Review: I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith

Pages: 342

Original date of publication: 1949

My edition: 1996 (Virago)

Why I decided to read: discovered this browsing in a bookstore many years ago

How I acquired my copy: Ebay, May 2010

I’ll be honest. When I first came across this book in Barnes and Noble a number of years ago, I dismissed it as something I wouldn’t like (literally, I judged a book by its cover, shame on me). I re-discovered this book a few months ago, and now I’m wondering why, oh why, didn’t I read this book earlier.

I Capture the Castle is the diary, kept over a six-month period, of seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain, who lives with her unconventional family in a decrepit, crumbling castle. She keeps the diary in order to strengthen her skills as an author. The novel is written not so much as a diary; rather Cassandra writes it very much as a story is written (aside from mentioning the month, she doesn’t date her entries).

Cassandra’s strength lies in her recreation of her family members and the people in the small country village in which they live; even the dog has a personality. All of the characters have depth; take, for example, Cassandra’s stepmother Topaz, a former model who is more complicated than she appears at first. Cassandra narrates this story with a great amount of humor; especially funny is the story about the bear. Cassandra and her whole family are charming, and I absolutely fell in love with all of them. I think if I’d read this book when I was seventeen, I would have loved it; but it’s no less funny and poignant ten years later. It’s a great coming-of-age story, especially since Cassandra’s coming of age happens so imperceptibly over the course of the novel.

Review: The Enchanted April, by Elizabeth Von Arnim

Pages: 361

Original date of publication: 1922

My edition: 1993 (Virago)

Why I decided to read: I participated in All Viragos All August

How I acquired my copy: Ebay, May 2010

In The Enchanted April, three Englishwomen—strangers to one another—impulsively decide to rent a medieval house in Italy after seeing an ad in a newspaper addressed to “those who appreciate wistaria and sunshine.” There are Mrs. Wilkins, a housewife wanting a break from the rainy monotony of London; Mrs. Arbuthnot; Lady Caroline Dester, young and fickle; and Mrs. Fisher, older than the rest but also in need of a break.

Elizabeth Von Arnim’s descriptions of Italy, and the castle’s gardens, are superb; you actually feel as though you’re in Italy with the women as they enjoy their holiday. But the women never seem to lave San Salvatore, and so the action of the novel seems a bit stagnant at times; I felt while reading this that the characters were running around in circles. You get lots of descriptions of the gardens around San Salvatore (Von Arnim was an avid gardener), and the food that they eat; it made me want to hop on a plane and go to Italy myself! Reading this book is a little like taking a vacation, too; there’s a very surreal, magical feeling to the book, almost as though you’re walking on air (a weird way to describe a book, but that’s what I felt when reading!). It’s one of those books that are perfect for reading on vacation.

The story started off really well. However, the plot gets lost a little bit towards the middle, as the husbands and potential lovers begin arriving. The characters changed far too much, too soon but ultimately, I really believed in their transformations. It seems as though San Salvatore has an effect on everyone, whether or not they want it to. The author also rushes a little bit at the end to tie things up, sometimes not realistically. But I did love the author’s writing style, and I’m looking forward to tracking down more novels by her.

The Sunday Salon

It’s been a very busy week for me! I’d spent the previous week looking at condos in Philadelphia—and then on Tuesday I made a bid on a place I really liked. The offer was ridiculously low, so I never thought I’d get the place. On Wednesday, I discovered that my bid had been accepted. Then, on Thursday, I made a down payment on the place! I’ll be paying it off until I’m about forty, but I think it’s going to be worth it. The closing date is October 1^st; and since I’ll be making some alterations to the apartment, I’ll be able to move in sometime at the end of October or the beginning of November. I’m so excited about all of this, I can’t tell you! I’ve been living with my parents for the past two years and I’ve saved up my money gradually; I can’t believe I’m actually taking this step! It’s exciting, but I was so nervous writing that check on Thursday night…

Although I’ve had all of that going on in the past couple of weeks, I still managed to get a bit of reading done. I’ve continued with the All Viragos All August thing, reading The Orchid House, by Phyllis Shand Allfrey and Jane and Prudence, by Barbara Pym (not a Virago edition, but I think it counts); and then I also read High Wages, by Dorothy Whipple, and The Pindar Diamond, by Katie Hickman, my LTER book for this past month. The best of these was High Wages; Dorothy Whipple is a favorite. I’m thinking about reading Henry of the High Rock, by Juliet Dymoke, next, which has been sitting on my shelf for ages.

