Which Virago Are you Reading? Part XV

I just started Molly Keane's Full House last night. I only read a few pages but it was enough to whet my appetite!

Honestly, is NO ONE reading a Virago this week? I am loving Full House. Molly Keane is so good at dysfunctional families living in large estates.

I have Two Serious Ladies by Jane Bowles up next after I finish one of the two books I'm reading. But at the moment, no, I'm not reading a vmc. Never fear--soon! :)

I'm not reading a VMC at the moment -but I may read one next.

As I have said before - I have read all the VMC I think I want to, and am now approaching the rest as a semi-chore. AV/AA gets me going again and I have been finding that some of the ones I think will be a chore are far from it. But there is nothing worse than a duty read when the latest Ian Rankin is calling, right?

>5 romain:: I can understand that feeling. I have many, many left to read and I usually read only one per month. I just thought it odd and somewhat amusing that this poor little thread had been neglected all week and everyone was busy chatting about what else they were reading!

Meanwhile, I have that great feeling of satisfaction that comes from having just finished an especially fine VMC. :)

I've just finished Excellent Women, so not currently reading a VMC. If I carry on reading one Pym a month, it could end up this year that the only VMCs I read are Pyms. So I hope I will diversify a bit, soon. In any case, of the Pym editions I own so far, not all are VMC, and I wont count it as a VMC read unless it is actually a VMC edition.

I'm in the middle of King of a Rainy Country by Brigid Brophy and liking it very much.

And I read A Quiet Life by Beryl Bainbridge, which is published as a VMC next month, on a long train journey in the middle of the week. I've had mixed results with her books before, but reading an early, semi-autobiographical work has helped me make a little more sense of her oeuvre.

I'm reading Excellent Women and High Rising, which I won in Karen's giveaway.

I just finished Excellent Women but I don't know if I will read anymore VMCs this month - I am trying to pace myself a little and vary my reading but it isn't always working at the moment as I keep ending up with Russians!

Karen, you can be our resident Cossack. ;-)

LOL! :)))))))) Feels a bit like that at the moment - but I've never been able to read anything except what I actually *want* to read at a given time - it just doesn't work for me otherwise!

I am about to start The Life and Death of Harriet Frean sent to me ages ago it seems by our own lovely Belva - thanks again Belva - and sorry I have delayed reading it so long.

Oooh - my Middle Child read this recently (I won't tell you what she said about it yet!) and Eldest Child studied it at Uni so I pinched his copy when he'd finished with it!

Hilary Mantel has written about Elizabeth Taylor's " Angel," so I am reading it right now and enjoying it. What underhanded tidbits she reveals about the life of a writer!

>#13:
Ali; You are so welcome. I remember reading it and quite liking it. So I went back to see what I had to say about it and apparently I not only neglected to review it, I didn't even rate it. Must have been back in the day when I was trying to keep my reading of the Virago up with my acquiring of the same. And we all know: no can do! So I think I will reread The Life and Death of Harriet Frean when I finish The Children's Book which I am loving and must again thank Her_Royal_Orangeness (as my V.S.S. this past Christmas) for. She even sent me the one with the perfect cover that I coveted so badly. :-)

I just finished Excellent Women and posted a (very brief) 4**** review. I guess I'll be getting on to Jane and Prudence in a little while, but....

I do have to do a thorough read of Oliver Kitteridge (I've only read it partway through), and then I want to get on to Elizabeth Strout's earlier books since I snagged The Burgess Boys in the January ER and I want to write a really thorough review, having as I do a particular interest in Maine regional literature.

ETA: Actually, though, for a Virago read, I'm off-and-on reading The Writings of Anna Wickham. It's principally poetry, though, short lyrics in fact, so it's the sort of thing you dip into from time to time.

I just finished Gamel Woolsey's Patterns on the Sand, which I loved. Such a shame that Woolsey made only one attempt to publish it, in post WWII Britain. Had she tried to find a US publisher, she might have had better luck. I'm currently reading One of Ours, which I really like so far.

And it's gone very quiet again ...

I'm in the middle of In Diamond Square by Merce Rodoreca, which is growing from a nice love story set just before the Spanish civil war into something a little bigger.

Much as I love seeing authors like Angela Thirkell and Rumer Godden appearing in Virago editions, I am even more pleased that I can still discover authors I knew nothing about because they're still being added to the list too.

