A Work in Progress

The Dead Secret

While Wilkie Collins's The Dead Secret doesn't quite achieve the literary heights of some of his later works, it was still a thoroughly entertaining read and is important as a bridge between his earlier more modest writings and his later, more sophisticated successes that he is now so well known for.  I've read a smattering of his novels (this is my fifth) and feel like I can finally begin to compare and contrast works and see how themes begun in earlier works have reached fruition in later books and see how characters in early novels anticipate more fully fleshed out characters in later ones.  It's exciting to be able to read an introduction and not just be "talked at" but to understand the points the editor makes and be familiar with the books he discusses.

"Wilkie Collins wrote The Dead Secret between promise and fame.  The last of his apprentice novels, it was succeeded by his first major success, The Woman in White.  Up to that point, Collins was known as a writer of daring novels that challenged social behavior through his presentation of domestic crime or bohemian artists.  The Dead Secret only slightly altered that view, confronting such issues as the fallen woman, false inheritance, and mistaken identity, all on the wild coast of Cornwall."

The introduction to my edition, written by Ira Nadel, gives a wonderful overview of this period of Collins's life and not only discusses this novel but the writing environment he was part of and where his work was moving.  Wilkie Collins was a good friend of Charles Dickens, who served almost as a mentor to the younger man.  Collins wrote for Dickens's weekly magazine, Household Words, where The Dead Secret was serialized in 1857.  Apparently they often collaborated and at times Dickens's work was taken for Collins's and vice versa.  Eventually Wilkie Collins left the magazine in order that his work wouldn't simply be an imitation of Dickens's style, and The Dead Secret is seen as a transitional novel "marking a change from a fiction entirely dependent on setting, melodrama, and eccentrics to one focusing on suspense, locale, and psychological aberration."

Part of the reason I chose The Dead Secret was for its Cornish setting.  Although not overly heavy on details, there is a sense of place to the story.  I didn't realize "Porth" is a Cornish word meaning harbor, cove or landing place.  Much of the action in the story takes place in Porthgenna Tower in the village of Porthgenna, a rambling house in a state of decline along the Cornish coast.  "Sensationalist" fiction is very much Wilkie Collins's own creation (or at least his mode of writing), which the editor calls a blending of Gothic with the domestic.  There are the crumbling ruins of Porthgenna, a dark, hidden secret, the possibility of a ghost and a crime.  All good things wrapped up in a page-turning story. 

The novel opens on the deathbed of Mistress Treverton, Porthgenna Tower's duenna.  A former actress, she's concealing a secret from her past that only her lady's maid, Sarah Leeson is privy to.  It's a secret she's not willing to take to her grave, yet she's too afraid to tell her husband directly either.  Instead she bullies her maid into helping her write a note revealing all to Captain Treverton that Sarah is entrusted with giving him upon her death.  She makes Sarah promise that the note will never leave Porthgenna on the fear that Mistress Treverton will return to haunt Sarah all her days.  The promise that the note will be placed directly in the captain's hands is just shy of being elicited when Mistress Treverton expires, leaving behind her husband and young daughter to make due the best they can alone.

It's not hard to figure out that the secret involves not only Mistress Treverton, but that Sarah Leeson is in some way mixed up in it, too.  When she sees father and child mourning their loss of wife and mother she can't bear to divulge the secret, rather she spirits the note away into one of the unused rooms where it will, as promised, remain in the Tower yet far away from prying eyes.  And that night she gathers her things and leaves Cornwall.  Sarah Leeson is an interesting character.  Once a beauty, she's passed through some terrible ordeal that caused her  great suffering, which turned her hair prematurely grey.  She's the key to the secret, but her anxieties run deep and your wonder how far she'll go to keep things safely locked away.    

Moving forward fifteen years the Treverton's daughter Rosamond is now married and expecting her first child.  She's an intelligent, quick-witted young woman in control of her life and keen to help guide her blind husband yet totally devoted to him as well.  As they journey back to Porthgenna Tower, where they plan on living, their travels are beset with one problem after another.  I'll stop here as anything more at this point will spoil the plot.  