Review: The Rising Tide, by Molly Keane

Pages: 320

Original date of publication: 1937

My edition: 1990 (Virago Modern Classics)

Why I decided to read: came across this on Ebay

How I acquired my copy: Ebay, May 2010

The Rising Tide is my first foray into reading Molly Keane’s novels. It’s the story of a family, the French-McGraths, who live in a crumbling, Gothic house in Ireland at the beginning of the 20^th century. Garonlea is the home to Ambrose and lady Charlotte French-McGrath and their five children. When their son, Desmond, marries Cynthia, the French-McGraths’ lives are changed—sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse.

I’ve never read anything by Molly Keane before, and I wonder why I’ve never heard of her before randomly buying this off of ebay a couple of months ago (strange how chance works). I loved the atmosphere of this book and the almost sinister atmosphere of the house (I have to love any book with a house like Garonlea in it).

What I love about the characters of this novel is that there are no extremes, but everyone is completely different: you have the sister who breaks away from the family (to a degree) by becoming pregnant, and the daughter who leaves home to live with her brother and sister in law. Lady Charlotte, although a tyrant, is not a caricature; and Cynthia, the life of the party, has a deeper side to her. The character I felt the most sorry for out of all of the family was Ambrose, the father, who suffers under the delusion that his wife is wonderful. I loved all of the characters, despite their flaws, and that to me is the sign of a great novel. I really cared about and wanted to get to more all of these people, even Cynthia with her drinking, partying, and men friends, and forcing her children to hunt although they’d rather be reading.

The theme of the passage of time is especially strong, leading to an interesting reflection on how much these characters change—or don’t—throughout this extremely well-written novel. Because the book takes place between the years of 1900 and the 1920s, when so much change took place in the world, this theme is particularly brought home to the reader. I’m off to look for more books by Molly Keane, as I absolutely fell in love with her writing style.

Review: Bright Young People, by DJ Taylor

Pages: 361 (with Appendices and Index)

Original date of publication: 2007

My edition: 2010 (FSG)

Why I decided to read: infernal Amazon rec

How I acquired my copy: Amazon third-party seller, March 2010

Bright Young People is the story of a particular group of young people who lived in London in the 1920s and ‘30s. Born at around the turn of the century, they were well connected and, for the most part, wealthy. They were known for the outrageous lifestyles they led, holding themed parties until dawn and performing tricks upon each other. The Bright Young People relied largely on the press to publicize their activities, and they included, among others, Nancy and Diana Mitford, Bryan Guinness, Evelyn Waugh, Brian Howard, Brenda Dean Paul, Cecil Beaton, and Elizabeth Ponsonby.

The book is divided into thirteen chapters, with little interludes focusing on specific people or things (on is on all the books Brian Howard never wrote). The book is a bit disorganized; the chapters don’t seem to be arranged in any others, and the interludes, rather than being enlightening, hinder the flow of the book. The book is also a little unfocused; al large part of it is devoted to Elizabeth Ponsonby and her fraught relationship with her parents (chronicled extensively in their diaries). It’s almost as though Taylor meant to write a biography of Elizabeth, realized he didn’t have enough material to write it, and expanded the book to focus on all the Bright Young Things of the period. There’s also a lot about Brenda Dean Paul’s drug addiction and weight loss; but in contrast, there’s not a whole lot about any of the other people of the “movement—“ not even on the Mitfords or Evelyn Waugh. There’s also a dearth of information on the Bright Young Things’ relationships with each other, which was disappointing to me.

There’s also not much on the parties themselves, and the author doesn’t convey much of the fun atmosphere that those Bright young Things had; instead, he seems more focused on analyzing the period and its implications (“not seeing the trees for the forest” syndrome). As a result, the tone of the book tends to be a bit stilted and—dare I say it? dull. There are lots of plot summaries of the novels of Bright Young People (if you haven’t read Highland Fling, A Dance to the Music of Time, or Vile Bodies, here are the cliff notes), and the author tends to rely on these as sources for this book. On the other hand, the book does an excellent job of highlighting the disparity between the generations: the fluidity of the new generation versus the more stolid, late-Victorian generation of their parents. In addition, the book does inspire me to want to read Vile Bodies and Highland Fling...

