What Virago are you reading? Part X

Time to start a new and as of yet shorter thread.

I happily report I am reading my non-Virago bodice ripping version of Julia O'Faolain's Women in the Wall. No bodice ripping thus far although moderate servings of blood and self-flagellation with hints at bodice ripping past, present, and future. So much to look forward to. Thanks sqdancer for the lovely book.

I have ordered a Virago copy of *Women/Wall* on the strength of your comments, Mary, and if you haven't read the couple of reviews on the book page here, you really need to!
Today as I pushed around on the elliptical, I started Testament of Friendship. I think that I'll be especially glad when I start Anderby Wold for Virago January.

LizzieD;
What is the plan for Virago January? Are we shooting for the entire month or a week or.....?
Is someone hosting it?
Fill me in girlfriend.
hugs,
belva

Belva, I don't know. A week is definitely not going to be long enough for me, but I don't know whom to ask. I know that several of us mentioned reading Holtby, but I can't remember where.
Somebody, fill both of us in please!
Peggy

According to Rachel (bigpinkmarshmallow) and blogger Carolyn, they're planning the week towards the end of January/beginning of February. When they post the exact date on their blogs, I'll report here!

Ohhhhhhhh; bpm reminds me that I need to go over and post for her/their last week long Virago read.

I am about a third of the way through one of my SS books Her Son's Wife. The mother in law from hell meets the daughter in law from hell!

Ohhhhhhhh Barbara, that sounds like a very good Sunday afternoon read.

Can't find the reference link to bigpinkmarshmallow's blog for to post. Any help? bleu?

Just began South Riding but my very crappy copy, (an old, old, old Curtis Books Press copy), with a font about the size of nothing. I think I am going to have to find a new copy.

Miss Wee Rock, click on Rachel's name (highlighted in blue in message #5) and it will take you there. Don't forget your red slippers.

Thank you so much Cate.
hugs to you,
wee wet rock (with the 3 acre azz)

I had to put South Riding down until I get the newer copy I ordered. The font was just too small for me to read. So in the interim I am reading one of my Secret Santa books from Marensr; The Solitary Summer by one of my favorite authors; Elizabeth von Arnim. It looks to be very good. And I am off to bed with it now.
Happy New Year all and Happy Reading.
hugs,
belva

I have just finished Women in the Wall, which I loved. Thank you so much secret sqdanceronprancer for the lovely gift. I have posted an essayish sort of review for Women in the Wall here at LT (finished at Club Balzac).

I'm pondering which Virago to read next and still haven't decided. I read The Land of Spices right before the end of the year, and I loved it.

Kate O'Brien is an amazing author. I absolutely love her and am happy to see that you enjoyed her work. I have yet to be disappointed by anything written by her.

I'm reading South Riding - I've read it before but it was at least 15-20 years ago.

I'm reading South Riding, too! I started it yesterday and am enchanted.

>17 elkiedee:, 18: yay!

OK, I was going to wait to start South Riding until the Virago reading week, but I'm going to start it anyway to join the momentum. I am in the middle of Travels in West Africa which is wonderful, but lengthy and somewhat episodic, so it will bear some interruption.

I guess I have to say that I'm reading Anderby Wold now since I started it yesterday and it sucked me right in. I certainly hear the same voice as in South Riding, so even though it's her first book, it is a good one so far. I am also in and out of Untrodden Peaks and Unfrequented Valleys which I can easily pick up and put down. I'd like to polish it off so that I can get to Mary Kingsley in West Africa too, but that's not my style. Alas.

I finished The Virago Book of Christmas which I enjoyed. And it was gifted to me last year by Miss Belva, for virago Secret Santa!

I didn't realise that South Riding was a VMC!! Ooops! My copy is an old '30s hardback. But coincidentally, I've just started it too! :)

South Riding is available in lots of editions because it was more successful than the others, which are most easily available in VMC - The Crowded Street is a Persephone as well (but I already have the VMC). I replaced my old Fontana edition (70s mass market paperback) with a secondhand VMC. There's also a BBC tie in edition which has just been released.

now reading Crossriggs, which I'm enjoying very much.

Last night I finished Her Son's Wife which would've been finished much sooner if it wasn't for shoveling snow almost constantly since Christmas.

What to say about this extraordinary book? The mother-in-law from hell meets the daughter-in-law from hell, with the inevitable clash of personalities. That would've made for a cracking good read in itself, especially given that, in an era when divorce was nigh on impossible, the books characters were stuck with each other for life.

I found myself taking sides as I read - surprisingly, with the mother-in-law. I say surprisingly because I fully expected to side with the younger woman. But Lottie was such a cardboard cut-out baddie I was forced to root for the older woman in her attempts to drive her daughter-in-law from her home and life.

But then the book takes a surprising turn and I was left feeling horribly sad for everyone involved.

Thank you Belva for at last making it possible for me to read this book!

cardboard cut-out baddie

What a wonderful expression, Barbara! A new one to add to my collection :-))

I just finished one of my secret Santa books from this year from Aviddiva (avidiva?), Travel Light by Naomi Mitchison. It was delightful!

>#27:
You are so more than welcome Barbara. I really enjoyed picking out your gifts this year. I am very happy that you enjoyed it.
hugs,
belva

I recently finished one of my Secret Santa gifts as well. Marensr sent me The Solitary Summer by Elizabeth von Arnim. I really loved this memoir book of Elizabeth and her little brood over a summer of pleasure amongst her flowers and plans of organizing her garden. It was truly a delightful read.

I've also just begun South Riding.

>29 tiffin: Travel Light is one of my favourite books! I have her other Virago on my tbr pile, The corn king and the spring queen, but it's a lot heftier so I've been putting it off ... maybe I'll get to it this year.

