A Work in Progress

Teaser Tuesday: The Chevalier

In order to keep the momentum going, if I write about Cynthia Harrod-Eagles's The Chevalier, surely I will finish it soon.  That's what I am hoping anyway.  I've been mired in Restoration era England for several years now and have to pull myself out.  It's all Annunciata Morland's fault.  Normally I like and admire strong female characters, especially those who show lots of moxie.  Annunciata is most definitely an independent woman for the period, but she can also be cruel and completely self-absorbed and for at least two books now (she is apparently an enduring character) she has rubbed me the wrong way.  This poor book has been plagued by mis-starts and periods of being set aside--so much so that this last time I picked the book up I had to go back to the beginning and start again.

I've not spent time with the Morland family for three long years now and at the rate I am reading I might have to take these books with me to the retirement home someday.  But Annunciata has gone into exile with King James II and is far away in France with two of her sons.  She's no longer center stage.  The Morland heir, James Matthias--Matt, is just now sixteen.  It's 1700 (a new century and many changes coming) and he is getting married.  

India Neville.  I'm undecided.  If Annunciata was a challenging character to warm up to, I think India Neville hasn't a hope of being one of my favorites.  Nasty characters, though, often have a way of making for interesting reading.  And it's early days yet.  Maybe she has hidden potential I am as yet unaware of.  My first impression is that she is cold and scheming and is going to milk the Morland family for all its worth.  She is an heiress but her money has been in trust after the death of her father some six or seven years previously.  Upon her marriage she will come into her inheritance (she and her mama, that is).  The Morlands have wealth and power and Matt is a softy and will bend under India's will every time.  I can sense it already and the wedding is just taking place.  The bulk of the book is going to be her plotting and manipulations.  If Annunciata returns to Yorkshire it will be most interesting to see how the two women get on.  If they get on or if they clash spectacularly. 

So, yes, things are getting interesting and I am now hooked to keep going.  So, a few teasers about India since she is the character who is going to be creating a little drama.  (Perhaps a character you love to hate?).  My first impressions . . . based on a few descriptions:

"India Neville was fifteen, but looked older than Matt, a fine, big, well-grown girl, only too evidently physically mature.  She was handsome, straight-backed and free-moving, with high color in her cheeks and glossy black hair.  On first seeing her, Matt thought she looked like a well-fed, well-groomed black filly led out for the race."

* * *

"India had been taught to walk and dance gracefully by an exiled Huguenot who gave lessons in a room in Tanner Row; Mrs. Neville had taught her to sew, to speak a few words of French (which she practiced on the dancing master, to his distress, for her accent was impeccably Whitehall) and to play the virginals.  Otherwise, India's mind had all the unblemished bloom of ignorance of a butterfly wing."

* * *

"India smirked at her reflection in the mirror - a circle of polished silver, not a proper glass mirror as she would have expected.  She'd order plenty of those once she was mistress of this dusty old tomb of a house."

* * *

"No, there would be no excitement there.  She would do what she had to, and otherwise please herself.  He would give her no trouble.  He would be easier to handle even than dusty old Fragarde."

See what I mean?

There are now 35 books in the series, with the last one beginning in 1935.  I am not sure if there will be anymore books or how far into the 20th century Cynthia Harrod-Eagles will take the Morlands.  I have the whole run of books so there is nothing to slow me down (other than other books, of course).  I have optimistically pulled book 8, The Maiden, from my "Morland bin of books".  Every time I pick one of the books up it is with the intention of reading the next one as soon as I finish whatever is in hand at the moment.  But best laid plans and all that.  The impetus this time around is a new series by the author which I have just discovered has been released (I was expecting the book until September!) called Goodbye, Piccadilly: War at Home, 1914.  I am not sure how many books are planned, but I have my copy on order and maybe I can actually keep up with the books and read each before the next one is published.  

As for the Morlands?  I'll just keep at my stately progress.  I know there will come a time when I want to gulp the books down.  Anyway, the Restoration is nearly at an end.

