Skip to main content

The Sunday Salon


“Neither of us knew the rate for bribing a gaoler at the Old Bailey.”

That’s the first line of the book I’m reading right now, A Dangerous Affair, by Caro Peacock, and so far (50 pages in), the book is living up to its promise. In it, a dancer is murdered after having a catfight with another, and Liberty steps in to take the case. A Dangerous Affair is the second in the Liberty Lane series (the first is A Foreign Affair), and I’m enjoying myself in 1837 London immensely. Thanks to Gwen at Literary License for the trade.

This week I’ve posted reviews of:
Mistress of the Monarchy, by Alison Weir
The Founding, by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
The Glassblower of Murano, by Marina Fiorato

And I’ve also read, but not reviewed:
Darling Jim, by Christian Moerk
The Lady Chapel, by Candace Robb

So it’s been a busy reading week.

If you’re in the US, happy Super Bowl Sunday! I’m not watching, because football just isn’t my thing, but the rest of my family are nuts about the Steelers.
Labels:

Comments

Literary Feline said…
A Dangerous Affair sounds like an intriguing book. I am glad you are enjoying it so far.

No Super Bowl here either. Neither my husband and I care for football and so we'll be catching up on some reading and recorded TV shows today in between household chores. The usual Sunday. :-)

Have a great week!
February 1, 2009 at 2:00 PM
Meghan said…
I didn't even realize it was Super Bowl Sunday until yesterday! I'm in the UK, so no one cares here, but it's still weird not to have anything going on. My family has never been too into it, but I've been at college for the past 4 years, I got used to the fuss.

- Meghan @ Medieval Bookworm
February 1, 2009 at 5:48 PM
Luanne said…
ohh this sounds really good - I love this time period!
February 1, 2009 at 6:09 PM
Danielle said…
I've just started Caro Peacock's first book and am really enjoying it. I have this one coming in the mail, so glad to hear it's good as well!
February 1, 2009 at 10:01 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Another giveaway

This time, the publicist at WW Norton sent me two copies of The Glass of Time , by Michael Cox--so I'm giving away the second copy. Cox is the author of The Meaning of Night, and this book is the follow-up to that. Leave a comment here to enter to win it! The deadline is next Sunday, 10/5/08.
194 comments
Read more

Review: Mariana, by Monica Dickens

Mariana is the story of one young girl’s growth towards adulthood during the 1920s and ‘30s. The book begins when Mary Shannon is eight, and traveling with her somewhat flighty mother to Charbury, her grandparents’ house; and continues up through the time that Mary is twenty-four and waiting to hear news of her husband from the war. Monica Dickens (a great-granddaughter of Charles) depicts Mary’s maturation to adulthood with perfection. The reader sympathizes with Mary as she experiences the ups and downs of relationships and careers—experimenting with both seems to be pretty characteristic of Mary, as she grapples a bit with identity and independence. And yet, there isn’t the usual amount of teenage angst that one usually finds in a novel about growing up, which I found to be very refreshing. Mary is a sweet and sometimes naïve girl, but at the same time, she’s also wonderfully sarcastic towards her peers. She’s hard to like at times, but in an odd way, I found myself sympathizing wi...
2 comments
Read more

A giveaway winner, and another giveaway

The winner of the Girl in a Blue Dress contest is... Anna, of Diary of An Eccentric ! My new contest is for a copy of The Shape of Mercy , by Susan Meissner. According to Publisher's Weekly : Meissner's newest novel is potentially life-changing, the kind of inspirational fiction that prompts readers to call up old friends, lost loves or fallen-away family members to tell them that all is forgiven and that life is too short for holding grudges. Achingly romantic, the novel features the legacy of Mercy Hayworth—a young woman convicted during the Salem witch trials—whose words reach out from the past to forever transform the lives of two present-day women. These book lovers—Abigail Boyles, elderly, bitter and frail, and Lauren Lars Durough, wealthy, earnest and young—become unlikely friends, drawn together over the untimely death of Mercy, whose precious diary is all that remains of her too short life. And what a diary! Mercy's words not only beguile but help Abigail and Lars...
115 comments
Read more