A Work in Progress

Coventry by Helen Humphreys

I really like Helen Humphrey's writing.  Although a number of years have passed since I've read her earlier novels, Afterimage and The Lost Garden, her style lingers in my mind with pleasant associations.  And while Coventry packs an emotional punch, it is just as poetically drawn as I remember those previous stories being.  As I was reading I was thinking about why an author chooses to write a story set in an earlier historical era rather than a contemporary setting.  I know why I like reading historical novels--in order to learn something more about life in another time, but what does the setting add to a story?  In the case of Humphreys, I think writing about and focusing on the bombing raid on Coventry on November 14, 1940, is a way for her to explore grief and the ways in which humans cope with those emotions during times of severe stress and their ability to show resiliency in the face of utter loss.

"She looks around the field, at all the darkened figures shifting around the perimeter.  Everyone in this field, everyone in the city will have lost someone or something tonight.  Everyone will have to remake their lives.  And the men dropping the bombs, the men in the planes slicing through the darkness, they will bear no witness to the misery and suffering they've caused."

Although not the first night of bombing by the German Luftwaffe, November 14 was the most intense and the most devastating to the industrial city of Coventry.  Humphreys vividly brings to life that night as experienced by two women and a young man as they try and navigate the destruction.  There were moments of shock and terrible sadness reading about the war from a civilian's viewpoint--shock because you expect such  horrific images on a battlefield and not on quiet city streets, and sadness because humans seem to have an endless capacity for inflicting suffering on each other.

But the story begins some twenty years earlier just as the First World War is beginning, when newly married Harriet sees off her husband Owen in what they both believe will be only a brief war.  Everyone thought it would be over by Christmas, so Harriet is determined to be patient.  Alone in this new city that her husband has brought her to, a chance encounter with another young woman who is visiting a friend will set the stage for a much longer lasting friendship.  Though the two had promised to meet again, Maeve returned to her home without keeping the meeting and not having exchanged names the two lose touch.  When Owen is reported missing and believed dead, Harriet feels the loss acutely.  She feels it twice over after the missed opportunity of making a friend.

Many years later Harriet is still living in Coventry, a city that has withstood seventeen attacks and the threat of more on the city's motor works and armament factories.  Not having any family or anywhere else to go she has remained in her husband's city to be close to him and isn't unduly bothered by this new war thinking it cannot make her suffer (emotionally at leas, though perhaps physically) in the same way the first one did.  Unbeknownst to her, Maeve has also returned to Coventry with her almost grown son, a child she had out of wedlock and raised on her own.  The two have led nomadic lives, but Jeremy hopes this will be the place where they can finally put down roots.

Their paths will eventually cross on this terrible night.  Harriet agrees to take over her neighbor's shift as a fire-watcher on the roof of Coventry Cathedral as he has injured his leg.  He assures Harriet that he has never once had to put out a fire, and Harriet expects the night to pass quietly.  The night is brightly lit by the moon, however, a "bomber's moon".  And indeed bombs soon begin raining down on the city.  While the fire-watchers were able to extinguish the first few incendiaries, it soon begins to be a conflagration and they must abandon their places on the roof.  Jeremy is one of the fire-watchers and it's obvious he has been rattled by the fire that has started, so Harriet takes him under her wing and the two decide to set off in search of his mother.

Their journey, which takes up the bulk of this very slim novel, is at times harrowing and surreal.  They encounter death and destruction but also scenes of charity and compassion.  I didn't expect a story set so far from the battlefields to have such moments of unremitting sadness and distress, though this is not the first book I've read about the Blitz, it struck me powerfully for some reason.  Humphreys doesn't sensationalize anything but there were moments I wanted to look away.  Maybe it was the eloquence of her language and spareness of her prose that helped soften the blow just a bit.  Her imagery was still intense and you get a sense of what it might have been like on that fateful night when so many people lost their lives and much of the city was damaged or flattened.  Something like 80% of the people who died in Coventry during the Blitz did so on the night of November 14/15.  Coventry Cathedral was the only cathedral in Britain to be destroyed in the way.

Despite such descriptive scenes, this was still an introspective story, as much about the inner lives of the two women (and I know I've not said much about Maeve) as about what was happening to the city.  And while it is a story that is filled with sadness and grief it does end on a hopeful note.  I really like Helen Humphreys and will continue to read (and reread) her work.

Last fall I was thinking what a great reading pair Coventry and Heinrich Boll's The Silent Angel would make and now I've finally read them both.  Interesting perspectives on the effects of the war as felt by those on the homefront both in Britain and Germany.  Next up is Nigel Balchin's Darkness Falls from the Air, about the London Blitz, which I am looking forward to reading.  Below are the ruins of Coventry Cathedral which were integrated into the newer building. 

I read this as part of Caroline's Literature and War Readalong.  I very much liked this story, but do admit it is a slender novel.  I'm a little torn between wishing there had been a bit more story and thinking that maybe it was just enough.  I seem to be the odd reader out reaction-wise, so you'll want to take a look at other reviews before deciding whether this one is for you or not.