The Long Shadow: Morland Dynasty

Several years ago I came across Cynthia Harrod-Eagles's Morland Dynasty books in the now-defunct Common Reader catalog.  If you're familiar with the Common Reader you'll know what a really great selection of British books they had.  I still think it's a pity they folded as the books they offered were the sort you weren't likely to find in local bookshops and you could easily browse the titles.  I ordered many a book from them including the entire set, which at the time was about 25 books, of the Morland Dynasty, an epic story that follows one Yorkshire family through history from the early 1400s into the twentieth century.  Yes, that's me lusting after these books and still buying each new instalment.  And it was a huge splurge to buy them all in one go, but I'm glad I did.  Harrod-Eagles is now up to book #34 which is set in 1925 (forthcoming January 2012).

After a long hiatus I finally picked up book six, The Long Shadow, this year.  It's set during the reign of King Charles II at the time of the Restoration.  I have to be honest, as much as I have enjoyed the Morland saga so far, The Long Shadow, proved to be something of a slog for me.  I've been blaming my tepid desire to pick this book up (and I started it early in the year) on not being terribly interested in Restoration England.  But the truth of the matter is, while Restoration England isn't  my favorite era, it's more an intense dislike of Anunciata Morland.  Each book generally focuses on one branch of the Morland family or just a few characters in particular (though the cast of characters tends to be fairly large).  I've rarely had such a visceral reaction to an unlikable character before.  Truly, though, Anunciata takes the cake. 

Her story began in The Black Pearl (book five) where she is a young woman making her way in the royal court.  Ambitious and self-serving she marries well and becomes a countess.  Her ties to the court are close and she is fiercely loyal.  I generally like strong female characters, but along with her strengths, Anunciata is also spoiled, self absorbed and selfish.  She's loyal to the Court and loyal to the Morland family name, but not always very loyal to her husband(s) or all of her children.  Her behavior is sometimes maddening!

It might make sense to backtrack a little, however.  I wish I had written proper posts for the previous books so I can look back on my thoughts, but I didn't.  While the stories can be read individually, they really work better if you read them in numerical order.  A few highlights (and sorry, this is more for me than you) wouldn't be amiss in case I let the next book languish longer than I should.  It all begins with an arranged marriage in The Founding.  Eleanor Courteney, the ward of a wealthy family and herself an admirer (though would prefer to be more) of Richard, Duke of York, is married off to Robert Morland, the son of an ambitious sheep farmer.  Yes, from so inauspicious a beginning will arise the influential Morland dynasty.  Although not entirely happy in her situation Eleanor sets her mind to her task of raising heirs and building up the Morland wool empire.  Already in this first book the Morlands find themselves involved in court intrigues aligning themselves with the Yorkist cause.

The saga continues with The Dark Rose set against the turbulent reign of Henry VIII.  Eleanor's great grandson Paul has inherited the estate, but his own leadership of the family empire is marked by jealousy and resentment.  By now there are several branches of Morlands, so tensions sometimes run high between family members.  Paul is unhappy with his life and looks for solace outside the marital bonds resulting in a bastard son who is more loved than Paul's legitimate son.  Once again there is a Morland presence at court--Paul's niece Nanette is maid-in-waiting to the doomed Anne Boleyn.  Although not surprising, the Morlands are staunch Catholics, but what is interesting is that many of the family members remain so even after the Tudor line ends.  This sets up the story (and the family) for lots of drama and heartache in the future.

The Morland's fortunes rise and fall depending in part who is in power.  In The Princeling Elizabeth I reigns and while some of the Morland family follow the new Protestant faith more of them still adhere to the old religion.  The family looks north to expand their empire, but not all the Morlands end up in happy circumstances.  The Scottish court is a dangerous place to be as Lettice Morland discovers.  It's interesting to see how far of a reach the Morlands have as other members set off with Sir Francis Drake or join a traveling theater troupe.

Two of the main characters in The Oak Apple are brothers, one who will inherit (though he doesn't act much like an elder son), and one who should inherit.  Yes, imagine the problems.  The elder will soon be returning home (from Oxford and the beyond) with a Puritan wife.  Of course loyalties will be split when war breaks out under Charles I's reign.  After years of peace and plenty civil war now threatens the stability of the Morland family, too. No doubt looking forward a bit for things to come Morlands even set foot in the New World.