Claire

Welcome Claire.

Duplicated myself :)

And another welcome here, Claire! :-))

>34 romain:: no, you were just saying "welcome" on my behalf, because I was gone all day. LOL.

Welcome, Claire! I just saw your name on the member list the other day and thought, "hey, I haven't seen that name here before". I'm glad you joined the discussion.

Hi Claire. What a lovely name. You are going to love it here. It is a small but very discerning group with a flair for fun.
WARNING: Try not to run into Mother U. She rather lurks so one must be very, very careful.
Seriously, we are so happy to have an addition to our group and there are quite a few of us reading South Riding so you are in good company.
I wonder; do we have enough going at it for a group read?
a welcoming hug,
belva

I am also reading Emma and loving it.

Hi, Claire! Welcome to the group! :)

G'day

I've been lurking and like the idea of reading my way through Virago books - what a wonderful selection of titles there are!!!!

I am currently reading My Antonia by Willa Cather and Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austin - just loving both story's so far. My wish list is now a mile long.

Anyhow - looking forwards to making new friends in here :)

Lots of new members lately! A great start to 2011! Welcome to you too, Sally!

Welcome, new members!

I am currently reading Unbeaten Tracks in Japan by Isabella Bird, a Virago Traveller. Good so far, except she is a little bit patronising about the Japanese...

Welcome, Sally!!!!!

Hello Sally! It's nice to see you here.

Claire and Sally, you are most welcome!!!! New blood is good especially when it fits right in with the old blood.
LBee, you think Bird is patronizing!?!?!!! I just read a bit in my current Traveler, Untrodden Peaks and Unfrequented Valleys where Amelia Edwards is commenting on the fine people who run the auberge at one of their stops. She says that they became good friends and that they were "almost our equals." 1872 was a long time ago. She goes on to rebuke the crass English travelers who lock their doors and otherwise offend the inn-keepers. And of course, she also is dismissive of the peasants, just like Bird.

Oh, new members! Wonderful! Claire and Sally, you may well find this message board addictive.

I couldn't resist. I started China To Me by Emily Hahn. Why hasn't someone filmed this book?

Hey Sally - you're in Darwin?

Hello Sally and Claire, and welcome.

>45 LizzieD:: I'm finding that perspective interesting in Downton Abbey too, Lizzie.
>46 Liz1564:: Liz, I think I'm going to dive in as soon as it gets here from the BookDepository.

> 47: Yes I am. Why? :)

Welcome Sally. So nice to have another member to discuss and joust with. We are a hearty group who love our reads and talking about them. I know you will love it here at out little home away from home.

Thanks to you all for the warm welcome :-) I'm hoping that joining the group will inspire me to read more of my Viragos, rather than just admiring them on my shelves!

Just finished South Riding. All I can say is "Wow". What a great start to 2011's reading. Can't wait to see what everyone else thinks of it.

Any thoughts on a good first Rosamond Lehmann novel to read?

I've bought myself the Virago editions of Jane Austen's novels to read in the 75 book group's Austenathon, and I'm thoroughly enjoying rereading Sense and Sensibility. Margaret Drabble's introduction looks interesting too, though I'm waiting till after I finish the book to read that even though I already know what happens.

I keep hearing good things about South Riding so I think I may tackle that one during Virago Reading Week.

45 - going from proof-reading a very erudite Japanese postrad's thesis to reading about his fellow country men being hollow chested mannikins is certainly... interesting!

Sally - I am a NZer who lived in Adelaide for 6 years and am one of several Australasians in this group. Brother, who still lives in Adelaide, recently went to Darwin for the first time and said it was wonderful.

> 54
We have a love/hate relationship with Darwin - been here 34 years - hate the wet and love the dry

We are heading to NZ in August - the south island for 3 weeks. We went there almost 5 years ago and fell in love - so back for a re-visit.

Now reading Devoted Ladies.

Went through the list of Virago’s and have read some already – have some more on my TBR pile and two I am currently reading through dailylit.com

Read:
Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann
84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough

On my TBR pile:
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
A Rose in Bloom by Louisa May Alcott

Currently reading:
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
My Antonia by Willa Cather

I hadn't realised Ethan Frome was a Virago too. But I don't like the movie tie-in cover ... guess I will keep my Penguin! I usually prefer non-photographic covers, which is one reason why I love the old green Viragos so much. But which to read next? South Riding will be a hard act to follow.

Picked up West With the Night by Beryl Markham last night, but didn't get very far before the sandman got to me. It's my choice for Virago Reading Week.

Welcome sally906!!

Yes, welcome, Sally!!
I finished Anderby Wold and liked it very well. It is a first novel, so don't expect another South Riding or even a Poor Caroline. Now I am going to start The Willow Cabin. It's time.

>62 LizzieD:: I just finished Anderby Wold too, Peggy. I liked it and enjoyed comparing this early work with her final masterpiece.

Hello Sally!

Reading The Life and Death of Harriett Frean by May Sinclair and enjoying the writing.

I think my Virago reading week choice is going to be my secret Santa gift: Pepita by Vita Sackville-West.

Hello Sally and welcome to our home away from home. I hope you love it here; don't see how you cannot. :-)

Am still with Emma and reading Seventh Heaven as well.

lw3rd;
hope you love West with the Night as I have been eyeballing it on my shelf for weeks now.

belva

Belva, move it to the front, or the top, or wherever you'll read it soonest---it's amazing.

Thank you Linda. That is what I was wanting to hear.

I finished The New House and loved it! Then I read Bawden's George Beneath a Paper Moon. Yawn..

I'm going to try to get Bawden's Walking Naked finished by the end of the month. I keep feeling that I'm missing something with Bawden and if I keep reading her I just might see what there is to love.

