Seven in September

I read seven books in September.

 

Always Gardenia by Betsy Hanson

In July I reported that I had a story in an anthology called All this Richness by Barbara Pym and her readers; all the stories were taken from entries to the short story competitions run by the Barbara Pym Society. Betsy Hanson also has a story in it – she has been shortlisted twice and won in 2023. We connected on social media and she kindly sent me a copy of her lovely novel.

Gardenia, from Seattle, is fifty-six and mourning the premature loss of her husband. But she is making a new life for herself – she has started a job as an administrative assistant in a university and is getting to know her colleagues (academia is such fertile ground for a novelist); she babysits her grandson (and worries about her daughter-in-law’s erratic behaviour) and she has her best friend Sylvie, and her beloved dachshund.

Wise and witty and Pymish – I loved it.

 

Murder in Bloom by Liz Fielding

More flowers … but this is the third in a great cosy crime series featuring garden designer, Abby Finch. In this one, Abby is invited onto a gardening TV programme and ends up investigating the murder of the presenter.

 

A Pen Dipped in Poison by J. M. Hall

Another cosy crime, this time with three ex-teacher sleuths Thelma, Liz and Pat. Careers and marriages are destroyed before the three discover the sender of the letters revealing the recipients’ secrets.

 

Broken Bayou by Jennifer Moorhead

Not a book I would have come across if it hadn’t been an Amazon Prime free pick.

Child psychologist Willa Watters has come back to the small town in Louisiana where she, her feckless mother and her damaged little sister, spent childhood summers with her two great aunts. The aunts’ house has been left to the town but there are some boxes Willa must go through. A dry summer lowers the water in the bayou, bringing to light a serial killer’s work – and a shock for Willa.

 

Amusing Miss Austen by Angela Pearse

Sisters who must get married to avoid poverty, a dull clergyman cousin who will inherit their home – sounds a familiar story? Well, indeed – this, after all, is the situation that inspired Felicity's friend Jane Austen to write her best-loved novel ... I look forward to meeting these characters again. Felicity is a delightful heroine and Max is as dashing and (at first) as taciturn as one hopes for in a Regency hero, and of course one can never have too much of Miss Austen.

Great fun – and the sequel Visiting Miss Austen is now available to pre-order.

 

Highland Deceived by Jayne Castel

What a compelling hook – Connor, the new young chieftain of the Mackays of Farr has been betrothed for years but until now has never met his bride – and the woman he retrieves from the nunnery is not who he thinks. Keira – from the Gunn family, sworn enemies of the Mackays – falls hard for her husband but how can she keep her identity a secret? My heart was in my mouth when she got called out by someone who knew the girl she'd replaced. Set in the beautiful far north-west of Scotland, in Sutherland, this is a page-turning read and I look forward to revisiting the area and discovering what happens with Connor's siblings in the follow-up titles.

 

Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Gondola of Doom by Olga Wojtas

The latest mission for time-travelling Morningside librarian Shona, as given to her by her fearsome old headmistress Marcia Blaine. This time Shona thinks she’s been asked to travel back to 17th-century Venice to prevent an outbreak of the plague but she may (as usual) have got the wrong end of the stick. Misunderstanding abound, as do the puns and witticisms and literary allusions. Eventually, Shona’s 21st- century knowledge helps to change Italian history, just not in the way she expected.

An absolute joy.

 

 

Six in August

I read six books in August.

 

Long Island by Colm Toibin

The sequel to Brooklyn. It’s now 1976. Eilis and her husband Tony and their two children live in Long Island, in the same cul-de-sac as Tony’s parents and two brothers. A marriage crisis sees Eilis going back to Ireland and her mother’s house in Enniscorthy for her first visit in twenty years.

No further spoilers. It was such a pleasure to revisit these characters and Colm Toibin’s writing about them. I had the privilege of hearing him talk about the book at the Edinburgh International Book Festival this year (frankly, I could listen to him read the telephone directory). He said he’d loved the film of Brooklyn to the extent that he took some characteristics that Domhnall Gleeson gave to Jim, and brought them out in Long Island.

