So, here we are, the final day of 2020. What a strange and awful year it has been. I wonder whether in years to come I will be able to quite believe just how many months I shielded or worked from home, how few weeks I actually spent at school. In some ways it has seemed as if I have blinked and the year just disappeared – probably because so many of my days, weeks and months were so featureless. What with the pandemic, the Black Lives Matter protests, and the US election it has been a year that has seen many of us distracted from our books, some of us with more reading time available actually reading less. I am not going to try and predict what 2021 might hold for us all – however, wherever you are, I hope it is a much better year.
Perhaps because of the above – I have found it even harder to come up with my twelve books of the year. I excluded re-reads but have chosen both newer and backlisted titles as always.
Putting these in order proved impossible, so in alphabetical order by title my twelve books of 2020 are:
Abigail by Magda Szabó (1970) translated by Len Rix. Read right back at the start of the year in January. Hungary 1943 – A senior army General in Budapest decides to send his fourteen year old daughter Georgina Vitay, across Hungary to a boarding school in Árkod. What starts out as a brilliant boarding school novel, becomes in time a taut, WW2 thriller – with Gina in danger.
A Very Great Profession by Nicola Beauman (1983) – the founder of Persephone books. Read very recently, in mid-December. A Persephone reissue of her 1983 book of literary criticism, which I have sat on for a year because I read so little nonfiction. I absolutely loved this book, such a celebration of the kinds of books I love. Rarely do I love a nonfiction book this much.
Christopher and Columbus by Elizabeth von Arnim (1919) Read in April. Such an absolute delight from beginning to end. The Christopher and Columbus of the title are the two Annas; Anna-Rose and Anna-Felicitas von Twinkler, seventeen year old twins. The uncle of these innocent half German young women arranges for their passage to the US, and thus are the two Annas thrust upon the United States.
Clash by Ellen Wilkinson (1929) read in October, this is the kind of novel I love. Politics, feminism, and a faithful portrayal of the working classes. Clash is a novel about the General Strike of 1926, its aftermath, and the terrible conditions that miners families were living in.
Dangerous Ages by Rose Macaulay (1921) Read in August, Rose Macaulay is a writer I have enjoyed exploring in the last few years. This edition from the British Library Women Writers series, is a thing of beauty in itself. In this novel Rose Macaulay examines four generations of women within one family, each of them at a different ‘dangerous’ stage of womanhood.
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk (2009) translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones. Read back in February, and this is a novel I had no idea would end up on this list – yet it has stayed with me – and I came to appreciate the brilliance of the novel the more I thought about it later. Examining traditional ideas of ‘madness,’ animal rights and the hypocrisy of religion.
Midwinter by Fiona Melrose (2016) Read in April, it is a novel which captured me and captivated me from word one. One of those I was sorry to finish. This is a novel firmly rooted in the Suffolk landscape, a novel of a father and son, grief, guilt and how we find our way home. Beautifully written and deeply heartfelt. It is really quite haunting, honestly if you haven’t already, just read it.
Mr Loverman by Bernardine Evaristo (2013). Another one from earlier this month, this one and a Very Great Profession totally upset the apple cart in terms of this list! It is just a joy of a book. In this novel we meet Barrington Jedidiah Walker, or Barry to his friends. His voice is immediately engaging, warm, funny, vulnerable a little defensive and often outrageous – he pulls us into his world. Barry is very loveable. If you haven’t already met Barry – I suggest you do so. I smiled all the way through.
The Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier (1957) read during my reading week in May. The kind of novel Daphne excels at, I just could not put it down. An identity swap novel with plenty of intrigue and drama. Two men, one English and poor one French and rich but from a troubled family, meet by chance and swap identities. You have to suspend your disbelief but it is still brilliant.
The Skin Chairs by Barbara Comyns (1962) read in May, one of my favourite writers, I was delighted to find a copy of this one reasonably priced. The narrator of this novel is a typical Comyns narrator – Frances a child of ten from a family plunged into poverty upon the sudden death of her father. An interfering aunt and some cousins live nearby – and there are several other strange or sad characters who she becomes involved with. This wonderfully quirky Comyns novel that describes an adult world through a child’s eyes is full of odd and surprising images.
The Slaves of Solitude by Patrick Hamilton (1947) read in February. My second Patrick Hamilton set in a boarding house. 1943 and the middle of the Second World War, Miss Roach formerly of London, has taken shelter from the bombings in London at the Rosamund Tea Rooms boarding house, run by Mrs Payne. Here she lives alongside a group of equally grey and invisible souls, who struggle to fit in comfortably anywhere in the world as it currently is. Vicki Kugelmann comes to the Rosamund Tearooms bringing with her tension and trouble for Miss Roache.
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett (2020) read in June, a novel worth the hype – a brilliantly compelling read – it is a story of race, of colour, exploring the American history of ‘passing.’ However, it is also a story of belonging – of finding your place in the world. Moving from the 1950s to the 1990s – from Louisiana to California and New York – it is a pacey, thought provoking novel that becomes increasingly hard to put down.
So, that’s it my 2020 dozen! I love seeing everyone’s books of the year posts at this time of the year, so in case I missed it – what have been your reading highlights of 2020?
Happy New Year to you all.
Lovely to see Mr Loverman on your list! I’ve been wondering how we’ll look back on 2020 in ten years from now. Memorable in its awfulness yet I have few personal memories having done so little. I’m counting myself lucky not to have lost anyone or known anyone who has been seriously ill with covid.
2020 will definitely be memorable for lots of wrong reasons. Hope you have a good New year.