I abandoned Harriet Hume (just couldn't get into it, especially since my brain was on other things), and now reading The Loved and Envied.

I finished Invitation to the waltz this weekend, and am going straight onto The weather in the streets. I could empathise all too well with awkward Olivia at her first party, and I'm looking forward to seeing her again at an older age.

Claire;
Lovely name, by the way............
Though I have several Rosamond Lehmann books, I have not yet read her. Is this a series then?
belva

Heh! I have Invitation To the Waltz in my TBR. I haven't read Lehmann before either, and I was planning on asking for opinions.

Invitation to the waltz was my first Lehmann too, despite the fact that I have had FOUR of her Viragoes on my shelf for the last *mumble* years. Waltz has a sequel, The weather in the streets in which the heroine is about 10 years older. So not really a series, but I found that having read Waltz I couldn't wait to see more of Olivia. So Weather is my current train book. Definitely recommended!

Edit : Touchstones seem temperamental today

I started The Gentlewomen during Virago week and just finished it, reviewed here in case you have it on your shelf or wishlist......

Excellent review Lucy! Just gave it a 'thumbs up'.

I just thumbed it too, Lucy. I do have it on my shelf, and will put it higher on that rather vague schedule I keep somewhere in my head, of when to read what.

Me too Lucy - as yet I do not own it but will be leeping an eye open for it - thank you.

Reading two Virago books House of Mirth by Edith Wharton and My Antonia by Willa Cather. House of Mirth is very different to Ethan Frome not just longer but lacking the emotion and mood - I am still enjoying it though :)

This is why books are so extraordinary - I HATED Ethan Frome and LOVED House of Mirth. In fact if I had read Ethan Frome first I might never have read another Wharton. Sometimes it's the subject matter but sometimes it's just your mood while you're reading it. My favorite Cather is Death Comes for the Archbishop which I thought a perfect ten, but that's because I have my degree in religion. I can see it might be a deeply boring book for other people.

PS - I've been calling it My Ann-tone-ea for years (which is the way I believe Brits pronounce the name) but I am now told that Americans say My Ann-toe-nea. Is that true?

Not true romain! Well, at least for me. :)

~80 I would say the former ... as a Brit!

Just got to share that Little Women on BBC Radio 7 is delightful. It has been adapted as a play and I would heartily recommend it - if you are able to access it here -http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00f6ltg

I have been listening to it as the same time as reading the book. It is a Nelson hardback edition with no date printed within. However, what makes it so especially delightful is the inscription on the front cover. It was agift to my dear Mummy and reads as follows;
To Marjory on her Birthday May 28th 1923
From Dorothy

How lovely is that!

ETA - sorry Little Women is not a Virago - just got carried away.

It is lovely indeed, dear Julie!

Funny, but May 28th is the birthday of my favourite nephew!!

Barbara, I am a "toe-Nee-a" American. I tried it both ways and thought that I read somewhere that Cather said "toe-Nee-a". I'm likely wrong about that if you don't know.
Julie, it is lovely for you to have your mother's copy of Little Women from her mother. What a treasure!
And just to keep me semi-legal here, I've barely started The Willow Cabin, but I love it a lot. It could so easily be cheesy, but it's anything but!

I've posted my review of South Riding and as I posted it on LJ too, I have now got it onto 2 friends' wishlists. In fact, I'm passing my old copy (not Virago) to Ali tomorrow!

I'm trying to motivate myself to finish The Brimming Cup. It's the first time I've been disappointed by Dorothy Canfield, and one of the few times I've been disappointed in a Virago. The main character is just too annoying, and the direction in which the novel is going seems too obvious.

I'm adding South Riding and The Gentlewomen to my reading list...

Hm, I'm not sure I was a huge fan of that one either...

I read The Brimming Cup about 20 years ago and thought it a very traditional, old fashioned love novel. I enjoyed it but was a bit flummoxed by it. Not so Her Son's Wife however, which was wonderful and not in the least traditional.

I actually took the time to look up my review of this book - (Before I became a mother I used to write down everything I read with a review!) Anyway, without referring to spoilers in the plot I condemned it as 'a very dull book'.

While leafing through these reviews, however, I came across my review of The Willow Cabin which I had said I disliked because of the subject matter. My review reveals that I loved the book but was devastated by the subject matter. I say 'I found this book inexpressably sad. I thought her grasp of grief was so profound it scared me deeply.' I was a new mother at the time of reading and terrified something might happen to my child. Obviously the wrong time in my life to read such a sad book.

I'm reading Barbara Pym, A Glass of Blessings.

This Brit says An-toe-NEE-ah as well.

I love Ethan Frome and all of the other Willa Cathers, but Frome is unlike any of her other books, in my mind. They're all lovely, but Frome could have been written by another writer (though it's probably my favourite of hers).

Ethan Frome was written by another author - Edith Wharton!

Lying in bed this morning trying to remember why I hated, or thought I hated, The Willow Cabin. I think I now remember why. It was a book about adultery from the perspective of the other woman. I do remember the YES!!! when she gets her 'comeuppance' and then, because of my raging new mother hormones, being swept away by the grief in spite of myself. But in my mind I remembered it ONLY as a book about adultery, presented to the reader as a 'great love'. For all I know, this may also be a gross distortion. Reading twenty year old reviews, I find I do not now have a clear memory of why I liked or disliked any book.

My 20 year old review of Ethan Frome reveals that I struggled to bond with any of the characters. And yes, author confusion aside, it is totally unlike all her other books.

91 & 92 - Hah! I was obviously up too early! Sorry about that!

Now reading The Three Sisters.

