# Small Bomb at Dimperley

By Lissa Evans

Profile: https://hahafiction.com/books/small-bomb-at-dimperley-b333b2f5/

Corporal Valentine comes home in 1945 to inherit Dimperley Manor, its debts and relatives determined to keep living as they always have. Zena Baxter, evacuated there with her daughter, sees a home worth saving where he sees an obligation. Her practical abilities may matter more than the family's inherited rank.

## What makes it funny?

Irene believes running an estate should require about as much knowledge as being chauffeured in a luxury car. Then she and her son's widow discover they share the same dowager title. Money and servants may be scarce, but the household can still find an awkward question of precedence to settle.

### The comedy at work

Evans lets the family's assumptions expose them. Irene expects management to happen out of sight, while Uncle Alaric improves the family history with an invented encounter with Henry IV. Their confidence in the importance of Dimperley keeps colliding with the work and money needed to sustain it.

### Try this if…

Country-house ensembles, affectionate class satire and a gradual romance are the attractions. Zena's competence gives readers someone to follow through a household whose habits have outlasted its resources.

### Good to know

Postwar austerity and the decline of domestic service shape the household's difficulties. War bereavement, an accidental injury and strong language appear alongside the warmer domestic story.

## What to expect

- Genre: Contemporary & literary · Historical
- On the shelf: Family comedy
- Kind of humor: Dry wit · Satire · Situational comedy
- The atmosphere: Warmhearted
- Format: Novel
- Length: 320 pages
- Audiobook: 8 hr 28 min
- Published: 2024

## A few distinguishing details

- A demobilizing corporal inherits a bankrupt country house in 1945
- Two dowagers share one title while a practical evacuee helps hold the household together

## Sources & further reading

- Publisher: [Penguin identifies Small Bomb at Dimperley by Lissa Evans as a 320-page paperback, ISBN 9781804991978.](https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/446062/small-bomb-at-dimperley-by-evans-lissa/9781804991978)
- Library catalog: [OverDrive lists Small Bomb At Dimperley by Lissa Evans, narrated by Lucy Briers, as Unabridged audio, ISBN 9781529904260, duration 08:27:54.](https://wcl.overdrive.com/media/10307773)
- Reading sample: [Publisher reading sample](https://cdn.penguin.co.uk/dam-assets/books/9781804991978/9781804991978-sample.pdf)
- Publisher: [Publisher paperback listing](https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/446062/small-bomb-at-dimperley-by-evans-lissa/9781804991978)
- Author commentary: [Author](https://lissaevans.com/books/small-bomb-at-dimperley-by-lissa-evans)
- Review: [Historical Novel Society review](https://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/small-bomb-at-dimperley)
- Review: [Spectator review by Amanda Craig](https://www.spectator.com.au/2024/08/rather-in-the-lurch-small-bomb-at-dimperley-by-lissa-evans-reviewed)