Things have been pretty rocky for the Morlands after the Civil War, but in The Black Pearl Oliver Cromwell's protectorate has come to and end and Catholic Charles II is in power.  Much of the Morland's power and wealth has been lost, so Ralph, the current heir, must set about rebuilding the family's fortunes.  His beautiful cousin, Anunciata, is sent off to court in hope that new ties can be made which will aid the family, and she has much success there.  She has a mysterious past as it's unknown who her father was, and hints are that he is someone powerful.

And this brings me back full circle with The Long Shadow, which continues Anunciata and Ralph's story.  Anunciata, now a Countess and also a widow, weds Ralph who has also lost his wife.  Yes, cousins, but that wouldn't have caused a blink of an eye in Restoration England.  Ralph is a bit downtrodden by now and can't quite manage Anunciata who spends most of her time at court.  She is much loved by King Charles II and Prince Rupert and always seems to be in the thick of things.  While the Morland estates begin once more to flourish, Ralph is alone and looks for solace elsewhere.  Upon the death of King Charles II, James II takes the throne--the last Catholic king.  Rebellion breaks out once again and the Morland estate is a target due to their Catholicism.  As difficult as I found Anunciata throughout the story I will say she did redeem herself the tiniest bit through her resolve to defend Morland Place against rebels.  And at the end of the story James II has stepped down from the throne in favor of his daughter, Mary, and her Dutch husband William.  So more uncertainty for the Morland family!

Since I want to keep the momentum going I've already started reading The Chevalier (book #7).  Guess who's back?  Anunciata is once again going to play a role in this story, though I am not sure how much she will be center stage as she is to follow King James II into exile as remaining at Morland Place is too dangerous for the family.  Anunciata is far too well known and too close to the Royal family.

I really do enjoy these books and I'd like to make more steady progress with the series, so I plan on always keeping one on my night table.  I admit that some of the subtleties and nuances of British history do go over my head a bit occasionally, but Harrod-Eagles really does make it all very accessible and enjoyable to read about through the lives of the Morland family.  It's easy to get caught up in their stories.  I'm only hoping that Anunciata will have mellowed a little this time out.  And once I get through with The Chevalier it is onwards into the 18th century finally!     

A Sunday Mishmash

Tonight is the finale to season one of AMC's The Killing.  I was pleasantly surprised by it.  I don't watch a lot of TV, but I have enjoyed the show.  It seems to have sparked some very vehement discussions online--people either love it or hate it.  But as a way to pass an hour on a Sunday night it seems head and shoulders above most of the other choices out there.  I was happy to see it will be back for a second season, which will apparently closely follow the Danish original.  It would be nice if Forbrydelsen will at some point become available to US viewers as I am very curious about it.  I believe it is in its third season in Denmark and has won a number of awards.

Isn't this a pretty pile of books?  Frances at Nonsuch Books is setting herself the small task of reading each and every book in Melville House's Art of the Novella series this August.  If you join in you'll have a chance to win some cool prizes, and whenever this includes books it makes me take a second look.  Since I am already making plans for August I think 42 novellas might be a little steep for me, but there are a number of interesting-sounding stories in their list so I might manage one or two.

Aren't these bookmarks great?  Stefanie at So Many Books shared this link, so I have to pass it on.  Someone made some similar to these and sent them to me, but I wasn't sure how she made them.  They are similar but not quite the same.  I might even be inspired to try making a few myself next time I'm feeling particularly crafty. 

You may already have seen this list of the 100 Greatest Non-fiction books.  I've never been a great reader of nonfiction, though I do enjoy them when I pick them up (and I definitely accumulate them faster than I read them).  I've only managed to read three (Anne Frank, Lorna Sage and Patrick Leigh Fermor), which seems a very sorry state of affairs, though there are a number on the list that are also on my shelves.  Do good intentions count?

If I've not read many of the books on that nonfiction list, I have read quite a few of the books that are referred to in a fascinating article on the Country House and the English Novel.  I guess you see where my priorities lie.  I can see I'll be looking for Alan Hollinghurst's new book, The Stranger's Child, which is due to be released this fall, which is also discussed.  And I had no idea of the size or scope of Vita Sackville-West's house (though house doesn't quite seem to catch the magnitude of the place), Knole House.  I had never heard of a Calendar House before: 365 rooms, 52 staircases, 12 entrances and 7 courtyards.  If I ever get to travel to England again I think I must try and visit it.  Until then I'm lucky there are so many books with country house settings.    

