, and Evie is back on stage where she belongs, her voice ready to soar in the theatres of Scotland.

One question shadows every note she sings: Is the brilliant young trumpet player who stole her heart under the Indian sun still part of her future?

Myles has dreams of his own, bold and uncompromising, and Evie dares to believe she can build a life where love, family, and a glittering career all shine together. Yet the climb toward “having it all” is steeper than she imagined; as Evie’s star rises, she seizes bright, shining moments of opportunity that strain the fragile balance between career and home, and when life delivers an unexpected miracle, she learns how deep the unbreakable bonds of love really are.

Her journey in the spotlight carries her across the world, taking her far from her beloved Glasgow, bringing moments of breathtaking joy and quiet heartbreak; Evie strives for love, whilst never turning her back on the extraordinary gift that has been given to her – her voice.

Inspired by a true story, Julia Wakes celebrates the resilience of a woman who refuses to give up on her dreams, and the fierce, enduring love that ultimately defines her legacy. This is a story for anyone who has ever reached for that bigger, brighter star, and refused to let go.

The Weight of Angels by John Boyne (Doubleday via NetGalley)

Can one rash decision prove the difference between a life well lived and a life destroyed?

When the Marquis of Queensbury left his calling card at the Albemarle Club in February 1895, it bore only his name and five words: ‘For Oscar Wilde, posing Somdomite’. The famous playwright sued for libel, which led to his arrest, criminal prosecution and imprisonment. From then on, his gilded existence spiralled into public disgrace and an early death.

But what if he had simply ignored the insult?

Rather than dying impoverished in Paris at forty-six, what if he had lived to bear witness to the momentous events and cataclysmic changes at the start of the twentieth century, and even influence some of them? What if the second half of his life were as celebrated, dramatic and tumultuous as the first?

What I’ve Just Read

The Bohemian Queen by Jean Findlay (ARC, Scotland Street Press)

The sequel to the award-winning The Queen’s Lender, The Bohemian Queen tells the remarkable story of Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of James I of England amd VI of Scotland, whose brief reign as Queen of Bohemia helped ignite the catastrophic Thirty Years’ War and reshape Europe forever.

Set against the backdrop of political intrigue, religious conflict and exile, the novel sees Elizabeth, heavily pregnant with her fifth child, flee Prague following the Battle of White Mountain. Married to Frederick, Elector Palatine, Elizabeth had accepted the crown of Bohemia in a move that would plunge Europe into decades of war. But exile does not diminish her influence.

Through court politics, diplomacy and dynastic ambition, Elizabeth continues to shape the future of Europe while giving birth to eight more children, ensuring her descendants become woven into the ruling houses of an emerging continent. (Review to follow for blog tour)

What I’ll Be Reading Next

Dead Men Don’t Ski by Patricia Moyes (Review copy, Farrago Books)

Inspector Henry Tibbett is taking a much-needed holiday from his job at Scotland Yard with his wife Emmy. Headed for a spot of skiing in the Italian Dolomites and some first-class people-watching, Tibbett’s worries blissfully melt away.

That is, until a fellow guest who boards the ski lift alive at the top of the mountain is found dead when the lift touches the bottom. Another dead body turns up, and then another, and it becomes clear that murder has come to the mountain.