Tales from my reading chair – April in review

Time marches on, and suddenly it’s the first of May.  One of my favourite months of the year – the leaves on the trees outside my window are nearly in full leaf. We have the promise of better weather to come. April does seem to have sped by, and I feel as if it was a fairly slow reading month. I enjoyed most of what I read, but I did get a bit bogged down with one of my 1937 reads – more of that later – and probably spent longer reading it than I may have done had I been really enjoying it. 

On to the books I read in April, seven books read – three of those on Kindle – and three books were a little bit longer at around the 400 page mark, not that that is especially long, but perhaps a bit longer than the average. 

I began April reading a book for my second book group, a group that is part of the virtual WI I have joined. Three Women and a Boat (2020) by Anne Youngson is a novel about a friendship forged along the canals of England. Two women throw their lot in together to help out a stranger, an elderly woman who is ill but needs to get her beloved narrow boat to Chester. 

I decided to read the third Thursday Murder Club book next – The Bullet that Missed (2022) by Richard Osman as that WI book group will soon be reading the fourth and so I felt I had better get back to reading them. In fact I shall be starting book four later today. I had enjoyed the first two instalments of this series, the characters are so engaging and the novels themselves quite easy reading. However, if I am honest I hadn’t really understood the hype – and the astonishing sales figures. I wasn’t in a mad hurry to read the third book – which I only acquired because Liz passed it on to me, promising me that the third book is even better than the second (which in my opinion is better than the first). This book is better than the second, the voices of Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim continue to be thoroughly engaging and there is a lot to entertain in this book. Gangsters who after five minutes in the company of Elizabeth and Joyce are as soft as butter may not be realistic but we don’t want too much realism with books like this and Osman makes it a lot of fun. 

Karen and Simon kicked off their latest club week on the 15th of the month, this time it was the year 1937 and I had several books to read but in the end chose to start The Citadel (1937) by A J Cronin on my Kindle. It was just as well that I started my 1937 reading a week early as both my reads were a bit longer than I had anticipated – you can’t really tell on Kindle and I hadn’t looked up the page length before starting. I really enjoyed The Citadel so I am delighted I decided to read it, my first by him. The tagline on the cover of this Bello books Kindle version – ‘the classic novel that inspired the NHS’ the novel opens in 1924 as newly qualified Scottish doctor Andrew Manson arrives in a small Welsh mining town to take up a position of an assistant doctor. We then follow his progress as he marries, and leaves Wales for London and the lure of a private practice. 

My second read for the 1937 club, also on my Kindle, was Busman’s Honeymoon (1937) by Dorothy L Sayers. I haven’t read as many books by DLS as I have by say Agatha Christie, but I have enjoyed several books by her before. However, I did start to get rather bogged down by this one, and it slowed me down, which is never a good sign. I started to enjoy it initially, chuckling at the bright breezy voices of Wimsey and Harriet and the easy banter between them and the ever present no nonsense Bunter. However after a while it got a bit tedious – there was just too much of all that and not enough actual story to keep the reader’s attention. It is a longer book for a Golden Age style – and really I wonder if that isn’t the problem. I became irritated by the long bits of dialogue entirely in French between Harriet and Peter – so unnecessary – the one thing about a Kindle – you can get instant translation. None of these conversations move the plot along in any real way so could be entirely skipped by those who, like me, are completely monolingual, but it makes me wonder why is it there at all? Anyway Peter and Harriet get married, go on Honeymoon with Bunter – someone dies, Peter solves it – eventually. I wish I had read Margery Sharp instead. 

My next read took me back to my Margaret Drabble reading which I have been so enjoying. The Waterfall (1969) by Margaret Drabble  is unfortunately out of print – but definitely worth tracking down I think. Though judging by Goodreads – not everyone would agree. This is a novel about love – the love a woman, Jane feels is such a necessity it becomes all consuming. The novel opens just as Jane is about to give birth to her second child, shortly after having been left by her husband. Jane begins an affair with her cousin’s husband James. It is a novel about sexual awakening and obsession and I found it very impressive. 

Diary of a Void (2020) by Emi Yagi – translated from the Japanese by David Boyd and Lucy North was passed on to me by a friend a couple of months ago. The intriguing premise really appealed to me. Apparently this was a prize winning novel in Japan. Described as a subversive novel it is essentially a novel about a woman working in a male dominated company who avoids harassment and getting stuck with the menial tasks by pretending she is pregnant for nine months and beyond. Her big lie becomes all consuming, with a pregnancy app on her phone, towels padding her abdomen, and pregnancy aerobics, soon though the lines between fiction and reality become oddly blurred. Thoroughly entertaining and quirky. 

My final read of the month was The Road to Lichfield (1977) by Penelope Lively which was a Christmas gift from Jacqui. I persuaded my other book group to read this one in May – so I’m now wondering what everyone else will think about it. I really enjoyed it –  it is a subtle novel that explores identity, consequences and memory. It centres around Ann Linton who leaves her family home in Berkshire to drive to her father’s home in Lichfield when he is taken into a nursing home. Every other weekend or so, Ann drives what rapidly becomes a familiar route, to camp out in her father’s house, sorting through the years of family papers and visiting the old man in the nursing home. While in Lichfield she meets school master David Fielding who her father occasionally went fishing with – and the two begin an affair. I may yet write fully about this book so I shall say no more for now. 

I don’t think I have many plans for my May reading – although I know Liz has bought me that new biography of Barbara Comyns for my upcoming birthday – we discussed it at length beforehand – so I will hopefully dive into that soon. I will be reading the Fourth Thursday Murder Club book and I have just bought a copy of my next Drabble read from Ebay – The Realms of Gold which appears to be out of print and a bit longer than the last few Drabble novels I have read. 

Whatever you read in April I would love to hear about it, and what are your plans if any for May? 

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Tales from my Reading Chair, March in review and #ReadingIrelandmonth24

March has seen me slump, I have been reading – fairly slowly – but the blog has been ignored more than I would like. I have again really struggled to engage with blogs and social media. I have days when I try to claw it back, post something on social media, read a few blog posts, but it’s been a real struggle even to do that. I think there are a lot of people feeling like this these days, looking outwards the world is not a very happy place and even when we try to protect ourselves a little from it – it seeps in. Added to that, I have been very fatigued, generally unmotivated and down. 

Life never really gets any easier – but spring is here, sort of – and I have joined a virtual WI group, to meet other people. I bought a new power chair this week, which should make getting out easier, as I won’t need people to push me about. I am away for a few days with family next week. A change of scene will be a real boost, I think, and I hope it will buoy me up going forward. 

