A Work in Progress

Teaser Tuesday: Crossing to Safety

With school back in session and the end of the summer not too far off (despite the continued hot days I remain optimistic that we're going to enjoy some temperate days soon--the kind that are nice in the afternoon and cool at night), I've done a little book organizing.  I've returned a few library books and set aside a few books that I had only just barely started but hadn't had a chance to really properly get into and pared down my reading pile so it is slightly more manageable (my definition being fairly flexible!).  Anything I set aside wasn't due to a lack of enjoyment but simply so I would feel a little less overwhelmed.  I intend to work them back into my current reading as I finish other books.  Besides, Carl has just announced details for RIP V for which I fully intend to participate and have been greatly looking forward to.  My own details to follow in the next day or two.

I love starting new books, but I also like feeling like I am in control of the reading pile and the choice of books to read has been a little excessive lately--even for me.  The titles on my right sidebar are almost all books that I am well underway in terms of reading, so this juggling of books means I can get back to a few that I started a while ago and was enjoying but got sidetracked on somewhere along the way.

It was only a matter of time before I got around to reading Wallace Stegner.  I've heard only good things about him, which is no surprise after finally having a chance to start Crossing to Safety and get a feel for his prose style.  The novel was published in 1987 and is set in the 1930s.  By this time Stegner had already won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for two earlier novels.  Crossing to Safety seems like a story filled with grand themes yet it approaches them in a quiet, introspective sort of way.  Well, first impressions anyway.  Since I've been reading it this afternoon I thought I'd share a little teaser from it.  The story is about the friendship between two couples which spans decades.  They meet when the husbands take up teaching positions at a midwestern university in the English department.  As the story is set in academia there are some interesting conversations about poetry and literature, which I'm enjoying listening in on.

"Are writers reporters, prophets, crazies, entertainers, preachers, judges, what?  Who appoints them as mouthpieces?  If they appoint themselves, as they clearly do, how valid is the commission?  If Time alone makes masterpieces, as Anatole France thought, then great writing is just trial and error tested by time, and if that's that, then above all it has to be free, it has to flow from the gift, not from outside pressures.  The gift is its own justification, and there is no way of telling for sure, short of the appeal to posterity, whether it's really worth something or whether it's only the ephemeral expression of a fad or tendency, the articulation of a stereotype."

They go on to talk about outside inducements and the need for money, that libraries are full of masterpieces that were written for money.  "Grub Street turns out good things almost as much as Parnassus."

Although I'm only a third of the way through Crossing to Safety I've already decided I need to read more of Stegner's work and am particularly interested because he was also a nature writer and conservationist.  I've read a number of excellent nature essays this year and have discovered that I enjoy nature writing very much, so will be adding Stegner to my repertoire.

Truth of Fiction by Jennifer Johnston

It's strange to think I've had one of Jennifer Johnston's novels on my shelves for years, a good decade even, but it's only recently that I've felt the urge to read her work (perhaps that happens more often than I like to admit with books on my shelves).  I'm sure the book I bought was based on an appealing story rather than a desire to read Johnston specifically, which is what has prompted me to read her now.  Kim at Reading Matters has often praised her work, and as I like to read authors that other readers consider favorites, I went in search of some of Johnston's work.  Although only a handful of her books are available here in the US from Amazon (and likely are UK editions at that--do any US publishers publish her work?), she is a well respected and even revered author in her native Ireland with a long career behind her and lengthy backlist of titles to her name--many of them award winners.

Being unsure where to start I chose Truth or Fiction, her most recent novel published in 2009, which is almost a novella being so short in length.  Once again this is a story that is deceptively simple, the sort that reads so quickly that if you blink you might miss something good, so I read her over several sittings.  She seems a wonderful storyteller, however; her prose is stylish yet economical and she has an ear for snappy dialogue.  What struck me was how forcefully her characters came across the page yet whatever message she might be sending was done so very subtly.

At the heart of Truth or Fiction is the idea of memory and over the course of time how it creates its own truths.  A London journalist is asked, told actually, to travel to Dublin to interview an aging Irish playwright and war correspondent whose formerly famous works are now fading into obscurity.  Caroline Wallace's Lit Ed. wants her to go over and "stir him up a bit", maybe find a spot of gossip.  This couldn't have come at a worse time as her own longstanding partner has just proposed marriage after a decade of cohabiting.  Caroline is the one who's been stirred up a bit, but she goes, thinking it will be a quick and easy few meetings that will translate well into a series of articles and she is promised Desmond Fitzmaurice will share stories of his life featuring 'lots of sex and some violence'.  She's doubtful.

