Taffy Came to Cairo

[from back of dj]

Taffy was a gay young thing, enjoying life in London among a crowd of slackers and no-goods, when she threw it all up and joined the Wrens. Sent out to Cairo, she was given a secret but responsible job; but this did not prevent her winning, in her own irresponsible, carefree way, the one man who could make life possible for her.

A bright, colourful picture of Service life in Cairo, of a charming, impulsive girl; of the men who are winning this war.

Duffield's Taffy is very young, barely 18 and two months out of convent school when we meet her. She's pretty, rich, a bit silly and madcap, but this hides, as it turns out, a good brain -- she's recruited into coding for the Wrens -- an independent streak and a strong sense of justice. She is, as the description claims, a pretty charming character, with her one weakness being her unaccountable attachment to the hero.

Commander Carstairs, almost 30, "a tall figure, a dark head, a strong, ugly face with keen black eyes", is, unfortunately, also an idiot. One of my least favorite tropes -- so common in the midcentury -- is a love interest completely infatuated with mc's sociopathic rival. In this case, Jim in in thrall to his best friend's wife: he sees her as an angel on earth while the rest of the world knows her for a climbing, backstabbing, emotionally-abusive bitch. His adoration is painted by Duffield as a consequence of his uncompromisingly idealistic nature and deep loyalty but it's totally unconvincing. Light women's fiction of this period is filled with men like him: brilliant and successful in their careers but blind to their beloved's motivations & machinations -- their essentially evil character -- until it's revealed to them in some dramatic scene of naked cruelty. Taffy is, naturally, disgusted by this "aberration" in him -- she thinks he's a "fool", "feeble" "bamboozled", and feels a mingled "creeping horror" and compassion for his plight. And yet this isn't a big red flag, to her and all the other midcentury heroines like her? An indictment of his judgment? How can they still adore and admire these emotionally stupid men? It's inexplicable to a modern reader and infuriating, too. Another mark against the Commander is his repeatedly threatening to get her sacked and sent back to England if she doesn't make nice to the rival (he's the boss of her boss of her boss) and, then, actually transferring her to another city when he starts feeling uncomfortable about his feelings towards her. Taffy, you deserve better! Like a book about you and your Wren besties' coding adventures!

Positive: nice descriptions of Cairo and sensitive treatment of an extra-marital love affair. Flags: a few unpleasant racist asides.