One of the things I love about Wilkie Collins's work is his sympathetic portrayal of women.  His female characters usually have more to recommend them than most of his male characters, who are often the insipid ones.  "Collins's heroines are forthright explorers who do not tolerate deception and often dominate their men."  This is something you will see over and over in Collins's novels.  Perhaps part of the reason for this is the secret life Collins was himself leading.  He lived off and on with a widow and her daughter, though they never married.  And he fathered several children by another woman and at times maintained relationships with both women.  Surely this must have been unthinkinable in the Victorian era.  

This won't be my last Wilkie Collins novel.  I plan on reading as many of his books I can get my hands on, perhaps Basil, another early novel, will be next.  I have several novels by him waiting for me and then there are his major works to be reread.  My favorite thus far is Armadale followed closely by The Woman in White  and then The Moonstone.  In my book you can't go wrong with a novel by Wilkie Collins (even his lesser works)!

For a change of pace, however, my next classic is F. Scott Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise, which I'd like to pair with Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern by Joshua Zeitz.  They seem like two sides to the same coin--the same period but from different perspectives, and I like the idea of rounding out my reading--a little fiction and a little nonfiction.  I like to broaden my reading (and it means I can start two books instead of one--sneaky, aren't, I!).             

On the Needlework Front

 

I tell myself that if I regularly share updates of my current needlework projects I'll be more apt to keep stitching so I will have something new to share.  I've not made a lot of progress on my Birds of a Feather "No Work, No Honey" chart since last time, but I have finished stitching most of the bee skep.  I need only fill in the diagonal lines, but I seem to be missing that particular color of floss.  So I'll be moving on to the borders next.

 

I did start a new, much smaller project, however.  "Summer Spell" is very small (only 2" x 2") and I thought I would be able to fly through this one--an easy finish.  I'm finding it much slower going, though.  There are lots of color changes, so I might only stitch a few stitches and then need to change to a new color.  This means lots of threading of needles, which of course slows the process down.  Once I'm done it will be nice, but it's pretty tedious work otherwise.  The designer is Just Nan and she has really gorgeous designs that tend to be pretty labor intensive.  If you're willing to do the work, they're well worth the effort. 

 

And just to show you I do manage to finish complicated projects once in a while...this is a Just Nan design called "Miss Kitty's Dragons" that I stitched several years ago.  If you untie it, there are needles kept safely inside.  The little charms are dragonflies and on the opposite side is Miss Kitty.  You can see more of the design here.  I did all the stitching and most of the finishing by hand! 

This makes me want to go and stitch now!  Finishing something like this always gives me a nice sense of accomplishment, and it's been too long since I've done something quite this nice.

Book Notes

 

I had this wonderful idea at the beginning of the summer to not take any review copies that might be offered to me and instead get caught up with those I've let accumulate.  The good news is that I've been very faithful in politely declining the few that have come my way (I did, however, accept a couple and one came as a surprise--see photo above).  The bad news is that I've pretty much been reading at whim all summer and haven't managed to catch up as I had planned.  There are so many good new books out there, and there are so many good books on my shelves that it is hard to juggle them in an equitable way.  

So rather than reducing my pile I now also have a few to add to it.  Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to read these (and the others I should have already gotten to), but it would be nice if along with the book came an extra hour of reading time a day to squeeze them all in!  Greedy, aren't I?  My newest finds: Chandra Prasad's Breathe the Sky.  I recently reread her On Borrowed Wings, which I count as one of my favorite comfort reads.  Amelia Earhart actually made an appearance in that novel, and now her life story has inspired Chandra's newest book, which is due out in October.  I don't really know much about Amelia Earhart, so this should be an interesting introduction.            

I've never read anything by Henry Miller, though I've been curious about him in relation to author Anais Nin.  I will have an opportunity to give his work a try with Black Spring.  This was banned in the English speaking world upon publication in Paris.  It's not really a straightforward novel but a series of linked episodes--recollections from his youth in Brooklyn and his life in Paris.

And this past week I received a surprise in the mail.  Eugenia Kim's The Calligrapher's Daughter is a novel of Korea during the Japanese occupation.  As it's a coming-of-age story it should fit in well with the books I've been spending time with of late.  I can't think of another book I've read set in Korea, so I'm looking forward to reading it.

I think I may have to beg a few afternoons off from work this week and try and reorient myself and my reading.  As I have a couple of other books that I need to finish before the end of the month it's back to adding a few 'obligation' reads into the mix.  By the way, I ended up properly starting Elaine Dundy's The Old Man and Me.  It's too soon to comment on the story, but she does write about Soho in the 1950s in an interesting manner.  Even her style is sort of hip.  I'm hoping it won't take me long to get involved in the story.     