Speaking of country houses, there is one in L.P. Hartley's The Go Between.  I read this last year at about this time.  It was one of my favorite books last year.  Ali Smith gives it something of a new interpretation in a recent reread.  I was interested in her comments.  She writes about it so beautifully that I am already thinking of giving it a reread myself. 

One bookish note of my own--I have once again this weekend picked up Cynthia Harrod-Eagles's The Long Shadow.  I am sure I've mentioned the Morland Dynasty here, a series of more than thirty books that follow one Yorkshire family through the years from the 1400s onwards.  I last read one of the books in 2009!  I was all set to read The Long Shadow last year but didn't quite click with it.  Inspired by Teresa's faithful reading of the books (she just finished #30!) I thought it time to get moving on my own pile.  As I had another false start with it earlier this year, and July is going to be my "clean up" month, the timing is just right.  The thing is, Restoration England is not really  my favorite historical period.  You'd think I'd like it what with all the libertine excesses and bawdy behavior--that it would make for very entertaining, but I can't seem to get past page 50.  Third time a charm?  Let's hope so, as I'm ready to move on to the 1700s.

And one needlework note.  I've been neglectful of my needlework of late.  It's too hot, or it's too late or I'm too tired, but maybe my problem is I need new inspiration?  In the last couple of years I have not bought more than a (very small) handful of stitching supplies and I have long wanted this Quaker sampler.  So I think I am going to splurge and treat myself.  Isn't it pretty?  The chart isn't cheap but the floss is simple (and inexpensive) DMC, so it won't be too much of a splurge, and it would look so nice on my living room wall!

Reading Notes: February 7

The only thing that is going to get me through this week's arctic subzero temperatures is the promise of warmer than normal temps next weekend.  Could it possibly be close to 50F on Sunday?  It's something to look forward to in any case.  Until then I will continue to stay nestled indoors under warm blankets reading my books and working on my needlework projects.  I really hate wishing my life away (as in I wish it was the weekend), but I can't but help look forward to sunny, if not warm then moderate, days.  And it is even staying lighter a little longer every day.  Bliss.

There are new book choices up at The Slaves of Golconda.  Do go take a look, and if you think you'd like to read along place your vote.  Things got off to a very good start this year with Tove Jansson's The Summer Book.   There's a nice mix of books to choose from, and we won't be discussing the book until the end of March.

I wish I could read South Riding by Winifred Holtby in time for Cornflower's discussion in a few weeks, but I am sure I won't manage it.  I think, however, I'll have much better luck next month as she's chosen Peter Ellis's A Morbid Taste for Bones, the first Brother Cadfael mystery set in Medieval times.  Although I've read Edith Pargeter before, I've yet to read any of her Cadfael mysteries she wrote under the Ellis pen name.  I even have this one sitting on my reading pile.

I've started a few new books.  I've been following Teresa's progress on the Morland Dynasty series of books.  She has only a few more to go until she's read all that the author has published.  I'm sure I've mentioned them here, but I'm sorry to say my own pile of books has been untouched for the last couple of years.  I had to go all the way back to the beginning of 2009 before I could find something I'd written about the last book I read by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles.  Teresa has been reading one a month for the last couple of years, hence her steady progress.  I wonder if I should try and do something similar--at least try and read a few this year.  So I pulled out book #6, The Long Shadow, and started it this weekend.  I very much like her style of storytelling, but the problem is, I think, that I am stuck in the Restoration years, which I am not particularly a fan of.   I believe this and the next book center around a spirited young character called Annunciata who has strong ties to the court of Charles II.  More to follow on this one.

I also raided my library book pile and started the slender novel, Stone in a Landslide, by Maria Barbal.  This is one of the Peirene Press books that so many people were writing about last year.  I had the set of them checked out last fall and didn't read a single one.  I decided I would tackle them one at a time instead.   Barbal is a Catalan author and I like her spare prose style in which she tells the story of a young girl from the country who goes to live with her aunt and uncle and falls in love with a builder.  As this is set during the years leading up to and during the Spanish Civil War, I expect Conxa's life to be turned inside out.