Caroline at Beauty is a Sleeping Cat.

Anna at Diary of an Eccentric.

TBM at Fifty Year Project.

Tony at Tony's Reading List.

And a bit of background on the city of Coventry and Coventry Cathedral by Tony.

I may have to come up with a list of books about the Blitz--actually the bombing of civilian centers in both Britain and Germany.  Any suggestions welcome to get the ball rolling.

Library Finds, or Wishful Thinking

It's wishful thinking because you know how it goes--so many books and so little time!  And as you can see I've got very grand wishes indeed.  A stack like this (and these are the highlights) is one that needs to be prioritized and I've been doing just that--dipping into them, reading a little and trying to decide which ones I want to read sooner than later.  And then there is the issue of due dates and which books can be renewed and which will have to go back very soon.  I've started a couple and am very excited about several others.  If I don't get to them now, they'll certainly remain on my list of books that I hope to read eventually.  So, which sound interesting to you?  Here's a run down of what I've been bringing home over the course of the last month (there are several library visits-worth of books here . . . don't worry, I didn't bring them home all at once).

A Hidden Life: A Memoir of August 1969 by Johanna Reiss -- This sounds good, but very heavy.  Reiss wrote a YA novel called The Upstairs Room about the more than two years she spent as a girl hiding in a farmhouse attic during WWII.  Encouraged by her husband to return to Holland to research this book, he returned to America where he committed suicide.  (No worries--this is the description given in the book's blurb).  He left no note.  So this memoir is one dealing with various kinds of (unexplainable) tragedies.  "Subtle, disturbing, the book is a powerful consideration of memory, violence, and loss, told in stunning and sparse narrative style."  See, heavy.  But I bet it's very good, too.

Louise's War by Sarah R. Shaber -- A number of mysteries in my pile, and not surprising since they've been on my mind.  This is a WWII era mystery set in Washington DC and featuring a young widow from North Carolina who comes across a document concerning a French Jewish woman who she tries to help get out of Occupied France.  I came across this one by chance while browsing in my library's catalog.

Available Dark by Elizabeth Hand -- This is actually a sequel to Generation Loss, which brings back anti-heroine photographer Cass Neary.  Both author and heroine sound intriguing--comparisons have been with Joyce Carol Oates, Patricia Highsmith, Margaret Atwood, John Fowles and A.S. Byatt.  Quite a combination.  Although the story begins in the US, it quickly moves to Helsinki and Reykjavik.

Wicked Autumn by G.M. Malliet -- I already mentioned this author, but as the book I had been referring to is a forthcoming title, I thought I might go back to the beginning.  This is a cozy mystery set in a quaint English village.  I'm very curious about this series as the sleuth is a former MI5 agent turned vicar (somehow seems a rather large leap), and a dishy one at that. 

The House of Velvet and Glass by Katherine Howe -- I've not been reading many historical novels of late, though I generally do like them.  This one is set in Boston in 1915 about a young woman whose mother and sister perished on the Titanic.  This has a dash of mystery and romance in it and touches on the spiritualism movement of the period moving from low to high society.

The Detour by Andromeda Romano-Lax -- This one is especially promising since it is set in pre-WWII era Italy about a German man tasked to collect a Roman statue and bring it back to Hitler, a job he is not enamored by and ends up being something of an adventure.

More Than You Know by Penny Vincenzi -- I love Penny Vincenzi.  Her novels are generally sprawling family dramas, which I find hugely entertaining and absorbing.  They're not highbrow by any means, but they are great fun.  This one is set in the fashion and literary world of 1960s and 70s London.  I really want to read it, but I expect I'll have to get back in line for it ( . . . or maybe it's out in paper in the UK and I can just buy it.  Hmm.).

Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton -- As I own and have not yet read Lupton's first book, I'm not sure why I requested her newest (general greed I'm afraid).  This is another thriller about a "mother who will do anything to protect her child".

Okay, these last two books are the ones I am reading first. 

Crown of Dust by Mary Volmer -- So I have this thing about female protagonists who take to wearing boys'/mens' clothing in order to get by either out of choice for adventure or because they're forced to do so.  I'm interested in the idea of reinvention and an exploration of identities, which is why I guess I'm drawn to these sorts of stories.  In this case Alex has arrived at the settlement of Motherlode disguised as a boy out of necessity.  Motherlode is a makeshift town set up for those trying to strike it rich on gold in California.  I've yet to discover what has made her take on such a precarious lifestyle, but I like the story so far very much.

The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani -- I've only read one other book by Trigiani, Lucia Lucia, which I recall enjoying.  This story begins in the Italian Alps in the early 1900s and will follow two of its characters to America and through WWI.  I've just barely begun and had better read quickly if I want to finish before it's due.  The line is far too long for it to go to the back and wait another turn.  I'm hoping (as I do pretty much with every book I read) that the story will sweep me away.