Pushing 90 Desmond Fitzmaurice is somewhat cantankerous, very demanding, appears on the fragile and confused side yet shows an astuteness at times and briskness in mobility when he wants to.  Divorced and remarried he slips out for clandestine meetings with his former wife, who he promptly decides Caroline must meet.  Pamela has always liked Desmond, even loved him, but she couldn't live with him and be the wife he wanted.  Scatty but independent, the theatre is her life.  And it's through the theatre that he met wife number two, Anna.  Both women provided children, a daughter and two sons, but relationships seem strained at best.  Anna takes care of Desmond, but she seems happier in her sitting room on her own with a cup of tea and the TV.  And Desmond?  He is still pining after the woman who got away and died, he believes, of a broken heart.  Desmond is a seriously high maintenance character.

So Desmond tells his stories, and when he's too tired to tell them he plays Caroline taped reminiscences from earlier days.  But the more Caroline hears and sees the less she believes.  Are his outrageous stories truth or are they fiction?  The picture Caroline and the reader get of Desmond is filtered through the thoughts and observations of his family and how they act and react towards him.  When all is said and done Caroline is sure she is in a house full of nutters and I was inclined to agree.  Desmond and his antics were enough to try the patience of a saint let alone a woman who already has other things on her mind.

"This is not my scene, she thought, these are not my people.  I am homesick.  She laughed at that.  She snuggled further down under the bedclothes.  I can laugh at them, but I don't like them.  I feel no sympathy for them.  I want to go home."

I don't know much about Johnston's life, but I did read somewhere that her father was a playwright and his own biography shares a few similarities to Desmond's.  I wonder if she drew on her own experiences when writing this novel.  While I enjoyed Truth or Fiction greatly, I have a feeling that I have even better books ahead of me to explore.  Between the library and what I have on my shelves already I have several books to choose from.  As someone recommended How Many Miles to Babylon? that's where I'll head next.  It has a WWI setting, so it should be a very different read.  It may have taken me a while, but I'm glad I've finally read Jennifer Johnston.

The 55-Question Meme

Am I the last person to do this meme?  It seems perfect for a Sunday.  Last weekend included lots of uninterrupted reading time, but not this weekend unfortunately.  However next weekend is a three day weekend and I am already planning ahead.  In the meantime PBS's Masterpiece Theatre begins their fall season tonight with the third season of Inspector Lewis.  A little meme now, mystery theatre later--not a bad way to spend a Sunday, and hopefully a little reading in between.

1. Favorite childhood book?

Anything by Judy Blume when I was a kid.  But when I was really little I loved looking at Richard Scarry's What People Do All Day. The people/characters were all animals and the buildings were cut aways so you could see inside.  I could spend hours looking at that book!

2. What are you reading right now?

See sidebar at right, but if you want to be really specific--today I am reading Joanne Harris's Coastliners and Rumer Godden's The Peacock Spring.  Both are wonderfully summery books.

3. What books do you have on request at the library?

Burnt Mountain-Anne Rivers Siddens,  Dangerous to Know-Tasha Alexander, Dark Road to Darjeeling-Deanna Raybourn, Miss Dimple Disappears-Mignon Ballard, A Secret Kept-Tatiana de Rosnay, Trespass-Rose Tremain and at my library I am waiting for an ILL request--The Secret Intensity of Everyday Life-William Nicholson (because Litlove spoke so highly about it).

4. Bad book habit?

Reading too many books at once.

5. What do you currently have checked out at the library?

From my library: four books by Jennifer Johnston, Per Petterson's new book, Tapestry of Love-Rosy Thornton, The Unvanquished-William Faulkner, The House by the Sea-May Sarton, the Rumer Godden book mentioned above, The L Shaped Room-Lynn Reid Banks, and Purge-Sofi Oksanen.  From the public library: The Dogs of Rome-Conor Fitzgerald, The Drowning River-Christobel Kent, The Edge of Ruin-Irene Fleming, The Hand That First Held Mine-Maggie OFarrell, The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers-Thomas Mullen and Without Fear-Cordelia Frances Biddle.

6. Do you have an e-reader?

No.  I still prefer my paper books.

7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?

Several at once.  You might say that.

8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?

Yes, I read more now than before and a larger variety of books thanks to suggestions from other bloggers and readers who leave comments.  I'm sure I am reading books I wouldn't ever have heard of had I not started blogging and reading blogs.