I know I'm late to this discussion. . . but I've always pronounced the title character of My Ántonia as AN-tone-ya. (The accent on the first character led me to believe that the first syllable should be stressed?)

If I remember rightly, at some point early in My Antonia, we are actually told how Antonia's name is pronounced - I think it is an-ton-EE-a, which seems bizarre to me as I would say An-TOE-ni-a. But it is a while since I read the novel - reading it for uni made me love it less than the Cathers I found for myself.

I didn't like The willow cabin and thought it was because of the adultery theme, but I've just read The weather in the streets by Rosamond Lehmann which is also an affair seen from the point of view of the other woman and really enjoyed it. (If enjoyed is the right word.) I think I just found Olivia a more likeable character and could empathise with her, whereas Caroline in Willow Cabin was rather a brat, IIRC.

Edith Wharton's Summer (sadly not a VMC) is sometimes classed with Ethan Frome as concerning the passions within a working class rural/small town environment.

Edited to fix touchstone.

I've ordered both The Weather in the Streets and The Willow Cabin, the latter I'd not heard of and I'm anxious to read both.

#97 I LOVE The weather in the streets. I think soon it will be time for me to reread Rosamund Lehmann. I think when I've finished my current spell of Persephone rereading to compensate for Sundays at work I shall move on to her.

Antonia in the Willa Cather novel is Czech (or Bohemian is the word used in the novel) not Anglo-American, hence pronunciation is Czech.

So... what is the Czech pronunciation????? :)

I read The Echoing Grove by Lehmann and liked it very very much. And that was about adultery too. So it does depend where my head's at, at any given time, I guess.

I was referring to post 96 - an-ton-EE-a - Czech letters are pronounced the same way each time but not necessarily how we would in English (and those with accents are pronounced differently from those without accents). My point was that her name is pronounced differently from how English speaking Americans or English people would say it.

>101 elkiedee:: Thank you! Glad my memory is not totally at fault. The problem I had was with the stress being on a different syllable to the one I was accustomed to. (If that makes sense.)

I think elkiedee is saying that in Czech that "stress" mark is a pronunciation guide, rather than an accent. Mám pravdu? (Note there's only one possible place to put the stress in that first word, yet there is the mark.)

This conversation might have been easier if we were talking rather than typing/reading! It's a topic where it is much simpler to demonstrate one's point verbally. But now we can all read the book and hear the name correctly in our minds.

I finished My Antonia by Willa Cather and have done my review - what a wonderful story!!!!!!! Unfortunately I have to admit defeat with The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton - even though I enjoyed Ethan Frome Mirth was a DNF

>96 Sakerfalcon: It's in the very first chapter: "The Bohemian name Ántonia is strongly accented on the first syllable, like the English name Anthony..."

Add me to the list of people who thought Ethan Frome was a less than enjoyable reading experience. It was the first Edith Wharton I'd ever read and was almost the last, until I stumbled across The House of Mirth.

Andrew? When did you change your nom de plume?
I must've missed that.

>107 romain:: well thanks, I would have thought we had a new member.
>106 Leseratte2:: Andrew, is that you?!

>107 romain: I changed it a few weeks ago. It's the German equivalent of "bookworm".

>106 Leseratte2: : I *knew* it was in there somewhere! Thanks! (My copy is buried in a box in the garage so I couldn't check.)

All this talk of Cather makes me think that Sapphira and the slave girl will be my next Virago. I gather it is quite different to most of her other novels.

My current read is The Du Mauriers.

... and now Sisters By a River, which is a little strange but delightful.

I'm loving The Willow Cabin! Why did I wait so long to read this terrific book?
I've just read the couple of pages on American English --- "'Now that's just a difference in value-judgments,' said the critic. Jay could see the sweat standing out on the hyphen. He began to pity the nouns, robbed of their privacy, hitched together by the sweating hyphens, ---" "They ice their drinks; they ize their nouns and make new verbs;" ---
That's not a typical passage, but I was greatly amused.

Am thrilled to hear all the chat about The Willow Cabin and also Ethan Frome as they are both favorites of mine. The latter, I found quite shocking upon the first read but I love it now and have probably read it 4 or 5 times. I find it very deserving of re-reads. It is a wonderfully written book.

>114 LizzieD:, 115: Maybe I should reread The willow cabin as so many of you love it, and I do adore the other Frankau novels I've found.

Finished Sapphira and the slave girl, which was definitely not one of Cather's best novels, although an interesting look at slavery and its impact on a small scale. It was a change to read about slavery in a setting other than the usual plantation society.

I've also finished Illyrian Spring - add me to the crowd of those who have fallen in love with this book. The landscapes and friendly people she describes made me think of Albania as it was when I went there a few years ago.

>116 Sakerfalcon: I LOVED Illyrian Spring and am only a recent convert to it too (read it about afortnight ago)

I'm reading One way of love by Gamel Woolsey - have never come across this before, but am really liking it! Review to be up on my blog once I finish it.

I LOVED One Way of Love!!!!!!

Been on a Virago kick -- ordered some of the "romantic" novels from another thread, and really loved Nightingale Wood. Now I'm on to I Capture the Castle which I believe I will quite enjoy as well. These books are interesting but also very enjoyable, which is just what I am looking for right now.

Glad to hear you enjoyed Nightingale Wood which I think I suggested as romantic.

Sorry, thought I was posting on the what else thread!

Now reading Hester...

Finished my first VMC today which was South Riding by Winifred Holtby and absolutely loved it.

#119 I have Nightingale Wood in the TBR piles so glad to hear you enjoyed it.

Welcome to the group Heather!

>123 souloftherose:: what a brilliant way to start your VMC reading! Welcome!