Shhhh, you've just added another book to my huge wishlist.

Mine too, dag nab it!

It's a VMC ladies, so it was there anyway, you just didn't know it :-)

LOL.

I am just starting Jane and Prudence and finding myself on happily familiar ground - love her snappy asides!

I am at the mid-way point Karen and have found myself snickering my through a lot of this one. I think I am finding more humor in this one than in the others I have read.....or at least more humor that I connect with.

And Paola, Jane is picking on us................

Ok lolly willowes - it mentions in the blurb a cat, but there is no cat on the last page. Is there a bad animal bit? Thanks!

25: I don't think so Liz, though I will get my copy and check for you. As far as I remember, the cat is just significant because it's an indicator of the witchy role Lolly takes on, later on in the book. Will let you know for sure, once I've found my copy.

Yesterday I started reading Taking Chances by Molly Keane - really enjoying it.

25 : very little about the cat, and nothing bad happens to it!

26 & 28 thank you - we have met the kitten now and I recall a kitten being mentioned later - I thought there was an actual cat, too, so it should be OK. Cool book ...

Just finished Taking Chances enjoyed it. Think it was only my third Molly Keane book - but I have 3 others TBR and I am becoming a fan.

When I go to bed I'll be starting Nightingale Wood that lovely Dee sent me as part of my VSS, I am looking forward to it, despite the fact that someone else recently said they didn't care for it much. : )

It seems like it's been a while since my last Virago, although it was only last month. Tonight I started The Beth Book, and opening my green-spined copy was like settling into a familiar comfy chair.

Like Laura it has been a bit since I read my last Virago other than my Barbara Pyms with the rest of you. But tonight I very excitedly begin a Vita Sackville-West, with whom I am in love, Family History. And I am really looking forward to once again picking up the green. My Pyms are the lovely Moyer Bell editions but there is nothing quite like the green in hand.

I haven't read a green for a while, either. I may have to take one away with me today when I go for my post-Easter break. I've been meaning to read All Passion Spent for a while, so perhaps I'll join you in reading some Vita!

I've got a nice green No Signposts in the Sea so maybe I should join in too!

Love All Passion Spent. It was my first Vita and the affair has never ended.

Jump in! The water is fine.

I have to review Seducers in Ecuador & The Heir, two novellas published by VMC. Seducers is just odd and but in The Heir is interesting. Early Vita, not her best in my opinion, but still very worth reading.

Belva, did I mention that I have five of her books from her personal library at Sissinghurst? I was in Seven Oaks about a year after Harold Nicolson died and apparently some unimportant books were donated to a charity jumble sale and bought by a local book dealer. Unfortunately, none were by her or Harold. Still, they have her signature on the fly leaf....VSW in huge letters.

36: Wow! I'm mightily impressed that you own Vita books!!!!

Elaine that was amazing timing! How wonderful to have those in your possession. From her personal library; books that she touched and read. How very lovely. And you had never mentioned this to me before. They couldn't be in better hands.

I am so envious!

Elaine, that's amazing! Just had to check - no, I didn't miss that, not being born yet at the time. Phew! Dear Vita ... I'll have to have a pilgrimage to Knole and Sissinghurst at some stage.

In order not to highjack this thread I wrote my story about Vita's books in the Spring Has Sprung thread. I also posted pictures of one of the books in my gallery

Well, I finished The Beth Book and was less than thrilled, I found it quite tedious. My review is posted on the book thread. I'm looking forward to my April VMC, The Misses Mallett, which I will start probably in a week or two. I've enjoyed other books by E.H. Young.

I finished All Passion Spent a couple of days ago: a quick read, and I loved it.

>43 gennyt:: that's an excellent book.

>43 gennyt:: I totally fell in love with Vita Sackville-West when I that book, the first of hers for me. She and Virginia Woolf are two of my very favorites. Go happy that you loved it genny.

Amazingly enough I don't believe that V.W. is a Virago author, is she? Shocking, if so.

45: Traditionally Virago Modern Classics were books which were believed to be overlooked and previously out-of-print, so maybe Woolf wasn't considered to be neglected enough. Mind you, they did also publish Jane Austen at one point, who can surely never have been overlooked or out-of-print!

I am now reading Company Parade. I like Storm Jameson's writing style and love her awareness of the social issues of Post WW1 Britain. This is my first Jameson and I will definitely be reading more.