9. Least favorite book you read this year?

Sunrise in the West by Edith Pargeter (the first book in the Brothers Gwynedd Quartet).  I'm so sorry to say that that one was a bit of a slog for me.

10. Favorite book you’ve read this year?

Just one?  I'm cheating.  A Room with a View-E.M. Forster, My Ántonia-Willa Cather, The Crimson Rooms-Katharine McMahon and The Go-Between-L.P. Hartley.

11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?

Probably not as often as I should.

12. What is your reading comfort zone?

Mysteries and historical fiction, novels set in the interwar period, novels told from the perspective of a female protagonist.

13. Can you read on the bus?

As a matter of fact I can and do!

14. Favorite place to read?

In my bedroom--snuggled up in bed.  Unless it's hot out--in that case--with the fan pointing in my direction.

15. What is your policy on book lending?

I prefer not to lend my books as I've been burned too many times when they haven't been returned.

16. Do you ever dog-ear books?

I never used to, but now I do if there is a passage I'd like to go back to (and I don't have any post it notes or book darts handy).

17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?

I don't.  It took me years to even start dog-earing my pages!

18. Not even with text books?

Those days are too far behind me.  I think I used a yellow highlighter on textbooks back then.

19. What is your favorite language to read in?

I wish I could read more than one, but I can only read English.  My Spanish is okay, but I'm sure I wouldn't get any of the nuances if I tried reading a novel.

20. What makes you love a book?

Wow, that's sort of hard to say.  Good writing and a good solid story.  Likable characters are nice, but not necessary.  A book that takes me outside of my own world. 

21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?

Books are such a personal thing that I don't often recommend books unless I know the reader's tastes pretty well and we share similar interests.  Otherwise a book I might love might be a bomb for another reader.

22. Favorite genre?

I read lots of mysteries and historical fiction, but not the exclusion of other books.  I'm not sure I have one favorite.

23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)

I pretty much never read science fiction, but I think I'd like to try and fit in a few books this year still.  I have a feeling I would like some sci-fi reads (am hoping to read Philip K. Dick and Connie Willis still).

24. Favorite biography?

I don't read many bioographies I'm sorry to say.  I've been a really slow nonfiction reader in general these last few years.  I did read Slipstream, a memoir by Elizabeth Jane Howard that I really enjoyed a few years ago, however.

25. Have you ever read a self-help book?

I've never been able to read self-help books. Maybe I'm missing out, but they're just not my thing.

26. Favorite cookbook?

Cookbook?  I have lots of them but my family tends to be pretty predictable, so I rarely get too creative.  I do refer to good old Fannie Farmer on occasion. 

27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or nonfiction)?

I'm not sure about this one.  Maybe The Professor's House by Willa Cather or They Knew Mr. Knight by Dorothy Whipple.

28. Favorite reading snack?

Ice cream--I just had some earlier as a matter of fact.  I don't really snack while reading to be honest as much of my reading is when I am doing something else. 

29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.

On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan.  I think I had heard so much about it that by the time I read it I wasn't sure really what I thought and ultimately thought--meh.

30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?

Very bad of me but I don't read a lot of criticism about most books.  If it is a classic or a contemporary book by an author whose garnered many accolades I will read criticism.  Often (though not always) they will offer me insight into a book that is very helpful and that I might not have picked up on otherwise.

31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?

I'm a pretty forgiving reader.  I can usually find things I like about most books.  If I really didn't like it I probably would have given up on it and I generally don't write about books that I don't finish.  If something didn't work for me I will say so, but I don't like being nasty about books.  Just because I didn't like something doesn't mean someone else might not love it.  And I never try and dissuade people from reading a book that I didn't like for that same reason. 

32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you chose?

French.  Or maybe Italian.

33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read?

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner.

34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?

Ulysses by James Joyce.

35. Favorite poet?

Robert Frost.

36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?)

Oh, a good dozen or so.  Sometimes more, but preferably less.

37. How often have you returned book to the library unread?

Shh.  That's a heavily guarded secret.

38. Favorite fictional character?

Maisie Dobbs.  And Horatio Hornblower because he is truly a gentleman.

39. Favorite fictional villain?

Count Fosco in A Woman in White by Wilkie Collins.

40. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation?

Mysteries and thrillers and novels, too.  It's been so long since I've been on a proper vacation I forget.

41. The longest I’ve gone without reading.

Maybe a day.  I can't think of the last time I went a whole day without reading for at least an hour, however.

