Battle for Book of the Month Club: A History
# The Battle of the Brows: How the Book Society Championed Accessible Literature in the Interwar Years
## The Rise of the “New Reading Public” and the Book Society
The interwar period witnessed a meaningful shift in reading habits, with a growing “New Reading Public” – working- and lower-middle-class readers with increased access to education and literacy. This burgeoning readership wasn’t necessarily drawn to the experimental, often challenging works of modernist literature that were gaining traction among intellectual circles.Rather, manny sought stories that were relatable, engaging, and offered a sense of escape. Enter the Book Society, a literary club founded in 1926, which deliberately positioned itself as a champion of accessible, traditionally-structured novels against the tide of literary modernism.
The Book Society wasn’t simply a book club; it was a cultural force actively shaping reading tastes and participating in what became known as the ‘Battle of the Brows’. This battle pitted proponents of “Highbrow” (modernist) literature against those of “Lowbrow” (popular) fiction, with the Book Society firmly aligning itself with a ”Broadbrow” approach - seeking quality and enjoyment without adhering to rigid aesthetic doctrines.
## Navigating the “Battle of the Brows”
The Society’s founding members, including Hugh Walpole, actively sought out novels that prioritized compelling narratives and recognizable characters. walpole, in a review for the Book Society, praised Gabrielle Roy’s *Whiteoaks* (1925) for its readability, declaring it a triumph of creativity and imagination “after ten years of autobiographical bitterness and sterility.” This endorsement was a clear statement of intent: the Book Society would offer an alternative to the introspection and stylistic experimentation often found in modernist works.
This wasn’t to say the Book Society entirely ignored modernist writers. Virginia Woolf’s *A Room of One’s Own* (1929) was, in fact, recommended by the club. Though,the Society’s core mission was to provide a haven for readers who felt alienated by the radical disruptions of authors like James Joyce and Richard Aldington. Judge Clemence Dane succinctly captured the Society’s preference, stating that *Whiteoaks* was “more like real life than any book has the right to be.”
## Representing the Reader Left Behind by Modernism
The Book Society explicitly aimed to “help” readers who felt lost in the world of modern literature.