Watching Downton Abbey put me in the mood to read something from the Edwardian period, or if not from the actual period, then about it.  I've picked Katharine McMahon's Footsteps.  I've read and enjoyed several of her novels, in particular her recent The Crimson Rooms was one of my favorites last year.  I'm not sure any of her other books can top that one for me, but I am enjoying Footsteps.  The novel has parallel storylines with one reaching back into the past of the other.  This may be a case of I wish she had just told the story set in the Edwardian period, but it's too early still to tell how things will work out.  Or it may also be a case of I loved Downton Abbey and how could you possibly top a story like that?

Otherwise my reading is filled with the usual suspects.  I'm still working away at Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time.  I've not been writing about it, but I am reading it almost daily.  I was planning on reading one novel a month, but I am still in the first book.  I am hoping to finish it and book two by the end of the month, however.  I'm determined to finish Molly Keane's (M.J. Farrell's) Taking Chances by the end of this week.  Maybe I'll be writing about it next weekend?  And I am very slowly reading Elizabeth George's doorstop of a mystery, This Body of Death.  Despite George's shortcomings, I do love her novels.  I can easily spend an afternoon whiling away my time in her stories, but they are so long that it takes me a while to read them.  I admit, though, the length makes me start to think about the next mystery I'll pick up well before I get to the end of it.  I'm thinking Agatha Christie, but that may well change before I finish the next 350 pages...      

A Holiday Mishmash

I didn't have time to do any holiday stitching for the Fourth, but I dug around in my bin that contains pieces I've already stitched but never actually finished into anything and pulled out a couple of older designs I worked on years ago.  Both are by a designer called Bent Creek, which are easy designs that stitch up quickly.  I didn't have much in the way of fabric that would work, but I tried to be creative with how I sewed them.  They actually turned out pretty well, though my iron died on me halfway through.  I usually press my fabrics and the linen, so they are nice and flat, but they look okay here.  (Lucky you can't pick them up and look too closely and see how lumpy they actually are!).

 

Here's "Pop" close up.

 

And here's "Freedom" (looking very lumpy, as I mentioned!).  It's been a washout here--raining off and on most the the day, so I've only been puttering around, trying to get a decent photo of  my work when there is no sunshine.

 

On a bookish note, I bought a nice plastic bin this weekend to keep all my Morland Dynasty books in one handy place, as I have no room on my shelves for them to sit together.  They were in a box under my bed, but as I have been adding each new book as it is published (better not wait as I fear they are going out of print as the author has lost her publisher), they were getting crammed and the box was starting to fall apart.  I've got 31 books and I believe there are still a few more forthcoming.  To be honest, though, I am only on something like book #6, The Long Shadow.  I've dragged my feet on reading it, as the Restoration is not my most favorite part of English history.  I'm envious of Teresa who is already at book #20, and Katherine who is also far ahead of me as well.  I need to just bite the bullet and start reading.  I have a feeling once I get into the story and wrapped up in the lives of the characters I'll enjoy it more than I think I will.

I've also been trying this weekend to get caught up on blog visiting.  I've been a lurker too long and hate only reading posts from Google Reader without being able to leave a comment.  How do other people manage it?  Visiting and leaving comments that is.  I know I tend to be a very sporadic visitor and I am trying to improve things as time allows.  By the way I am always very appreciative and grateful of all the comments that are left here.  It's always a dreary day when I come home to find I've had very few visitors (this week has been pretty dismal actually), but I'm trying to keep in mind it's smack dab in the middle of summer holidays!  One day of vacation left--why does "free time" go so quickly?  Now I'm off to read.

The Morland Dynasty Continues

Several years back I discovered a wonderful historical fiction series called The Morland Dynasty written by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles.  At the time there were about 26 volumes, though now Harrod-Eagles is up to volume 32, which is due out this spring.  The story begins in 1434 and follows one Yorkshire family through British history.  The books are well written and carefully researched and if you're a fan of family sagas and like to learn about history, I highly recommend these books.  The Morlands are an upper class British family and of course with each new book the family branches off and the story expands a little, but it never loses its focus.