42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.

Bleak House by Charles Dickens.  Not that I don't want to finish it.  I started it about two years ago and hit a slow section and set it aside.  I can't seem to pick it up again, though I will get back to it eventually.  I loved the film adaptation. 

43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?

People talking loudly.  People talking loudly on their cell phones. Loud music.  The TV.  So, noise in general.  I'm not always good at shutting out noise when reading in public places, but it also depends on the type of book I am reading as some require more concentration than others.

44. Favorite film adaptation of a novel?

A Room with a View--the Merchant Ivory adaptation.  Lovely.

45. Most disappointing film adaptation?

The Count of Monte Cristo.  Personally I found the newer adaptation really abysmal, I'm very sorry to say.  Talk about taking liberties with the story!

46. The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?

We'll say a nice round $100.

47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?

I've never been a skimmer.  I read every last word and take in every last piece of punctuation.  I'm weird that way--also probably the reason I am such a slow reader. 

48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?

If I just lose interest or the story doesn't grab me.  Sometimes a book sits too long partially read and when I get back to it I've lost the thread--more my fault than the books in that case.

49. Do you like to keep your books organized?

If I had right sort of space I would.  I do keep books together according to genre--classics, mysteries, travel narratives, nonfiction together, etc.  And I also try and keep books by the same author together.  Maybe someday I will have a proper library and everything will be properly organized.

50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?

I'm greedy.  I almost always keep my books unless I know I won't read it again or didn't like it. But I have been accumulating books at a much slower pace of late, so I can avoid this problem.

51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?

Experimental fiction.  Certain authors like James Joyce or William Faulkner.  But I never say never (except maybe in the case of Joyce).

52. Name a book that made you angry.

Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple, but only because I didn't like some of the characters--rather didn't like their actions.  I can also include Me: A Book of Remembrance by Winnifred Eaton for the same reason--a character that made me cringe.  But I liked both books very much otherwise.  Not sure if that is the sort of answer that was being looked for.

53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did?

Sexing the Cherry by Jeannette Winterson.  Experimental fiction--so I figured I would struggle with it and then want to give up.  It was actually very fun with very vivid imagery.  I really liked it.

54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t?

The Edith Pargeter book I mentioned earlier.  I love historical fiction and was excited to read this, but it just didn't click with me.

55. Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading?

Clare Chambers, Joanne Harris, Katharine McMahon, definitely Georgette Heyer.  I have lots of these favorites!

More on Onoto Watanna

Yesterday when I wrote about Winnifred Eaton and her book Me: A Book of Remembrance my curiosity was piqued, so I had to check my library's shelves to see what we had on hand by her.  We have several of her books, but  I was so enchanted by this one that I had to bring it home and share it.  A Japanese Nightingale was her second book published in 1901 and it is a lovely volume.

It's hard to tell from this photo but the top of the book has gilt edging to match the lettering.  It just shouts out at you from the shelf to come and pull it out and look at it and I was happy to comply.

There is one color illustration in the front of the book, which is very striking.  Apparently this novel was translated into a number of languages and was made not only into a Broadway play but also a film in 1919.

Eaton moved from Chicago to New York after the publication of her first novel where she lived until 1917.  During her years in New York her books, like A Japanese Nightingale, were set mainly in Japan and generally involved a romantic entanglement between a Japanese woman and American man.  Due to the nature of her books--romances with an exotic setting where she could explore social issues and draw on an interest of the period for all things Oriental--they sold quite well.

All the pages in the book are illustrated with these very delicate lithographs.  The motifs repeat throughout the story, but there are quite a few different subjects.  I think these bamboo are my favorites.

Eaton is considered to have written the first novel by an Asian American author, though she has been criticized by writing under a Japanese name (going so far as to create a persona of a Japanese noblewoman for herself) rather than being truthful about her Chinese heritage.  I find Winnifred Eaton really fascinating.  I'm not sure, however, whether I'll read A Japanese Nightingale or not--I wonder if it will be too sentimental for my tastes, but it looks like it might read fast, so perhaps I'll at least give it a try.  You can read it online here.  And if you're curious about Eaton herself, you can see a photo of her here.  Don't you think it's a lovely book?  Yet another library treasure.