Back to the books!

I have been reading, though I realise now that it’s been a fairly slow reading month which probably fits in with how I have been feeling around everything else. Posting this a couple of days before the end of the month, as I know I will finish my last book by the 31st, but do not have time for another one. So far this month I haven’t felt as if I wanted to write about anything that I have read in March. That is no reflection on the books though, I enjoyed all of them, I can only blame my mood. 

Seven books read in March, three of those on Kindle, hence the small pile of books in the photo. 

I started the month with my next Margaret Drabble novel, Jerusalem, the Golden (1967), my fourth one of the year, though I have only reviewed two of them. Clara has left her suffocating home in a small northern town for life and university in London. Here she becomes great friends with Clelia and her excitingly different bohemian family.

Murder While You Work by Susan Scarlett (1944) (aka Noel Streatfeild) was a lovely fun read and the first of two DSP books this month. Despite the title it’s not a typical mystery novel – it was this writer’s only attempt at the genre and I found it a compelling read. Set against the backdrop of a munitions factory, there is a mystery at the centre of the house where new recruit Judy is billeted, and the handsome Nick, himself engaged in important secret work, is determined to help her and make sure she comes to no harm. 

My third read was inspired by the reviews of other bloggers. Blessings by Chukwuebuka Ibeh (2024) a coming of age novel from Nigeria. It’s a beautiful, heartbreaking piece about a young gay man. Having witnessed an intimate moment between his son and his new apprentice, Obiefuna’s father sends him to a harsh Christian boarding school. With chapters alternating between Obiefuna and his mother, Ibeh tells the story of this young man’s self-discovery and his mother’s pain over the loss of her son. 

My next two reads were for Cathy’s Reading Ireland month. The Silence in the Garden by William Trevor (1988) was just a beautifully subtle novel. All the ingredients I associate with the best of William Trevor. In 1904, clergyman’s daughter Sarah Pollenfax arrived in Carriglas an island off the coast of Cork to act as governess to distant relatives. It is a magical time for Sarah, a wonderful time in an unforgettable place, which she returns to in her mind long afterwards. Thirty years later, after the First World War and the Irish Civil War have taken their toll, Sarah returns to Carriglas, and finds that there were things going on during those far off golden days of which she was completely unaware. 

Old God’s Time by Sebastian Barry (2023) longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2023, is something of a slow burn. An intensely introspective, literary novel with some tough themes. Tom Kettle is a retired police officer now living in a lean-to flat annexed to a Victorian castle overlooking the Irish sea. When two former colleagues turn up at his door asking questions about a decades old case, Tom is pulled back into the past, his present life and the losses he has suffered are all tangled up with his memories of the past. Tom is quite an unreliable narrator and nothing is ever quite what it seems. A very impressive novel, beautifully written. 

I thought a BLCC would be a good fit after the rigours of my previous read. Impact of Evidence by Carol Carnac (1954) was sent to me quite recently and I had thoroughly enjoyed Crossed Skis by Carol Carnac and some of the novels she wrote under the name E C R Lorac, this one I found a bit more plodding however. Carnac/Lorac is good at setting and atmosphere, and certainly that is one of the best things about this novel but some parts of the novel I felt were a bit padded out and I got a bit fed up with it at times. Set in the rural community of the Welsh borders which has been isolated for days by heavy snow and flooding. Old Dr Robinson is known as something of a menace on the roads, so when he collides with a jeep at a particularly dangerous junction it is almost as if it were an accident everyone had been waiting to happen. However, when the body of an unknown man is found in the back of the doctor’s car, who no one recognises and was clearly dead before the collision the police are called to investigate. It isn’t long before Chief Inspector Julian Rivers, ably assisted by Detective Inspector Lancing is on the case.

Smouldering Fire by D E Stevenson (1935) my second lovely DSP read of the month was an easy choice, as I needed something to sooth my weary soul. Set in the Scottish highlands, where Iain MacAslan has been forced to let his vast property to wealthy Londoner Mr Hetherington Smith for the hunting season. He is a self made man, whose wife was much happier when they were poor. Despite his heartbreak at having to see strangers in his house and on his land MacAslan elects to stay in a small cottage on the shores of the loch aided by his loyal keeper Donald and his wife Morag. The Hetherington Smiths bring quite a mixed group of guests with them, but it is to Linda Medworth and her young son that Iain finds himself drawn. I am still reading this, so I can’t yet comment on what is supposed to be a ‘shocking conclusion’ but I am certainly enjoying this slice of DES very much. 

Looking ahead, I am planning on some Kindle reading next week while I am away, and I plan on reading another Margaret Drabble at some point. I shall probably be reading The Waterfall. I hope to join in with Karen and Simon’s 1937 club, the year my dad was born, but I don’t have any firm plans on what I’ll read yet. 

In the meantime I hope all of you in the UK have a restful bank holiday weekend, happy Easter if you celebrate and let’s cross our fingers for some spring sunshine. 

As ever I would love to hear what you have been reading. 

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February in review

February was a whole day longer this year, which was perfect for finishing off my final book of the month and for the #ReadIndies reading challenge. I haven’t been blogging much the last few weeks but I did manage to read nine books in February, eight of them for #ReadIndies, which is a challenge I particularly enjoy. 

I posted some mini reviews of my first three February reads earlier this month as well as a review of my latest Margaret Drabble, but that was all. I am hoping to write more fully about one or two of my other February reads, but as usual I can’t be relied upon to do that. 

I started the month reading Someone from the Past (1958) by Margot Bennett, published by the British Library. Unfortunately, it didn’t completely hit the spot. The characters are all generally awful – and I just didn’t believe in the central character, and narrator, who in her desperation to save someone from being implicated in the murder continually implicates herself. 

I was on firmer ground with Muriel Spark The Public Image (1968) published by Polygon, this edition bought second hand helped to complete my set of Spark centenary editions. I am trying to ignore the awful white sticker on the spine, which can’t be removed without tearing the cover, but it does slightly upset me. It is a wonderfully Sparkian satire on celebrity culture, as relevant now as it ever was.  

Published by Handheld Press, Army without Banners (1942) by Ann Stafford, is an autobiographical novel about a middle aged woman driving ambulances through the Blitz. There is tragedy and pathos but also humour and Ann Stafford who was one half of the writing duo who gave us Business as Usual, balances these differing moods perfectly. There are also some lovely illustrations. 

The Millstone (1965) by Margaret Drabble was easily my book of the month. I found it ended far too quickly, every word was just superb. I also found it surprisingly moving in places. It is a beautifully tender novel of feminism and motherhood, set and written in the 60s, it does feel very rooted in the period.