The plan was to tell the story of the Morlands from the war of the Roses up through World War II in twelve volumes, but as you can see it's morphed into much more than that.  This is really quite epic in nature, but sadly the author may not be able to finish out the story.  I just discovered that after a further two more books the publisher is not renewing her contract.  You can read about it here.  It's a pity as I believe Cynthia Harrod-Eagles has quite a fan base and she's so close to the end of her story.  There is a glimmer of light on the horizon, however, as Sourcebooks here in the US is going to start reissuing the books beginning with The Founding in April.  I'm unsure whether they plan on bringing out the entire series as well as any new books she writes, though I'm hopeful this will be the case.      

I've been very lax in keeping up with the books and am still closer to the beginning than the end.  Next up for me is The Long Shadow (volume 6), which begins in 1670.  I have a long way to go, don't I?  Perhaps this will give me the impetus to get going again (and the books really are very addicting once you start).  

Do have a look at Elaine's post.  If enough readers show an interest in the books and enough displeasure that they're coming to an end perhaps it will at least ensure that the remaining volumes are published!

Reading Notes

Although I've pretty much known it all along, I'm definitely a more than one book at a time sort of reader.  This past vacation reminded me just how much I prefer spending time reading several different stories rather than just one.  I finished five books during my time off, though four of them were books I had been working on for a while (so nothing to be impressed about there!).  There were several that I wanted to finish before the end of the year, so I would just pick up one and read it through to the end.  As much as I love escaping into a story (and sometimes you just get so involved you can't put it down), I sometimes would feel a little constrained and look longingly at my pile thinking a break was in order--just a chapter or two of something completely different.  So now that I've got my books in some semblance of an order, I've spent a good few hours today dipping into whatever sounded good.  A chapter here, a few pages there.  For me, that's bliss!

I had an all day reading fest on the 31st to finish Cynthia Harrod-Eagles' The Black Pearl.  I've mentioned  this series before.  It begins in the early 1400s and follows one Yorkshire family, the Morlands, through history.  There are something like 30 books so far, and The Black Pearl is only #5.  At the rate I'm going it is going to take me until I retire to get through the rest of the books.  I seem to only be managing one a year, so I'll have to try to squeeze in a few more this year.  They are very quick, enjoyable reads, however, so I don't expect that to be a problem.  The Black Pearl begins in 1659 just before Charles II is restored to the throne.  I must say that the 1600s were a messy period in British history.  The books are a mixture of history and family drama and each book focuses on part of the family tree.  I like that women are strong characters in these books and you get a taste not only of court life, as the characters are intermingled with real historical figures, but there are also details of how people lived at the time.  So while the books aren't exactly highbrow literature they are a great jumping off place to learn about a particular point in history or an event and entertaining as well as it is easy to get wrapped up in the trials and tribulations of family life.    

I've also had a chance to finally get into Sarah Waters' Affinity.  It's set in a Victorian prison where Margaret Prior, a lady of a good family though suffering from nervousness, has become a Lady Visitor.  She hopes her visits will be of some benefit to the prisoners (and to herself as well).  One of the more intriguing women she encounters is Selina Dawes, a spiritualist and medium.  The book opens with one of her readings where things go horribly awry and she is sentenced to jail for fraud and assualt.  I expect there might be ghosts involved? 

Elizabeth Jane Howard's Slipstream continues to be an engrossing read.  I recently read a passage about the birth of her first child.  It's frightening what women had to go through when giving birth.  Howard married very young and seemed a little on the naive side.  Her worries were completely dimissed by the medical staff.  How awful to want to know 'what's going to happen' and have the nurse complain 'how many times is she going to have to answer this darn question, anyway'.  Ack. 

I have to also mention the movie, The Duchess with Keira Knightly and Ralph Fiennes, which I watched last night.  It was a gorgeously filmed movie and well acted, I thought.  I love good costume dramas, though, so perhaps I'm an easy sell?  I had read Amanda Foreman's biography, Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire, which is excellent as well, and I immediately went and dug it out after watching the film.  Georgiana was quite a women of her times.  She married into money and a title, but her marriage was an unhappy one.  Still she became the darling of fashionable society setting styles all the women followed, and was involved in high politics.  She was a remarkable woman for the times and I'd love to reread the biography.  I usually only can handle one nonfiction at a time, but perhaps I might try two (as this is my year to read more NF, right?).  

