More Gorgeous Prose

First Virago down, four (or maybe more) to go.  How to follow up such a wonderful book as Mollie Panter-Downes's One Fine Day?  The obvious choice was Elizabeth von Armin's Enchanted April, since I've heard how wonderful it is from more than one person!  Besides, it's April and I could use a little escapism.  The prose is gorgeous and I have a hard time making myself set it aside every day.  It begins:

"It began in a woman's club in London on a February afternoon,--an uncomfortable club, and a miserable afternoon--when Mrs. Wilkins, who had come down from Hampstead to shop and had lunched at her club, took up The Times from the table in the smoking-room, and running her listless eye down the Agony Column saw this:

To Those who Appreciate Wistaria and Sunshine.  Small mediavel Italian Castle on the shores of the Mediterranean to be Let Furnished for the month of April.  Necessary servants remain.  Z, Box 100, The Times.

That was its conception; yet, as in the case of many another, the conceiver was unaware of it at the moment."

This is a wonderful novel and I can see why so many readers call it a favorite.  With every chapter I like it a little bit more.  I can't quite decide whether to pace myself and go slowly or ignore everything else and just read Elizabeth von Arnim!

Although my Virago reading project is quite laid back, it's made me contemplate which books I'd like to work on first (my collection is slowly growing and I think I must have close to 70 of them now).  I don't really want to have a set list, since my mood is always changing, but there are certain books I keep thinking about.  I think I'd like to draw from these books to begin with.

Molly Keane, The Rising Tide.  Molly Keane (or M.J. Farrell as she is also known) seems to have written quite a few novels.  She seems like an important author and I'd like to read something by her.  I have several of her books.  Has anyone read her work?  Any favorites?  I pulled The Rising Tide aside: "One glorious Gothic mansion--Garonlea--and two rather different ladies who would be Queen.  Lady Charlotte French-McGrath has successfully ruled over her family with a rod of iron until the arrival of Cynthia: beautiful, young, talented, selfish--and engaged to her son Desmond.  When Cynthia enters the Jazz Age, on the surface her life passes a whirl of hunting, drinking and romance.  But the ghosts of Garonlea are only biding their time: they know the source of their power, a secret handed on from generation to the next."

Margaret Kennedy, The Constant Nymph.  This was a bestseller when it was first published.  "Tessa is the daughter of a brilliant bohemian composer, Albert Sanger, who with his 'circus' of precocious children, slovenly mistress, and assortment of hangers-on, lives in a rambling chalet high in the Austrian Alps. 'Unbalanced, untaught, and fatally warm-hearted,' the fourteen-year-old Tessa has fallen in love with Lewis Dodd, a gifted composer like her father. Confidently, she awaits maturity (and Lewis). For even his marriage to Tessa's beautiful cousin Florence cannot shatter the loving bond between Lewis and his constant nymph."

Antonia White, Frost in May.  This was the first Virago published and I definitely plan on reading it this year.  "Nanda Gray, daughter of a Catholic convert, is nine when in 1908 she goes to the Convent of the Five Wounds. Quick–witted, resilient, and enthusiastic, she eagerly adapts to this cloistered world, learning rigid conformity and subjection to authority. Passionate friendships are the only deviation from her total obedience. Convent life — the smell of beeswax and incense, the petty cruelty of the nuns, the glamour and eccentricity of Nanda's friends — is perfectly captured by Antonia White."

Joan Wyndham, Love Lessons. "It is August 1939. As a teenage Catholic virgin, Joan Wyndham spent her days trying to remain pure and unsullied and her nights trying to stay alive. Huddled in the air-raid shelter, she wrote secretly and obsessively about the strange yet exhilarating times she was living through, sure that to her, this was 'the happiest time' of her life."

Rosamund Lehmann, Dusty Answer.  "Dusty Answer is Judith Earle's story—her solitary childhood spent in the seclusion of her riverside house, her awkward, intense experiences at Cambridge rounded with passion and disillusionment, and her travels abroad with her elegant, socialite mother. Above all, this novel is about Judith's consuming relationship with the Fyfe family, who each fall in love with Judith, transforming her young womanhood."

