Keeping Calm...

I'm quite fond of the Keep Calm and Carry On WWII posters that were 'rediscovered' a couple of years ago and have since been everywhere.  It's a great credo to live by in difficult times and I have a teal poster on my wall above my desk, thanks to my dear friend T. who reminds me to KCACO in times of stress.

Recently I've seen Keep Calm and Drink Tea (so pertinent and such good advice!) on a few blogs and this led me to investigate some other Keep Calm variations that might apply to me. Here are a few that I found at the etsy Keep Calm Shop that I think are applicable to this blog and that might strike a chord with fellow bloggers and readers.  If you pop by the shop you'll find a plethora of different sayings in a large selection of beautiful colours.

New Collections of Mapp & Lucia and a Giveaway!

I was very happy to discover these new editions of the Mapp and Lucia sextet recently.  They're only due to be published on the 15th April but at a super-economical retail price of £1.99 (and currently on pre-order at the Book Depository at £1.49), I thought it was worth a mention.

Wordsworth Classics have always striven to provide access to classic literature at an affordable price and I'm so glad that these witty tales have been added to their illustrious ranks.

I quite like the cover art as it appears to depict the river in Rye (a.k.a. Tilling in some of the novels).  The first volume reminds me of Lucia's first home in Tilling, Grebe, located among the marshes and the second volume appears to be a view of the canal from a vantage point in the town.

I'm tempted to buy these, even though I have the lovely Black Swan paperbacks, the Penguin volumes and the exquisite Folio edition (an extra birthday present from a very special friend).  Naughty, I know, but at such a wonderful price I think I might not feel guilty for too long.

So... as a celebration of the enduring appeal of Benson's Mapp and Lucia novels (and as a belated blog birthday gift), I'm holding a Giveaway. The prize is a brand new copy of the gorgeous recently published Vintage edition of Mapp and Lucia.

To entice those of you new to Mapp and Lucia, the blurb below (from the Prion edition) gives a humorous outline of the series and this book is an excellent place to begin:

"Mapp and Lucia is the centrepiece of E.F. Benson's series of Lucia novels - bringing together for the first time the eponymous middle-aged doyennes of polite 1930s society, Miss Elizabeth Mapp and Emmeline Lucas (Lucia to her friends).

Lucia, recently widowed, is the newcomer to the village of Tilling and eager to wrest the reins of social supremacy from the incumbant Miss Mapp and install herself as its benevolent dictator. In their polite acts of sabotage and ruthless jockeying for the position of cultural arbiter Mapp and Lucia tear up the conventions of drawing-room bridge evenings as their deadly weapons.

Things finally come to a head with Miss Mapp's audacious attempt to steal her rival's celebrated Lobster a la Riseholme. E.F. Benson's charming satrical bent turns the pretensions and snobberies of English village life into a vicious comedy."

Anyone can enter - whether you'd like to read M&L for the first time, simply covet this edition or would like to add it to the rest of your collection - everyone is welcome!  To enter, please leave a comment and I will hold a random draw on Friday, 25 February 2011. I am happy to post anywhere in the world (to be fulfilled by the Book Depository) so please don't hesitate. Good luck!

"As My Whimsy Takes Me" Reading Challenge

I read Dorothy L. Sayers' first Lord Peter Wimsey novel this year for the first time (review to follow soon) and I loved it!  Prior to that, I was already a great fan of the BBC's radio adaptations of her novels starring the wonderfully charismatic Ian Carmichael as Lord Peter. I also had the great pleasure of viewing the three television adaptations with the graceful Edward Petherbridge and the admirable Harriet Walter.  I therefore resolved to make my way through the whole of the Lord Peter books in chronological order. There are only 11 complete novels and 4 short story collections but I thought that it would be fun to set up an informal challenge. This will hopefully keep me focussed and will also serve as a place for a review of each book as I complete it. 

If you'd like to join me, the more the merrier! Help yourself to the button above and link your reviews and/or posts back to this page (http://rochester-reader.blogspot.com/p/as-my-whimsy-takes-me.html) as well as a comment at that page so I can add your review.  You will find updates at that link or you can click on the page above (in the menu bar) entitled "As My Whimsy Takes Me".