Me: A Book of Remembrance

If you're curious about women's lives at the turn of the century, particularly those of mixed ancestry, Winnifred Eaton's Me: A Book of Remembrance offers an interesting glimpse into the life of a struggling young artist hoping to succeed against all odds.  Winnifred Eaton was born in 1875 in Quebec, Canada to an English-Irish father and Chinese mother.  She was published at the very early age of fourteen and an established and popular author by the time she wrote Me in 1915.  She wrote under the pseudonym Onoto Watanna, which I thought curious as it sounds very Japanese, until I read the novel's afterword.   In the early part of the 20th century there was a strong anti-Chinese sentiment in North America.  Apparently the Japanese were admired for their military strength and economic insularity, however.  Japanese immigrants were also often of a higher economic class, and no doubt Eaton must have felt the prejudicial attitudes deeply and decided to "pass" for another race.

The novel is concerned with only one year in the life of young Nora Ascouth who leaves her home in Canada at seventeen and follows her first to Jamaica and then on to America where her dream is to write and perhaps find love.  Me is autobiographical and many events follow Eaton's life very closely, though I'm not sure just how much of the narrative is fictional.  Nora is young and naive and not especially experienced and perhaps a little too dependent on the kindness of strangers, who usually come in the form of a man, but maybe this is typical of the period.  Sometimes they are decent and helpful and other times they just want to take advantage of her.  Nora tells her story in first person and often addresses the reader directly asking for understanding for her actions and reminding us (no doubt from the vantage point of her older and wiser self) that she's a young woman from another country and not savvy to the ways of the larger world and that we must look beyond this.

Eventually she makes her way to Chicago via Richmond, Virginia with the help of an older man who she falls hopelessly in love with, though it seems more like an unhealthy infatuation.  Roger Hamilton is taken with Nora and wants to help her, but initially assumes she's only out to take advantage of his wealth and good will.  It's clear to the reader that if not his motives then at least his situation is suspect, though Nora is oblivious to anything beyond what she sees in front of her.  He never tries to "make love" to her and is always offering her the comforts of money and clothes, but he's not willing to tell her he loves her.  Nora, however, won't accept anything from him unless she knows that it's actual love for her that is prompting his gifts.  It was sometimes hard seeing past this all consuming love for a character who was so disreputable and, well, slimy in my eyes.    

"...he was a man used to ruling people, and he wished to govern and absorb me utterly."

"Of course he was exacting and at times even cruel to me.  He really didn't want me to have any friends at all, and he not only chose all my clothes, but he tried to sway my tastes in everything."

I put it down to being seventeen and not worldly-wise.  Nora was far too unsuspecting even when her friends tried to warn her.  If she can't have love she still wants success and spends her free time writing stories and poems even after long days working as a stenographer and typist.  The most interesting aspect of the story is seeing how a working woman lived in the early part of the century--how difficult it was to find a decent paying job and an affordable living arrangement and the attitudes towards these women who lived outside the home.  As well, a woman had to live within certain moral confines to be considered decent.  Nora has to deal not only with prejudices against her sex but against her looks as well. 

"Lolly was in blue, the color of her eyes, and she looked, as always, 'stunning'.  Beside her, I'm afraid, I appeared very insignificant, for Lilly was a real beauty.  I never went anywhere with her but people--mean and women, too--would stare at her, and turn around for a second look.  People stared at me, too but in a different sort of way, as if I interested them or they were puzzled to know my nationality.  I would have given anything to look less foreign.  My darkness marked and crushed me, I who loved blondness like the sun."   

Despite mentally recoiling every time Roger Hamilton crossed the pages I was reading, I did enjoy Nora's "rags to riches" story.  And judging by Eaton's real life story, surely Nora found happiness and success despite her hardships.  I only have to look in my library's catalog and see her books listed for confirmation she achieved what she wanted and became a successful author.

A Few New Books Come My Way

I've recently had a little luck in mooching a few books.  Lately it's been very hit or miss what I find, and mostly heavy on the miss.  I tend to find more older books or classics and rarely anything from my wishlist anymore.  I wonder if Bookmooch has just gotten too big?  I had thought about scrapping my account and giving away my points, but now that I am not buying books an occasional mooch helps satisfy that need for something new without spending any money.  The down side is you don't know exactly what (condition-wise) you're going to get until it comes in the mail. 

I had thought I would be getting a nice Bison Books edition of Mignon Eberhart's While the Patient Slept, but I've ended up with a very yellowed Popular Library edition.  I'm not so picky anymore when it comes to used books, but I wish the moochee would have been more forthcoming about the condition of the book when the picture didn't match.  Still, same book, just not as nice of a copy.  I really liked reading Mignon Eberhart for the Classics Circuit earlier in the spring and have wanted to read more of her work since then.  This is another Nurse Sarah Keate mystery written in 1930.  

