The little one beside my chair that is!
Well, there are the ones I’m reading at the moment:-
The White Lady – Jacqueline Winspear 2023
Set post WW2, this one centres round a ‘retired spy’ who has relocated to a small village in Kent determined to forget her dangerous past life. Quiet and reluctant to become involved in village life she gets to know a young mother and child who live close by. The young husband is trying to distance himself from his family but they have ‘caught up with him’.
Three chapters in, Elinor White has made her way to London to try to gather information about this family from an old wartime contact now with Scotland Yard. I’m finding it a little bit ‘wordy’ but will persevere- need to find out the reason she wants to help – and if it’s worthwhile.
****.
Unfinished Portrait – Mary Westmacott 1934
*The back of book blurb tells us that:.
…..Celia is alone….she is determined to end her life……she meets Larraby (an artist) who persuades her to ‘pause’….after a night of talk Celia reveals she is afraid to commit herself to another chance of happiness yet cannot face life alone….
I’m not sure where this book is going- the first chapter covers the meeting of Celia and Larraby, – from then on (I’m about a third of the way through) it’s covering her childhood. A rather disrupted but almost charmed childhood, with time spent travelling in France because father had been sick, then living with her granny because mother and father were travelling (because father had been sick) then back home because father had died.
So far it’s been a very easy believable read, humorous at times – especially the ‘time with granny’ – set late 19th moving on to early 20th century. Written by Agatha Christie under a pseudonym I’m eager to get on and discover what comes next.
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I have begun reading this very large book but it’s taking a little longer than I anticipated because I decided to get on with a couple of others that needed returning and then became engrossed in the two above.
I just need to finish those two then I can give this one all my attention.
*****
These two aren’t there – they’re the ones I finished recently:-
The Spy’s Wife – Fiona McIntosh 2021.
A ‘love story’ set pre WW2 featuring among other things – trains, cherries, walking (rambling/tramping) a ‘strong female’ with lip reading ability and double agent spies!
A little unbelievable at times but I did finish it.
The Orphans – Fiona McIntosh 2022
Book blurb:- ….. Orphan Fleur Appleby is adopted by a loving undertaker and his wife and she quickly develops a special gift for helping bereaved families. . . Raised in the outback of South Australia’s Flinders Ranges, Tom Catchlove is faced with a life-changing tragedy as a young boy. . A chance encounter between the two children will change the course of their lives.
It’s a lot more than that though – set in 1930s when ‘things were changing’, like attitudes to women who ‘wanted to get on in life’, where a profession such as undertaking had always been handled by men and the thought of a woman being in that role was unheard of. Especially a woman who wanted to tend for and provide better service for deceased women and children.
Life on sheep stations was changing also with more emphasis put on health safety and welfare of workers. A huge amount of research must have gone into both situations as they related to both main characters – interesting to read but in some places a bit too much detail.
It turned out to be a ‘love story’ with a difference.
*****
After mentioning the other month that sometimes I have difficulty finishing books by this author I was pleased to have put that problem to bed by both finishing and ‘sort of’ enjoying both these (without skipping pages)
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And on the table on the other side are some recently ’acquired ’ unknowns – maybe one of those will be read next:-
I didn’t touch any of the ones I mentioned last month which is no problem because they were loaned – sort of gifted – “I’m in no hurry to get them back” .
And I’m not sure I’ll get to these either – passed on with the same disclosure
But look, it’s nice to have some older (very different) releases sitting there with none of that ‘must have them read by’ pressure 😊
Wild Lavender – Belinda Alexandra 2006
- At fourteen, Simone Fleurier is wrenched from her home on a Provençal lavender farm and sent to work in Marseilles. Her life there is hard and impoverished, but Simone discovers the music hall and a dream; to one day be a famous dancer and singer
The Stone Angel – Katherine Scholes 2006
- One summer changed Stella Boyd forever.
It was 1975. And his name was Zeph…….Fifteen years later, Stella’s life is full of excitement and danger as she travels the world writing magazine articles about women. But then one day she receives an urgent message that changes everything. Her father is missing at sea.
The Goodbye Summer – Patricia Gaffney 2004
- Poignantly exploring one woman’s inner growth and self discovery over the course of a season of profound change, The Goodbye Summer is women’s fiction at its finest—heartbreaking, healing, emotional, and real.
Almost English – Charlotte Mendelson 2013
- In a tiny flat in West London, sixteen-year-old Marina lives with her emotionally delicate mother, Laura, and three ancient Hungarian relatives. Imprisoned by her family’s crushing expectations and their fierce unEnglish pride, by their strange traditions and stranger foods, she knows she must escape. But the place she runs to makes her feel even more of an outsider
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Sharing with What’s on your Book Shelf Challenge
Also linked to Book Worms Monthly plus It’s Monday what are you reading
Still Waters 