Reviews of Books
Posted in History, Recommended on Apr 20th, 2011
I went to a talk on ‘The Mitfords’ by Susannah Fullerton (President of the Jane Austen Society of Australia) and she recommended this book. Based on unpublished letters and diaries, “The Viceroy’s Daughters” is a riveting portrait of three spirited and wilful women who were born at the height of British upper-class wealth and privilege. [...]
Posted in Recommended, Serious on Mar 21st, 2011
This is just a quick post (more of a reminder to myself) to say I read this book, I enjoyed it, the ending was unexpected, but realistic and I shall be looking for more of her work.
Posted in Recommended, Serious on Mar 11th, 2011
A friend recommended this one. It is a book of (longish) short stories. Nine all together. I preferred the ones that had a female point of view Lohrey does a great job of getting inside her character’s heads and writing their innermost thoughts – like the sexual fantasy in ‘Primates’. The stories felt very real [...]
Posted in Recommended, Serious on Mar 5th, 2011
I selected this novel because one of the members of my Victorian Book club recommended it (we read Victorian novels). I really enjoyed it. It was like a series of short stories, but a few of the characters (like Olive) appeared in all of the stories. The novel had sad undertones and I don’t think [...]
Posted in Fiction - Light, Recommended on Feb 9th, 2011
This novel has been languishing in my pile for quite some time – at least 12 months. I am not sure why I didn’t read it earlier. I think it might be the browness of the cover. Here is the blurb … On a misty London afternoon in 1886, piano tuner Edgar Drake receives a [...]
Posted in Non-Fiction, Recommended on Feb 1st, 2011
Firstly, this is a beautiful book. The pages are thick and the photographs and illustrations (by Karl Lagerfeld) are beautiful. This was an accessible and easy to read biography. Each chapter covers a different phase/aspect of Chanel’s life. The information is well-grouped and draws attention to recurring patterns in her life that might have been [...]
Posted in Fiction - Light, Recommended on Jan 19th, 2011
This month we planned to read Ulysses but halfway through the month we revolted and chose to read Below the Styx instead. Here is the description from the publisher… Martin Frobisher has been beating close family members about the head with an epergne. Frobisher, successful publisher and community leader, is in the City Remand Centre, [...]
Posted in Fiction - Light, Recommended on Jan 13th, 2011
This novel is set during World War Two and it follows the adventures of a ‘lady’ trying to do the house work herself. She tries to maintain the same standard (to please her husband) as when she had two maids – there is many a comic mishap. Like when she is trying to set the [...]
Posted in Fiction - Light, Recommended on Dec 28th, 2010
Above is an image of the end paper in the Persephone edition This is a novel very much of it’s time – 1930s England. It’s about women and education and the role of women of a particular class at a particular time. None of the women have been educated for anything but marriage and if [...]
Posted in Fiction - Light, Recommended on Dec 15th, 2010
I bought this based on a recommendation by Cornflower and I bought it from here (I love the free-shipping). I did struggle a bit to get it finished and I wasn’t that taken with the romance thread of this story. I did like the idea of moving to France and starting a needlework business. Here’s [...]