Great to see you here Heather - that was really your first VMC? What a great one to start with, and I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Heather, WELCOME!!!!!
It's going to be hard to beat your #1, but you have lots of wonderful things to look forward to anyway.

Welcome, Heather!

Thank you :-)

#126 I think techincally Rebecca was the first VMC I read in a VMC edition but that was several years ago before I had heard of VMC or paid any attention to publishers.

Since joining LT I've been reading lots of discussions about VMC books and slowly let myself get drawn in. So, now I'm here!

I have just begun Invitation To the Waltz - it's my first Rosamond Lehmann, and I look forward to getting some opinions.

>130 lyzard:: I read Invitation to the waltz earlier this year, my first RL too, and thought it was terrific. It was very easy for me to empathise with awkward Olivia. Hope you enjoy the book, and let us know what you think of it.
Claire

Thanks, Claire. Yes, I identify with Olivia, too - a little too much for comfort! I will probably post some thoughts on the novel over the weekend.

Currently reading a Virago Traveller: Unbeaten Tracks in Japan, not inappropriate considering what's going on! Her description of Mount Fuji is amazing...

I am on a Barbara Pym jag -- just finished Some Tame Gazelle which was completely delightful and am moving on to Jane and Prudence. I may reread Excellent Women if only to reexperience the scene where Mildred revels in her shame of obstinately demanding the "Hawaiian Fire" lipstick that the salesperson has deemed too orange for a person of her complexion. It's one of the most wonderful things I've read, though I don't completely understand why that should be just yet.

Ooh, Barbara Pym! It's just been brought to my attention that Virago are rereleasing Crampton Hodnet next January which is an underated Pym in my opinion. Can't wait!

I have now posted reviews of both Invitation To The Waltz and The Sheltered Life, and will shortly be tackling Vita Sackville-West's Family History, which doesn't seem to have much of a reputation out there. Does anyone here have an opinion?

I enjoyed Family History very much, but then I enjoy anything Vita wrote. I'll bet the age difference between the main character and her lover raised a few eyebrows back in the day.....

Ditto as Elaine (Liz1564) said. So far, I could not find fault with any of Vita Sackville-West's books I read.

I read Family History many moons ago but I liked it very much.

I have just finished Eight Cousins which was a happy happy read. I am looking forward to the sequel and finding out which, if any of the cousins, the heroine marries.

>134 outrageoussocks: Ah, yes, the 'Hawaiian Fire' lipstick incident. I love Pym's humour :)

134, 135, 140> Oh yes, Ms Pym is indeed wonderful and Excellent Women (and Mildred) have a special place in my heart.

I too, am very happy about Crampton Hodnet being re-released by Virago though slightly disappointed that the release date keeps being put back. I'm sure it was initially coming out this summer- well, according to Amazon.co.uk anyway!

I'll be on the lookout for Virago's Crampton Hodnet, though it may be for a while.... Thanks!

Now reading Mrs. Miniver.

BBC Radio 7 is currently running a dramatized version of Mrs. Miniver. :)

Not a Modern Classic but a new Virago, Lauren Liebenberg's second novel The West Rand Jive Cats Boxing Club, for review for the Bookbag. I've only just started so it's at the bottom of my reading pile. A bit surprised by the subject a boys' boxing club in Johannesburg, I think at some point in the past.

...and now Anderby Wold. I'll be sad when I have no more Winifred Holtby novels to read for the first time.

How have we gone so long without an update on this thread?

I'm reading Elizabeth Taylor's Palladian, a Secret Santa gift from Lucy(sibyx). And I'm loving it, it's so typically Taylor.

Experiencing some wonderful autumn weather, sunny days and mild evenings perfect for strolling, and I'm reading The Brontes Went to Woolworths a true delight.

I finally finished Gone to Earth and find myself in the usual Virago quandary: What next? I'm currently considering Not So Quiet, The Orchid House, William by EH Young, and the second volume in The Little Ottleys trilogy. Decisions, decisions...

Not So Quiet is, I think, the most powerful Virago I have read. Just as good as All Quiet on the Western Front and should be read as much.

Wow, that's saying a lot! I didn't even have Not So Quiet on my radar. It is now.
And just so as not to be off-topic, I have dipped into The Misses Mallett, and that will be my next Virago when I finish my current Orange.

Hmmm...perhaps I should read something short and amusing as a mental palate cleanser before tackling Not So Quiet. I kept putting Gone to Earth aside because I knew it was going to end really, really badly for one or more of the main characters, and sure enough...

Can I just say how much I adore Elizabeth Taylor? What will I do when I've read all her books ... ?!

Now back to Palladian, where there was just the most surprising plot development.

I borrowed Four Frightened People from the library the other day, based upon the, uh, "recommendation" on this thread. Haven't started it yet - I'll check back in when I do.

>154 lyzard:: Think of it as a guilty pleasure, like eating Cheetos or watching "America's Next Top Model".

I have to pick out a VMC to at least start reading this month. I'm reading Nadine Gordimer's collected non-fiction and that's made me want to reread her novels - two in VMC - I know where Occasion for Loving is but I also have a copy of her first which I might try to find tonight.

I'm reading Elizabeth von Armin's Fraulein Schmidt and Mr Anstruther which was another of my Secret Santas from Parmaviolet (just finished The Greengage Summer, posted on the What Else thread) - it's wry and charming so far, very engaging!

Ada Leverson won. A little Edwardian satire seems like just the thing after Ms. Webb's Hardyesque tale.

I found The Lying Days by Nadine Gordimer.

Oooh, just got an email seconds ago from The Book Depository to say that Poor Caroline will be shipped soon. So that will be my next VMC read, although I do have Mrs Palfrey still sitting on the shelf....