Lost in the Stacks: The Angelic Avengers

Have you ever heard of Pierre Andrézel?  If you've answered no (and that's how I would have answered), you might be surprised at who he actually is.  Pierre Andrézel is the pseudonym of Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen) best known for her memoir Out of Africa (own it, haven't yet read it . . . maybe will do so this year . . . maybe sooner than later).  I'm afraid if I read Out of Africa now it will just start a new reading journey to Africa (and then I'll need to read/reread Elspeth Huxley, Beryl Markham, Alexandra Fuller . . . the list goes on), which sounds very inviting, but I need to focus on a few other reading projects that I've been planning.

The Angelic Avengers wasn't a book I came across by happenstance while browsing the stacks.  I was searching for a book that happened to be one of those lovely Modern Penguin Classics (you know with the cool silver accented covers) and I started looking at all the tempting titles they have in the series and came across this one.  Interesting title and even more interesting cover illustration. Read a bit more about it, curiosity piqued, checked library catalog online, went to the third floor of my library and grabbed it off the shelf and voilá I have my latest lost in the stack book.  I'd not heard of this particular book by Dinesen, though I myself own a number of her other books, so maybe you hadn't either?

The novel The Angelic Avengers is her only full length novel which she published in 1944 (the copy I have was published in 1947).  This story is supposed to be an allegory of Nazism.  I had no idea that Dinesen wrote her books in English and then they were translated into her native Danish.  The 1967 edition has a suitably pulpy looking cover on it and gives the description of the book as:

"A spellbinding story of fascinating romance, chilling mystery and perilous adventure that sets two friendless young women in a house of unspeakable evil.  Written by the greatest Gothic novelist of our time this is a 'novel of superlatively fine literary quality'."

Gothic adventure stories must have been the rage in the 1960s as there seem to be no end to them.  The proper book description is given as:

"Lucan has been orphaned and Zosine has been deserted, and London is a hostile place for two young girls without a home. Bound together by poverty, grief and their shared years at school, they set out to make a future for themselves in new surroundings. They are adopted by the austere, puritanical Reverend Pennhallow and his wife, and in their large, gloomy house they become immersed in study. But, after a chain of disturbing events, it does not take long before they realize that the cleric and his wife are not all they seem to be."

I like the sound of this story.  At the moment I have an abundance of really good books started so I had better not crack it open just yet to read, but it has definitely been added to my 'to read list' (what's one more book?).  A temptation for all of us--here's how the book begins:

"A young girl, whose name was Lucan Bellenden, on a spring evening sat deep in thought by the window of a fine big English country house.  After the fashion of the 1840s, her rich golden hair was hanging down her neck and shoulders in long ringlets.  She had on a plain, black frock that fitted tightly round her delicate bosom and arms, but was amply folded and draped below the slim waist.  From time to time she gently pressed or wrung her fingers between these black folds; this was her only movement."

Literary Postcards, Part 2

I hope I'm not going to bore you by sharing more of my bookish postcards that I've gotten in the mail in the last month or so.  It's sort of like looking at album after album of someone's vacation photos--pretty but hard to get too excited over since you didn't get to share in the experience.  But these are all so pretty, and bookish-themed, maybe you'll want to take a peek?  I'm trying to save them up and just share them occasionally!

Doesn't this look like a quaint little house?  It's actually the Wells Memorial Library in Upper Jay, NY.  It is situated in a small, rural town of 326 residents.  It looks quite homey and comfortable, don't you think?  I could spend some pleasant time there browsing books I suspect.  You can read more about it here, and take a peek inside here.

From library to bookstore.  Another very browse-able place, don't you think?  The caption on the card reads "Antiquariat der Literatur, Zurich".  Not sure if that means used books or just general bookstore, but it's a great space.

Isn't this a great image?  It's one of my favorites so far (though how to choose with so many wonderful cards?).  As it happens I had a German penpal who I used to be in regular contact with, but over the years our cards had gotten less and less regular.  Since I have been in a letter writing mode I sent her some postcards and it turns out she is also on Postcrossing and sent me this postcard as a surprise.  Hopefully we'll be in more regular contact once again.  This painting is by George Dunlop Leslie (1835-1921) and is titled "Alice in Wonderland".  It's home is at the Royal Pavilion Libraries & Museums, Brighton & Hove.  More about the museums here.  Doesn't the little girl look slightly annoyed?

Just a general book lust image here!

Two of my favorite subjects in this one--books and the seaside.  It's such a "civil" looking scene.  Properly dressed ladies in their hats and frocks undertaking suitably ladylike tasks whilst on their holidays.  And when they finished I am sure they must have had tea and cakes in a nice little tea room.  Sounds nice to me.  The painting is by Alfred Victor Fournier (1872-1932) and is titled "Am Strand", 1929.

Many thanks to Catherine for this one.  It's an image I can relate to only too well (how often do I wish I was at home curled up with a good book?).  The artist is Edgar Fernhout (1912-1974) and this is listed as "Interieur".  It's found in the Coll. Centraal Museum, Utrecht.

More book lust.  The caption on this--"Von le Corbusier bis Baudelaire".  It looks like a shelf of German art and architecture books.

More (enviable) reading women.  The artist is W.B. Tholen (1860-1931).  The painting is titled "The Arntzenius Sisters".  This is in the Collectie Stedlijk Museum Het Catharina Gasthuis, Gouda.   What do you think?  Picture books?  They are awfully oversized.

