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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Babbacombe’s – Susan Scarlett (1941)

Sometimes something rather cheery is just what we need, and Babbacombe’s was definitely that something for me, delightful entertainment, and a quick read. I have Simon of course to thank for nudging me to read this, because he reviewed it so enthusiastically, and there I was needing just the right kind of book.

Here Susan Scarlett has given us all the ingredients for a really charming, page-turner. A lovable, ordinary family – in an ordinary house, a department store, a touching courtship and a truly despicable little madam who it is a pleasure to loathe. I started reading and couldn’t put it down. 

Beth Carson, has just finished school, as head girl she had been a credit to the school, and her family. She is now embarking on her first job, in the gowns department of Babbacombe’s department store. This is where her father has worked for over thirty years. At home with Beth, are her parents, four younger siblings and a cat (who belongs chiefly to her youngest brother). It’s a well drawn family, Scarlett easily portraying their love, laughter, tears, hopes and dreams. There are poignant and funny family dramas, keeping the narrative pacy and compelling.

Beth’s mother arranges the attic room for Beth, finally a room of her own, helping to reflect her new grown up status. However, Beth’s delight is not to last – when it’s decided that her orphaned cousin Dulcie will come to board with the family – the boys are put in the attic – Beth will share their old room with Dulcie.  Beth is sad but doesn’t complain – she is thoroughly decent, understanding and wise beyond her years. She understands her mother’s difficulties and never wants to make things harder. 

Beth has only had a week at Babbacombe’s, when Dulcie starts work there as a lift girl – poor Beth can’t get away from her – because Dulcie is awful. (More of her later). As Beth gets to grips with her new job, long hours on her feet, never sitting down, everybody’s little go-fer – she has an unexpected, and not unwelcome encounter.

“I thought we were allowed to sit. I mean I thought it was the Shop Act or something that we had to have something to sit on.”

Jenny laughed.

“So they say, but it doesn’t work out that way. You won’t get sacked for sitting, but if you sit you’ll get the sack.”

David Babbacombe is the ne’er do well son of the store owner – a man originally from much humbler stock, his son has been brought up and educated graciously. When Beth meets him in the staff lift one day, she has no idea who he is. The lift breaks down. Chatting away happily, David reveals who he is and that he is on his way to get a cheque from his father. Beth has the sound good sense of both her parents, and she lets him know exactly what she thinks of him just getting money and not earning it. David, however is smitten – and this is enough for him to change his mind, he pleads with his father for a job in the store, the lowest rung of the ladder, and he gets it. A sales assistant in Cooked Meats. So, we realise, not such a ne’er do well after all. Of course, Beth rather likes him too – but these things can never run smoothly – Beth’s father in particular insistent that Beth can’t fall in love outside her class. Beth tries to put distance between her and David – they go weeks without seeing one another – but inevitably they meet – David often conspiring they do so. There are many twists and turns ahead – I shall say no more. 

Then there is Dulcie – oh my! What an enjoyable thing it is to loathe Dulcie. What is most enjoyable – and saves her character from being frustrating for the reader – is that everyone in the book, pretty much, loathes her too. Dulcie, brought up by a spinster aunt and sent to boarding school, she lords this over everyone, every chance she gets. She is very pretty, she knows it, wears makeup, skimpy clothes, makes it plain that everyone else in the Carson house is somehow lesser – pretends to feel sorry for Beth for not being pretty (everyone considers Beth very attractive)  Dulcie only has eyes for herself. She is rude, selfish, conniving and when she gets to hear about David – is determined to have him for herself. 

I love novels set in workplaces so that is what really attracted me – and I ended up loving all the story strands equally. Animal lovers – there are a couple of Dachshund dogs as well as the cat – and all animals survive the book to  live happily ever after. 

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