Pipers and a Dancer (1924) by Stella Benson published by Michael Walmer is a slightly unusual but very entertaining novel about Ispsie, a young woman who travels to China to join her fiance, a British customs official. On the ship she meets an American, who will be taking over her fiance’s post. Her fiance, Jacob is a terribly dull, pompous young man, who has a certain view of Ipsie, which is totally at odds with how Ipsie sees herself. While staying with Jacob’s awful sister, news is received that Jacob has been kidnapped by brigands. A strangely witty novel, with what would probably have been an unconventional ending for the time. I thoroughly enjoyed my first Stella Benson novel.  

My slowest read of the month was The Sanity Inspectors (1955) by Friedrich Deich translated from the German by Robert Kee, published by Boiler House Press. I enjoyed the novel, but it is a slow read, quite wordy and full of complex ideas. It is a fascinating historical piece I suppose but there is little in the way of plot. It tells the slightly disjointed but often compelling story of Dr Robert Vossmenge’s career in Psychiatry. As the 1930s progress Vossmenge finds his work increasingly influenced with the Nazi regime, during WW2 he tries to keep a low profile while serving as a Luftwaffe doctor. It is friendship with a Lutheran pastor however that makes him question what constitutes insanity in a world truly gone mad. 

One of the Persephone books Liz bought me for Christmas was Sofia Petrovna by Lydia Chukovskaya (1965) translated from the Russian by Aline Werth. Sofia is an ordinary woman, a doctor’s widow, with one son who is leaving school around the time the novel starts. She starts work as a typist in an office, a job she loves, but when not working, she focuses everything on her son. These are difficult times in Russia, and as Sofia’s son finishes his studies and embarks on a career, the newspapers begin to be filled with stories of arrests, Sofia is shocked to learn of all these people who are conspiring against the Soviet regime. It is though only the start of what becomes known as Stalin’s Great Purge, and poor Sofia, a good honest soviet woman, believes everything she is told. When her son is arrested however she is thrown into a nightmare world of Soviet bureaucracy as she tries to find out what has happened to him. 

Brian (2023) by Jeremy Cooper published by Fitzcarraldo was a novel I appreciated more than I enjoyed. I really like the character of Brian and the writing is certainly good, however I think I might have been the wrong audience. Brian is a man who has struggled all his life to fit in, a man without friends, who has lunch at the same place every day. He joins the British Film Institute in London, which brings film back into his life. Every evening he visits the cinema on London’s South Bank, joining a group of like minded individuals, who eventually become familiar, and in time one of them, Jack, becomes a friend. Unfortunately, an awful lot of the film stuff left me a bit cold. I enjoy films, but not to this degree and not such obscure stuff that is talked about here. There were a handful of films discussed that I knew, and had seen, but I think readers with a BFI subscription, who enjoy obscure and classic cinema might get more out of this than I did. The ending is very poignant however and beautifully done. I was disappointed not to have liked it more. 

The British Library will be publishing Forest Silver (1941) by E M Ward at the end of March, and I was delighted to get a proof copy for review. Set in Grasmere in the Lake District in the early years of the war. The descriptions of the Lake district through the changing seasons are lovely, and as someone who has spent happy days in Grasmere I could see a lot of it in my mind’s eye. Richard Blunt has come to Grasmere after being invalided out of the air force, and breaking off his engagement. He becomes involved with the Bainrigg family, the young daughter Corys is almost seventeen when they first meet, living with her mother and grandmother, her father away in London, she has been left the estate to manage by her grandfather’s will. Her love of the land is almost obsessional, but she has a lot of growing up to do, so much still to be negotiated. Richard is drawn to her in a way I wasn’t entirely happy with but he helps her negotiate her way through various difficult situations. Corys is a wonderfully drawn, complex character – and the setting is of course wonderful. 

Well I have started this new month reading another Margaret Drabble novel, Jerusalem, the Golden which I am enjoying so far. As for the rest of the month I don’t have any particular plans. I am aware of Read Ireland month but I’m not sure if I have anything suitable or not but I will have a good look. Apart from that I shall go with my mood which is very fickle at the moment. 

What books did February bring you?

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Back to old habits – January in review

It’s funny how even now, when I am no longer working, January is still the longest month of the year by far. For many it is a time to reset – start things again, take up new challenges or give up bad habits. I never make such resolutions, there would be no point – and the whole New Year thing has always left me a bit cold. One month into a new year and nothing has changed in my more recent blogging habits – that is, I am still not writing as many reviews as I would have done once. Yesterday, WordPress informed me that it was my anniversary – twelve years blogging on WordPress, and I messed around on Live Journal for a few years before that. 

So, I keep on keeping on, even if things aren’t quite the same. I just haven’t the stamina to review everything I read – I can’t cope with too many review copies coming at me and I am always days behind reading other blogs – that’s the way it is now – and I know people have understood that and I am thankful for those of you who continue to support my blog when I do see fit to get a post written. Realistically, I most likely won’t write full reviews of the January books I haven’t reviewed yet, although a couple of them I would like to, so I shall see how things go. Instead as has become traditional I shall give a small flavour of those I haven’t reviewed in this roundup post.

In reading terms January has been a pretty good month – nine books in total – seven physical books and two on Kindle – and each of them very good indeed, a couple of five star books among them. 

Having decided to spend 2024 reading as many Margaret Drabble novels as I could, I began the year with A Summer Bird-Cage (1963) Margaret Drabble’s first novel. It is such an impressive debut novel and got my Drabble reading off to a brilliant start. 

My second read was Statues in the Garden (1964) by Isabel Colegate, an earlier novel to The Shooting Party which ended up being my book of the year for 2023. Although set in the exact same time period, it didn’t have quite the impact that other novel had for me, though, it is very good indeed – I look forward to more by this author. 1914 – and there are political tensions everywhere and talk of possible civil war in Ireland. The novel centres around the family of cabinet minister Aylmer Weston. His wife, the beautiful Cynthia is mainly at the family’s country home, their son comes and goes, as does their nephew Philip who the couple raised alongside their own children when his parents died. She also has two daughters, the eldest Violet is engaged while the younger Kitty needs just a little direction so a new governess has just been engaged. The last summer before the war, a time when things are changing and for the Westons a life changing betrayal.

