September Prompt: Dear Diary, Dear Friend

I'm so happy to put August behind me.  It has been a long hot, sticky summer and I welcome cooler weather (even though I know there are still warm days in store).  I finished my August book in plenty of time and now it is time to choose a new book.  September's prompt is "Dear Diary, Dear Friend" so a novel written in diary or letter format or a nonfiction book about either.  I love epistolary novels and am really looking forward to this.  

I only took a quick look around my shelves, so my pile is actually pretty small.  Sometimes having too many choices only makes the decision harder, but I am hoping that I can read two books this month rather than one.  My choices:

The Diary of Lady Murasaki by Murasaki Shikibu -- "Told in a series of vignettes, it offers revealing glimpses of the Japanese imperial palace - the auspicious birth of a prince, rivalries between the Emperor's consorts, with sharp criticism of Murasaki's fellow ladies-in-waiting and drunken courtiers, and telling remarks about the timid Empress and her powerful father, Michinaga."

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell -- "Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that somebody is monitoring their work e-mail. (Everybody in the newsroom knows. It's company policy.) But they can't quite bring themselves to take it seriously. They go on sending each other endless and endlessly hilarious e-mails, discussing every aspect of their personal lives.  Meanwhile, Lincoln O'Neill can't believe this is his job now- reading other people's e-mail. When he applied to be "internet security officer," he pictured himself building firewalls and crushing hackers- not writing up a report every time a sports reporter forwards a dirty joke.  When Lincoln comes across Beth's and Jennifer's messages, he knows he should turn them in. But he can't help being entertained-and captivated-by their stories."

Dead Letters by Caite Dolan-Leach -- "Caite Dolan-Leach’s debut thriller is a literary scavenger hunt for secrets hidden everywhere from wine country to social media, and buried at the dysfunctional heart of one utterly unforgettable family." 

Love Lessons by Joan Wyndham -- "August 1939. As a teenage Catholic virgin, Joan Wyndham spent her days trying to remain pure and unsullied and her nights trying to stay alive. Huddled in the air-raid shelter, she wrote secretly and obsessively about the strange yet exhilarating times she was living through, sure that this was ' the happiest time of my life'."

Frances Donaldson: A Woman's War by Rose Deakin -- "Female farming in "The War". A laughing, crying, gripping, writer-to-be's letters to her husband through five long years of separation. She, a famous playwright's daughter from high society turned farmer, responds with candour and can-do to male dominance in the cowshed and the realities of the woman's land army volunteers. A moving must-read of feminism two generations before its time coupled with the real smell of Britain before and after Dunkirk. The fear and the relief."-- Robert Boyd.

I am leaning heavily towards Rainbow Rowell's first novel as I like the idea of the story being told through emails.  just out of curiosity, do you have a favorite epistolary novel?

Comments

[Amateur Reader (Tom)]

Oh yes. The epistolary novel. Clarissa, what else?

[Readerlane]

Maybe 84 Charing Cross Road, although on second thought I guess it’s not a novel? One favorite is Letters from Yellowstone by Diane Smith where part of the drama is the competing scientific views of the members of an expedition. And I’m reading Dracula “in real time” which is an interesting way to experience the story told through letters and diary entries. Good luck with your prompt selection(s)!

My prompt this month is Time in the Country (thank you for the idea), and I’m thinking I’ll read The Last September by Elizabeth Bowen. Maybe I’ll be able to fit something else in, too. Time as they say will tell.

[Danielle]

That's the one, isn't it? The classic epistolary novel that started it all. I have it and I do need (and want) to read it. It's such a massive doorstop of a book. I think it is one I should dedicate almost all my reading attention to when I do pick it up!

[Danielle]

It doesn't matter-novel or not, they are all options! I thought of Dracula--perfect time of year and it has been long enough that I am actually due for a reread. Is Letters from Yellowstone a novel or nonfiction? Must look that one up! I really liked month in the country for a theme and you are sure to find lots that will work and be interesting. Elizabeth Bowen is yet another author I should really get back to!

[cathy]

Just got back from the library to find more books on your list that I 'need' to read!

Thoroughly enjoyed Letters from Yellowstone - fiction but according to the author bio, she's studied western & environmental history so I'm sure there's a lot of truth to what she writes.

[Penny]

Danielle, have you read Elinore Pruitt Stewart's "Letters of a Woman Homesteader"? I think you might enjoy it.

[iliana]

I love epistolary novels too. I have read Attachments and that was really sweet. Hope you enjoy it. And, I'm with you, glad to see the end of August and looking forward to the Fall. Which of course for us is still pretty warm but at least not 100s.

[LindaY]

I don't know if it's favorite, but SORCERY AND CECILIA. Oh, wait--DADDY LONG-LEGS and DEAR ENEMY! I love DEAR ENEMY and wish someone would make a film of it (without the obnoxious eugenics twaddle).

[Danielle]

Don't you hate it (okay maybe not) when that happens! I will have to look up Letters from Yellowstone--I love (well, love to try anyway_ any story that is told through letters!

[Danielle]

No, but I think I might own a copy. Is it oversized and with photos? Or maybe I am mixing it up with something else. If it is women's letters all the better for me! :)

[Danielle]

Attachments is very easy and happy reading. I can always use a book with a nice light touch like this one. It is much more temperate these days but this week it is going to be pretty warm (hurricanes mess up everyone's weather--though compared to the Coast, of course I can't really complain!!). If you visited here you would probably think it is pretty mild in comparison to where you live! :)

[Danielle]

I have Sorcery and Cecilia and I meant to look for it--I am just not sure where I put it! I need to buy a copy of Dear Enemy and Daddy Long Legs--I think they might even be free online as ebooks. I have looked at them before and someday I will buy copies of them!

[Linda]

Yes, they're both online.

[Ashley]

Oh I love epistolary novels! Some of my favorites are The Diary of a Provincial Lady series, The Boy Next Door series (which is told through emails and memos), Henrietta's War and Henrietta Sees It Through, The Historian, Attachments, Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society, and Fraulein Schmidt and Mr. Anstruther.

Favorite nonfic examples are 84, Charing Cross Road, Letters of a Woman Homesteader, C. S. Lewis' Letters to Children.

Wow this response got long...anyways, happy reading!

[Danielle]

Hi Ashley, I love the suggestions you have left. I have read a few of them and own a few others. I have only read one of the Provincial Lady books and always forget there are more of those. I have those Henrietta books, too, which sound like great fun. I am still planning on watching the Guernsey film adaptation, but I really enjoyed the book and am a little afraid the movie will not live up to expectations... (No worries--comments really can't be too long in my opinion!). :)

[smithereens]

I'd recommend Lady Susan by Jane Austen, it's quite short.

[Danielle]

Ah, yes, that is a novel in letters (or diary entries?) isn't it? And it would be a classic, too! I wonder if I have it on my bookshelves.... Good idea!