I read six books in March.
The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
Drawn from the experiences of the author’s family, this follows two generations through the Vietnam wars. Here, we follow a grandmother and grand-daughter as they have to confront missing or injured family members, poverty, violence and politics both at international and local levels.
The grandmother’s story of how she got her six children to safety (one just a babe in arms), after their business and home were attacked by people they thought were their friends, is heartbreaking – but also uplifting in showing her resourcefulness and courage.
This may sound like a harrowing read – and of course it is in places – but it’s written in an engaging style, a page-turner. Read for book group. Recommended.
Introducing Mrs Collins by Rachel Parris
‘Mrs Collins’ – the name probably needs no introduction, not to Jane Austen aficionados anyway. This is Charlotte’s story – Charlotte who set her cap at the much-sneered-at vicar because, well past the usual age of matrimony, she was that dreadful thing: a spinster.
The author looks quite kindly on Mr Collins (it wasn’t his fault that Longbourn should be entailed to him and she has given him a traumatic childhood to account for his demeanour) but of course he isn’t hero material … No spoilers!
Not as enjoyable as the sparkling, recently televised The Other Bennet Sister but a good read; shortlisted in the Debut Romance section of this year’s Romantic Novelists’ Association Awards.
A Lesson in Dying by Ann Cleeves
An early book by the author of the Shetland and Vera series, reprinted because of her subsequent massive success. A much-hated head teacher is found murdered in a grisly fashion – step forward Inspector Ramsay. Will read anything Ann Cleeves writes so I’m happy with this.
Provincial Daughter by R. M. Dashwood
A reread. The author (Rosamund) is actually the daughter of E. M. Delafield who wrote Diary of a Provincial Lady and its sequels. EMD’s books are among my very favourite comfort reads.
Provincial Daughter was Rosamund’s only published novel, first appearing in 1961; this Virago edition came out in 2002. It’s set in the 1950s otherwise it echoes EMD’s '30s novels – woman with little domestic interest and literary aspirations is stuck in rural Devon with, in this case, three small boys (and a handsome husband called Lee).
It is entertaining enough; I would probably have enjoyed it more were I not so enamoured with the Provincial Lady.
Years ago, I did a blog post on clothes in fiction and included a piece from The Provincial Lady Goes Further in which, when on holiday in France, she has to take her son’s white shorts to another town to be dry-cleaned. In Daughter, it was the total palaver of school ‘packed lunches’ that made me glad to have had my children in the late 20th century – not a sandwich or healthy flapjack in sight, but cottage pie in a glass jar to be heated up at school. L
The Dearly Departed by Elinor Lipman
Anyone else read Elinor Lipman? She’s American, writes novels, short stories and essays. I love her wacky, edging on black, sense of humour. In The Dearly Departed, Sunny returns to her small hometown following the death of her mother and discovers that she possibly has a half-brother the same age as herself. Also includes local politics and golf …
Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach
The author’s The Wedding People is one of my favourite recent reads, its word-of-mouth success so justified. I will reread it at some point. That book starts with a very dark scenario (do stick with it though). Notes also has a dark theme (not a spoiler) – the death of Sally’s beloved older sister in a car accident and the effect that has on her and their parents (and the driver of car). In navigating the world without Kathy (and referring to her sister as ‘you’ throughout the book), Sally, a clever, bookish child finds her own path away from home eventually – and back again.