I haven’t been reading much contemporary fiction lately, and then Memphis (2022) – by Tara M Stringfellow popped into my Kindle recommends, which I usually ignore, for obvious reasons. It was a brilliant read, I loved it, and have persuaded my book group to read it in March. A thoroughly compelling debut novel that made it on to the Women’s Prize longlist, it tells the story of three generations of Black women in the American South – the Memphis of the title, told across several time periods from the 1930s through the 1960s, and 1970s  to the 1990s and early 2000’s. A story of family, brutality, forgiveness, art, justice and love. Beautifully written and with a glorious set of strong female characters. I am so delighted I took a chance on it. 

There is always a reading challenge to get on board with, and I love the variety of challenges we have throughout the year. For January in Japan, I read Mild Vertigo (1997) by Mieko Kanai translated from the Japanese by Polly Barton. The story of Natsumi, a housewife in a Tokyo apartment building overwhelmed by the tedium of her daily routine. The novel is a kind of inner monologue, a stream of consciousness, written in very long run on sentences which made the narrative more intimate and easier to read than it might sound. 

I have decided to give myself the permission to re-read old favourites more often this year. Excellent Women (1952) by Barbara Pym, was just what I needed. Pym is always a joy to read – and I have of course reviewed it before. This my third reading of it and I enjoyed it all the more for it being familiar. 

I had had Cluny Brown (1944) by Margery Sharp hidden away on my Kindle for several years and it too proved a sheer delight. Cluny Brown is a breath of fresh air, an unconventional young woman, who her relatives all think really needs to learn her place. So she is sent into service at a country house in Devon. Here we are in 1938 – the world is on the brink of great change, and everywhere in this novel are characters who tread the conventional path that their accident of birth laid down for them, Cluny Brown is the exception.

My second Margaret Drabble novel of the year, The Garrick Year (1964), her second published novel. A brilliant dark comedy about a marriage, set against the backdrop of a group of actors transferred from London to Hereford for the festival surrounding the opening of a new theatre. The couple at the centre of the novel are Emma and David Evans, she is a former model with ambitions to do TV presenting, he is a successful Welsh actor. They have two very small children, the youngest just a few months old. She adores her children but is frustrated by domesticity and the lack of direction in her life, he is a narcissistic philanderer. With two plays to rehearse for the festival David is working very long hours, alongside a very pretty young actress who is nothing like as talented as she thinks she is. Emma becomes increasingly bored, missing London and with little to occupy her away from the children. Somewhat half-heartedly she begins an affair with the theatre director. I am annoyed with myself for not having got around to reviewing this in full, I enjoyed it so much. An even better novel than A Summer Bird-Cage. 

My book group has chosen to read Loving Sabotage (1993) by Amélie Nothomb translated from the French by Andrew Wilson. I hadn’t previously heard of this Belgian writer before this novel was suggested at my book group, but on the strength of it I would like to read more now. Set in what was then called Peking in the 1970s, our unnamed narrator lives in a concrete ‘ghetto’ alongside other diplomatic families, charges around on her ‘horse’ – her bicycle and plays a brutal never ending game of world war with the many children of other nations. As a seven year old she becomes infatuated with the beautiful six year old Elena – who she calls her Helen of Troy. Written with the observant eye of an adult looking back to the years of childhood, Loving Sabotage chronicles a young girl’s dawning understanding of an adult world. I absolutely loved it. 

Having read eight brilliant books back to back, I then picked up Time: The Present (1935) by Tess Slesinger, a collection of short stories by an American writer whose early death prevented her from leaving behind a larger body of work. Beautifully reissued by Boiler House Press – this edition differs slightly from the original, so publication dates are a little tricker to be accurate about. Well with this final book of the month I really hit the jackpot – it is a brilliant collection. I find reviewing large collections so hard – so I probably won’t write a longer piece, all I can do is urge you to add this to your list. Each story is excellent – no duds! All of life is here, school days, unemployment, adultery, new marriage, heartlessness, heartbreak, society parties and more. Slesinger’s style is so readable – many of the stories are quite long, short stories which I rather enjoy, it gives the reader something to get your teeth into. I ended up slowing down my reading a bit to savour and appreciate each story for itself. I can’t recommend this collection highly enough. 

Well as this post is already far too long, all I shall say about my February plans is that I am intending to join in with Read Indies month – one of my favourite challenges, and I am planning on reading one more Margaret Drabble novel. 

Whatever your plans for February are, I hope you love what you choose to read – and as ever, I would love to know what you’ve been reading in January.

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Some festive reading and other books, my December in review

Firstly I hope that Christmas was kind to those of you celebrating. It’s not always an easy time of year. 

I am popping by – several days later than intended – to tell you about what I have been reading lately. There haven’t been as many reviews as I would like this month, but I am hoping to turn over a new leaf in January. I often select a few festive themed books for December reading, hoping it might help me feel Christmassy – to be honest it usually doesn’t, but that doesn’t matter. This year I have really enjoyed my December reading whether it was festive themed or not. 

My first book of the month was a reread Miss Mole (1930) by E H Young, for Liz’s Dean Street December – I had the Kindle version of the DSP book as well as my old green virago – so I could even read it in the correct edition. It was a treat to encounter this memorable character again.

The cover of the new Faber edition of The Long Shadow (1975) by Celia Fremlin is certainly very Christmassy, although the novel itself much less so. Set before, during and immediately after Christmas the majority of the novel takes place around New Year. It is another fantastic Fremlin story of domestic noir, a real page turner. The cover will put people off reading it at other times of the year though, and I think that’s a shame, while not a summer read of course, it could easily be read after Christmas in the New Year or on cosy autumn nights. 

Following on from my recent reread of An Orchard on Fire I was delighted to find An Advent Calendar (1971) by Shena Mackay on my tbr where it must have been for years.  It’s a really quirky novel set during the twenty-five days of December leading up to Christmas days. There is a wonderful bizarreness to it that feels all at once very British and very 1970s. 

Who Killed Father Christmas & other seasonal stories (2023) edited by Martin Edwards these collections of festive golden age mysteries seem to be an annual tradition from the British Library. This collection was another thoroughly enjoyable selection of stories by a variety of writers.

Not a Christmas novel Persephone book number 147 One Afternoon (1975) by Sian James was a Christmas gift last Christmas. It is a beautiful little novel, so well written, the children portrayed particularly well written I thought, realistic and engaging. It is a love story – but don’t let that put you off – it is not sentimental or schmaltzy. I wanted a different ending – but that probably wouldn’t have suited the tone of this novel. 

Back to Christmas with Tied up in Tinsel (1972) by Ngaio Marsh on my Kindle – another Alleyn mystery though a later one than I think I had read before. Troy Alleyn is staying at a rather unusual country manor to paint the portrait of its owner – the staff are made up of former prisoners, convicted of murder or manslaughter but who have served their time. It’s not long before strange things begin to occur, eccentric guests gather and a man goes missing. Troy is delighted to see her husband when he finally turns up.

