This is what happens when you have too many really good books on the go at once. You buy something new and exciting in June, and finally finish it in October. I think my problem was reading it at the same time I was reading a similar book and was too drunk on Victorian pastiche to finish it in a timely manner. Don't think I didn't enjoy this book, because I actually found it quite entertaining, however I can get easily distracted at times!
The Observations was called a "A confident, fresh, roguishly charming first work" by one reviewer, and I have to agree. It was a fun romp! Bessy is Irish, lower class, and has a slightly disreputable background. When we first encounter her, she is on the road to Edinburgh, but she doesn't make it there. She does find a job as a maid at Castle Haivers instead. Although she lacks the skills of a maid, she can read and write. Curiously her employer, Arabella Reid, has her keep a journal of her personal thoughts and daily activities. Like any good Victorian tale not all is as it seems at Castle Haivers. There are ghosts, ladies kept behind locked doors, madness, sexual innuendo--all sorts of good things that make for a fun read. Once I picked it back up (and ignored any other distractions), I flew through the second half of the book! Harris is a good writer--the characters are interesting (if not a little odd), and the story engaging. The slang and absence of punctuation at times was a bit distracting at the very first, but as you get into the rhythm of the story it seems quite normal and I thought added to the flavor of the time and place. I have to say, I love a good Victorian read!
I should be finishing Indiana in the next day or so. I have discovered that the new translation that I am reading is far preferable to the online version. I usually don't even notice these sorts of things, but the earlier translation is on the clunky side in comparison to the translation by Sylvia Raphael! So now I get to decide on which book from the list I will work on next. Actually since I will finish Indiana soon, I get to choose two. I think it is time to get back to my Dorothy Sayers mystery!! I have been in the mood for a good mystery now for a while, and poor Dorothy Sayers has been languishing far too long! And I am still in India in Eat, Pray, Love. It is sort of weird not picking up a brand new book, but since several of the books on my night stand have bookmarks in the front of the book rather than the back, it is almost like starting a new book anyway. Now to decide which other book...the Woolf? Maybe I need to get back to Sophie's Choice? Of couse, these are the sorts of decisions I like.
Edited: I received the new Bas Bleu catalog today and discovered that another mystery by Elizabeth Ironside is now available--called The Accomplice, and it looks good! I thought I would mention it as there might be other fans of her first mystery, Death in the Garden! Needless to say, I will definitely be getting this. I wonder what other goodies are in the catalog!