And that gorgeous lyrical writing? The minute he’s written anything flowery or introspective he deletes it … and pares down and pares down … 

 

A Coronet for Cathie by Gwendoline Courtney

I love to reread my favourite girls’ books. One I know almost off by heart is Elizabeth of the Garrett Theatre by GW and several others of hers are a nostalgic read too. I’d never read this one; it seemed unavailable but has just been reissued by the wonderful Girls Gone By Publishers.

Teenage orphan Cathie learns that, following the death of a previously unknown relative, she is now a duchess and has a castle to live in … The book then turns into more of a school story. Cathie manages to avoid having her lineage known when she attends a day school some distance away – that certainly sorts out the snobs from the nice girls!

And continuing on the comfort reads, a couple of L M Montgomerys – The Story Girl and The Golden Road with their bewitching story-spinning heroine Sara Stanley.

 

 

Lady of Quality by Georgette Heyer

Unmarried at thirty, wealthy Annis Wychwood defies convention and sets up her own household in Bath. She unexpectedly finds herself in loco parentis to seventeen-year-old Lucilla whose guardian is the much-gossiped about rake Oliver Carleton.

 

Bellman and Black by Diane Setterfield

I’m not that keen on ghost/slightly supernatural stories except if they’re written by Diane Setterfield … Her Once Upon a River is wonderful, even better than this one..

Here, William Bellman kills a rook with a catapult when he’s ten and thereby alters the course of his life. Rising from poverty to become a very rich businessman entirely through his own astonishing acumen, when his child is dying he enters into a kind of pact with the mysterious Mr Black.

Apart enjoying the story, I learnt many things from this book especially about rooks and the over-the-top mourning clothes and accoutrements the Victorians went in for. Highly recommended.

 

 

Six in July

I read six books in July.

 

All this Richness by Barbara Pym and her readers …

… and one of those readers I’m thrilled to say is me! This is an anthology of short stories, three of which are by Barbara P herself and the remaining 22 are by readers/writers who have submitted entries to the competition administered by the Barbara Pym society.

Entrants take a Pym character and run with them – take them abroad/forward in time/change their relationships or whatever. Great fun to do, and it was fabulous to read the other stories in this collection.

Not available online (yet; I believe this will be coming). In the meantime contact:

barbarapymsociety@gmail.com

 

Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes

Literally – a mix-up of shoe bags at a gym changes the lives of struggling wife and mum, Sam, and trophy wife Nisha. Many twists and turns ensue in this warm and satisfying read.

 

The Veiled One by Ruth Rendell

I was, and still am to some extent, a big fan of Ruth Rendell’s writing, her plots and her protagonists Inspector Wexford and his right-hand man Mike Burden. (I used to work for her publisher in London and was once introduced to her.)

Her books are set in the 60s/70s/80s and reading them now at least forty years later these decades are another world and not just in terms of technology and attitudes. She’s so good on detail and giving a sense of place and so much has changed in how and where people live, for example areas once downtrodden now have properties worth millions, that her books seem somehow more dated than others written in the same era.

 

Children of Paradise by Camilla Grudova

Read for book group. Set in the crumbling Paradise cinema (rumoured to be based on one in Edinburgh … ) this takes in the surreal, hallucinatory months that Holly works there, ushering, making popcorn, watching films, getting to know her colleagues, cleaning – I won’t give you a single example of what filmgoers leave behind on and under the seats but I can tell you it’s all revolting.

I admired the consistency of the world that Camilla Grudova created (and the book was long listed for the Women’s Prize for Fiction last year) but had to read some bits with my eyes shut …

 

Last month I read two books by Jacqueline Winspear and I read two this month, A Sunlit Weapon and The Comfort of Ghosts – the seventeenth and eighteenth in the now concluded Maisie Dobbs series. I discovered there were some rather large gaps in my knowledge of Maisie’s relationships so I shall have to go back to catch up. 

