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
Find Miss Veal and Miss Ham on Goodreads
Purchase Miss Veal and Miss Ham from Bookshop.org [Disclosure: If you buy books linked to our site, we may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops]
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 |