Review: To Defy a King, by Elizabeth Chadwick

Pages: 540

Original date of publication: 2010

My edition: 2010 (Sphere)

Why I decided to read: I’ve had this on my TBR list since hearing it was going to come out

How I acquired my copy: Bookdepository, April 2010

To Defy a King is the story of Mahelt Marshal, eldest daughter of the famous William Marshal—who appears as the main character in two of Chadwick’s previous novels, and a minor character in a handful of others. As the oldest daughter of one of the most famous men in England, Mahelt married Hugh Bigod. The novel covers a period of about ten years, from Mahelt’s marriage to Hugh up through the Magna Carta.

I do love Elizabeth Chadwick’s novels; her writing really takes her reader back in time. But for some reason, I just didn’t love this one quite as much. Maybe because there’s so much less known about Mahelt than about her father, her character seems a lot sketchier here. Still, I thought Chadwick did a wonderful job of trying to ring her and Hugh to life. Hahelt matures as a character, but it’s too abrupt; at one point she’s running off to meet her brother in secret, the next she’s a responsible young chatelaine. Maybe having children made her more mature and responsible, but it happened too suddenly for me.

Another frequent theme that pops up in the novel is loyalty; the Bigods and Marshals were on different sides of the King John conflict. Who should Mahelt side with: the family she was born into or the side that her adoptive family is on? Like a previous reviewer, I thought that Chadwick should have focused more on the internal struggle that Mahelt faces—and there’s a lot of opportunity to deal with the topic in this novel.

Still, as I’ve said before, Chadwick really knows how to get her reader into the mindset of her medieval characters. Her research is always detailed, and her descriptions of the time and place in which her novels are set are always absorbing. I think there’s a lot more promise for this book—but if you’re new to Elizabeth Chadwick’s novels, I’d start with her books on Mahelt’s father, instead—The Greatest Knight and The Scarlet Lion. To Defy a King assumes that the reader knows about William Marshal, so his involvement in this story is more peripheral. The ending of the novel is a bit open-ended, which makes me think that a sequel may one day be in the works.

The Sunday Salon

I really can’t control myself, can I? Just when I told myself I’d cut back on the book buying, I acquired, within the past two weeks (and prepare to be shocked and horrified at my profligacy): Taking Chances, Mad Puppetstown, Full House, Loving Without Tears (all by molly Keane); Land of Green Ginger, by Winifred Holtby; and Crossriggs, by Jane and Mary Findlater. From my Persephone subscription, I received Making Conversation, by Christine Longford in the mail.

On Friday evening, when I was down in Center City condo hunting with my parents, I went to the Book Trader in Old City and walked away with: Death of the Heart, by Elizabeth Bowen (an original Penguin edition), Bobbin Up, by Dorothy Hewett, and Crompton Hodnet, A Glass of Blessings, Less than Angels, The Sweet Dove Died, Quartet in Autumn, and Jane and Prudence, all by Barbara Pym. I’m especially excited about finding the Pyms considering her books are out of print and therefore hard to find. I can’t understand why anyone would trade those in, but thanks to whoever did! The Book Trader is only a few blocks away from the place where I’m considering buying, so this could become very, very dangerous for me…

I’ve continued my Virago binge this week, and so I read The Ante-Room, by Kate O’Brien, Diana of the Crossways, by George Meredith (a disappointment considering my expectations), and The Edwardians, by Vita Sackville-West, which I absolutely loved. Now reading The Orchid House, by Phyllis Shand Allfrey...

Review: Shinju, by Laura Joh Rowland

Pages: 437

Original date of publication: 1994

My edition: 2001 (Harper Torch)

Why I decided to read: I discovered this one browsing on Amazon

How I acquired my copy: Barnes and Noble, April 2010

Shinju is a novel that introduces its reader to Sano Ichiro, a member of the shogun class who serves as a yoriki, investigating crimes in seventeenth-century Edo (Tokyo). It’s a position he’d rather not be in, since he gained his position through connections; and many of his contemporaries resent him for it. When the daughter of one of the most preeminent families in Edo turns up dead in the company of a lowly artist, everyone assumes that they were a double love-suicide, or Shinju. But Sano Ichiro suspects otherwise, and his search for a murderer leads him into dangerous territory—especially since the family of the dead girl would rather keep the matter closed.