Vita Sackville-West, The Edwardians. "Sebastian and Viola are children of the English aristocracy. Handsome and moody, 19-year-old Sebastian is heir to Chevron, a vast country estate. Tying him to his inheritance is a deep sense of tradition and love of the English countryside, but he loathes the cold, extravagant society of which he is a part. At 16, his sister Viola is more independent: an unfashionable beauty who scorns every part of her inheritance—most particularly that of womanhood. It is July 1905, and Chevron is once again the site of a lavish house party. The guests include the great beauty Lady Rochampton and the explorer Leonard Anquetil. It is Lady Rochampton who will initiate Sebastian in the art of love, but it is Anquetil who opens for both brother and sister the gateway to another world."

Winifred Holtby, Poor Caroline.  Winifred Holtby was mentioned often in Singled Out, which I read earlier this year.  "Caroline Denton-Smyth is an eccentric, remarkable for her vivid costumes trailing feathers, fancy beads and jingling lorgnettes.  Sitting alone in her West Kensington bedsitter, she dreams of the Christina Cinema Company--her vehicle for reform.  For Caroline sees herself as a pioneer, one who must risk everything in the 'Cause of Right'."

E. Arnot Robertson, Ordinary Families.  This is a coming of age story, which Harriet Devine recently wrote about. 

My list could have been much longer.  I've left off Elizabeth Taylor, Daphne Du Maurier and Vera Brittain, all of whom I want to read more of this year.  And then there are all the lesser known (to me) authors that I own and want to read.  Alas, first Elizabeth and Italy and then, who knows where I'll end up next.  The thing with Viragos, though, I don't think I can lose out reading any of these authors!

Comments

[Simon T]

What a great bundle of books! I can't believe I've yet to read any E von A, since I have four or five and have been raved to about them for years...

[Jeanette]

I've got to stop reading your blog! My TBR pile has been growing by leaps and bounds since I found your blog!
I love Vera Brittain! I am trying to get my book group to read her but they only seem interested in contemporary fiction. I had Enchanted April checked out from the library but had to return before I started reading it. :-(
I need to go back and get it.
I am off to go add half these titles to my TBR list now.

[Danielle]

Simon--I have a few of her books as well. You really have to read Enchanted April--it's an addictive sort of read. Elizabeth and Her German Garden was good, too. There's a bio of her that I'd like to read as well!
Jeannette--I know the feeling. I think I end up with so many books started for the same reason--getting ideas from other readers! Definitely go back and get Enchanted April! And I really need to read Vera Brittain this year. I've read about her but nothing by her. I've been interested in the WWI era (before, during and after) and I just read a book that mentioned her quite a bit--it piqued my curiosity.

[Margaret Powling]

I suspect you've not seen the film of The Enchanted April? It's always best to read a book first, of course, and have your own mental image of the characters, and whilst some people haven't liked the film, I really enjoyed it and would also recommend that (starring Josie Lawrence and Joan Plowright.) You would enjoy it if only for the enchanting scenery!

I simply MUST get a copy of Vita's The Edwardians. I've not read any of her fiction but have a Bloomsbury shelf where I put Bloomsbury-related books, such as the Diaries of Harold Nicolson and books about the garden that he and Vita created as Sissinghurst, etc. But I've always been intrigued by the Edwardian era, the long garden party before the world changed forever in 1914.

[Dorothy W.]

There's an article about Viragos in the Guardian today: http://books.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,333744168-110738,00.html

I don't know how many Viragos I'll read this year, but I may be joining you in reading a bunch of them. I just added another to my shelves yesterday.

[Lisa]

What a wonderful dilemma to have. These all sound great! Can't wait to hear about each of them as you read them.

[litlove]

So glad you are enjoying the Elizabeth von Arnim! I've been reading a biography of her this week and she was an extraordinary woman. The other books look wonderful too. I also have the Sackville-West to read!