I finished Palladian and loved it. Now reading my first Barbara Comyns: Our Spoons Came from Woolworths.

I love Barbara Comyns and that book.

#154 Ooh let me know about Four Frightened People - I found it in a 2nd hand bookshop the other day and dithered over buying it...I know...I know...but I'm trying to save my pennies for the Alumni sale at UQ which is always bigger than Ben Hur and I'm sure to find stacks...(it also had a creased cover which made me churlish about investing).

(Alex, before you invest in *4People* you should read Elaine's exhaustive review on the workpage!) And I am now officially reading The Misses Mallett.

I've finished and reviewed Fraulein Schmidt and Mr Anstruther by Elizabeth von Arnim - very good (thank you Parmaviolet, again!) and with a surprising ending. Has anyone else on here read this one - only one other review on LT and it's in Italian!

#164 Oh, oh, oh, now I remember reading this review and roaring with laughter when I read it....right....I may hang on to my precious $7.50....I'm going through a bit of a yarn phase at the moment....looking at balls of wall on ravelry...a bit like porn for me really...so tragic....Thanks LizzieD

I, just moments ago, finished reading One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downs and loved every single page of it.
"He felt awfully happy, driving home in the peace of the splendid evening. He had turned off the Bridbury road at the Crossroads, and now the land on either side of the low hedges resumed it's quiet lyric meter."
"On an evening like this, all the great truths which had ever been stated about an English summer day seemed to come so freshly into the mind."
Lovely, just lovely. It has been quite a little while, what with everything going on in R/L, that I have read a book in so few hours. This one is such a delight.

>167 rainpebble:: oh Belva, I'm so glad you liked it. I thought it was delightful too.

I loved One Fine Day, too. And Laura wrote a wonderful review of the book that everyone should check out!

*blush*

Just finished reading Mrs Palfrey and have placed an order for One Fine Day :)

I'm almost done with The Little Ottleys Volume II. Long days at the office have slowed down my reading, but at least I have that 40 minutes on the train with Mrs. Leverson every morning.

Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather. Such exquisite descriptions of the American Southwest. I'm only about 1/3 of the way through.

It looks like everyone is reading something good.
I just this morning finished another that I couldn't put down, but this one was a mental and emotional roller-coaster. Does Joyce Carol Oates ever write anything that is not fascinating? This one grabbed my gut from a short way in and had it the whole time. I couldn't read the last bit fast enough.......not because I wanted to the book to end; Oh no!... but because I had to see what was going to happen next. This title is simply Solstice.
What a master of the written word Oates is. She sucks us in and holds us until the very end and sometimes our mouths and eyes are gaping wide open and I am sure we look like fish absorbing her words. This one definitely didn't turn out as I expected. I give it an absolute high 5!

>173 laytonwoman3rd:: really need to read that one.

Now reading The Diary of a Provincial Lady, which has had me hooked. Kind of like Bridget Jones's Diary, combined with the Mrs. Tim books and Henrietta's War.

ETA: Virago should really republish the Mrs. Tm books. Actually, I'll take ANY of DE Stevenson's books!

I finished Tenterhooks yesterday and enjoyed it tremendously. Only one more Ottley novel left, alas. But at least I have Leverson's other books to look forward to. :)

>174 rainpebble:: I read Solstice as a teenager in the 1980s. Funnily enough I have a clear memory of how I imagined the two central characters (one with a Princess Di hairdo and the other much wilder) but no memory at all of the plot.

I think a re-read may be in order.

>174 rainpebble:, 178: funny you should mention Solstice. It popped up on my Paperbackswap wishlist and arrived yesterday. I don't think I've ever read anything by JCO (I know, I know, what rock have I been living under?), and I'd never heard of this one, but I am fairly indiscriminate when it comes to Virago collecting so I figured why not. I'm glad to hear you both enjoyed it.

#176 That's a mighty intriguing description of Diary of a Provincial Lady. I may have to bump that one up the list.

I'm not reading a Virago right now, but I finished Nadine Gordimer's first novel, The Lying Days on Friday. It's about a young South African woman in the late 1940s and early 1950s. It's very interesting as a portrait of its time - Helen moves in quite liberal white circles - none of them foresee the election of the Nationalist government in 1948 which brought the racist apartheid law - there was plenty of racism already there including on the so called liberal side but it reinforced it. Gordimer was critical of this but she makes her heroine initially less poliitcised than she was, and I think her own views changed over the years, as did the political situation (I'm still reading a very large collection of her non fiction writings arranged in chronological order, and I'm now in the post apartheid era but only just).

I'm reading Miss Mole, which was the third of my lovely Christmas gifts from Parmaviolet. Both lovely and intriguing so far!

>180 laytonwoman3rd:: you haven't read Provincial Lady yet? My dear Linda, do not pass GO ...

>183 lauralkeet: I KNOW....but first I need to read South Riding, because I don't want to watch the Masterpiece version until I have read the book....I JUST NEED TO STOP WORKING!

You are, however, not alone Linda. I, too, must not pass go. I have all of the "Provincials" but haven't got around to the reading of them yet. Gross error, eh Laura?
What I AM reading is Pride and Prejudice by Miss Austen for the Stasia hosted Austen-a-Thon. I am not far enough into it as of yet to know how well I will like it. I was not crazy for Emma, loved Sense and Sensibility and so am anxious to see how P.& P. fairs within my brain.

>184 laytonwoman3rd:, 185: ah, so many books, so little time.
Did you all see the NPR piece about how you can't possibly read it all?
The Sad, Beautiful Fact That We're All Going To Miss Almost Everything

It's so hard to surrender to that ...

Um ... anyone who has the Provincial Lady and hasn't read her ... Just DO, please!