And I'll round things out with one more bookstore.  This is Bilbo's Bookshop in Bath on the "busy corner of Milsom Street & New Bond Street.  This is a detail from an original watercolor by Toby Longworth.  The caption reads "Over 30,000 titles on a third mile of shelving are housed in a listed Georgian building.  A tour of Bath by horse & carriage starting from Bilbo's can be had in the season."  I couldn't find anything on this one online, so I'm afraid they are now defunct?  How sad is that?  30,000 titles.  Heaven.

I'm getting quite a collection of bookish postcards, aren't I?  Now I need to decide how best to display/store them.  If you're curious about the other postcards I've been receiving, you can see some of them here.  I'm very slow about scanning them as it is tedious business resizing them to upload, but it's fun being able to share them.

Looking Forward to Reading . . .

Every now and then I pull out my trusty little notebook where I jot down book titles that I come across that look interesting and search the public library's online catalog to see if it's listed (and then of course get in line for it).  Occasionally a title that sounds like something I'd like to keep will either be added to my Amazon wishlist or dropped into a virtual basket for purchase right away! 

Yesterday at work I was able to listen in to a webinar, The Murderous Month of May, put on by the great folks at Booklist of upcoming mysteries from a variety of publishers.  What could have been more perfect for me at the moment?  Granted it was geared more towards public libraries than an academic library, which is where I work, but you never know when the information will come in handy.  Besides, we offer Kindles to our patrons for more leisurely reading than the heftier academic tomes for research. 

Since I noted quite a few interesting forthcoming titles, I thought I would share a few highlights with you, too.  Some are books were mentioned during the webinar and others are from my own personal booklist.  I guess it's time to see what's available at the library (and I feel the urge for a book order as well).

The Grand Tour: Around the World with Agatha Christie by Agatha Christie -- I missed the first ten minutes or so of the webinar (dreaded technical difficulties), so I missed the bit about this book, but I saw it on the list and it caught my eye.  According to the information on the UK edition of this title, Christie did an around the world tour to promote the 1924 Empire Exhibition.  The letters and photos went unpublished for nearly a century, but happily we get to read it now.  "The Grand Tour is a book steeped in history, sure to fascinate anyone interested in the lost world of the 1920s. Coming from the pen of Britain's biggest literary export and the world's most widely translated author, it is also a fitting tribute to Agatha Christie and is sure to fascinate her legions of worldwide fans." 

An Unmarked Grave by Charles Todd -- This is the third (or are we now on the fourth) Bess Crawford mystery about a WWI nurse who gets involved in murder mysteries (along the lines of Maisie Dobbs--but not quite the same).  I enjoyed the first and have meant to get back to the books.  I was just recently thinking of picking up the second book, so I guess I should do so soon before I reall fall behind.

Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon -- "Once again, internationally acclaimed, New York Times bestselling author Carlos Ruiz Zafon creates a rich, labyrinthine tale of love, literature, passion, and revenge, set in a dark, gothic Barcelona, in which the heroes of The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game must contend with a nemesis that threatens to destroy them."  I read and enjoyed The Shadow of the Wind, but never got around to Zafon's second book.  I may have to at least take a peek at this one--a book set in Spain sounds sort of appealing to me at the moment.

Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes -- Considering how much this book was talked up during the webinar, I think I will have to get my hands on it for sure.  The presenter was very enthusiastic about it, so maybe I'll see about getting a UK edition if it's in paper rather than waiting until it's June US release.  "Utterly convincing in its portrayal of obsession, Into the Darkest corner is an ingeniously structured and plotted tour de force of suspense that marks the arrival of a major new talent."

Flight from Berlin by David John -- I like the sound of this one.  "A cynical English reporter and a beautiful, headstrong, American Olympic hopeful are caught in a lethal game of international espionage during the 1936 Berlin Olympics in Flight from Berlin, a riveting debut thriller from breakout novelist David John." 

The Cutting Season by Attica Locke -- Locke's first book, Black Water Rising, was much lauded (even made the Orange Prize longlist last year) and it sounds as though this second book is much anticipated.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn -- Another book which was enthusiastically recommended.  " One of the most critically acclaimed suspense writers of our time, New York Times bestseller Gillian Flynn takes that statement to its darkest place in this unputdownable masterpiece about a marriage gone terribly, terribly wrong. The Chicago Tribune proclaimed that her work “draws you in and keeps you reading with the force of a pure but nasty addiction.” Gone Girl’s toxic mix of sharp-edged wit and deliciously chilling prose creates a nerve-fraying thriller that confounds you at every turn."

Brenner and God by Wolf Haas -- Apparently this Detective Brenner series is hugely popular in Germany and is now being translated into English for the first time.  "They’re timely, edgy stories told in a wry, quirky voice that’s often hilarious, and with a protagonist it’s hard not to love."

