Living Alone

"Living Alone" by Stella Benson is an early 20th-century novel that looks at individuality and the quirky nature of social groups in wartime London, mixed with magic and imagination. The story begins with an unusual group of women in a war savings committee whose orderly lives are stirred up by a strange newcomer with unusual ideas. We meet this young woman, the Stranger, at a chaotic committee meeting where she crawls under the table, introducing herself and her reasons for being there, causing the committee members to react with curiosity and criticism, highlighting the strictness of their work. The Stranger’s carefree attitude and strange complaints about her life stand in sharp contrast to the meeting's seriousness. She talks about "squandering" a fortune in one day, revealing a deeper criticism of societal expectations during the war. This first meeting sets the scene for a story that mixes magic and reality, exploring the lives of women fighting societal norms as they search for real connections in a world that often favors conformity over individuality.