In October 1929, thousands of members of Britain’s Book Society eagerly awaited their monthly delivery. That month’s selection, *Whiteoaks*, by Canadian author Mazo de la Roche, marked the seventh pick by Britain’s inaugural subscription book club, launched earlier that year in April. The choice solidified the club’s reputation for selecting captivating reads that offered both entertainment and substance, accessible to a broad audience. Hugh Walpole, the prominent novelist and head of the selection committee, enthused in the *Graphic* that no prior selection had brought him as much pleasure.
For nearly four decades, the Book Society catered to tens of thousands of readers globally, curating a selection of nearly 450 titles from various publishers. Judges evaluated manuscripts before publication, offering members access to first editions. Established to stimulate book-buying in a nation still largely reliant on libraries , as Freddie Richardson, head librarian of Boots Book-lovers’ Library observed , the society aimed to democratize access to new literature, support emerging authors, and challenge prevalent literary snobbery. A substantial portion, around 30 to 40 percent, of the society’s membership resided overseas, particularly within the British Empire. Evidence of Book Society selections has been found in homes spanning Canada, Tanzania, and India.
Inspired by the American Book-of-the-Month Club established in 1926, the British iteration sought to tap into a broader market of book buyers than publishers initially recognized. Building trust in the judging panel was paramount. Walpole, who was later knighted for his contributions to literature, insisted on a committee free of “cranks” to reassure the public. The initial panel comprised his close associates: J.B. Priestley, celebrated for his novel *The Good Companions*; writer and critic Sylvia Lynd; playwright Clemence Dane; and Oxford academic George Stuart Gordon. Later additions included World War I poet Edmund Blunden and W.H. Auden’s contemporary, Cecil Day-Lewis.
*Whiteoaks* represented the second installment in a sprawling 16-volume saga that would achieve international acclaim between 1927 and 1960. The narrative centers on an aristocratic Canadian family, exploring themes of familial duty versus personal freedom, tradition against modernity. The overarching drama encompasses intergenerational conflicts, forbidden romance, and the pivotal question of inheritance surrounding Jalna, the family’s Ontario manor house.
Mazo de la Roche, originally Maisie Roche, was relatively unknown beyond Canada and the United States when the Book Society championed *Whiteoaks*. Walpole, captivated by her 1927 novel *Jalna* , the series’ debut and winner of the *Atlantic Monthly* prize for fiction , played a crucial role in her selection. Both authors shared a publisher, Macmillan, and Walpole was further charmed upon meeting de la Roche during her European tour with her partner, Caroline Clement.
In his review for the Book Society, Walpole praised de la Roche’s creativity and imagination, asserting that she had crafted a compulsively readable novel “after ten years of autobiographical bitterness and sterility.” This endorsement placed the Book Society squarely in the midst of the interwar literary landscape, often referred to as the “Battle of the Brows.” In contrast to “modernist” writers such as Richard Aldington, James Joyce, and Virginia Woolf , whose *A Room of One’s Own* was also recommended by the Book Society in October 1929 , who challenged conventional notions of character, plot, and realism, de la Roche adhered to more traditional storytelling methods. Judge Clemence Dane remarked that *Whiteoaks* felt “more like real life than any book has the right to be.”
The Book Society aimed to assist readers who felt alienated by modernism, which many perceived as having abandoned the “New Reading Public”—the burgeoning demographic of educated working and lower-middle-class readers that emerged in the early 20th century. Walpole’s 1928 novel, *Wintersmoon*, featured a character named Wildherne, a war veteran esteemed in London’s social circles, yet intimidated by the currents of modernity:
Some of his Oxford acquaintances moved among writers and painters, but these seemed to care for things that he did not understand. He was not modern at all … The modern arts, when he touched them … seemed to him all negation. He felt himself slow, behind the times.
It was this segment of readers that the Book Society targeted by championing more accessible literature. J.B. Priestley, in 1926, described himself and his peers as “Broadbrows”:
The people who are for ever quarreling with both High and Low, who snap their fingers at fashions, who only ask that a thing should have character and art, should be enthralling, and do not give a fig whether it is popular or unpopular, born in Blackburn or Baku, who do not denounce a piece of art because it belongs to a certain category but only ask that it shall be well done, shall have in it colour, grace, wit, pathos, humour or sublimity.
The club’s archives were lost upon its closure in 1968, due in part to the expansion of public library services and the rise of paperback books. As a result, its story was largely forgotten. Nevertheless, the Book Society played a pivotal role in the success of numerous well-known titles, including Daphne du Maurier’s *Rebecca* (1938), Evelyn Waugh’s *Brideshead Revisited* (1945), Dodie Smith’s *I Capture the Castle* (1949), and Thor Heyerdahl’s *The Kon-Tiki Expedition* (1950).
One longtime member, Mrs. Eleanor Ainsworth of Surrey, recalled her family’s anticipation each month: “The arrival of the Book Society parcel was always a momentous occasion. My mother would brew tea, and we’d gather around to unwrap it, discussing the cover and the judge’s notes. It felt like joining a secret, sophisticated world.” She added, “What followed was unexpected,” recalling a particular selection that sparked a heated debate between her parents, usually a very agreeable couple, about the merits of a particular author’s style.
The sudden disappearance of the Book Society’s records is an unexpected anomaly. Immediately, questions arise: were they deliberately destroyed, or simply lost in the shuffle of time? The lingering question remains: What other insights into Britain’s reading habits during this pivotal period might those archives have revealed?
The book society faced competition in 1960s. One x.com user commented: “They just weren’t keeping up with the tmes! Paperbacks were cheaper and easier to get.” Similarly, a facebook group dedicated to British Literary History featured discussion with users arguing about the ‘elitist’ nature of the choices towards the end of the society’s run.
The society’s legacy can be seen as complex. It attempted to democratise literature, but was always limited by its subscriptions and the choices of a select few individuals.
- Aimed to boost book-buying in Britain.
- Sought to challenge literary snobbery.
- Catered to both domestic and overseas readers.
- Contributed to the success of many now-classic novels.
- Disappeared somewhat mysteriously in 1968.
Nicola Wilson is Associate Professor of Book and Publishing Cultures at the University of Reading and the author of *Recommended! The Influencers Who Changed How We Read* (Holland House Books, 2025).