I haven't been involved with the Pym readalongs in the way I expected. The thing is, I love, love, love Barbara Pym but when I've picked up the books each month, I've realised I'm not in the right mood to appreciate her fully. And she's too good to be read dutifully, so I will opt out until I can appreciate her properly.

I can appreciate that last paragraph Dee. I've done the same with others in the past.
Although I have several collected Storm Jamesons I have yet to read her. Glad to hear you are enjoying her so much. All I've heard and read of her writing has been very positive so I will probably be adding her to some of my summer reading.
Nice to 'see' you.
hugs,

46: Good point about Woolf - though even Persephone have published her!

I know what you mean about being in the right mood - I've only committed myself to two monthly readalongs this year, but I'm struggling a little to even fit these in because of where the reading mojo is taking me!

I have several Storm Jameson titles on the tbr but again, haven't found the right mood and moment for them yet.

I read a Storm Jameson last year during AV/AA and it was wonderful!

I am enjoying doing one monthly and one bi-monthly readalongs (Pym and Hardy), plus two months of re-reading and the odd sudden readalong, like the one I did on Capital with Matthew and a friend, and Ali's and my Sense and Sensibility fest, but then I am used to reading my books in acquisition order, so don't pick and choose so much in the TBR as some people.

And I'm reading a Mary Webb, The Golden Arrow, although I managed to fall asleep on page 1 last night. Not the book's fault! I might take it to the gym for a go on the exercise bike today ... I have to mention that it's the last of my books from the Oxford Virago Day Out, although those who follow my Book Confessions on my blog will know that I have plenty more to read!

I'm so enjoying The Golden Arrow. Yes, you can see where Stella Gibbons got her parody from, but it's powerful, earthy stuff in a tradition that I suppose extends in my reading continuum from Hardy (LOVE) to Lawrence (HATE). Really involving - what will happen when the golden incomer who doesn't believe in the marriage service insinuates himself into the life of a previously untouched farm girl? Will her friend, Lily escape her destiny ... ? Marvellous stuff!

I finished The Golden Arrow and reviewed it here http://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2013/04/12/book-reviews-48/ (I will get all my reviews on her soon, now I've got a bit more time). I'm experimenting with trying to write slightly longer, fuller reviews, but when I mentioned that on facebook no one popped over to read them - they're not essays, I promise!

I have just finished Swan in the Evening by Rosamond Lehmann - an autobiography which I found odd - enjoyable - but hard to get a handle on.

53: I have it, but have never succeeded in getting into it - glad it's not just me!

Funnily enough it was the first Lehmann I read - years before I discovered her as a Virago novelist. I read her biography a few years ago (Selina Hastings) and she came over in that as a very shallow woman who slept with friends' boyfriends and generally put herself first in everything. Indeed there is one hilarious scene where, cast aside by her lover for another woman, she appeals to his now twice-wronged wife for sympathy and support. Quite off putting in fact, and I have read her books knowing she is not a person I would want to socialize with. However, she did love her daughter (the subject of Swan in the Evening) and I found those sections of the biography particularly moving.

#55 yes I read that biography too - and she doesn't come across well. However the woman that comes across in this book - while I can't completley understand her I liked.

I disliked her intensely until - in the biography - her daughter died. As a mother I could fully appreciate her desperation and I was very disturbed by her intellectual friends who not only abandoned her, but laughed at the intensity of her grief. I found Swan in the Evening on a friend's bookshelves while house sitting. I also didn't like it very much. Doesn't she contact Francis of Assisi at one of her seances?

Just getting ready go have a lay-down & tuck into Less Than Angels for the Barbara Pym centenary.

I'm reading LTA at the moment too, and loving it.

I just started The Misses Mallett last night. Inky read about 30 pages but can already tell I will like it.

I've just started Sapphira and the Slave Girl which my friend Bridget gave me in September. I've only read a couple of chapters but it's already drawing me in, uncomfortable as I am with talk of selling human beings ...

I am about to start The Shutter of Snow, which Christina recommends as a neglected treasure. I have to say that I'm a bit trepidatious. (Is that really a word?)
Meanwhile, I really enjoyed The Misses Mallett and Company Parade. I'm a confirmed E.H. Young fan and will certainly get back to S. Jameson.