Just so you won't think I only talk about (as yet unread) books, I did finish reading Wilkie Collins's The Dead Secret this weekend.  While not quite up to standards of some of his later works, you really can't beat a novel by Wilkie Collins.  I want to read the introduction before I write about it, so I'll save that for later in the week.    

 

On a side note, over the weekend I also picked up the July/August issue of Victoria Magazine.  It's gorgeous to look at, and at one time I subscribed to it (may have to consider doing so again).  Aside from it being their summer issue with their "favorite beach finds" (I'll be looking longingly at those photos), there is also an article on Edith Wharton's home, The Mount.

  

Another place to add to my list of 'must-sees' (someday perhaps).  Their next issue (probably due out very soon now) is their "British Issue", which I'll be watching for as they will be featuring "vistas and views from coastal English villages" amongst other locales.  Until then I'll be perusing the pages of my new goodies (books and magazines alike).

A Few Miscellaneous Items

If you're familiar with Deanna Raybourn's books, you might want to check one artist's perception of what Nicholas Brisbane's character looks like.  Check out her painting process here.  I agree, he is pretty swoon-worthy.  I've yet to read her most recent book, Silent on the Moor, but this makes me want to grab my copy right now.  Lady Julia Grey certainly has good taste in men.        

I was looking around ABE Books (me, look at used books online, never...) when I came across Penguin's First Ten Books.  I love those cover designs and own one or two myself (none of these titles I'm afraid).  It's interesting to see which ten books were first published in paperback (I've only read Mary Webb, but the others look interesting as well).  For a long time now I've thought how cool it would be to have the job deciding what sort of illustration goes on the cover of a book, though I don't think I'd be creative enough to do it.  I might have to splurge and buy Penguin By Design, which I've lusted after ever since it first came out (my library has a copy).  Wouldn't a whole shelf full of these Penguins look nice?    

Do you recall me mentioning how reading Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher makes me hungry?  Since I was graciously aided in figuring out what fairy cakes are, I decided I needed to research Kunzle Cakes as well.  It appears they are no longer made, but they sound yummy nonetheless.  The latest references I've had to look up are pasties and Gentleman's Relish.  I'll pass on the latter, but pasties sound pretty good.  I can't vouch for the period detail, but Pilcher certainly seems to know what she's writing about--the food, the clothes, the music.  I feel like I'm walking into England in the 1930s whenever I pick up the book (which is often really).       

I started watching Death on the Nile (with David Suchet) last night, but unfortunately I fell asleep partway through the movie.  It's not a reflection on the movie, which I was enjoying, but that's what happens when I try and start something on a Friday night at 10:00!  I'm usually far too tired to stay awake long, so I will try again tonight.  I have a feeling they took a certain amount of license with the story, as Linnet most certainly didn't use cocaine in the book!  I suppose there is only so much you can fit into a film of 90 minutes when the book was over 400 pages!  I may have to also get the Peter Ustinov version as well to compare.  I have Coraline lined up for tonight, too.  I listened to the book on audio--read by Neil Gaiman himself and loved it.   

I may even try and get in some reading this weekend, too.

Recent Serious

Once again I am going to answer a "Booking Through Thursday" question a little late.  This time I came across it via Matt.

What's the most serious book you've read recently?  (I figure it's easier than asking your most serious book ever, because, well, it's recent).

This is a good question for me, since I've been existing in part on a variety of comfort reads lately.  Sometimes comfort reads are just a necessity in life, which is not to say that they are always simply mindless  reads.  However, occasionally a book with a little more bite, something more challenging is just what the mind and body needs as well.  So, I have both types of books on the go at the moment and reach for whichever mentally appeals. 

William Maxwell's The Folded Leaf is a book that I've been dipping into a lot lately.  It's by no means hard going.  His prose is simple yet beautiful, though the subjects he deals with are perhaps more serious than most of my other current reads and the story tends to linger in the mind longer.  In The Folded Leaf Maxwell explores the friendship of two unlikely boys in a small Illinois town in the early 1920s.

