Something Light Author:Margery Sharp Something Light is the story of Louisa Mary Datchett, who was "very fond of men" - indiscriminately fond of men, in fact. Men, for their part, seemed to recognize this in her and took advantage of it - and of her - when they needed listening to, when they needed prescriptions filled, employment found, socks washed, suits fetched from the cleaner... more »s, or musical instruments got out of hock. "She was constantly being either sent for, like a fire engine, or dispatched, like a lifeboat, to the scene of some masculine disaster." Such was the universal employ of her talents that, fond of men as she was, she found herself in her thirtieth year suddenly feeling jaded.
The result of this unfamiliar feeling was a new and equally unfamiliar impulse to marry, and marry well. In a short but illuminating moment of reflection, Louisa decided that, "It's not the suffragettes who'd be proud of me, it's the Salvation Army ... it's time I looked out for myself. In fact, it's time I looked out for a rich husband ..."
What happens in Louisa's search for a husband is a continuous delight. Although newly prudent and following the maxim, "Che va piano va sicuro" (he/she who goes slowly goes surely), Louisa is apt to meet anyone and usually does.« less