It was a Facebook post that alerted me to the existence of Mistletoe Malice (1951) by Kathleen Farrell, a new edition from Faber which promises it will be perfect for fans of Barbara Pym and Elizabeth Taylor – that always makes me wince. It is nothing like either of those two brilliant writers, but it is a good read – and I know Jacqui feels the same as she has been also reading it – more like Mary Hocking or Alice Thomas Ellis if it had to be likened to anyone. A well drawn dysfunctional family at Christmas, some pretty unlikeable characters (I never mind that) and their complicated relationships with each other. 

Another British Library collection that everyone has been reading, Stories for Winter and Nights by the Fire (2023) from the women writers series with stories by Katherine Mansfield, Sylvia Townsend Warner, Shirley Jackson, Elizabeth Berridge, Elizabeth Taylor and others. A few stories were rereads for me but that was no hardship at all as they happened to be some of the best in the collection.

I am actually reading Summerwater (2020) by Sarah Moss now – I also got this last Christmas as part of a secret Santa parcel, I have wanted to read more Sarah Moss for ages and have a couple of her books waiting. I felt like I was completely done with winter and Christmassy reads. This one though has some marvellous descriptions of constant rain which I am enjoying so far.

There are four days of December left – so I will finish Summerwater and at the very least start something else, so this month hasn’t been a bad one at all for me with at least nine books (possibly ten) finishing off 2023.

I have made no plans for January as yet – so I will wait and see what comes along.

I hope to be back in a few days with my books of 2023 post – I always wait until right at the end of the year to finalise it.

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On some reading, not blogging and other things.

It feels like this post has been a long time coming, I didn’t even know I was going to write it until five minutes ago. 

This will probably stand in place of my usual month in review post that I would usually do in about ten days time. I need to try and get back to doing some reviews. This month has been terrible for me in blogging terms – and I have very stupidly been giving myself a very hard time about it too which really hasn’t helped. I have been feeling very overwhelmed by everything – even just really small things. The disruption of having my kitchen done, going to a hotel to escape and then having my heating break as soon as I got home, was all it took. Being cold for the last ten or eleven days has been pretty horrible too – but the new boiler installation is now underway and he should be finished tomorrow. I am trying to keep up with some blogs – apologies to those I have missed. I will do better soon, and will be doing some catching up later. Life has just felt challenging lately, my own health never very good and a health scare for my mum – and then I turn on the news!! 

Lots of reading challenges in November which I haven’t really been joining in with properly – although I had intended to. I began November reading Bournville (2022) by Jonathan Coe – I haven’t read much published in the twenty-first century in the last two months – just my reading mood I think. However, I had been looking forward to Bournville for ages – so I was disappointed to not love it immediately. Set in the famous and rather lovely suburb of Birmingham, just a few miles from where I sit, the novel charts seventy-five years of social change. Taking in major royal events, the James Bond phenomena, Brexit and the pandemic – it is also the story of a family. Eventually I did come to enjoy the book – but I found its depiction of a certain type of “little Englisher” quite depressing – and no doubt very accurate. 

With novellas in November in mind I then embarked on a couple of short novels of approximate novella length, although one turned out to be rather longer than its appearance suggested. I began with Gentleman Overboard (1937) by Herbert Clyde Lewis – one of the books that has been saved from obscurity by Boiler House Press and Neglected Books. The novel itself is around 130 pages – there is then an afterword which I didn’t count. I had seen somewhere it suggested that this is a novel that Evelyn Waugh could have written and I can absolutely see why that would be, it has something of that quality about it, a sort of satirical cruelty. The title tells you most of what you need to know. An American man – the gentleman of the title – accidentally falls off a passenger ship into the ocean halfway between Honolulu and Panama. His sense of social embarrassment is such that at first it prevents him shouting – soon enough though he realises the terrible predicament he is in. From here on in we are privy to his thoughts as he desperately treads water and slowly begins to lose all his carefully nurtured inhibitions – eventually stripping off completely. Unfortunately, it is several hours before any of his fellow passengers aboard ship notice he is missing – by which time it is almost certainly going to be too late. Despite the fact that it becomes increasingly obvious how this story will end – there is still a fantastic tension to this unusual novel. 

A word about Boiler House Press while I am at it. I think they are a fabulous publisher, publishing some really interesting, forgotten works. I know they are in need of support – having to contend with the big boys – their books don’t get reviewed in the same way as other publishers’ works do. I recently treated myself to these beauties – I have read one of the stories in the Tess Slesinger collection – I really must get back to that, I had intended to dip in and out for a while. Such interesting titles – if you haven’t already, please check out the Boiler House Press website. 

After Gentleman Overboard – I decided to read Paying Guests (1929) by E F Benson – I mean a boarding house novel written by the man who gave us Mapp and Lucia – yes please! My thin little edition, a slightly larger scale paperback however has the tiniest print imaginable – I suddenly realised its 134 pages would in reality be much more. I downloaded a kindle version because of the print size – at less than 50p it was worth it. It definitely had the feeling of a much longer novel and not a novella at all. Still it was highly entertaining. Set in a boarding house in the fictional town of Bolton Spa and the group of upper-middle class residents all seeking a cure of their various illnesses in the waters that are reputed to do marvels. Thoroughly enjoyable, it was just right for the time I was reading it, I was surprised at how long it took me to read – but that is the thing with distractions. 

My next read was also not a novella The Native Heath (1954) by Elizabeth Fair – again on Kindle. Something of a comfort read I suppose, which I definitely needed. Published by Dean Street Press it’s a domestic comedy set in a small village with the threat of a dreaded New Town on the horizon, lots of interesting characters, some humour and a bit of romance. 

I then picked up a rather large Persephone book – which I am still reading, and very much enjoying, The Waters Under the Earth (1965) by John Moore I am loving the way it depicts the social change that was so apparent between the classes after the Second World War – there is some lovely descriptions of the natural world – as it is set in around a large house and community in the Gloucestershire countryside – as well as politics and some commentary on wider world events. 

So I may not finish many books this month – I have time to read perhaps one or two small ones after my current read before December starts – we’ll see – but I am more concerned with just getting myself back on track.

Hopefully I will get back to writing reviews soon – just don’t hold your breath.