This is a very strong start to what seems like an interesting series. Sano Ichiro is an unusual investigator—anyone else in his position would simply commit seppuku rather than live with the shame of what he’s done; but Ichiro persists in his investigation, driven by his sense of honor. His unconventional behavior makes him an intriguing character, one I want to read more about in future books. Rowland’s description of her characters’ emotions is a bit simplistic, and our hero is both astute and dense at the same time (how did he figure out the identity of the “watcher” who follows him along the Tokkaido so quickly?); but I was able to overlook these things because I enjoyed much of the rest of the book.

I loved the setting of the book, too; Rowland describes everything about late-17^th century Japan in deep detail. I love historically detailed novels, and people who look for that kind of thing will enjoy this book. Not knowing much about the history of Japan, I can’t say if this is historically accurate, but everything Rowland writes about hangs together well. From sumo matches to 17^th century crime and punishment (brutal at the very least), the author gives her reader an intimate view of Edo.

Booking Through Thursday

1. Favorite childhood book? Too many to count! I loved reading the Nancy Drew books growing up, as well as the Babysitters Cub books (I was really into series books when I was younger)

2. What are you reading right now?
 The Edwardians, by Vita Sackville-West.

3. What books do you have on request at the library?


4. Bad book habit?
 buying too many of them…

5. What do you currently have checked out at the library? Not checked out but on hold and ready for pickup is The Pindar Diamond, by Katie Hickman

6. Do you have an e-reader?
 No, I like the physical feel of a book in my hands.

7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?
 Usually just one, though I’ll read multiple books at a time of one just doesn’t grab me the way it should.

8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?
 I’ve become a lot more critical about what I read… sometimes for the good, sometimes for the bad.

9. Least favorite book you read this year (so far?)
 The Sixth Surrender, by Hana Samek Norton (I actually had to look that up to remember the title!)

10. Favorite book you’ve read this year?
 I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith… or Mrs Tim of the Regiment, but DE Stevenson… or Henrietta’s War, by Joyce Dennys. Tough call on this one.

11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?
 More so recently than before…

12. What is your reading comfort zone?
 Interwar British fiction or historical fiction.

13. Can you read on the bus?
 yes.

14. Favorite place to read?
 On the couch, or lying in bed.

15. What is your policy on book lending?
 I generally don’t do it because I never get the books back! Or they don’t come back in the condition I lent them out in…

16. Do you ever dog-ear books? No.

17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?
 Not since high school, when my teachers made us do it.

18. Not even with text books?
 no.

19. What is your favorite language to read in?
 English.

20. What makes you love a book?
 Good characters and plot, a writing style that engages me.

21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?
 If it’s one of my all-time favorites, I’ll recommend it.

22. Favorite genre?
 See question 12.

23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)
 Contemporary fiction.

24. Favorite biography?
 Sin in the Second City, which is actually a biography of two people: the sisters who ran a notorious brothel in Chicago in the late 19^th century.

25. Have you ever read a self-help book?
 Yes.

26. Favorite cookbook?
 Cooking? Me?

27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction)?


28. Favorite reading snack? Goldfish crackers (diet-wise, I’m about five years old)

29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.


30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?
 I agree with PW usually, but others not so often.

31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews? Not bad at all… I’m just being honest.

32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you chose?
 Italian

33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read?
 I’m not intimidated by books.

34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?
 Again, I’ve thankfully never been intimidated by any book I’ve come across.

35. Favorite Poet?
 Allen Ginsburg

36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?
 Not more than a few, and none at all lately; I’m trying to cut down on the number of unread books I own (yeah, how’s that working out for me? Snicker).

37. How often have you returned book to the library unread?
 every now and then I do.

38. Favorite fictional character?
 This is a tough one…

39. Favorite fictional villain?


40. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation?
 Anything by Mary Stewart, Elizabeth Chadwick.

41. The longest I’ve gone without reading.
 A day or two.

42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.
 I just tried to finish read Diana of the Crossways, and I made it ¾ of the way through but lost interest. Too bad considering it’s based on a really, really interesting woman…

43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?
 Television.

44. Favorite film adaptation of a novel?
 84, Charing Cross Road or The Painted Veil.

45. Most disappointing film adaptation?


46. The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?
 A few hundred dollars.

47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?
 Never.

48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?
 Uninteresting plot and characters.