I'm nearly finished reading Wilkie Collins's The Dead Secret.  His books are always a pleasure to read, so do they still count as serious?  I consider his books to be classics of Victorian Literature.  Quite often his novels are gripping reads, but he's just so good at what he does that you can't help but appreciate his talent.  The Dead Secret anticicpates Collins's later more popular novels.  And there is always more to the stories than meets the eye, if you're willing to dig a little.   

I've also started A.S. Byatt's The Children's Book, which is not at all as simplistic as the title leads the reader to believe.  I've always thought Byatt's prose is elegant and sophisticated and she never approaches her subject by halves, whatever it is.  When she writes about poetry or literature or art you darn well know you're getting a true and accurate picture.   

And if you want serious but dark, I recently read Emile Zola's Therese Raquin, which was a dark, oppressive novel of murder and revenge.  Again, it's not a hard book to read, but the images were at times sordid and depressing.  And there was little to make you feel good about the immorality of the characters, though in a strange way I thought it an excellent book and plan on reading more of Zola's work.

And I have a couple of serious novels lined up.  I expect Dawn Powell's Dance Night to be a serious read.  I hope to get started on it this weekend.  I'm not sure what classic I will chose after I finish Wilkie Collins, but I am leaning towards something by F. Scott Fitzgerald.  And on the reading horizon, I have in the back of my mind another long read.  At the moment I'm thinking Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy, as I'd like to give 'American Realism' a try (and compare to Zola, another Realist author).  

So you see I don't just subsist on fairy cakes (don't you like the sound of that so much better than cupcakes?), but also fruits and veggies, too.

New and Noteworthy, Part 1

Save me from myself.  I've jettisoned another book that was on my current reads pile.  I was actually just starting to get into it, but it was a victim of a fast approaching library due date (which can't be renewed) and loud and awful music at the gym (again).  I know I should be able to concentrate better, but certain types of music (played at certain loud volumes) just rattles me and puts my teeth on edge (I think I am going to give ear plugs a try--does that sound excessive?).  Since I was already feeling the slightest bit tepid about the book anyway, I decided it was better to just chuck it in now and hopefully go back to it later (check it out again later that is).  The thing is this makes me feel like I can now just pick up any other book that strikes my fancy, when in reality I have more than enough books underway to occupy my free time.  Put it down to simple gluttony.  I've been eyeing a stack of hardcovers that I couldn't wait to buy when they were first released (some have since come out in paperback--ack!) that I'm feeling the need to read now.  I'll try to resist, but I make no promises.

That wasn't what I wanted to write about today, though.  As I'm in between books (finishing them that is) I thought I would share some of the new titles I've been taking notice of lately.  These are all books that are coming out in the near future.  I think I will have to split the list in two in order to keep my post brief.         

Emily's Ghost: A Novel of the Bronte Sisters, Denise Giardina - Is it just me or are the Bronte's the subject of lots of fiction lately?

John the Revelator, Peter Murphy - An Irish coming-of-age novel (because you can never have enough of these in my book)

Year of the Flood, Margaret Atwood - Yay, a new Atwood novel.  This looks like more Dystopian fiction.

Distant Hours, Kate Morton - I'm not quite sure what her new one is about--WWII perhaps?  I liked her first book  enough to buy the second and will buy the third as well.

Treasure of the Gold Cheetah, Suzanne Arruda - I've been very bad--collecting her mysteries set in Post-WWI Africa but haven't read them yet.  This is #4.  I'd better get going with these.

White Garden: A Novel of Virginia Woolf, Stephanie Barron - And now V. Woolf is the subject of fiction.

Forests of the Night, David Stuart Davies - A new mystery series set in Post--WWII London!

Close-Up, Esther Verhoef - Crime fiction by a Dutch author who's been compared to Ruth Rendell!  

Part 2 coming soon.  Now I'm off to go check out that pile of books of mine.  Sometimes just looking is enough.  And sometimes it isn't.