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October in review

Apologies for the radio silence. If I’m honest I haven’t been great lately, for a variety of reasons. The global situation is just horrendous and personally I’m never that well, added to which the stress around getting a new kitchen has really got to me – and nothing much has happened yet. Next week is kitchen week, and I am going to a hotel about an hour away with my mum to escape – because I just can’t cope with the upheaval in this fairly small space with my significant mobility issues. All this seems to be enough to stop me blogging – and I have been terrible at keeping up with other blogs too. I’m hoping things will improve after next week. 

On the reading front – I am enjoying my reading in a way I haven’t been enjoying blogging, and while I could be reading more/faster than I am, I am finding sanctuary in books, though my reading mood is extremely fickle. I read eight books during October – three of them were for the 1962 club hosted so brilliantly again by Karen and Simon. They were the only books from my month of reading that I managed to review – and that was on one post of mini reviews. 

I started the month with Sheep’s Clothing (1988) by Celia Dale which had already been enthusiastically reviewed by other bloggers. It’s a brilliant novel of spiteful domestic crimes carried out by a pair of scam artists. Grace and Janice meet in Holloway prison and upon their release pool their criminal resources to scam elderly women out of their possessions by posing as social workers and slipping a sleeping pill into a cup of tea. It’s a really compelling novel of greed and cruelty in 1980s Camden. 

The British Library kindly sent me Introduction to Sally (1926) by Elizabeth von Arnim which I’m sorry I haven’t had a chance to review fully. Several others have though and I doubt I can add much to their enthusiasm. I loved this delightful novel that is chock full of von Arnim’s astute, observational wit and ability to truly get to the heart of the absurdity of how people act. Here the “problem” is the extraordinary beauty of Sally – a simple working class girl who drops her aitches and feels more comfortable with servants. She simply stops traffic wherever she goes and is such a responsibility that her father marries her off outside her class while she is little more than a child. 

My first read for the 1962 club is reviewed in my previous post. While An Error of Judgement (1962) by Pamela Hansford Johnson won’t be my favourite novel by her I was very glad to have read it. It’s darkly comic with a strange bunch of well drawn characters wrestling with moral dilemmas. 

My second 1962 club read was Hand in Glove (1962) by Ngaio Marsh, a really entertaining Golden Age read – a later Alleyn mystery; it reminded me how much I have liked Marsh’s novels in the past. 

A conversation on social media led me to reading The Wells of St Mary’s (1962) by R C Sherriff after I discovered it buried in my Kindle. A thoroughly entertaining novel by the author of The Fortnight in September. 

Every now and then you find yourself reaching for a novel you have had tbr for years and such was the case with Here be Dragons (1956) by Stella Gibbons. The novel is about Nell Sely, who moves to Hampstead from the country with her parents after her father, having lost his faith, loses his job as a vicar. They are housed by Nell’s father’s sister in a house she owns but doesn’t live in. Her ex-husband and son live in the flat upstairs. In the company of her strange, often annoying slightly younger cousin John, Nell is introduced to Bohemian London, its espresso bars and jazz clubs and those who drift around aimlessly and live in a way entirely at odds with the older generation. Nell decides to become a waitress in a cafe – much to everyone’s surprise – and the details of cafe life are brilliantly done. Everywhere though is John, and his band of attractive but puzzling friends – there are so many new experiences for Nell, so much to learn about London and its people. 

My book group chose to read The Orchard on Fire (1995) by Shena Mackay in November. I had read it before a very long time ago and remembered nothing of it except that I had enjoyed it, and so was pleased to have an excuse to buy this new Virago edition and reread it. This story of two young girls, best friends in 1950s rural Kent, is wonderful and Shena Mackay’s prose is gorgeous. I think I shall have to read more by this author soon. It is a novel that leaves the reader with a host of images. An abandoned railway carriage, the Copper Kettle cafe, secrets, dares and laughter, a deep and important friendship and an unsettling neighbour called Mr Greenidge who wanders through the village with his Dachshund. 

I began the month with one Celia and finished it with another – perhaps it was word association or something. The Trouble-Makers (1963) by Celia Fremlin was my third read by her and I have at least one other tbr. I have been meaning to read more by Fremlin for ages. Her chilling tales of domestic suspense are hard to put down. Here we are in what I think is probably typical Fremlin territory – middle class suburbia – married women who either work part time or don’t work, have two or three children and husbands who are remote, strict and like things done in a particular way. Here a group of local wives frequently come together to gossip, speculate about their other neighbours and complain about their husbands. Mary is the youngest, she lives next door to Katherine. Mary’s husband is a lot older than her, and Mary seems to have the worst relationship of all of them. Listening to her woes makes Katherine feel so much better about her own fractious marriage to Stephen. A strange violent incident occurs in Mary’s house and her husband is injured, although not seriously. The tale that Mary tells Katherine is very different to the one she tells everyone else, and is supported by her husband’s own account. The story gets told again and again, it becomes a popular story among the local housewives and their children. It seems Mary might be losing her grip on reality – or does she really have reason to be so afraid? Fremlin keeps you guessing. 

November is all about reading challenges – Novellas in November, Nonfiction November and MARM (Margaret Atwood Reading Month) I shall join in where and when I can, reading mood permitting. 

In the meantime, please tell me what you’ve been reading in October.

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September in review

September has seen me becoming even more of a mood reader than usual, I experienced a rare DNF, (see below) but also a couple of five star reads. Three of my reads were on kindle, but at least I got a few physical books off the tbr this month. 

I began the month with A House on the Rhine (1955) by Frances Faviell, a Dean Street Press book on my Kindle. I have no idea how long it’s been there – a long time. Funnily enough Frances Faviell’s A Chelsea Concerto was one of the first DSP books I ever read – that was several years ago, and I’ve no idea why I had left exploring more of her work so long. This novel is set in Germany about a decade after the end of the war. It is a pretty dark novel but really good and hugely compelling. It paints a realistic portrait of the dark post war days for one large troubled family, in a town near Cologne. 

One Year’s Time (1942) by Angela Milne from the British Library Women writers series is another brilliant addition to their catalogue. The only novel to have been published by Angela Milne. Modern readers may find it remarkable for its modern approach to sexual relationships outside of marriage, showing how perhaps people don’t change all that much. So far, this is the only book from my September reading I have reviewed. 

I rarely put aside a book I don’t like, especially when it isn’t a very long book but Zuleika Dobson (1911) by Max Beerbohm defeated me. I felt especially bad about this because lovely Karen, from Kaggsy’sBookish Ramblings, sent it to me. I actually read about a hundred pages of it – but realised I kept delaying settling  down with my book – always a bad sign, and life is just too short. It’s a bit wordy and the satire wasn’t really amusing me. I expect on another occasion, while it may not have been a favourite read, I would have at least finished it. 