Miscellanea: On the Reading Horizon

Okay, so I am nearing the end of a couple of books, which puts me in the mood to be thinking ahead.  I should try and stay in the reading mode of whatever I happen to be working on, but I can't quite get out of the habit of gazing longingly at my book piles and contemplating which book (or books) I should read next.  At the moment I am considering:

The Black Pearl by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles - Over thirty books have now been written following the Morland family from the 15th century through the present day.  I think the author is up to WWI.  The Black Pearl is book #5.  I have quite a ways to go.  The books I have read I have enjoyed, and I own all of the books that are available in paperback, so there is no reason not to read them.  I meant to pick up a few of these this year, but I don't think I've read a single one, and I am very much in the mood for more of the Morland adventures at the moment.  This particular book is set in 1659 at the beginning of the Restoration. 

Greenery Street by Denis Mackail - I did mention that I wasn't quite sure which Persephone I wanted to read next.  After a quick perusal of the books I have on hand that I've not yet read, I decided Greenery Street sounded like the perfect choice.  It's another book where not much happens but the day to day business of living.  This time around it is a pair of happily married newlyweds that take center stage. 

Bleak House by Charles Dickens - This is the one book I am assured of starting this week.  There is no rush to get through it, I just want to take it at a nice leisurely pace.  In looking at the notes on the text, Bleak House was originally published in serial form beginning in March 1852 through September 1853.  How's that for leaving readers hanging?  I am hoping, however, it won't take me a year and a half to read!  I'm giving myself the winter season and will see what happens. 

The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard - This is the first book of the Cazalet Chronicles.  There are four books in total and ages ago I read the first three.  I'm not quite sure what happened to the fourth, but I don't recall ever reading it.  It seems silly to read the last one now on its own, so I thought it would be good to start at the beginning.  I have a feeling it is going to be like reading this for the first time, as my memory can be atrocious after a while. I'm looking forward to watching the BBC adaptation when I finish. 

Only one full week of work and then I have a short week and a few vacation days to look forward to.  Bring on those vacation days!

Comfort Reading

As I seem to be having one of those sorts of weeks, where I feel like I am in a bit of a fug, and I don't want to deal with life and all its minutiae (and right now there is lots of minutiae), I have turned to a book that has long been on my nightstand unopened, The Oak Apple by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles.  No, it is not highbrow literature.  Sorry, it likely won't win the sort of awards that make readers take notice.  But it is absorbing in a way that makes me lose myself in someone else's problems and forget my own.  Just what I need right now.  I have mentioned this series before.  It traces the history of one family from the time of the War of the Roses (1400s) until the present.  I am not very far--just entering the Civil War (early-ish 1600s)--book 4. 

By now of course the Morlands are a big family with lots of off-shoots and children born out of wedlock and the family tree is somewhat muddied--so many children and cousins and aunts and uncles and...well you get the picture, but I refer to it often, so I can keep everyone straight.  Two of the main characters in The Oak Apple are brothers, one who will inherit (though he doesn't act much like an elder son--of course), and one who should inherit.  Yes, imagine the problems.  The elder will soon be returning home (from Oxford and the beyond) with a Puritan wife.  Of course loyalties will be split when war breaks out.  And then I guess we'll see where everyone falls.  It is interesting when I am reading these books and I happen upon another set in a similar time period.  Last year I read a nonfiction book, Court Lady and Country Wife, which was about two 17th century sisters in England.  I'm trying to put myself back in that time frame.  In any case, even though I know there will be plenty of tension and turmoil in this family drama, things will end well and the Morlands will continue on (for another 20-odd wonderful novels more).