I certainly have nothing to complain about with the copy of Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor by Brad Gooch.  It appears new and is in near pristine condition.  How did I get so lucky?  I was actually looking for books by Flannery O'Connor, but I am happy to read about her as well.

My other find is Jennifer Johnston's Shadows on Our Skin.  At the moment I am reading Truth or Fiction about an aging Irish author who is being interviewed by a London writer who is thinking more of her own problems than the subject of her newspaper article.  However he promises her a juicy tale of his youthful loves.  It's always interesting to read about writers (and in this case there is an author writing about an author).  Shadows on Our Skin was shortlisted for the Booker in 1977 and is set in Northern Ireland.      

I love old Penguin editions like you see on the top of my pile.  The library where I work often receives book donations--some go into the collection and others go onto a 'sale table' for anyone to buy at outrageously cheap prices (this was 50 cents).  I almost would have bought it whatever the title, but it happens to be a John Buchan novel called Greenmantle, which is another Richard Hannay spy thriller.  It is set in the Middle East during WWI.  Now a reminder to myself it's time to read The Thirty-Nine Steps. 

The last book in the pile came as a surprise in the mail from Bluebridge's publicist.  I don't read many religious books, but this looks quite interesting and can easily be read from a historical perspective.  As a matter of fact I'd like to read more books about religion, but am not very sure where to start--I'd prefer books about rather than how-to, if that makes any sense.  In any case Catherine of Siena: A Passionate Life by Dan Brophy sounds like it would appeal as much to general readers as to those interested in spirituality or history.  By the way Catherine of Siena lived in 14th century Italy and worked to reform the church, which was led by the Pope who resided in Avignon, France and not Italy.

Although I sometimes feel symptoms of withdrawal when I look something up on The Book Depository and know I can't buy anything, at least I do have some small outlet with Bookmooch.  By the way, any word when the new Eva Rice book is going to be released?  That is one of my last Book Depository pre-orders that I am waiting for.  So I still have something bookish (and new) to look forward to in the mail!   

Teaser Tuesday: Mariana

I've mentioned how much I enjoyed Canadian author Susanna Kearsley's recent novel Sophia's Secret, so it was without hesitation that I've picked up Mariana to read next.  Mariana is Kearsley's second novel published more than a decade ago.  I suppose if you wanted to categorize her work it might fall nicely under the heading of romantic suspense, though I'm always hesitant to label books (well, with the exception of mysteries as they are so distinctive).  Somehow calling a book a romance tends to scare off a segment of the reading population that might dismiss the book as something fluffy and unworthy, but that was certainly not the case for Sophia's Secret which I thought was a well written and engaging historical novel.  It may verge on being a comfort read, but it's a really well done comfort read.   

Mariana looks to follow a similar style in that the story is made up of two plots separated by many years, in this case three hundred years, that converge at some geographical or historical point.  In this case the stories revolve around a sixteenth century farmhouse, a house that Julia Beckett feels an affinity for.  After reading this description, I think I could be happy there myself.

"One entered through the front door into a large entry hall, panelled in richly burnished oak.  'Seventeenth century,' Mr. Owen had pronounced at a glance, 'and very good quality.'  Directly ahead, a heavy oak staircase set in the centre of the hall ascended several steps, paused for breath at a square landing, then executed a sharp ninety-degree turn to the left and continued to climb to the first floor.  Doors into the sitting room and the study opened off the hall to the left and right, respectively, while to the right of the staircase a narrow passage led through to the kitchen, and old-fashioned pantry occupied the back half of the ground floor, their large, bright windows looking out over the rolling green plain with its fresh sprinkling of early wildflowers."

"There were four bedrooms upstairs.  The large one, running the full length of the north side of the house above the study and pantry, had been the obvious choice for my own use.  It even had its own working fireplace, along with a sizeable cupboard nestled in the space under the attic stairs.  I had selected the small back bedroom for my studio, and was content to leave the two front rooms unfurnished for the time being, to serve as storage areas until I was completely settled.  Between my studio and my bedroom, opening onto the wide landing, was a full bath--quite a luxury to find in an older home."

The house is called Greywethers and Julia Beckett has just moved there.  Now I am curious about her sixteenth century counterpart, Mariana, who lived there first.  It seems like a story that is easy to fall into, so I'm sure it won't take me long to find out.  Kearsley mentions Mary Stewart is her favorite author and I wonder if she draws inspiration from her.  I've read very few of Stewart's novels, but I think I'll have to do a little supplemental reading if I like this as much as I think I'm going to like it.   