Following the disappointment with Zuleika Dobson, I needed something I knew I could just get straight into and Twice Round the Clock (1935) by Billie Houston did the job perfectly. I am hoping to review this one more fully soon so I won’t say too much here. A very readable mystery that sees a group of people stranded together in the home of a sinister scientist during a storm. Murder soon ensues but the police cannot be alerted till the storm has abated.

I now have something like eight Persephone books tbr (and about 130 in all) and I am determined to get some of them read soon. I chose to read  Round About A Pound a Week (1913) by Maud Pember Reeves because I have had it tbr so long. It is the result of an extraordinary study carried out in 1909. Members of the left wing feminist Fabian women’s group set about interviewing forty-two families about their everyday lives in Lambeth. This resulting document with its findings was later turned into this book by Maud Pember Reeves with chapters concentrating on such things as food, housing and thrift. 

My joint book of the month was The Shooting Party (1980) by Isabel Colegate, which I just found delightful, despite its depiction of people firing guns at innocent birds. Set the year before the start The First World War, it is a portrait of the dying days of Edwardian England, with its clear class system; the country house party a staple of the aristocratic calendar. Colegate rolls out the British countryside with its many ways and traditions, poachers, beaters and gamekeepers, beautifully and recognisably. Add in a little bit of adultery, some competitive tension and a child with a pet duck, that goes missing, and you have a most marvellous novel that I wished could have lasted much longer. 

My second joint book of the month was Casting Off (1995) by Elizabeth Jane Howard, the fourth instalment of the Cazalet Chronicles. I have been glad to read these books on my Kindle as they are a bit bigger than lots of the books I read. This novel starts just as WW2 is ending. Change has come to England and to the family, some of the younger generation are starting to live independently, and there are decisions to be made about where people will live now the war is over and they can leave the countryside. At around 500 pages, Casting Off is a quicker read than some shorter books simply because Elizabeth Jane Howard knows how to engage her readers, and characters are so well written, it becomes hard to put down.

I borrowed Go Tell it on the Mountain (1953) by James Baldwin from Liz having loved If Beale Street Could Talk a few months ago. This is the story of Johnny Grimes, the son of a preacher, in whose steps young John is destined to follow, so everyone says. John’s father Gabriel is a religious fanatic, a firebrand preacher who abuses his family. John hates his father vowing that for him at least things will be different.  

Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North (2023) by Rachel Joyce is the short third book in the Harold Fry series. It fitted perfectly into the last day and a bit of the month – I hadn’t realised when I bought it in the Kindle deals that it was only novella sized, but that turned out to be just perfect for the end of the month. I don’t think it is quite as good as the first two books but it is written with warmth and humour, and Maureen was a brilliant character who we finally get to know a bit better. 

I have started October with a bang reading a most marvellous book (more of that soon) so I hope that the rest of the month is similarly marvellous. We have Karen and Simon’s 1962 club to look forward to – and I need to sort out what I will read for that. I know I am being even more of a fickle, mood reader than usual at the moment so I am not making any other reading plans for October at all. 

I look forward to hearing about what you have all been reading in September and what if any your plans for October are.

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August in review

It’s the first of September and the end of the month has been looming at me, as I had wanted to get another review written this week but just didn’t manage it. Never mind, I shall attempt to do better from next week. 

August of course was Women in Translation month, I was keen to join in and had lots of great looking potential reads. I knew I wouldn’t just read WIT books and in the end I read eight books overall and four of them were books for Women in Translation month. Unfortunately one of my WIT books turned out a little disappointing for me, but that might have just been me – I think other people have enjoyed it. A mixture of Kindle reads and real books, modern books and some older works, I discovered yet again, too many modern novels close together doesn’t work for me. 

I started the month with a real gem, A Little Luck (2015) by Claudia Piñeiro translated by Frances Riddle, the most recent novel from the Argentinian writer who brought us Elena Knows. After twenty years a woman is returning from Boston to the suburb in Buenos Aires, Argentina that she fled following a terrible incident. a breathless, brilliant read, that is heartbreakingly poignant. 

Breasts and Eggs (2019) by Mieko Kawakami translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd. Rather longer than the only other novel I have read by this author, Breasts and Eggs is a fantastic exploration of womanhood and body autonomy in the modern world. Taking place over a period of about ten years, it tells the story of a young woman, her sister and niece, three women who grew up in difficult circumstances, having to work hard for everything and anything they had. It portrays ordinary working class women, trying against the odds to carve out the best life they can for themselves. 

The Inseparables (2020) by Simone de Beauvoir translated by Lauren Elkin. I hadn’t read Simone de Beauvoir before, and wasn’t sure if this was going to be a good one to start with or not. Although only first published in 2020, this lost novel was written in 1954. Based loosely on a real life friendship – the novel charts the friendship – of Sylvie and Andrée When Andrée joins her school, Sylvie is immediately fascinated by her. Andrée has all the assurance of an adult. The two become fast friends,  they lose respect for their teachers; they build a world of their own.The reader begins to sense however that they can’t stay like this forever.

Rattlebone (1994) by Maxine Clair was a fantastic discovery that I only learned about from another blogger. Although I have seen it described as a novel, it is actually a book of interlinked short stories (reminding me very much of Olive Kittridge). Rattlebone is a small Black neighbourhood of Kansas city, and these stories tell the various stories of Irene Wilson. Most of the stories are narrated by Irene at various points between about eight years old and when she’s leaving school – but as the book progresses, she gives way to some of the other voices of the community. It definitely has the feel of a forgotten modern classic. 

I have come to look forward to reading new publications from the British Library Women writers series. Sing Me Who You Are? (1967) by Elizabeth Berridge is one of three fabulous new or upcoming titles. This is one of two review books I was delighted to receive and that I am intending to review soon, so I shall not say too much here. However I really enjoyed this 1960s offering from Berridge who I have read before. Themes of environmentalism and the ongoing traumas of people from the war combine to make this a really interesting novel. 

I returned to Women in Translation month reading The Trio (2021) by Johanna Hedman translated by Kira Josefsson. I had been really looking forward to reading this one, so much so, I bought a second copy on Kindle to assist me as my hands were a bit too sore to cope with this larger style smart looking paperback. I have definitely seen a lot of love for this one – but it left me seriously underwhelmed, and what had been a three star read became a two star read when I got to the end – and thought is that it? What was the point? It might just have been me – but the blurb on the inside flap promises an instant classic – a much overused phrase perhaps – and I certainly don’t see it as being anything like that. An unlikely trio of young people come together over the course of two summers in Stockholm. Thinking about it now, why did I think I would like this so much?