Death on the Nile

I've finished Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile, my second Hercule Poirot mystery.  So, are you curious to know whether I did indeed guess correctly?  The key word here is guess, and I did guess the correct culprit.  However, unlike Monsieur Poirot I can't put it down to my very astute intellectual prowess for solving murderous conundrums.  It was more a matter of who I wanted it to be, and the character having a probable motive (but then don't they all), but opportunity was lacking, which threw me entirely off.  I couldn't have told you how the crime was comitted and Christie threw in some complications which made me alter my suspicions every few pages.  In the end it came down to the fact I read a lot of mysteries, and watch a lot of mystery shows, so know how the devious crime writer mind works.  Or maybe just luck (or maybe everyone who reads it comes to the same conclusion I did).  Had I not already come across a slightly similar situation in another story, I might have been at a complete loss.  So in the end my first instinct was right, but I could never have explained how we got there.  That's the beauty of Agatha Christie, I think.  In her stories, the devil is most definitely in the details.

I've only read one other Agatha Christie novel, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, which if you've read it, you know it shook the mystery reading world up when it was first published.  I like Agatha Christie.  I like her style and could probably just about read her novels one after another (though I won't gorge myself at the moment).   Her mysteries are light, intellectual puzzles.  They seem like very traditional mysteries, even this one with its exotic setting still had the feel of a drawing room mystery about it.  There is a set cast of characters, each with something to hide, most with a connection to the victim or a reason to want her dead.  All the clues are in plain sight so the clever reader (next time I'll take notes to back up my assumptions) can solve the mystery along with Poirot.  I'm not sure if there is any validity to this statement, but there is an interesting theory in the wikipedia about her writing style:

"On an edition of Desert Island Discs (a British radio program), Brian Aldiss claimed Agatha Christie told him that she wrote her books up to the last chapter, and then decided who the most unlikely suspect was.  She would then go back and make the necessary changes to 'frame' that person.  The evidence of Christie's working methods, as described by successive biographers, contradicts this claim."

I'm not sure I buy that theory myself, as she would have a lot of changes to make for the mystery to work out.  It seems to me it would only make the story more convoluted.  I plan on reading a biography of Christie at some point so will see what they have to say about her writing style.

The first short section of Death on the Nile takes place in England and America.  Each character is introduced in kind and there is an impressive cast of characters that I was afraid I might not be able to keep track of.  Linnet Ridgeway is young and beautiful and very rich, otherwise known as The Girl Who Has Everything.  What she doesn't have she simply takes, and at the beginning of the novel a friend remarks to her that she must have a lot of enemies.  So the reader just knows something awful is going to happen to her right from the start.  She promises her best friend Jacqueline de Bellefort that she'll consider offering Jacqueline's boyfriend, Simon Doyle, a job on her estate.  Jacqueline and Simon are deeply in love but their financial situation is shaky and Simon needs a job before they can consider marrying.   

Fast forward to Egypt.  Enter the newly married Linnet and her husband Simon Doyle.  The Doyles are enjoying their honeymoon in the beautiful, antique country of Egypt after a whirlwind romance and marriage.  The only thing to darken their skies is an angry Jacqueline who dogs their steps and follows them to each new location making their honeymoon miserable.  She's still in love with Simon, but now is angry with them both and throwing around all sorts of threats.  The pair think they can lose Jacqueline by joining a cruise down the Nile from Assuan to Wadi Halfa.  It's uncanny how Jacqueline always shows up at the last moment.  Someone is going to be murdered, and it's pretty easy to see who.  I won't give away anymore of the plot, as I don't want to ruin the story for anyone who hasn't read it yet.

The murder doesn't occur until halfway through the book so there are plenty of opportunities to see how everyone interacts and time to speculate on the most likely culprit.  Everyone has their reason for coming to Egypt, some directly related to Linnet Doyle and others, like M. Poirot, find themselves part of the group only by chance.  Poirot is joined by Colonel Race to solve the crime.  Race has boarded the steamer looking for a criminal of a different sort--a political agitator.  Then to complicate matters not only is there a murder but also a theft, so the possibilities of who did what are endless.  Poirot has figured things out before the rest of us, but leaves the big questions and solutions until the end.  Colonel Race is ready to move things along, but Poirot responds:

"You think I am just amusing myself with the side issues?  And it annoys you?  But it is not that.  Once I went to an arachaeological expedition--and I learnt something there.  In he course of an excavation, when something comes up out of the ground, everything is cleared away very carefully all around it.  You take away the loose earth, and you scrape here and there with a knife until finally your object is there, all alone, ready to be drawn and photographed with no extraneous matter confusing it.  That is what I have been seeking to do--clear away the extraneous matter so that we can see the truth--the naked truth."   