Five in June

I read five books in June.

 

An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear

Book 5 in the excellent Maisie Dobbs series from which I read Birds of A Feather (Book 2) in April. (There are 18 altogether.) I follow the author on Facebook (she has very interesting posts) and was intrigued to learn that for this one she drew on her own background, an East End family who annually went hop-picking in Kent. So …

 

This Time Next Year We’ll be Laughing by Jacqueline Winspear

… I downloaded her memoir and although I would perhaps have liked to learn more about how she came to write (ie the jump between always wanting to be a writer and becoming a best-selling one) I always find other people’s families fascinating and hers more than many.

The title comes from a favourite saying of her dad’s.

 

A Death Most Monumental by J D Kirk

My brother has been telling me for ages that J D Kirk is one of his favourite authors – and having read this I can see why. This is an excellent police procedural with absolutely cracking (sweary) dialogue and a satisfying plot. A young woman, daughter of an American billionaire, is found hanging from the Glenfinnan Monument, near the ‘Harry Potter’ viaduct. But who would want to kill her – and why?

 

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

Although I very much liked the premise of this debut novel (‘When Mukesh Patel pops to the local library, forgoing his routine of grocery shopping and David Attenborough documentaries, he has no idea his life’s about to change.’) I thought there were far too many characters and the writing quickly became predictable.

 

The Magazine Girls 1960s-1980s: The Inside Story by Ann Carpenter et al

Regular readers of this blog will know that I have had short stories published in Woman’s Weekly. I’m a Friend of one of their ex-fiction-editors on Facebook and jumped on this when she flagged it up. It’s the experiences of seven women who worked in best-selling teen magazines of the time (Petticoat, 19, Rave, Mirabelle, Valentine, Loving) and (before the gate-keeping of PR agents) got immediate access to some of the biggest stars such as David Bowie.

They didn’t get their jobs (proper jobs, not unpaid internships) because of who they knew or what school they went to or what university degree they had – they were state-school educated ‘from sprawling pre-war suburbs and housing estates’ and were able to move straight from school into work.

It was a new era, a time of youth, no particular qualifications required, just ‘curiosity, the ability to learn new skills’ and being in the right place at the right time.

Six in May

I read six books in May.

The Almost Truth by Anne Hamilton

There is a lot to get to grips with here but it certainly rewards careful reading. Through the book’s wide reach, I’ve travelled to Edinburgh, Bangladesh and Dublin. I’ve physically been to Edinburgh and Dublin before so it was a pleasure to go again virtually, and fascinating to ‘visit’ Bangladesh for the first time, feeling Alina’s excitement as she returns to the Bay of Bengal and the life she has there. The stories from each place, from now and in flashback, are cleverly woven. Alina’s life has had its complications ever since she was young and to say that these come to affect her now, in her forties, is somewhat of an understatement. Every time I put the book down I looked forward to picking it up again to see how the complicated web of relationships was going to play out, while having absolute confidence in the author’s handling of them. A thought-provoking and beautifully written novel.

 

 

At the Table by Clare Powell

Their up-to-now seemingly happy parents have split up and their adult offspring, Nicole and Jamie, are finding that difficult to come to terms with. Jamie is of a passive, peaceful nature (which spills over into his relationship with his wedding-planning girlfriend Lucy) while Nicole, his polar opposite, takes refuge in alcohol, in a remunerative but unrewarding job, and in blaming her mother for the break-up.

A thoughtful and often funny account of the healing of a fractured family. 

 

 

Love Marriage by Monica Ali

I loved Brick Lane, Monica Ali’s first book but this, ten years since her last novel, is the only other one I’ve read. With memories of Brick Lane still in my head, I was a bit disappointed with this one. I still like her writing and particularly enjoyed Yasmin's and Anisah’s stories but didn’t have much sympathy with some of the other characters and thought one particular ‘voice’ unnecessary. Mostly set in present-day London, the relationships/marriages we see are ‘love’ rather than arranged – until the shocking reveal at the end.