49. Do you like to keep your books organized?
 They’re sort of organized; all the books I acquired while I was living in New york are alphabetized; and then all my Persephones and Viragos are together. All the unread books are on one bookshelf and alphabetized as well, but everything else is a jumbled mess. But it's amazing how I can find everything anyways....

50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?
 I tend to keep books unless they were truly awful.

51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?
 No.

52. Name a book that made you angry.


53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did?
 I Capture the Castle.

54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t?
 The Ante-Room, by Kate O’Brien

55. Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading?
 historical fiction.

Review: Lord of the Far Island, by Victoria Holt

Pages: 329

Original date of publication: 1975

My edition: 2009 (St. Martin’s Press)

Why I decided to read: Amazon recommendation

How I acquired my copy: Amazon.com, November 2009

Ellen Kellaway, orphaned at a young age, lives with her cousin Agatha and her family Ellen has constantly been told that she’s the Poor Relation and that therefore the best she can hope for is a post as a governess or companion. When she receives a marriage proposal from the son of a wealthy London family, Ellen’s life seems set to improve. But the death of her fiancée leads to an invitation that Ellen can’t refuse, and she goes to Cornwall to stay with her guardian, Jago. True to Victoria Holt form, her guardian’s invitation leads to much danger for our heroine.

Victoria Holt’s novels tend to be rather formulaic, which is why they work so well—for the most part. The downside is that her novels are rather predictable—if you’ve read anything else by her, you’ll know that things turn out rather well for Ellen in the end. There’s a lot less suspense in this novel than in some of Holt’s other novels, and the romance occurs rather too quickly to be believable to me. For most of the novel, Ellen doesn’t trust Jago much, but when she discovers that he’s not what she thought he was, she realizes she’s in love with him? It didn’t make much sense to me. Also, I never know if this is supposed to be historical fiction (Ellen wears a bonnet and they ride in hansom cabs) or if it’s contemporary setting (Ellen has complete freedom to go about on her own, especially when she obtains the key to the house she and Philip are interested in and goes there by herself).

Still, Holt is a good writer—there are a number of really good twists in the plot, and she paces things well. There are a lot of questions about Ellen’s family that are answered satisfactorily in the end, though the author wrapped things up too quickly for me. There’s a very magical feeling about the tone of this novel that I enjoyed as well. It seems that Cornwall is a place that fuels a lot of writers’ imaginations, and Lord of the Far Island is no exception, since it’s very evocative of the place. I had a lot of fun reading this novel, since it’s the perfect kind of book to read during the summertime. If you’re new to reading Victoria Holt’s novels, I’d suggest reading Mistress of Mellyn before this one.

Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MzB of Should Be Reading (though it’s going on tour this month). Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

--Grab your current read

--Open to a random page

--share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

Be sure NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

--Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

“She was not a woman for trifling, still less for secrecy. He was as little the kind of lover.”

--From Diana of the Crossways, by George Meredith

Review: The Rector's Daughter, by FM Mayor

Pages: 347

Original date of publication: 1924

My edition: 1999 (Virago Modern Classics)

Why I decided to read: perusing the list of Virago Modern Classics

How I acquired my copy: ebay auction, July 2010

Mary Jocelyn is the middle-aged daughter of an elderly clergyman, who has spent all her life in Dedmayne, a quiet English village. The arrival of Mr. Herbert, son of an old friend of Canon Jocelyn’s, brings much excitement for Mary, who falls in love with him. But life is much more complicated than that, and Mr. Hebert marries Kathy, a younger woman who is Mary’s polar opposite.

FM Mayor novel is character-driven rather than plot-driven. It seems as though all her life, Mary has been waiting for something—anything to happen to her. Her life at the vicarage in Dedmayne, severely curtailed by her father, is constricting. And yet Mary spends most of this novel (covering a period of about ten years) letting things happen to her. I found it very hard to like Mary at times, considering she’s not really an active participant in what goes on in this novel. She’s not like her friend Dora, a really engaging spinster who’s embraced her unmarried status with perhaps a little too much gusto. It seems as though Mary wastes her whole life catering to the needs of other people, rather than doing things for herself. And yet, there’s a quiet passion about Mary, a desire in her to see more of the world.