[Danielle]

Margaret--I actually did see Enchanted April ages ago--before I think I realized that it was a book. Although I have forgotten some details, I do still have a mental image in my mind. I also prefer reading the book first, but once and a while will do it in reverse. I liked the movie, but I'm prepared to like the book more! :) I also am fascinated with the whole Edwardian/WWI era as well as Bloomsbury. If you have reading suggestions I would love to get them. I've read two books that are related (though not specifically on those pre-WWI years)--Mrs Woolf and the Servants and Singled Out. Both excellent books. I'm looking forward to reading the Vita Sackville West book.
Dorothy--Many thanks for the link. It looks like they are getting lots of press (deservedly!). I don't think I've seen anything in US magazines or papers, or have I just missed it? I liked what she said about liking books that are flawed along with the good and great. Though I don't think I understand why Dorothy Whipple is looked down upon. I've heard good things about her. I need to read her and decide for myself. I have one of her books here. That would be great if you read more Viragos this year! There are so many good ones I don't think it would be hard to do really. Which new one did you find?
Lisa--I can't wait to read more. And definitely the sort of problem I like having.
Litlove--I'd like to read a bio of her. Which are you reading? I know there is an OOP one that I am going to try and get through the library eventually. I want to read more of her fiction as well.

[Margaret Powling]

Re Vita. One film I would recommend you seeing is Orlando (it was made more than a decade ago, but it's still beautiful) which was, of course, a sort of love poem from Virginia to Vita (the film based on the book and I confess to not having read the book but I loved the film!) Vita also adored the family home of Knole in Kent, which is now owned by the National Trust and so I think it helps understand Vita to see something of the home in which she was brought up. The National Trust's guide book on Knole, therefore, is a good starting point although that might be difficult for you to get in America. Have a look at Knole on www.nationaltrust.org.uk and then put Knole in the search engine. It is a Tudor house, enormous, and from what I recall, very 'brown' in side.
Other books I would recommend are:
The Letters of Vita Sackville-West to Virginia Woolf edited by Louise De Salvo & Michael A Leaska (my edition was published by Papermac in 1984.)
Sissinghourst, The Making of a Garden by Anne Scott James(published by Michael Joseph, 1973.)
Vita's Other World - A Gardening Biograhy of V. Sackville-West by Jane Brown (published by Viking, 1985.)
I would also recommend Portrait of a Marriage by Nigel Nicolson (Harold and Vita's son)(first published 1973, my version is a paperback by Futura.)
These are, of course, about Vita and not the others in the Bloomsbury group (Virginia, Vanessa Bell, Lytton Strachey et al.)

[Cornflower]

Do you have Molly Keane's Good Behaviour, Danielle? It's the only one of hers I've read, but I enjoyed it very much and read it a second time not too long ago.

[Danielle]

Margaret--Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm so envious of British readers as you have so many wonderful author homes and places you can visit and it seems like it might be comparatively easy to do so (though am only guessing). Here I am not so close to many authors residences, though a Nebraska author (where I live) is Willa Cather--her home is in the western part of the state--perhaps a six hour drive from my home. Thankfully I can make use of the internet, so I will take a look at the places you mention. I do know my library has the Nigel Nicholson book you mention as I have looked at it before. I've not read Orlando either (am slowly working through VW's novels), but will see if Netflix has the movie. These should keep me busy for a while! :)
Cornflower--I do have Good Behaviour--that's one I recently bought. Perhaps I will try that one. Thanks for the suggestion!!

[Melanie]

So glad you're enjoying Enchanted April. I have to say that it is one of my favourite books ever. I love E. von A.!

And I just read Dusty Answer last fall, and it got me started on a Rosamond Lehmann kick. I hope you'll enjoy it too, when you get to it. :)

[Margaret Powling]

Oh yes, Molly Keane's Good Behaviour is a must. This, like The Enchanted April, and Orlando, both of which I've mentioned, was made into a TV drama in 1983. I know the year because inside my paperback (Abacus) edition of the book I have cuts from various papers, reviews of the prog, etc, and also Molly Keane's obit from the Daily Telegraph (the obit dated 23 April 1996 - she died when she was 91.) The actors in the drama were Joanna McCallum as Aroon (the heroine), with Hannah Gordon as Mother and Daniel Massey (son of Hollywood actor, Raymond Massey and perhaps best remembered for his role in Dr Kildare, the long-running TV series). Good Behaviour was short-listed for the Booker Prize. Between 1928 and 1956 Molly Keane published 11 novels under the pseudonym M J Farrell.