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The Sunday Salon


It’s a quiet Sunday here; a usual week at work, too. I’ve spent most of the weekend watching episodes of Are You Being Served? and Upstairs, Downstairs (again!).

In terms of reading, not much has been going on in that department; I read O, Juliet, by Robin Maxwell, and The Road to Jerusalem, by Jan Guillou. The latter book, although only 380-ish pages, took me the better part of the week to read.

I’m currently reading, and enjoying, another Persephone: The Carlyles at Home, by Thea Holme. It’s nonfiction (the first nonfiction from Persephone that I’ve read), about Thomas and Jane Carlyle and the home they rented at 5 Cheyne Row, London, for over thirty years (1830s-60s; coincidentally, Jane's 209th birthday was on this past Thursday). The book is not so much about their stormy relationship as it is about their domestic arrangements, from clothing to the Servant Problem to the wacky, noisy neighbors next door at number 6. The book draws heavily from the massive correspondence between Carlyle and Jane. Highly recommended for anyone who likes reading about daily life in Victorian England.

How was your week?

Comments

Danielle said…
My library has an older edition of the Holme book, which I keep looking at. It sounds good and I expect I'll check it out sooner or later.
Serena said…
I really love "Are You Being Served?"!
Sycorax Pine said…
"The Carlyles" sounds like a good one. Every year when I am in London in the summer, I try to stop by the Persephone shop on Kensington Church Street and pick up a single new Persephone to add to my collection. It is always a challenge to choose just one. Often I fail.

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