The Bed I Made by Lucie Whitehouse

I was quite happy to get my hands on a copy of Lucie Whitehouse's suspenseful tale, The Bed I Made, which unfortunately has no set publishing date as yet in the US.  It's a perfect summer vacation or beach read, and fit very nicely with my own beach/seaside reading that I like to do when the weather turns warm (must revamp that list).  The Isle of Wight off the southern coast of Britain is the setting of the novel and the place Kate flees to in seeking refuge from a relationship gone wrong.  While the story opens during summer's sultry days, Kate makes her way to the island when it empties of tourists and braces for winter's more inhospitable behavior.

Maybe it would never had happened if Kate wasn't so involved in her work as a translator and at a place in her life where she was alone so much of the time.  Abandoned by her mother at a young age she became close to her brother and father, but they now make their home in the States, so she is in a sense particularly vulnerable living alone in London.  A chance encounter with a devastatingly handsome man in a bar throws Kate's life into complete upheaval.  Kate spends a wild, alcohol-soaked night with Richard and finds she can't stop thinking about him, much to the displeasure of her friend Helen.  Richard is a risk taker, both in his business as a property developer and in relationships.  And Kate is captivated by him.  But odd things start happening and Richard becomes jealous and possessive.  He pulls Kate in with words of love but just as soon pushes her away suddenly cold and calculating.  When Kate realizes Richard's true nature, he's not going to willingly give her up, so she returns to a place from her childhood.  The Isle of Wight was were her family retreated after her mother left and she holds happy memories of the place.

Kate is on the island when the novel opens.  Already unsettled, she's present when an overturned boat is brought into the harbor by a lifeboat.  The owner is missing and presumed drowned which she begins obsessing about, so the tone is set and it's an eerie one.  The story is then related in a series of flashbacks--both her affair with Richard and subsequent meeting of the drowned woman just days before her death.  Both plotlines are woven together and revealed little by little in a way that's somewhat unnerving for the reader as it all builds to a crescendo.  Another reviewer called it a slow-burn sort of story, and it is, as nothing is rushed until the final few pages.  People often tend to paint themselves into corners when they are involved in unhealthy relationships, and it was troubling that Kate never revealed to her best friend, Helen, the full extent of her fears and experiences with Richard, put off no doubt by her friend's critical attitude toward him.  So Kate was well and truly on her own.  A sitting duck, if you will, but it played well into the suspense of the story.

The Bed I Made has all the right elements for a good suspense tale--a wildly romantic affair that turns sour and then terrifying, a wonderfully atmospheric setting dictated by the whims of nature, and a character on edge and alone and only inches away from falling into a frightening abyss.  I really enjoyed it and thought it well done, but it felt like a really good novel rather than a great novel.  I'm not sure that I can put my finger on what made it feel so--maybe it was the ending, which felt just a tad anticlimactic.  You knew it was coming and it happened as expected.  I think it would be hard to create a really spectacular ending with a nice unexpected twist, but I suppose that's what I was hoping for.  Still, I thoroughly enjoyed it and think Whitehouse has a lot of potential when it comes to thrillers.  She's whetted my appetite and now I want more.  I've heard mixed things about her first book, The House at Midnight, but as I have it on my TBR stack I'll pick it up at some point.  It seems like it might be less of a thriller and more a gothic sort story?  I'll be looking for a good edge of your seat thriller as well, though I'm not sure who to pick up.  Maybe it's time to try Sophie Hannah?   I'm sure I'll enjoy digging through my bins looking for a good nail-biting sort of story to read soon.

Snippets

My reading weekend continues apace.  I finished one book and have even started writing a little something about it and think I will easily finish the second one as well.  Surprisingly, though I shouldn't be surprised I guess, Dorothy Whipple's They Knew Mr. Knight reads remarkably fast for a nearly 500 page book.  Now I realize many of you are very fast readers, but I am very slow, so for me this is an accomplishment.  Sadly, time spent doing chores has instead been devoted to reading (did I say sadly?), but it's too hot to clean anyway.  As long as there are clean clothes and a hot meal on the table does it matter if it's a little more dusty than usual around the house? 

I'm into the last 70 pages or so of the Whipple book, but I had to stop and share this.  Although the book was written in 1934, it almost feels like it could have been written this year. 