Peggy, I loved The Shutter of Snow. It was a 5* read for me.
And while I have several books by both Jameson and E.H. Young, I have yet to read either of them. Shame on me. I need to dedicate more time to my lovely greens or they won't get read by the time I pass. Seems that this year I have been obsessed with the Oranges and have been sadly let down by them. First year ever for that to happen. Must be where my head is this year. (not a good place)
I hope that you appreciate The Shutter of Snow as Christina and I did.
hugs,

I'm still enjoying The Misses Mallett ... I love EH Young.

#64 I loved The Misses Mallett but I only have the kindle version - would love a nice green.

>65 Heaven-Ali:: Mine is actually a black Dial Press edition, but with the same artwork. :)

I love my black Dial Press editions. And I like the green Penguins too. The orange ones; not so much. But hey, I have no pride. I take what I can get.

I'm reading my lovely designer VMC edition of Their Eyes were watching God by Zora Neale Hurston - which I only have 70 pages left of and I think is brilliant.

Oh Ali, isn't this a wonderful book? I felt as if I could barely breathe throughout Their Eyes Were Watching God.
This is what poured out onto the review page when I had finished.

"Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God is a masterpiece. I began this book last evening and finished it this morning. I felt sad when I put it down realizing that this exquisitely gifted author had given us such a small amount of literature. And yet also, when I put it down I sat smiling with joy at the piece I had just read.
Their Eyes Were Watching God is basically a love story, but not. It is basically a coming of age story, but not. It is basically a story of black humanity after their liberation from slavery, but not. This book fits into no category that I know of. It is the story of a young black girl, Janie, growing up in free Western Florida and raised by her 'Nanny'; her mother having run off shortly after her birth. She was the progeny of her mother and a schoolteacher who had raped her. Her grandmother raised her with a lot of love, devotion and protected her from all that she could.
When the girl came to her middle teens and became interested in the opposite sex, her grandmother arranged a marriage for her in the hopes of keeping her chaste. It was a loveless marriage to a much older man and as time went on he turned from treating her very well to expecting her to chop wood, plow and work right alongside him. When her grandmother died Janie ran off with another man who came through town and promised her the moon.
Joe Starks did indeed give Janie almost everything she could want; everything she could want but himself. He took her to a new town inhabited only by black people where he decided that they needed a mayor to run things, that they needed more property to build rental housing, that they needed a general store and a post office. And he proceeded to work his way into their hearts as he had done Janie's and he accomplished all that plus he built her a big beautiful home. As time went by she became less and less important to Joe Starks and he became more and more important to himself. Janie's heart began to turn and while she still loved him, she began to see him as he truly was.
Stark became ill and Janie nursed him until he realized that she felt contempt for him and he refused to allow her in his sick room. Others from the community came to nurse and feed him, but his illness continued to his death. He left Janie well off and she mourned for a time and then seemed content and turned all comers away. She had no interest in another man.
Then she met 'Tea Cake' and the story from here on is almost pure joy. For me, this was what the book had been building up to all along, though I didn't realize it until I got here.
Hurston's words flow poetically from page to page. Her turn of a phrase is so beautiful that I found myself reading entire passages over and over again just to hear the language and phrasing. Her metaphors are wonderfully fitting to the situation in the story and the book is full of them. The book is very easily read and I highly recommend it and any of her writings."

I wish that everyone could have the blessing of this read and I am so happy that you are finding it 'brilliant'. Good word for this one Ali.

Happily engrossed in The Vicar's Daughter, thanks to generous Linda! My husband rolled his eyes when he saw the title and said it must be the quintessential VMC. :)

Ooh I must do Their Eyes Were Watching God, it was in the lovely collected works I received for my 2011 VSS and I have been reading one at a time, but seem to have neglected to do so for a while.

Just reviewed Sapphira and the Slave Girl here http://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2013/04/22/book-reviews-50/ very interesting read indeed.

>70 kdcdavis:: oh those silly husbands!

My review of Their Eyes were watching God is up.

http://heavenali.wordpress.com/2013/04/22/their-eyes-were-watching-god-zora-neal...

Lovely review Ali.

Really nice review Ali. You make me want to pick it up again. Thank you.

>73 lauralkeet:: As the chief Virago-reader in my family, I'll pretend I didn't hear that, Laura!