The book also highlights the contrast between two generations: one of the late Victorian period, the other of the early 20^th century. Although the book takes place presumably at the time it was written (1920s), the feel of the novel is very Victorian, and it may have something to do with the more or less repressed Canon Jocelyn, unable to express the way he truly feels. Mary is stuck between the two generations, unable to escape the confines of her own narrow world. It was very hard for me to understand why Mr. Herbert does a 180 in regards to his feelings for Mary; it made me dislike him all the more for being shallow. Still, FM Mayor really gets to the heart of her characters’ emotions (or lack thereof). Susan Hill put this book on her list of 40 books she’d take to a desert island. While I enjoyed this for the most part, this isn’t that kind of book for me. But it’s still very good.

Review: Henrietta's War: News From the Home Front, 1939-1942, by Joyce Dennys

Pages: 158

Original date of publication: 1985

My edition: 2009 (Bloomsbury Group)

Why I decided to read: I’m trying to read all of the Bloomsbury Group reprints

How I acquired my copy: Bookdepository, June 2010

Henrietta’s War is a novel told in epistolary format. Henrietta is the wife of a doctor in Devon, living in a “Safe Area” during World War II. Her never-reciprocated letters are to an old childhood friend, “Robert” on the war front, to whom she narrates the minutiae of her life at home. Her letters are full of tales of her neighbors: Faith, a flirty young woman who enjoys showing off her legs; Lady B, who writes letters to Hitler (As Henrietta says, "She says it has never failed to give her a good night's sleep. I think her great-grandchildren will enjoy those letters, don't you?"); Mrs. Savernack the village's local Committee Woman; and others, including Charles, Henrietta’s sensible husband, who puts up with his wife’s sarcastic sense of humor with an incredible amount of patience.

This is a short novel; it only covers the first half of the war, from 1939 to the end of 1941 (a copy of the second volume of Henrietta’s letters, also reprinted by the Bloomsbury Group, is sitting on my TBR shelf). Henrietta’s letters are warm, witty, and funny. There’s something about the tone of this book that’s very English and patriotic; and our middle-aged heroine regales us with tales of sitting on sewing bee committees, dealing with the people from London who invade every summer (and say things like, “you people down here don’t understand how the war really is”), gardening with lumbago while wearing a hot water bottle on her back, and going to court for showing a light during a blackout.

All of the people in the village jump off the page, and are a delight to read about; even Henrietta’s dog, Perry, is a vibrant character in the book! The war itself isn’t a major part of this book, but it deals more with how average English people deal with the war, even in a place like Devonshire. In many ways, it reminds me a lot of Good Evening Mrs. Craven, by Mollie Panter-Downes, a collection of short stories about average Britons during the war. Henrietta’s War is a book that’s just as enjoyable, and highly recommended; I found myself laughing out loud in many places. I read it in one sitting, and I’m eager to read the further adventures of Henrietta in the follow-up, Henrietta Sees it Through.

Review: The Devil's Horse, by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

Pages: 482

Original date of publication: 1993

My edition: 2006 (Sphere)

Why I decided to read: Heard about it through HFO

How I acquired my copy: Amazon UK, January 2010

#16: 1820-1830; covers the end of the reign of George IV, factory reform and beginning of the railways

The Devil’s Horse covers a period of about ten years. In this installment in the series, we see a number of developments in England, starting with a lot of discussion over facory reform (especially prevalent in the minds of the Morlands and Habsbawms considering their involvement in it). Sophie ‘s life is floating on a cloud, while Rosamund’s life is a little more complicated; she’s carrying on an affair with Jesmond Farraline, even as she’s married to Marcus. She forges a pact with her husband that has unexpected consequences. Meanwhile, in Yorkshire, Nicholas and Benedict are coming of age—one, as the heir to Morland Place, eager to gain his inheritance; and the other, a supporter of the new railways.

This is another strong addition to the series, although the author does have a tendency to jump from one thing to another in order to get everything in. It has the same kind of feel as some of the very early books in the series, which covered long time periods. Thus, you’ll have two characters married in one scene, and then next thing you know, they’re parents of four children. But we’re introduced to some new characters as well –Fanny, who both terrorizes and charms everyone at Morland Place, and Charlotte, Rosomond’s unfortunate daughter—who promise to have a larger role in further books in the series.