"Banks!  The whole country is in a mess, trade is at a standstill, but the banks are more prosperous than ever.  They're full of money.  What do they want to do with it?  Eat it?  They pay two and a half per cent on money lent to them and charge six per cent on the money they lend.  Usury, that's what it is!  And what's more they won't lend except on the tightest security--and hardly anybody can produce such security now.  They're so full to bursting with money and they won't use it to help little industries like mine to tide over a bad period.  You've to go to them like a beggar and make yourself humble and then they turn you away.  Damn Partridge and all his kind!"

Of course there is more to the story and the banks aren't the only 'culprits', but I thought that passage seemed very timely.

I hadn't actually expected to finish reading both my books and had planned to dip into Patrick Leigh Fermor's A Time for Gifts and write about it this afternoon, but I'll do that another day.  I love the book and easily it will be a favorite this year, but it's not a book that I want to rush.  His prose is so beautiful I want to take my time, and now I feel like spending time with it.  I have no qualms about picking up novels on a whim to read (even if I am in the middle of something else), but for some strange reason I will only ever allow myself one nonfiction book at a time.  This is probably why I read so few of them during the year even though I have so many I want to read and that I am sure I will enjoy.  I'm a little afraid to break  myself of that habit as I can picture myself with a stack of half read biographies laying around and that's probably a bad idea for someone like me.

At the moment I have 70 saved posts in my Google Reader that I want to comment on.  If you've not heard from me lately I have probably read your latest post (latest posts more likely) and want to go and visit, but I've not yet had a chance this weekend, so please don't think I'm ignoring you.  As always I wish I had a few extra hours in the day.

So, I'm off to finish Dorothy Whipple.  No matter how rocky the story is at the moment, I suspect things are going to turn out just fine. 

August 20: Reading Notes

This weekend I'm going to have my own personal mini-readathon.  I've got two interlibrary loan books due back at my library early next week and I don't want to return them only half read.  I admit I am probably far too quick to borrow and return regular library books without being discerning enough about exactly what I want to read, but I don't feel too terribly awful to return books unread.  ILL requests are another story, however, since they come from a different library system than my own and in some cases were sent from halfway across the country.  As so many people had a hand in getting the book to me I do try to read every book I request. 

On the agenda this weekend?  I'll easily finish Lucie Whitehouse's The Bed I Made, which is a psychological thriller that has been a wonderful distraction for my gym workouts this past week.  It's easy reading, nothing nightmarish, but an interesting look inside the mind of a woman who chooses the wrong man to become involved with.  It's written in first person, which I really like, but I sometimes wonder just how reliable a narrator is.  I think Kate is being pretty straightforward, but I do wonder occasionally about some of the things that are going on inside her head at times.  I'm down to the last hundred pages and think I've nearly reached that point of no return where I have to keep going until I get to that last page.

They Knew Mr. Knight is my third Dorothy Whipple this year.  It was a slow starter for me, but I'm glad I persevered as it's getting really good.  More family drama, which Whipple seems to be so good at, and a look at gender roles and expectations.  The Blakes are a middle class family who are getting by but want to better themselves, and along comes financier Mr. Knight to help them.  Probably help them along the road to ruin, but we shall see.  Her novels seem to revolve around one main family unit with subplots touching on extended family and friends.  This is a fairly hefty book--close to 500 pages and I am only a fourth of the way in, so I will have my work cut out for me this weekend. 

Luckily I've had the day off today to pass reading for as much of the time as I can.  I may not have time for other books, but as I'll be finishing a couple of books the tiniest bit of thought has already gone into what I might pick up next.  I was thinking a little historical fiction might be nice--going back in time a little farther than usual and I came up with Susanna Kearsley's Mariana.  I read and thoroughly enjoyed Sophia's Secret last year at about this time, so another of Kearsley's novels feels about right at the moment.  This story revolves around a house called Greywethers and has parallel plots set in both contemporary times and the sixteenth century.  First things first, though, as I finish reading my ILLs. 

In case I get bored I also have The Postman Always Rings Twice to watch.  I figure I've read the book and listened to the audio story, so I might as well round things out by watching the film.  I opted for the older B&W 1946 version.  I'm never at a loss for books to read or to choose from, but I never seem to know what to order from Netflix each week.  I rarely see new movies anymore.  I've been thinking I should just go back and start watching classic films--my knowledge of them is even spottier than classic novels!  Do you have any favorites--not to be missed films?  Contemporary or classics--I'm willing to try either.