Last night I finished reading Georgette Heyer's An Infamous Army. I greatly enjoyed it and will be posting on it soon. It's a fairly lengthy read, though it does go quickly once you lose yourself in the story. As I have several other long reads in progress at the moment, I feel like taking a little breather and reading a couple of short (but good, I hope) novels before jumping back into the thick of things elsewhere.
Last night I picked up a few books at the library that were on hold for me. One is the new book published by Irene Nemirovsky, Fire in the Blood. It qualifies as short--less than 130 pages. I want to read her other book Suite Francaise, but I plan on reading it when all the hype that went on with its publication is clear from my mind. I read some mixed reviews about it, though the story itself does sound appealing to me. I've not read anything about Fire in the Blood, so I should be safe. I've just read the first few chapters, and I already feel drawn into the story. It is told from the perspective of Silvio, a man who has returned to his village after leaving many years ago. At the outset of the novel his cousin's daughter is preparing to celebrate her wedding. The novel is "a morality tale with doubtful morals, a story of murder, love and betrayal in rural France" according to the synopsis. Apparently Nemirovsky wrote this in 1941. Half the pages of the manuscript were in the now famous suitcase that held her other novel, and the other pages were safeguarded by a family friend.
I have in mind a few other books for my other choice:
- Another Time, Another Place by Jessie Kesson -- This is about the internment of Italian POWs in Scotland during WWII. I wanted to read this book years and years ago, then lost the title. Only recently did I rediscover it. (96 pp.)
- Lighthousekeeping by Jeanette Winterson -- Someone recommended this one to me, and I think I might like it a lot. The first sentence of the novel reads "My mother called me Silver. I was born part precious metal, part pirate". I love that sentence. I've never read Winterson before, but somehow I suspect her work is not going to be very traditional. (232 pp.)
- Simonetta Perkins by L.P. Perkins -- This is a Hesperus Press book, which I've been meaning to read since I bought it. Set in Venice it is a "brilliantly observed tale of desire and guilt". (87 pp.)
- Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald -- She won the Booker for this novel. Can you imagine living on a houseboat on the Thames? (144 pp.)
- Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively -- Dorothy just wrote a very tempting review of this book (another Penelope who won a Booker). (208 pp.)
They all sound good, don't they? I'm being very bad by doing this (when my night stand is groaning under so many other half finished books), but the nice thing about reading is there are no rules.