I am perpetually reading Diary of a Provincial Lady. Sometimes I dip in and read a few days' worth of entries but, at least once a year, I read from cover to cover. I have 3 copies of the omnibus, one each of the separate editions and I now have a copy on my Kindle so I need never be caught without a copy to hand. Her (real life) daughter also wrote - Provincial Daughter - which is worth a read but not quite up to her mother's.

I think our recording may have failed last night...so perhaps Provincial Lady will take precedence over South Riding after all. I just don't know what to do!

>189 laytonwoman3rd:: Linda, you can watch South Riding online. That link takes you to the first episode which will be available on PBS.org for a month. Your local affiliate may also re-broadcast it at some odd time of day and you could try the DVR again.

I'm going to have my personal contact at my local affiliate (you know, the guy who was supposed to set up the recording last night?) check out that re-broadcast schedule this very day, Laura! Watching on-line just isn't feasible with our current connection.

Yesterday I started The Little Ottleys, and I found myself laughing out loud countless times already. Just the kind of book I need right now.

Laura - great article and I read the Ebert one as well. Thanks!

>176 Kasthu:: re D.E. Stevenson's books. Bloomsbury have reprinted Mrs Tim of the Regiment - maybe they will do more. Persephone have reprinted Miss Buncle's book and Miss Buncle married. And Greyladies (http://www.greyladiesbooks.co.uk/) have apparently found some lost manuscripts that they will be publishing this month. So it seems that this is a good time to be a fan of Stevenson.

On topic, I'm halfway through One fine day. What a beautiful little book it is.

Just finished and reviewed the marvellous Miss Mole and thank you once again, Parmaviolet, for a wonderful Christmas 2010 parcel!

I loved Miss Mole but am less entranced by The Misses Mallet which continues to be my current VMC - not that it's bad, mind you!

One fine day was as good as everyone led me to believe. I could see the South Downs on a summer's day in my mind as I read it. And the cover on the original green edition is perfect!

I have Never No More by Maura Laverty lined up to read when I finish my current book. I'm getting impatient as it sounds lovely.

I think i'm ready to give Not So Quiet a go...the first chapter drew me in, I'm not working today, and I'm too lazy to go rummaging through my Virago and Persephone bins, looking at books that will only make me indecisive about what to read next. Miss Mole was tempting me, but everyone loves it so much that I might save it for last and read all of Young's other books first.

I finished Not So Quiet a few hours ago and have to agree with Liz. One aspect of it that I found particularly interesting was how much the Commandant (aka Mrs. B*tch) resembled Himmelstoss in All Quiet on the Western Front. I think I will need to follow this one up with something that is pure escapism.

Started poor cow last night, (mine's not a virago but a pan book) picked up for a dollar from the op shop.

I just finished The Misses Mallett, and I think I'm going to have to review it. It's another charmer but not up to the quality of Miss Mole. I'm still a fan!

I look forward to your review. I really enjoyed The Misses Mallett when I finally got around to reading it. For the longest time I thought it was going to be one of those brittle-oh-so-civilized-tragedy-over-the-tea-cups-darling novels, but that turned out not to be the case at all.

About to start The Three Miss Kings.

Finished The Little Ottleys a couple of days ago, and loved it!
No wonder Ada Leverson was a close friend of Oscar Wilde's.

Just finished A Glass of Blessings -- I had thought at the beginning that I wasn't going to like it but ended up being completely charmed, and a little surprised by the characters portrayed and how they were portrayed. Really subtle and interesting writing, and gently thought-provoking, which perhaps makes it all the more subversive?

>205 aluvalibri: I'm so gratified to hear of others loving The Little Ottleys -- I did, too!

Paola - all three books or just one. Because they get better as they go on.

Glad to see a thumbs up for Glass of Blessings - I bought that a while ago simply because I liked the title. I think I might read the last installment of The Little Ottleys after I'm done with The Bell. I really need to know what happened with Edith and Bruce.

I finished reading The Custom of the Country today - Undine Spragg is such a despicable character. It was a great read but I definitely prefer The Age of Innocence and The House of Mirth. I must get round to reading her other books - I have at least 4 or 5 more in VMC.

>209 elkiedee:: I love Edith Wharton! I liked The Custom of the Country more than House of Mirth precisely because of Undine's despicableness (I know that's not a word ...). I'm glad you are enjoying Ms. Wharton ... I have a thumpingly large biography written by Hermione Lee, that I found in a used bookshop. One of these days I might actually read it! Meanwhile I've begun collecting Wharton's works in VMC editions.

#207> Barbara, all three of them. The Little Ottleys collects them all.
Now I MUST go look for something else by Ada Leverson. I really really really liked her way of writing.

I also loved Undine being such a bitch. It made a refreshing change. Wharton is a mixed bag but mostly very good.

210: I have the same bio - it's a hardback copy and it's far too big to trug around with me when reading - I found it for £3 in the bargain bookshop near work.

>210 lauralkeet:, 213: Me too, and it's only half read for the same reason - too big to lug around in hardback! What I've read so far is very good, but I suspect when I do pick it up again I'll have to start from the beginning. Wharton is one of my favourite authors, although a couple of her novels really do nothing for me. But the majority I love, especially Custom of the Country.

I've just posted a review of Four Frightened People over at my thread.

Oh. My. :)

A really excellent analysis of this book, much more in depth than my review.

Elaine

But lacking your passion and sincerity. :)

The best part of the novel was finally allowing myself to read what you'd written (foolish of me to read it at work, of course) - I cackled evilly all the way through.

I actually started writing about it almost as soon as I finished reading, but after it became apparent I was going to end up with something nearly as long as the novel itself, I figured I'd better allow myself a cooling-off period. Certain things escaped a mention as a consequence...like any reflection on the implications of the Hippocratic oath...