3 favourites of mine there also: Drive Your Plow (it really gets under your skin, doesn’t it?), Mr Liverman and Midwinter.
I knew you had loved Drive Your Plow and Mr Loverman, I had forgotten you’d read Midwinter too, it’s a wonderful novel, which I feel I haven’t seen talked about enough.
I loved Midwinter so much that I instantly bought Johannesburg – but I still haven’t got round to reading it yet.
I have Johannesburg waiting too, a friend bought it for me last Christmas, but I decided to read her earlier novel first.
Lovely list Ali. I adored Clash, as you of course know, and also Drive Your Plow. I have read a lot year, despite the horrors, although like you I don’t quite know where the time went. Whatever 2021 brings, I hope your like is calm and not too stressful.
Thank you, I hope things stay OK for you, I just wonder what 2021 will bring. I am so glad I ended up with the same edition of Clash that both you and Liz read first.
Of the 6 I’ve read here, all are books I very dearly love – Comyns, Macaulay, Beauman, von Arnim, Hamilton and du Maurier. What a great list!
Thank you, it was really hard deciding this year. I remember your love for the von Arnim and the Macaulay in particular
A wonderful selection of books, Ali! I loved The Scapegoat and The Slaves of Solitude too, and have Dangerous Ages as well as The Vanishing Half to look forward to. Happy New Year to you too.
Excellent, I really hope you enjoy Dangerous Ages and The Vanishing Half. Happy reading in 2021.
A wonderful list! The first book I went out and bought when my local bookshop reopened in the spring was Abigail, thanks largely to your enthusiasm for it.
Thanks Claire, I’m so glad you bought a copy of Abigail, it’s really stayed with me since January.
A truly fabulous list, Ali – your books of the year post is always well worth the wait…
As you know, I loved The Skin Chairs, and the Hamilton was another favourite from an earlier year. Of the others, there are so many that I really want to read, hopefully in the years to come. Drive Your Plow, I have, while the Beauman, the Szabo and the du Maurier are all strong candidates for the future – probably the von Arnim too, if I’m honest. You really are very bad for my TBR, Ali, very bad indeed!
Thank you Jacqui. I would love to see you reading those, sorry if I am a bad influence on your tbr (not sorry 😁)
Wonderful list, Ali! I agree you are very bad for my TBR. I generally have to buy the books you recommend, so you are also bad for my pocketbook. But I love it. I read The House Opposite after your review and loved it. My top book of the year is Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner.
I ‘m so glad that you enjoyed The House Opposite. Crossing to Safety isn’t a book I have heard of.
Great post, Ali. You’ve reminded me of 2 books that have been on my TBR shelves too long: Drive Your Plow and The Scapegoat. Maybe next year . . .
Thank you, I really hope you enjoy Drive your plow and The Scapegoat.
Thank you for this all great sounding and I haven’t read any of them! Happy New Year Ali
Hope you enjoy exploring lots of wonderful books in 2021.
I read Clash too and have The Division Bell to read (Christmas pressie) cos I loved it. Midwinter was some time ago, but found it moving and Johannesburg by the same author is good too, plus such lovely covers.
I have Johannesburg tbr, so I am looking forward to reading that at some point. Hope you enjoy The Division Bell, it’s a good mystery.
Hooray – two books I gave you and we agreed on The Vanishing Half and Mr Loverman on our lists, too. A lovely list and a good reading year in the circs.
😁 I had a feeling those two would be on your list too, so good we both loved them so much. I am fairly pleased with my year of reading overall.
Thanks Ali, you have added yet a few more books to my reading list. I read The Slaves of Solitude this year, and it made me count my blessings, for although we are also living in difficult times, at least women on their own no longer need to live in boarding houses!
Oh gosh yes, I often think that when reading about women’s lives in vintage novels. Glad to have added some titles to your list. 😉
My partner made that same comment yesterday – the year went so quickly but not because it was exciting, more because it was so same same.
Some wonderful titles are on your list, as always. Your list is the second that features Abigail. It must be very good. I read Tocarzuk but it didn’t make my best of. I thought it was very good though.
I wish you a great reading year, Ali.
I thought Abigail was excellent it’s really stayed with me. I hope you have a great year of reading too.
You’ve reminded me I have Midwinter to read – the problem is that it’s on the e-reader and I just forget all about those books. Because I don’t see them when I scan through the bookshelves it’s almost like they don’t exist.
So glad you had a good reading year though it must have been such a struggle to be on your own at home for such a large stretch of time
Well I definitely recommend Midwinter, I thought it was a beautiful, novel. I loaned it to my sister and she loved it too.
Living on my through lockdown hasn’t been too bad really. I am good at living on my own, having good friends and family on the other end of a phone/video calls obviously helps. The longer I go, not going out, the less I want to.
Have you always chosen a dozen? And I love the bright yellow in your grid. Also, what a bright striking cover for the Scapegoat (so unlike my own, which I barely want to read LOL).
It seems we might have chatted about this before, but have you read the bio of ET by Nicola Beauman? I know it’s controversial over there but I did really love that bio too (for similar reasons, the bookishness, the focus on women’s everyday lives and loves) as her survey volume.
I have done a top 12 for the year for the last few years now. I think I pinched the idea from Simon.
So many on here I am tempted by and haven’t read, but feel familiar having read reviews of or considered buying. I struggled with my end of year list, so many great reads that stayed with me, and a number of nonfiction reads as well. I’m really behind not yet having read Tocarzuk, her work seems so familiar yet unread! 🙂
Drive your plow…is the only Olga Tokarczuk novel I have read so far, but I have had Flights tbr for sometime.