Seven in March

 I read seven books in March.

Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans

This is a trilogy. I read the first one Old Baggage a few years ago for my book group – about wonderful Mattie. Earlier in her life she was a militant Suffragette who was imprisoned five times. Now it’s 1928 and she needs a new cause. Into her life came young lad Noel. Now, in Crooked Heart, we gather that Noel and Mattie have lived together very happily but WW2 is approaching – and Noel finds Mattie dead and himself on his own.

Evacuated to St Albans, he ends up with Vera who lives with her unsatisfactory grown-up son. She supplements her meagre income in various dodgy ways (bogus collecting boxes for example). Precocious Noel, with his Mattie-taught literary skills and mathematical brain, proves to be an excellent accomplice. The development of the relationship between the two of them is brilliantly done and I’m looking forward to V for Victory which is the third book.

 

Yellow Face by Rebecca F. Kuang

Read this million-selling title for my book group. There has been much in the literary press in recent years over who has ‘the right’ to tell a particular story and who has not. In this case June, the author protagonist, definitely does not have the right to publish the story of exploited Chinese workers – because she didn’t write it; she stole the manuscript from her dead friend Athena, an incredibly successful young author of whom June has always been wildly jealous.

Ironically, this very 21st-century scenario hinges on one 19th-century invention; Athena always wrote her first draft on a manual typewriter with no copies so there was no digital evidence. Told through June’s voice – an increasingly desperate voice as she gets found out – this is an easy read, and of extra interest if you’ve ever worked in the publishing business.

 

 

The 1960s-1980s Magazine Girls: the Inside Story

Another publishing story but one which could not be more different to the one above. Seven women who worked on women's magazines spill the beans about everything from fashion shoots to hanging out with pop stars. Bright young school leavers could walk into jobs then – no university degrees required, no unpaid internships. Happy days!

 

Game On by Janet Evanovich

The 28th book in the Stephanie Plum, bounty hunter, series and the first I’ve read in years – the last one was probably the 15th or 16th. Nothing has changed – not her madcap family or ex-hooker colleague Lulu, not her relationship with handsome cop Joe Morrelli (nor her occasional hankerings after the mysterious Ranger) and not, sadly, the casual acceptance of gun culture. I think I’m done here.

 

 

Goldberg Variations by Susan Isaacs

I’m keen on Susan Isaacs (especially Shining Through). This book has two grown-up siblings and their cousin being invited to stay with their estranged grandmother who intends to decide who will inherit her very successful business. But do any of them want it?

The story is told from each of the four viewpoints and each rounded character walked off the page. Enjoyable though it was, however, I didn’t think it was any more than the sum of its parts.

 

 

The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella

One of two rereads this month. If I’ve finished a book and it’s getting late I tend to look for a book I’ve read before rather than embarking on a new one. I had it in my mind that I would read this one again and then donate it to a charity shop.

Nope. Couldn’t do it. Get rid of it, I mean.

High-flying lawyer and financial wizard Samantha walked out of her City job and has (very improbably – the clue is in the title) been employed as a housekeeper.

Sophie Kinsella is so brilliant at set-pieces and I will pop back in just to read these bits again – too many to mention, and there would be spoilers, but the scene in the greenhouse … and the moment when an entitled girl gets her comeuppance … are particularly satisfying.

 

Airs Above the Ground by Mary Stewart

In the case of this book, it’s a re-re-read (or maybe more) of my favourite Mary Stewart book. I picked it up again this month because it’s set in Vienna and other parts of Austria, and I just came back from three nights in Vienna and one in Salzburg.

Having now been lucky enough to have sat in the Blue Bar in the famous Hotel Sacher in Vienna for drinks (be sure to book a table … ) it was brilliant to read about Vanessa’s visit there.

Sadly we weren’t able to see a performance of the Lipizzaner horses, which play a vital part in the plot, but I was thrilled when we came across the stables (I hadn’t expected that they would be right in the middle of the city) and we could see some of the beautiful white animals looking over their half doors.

My visit did not include being chased by a circus performer over a castle roof … but Mary Stewart’s superb writing made me feel that it had.