Even though I had an inkling of who committed the crime early on (though I had my doubts over the course of the story), I still enjoyed the unravelling of the solution (which I was pretty clueless about).  My only little quibble is that while the mystery ostensibly takes place on the Nile, it could almost as easily happened on the Thames.  There wasn't as much local color as I would have liked, but I've checked out the film adaptation from the library, so I expect there to be lots of gorgeous scenic shots to make up for any visual shortcomings in the book.  Death on the Nile was a wonderfully entertaining read--just the sort of mystery I was in the mood for.  I'll be picking up more Agatha Christie (maybe a Miss Marple next), but I've already decided to read Josephine Tey's The Franchise Affair, which I've heard only good things about!  So many good mysteries to choose from.  So little time!      

Books in Limbo

  

Since I shared what was on top of my night stand, I thought I would share what sits on the shelf below it.  I've got a hodge podge of things at arm's reach.  Often the books that sit here are the books I've started reading but have set aside for one reason or another.  Occasionally they will get rescued and I'll go back and finish them, but sometimes they just get sent back to my bookshelves (after they've sat there for long enough unopened).  At the moment only two books are 'set aside' books, my oft-mentioned Bleak House (if I talk about it enough surely I'll go and pick it back up?) and May and Amy by Josceline Dimbleby.  The latter was a nonfiction book that I was enjoying, but then I received a review copy of another nonfiction book and decided I could only manage one NF at a time.  Alas, at the moment I have two biographies started, and I am ignoring both at the moment.  Why don't I pick up NF more often?  I like them when I read them, but I always grab a novel when choosing a book to read.

As for the other books--from left to right: I have two crossword puzzle books and a Su Doku to help sharpen my mind and memory.  Too bad I never do them, they might help.  Once again I always grab a novel to read before bedtime.  

The spiral book is my book journal where I write down the books I've read.  I only write author, title and the date I've finished a book.  I wish now I would have written more, but now this is what my blog's for.  Next to that is a little reference book, which is made up of lists of myseries written by women.  It's come in handy to keep track of which books I own in a particular series, but it is sadly out of date.

Jumping over my two 'set aside' books I have the next three books in the Morland Dynasty by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles.  I own most of them, which I keep in a box under my bed.  As I add new books to the box I have to take some out to make them all fit.  So there are three lined up to read, whenever I finally get to them.    

Next up is Philip Lopate's Art of the Personal Essay and keeping it good company is Litlove's wonderful book of essays The Best of Tales from the Reading Room.  Because I am going to read more essays.  (Actually I really do want to read more essays).  

And rounding out the shelf is the first Dorothy Dunnett in the Lymond Chronicles, Game of Kings.  I have the whole set of the Lymond Chronicles and also the books in the House of Niccolo.  I've had this book sitting here for years, because I also really want to read Dorothy Dunnett's books.  From what I understand her books are very Literary, and intellectually challenging (the two books sitting next to The Game of Kings are companions to the series--translations and explanations of references).  I want to read these books, but I want to do it when I can spend time and give attention to them.  Since I tend to have more books on the go than I should, I never see a moment to start reading the books.  Maybe that should be my big project next year.  I think starting reading them while on a vacation would be wise, as I don't want to read the books in fits and starts. 

So there you have it.  By the way, the night stand at one time belonged to my grandmother.  It sat in her parlor next to a cushy chair and she also kept stacks of books on top and below.  From what I recall there were lots of Regency romance types of books (I wish I could have those books now, it would be cool to look through them and see what she read).  You see, I'm keeping up a family tradition. 

New Books for August

 

A few new books to start the month of August.  Most are second hand or mooches, but I did indulge in a couple of new ones, too. 

Since I tend to read a lot of books set during the WWI and WWII era, I always think I should read more nonfiction and get in some good factual background reading.  Lyn Macdonald has a series of books about World War I and from what I understand she's got a fine reputation as a noted historian of the period.  I wasn't sure where to start, but 1914 covers the first months of the war so it seemed as good a place as any. 

Two of the books are historical fiction.  Since I'm enjoying Susanna Kearsley's Sophia's Secret (published under the title The Winter Sea outside the UK) so  much, I thought I'd try Mariana as well.  It's set in seventeenth century England.  And going further back I picked The Falcons of Montabard by Elizabeth Chadwick.  I've heard so many good things about Chadwick I can't wait to start this.  It's set in 1120 when a young knight goes off to the Holy Land to serve the King of Jerusalem.  