 

 

The Death of Mrs Westaway by Ruth Ware

Contemporary, with flashbacks to 1994 when – shock, horror! – a young woman is expecting a baby out of wedlock. Despite her aunt’s violence towards her, which includes locking her in an attic, she refuses to name the father and for unexplained reasons seems incapable of removing herself from the grim household.

In the present day when that baby, now the adult Harriet, visits and in turn is given the attic room there’s a Mrs Danvers-type housekeeper who hisses sinister but unhelpful warnings … this Gothic-y melodrama might have passed muster a few generations before 1994 but makes no sense now.

 

The Terracotta Dog by Andrea Camilleri

Having visited Sicily, I was intrigued to read this police procedural set there in which present-day crimes and grim discoveries have solutions harking back to the Second World War. Inspector Montalbano is a most interesting character. The writing style is interesting too – it takes no prisoners with its quick-fire, untagged, dialogue. I did find it quite difficult to remember who was who but enjoyed the Inspector’s appreciation of fresh anchovies all’agretto and other delicious-sounding dishes.

 

 

Home Stretch by Graham Norton

The second GN I’ve read. The first was A Keeper which I thought was going to be gentle enough for a late-night read but had me in wide-awake fright instead (that’s a compliment). This one is quite different – beginning in Ireland, taking us to London and America and back to Ireland, it’s principally the story of Connor, beginning when he is a teenager, and a tragic accident that changed many lives, not least his own. So no wide-awake fright this time but a compelling story that had me in its thrall. Plus, his writing is so good; this was a real pleasure.

Eight in April

I read eight books in April.

 

V for Victory by Lissa Evans

The conclusion to the trilogy (I read Crooked Heart last month, and Old Baggage some time ago). Schoolboy Noel (except he doesn’t go to school) and his guardian, Vera, are running a boarding house and still lurching from one financial crisis to another, with the ever-present threat of being found out for Vera is not who she has to pretend to be. Noel’s parents, hitherto unknown to him, are revealed but his bond with Vera is now unassailable after such a bad beginning. A perfect conclusion, an absolute joy.

 

 

Under a Brighter Sky/A Light to Guide us Home by Dianne Haley

 

Following The Watchmaker’s  Daughter which I read in February these two books continue the gripping story of Valérie, operating in the Resistance in Switzerland, helping refugees escaping from Occupied France.

 

Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear

 

The second in the wonderful private investigator Maisie Dobbs series, set in the aftermath of the Great War. I’ve read a few of them, not in order but always a pleasure.

 

 

The Harbour Lights Mystery/The Rockpool Murder by Emylia Hall

 

The second and third titles in the Shell House Detectives series, the detectives being an unlikely duo of sixty-something widow Ally, and Jason, a young former London cop now relocated to Cornwall. Great stories and lovely writing – although I’m getting a bit weary of books written in the present tense.

 

Past Lying by Val McDermid

 

More crime; this is a Karen Petrie cold case. Karen has more time than usual to investigate the murder of a female student because it’s the first lockdown in 2020. The streets of Edinburgh are eerily quiet and one of her colleagues is grappling with the reality of the virus. The suspect is a crime writer and several actual crime writers are mentioned by name, as an in-joke I guess.

 

The Two-Headed Whale by Sandy Winterbottom

 

Read for book group; suggested by a member who, by the time we came to read it, had done what the author did and visited part of Antarctica on a sailing ship.

Sandy Winterbottom left her husband and teenage children behind in Edinburgh and embarked on this voyage, partly for the adventure, partly for respite, and as it turned out to find out more about the history of the whaling industry pertaining to Scotland (far more recent than you might think).

When she saw the grave of a teenage whaler born very near where she lives, and buried so far from home, she imagines his early life and also embarks on finding his relatives.

All these strands come together to make a fascinating (and beautifully written) read. I am the world’s worst sailor so was glad to be able to make this amazing journey vicariously.

Highly recommended.