>215 lyzard:: Excellent review!

>215 lyzard:: oh yes, that's a brilliant review!

Thank you - much appreciated!

Many thanks for that very thoughtful review! I'm not sure that the book is worth it.

Can't believe such a rotten book has inspired two such entertaining reviews. Thank you.

Well, it is rather fun, not to mention therapeutic, to write reviews of truly awful books!

In defence of Four Frightened People, I can't say I found it dull. Just philosophically horrifying in every respect.

But yeah...it is always easier to say whay you don't like about something.

Marge: "You know, Homer, it's very easy to criticise---"
Homer: "Fun, too!"

Now reading The Virago Book of Women Travellers.

I'm reading Winifred Holtby's The Land of Green Ginger. I have one of the new-cover versions from Virago. Not sure what I think of the book yet though.

I'm reading the Virago edition of Pride and Prejudice, trying to catch up on the 75 books group's Austenathon. Strictly speaking, I don't need new editions of Jane Austen's works, but I really like the introductions by Margaret Drabble which accompany the Virago ones.

I won't be reading it for a few weeks, but I picked up a copy of Poor Caroline at the library last night, which will be my first Winifred Holtby. Sadly, it's not the Virago edition - and even more sadly, I had to blow the dust off it. :(

I have started to read Living Dolls - so far so good.

I'm feeling a bit "meh" about this Holtby I'm reading (The Land of Green Ginger, which has a stubborn touchstone today). One minute I like it, and the next I feel like it's not quite grabbing me. Don't let me down, Winifred!

>229 alexdaw:: I've just finished Living Dolls and found it a real eye-opener. I loved how she turned all my unformed and vague concerns about attitudes towards women in the twenty first century into a structured analysis. I need to review it now for the Virago bookclub website. It's their book for discussion this month.

>230 lauralkeet:: I hope Land of Green Ginger starts grabbing you soon, Laura! If not read The Crowded Street instead! It will restore your faith in Winifred!

I'm reading the third and final volume of The Little Ottleys. I wish I had half as much patience as Edith does, I must say.

I finished Living Dolls yesterday evening, quite shocking and disturbing and made me sort of glad not to have daughters in a way, though still worried about how to bring up little boys. It might take me a little while to get the review written - I find it really hard to write anything other than a time consuming longer review and I need to catch up with some of my huge backlog of other reviews first.

Don't you detest Bruce, Andrew?
If he had been a real person, I would have loved to be able to slap him!

I have been silently (and not so silently) urging Edith to do exactly that, just once. I would feel so much better for it.

>231 Soupdragon:: Dee, I'm happy to report that I just finished The Land of Green Ginger, and Winifred did indeed redeem herself !

I did just the same, Andrew!

>233 elkiedee:: I think it'll take me a while to write my review too- too much going on and this is one you feel the need to try to do some justice to, isn't it? I know what you mean about being glad you're not bringing up girls at the moment and it's difficult for boys too. My thirteen year old son tells me about boys at school showing other boys photos and videos on their mobile phones that he really doesn't want to see. I wonder if some of the parents who put parental controls on the PC think about mobiles?

>234 aluvalibri:: I really, really detested Bruce too!

>236 lauralkeet:: Hoorah!! I saw your 3.5 star rating which I thought was encouraging, particularly as I know that for you that's a pretty generous rating ;)

Last night I finished Vera with a sigh of relief. Von Arnim regarded it as her finest work, although it was poorly received by the general public, who found it too depressing. I'm with the general public on this one. Basically, poor little Lucy, on her own and quite unable to support herself, meets and marries the truly dreadful Wemyss whose previous wife has thrown herself from a window rather than put up with one more day of his nit picking. If you detest Bruce from The Little Ottleys wait till you meet the insufferable Wemyss. Based on her marriage to Lord Francis Russell, I thought the book was a total bummer.

Well, I'm sory to hear that about Vera. I remeber being quite intrigued by the plot description on the back cover when I bought it yonks ago.

Finished The Little Ottleys on the train this evening. I enjoyed it tremendously, even though Edith didn't give Bruce that well-earned slap. But at least she felt a sudden urge to throw the tea tray at Mme Frabelle.

So now I'm back to the Eternal Question: What next? I think I need a break from British writers. Any suggestions?

>236 lauralkeet: I'm so glad to hear that Winifred came through in the end! I was about to scratch Green Ginger off my "to-obtain" list with a heavy heart, but I've now happily left it where it is. Thank you!

>241 miss_read:: you are most welcome! I was worried, too ... I consider her one of my favorite authors. But yes, it's a good book, perhaps my initial problems were due to other busy-ness of life this week.

240: A VMC by a non-British writer? Margaret Laurence (Canada), Nadine Gordimer (South Africa)

Something else entirely?

Andrew, what about Jean Devanny, Katharine Susannah Prichard, Katherine Mansfield? Two from NZ and one from Australia, and all three Viragos!

If, by some chance, you haven't read Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese that is one amazing novel.

>245 Liz1564:: I have that book ... really must get to it.

What????? Laura, you amaze me! You still have not read it?????
SHAME ON YOU!

OK, shame on me too. It's in my stacks, and I haven't read it yet.

*hangs head*

I am enormously grateful to Paola for urging me to read Cutting for Stone last year. Don't linger in shame any longer - READ THE BOOK!!!! (One mild warning: I thought the beginning was only "very good;" then I noticed that I couldn't put it down.)
(I need to get back to Margaret Laurence too ----)

OK, I can't take the shame. We need a new thread !!!

So far, all the people I know who have read it LOVED it!

I gave Eric the audiobook for his birthday, and he just started listening to it.