There is no pretension in [Olivia Manning's] writing, and no bitterness—and yet her view of life is not in the least warped with sentimentality, although love is largely the subject of ["The Doves of Venus"], as the title might indicate. I think what she is mainly is a solid professional, concerned with keeping her story interesting, her characters real, and her attitudes mature. She can evoke pity, describe the shame and the reality of poverty, and she can be delightfully entertaining…. Let us say she is a modest novelist, in the sense that she keeps her aims fairly small and circumspect. Having circumscribed her subject she proceeds to reveal it with deftness and near-perfection.

The most charming and moving portions of the book tell of an eighteen-year-old girl, Ellie, absolutely dedicated to making a place for herself in London after leaving the small town of her family...