I read six books
in March.
Bought at
Christian Aid Book Sale last year. This memoir by Gwen Raverat (1885-1957) is
illustrated by her own delightful line drawings.
Gwen’s mother,
Maud, was American, sociable and strong-willed, and her father was one of
Charles Darwin’s five sons. Childhood was a dull time for late-Victorian girls
but Maud gave her daughters more freedom than most. However there were
conventions that could not be disregarded. It’s sad that when she was an old
lady Gwen Raverat said ‘it fairly makes my heart bleed’ to remember beautiful
summer days when she and sister were not allowed to discard their thick black
woolly stockings and high boots.
When she was
eighteen, skirts were worn down to the ground – even an inch or two above would
have been very improper. Round the bottom of her skirts she had to sew on two
and a half yards of ‘brush braid’ which to some extent saved the skirt from getting muddy (no tarmac roads). Then, back home, she had to spend an hour or more brushing off
the mud – as she says ‘no more futile job, imposed by idiotic convention’.
My Two Grandmothers and I by Diana Holman-Hunt
Bought at
Christian Aid Book Sale last year. Another memoir – this time by the
grand-daughter of the great Pre-Raphaelite painter. Having drawn a couple of
poor straws in the parent department, young Diana lived mostly in the country
with her lovely cosy maternal grandparents – and had to spend a rather
terrifying couple of weeks every so often with her other grandmother, the widow of William H-H, in
London. Mrs H-H was parsimonious (Diana went hungry for those two weeks), set
booby traps for imaginary burglars and lived entirely in the past with her
memories of her (very unfaithful) husband. Luckily Diana was a resilient, feisty
and amusingly naughty child who coped very well with this eccentric household.
Watch Over Me by Daniela Sacerdoti
Read
on Kindle. The first novel in the bestselling Glen Avich series set in the
Scottish Highlands – with an incredible 2050 5* reviews on Amazon.
‘A poignant story about letting go and moving on: with a little help from
beyond the grave.’ A
very enjoyable read.
Sisterland
by Curtis Sittenfield
Another
purchase from the Christian Aid Book Sale last summer (hoping to clear a bit of
shelf space before this year’s). I am a big fan of Curtis Sittenfield (she’s
written three other books including the touching and funny fictional life of
Laura Bush (yes, really! do try it) called American Wife. This one is about identical
twins Kate and Vi and their volatile relationship – their disagreements mostly
having to do with their psychic abilities. Loved it.
Waiting for You by Catherine Miller
Read on Kindle. Fliss longs for a second baby, a sibling for
Hollie, but the negative tests have a detrimental effect on her marriage.
Against her husband’s better judgement they sign up to take part in a TV
programme called Baby No 2. A light, easy read.
The Newlyweds by
Nell Freudenberger
From the Christian Aid sale last year – but I liked this so
much I don’t think I’ll part with it just yet. Amina from Bangladesh meets
George from New York State online and moves to America to marry him. She is an
only child and her secret intention is that when, three years down the line, she gets
her citizenship she will be able to bring her parents over to move in with
them; however, she begins to realise that that is not the way American families
live.
George is a little dull and not particularly handsome. When
Amina first sees his photograph she finds his face ‘flawed rather by a certain
compression of features leaving large, uncolonised expanses of cheek and chin’. He has a secret too but he’s a decent man; as the Observer
review says ‘With great sensitivity and psychological subtlety, Freudenberger
charts the misunderstandings experienced by the couple in their first years
together.’
The novel was inspired by a chance meeting Nell
Freudenberger had on a plane with a Bangladeshi woman who’d just arrived in
America to marry a man she’d met on the internet. NF subsequently visited
Bangladesh with the woman – the last third of the book is set there.
Highly
recommended.