William’s Wife (1938) by Gertrude Trevelyan will be reissued by Boiler House Press and Neglected Books at the end of September. I will be reviewing this in full in a week or two. It is a fascinating novel – I really enjoyed it – although enjoyed is perhaps not the right word. It’s not a happy read at all, but it is a brilliant exploration of a woman’s increasing obsession and paranoia. I had to wonder where on earth Gertrude Trevelyan came up with this extraordinary character. 

An excellent mystery from the British Library Suddenly at His Residence (1946) by Christianna Brand is an Inspector Cockril mystery set in Kent at the height of summer. A complex family gathered together at the large family home, the grandfather decides to change his will and shuts himself away in the lodge for the night – well we all know what happens next! A small cast of possible murderers, but Brands plots her mystery really well and keeps the reader guessing. I had thoroughly enjoyed a previous novel by this author Green for Danger, so I had expected good things from this one and it delivered. 

During September I will be playing it by ear as regards what I read, as I have been even more fickle and moody as a reader of late than usual. I am half way through a Dean Street Press novel which will now become the first of my September books. 

Tell me what you have been reading in August, what wonderful things came your way? And what plans, if any, do you have for September?

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July in review

Frankly July can well and truly…but I’m far too polite to say what July can do. 😉

We’ve seen wildfires raging in parts of Europe and other countries melting under extreme temperatures, here in the UK, it’s been wet and cold. I find that all really concerning for our planet. I wonder where we go from here? Physically though the weather during July has really knocked me for six.

July’s book pile photo doesn’t look very impressive, though I read eight books, most of them were on Kindle. Two of the physical books pictured there – were started and abandoned in favour of Kindle copies – I was glad that they were available at least, and often wonder what I would do without a Kindle during bad flares – I use it and love it more as time goes on. However, I do gaze longingly at my physical tbr – several books I had intended to read this month – will just have to wait a bit longer. I will never not love physical books – but they don’t always love me. 

Here’s what I read – three books have been reviewed – those I haven’t, I probably won’t get around to now. 

I bought Old Babes in the Wood (2023) by Margaret Atwood as soon as it came out. Yet, there it has sat in hardback ever since. Why do I do that? When I often struggle to manage paperbacks – I should stop buying hardbacks unless they are the kind I will keep. Anyway, I am quite a fan of Margaret Atwood’s fiction. I enjoyed this collection of stories, her ability at imaginative storytelling is undiminished. I was particularly drawn to the stories featuring Nan and Tigg – a not very thinly disguised Margaret Atwood and Graeme Gibson, who we first meet in stories in the Moral Disorder collection which I think is my favourite Atwood collection. My Evil Mother is another brilliantly, memorable tale. 

I had had A Harp in Lowndes Square (1936) by Rachel Fergusson buried away in my invisible Kindle tbr for a very long time. I knew it was going to be unusual, it is, but also I found it very enjoyable. James and Vere are twins, with a very close bond and a thorough understanding of one another. Born sometime toward the end of the nineteenth century. While not a ghost story as such, there are ghostly elements to it. Ferguson leaves us with a sense of the past and present forever linked.

The first of two Japanese novels this month was The Housekeeper and the Professor (2003) by Yoko Ogawa Translated from the Japanese by Stephen Snyder. This wonderful little novel was definitely my book of the month. A housekeeper is sent by the agency she works for, to the home of a brilliant maths professor. The professor has an unusual problem however, following an accident years earlier, the professor’s short term memory lasts for only eighty minutes.

I read Hot-House (1933) by Gertrude Trevelyan having read two of her previous novels, and had become fascinated by the woman behind them. I’m fairly sure my review of it has put everyone off reading her forever. Hot-House has elements that could have made it a brilliant novel – unfortunately it needed a big edit. It is too long with the narrative voice overwrought and irritating. Yet, I’m glad I read it. Other books by her are extremely good I promise. 

Sometimes, a book comes along that you want to read and don’t want to read all at the same time. Reissued recently by Boilerhouse press, Quarry (1967) by Jane White was called “The most frightening novel of the year,” when it was first published in 1960. It has very strong Lord of the Flies vibes (a book I loathed when I was at secondary school). Whether this is a book readers actually enjoy – I’m not sure, but there is a brilliance in what the author achieves with it. It is disturbing, and not for the faint hearted. There is so much to think about as it is very allegorical, it would be an excellent choice for a book group of resilient readers. 

After which, to say I needed a palate cleanser would be an understatement. My second Japanese book of the month. Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (2010) by Yagisawa Satoshi translated by Eric Ozawa. A really charming novel about new beginnings. Twenty-five-year-old Takako doesn’t read, but her uncle owns the Morisaki bookshop which has been in her family for three generations. He has been running the shop alone since his wife Momoko left him five years earlier. When Takako is left heartbroken, her uncle offers her sanctuary, work in the shop for free board in the rooms above the shop. Here she is able to start again, learning about herself, life and books in the process. 

First published by Virago back in the 1980s Sequins for a Ragged Hem (1989) by Amyra Johnson is a travelogue memoir that depicts the author’s journey from the UK to Trinidad. It has been reissued by penguin, one of the Black Britain Writing Back series of books curated by Bernardine Evaristo. It is a brilliant read. In 1983 Amyra travelled to Trinidad, which she had left when she was eleven. It was a kind of homecoming, staying with her mother, a base from where she travelled to other Caribbean islands, including Tobago, St Lucia, Barbados and Grenada. I really loved spending time with Amyra Johnson and the people she met. She brings the islands of the Caribbean bustling to life. 

It was wholly due to Helen who blogs at She Reads Novels that I came to read Wonder Cruise (1934) by Ursula Bloom. Having read her review of it, I had to get myself a copy immediately. As I was in the process of finishing Sequins for a Ragged Hem, I decided to start it that night. It has proved to be just what I was in the mood for. Ann is thirty-five, she feels nothing much will ever happen to her, life has passed her by. She is frightened and shy about anything new – but she has always secretly longed to go to the Mediterranean. Unexpectedly she wins £300 in a sweepstake (a lot of money in 1932) and with much trembling, and despite the disapproving horror of her elder brother, in frumpy unsuitable clothes she departs on a three week cruise. A cruise that opens her eyes to all kinds of people, opinions and possibilities. Perhaps life hasn’t quite passed her by after all. 

So, August is here – and with it #Witmonth beckons. I have written about what I may read in a previous post, but suffice to say, I will be joining as much as I can. Overall July was good for reading, if not for other things – I’m sure August will be too.

Please let me know what brilliant things you’ve been reading in July.

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