To add to my Virago collection I have Patricia Avis's Playing the Harlot.  It sounds somewhat autobiographical.  Avis was on the fringe (meaning wife/friend/lover) of some of the authors who made up the Angry Young Men movement of the 1950s.  Her novel was rejected by a distinguished publisher when it was written in 1963 in part because "it slandered his friends."  It sounds interesting.

And since it is finally August, dare I say that fall isn't too far off now?  I don't like to wish time away, but I do prefer fall over the other seasons.  So, a ghost story or two will be in order.  I lucked out and mooched a copy of Susan Hill's The Mist in the Mirror.   I'm not entirely sure what it's about, but it seems that a man has spent most of his life away from England and when he returns he finds a "mysterious little boy haunts his every step."   Sounds chilling!   

Reading Notes for August

Books I need to read in August:

Dawn Powell's Dance Night for the Slaves discussion at the end of the month.  I'm looking forward to this--I've wanted to read Powell for ages and this is the perfect excuse (not that I ever need one). 

"Dance Night portrays working-class Lamptown, Ohio, at the turn of the century. It's a hardscrabble place, filled with bitter factory girls whose dreams are unattainable. Every Thursday is dance night at the Casino Dance Hall, where residents escape their workaday lives, if only for fleeting moments."

Dawn Powell is an author who  wrote from the 1920s through the 60s.  She fell out of favor and her books went out of print until the late 1990s when she was championed by the likes of Gore Vidal and Tim Page.  I'm very curious about her work.

It's also time for me to get out my next Postal Reading Group book.  It's a slender book of just over 200 pages so I should easily get through it before our next mailing date September 1.

I also need to work on reading a few review copies that I've let accumulate.  I've pretty much stopped taking review copies, since I am not keeping up very well, but I will take something that really appeals.  I've gotten several from Library Thing's Early Reviewer Program.  There is now a way to access a list of the books you've won and not yet reviewed, so I can see exactly how far behind I am (so glad they came up with that feature, or maybe not).  In a few cases I've started the book but it has not clicked with me, so I set it aside.  I'm not sure what to do when this happens.  Slog through to the end?  Or maybe it was a matter of timing and if I pick it up now I will love it?  In any case I'll need to add one or two of these to my reading rotation this month.  I'm not sure whether to read The Old Man and Me by Elaine Dundy first or The Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick.       

You may never notice, but I've updated my reading list on the right sidebar (I'm always interested in what other reader's have in their sidebars).  I've shuffled things around a bit so the list should reflect what I'm actually reading.  Bleak House has been relegated to the shelf of books that is attached to my night table.  I feel bad as the shelf has a reputation a little like the island of unwanted toys.  Once a half read book sits there for a while it's chances of being retrieved and finished tend to lessen with each day it lingers there.  I am seriously hoping to rescue it.  Sometime.  I'd better not attach any specific time period to it (like saying I AM going to finish it by the end of summer).  I don't know what happened.  I guess other books happened.

What I have been reading is Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile.  I'm thhinking I have the solution worked out.  I've not read enough Christie to know how obvious the murderer is, or whether I just have an especially devious mind, so I could be totally wrong.  I'm zipping along, so I'll let you know. 

I've also been enjoying Rosamunde Pilcher's Coming Home.  It's set before and during WWII.  The novel follows Judith Dunbar from her days at school to her war work.  It's 1936 at the moment.  Her parents are in Singapore where her father works in shipping and she is at school in England.  Cornwall to be specific.  Pilcher is a gifted storyteller and gives wonderful descriptions of everything, which is especially nice since I love anything about the seaside.  The book also makes me seriously hungry as I'm reading.  They always seem to be having tea and hot buttered scones with jam.  Just what exactly are fairy cakes anyway?  Or kunzle cake?  They sound yummy anyway.

I've also started reading William Maxwell's  The Folded Leaf about two boys growing up in small town Illinois in the early 1920s.  I get the feeling that Maxwell is an author who's underrated yet his books have been met with critical acclaim.  His prose is simple yet beautiful and his characters are drawn masterfully.  I already know from Litlove that I am going to have to read The Chateau, but I'll be searching out his other books as well.  And I'll definitely be reading more American Lit!