Nonetheless, we see a lot of character development, especially with Benedict, who promises to be the hero of subsequent books in the series. Nicholas sometimes comes across as a stock villain, but he’s a very crafty, clever villain, willing to do anything to get what he wants (or sometimes he does mean things just for the sake of bringing other people down, which makes him especially unlikeable). We’ll see how his character develops as the series continues. I think there’s a lot of potential to develop the rivalry between Benedict and Nicholas, though I hope that Bendy will learn to stand up to his older brother!

Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MzB of Should Be Reading (though it’s going on tour this month). Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

--Grab your current read

--Open to a random page

--share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

Be sure NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

--Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

“No chance of a love affair here in the South Riding and a good thing too. I was born to be a spinster, and by God, I’m going to spin.”

--Sarah Burton's musings in South Riding, by Winifred Holtby

The Sunday Salon

A couple of weeks ago I challenged myself (well, it’s not a challenge considering this is a pleasure to do) to read Virago Modern Classics during the month of August. So far I’ve read three: The Enchanted April, by Elizabeth Von Arnim (a great vacation read), I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith (why oh why haven’t I read this earlier? Likely to be one of the reading highlights of 2010 for me. I would have loved this when I was seventeen, but it's no less wonderful ten years on), and The Lacquer Lady, by F Tennyson Jesse, a novel set in 1870s/80s Burma right before and climaxing with the British takeover. It was a bit out of my comfort zone, but I did enjoy it a lot. It’s definitely an off-the-beaten-track book and worth reading if you can track down a copy (mine came from a fellow LT Viragoer).

I said last weekend that not every book I would read in August would be a Virago, but I’m having fun with this and so I think my next read may be Winifred Holtby’s South Riding (local government in a Yorkshire town in the 1930s). Or The Ante-Room, by Kate O’Brien (1880s Ireland). Truthfully, I have a whole stack of really good-looking books to choose from, so the choice is hard!

This month I found out that I’ll be receiving yet another book through the Library Thing Early Reviewers program. I’ve been on LT for two years, and every month that I’ve entered, I’ve received something—and it’s not as though I’m randomly clicking on everything that looks appealing. This month I’ll be receiving The Pindar Diamond, by Katie Hickman. I received The Aviary Gate also through LTER, and enjoyed it, so I’m looking forward to reading this new one. I’m not sure how I get chosen so frequently to receive books (especially since I’ve not yet reviewed my book from April, oops), but I can’t complain about my success rate!

How was your weekend/week? Read anything memorable lately?

Review: Into the Wilderness, by Sara Donati

Pages: 876

Original date of publication: 1998

My edition: 2008 (Delta)

Why I decided to read: found it browsing in Barnes and Noble

How I acquired my copy: Barnes and Noble, April 2010

Set during the years of 1792 and 1973, Into the Wilderness is the story of the love affair between Elizabeth Middleton, an English woman who comes to upstate New York to be a school teacher; and Nathaniel Bonner, son of “Hawkeye” Bonner.

The story takes the reader a lot of places; literally, the characters get lost in the woods at many places and therefore the story seems to chase its own tail sometimes. I loved the idea that the story started out with, but sometimes the author tended to borrow a little too much from the novels of other authors; the story about Claire and Jamie Fraser (from the Outlander series) seemed thrown in there, and not as though it really had any bearing on the rest of the book. I’ve never read James Fenimore Cooper’s book, so I can’t really comment on how close this novel sticks to the original. The author even seemed to channel Jane Austen at one point: “Aunt Merriweather loved children excessively, but Elizabeth thought of her cousin Marianne at an assembly ball, her mouth open in a small moue of disdain as she whispered behind her fan: ‘Imagine Jane Bingley dancing, and so obviously enceinte.’” (p. 555).

There are a lot of really good details of the period and place in which Into the Wilderness is set, but I thought that the characters really needed to be improved upon; they seemed very modern to me. Elizabeth is your typical feisty, independent heroine, and Nathaniel is the strong, silent type, who nonetheless exudes less sex appeal than Jamie Fraser in the Outlander series. The characters in Gabaldon’s series were much more interesting and complex than Sara Donati’s. Elizabeth’s constant harping on the fact that she’s a spinster got very, very annoying after a while, too. The romance side of the story is very heavy at first, which I enjoyed (surprisingly enough for me), but it seemed to drop off a bit towards the middle; and Richard was so much like the bad guy from Outlander that I found myself rolling my eyes in several places while reading Into the Wilderness. I’m sorry I didn’t totally love this book, but other people might; Donati does a great job of describing the places she’s writing about.