Mrs Bindle

By Herbert Jenkins

Cleanliness may be next to godliness, but at No. 7 Fenton Street it is also a source of marital warfare. Mrs Bindle is severe, religious and industrious, determined to impose order, morality and respectability upon her household and neighbours. Her cheerful, irreverent husband Joe proves an inexhaustible challenge, turning disputes over drink, worship, domestic labour and public behaviour into sharp comic contests of authority. Across a working-class corner of Fulham, chapel discipline and public-house sociability pull in opposite directions. Mrs Bindle's uncompromising standards collide with neighbourhood habits, social expectations and the unruly business of married life. Strong Cockney dialogue gives every disagreement its bite, while verbal exaggeration exposes the distance between respectable principles and everyday conduct. The episodic structure allows domestic fiction to widen into social satire without losing sight of the household struggle that drives it. A summer camp in Surrey provides a particularly testing change of scene, as poor provisions, disorganisation and practical mishaps confront Mrs Bindle's faith in competence and control. Yet whether the battleground is home, neighbourhood or holiday quarters, the comedy rests on a durable opposition: discipline against irreverence, chapel against pub, and domestic authority against those who refuse to be managed. Marriage and working-class life emerge through argument, dialect and the constant negotiation of how one ought to behave. This book was out of print for decades and is now republished by Alpha Editions. It has been restored for today's and future generations. This edition is not just a reprint - it's a collector's item and a cultural treasure.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9377781361
• ISBN13: 9789377781361
• Release Date: November 2026
• Publisher: Alpha Edition
• Length: 190 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"