I read seven books in November.
Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler
I wonder what it is that draws Anne Tyler to write so often about men who are misfits in various ways (see also below).
In this book, Micah, devoted to his own routines, is trying to navigate his way through the world and the people around him: his loving but overwhelming family, his girlfriend whose hints about living together he fails to pick up – and the boy who turns up wondering if Micah is his father.
This is her twenty-third and latest book, with a new one coming soon to celebrate her 80th birthday.
Celestial Navigation by Anne Tyler
Here we have a wholly convincing portrait of shy, reclusive Jeremy whose paper collages are much sought after by art collectors. But his world changes when a beautiful runaway wife turns up at his mother’s boarding house.
Lily White by Susan Isaacs
It’s a long time since I read a Susan Isaacs book and it was a pleasure to reacquaint myself with her style in what the New York Times called ‘a big, fat, happy feast of a book’.
‘Meet Lily White, Long Island criminal defense lawyer. Smart, savvy, and down-to-earth, Lee can spot a phony the way her haughty mother can spot an Armani. Enter handsome career con man Norman Torkelson, charged with strangling his latest mark after bilking her out of her life's savings. As the astonishing twists and reverses of the Torkelson case are revealed, so too is the riveting story behind Lee’s life.’
Miss Austen by Gill Hornby
Based on a literary mystery that has long puzzled biographers and academics – why did Jane Austen’s only sister Cassandra burn her letters?
‘Miss Austen’ is Cassandra in old age seeking out that correspondence and recalling her life with her beloved Jane, their five brothers and their parents. Gill Hornby gives Jane some brilliant lines of dialogue.
The explanation is very convincing – it could be the truth. What comes over (in fictional form but chimes with biographies I’ve read) is how fond the Austen family were of each other and what fun they had together. Delightful.
The Mitford Murders: Nancy Mitford and the Murder of Florence Nightingale Shore
by Jessica Fellowes
The first in a series featuring the Mitford sisters as sleuths. The author is the niece of Julian ‘Downton Abbey’ Fellowes and it would appear she is equally acquainted with the upper echelons of society. I quite enjoyed this mystery with lively young Nancy, harking back to the Golden Age of detective stories – but at the end there was a note about the unsolved brutal murder of the real-life Florence Nightingale Shore (god-daughter of her famous namesake). Making her murderer in the book also a real person who was never charged with the crime seems rather a tasteless thing to do.
Kolymsky Heights by Lionel Davidson
Thought by many to be the best thriller ever written. I haven’t read enough to make that judgement but it was cracking and I’m still thinking about it weeks later. I was transported to the depths of a Siberian winter and through a plot that I gave up trying to keep get a grip on and just enjoyed the ride.
Georgette Heyer: The Biography of a Best Seller by Jennifer Kloester
The second biography I’ve read of this amazingly prolific, clever, witty and very reclusive writer (‘the Queen of Regency romance’) whose novels have been beloved by four generations (so far) of readers.
She had to keep writing – she was the breadwinner of the family much of the time including supporting her two brothers plus she and her husband had a standard of living they didn’t want to give up – so she seemed to dismiss her work as a means to an end. She refused to be interviewed, even have her photograph on book jackets. On the other hand she took endless trouble to get historical details right.
A complicated and perhaps, despite this terrific book, ultimately elusive lady.