After a shaky start to my week (my computer is back up and running thankfully), I'm finishing it on a much (much, much) more pleasant note. It's time for the Persephone Secret Santas to be revealed. My Secret Santa sent me some very lovely goodies as you can see. Curious what's inside? Me, too!
And voilà. The lovely Anbolyn at Gudrun's Tights has spoiled me with perfect bookish goodies. I received a copy of Lettice Cooper's The New House, which I think is going to go straight to the top of my holiday reads pile! It was already on my list of books that I want to read and now I have a beautiful Persephone edition of it. According to the Persephone website this is what Jilly Cooper wrote about it in her introduction:
"All that outwardly happens in The New House is over one long day a family moves from a large imposing secluded house with beautiful gardens to a small one overlooking a housing estate. But all the characters and their relationships with each other are so lovingly portrayed that one cares passionately what happens even to the unpleasant ones."
It was published in 1936 and although she was writing several decades earlier, Cooper is compared to Anita Brookner who also wrote about "quietly unhappy middle-class women". I'm always thrilled to get a new Persephone book to add to my collection.
As Anbolyn is from Arizona she included a bookmark to give a little flavor of her home state. Doesn't it look all warm and inviting--I could use a little of that sunshine and warmth about now here in the frigid midwest.
She also included a desk calendar called On Writers and Writing. I thought I'd share a peek inside. You know it's a good calendar when they have chosen Rumer Godden as one of their writers. I don't always buy desk calendars (due to budget restrictions in the last few years) so next year my desk won't sit bare! Each two page spread has a different author with biographical information and something about his or her writing.
And how long do you think that chocolate snowman will last? Chocolate is my weakness, so it'll be gone well before the end of the weekend!
Many thanks to Anbolyn for her thoughtful gifts. She has made an otherwise difficult week much more enjoyable!