A Fatal Winter: A Max Tudor Mystery by G.M. Malliet -- This one sounds like sheer fun.  It's the second book in the series, and I think I'll be looking for the first.  "In A Fatal Winter, Max—Anglican priest, former MI5 agent, and village heartthrob—investigates two deaths at Chedrow Castle. But his growing attraction to Awena Owen complicates his case, as does the recent arrival at Chedrow Castle of a raucous group of long-lost, greedy relatives, any one of whom has a motive for murder. With a cozy setting, intricate puzzles, and a handsome (non-celibate) priest doing the sleuthing, the books in this series are destined to become instant classics in the mystery world."

Dead Scared by S.J. Bolton -- This is one I've had on my own radar for a while as I've read all but one of Bolton's novels and am a fan of her Lacey Flint series (this is the second and I can't wait to get my hands on it).

Broken Harbor by Tana French -- French is another author who I automatically read and I was excited to see another book by her coming soon.  French's books tend to focus on a pool of characters but the viewpoint shifts with each book.  This new one is about Mick "Scorcher" Kennedy one of the Murder Squad detectives.

My own list is much longer than this one, but I hate to bombard you with books.  If anyone is interested I might do a part two sometime soon and share more titles that I gleaned from the webinar or from my own lists.  I realize this is a Mystery edition of forthcoming books, but are there any books (mystery or otherwise) you're looking forward to this summer?  And now I guess I had better go start searching my library's online catalog and get in line . . .

Totally off topic -- a question for you.  Which feed reader do you use to read/organize blog posts?  I've been using Google Reader, but am thinking of switching to something different.  They seem to have made some changes.  Before I could clean out my "inbox" and start from scratch, but now it seems you can only mark posts as 'read', but they continue to load in the inbox.  I'm not sure I like this set up and want something that can be organized a bit more to my liking.  I've sort of abandoned it at the moment and I fear what it looks like since I have gotten behind in blog reading.  Suggestions welcome. 

The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark

Muriel Spark's novels are deceptively simple.  Really, I think they aren't simple at all, rather they have many hidden depths to them, and maybe that's part of the reason that Anthony Burgess chose The Girls of Slender Means as one of the "Best Modern Novels" in the London Sunday Times Review.  This slim novel could (and should) easily be read more than once and mined for meaning, but I think my post will be a slimmed down version of just the basics (keeping with the "slender" theme).  This isn't the first time I've encountered Spark's fiction, as I read (and reread) a couple of books a number of years ago and thought much the same then.  I noted at the time that she had converted to Roman Catholicism and it had influenced her writing, and I see some of that influence here as well as she tackles the problem of good vs. evil once more.  I enjoyed the story, but there is a complexity to it that makes it linger in my mind.  Her work has a certain quirkiness to it, and it seems there is always something devastating about the story in the end.  I've liked everything I've read by her, and I especially liked this novel.

The Girls of Slender Means has, if you read the story, double meaning.  The girls of slender means are those who live in the May of Teck Club, the windows of which had been shattered three times during the War though the building had never been directly hit. 

"The May of Teck Club exists for the Pecuniary Convenience and Social Protection of Ladies of Slender means below the age of Thirty Years, who are obliged to reside apart from their Families in order to follow an Occupation in London." 

But the girls and women who live in the club aren't just watching their budgets.  They also keep a close eye on their calorie and fat intake and measure their slimness by whether they can slide through a narrow window and climb out onto the roof in order to sunbathe.  Something not everyone has the waistline to achieve.

The story is told in flashback, though I wasn't sure at exactly what distance it was narrated, 1945 being "long ago when all the nice people in England were poor".  The residents of the May of Teck club have scattered, and one of the young men who had taken an interest in some of the girls has been martyred in Haiti where he had been a Jesuit missionary.  Jane Wright, a journalist, who knew Nicholas Farringdon when he was an anarchist author is researching his life with her sights set on the possibility that a book he wrote might now be published posthumously.  When she was living at the May of Teck Club Jane was cultivating Nicholas as much as he was her.  As a publishing assistant it was Jane's charge to find the weak spot in an author (no doubt with the idea he might then be paid less), but she took a liking to Nicholas.  And like so many other men he took a liking to Selina Redwood, another May of Teck resident, whose poise and charm was the downfall of many a man.

The inhabitants of the May of Teck Club are a curious lot.  Despite the "under thirty" rule, there are a few long-standing residents who seem to have arrived and never left.  And within the club there is regimented order to who lives where--from the first floor which is curtained off into cubicles for the younger women to the top floor where the most attractive, sophisticated and lively girls have their rooms.  It seems a charming place to live, the sort of place that could only have existed through the war years.  One visitor comments how much she likes it as it reminds her of being back in school. 

Spark takes care to describe the personalities of the girls.  Jane the writer, who begins the story, often asks for quiet so she can attend to her "brainwork", which includes writing letters to famous authors in order to get their signatures to sell for ready cash.  Virtuous Joanna Childe, a country vicar's daughter gives elocution lessons and can often be heard throughout the house with her students.  She's much admired by the other girls.  There is Pauline Fox, one of the top-floor girls, who dines out in elegant gowns but returns home early after arguing with her boyfriend.  And then there is Selina Redwood, who Nicholas sees as his ideal. 