Update: I've added a Mister Linky to the "As My Whimsy Takes Me" Challenge page to keep track of participants.  Please pop over to add your name.

You can join me in a chronological reading/re-reading of the books or just dip in and out during the year.  It's quite informal but a review of the books you read would be appreciated.

I hope to learn a lot more about Lord Peter - and to savour the wit and intelligence of Sayers' prose - by reading these novels. I look forward to sharing thoughts and opinions with you and to enjoy a crime writer who has so far elluded me.
 

Dorothy L. Sayers

Books (in order of publication):

1. Whose Body? (1923)
2. Clouds of Witness (1926)
3. Unnatural Death (1927)
4. Lord Peter Views the Body (1928) [Short Story Collection]
5. The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1928)
6. Strong Poison (1930)
7. Five Red Herrings (1931)
8. Have His Carcase (1932)
9. Hangman's Holiday (1933) [Short Story Collection incl. non-Wimsey stories]
10. Murder Must Advertise (1933)
11. The Nine Tailors (1934)
12. Gaudy Night (1935)
13. Busman's Honeymoon (1937)
14. In the Teeth of the Evidence (1939) [Short Story Collection incl. non-Wimsey stories]
15. Striding Folly (1972)


Optional (books by Jill Paton Walsh):

16. Thrones, Dominations (1998) [unfinished manuscript completed by Jill Paton Walsh]
17. A Presumption of Death (2002)
18. The Attenbury Emeralds (2010)



Ian Carmichael as Wimsey and Glyn Houston as Bunter (circa 1972)


Duke Of Denver: Armorial Bearings

Arms: sable, three mice courant argent
Crest: A domestic cat, crouched to spring, proper
Supporters: Two Saracens armed, proper
Motto: I Hold by my Whimsy or As my Whimsy Takes Me
Badge: a noose
 
Source for above: http://www.museumstuff.com/learn/topics/Duke_of_Denver::sub::Armorial_Bearings



 Edward Petherbridge as Wimsey (circa 1987)

A Big Hug to All My Lovely Readers

May you have a soothing cup of what you fancy and a very cosy read.  Have a great day!

Picture source: http://www.emmabridgewater.co.uk/big-love-blue-12-pint-mug/invt/1sts010002

Mrs Ames

Mrs Ames is a delightful novel dealing with the dynamics of married life and the usual social one-upmanships that have been wittily portrayed in Benson's Mapp and Lucia novels.  However, this novel delves into the more serious topic of marital infidelity and Benson's touch is therefore more sympathetic and introspective.  Published in 1912, it predates the first of the highly popular Mapp and Lucia novels by eight years but one can already see Benson's trademark observances of day-to-day petty preoccupations and rivalries between neighbours.

This novel is set in a hilly Kentish village named Riseborough and we are introduced to a group of characters (indeed mostly all married couples) who are largely retired and who fill their days with the three G's: golf, gardening and gossip - and relentless stabs at social supremacy.  The undisputed doyenne of the village social scene is Mrs Amy Ames, a fifty-something lady married to a Major ten years her junior.  With a son at Cambridge, and obscure connections to royalty, Mrs Ames sets an example which all follow... until the recently arrived doctor's wife, the dubiously shy Mrs Evans, takes an interest in Major Lyndhurst Percy Ames and unintentionally begins to usurp the throne.

The book opens sedately on a scene of domestic life between perhaps the only couple in the book who are truly comfortable and happy with each other.  It proceeds at a gentle pace as we are acquainted with the main characters and tension slowly begins to build as events unfold.  I found Benson's treatment of middle-age quite touching as he seems to understand women's preoccupation with greying hair, wrinkles and so on and Mrs Ames' endeavours to turn back the clock were humorously though sympathetically portrayed.  Indeed, all of the main woman characters are quite solidly portrayed whereas the men appear a little more like caricatures and regarded with greater mirth.  It is a tribute to his writing that I started out liking all the characters (whilst having luke-warm feelings about Mrs Ames) but by the middle of the novel I could not stand Mrs Evans and was wholly on Mrs Ames' side!

