It's that time again. Even if it does not feel like March outside (sigh, won't think about the still subzero weather), it is a new month and time for a new prompt. Since the weather is wonky, why shouldn't my reading be so as well? I am still reading my February book, but it is thoroughly enjoyable (and surely I must have more reading time soon).
This month's prompt is Upstairs, Downstairs and it has Downtown Abbey-esque books written all over it. I could be more creative, though I am not sure how I could interpret it and my brain isn't quite functioning that way right now. Besides historical fiction and interwar-ish stories appeal. So here is what I have come up with to choose from:
Habits of the House by Fay Weldon -- I don't think I have ever read any of her books before! "As the writer of the pilot episode of the original Upstairs, Downstairs―Fay Weldon brings a deserved reputation for magnificent storytelling. With wit and sympathy―and no small measure of mischief―Habits of the House plots the interplay of restraint and desire, manners and morals, reason and instinct."
Land of My Dreams by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles -- I have read the first two books in this series, it's about time to pick up another one. "The Land of my Dreams is the third book in the War at Home series by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, author of the much-loved Morland Dynasty novels. Set against the real events of 1916, at home and on the front, this is a richly researched and a wonderfully authentic family drama featuring the Hunter family and their servants."
The Dark Lantern by Gerri Brightwell -- I read this before, but it was so long ago I recall nothing more than I enjoyed it. "A fascinating portrayal of a vanished England as well as an unconventional mystery, The Dark Lantern exposes the grand “upstairs” of a Victorian home and the darker underbelly of its servants’ quarters. The clash between the classes makes for a suspenseful novel of mistaken identities, intriguing women, and dangerous deceptions."
Conversation Piece by Molly Keane -- I had been reading her novels in the order she wrote them, but sort of fizzled. It would be a good thing to get back to them! "When Oliver visits Pullinstown, he is introduced to wild days of hunting and shooting, and to characters like his cousins, with their passion for horses and trickery, and Sir Richard, elderly, but a match for his headstrong offspring."
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh -- I really really really need to get back to read the classics. "Waugh tells the story of the Marchmain family. Aristocratic, beautiful and charming, the Marchmains are indeed a symbol of England and her decline in this novel of the upper class of the 1920s and the abdication of responsibility in the 1930s."
Girl from the Savoy by Hazel Gaynor -- I have heard good things about her and I suspect this would be an easy entertaining read. "London, 1923: Welcome to The Savoy hotel, a glittering jewel in London’s social scene, where the lives of the rich, the famous, and the infamous intertwine. Here, amid the cocktails and the jazz, two women with very different pasts try to forget the devastation of the Great War and forge a new life in a city where those who dare to dream can have it all."
A very respectable pile to choose from. Just when I think I have decided I look at one of the other books and think, but maybe . . . Need to make a choice tonight, however. I am going to try and make this coming weekend a very book filled few days!