Once the story begins to move along it's through Nicholas's eyes that the reader views the girls of the May of Teck Club.  He sees in Selina a sort of perfection.  Her poise and charm and slenderness he romanticizes as being common to all the girls in the Club, and as someone who is socially and morally conscious and always questioning he thinks her attributes are also a reflection of these same ideas.  Her slenderness being a badge of poverty, which in his mind makes for a worthy and ideal society.  Only Selina is far more superficial and selfish and an action lacking an ounce of compassion will cause his final and formal conversion at the end of the story.  

There's lots of good and interesting things going on in this story, and it's hard writing about them in a way that makes sense and still tempts you to try this novel, but it's well worth looking for if you're inclined to read her.  Thanks to Simon and Harriet for organizing the Muriel Spark Reading Week (and Thomas for the cool badge).  I wrote a little about The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and The Driver's Seat here, if you're curious.  I'm planning on starting A Far Cry From Kensington next, though I don't expect I'll  have finished it or will be able to write about it before the end of the week.  If you need any extra urging to read along, check out the cool covers of Muriel Spark's novels.  I'm happy to have had a chance to revisit her work.

7 x 7 Links

Both Caroline and Litlove have tagged me for the 7x7 link award, and I finally have had a chance to dig around in my archives for some suitable posts.  The instructions are as follows:

1: Tell everyone something about yourself that nobody else knows.

2: Link to a post you think fits the following categories: The Most Beautiful Piece, Most Helpful Piece, Most Popular Piece, Most Controversial Piece, Most Surprisingly Successful Piece, Most Underrated Piece, Most Pride-worthy Piece.

3: Pass this on to 7 fellow bloggers.

Something about me that no one else knows?  Trust me, I share all the interesting stuff here!

Most Beautiful Piece: I'm going to interpret 'beautiful' very loosely and literally.  Regular readers will know I like to do needlework, though my finishes have been few and far in between of late.  I do share my work here occasionally, though, and one of my favorite and (I think) most successful projects was a bee skep (one of my favorite needlework themes by the way) I finished and had framed a few years back.  If you don't recall "No Bees, No Honey, No Work, No Money" you can see it here.  Since I'm very visual, I think the photos turned out very nicely for that post and I was pleased with the work on that sampler.

Most Helpful Piece: My Books Lists/Thursday Thirteen posts have been mentioned by readers as being helpful (though sadly I don't think I have them all tagged).  I think the one that seems to get the most hits is a list of WWI and WWII novels.  The individual posts/list might be helpful as well thanks to the great comments/suggestions: WWI and WWII. 

Most Controversial Piece: Me?  Controversial?  Nothing in particular comes to mind at the moment.

Most Suprisingly Successful Piece: I think I had the most blog hits ever when someone tweeted my post, Are You as Well Read as Marilyn Monroe.  I don't think the post received many comments, but obviously whoever tweeted the post has a lot of followers.  I had never had, nor have I had since, so many hits on my blog!  As for comments, I think my post on comfort reads generated a lot of discussion (a subject close to many readers' hearts I suspect).

Most Underrated Piece: Strangely it is often the posts I spend the most time writing and thinking about that get the least attention.  The posts that get the fewest comments are usually about a specific book, like The City and the House by Natalia Ginzburg (randomly choosing a recent one as this seems to happen to me often).

Most Pride-Worthy Piece: A post of one of my favorite books, The Family Roundabout, has been quoted on the Persephone Books website.  It's kind of nice when when a book you love and have written about gets a little recognition.

Now to tag seven bloggers:

Kathy at Catching Happiness

Iris at Iris on Books

Kailana at Kailana's Written World

Susan at Pages Turned

Stefanie at So Many Books

Tiina at A Book Blog of One's Own

Skiourophile at Bliblolathas

(Actually anyone who'd like to join in, please consider yourself tagged--do let me know as I'd love to read your answers, too).

The Lover of the Grave by Andrew Taylor

I've been very much in the mood to read cozy, or at the very least detective/police procedural type, mysteries lately.  Whenever I find a series I like I think I will pick up the next book directly after reading one, but then usually opt to read something entirely different for a change of pace.  Andrew Taylor's Lydmouth books, however, have totally captured my imagination and I feel like gulping them down in one go, and I suspect I'll have them all read (there are a mere eight) by the end of the year. 

Following hard on the heels of The Mortal Sickness I picked up The Lover of the Grave, which I thoroughly enjoyed.  The Lydmouth books are quickly becoming my favorite mystery series and are a fierce rival to Maisie Dobbs (no worries, though, as I'll always love Maisie).  I'm not sure how other readers approach books.  Maybe the story is read at arm's length, sort of looking in from the outside or with a critical eye, but I admit I am the sort of reader who gets totally involved in the story (especially with good stories, the ones that allow the reader to become involved) and even more, totally involved with in the characters' lives.  Sometimes I'm not sure that is always a good thing as then there is a sort of emotional attachment, but I can't help myself, especially if I'm going to spend hours with these characters.