There are quite a few surprises in this book - for its time - such as a comic portrayal of a suffragette uprising and one or two schemes that go awry, including a farcical fancy dress party.  The novel is delivered in beautiful prose - such as I have come to expect from Benson - and is peppered with witty phrases and portraits.  This is not of the same sharp quality of the Mapp and Lucia novels but it is a worthy read.  If you are new to E. F. Benson, and are not sure if this is your cup of tea, I would highly recommend starting with Mapp and Lucia or even his excellent stand-alone novel Secret Lives, before acquanting yourself with the indomitable Mrs Ames.

Recent Arrivals and Acquisitions (a.k.a. the Immediate TBR Pile)

I am currently between two personal libraries and find that it is quite irritating to find myself longing to read books that are sitting on a shelf on another continent!  Sadly, South African libraries are not as well stocked as British ones and they certainly do not have any Persephones or quirky reads that I may have an interest in.

Fortunately, I have a very good friend who obliges my bookish hankerings by posting a few packages of my books from the UK.  The two Persephones above are from such a parcel - sent in anticipation of Persephone Reading Weekend (25 -27 Feb).  Otherwise, I have access to the handy free worldwide postage provided by the Book Depository (highly recommended to all those outside of the UK) and occassional forays into well-stocked new/second-hand book shops in Melville and Rosebank, Johannesburg called Bookdealers.  They stock economically-priced new books and several second-hand books in fiction and non-fiction.  I found quite a few Viragos there one day!

Anyway... onto the books!  The two Persephones are what I hope to read for the Persephone Reading Weekend coming up.  I've been meaning to read High Wages by Dorothy Whipple ever since it was republished and I aim to at least make a start on it then.  I intend to start the weekend though with a quick read of Cheerful Weather for the Wedding.

Bones in the Belfry by Suzette A. Hill is a current read and book two in the Francis Oughterard mystery series - quite hilarious and well-written and I shall be writing a review on the first two books once I've completed this one.

I also hope to make a start on my first Dickens in years, Pickwick Papers.  I was absolutely charmed by the 1985 television adaptation starring a twinkling Nigel Stock as Pickwick and a fabulous Patrick Malahide as Jingle.  I am eager to reacquaint myself with the members of the Pickwick Club with such cheery names as Winkle, Snodgrass and Tupman.  At 800 pages, I think that I will be with the Pickwick Club for a few weeks but I'm sure that it will be quite enjoyable. 

A Better Quality of Murder is the third book in the Lizzie Martin/Ben Ross series which I have enjoyed very much so far.  It is a mystery set in Victorian England that is written by the excellent Ann Granger.  This is the second series of hers that I have attempted and I haven't been disappointed.  Her period details are spot on and the writing is pitched perfectly.  Highly recommended!

Blameless by the effervescent Gail Carriger was kindly sent to me a little while ago by Orbit and is the third instalment in the hilarious and oh-so-cultured Parasol Protectorate series.  This series is billed as steampunk fiction with fantasy elements (such as werewolves and vampires) and is set in an alternate Victorian London.  But it's really not just a vampire/werewolf series... it is difficult to classify but it is a fun, suspenseful, intelligent read and it's one that I'm looking forward to.

And finally, The Unexpected Mrs Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman is the odd one out in this pile as it is set in the US.  It was published in 1966 and is the first in a series of novels following the exploits and adventures of Mrs Pollifax, a retired lady who unexpectedly finds herself employed by the CIA.  I must have come across this series a year ago on the excellent Cozy Mystery List when I was searching for my next read.  Although I'm not really a reader of spy fiction, reviews have been positive and it has been billed as humourous and delighful.  I believe a couple of film adaptations were made which I sadly am unable to get my hands on... they seem to be cheerful viewing.

Reviews of these books will be forthcoming and I hope that they won't disappoint. 