Ready for another gentle read, I thought it was time to start Louisa May Alcott's Little Women which Our Coffee Rings book group is reading this month.  I have never read Alcott (or at least the entire novel--perhaps some children's version at some point), and I have been looking forward to this.  My only fear was that it might verge a bit on the saccharine, as I always think of the March sisters as being so perfect.  However, my first taste is not one that is overly sweet (Jo balances things out nicely).  Although it definitely has the feel of a young person's book, I know I will appreciate it too.  This word is on the corny side--but I think "delightful" would be representative of this book.   Another good  read to lose myself in.  When was the last time you pictured a 16-year old girl as someone like Meg?  Although she denies it, she actually still enjoys "dressing up frolics".  It is nice to escape into a world that is safe.  Okay, I know the Civil War is in the background--anything but safe.  But we all know how Little Women will end, so in that I feel safe.  Sometimes you just need books like these....

My Current Reads

I wish I was the sort of person who could pick up a book and diligently work my way through it, and not start another book until I was finished.  I wonder if I could finish more books that way?  Alas, I am not that sort of person.  I want to start everything I see that sounds good, and why do so many things sound so good to me all the time?  Maybe I am not discerning enough?  In actuality there is a method to my madness when it comes to reading.  I won't go into it in detail or everyone really will think I am slightly off my rocker, but I like to have one fiction, one nonfiction, one classic, one mystery---you get the idea--book going at all times.  This way I get a variety of books to satisfy my curiosities.  However I tend to also get sucked into reading other books--I see a good review on someone's blog, I want to join in an online book discussion--again you get the idea.  So this has resulted in my current reads pile becoming precariously large.  I have been pretty good, though.  After completing my last two reads, I have yet to start anything new.  And nothing new until I finish at least one more.  Maybe things will become a bit more manageable.  I really have no problem reading more than one at a time, but if there are too many, one or two will languish in the pile for ages.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling should have been started and finished a long time ago, but I didn't start it until my Christmas break.  And I haven't really picked it up since.  I really have enjoyed what I have read, but too many other books have just got in the way.  I plan on getting back to it as soon as I finish Carol Goodman's The Ghost Orchid.  She just sort of came in hot off the press and jumped to the front of the line.  I have read so-so reviews on this one, but it is too early to tell.  Her newest is a bit different than her previous work (though have you noticed, if you read her, that all her novels seem take place on or around water?).  This one has the occult as a theme, and it is two stories in one--set in current times and perhaps the late 1800s or turn of the century.  One story is set in a writer's colony in upstate New York called Bosco, and the other goes back in time to what happened there in this former time period.  I really should also have finished Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, as I started that around the holidays last year! I have heard so many good things about it.  I think I just need to have a good chunk of time to devote to it to really get back into it.  This is another suspenseful book set in Barcelona post-WWII.  It is about books, so it is hard not to like it.  At times the writing is sort of curious, but I try to keep in mind that this is most likely the translation.  Ah yes, #99 on the Modern Library list is J.P. Donleavy's The Ginger Man.  Not sure what to say about this one.  I am not hating it as much as I thought I would though I do think Sebastien Dangerfield is a pretty despicable character.  So I am trying hard to read a chapter a day (or...well..every other day sometimes).  One book I am thoroughly enjoying is Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary.  She reminds me a lot of Edna Pontellier sometimes, though I think Emma dislikes her child more then Edna did her children (which I had a hard time seeing really though there seemed to be such a big deal made about this).  She seems so trapped in her life that I am feeling a little sorry for her.  I am making my way slowly through the Morland Dynasty Series which traces the history of one English family from the 15th century to present.  At the moment I am only on #4, The Oak Apple by Cynthia Harrod Eagles.  These are just your basic historical fiction, but they are enjoyable.  Right now we are entering a period of civil war.  My other little quick read is The Last Kashmiri Rose by Barbara Cleverly.  This is a new mystery series for me--set in 1920s India.  The detective is British from Scotland Yard.  It has a nice exotic feel to it. And lastly I am working my way through the Reading Matters book club selection, Fall on Your Knees by Ann Marie-MacDonald.  This is another one I am not entirely sure about.  It is about a rather dysfunctional family, set in Nova Scotia in the early 1900s.  I am having a hard time liking or even identifying with any of the characters so far, but I have to say, I am compelled to keep reading!  See, with so many interesting stories and characters, how can I help myself?