I've heard other readers say the same thing--the mystery genre is attractive as the world will be (hopefully) set to rights at the end of the story.  As awful as a crime may be there is something comforting about knowing that in the end there will likely be a satisfying solution to a puzzle.  Of course with the Lydmouth books, much of the appeal is not just the working out of a mystery, but the ongoing drama of the lives of the residents in this fictional English village.  Taylor does atmosphere well, and you get such a good sense of what Austerity Britain must have been like since the books are set in the 1950s.

In The Lover of the Grave a body has been found strung up from what is locally known as The Hanging Tree.  As his pants are found loosed and around his ankles there's confusion as to whether it was murder or suicide, or some accident as a result of a strange sexual practice gone awry.  To muddy the waters even more, when Inspector Thornhill breaks the news to the victim's wife, she only throws her head back and laughs.  It turns out the man was a twin, and neither brother is entirely respectable.  Mervyn Carrick had been a housemaster, recently promoted, at a local public school for boys.  Thornhill finds a discrepancy between what he hears about the victim and what the school's headmaster relates, edging the case closer to the possibility of this being murder than an accident by misadventure or suicide.  The clues don't seem to add up either way.

Along with a murder Inspector Thornhill has a peeping Tom on his hands to deal with.  Not only has it been brought to his attention that someone has drilled holes in the ladies lavatory in the local park, but there have been complaints about someone looking in windows from the fire escape at the hotel.  One of the victims being a popular movie actor returned home from America and visiting friends in Lydmouth.  Curiously the friends are the headmaster and his family at the boys school making for bad timing, or maybe not entirely coincidental.

I'm making this all sound a little quotidian, and in a way it is, all the little daily ins and outs of village life, but therein lies some of the charm of these stories.  Inspector Richard Thornhill is married with top children, but it's not entirely an entirely happily relationship.  His wife tends to want to mother him when he would prefer having a partner.  And Edith resents the long hours and attention he gives his work and doesn't give her.  And then there is former Londoner Jill Francis who is a reporter for the Lydmouth Gazette, all beauty, sophistication and independence.  Both Jill and Thornhill are outsiders who add another dimension to Lydmouth since the small community is viewed through their eyes.

I must say this particular story exudes sex.  Nothing obvious really, but for a small, respectable town (and one burdened by the cloying morals of the midcentury) passions are seething beneath the surface.  Despite the chilly February weather that always seems to be a hindrance, there is still something in the air.  And there is a tension between Jill and Richard that of course makes for interesting reading.  Neither admits the interest and desire each has for the other, or almost not, yet it still weighs heavily every time the two must interact.  Jill is usually peripherally involved in the solving of the crime, and being a reporter/writer she has a keen sense of digging for truths and unsurprisingly is often in the thick of things.  Perhaps part of the tension comes from the interest shown in Jill by the returned movie actor, which is witnessed by Thornhill.  In a small town everyone lives in each others' pockets, so there are rarely any secrets, or not for long anyway.

All in all a satisfying read.  I'm really enjoying reading about the characters' lives--even the secondary ones, which I've not mentioned here, are interesting.  I've already pulled out book four, The Suffocating Night to start soon.  I've had the urge, however, to read John Lawton's Black Out first.  It's set in WWII London, and Sargeant Troy is an intriguing character (more about him later).  It's a cross between a mystery and a spy novel, so I've been particularly interested in trying Lawton.  I'm almost finished with Agatha Christie's The Body in the Library, and Dorothy Sayers' The Nine Tailors is my new gym book.  Can you tell I'm binging on mysteries at the moment.  Happily so!

Busy Creating . . . Back Soon!

Sorry it's been a little quiet here this week.  I'm working on a mail art project that needs to be completed and mailed out by May 1, and I'm anxious to get going on it.  I need to make five creatively designed envelopes with a little surprise enclosed in each.  One goes to the Elevated Envelope, and the other four to folks like myself who like mail art and decided to participate in this artistic endeavor.  I'm trying not to worry that many of the other participants are actual artists and are not like myself just hobbyists. 

I have my mock up (hidden below those papers actually...), so I know what I want to do and roughly how I want to do it, but it's going to take some time and concentration to do it the way I have it pictured in my mind.  The mock up is a bit rough and tumble, so we'll see how a few hours working on the envelopes goes.  I've got a few books out for a little inspiration, so I'm ready to work.

If you're curious what this is all about, you can see one of the already completed and mailed sets of envelopes, which have set a high standard.  Fingers crossed I can actually execute the design I have in mind.  And if you like this idea, there will be another round of Elevated Envelopes this summer.  You can sign up here.  I think I'm going to make sure I can actually pull this off before jumping in again both feet forward.  Fingers crossed this goes well.  I'll show you the results once they are mailed and in their recipient's hands! 

And hopefully back with more bookishness tomorrow.

Two Girls Reading "Girl Reading"

I love it when art, literature and life intersect within a novel.  And when books or reading is directly involved I'm particularly pleased.  Considering the amount of book browsing I do, I'm usually at least peripherally aware when a new book along the lines of Katie Ward's Girl Reading comes along, but somehow it escaped my attention until Buried in Print and I were chatting and it came up in conversation.  There was nothing for it but to read it together we decided, something we had done with success last year (though I didn't get around to writing about that book until early this year).