January Roundup

January has seen an excellent start to the new reading year, especially since I decided to try to read more books than in past years.  I completed seven books in January - which is a recent personal best - thanks in no small part to Virago Reading Week. 

The books I chose were largely comfort reads (and how I still need those!) and were made up of books that I had been meaning to read for ages (such as Henrietta's War and Excellent Women), an old favourite series that I had not visited for two years (Jacqueline Winspear's beautifully executed Maisie Dobbs series) and a new author, Suzette A. Hill.

Suzette A. Hill is a joyful discovery!  I first came across her Francis Oughterard novels last year whilst perusing a Constable Robinson catalogue and was very happy to have secured the first two books at a fairly reasonable price (for a hardback).  It took a few months for me to eventually get on with ordering them but I am so glad I did.

Reading Dorothy L. Sayers for the first time was a definite hit.  I was unsure of whether it would hold my attention as I have listened to all of the BBC's radio adaptations of the novels with the excellent Ian Carmichael.  But I was not bored at all and was still enthralled and enchanted by Wimsey and Sayers' sublime prose.

All of the books were satisfactory and highly enjoyable, with the exception of the Elizabeth Taylor, which was a little less gripping than I expected but nevertheless an enlightening read.  I shall be putting up reviews for some or all of the January books soon and I hope that February will be as productive!

The books:

1. Miss Buncle's Book - D. E. Stevenson (started at the end of December 2010)

2. An Incomplete Revenge - Jacqueline Winspear

3. A Load of Old Bones - Suzette A. Hill

4. Henrietta's War - Joyce Dennys

5. Excellent Women - Barbara Pym

6. The Wedding Group - Elizabeth Taylor

7. Whose Body? - Dorothy L. Sayers

Pirates at Play: First Impressions (Virago Reading Week)

The first ever Virago Reading Week is almost over and, I don't know about you, but I enjoyed every minute of it.  Thank you again to Carolyn and Rachel for organising this and making it happen.  Their roundup posts were a delight to look forward to each day and I have enjoyed reading fellow bloggers' reviews and thoughts on Viragos.  I look forward to participating again the next time around!  I think you will all agree that it was a howling success. 

I've done quite a bit of reading this week... two Viragos, my first Lord Peter Wimsey (continued a few chapters in a coffee shop when I was without a Virago) and today I decided to start on my third Virago of the week, Pirates at Play.  I will hopefully be finishing this during the coming week but I thought I'd make a few notes of my impressions so far.

I picked up this book in a second-hand store because of the Cornish surname and the fact that pirates were involved in the title.  Intrigued, I was surprised to learn that it is set in the 1920s, largely in Florence (a place I long to visit!) and England.  It is a romantic comedy revolving around a young aristocrat named Elizabeth Caracole (pronounced 'Crackle') who is sent to Florence to learn Italian and to teach English to a family of five brothers and a sister.  The head of the family has the honour of having been dentist to the Pope and has been suitably rewarded with a title. 

The first chapter was a little confusing as there are no natural breaks between paragraphs and dialogue and descriptions tend to flow into each other.  Once I got the hang of this, it settled into a pattern and the following chapter was a little more delineated.  It already presents the reader with snippets of wit and humour and sets up the two families nicely for what is to come. 

I had never heard of Violet Trefusis but fans of Vita Sackville-West may well be familiar with her name.  She was Vita's lover and their affair caused a great scandal at the time.  Violet Trefusis was trilingual - and this is already evident in the use of French and Italian expressions in this novel - and had novels published both in English and French.  She appears to have been very popular and very much a creature of society, something perhaps inherited from her mother (Alice Keppel) who was Edward VII's mistress and a prominent lady in Edwardian society.  So, Violet Trefusis seems to have been quite a colourful character not shy of causing a ripple or two in the calm waters of genteel Society.  I hope that I shall be entertained by my choice!

 Pop over to the Virago Reading Week host blogs for a final roundup of this exciting week and for the results of the various competitions.  Good luck!

Hosted by Carolyn and Rachel.