April in review

I’m a day late with this round up – the beginning of May has rather crept up on me. I love May – blossom and bank holidays and my birthday! (My family have asked for the titles of Persephone books I might want – hooray). April was a pretty good reading month – 9 books read, and a few of them were a bit longer than I sometimes read.

I began the month reading on my kindle – one of the forgotten books. A Summer to Decide – was the third in the Helena trilogy by Pamela Hansford Johnson – it was a longer book than anticipated, but a thoroughly engrossing read, nonetheless.

Bookworm a memoir of childhood reading by Lucy Mangan – was my book group’s April choice – and was enjoyed by all of us, although I was unable to go to attend when it came to it. A lovely nostalgic read for all us bookworms, it took me right back to those childhood reading days.  

The Last of the Greenwoods by Clare Morrall – is a novel I had had waiting for months – I bought it because it had people living in railway carriages in it. I wasn’t disappointed, set in Bromsgrove a town near Birmingham The Last of the Greenwoods is a story of past mistakes, damaged relationships and a final healing of wounds in the present. Morrall weaves together stories of several generations with understanding.

Bewildering Cares by Winifred Peck – was another kindle read – one of the Furrowed Middlebrow titles from Dean Street Press. Told in diary form is the story of a week in the life of a vicar’s wife during the early days of World War Two. First published in 1940 it depicts a busy, harassed woman who has too many calls upon her time and only one servant. 

The Aloe by Katherine Mansfield is an exquisitely beautiful novella, published after the author’s death. It is the original work that was later reworked into Mansfield’s short story Prelude. It is less than 100 pages and I would have been happy for it to be twice as long.

The Young Spaniard by Mary Hocking – well when I discovered there was a Mary Hocking novel that I had unread which fitted into the 1965 club I just had to read it. I thoroughly enjoyed the Barcelona set novel which sees a young Scots lawyer pulled into the mystery surrounding his cousin’s older boyfriend.

The Mandelbaum Gate by Muriel Spark was my second read for the 1965 club. Spark’s longest novel – is set in Israel and Jordan the year of the Adolf Eichmann trial. I thought it was excellent, it’s Muriel Spark’s most conventional novel, yet retains many elements of Spark’s unique storytelling.

The Call by Edith Ayrton Zangwill is a wonderfully feminist Persephone book.  First published in 1924 The Call is a novel of women’s suffrage – among other things. It is also about the struggle for a young woman to be taken seriously within the scientific field. I found it thoroughly involving and an enormously important testament of the struggleh for women’s suffrage and for a woman to be taken seriously in the world of science.

Company in the Evening by Ursula Orange was another book I read on my kindle and another lovely Furrowed Middlebrow title. It is something of a comfort read – and I found I flew through it. Set during WW2 a divorced woman in her thirties has to juggle her job in a literary agency with her home life. This home outside of London she shares with her four year old daughter, her interfering servant and very young, widowed sister-in-law who she has recently invited to live with her. One day when she least expects it, she bumps into her ex-husband. I shall be reviewing this in a few days – but I can say I really enjoyed it.  

I am now reading my book group’s May choice, The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascsarenhas. It’s fair to say that this novel is not my usual fare- and yet I am enjoying it. Like The Call it features women scientists and is a cleverly constructed novel. We meet to discuss it next week.

While I was away in the Like District last week, I bought books, new books at that – well I like to support independent booksellers when I can. One book came from Sam Reads in Grasmere and two from Fred Holdsworth’s bookshop in Ambelside. You will notice two are ‘new’ books *shock* it’s reminded me that I still have ‘new books’ tbr from last year and the year before sitting unread on my shelves, two or three of them were gifts at Christmas – I really must start reading more of my newer fiction. I still haven’t started on my Women’s prize list either – that was always going to be a challenge though, (anything published after 1990 is new books to me). I bought; Spring by Ali Smith, Transcription by Kate Atkinson and Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood – which I want to re-read at some point – my old copy has sadly not turned up.

Looking ahead, May will be largely taken up with Daphne Du Maurier reading week – #DDMreadingweek for those on twitter, please use the hashtag so I can keep track of your links, photos etc. There has been a lot of interest in this so far – and I am probably going to start a few days early so that I can make sure I can read and review at least two Du Maurier books during the week. I do have a lot of other things going on in May, and will be grateful of a distraction, but probably won’t be able to read more than that. I am hoping to get a collection of stories and a novel read – and can’t wait to see everyone else’s reading choices. You don’t need a blog to join in. If you are on Instagram or Twitter – then you can share your Daphne Du Maurier reading using the hashtag or leave comments here on my original announcement post or below any upcoming Du Maurier reviews.

Happy May reading everyone. What did you read in April?