To call Girl Reading a "novel" might be a misnomer, though Ward herself considers it a single piece of work made up of seven different components.  What Ward does, and both Buried in Print and I thought she did it well, is to explore similar themes based on seven different images of a girl/woman reading through the passage of time beginning in 1333 and ending in 2060.  The images--paintings, photographs, digital images--were all different and while each piece explored issues and problems particular to those eras it was amazing how there was so much continuity from one period to the next despite the passage of time.  The problems and challenges the characters experienced were often related and overlapped.  I guess some things don't change, they just take on a slightly different hue over time. 

Each of the seven chapters can be read as a single story, which at first seems unrelated to the next (at least superficially) until you get to the end of the book and then Ward ties things together, whipping images and experiences into place as one single whole and bringing the stories full circle.  The stories are best read in order and as each is around fifty pages or so, Ward has time and space to create individual little worlds that are easy to get caught up in.  The inspiration for these stories come from actual paintings and images, more than the seven she writes about in Girl Reading, and if you're curious you can see some of them here.

Since Ward really does create separate little worlds within each story (or "component"), it's a little hard to talk about them all in any detail, and that would ruin some of the fun for you if you plan on picking this book up.  But very briefly . . . In "Simone Martini: Annunciation, 1333" a young Sienese girl, shy and pious, is asked to be the model for a Renaissance painter for what will be a provocative religious painting.  "Pieter Janssens Elinga: Woman Reading, 1668" is reminiscent of Tracy Chevalier's Girl with a Pearl Earring with its Dutch setting.  And like the Chevalier novel, the model (or inspiration for the painter) is the housemaid who causes unintended marital strife and jealousy.  There's a twist to "Angelica Kauffman: Portrait of a Lady, 1775" that I wasn't expecting.  A painter is urged to complete a work that was begun for a wealthy woman of her lover.  The separation of the two causing the abandoned woman much pain and grief.   

The next two stories are my favorites of the bunch.  In "Featherstone of Piccadilly: Carte de Visite, 1864" the new art of photography is explored.  Two sisters, twins long separated by distance and attitude, have finally been reunited.  As children they shared the gift of sight and an ability to communicate with the dead.  As adults one has turned her back on her talent and the other has embraced it.  It's a sad yet in some ways playful story, particularly when the sister who has had to take over her deceased husband's photography business must take a postmortem photo of a young child--with interesting results. 

I could have read an entire book created around the setting and characters in "Unknown: For Pleasure, 1916".  A country house setting during WWI and an eccentric woman researching and writing a book are two of the elements that make up this wonderful story.  Told from the perspective of a young girl visiting her aunt and watching and misinterpreting the actions of the adults brings to mind Ian McEwan's Atonement (and I loved that story, too), though Ward gives the story her own slant.  For me it was a perfectly paced story with interesting and witty characters and an unexpected ending. 

"Immaterialism: Reader in a Shoreditch Bar, 2008" brings the reader into the new century and with it, different mediums of expression.  This time an independent woman who works for a British MP is driven to succeed and must face the results and disappointments of her ambitions.  The last story "Sincerity Yabuki: Sibil, 2060" ties everything together.  It's a world both the same and very different, the product of our desires, that shows us we should be careful for what we wish for. 

There were some things I found interesting about the stories, and in some cases the things were a little surprising.  Since the stories center on the making of an image of a girl/woman reading, there is a definite feminist slant to the stories.  Ward writes about love and affection, death, spirituality, relationships with men and with other women and with families, as well as women's roles in society and the doorway to her exploration of these themes is through a painting (or photograph).  Women are the subjects of these works of art, but like so often in life they are also an object.  A lot happens to the characters off stage.  But there is much more to their lives than meets the eye or that the reader is always privy to.  There are things that happen to the characters that the reader never sees, and that often helps create the twist to the story.  Most surprising to me was that it is not always the act of painting/photographing the subject, the reading woman, that is always the central focus of the story.  That was almost an afterthought at times.  It seemed an interesting way to approach a story with this sort of set up and I liked it.

I very much enjoyed Girl Reading, but I can see how there might be things about the book that might not appeal to all readers.  The stories are ultimately interrelated, but each can be read and appreciated on its own.  And as each is its own complete world, it is easy to get wrapped up in the characters' lives--only to have them come to an abrupt end.  On some occasions I was happy to move on to the next and in others I would have liked to linger.  It took me several stories to catch on that Ward writes in present tense which some might find jarring, though I find it happening frequently in novels lately.  Although I am probably not as careful a reader as I could be to  miss such stylistic devices, I think it also says something about the storyteller that I was focused on what was happening more than the techniques she used in forming her stories.

And, of course, much of the pleasure in reading this was being able to talk about it with another like-minded reader.  There are always so many different ways to see a story, and getting someone else's perspective inevitably sheds more light things.  Thanks to Buried in Print for suggesting it, and please do go read her thoughts on it here.