Look what I got in the mail! Joanne Harris's new book, The Lollipop Shoes. I want to set everything aside and ignore all housework and just read this all afternoon long, but alas, I will be shampooing carpets as soon as I post this (everyone else is being industrious in my house today, so I will feel guilty just being a layabout). That's okay--I still have two more days of vacation! I loved Chocolat, so I am a little apprehensive this won't live up to it. I have decided not to read any reviews at all--just jump into the story. If the first line of the book is anything to go by, I think it might be a good read in any case:
"It is a relatively little-known fact that, over the course of a single year, about twenty million letters are delivered to the dead."
I wonder if the cover photo is Pere Lachaise Cemetary by the way? Interesting way to begin the story. You can listen to a podcast with Joanne Harris here--also very interesting--she talks about the "sequel" and reads from the book.
I am completely behind in blog reading this weekend. I always appreciate comments left on my posts, and I am also behind in answering those, which I try to do in a timely manner. Please don't think I am ignoring you!
I decided to start a book for the Summer Reading Challenge. I am starting with a Virago, and since I am also reading a biography of Daphne Du Maurier, I picked up Castle D'Or. It was actually started by Arthur Quiller-Couch and finished by Daphne Du Maurier after his death. It is a retelling of the Tristan and Iseult legend, but set in 1840s Cornwall. Already being familiar with the legend, I fear it will not end happily, but I think it will be good nontheless.
I have been reading The Sleeping Beauty by Elizabeth Taylor. I have wanted to read her work for a while now, and I am glad I finally picked up one of her books. "The Sleeping Beauty is a love story of middle age by a writer whom Arthur Mizener called 'the modern man's Jane Austen'." And yes, so far it is very good. It is set in a seaside town called Seething! Another seaside setting. I will definitely be reading more by her as I like her writing style!
One last note (and hopefully tomorrow I will be back with a more coherent post). Last night I watched The Ladies in Lavender. What a wonderful film. Aside from loving the setting--Cornwall, the acting was excellent as well as the story. Judi Dench and Maggie Smith are such good actresses. Dench and Smith are aging sisters living in a seaside village. Actually their home overlooks the shore. After a particularly violent storm they find washed up on their beach a young man. It turns out he is a foreigner. I hate to give anymore of the story away. It is a bittersweet tale. It makes you wonder a bit about the choices you made or experiences you might have missed when you were young. I do recommend it!