>77 rbhardy3rd:: I was expecting that. HA HA HA HA!

#73, 77: In my husband's defense, he has actually read and enjoyed several Viragoes (Brontes Went to Woolworths, Constant Nymph, and a couple of Pyms)! I think he just meant that he couldn't imagine a more Virago-ish title than "The Vicar's Daughter". :)

Anyway, I loved it quite as much as I've loved all Young's books so far, and was interested by some of the similarities to The Curate's Wife--specifically, the non-religious wives of clergymen who are mildly amused by their husbands' devotion. Young expresses so perfectly the tenderness and affection of these relationships without making the wives into harridans or the husbands ridiculous. It's an interesting and subtle perspective that is one of the reasons I think she's a great writer.

>79 kdcdavis:: He's right, that's a very Virago-ish title! And I love what you said about Young's writing -- spot on.

I have started the next Pym - a few days early - because I have my own funny little reading project for May which Pym won't fit in with.

I've started Lettice Cooper's The New House, which has certain Pym-like qualities (e.g., a woman in her early thirties who feels she's destined for spinsterhood), but it's more lyrical and low-key.

I read the Persephone edition of The New House and really loved it.

Ooh I loved The New House too, which I also read in Persephone.

I'm reading Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. I picked it up to read because I thought it was quite different from many VMCs based on the description on the back, "It is the twenty-fourth century. Knarf, a writer, lives in a society of technocratic socialism that has abolished war and poverty through "scientific" laws. Knarf has written a novel which begins in November 1924 and tells the story of an Australian working man, Harry Munster, of his hopes, fears and loves, of his family, their friends and lovers."

So, it is a story within a story, and has a futuristic twist. It jumps back and forth between the 24th century and what is happening with Knarf's family and events in the town, and then into the book he has written, which he is reading parts of to his friend Ord. I have to say that it started very, very slowly and that it is quite dense. However, I am enjoying it and finding it interesting, but it is slow going!

85: I have this but have never had the courage to pick it up - so I will be very interested to hear what you think of it in the end!

#85 Sounds really unusual and interesting Lisa. Do let us know what you think of it once you've finished.

Kay Boyle's Year Before Last.

>>#85 I picked up a copy of that at a book sale last year but haven't read it yet - I'll be very interested to hear what you make of it.

I too have Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow on the Tbr shelf. Maybe I'll try it during All Virago-All August this year.

I borrowed Tomorrow from the library when I was about seventeen and quickly gave up on it. I think it put me off Virago Modern Classics for quite a while afterwards!

I wonder if I'd do any better with it as a grown-up - and do I really want to find out?

Well, please do let me know what you think of Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow once you are done. I know we all have different tastes (some don't like Angela Carter!), but I remember being more than disappointed--disliking--that one.

Yes, back in 2009: "Yes, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow was one VMC I emphatically didn't like. The writing wasn't cohesive, the prose was dense and boring, and there was no discernible character exploration (which is one of the main draws of VMCs, in my opinion).
And I don't think I'm alone in this dislike--urania gave it a lower star-rating than I did, and I think bleuroses and charbutton also didn't like it? (It's LT-rating, although not definitive, is 2.13).
But, of course, read it yourself and make your own evaluation! :)"

Perhaps one of you can convince me I judged it too harshly?

>92 christiguc:: more than anything, I am impressed at your ability to find that nearly 4-year-old message!

Thanks, Laura, I aim to be impressive. :D

>86 kaggsy:, 87, 89, 90, 91, 92: Wow, I think this it the most reaction I've ever gotten on a book I'm reading, how funny!

Well, I'm more than half way through it, and it's not the kind of book that calls to me to be read RIGHT NOW, but I will continue on and report back. I can see some of what Christina included in her review - I agree that the prose is dense. And I also was really put off for for the first 45+ pages or so - it was boring! But the story of the family's struggles in the 1920's and forward towards WWII has been interesting.

(Also quite impressed with your detective abilities there, Christina!)

I'll be back in a bit to sum it up!

Christiana, I'm always impressed with you, and more so now that I've finished The Shutter of Snow which you suggested for starting a trend. I don't know when I would have read it on my own, but I'm now a devoted admirer.

Oh goody, goody!~! Another The Shutter of Snow fan. A solid 5 star read for me. I loved it. So happy you liked it so much dear Peg.

>96 LizzieD:, 97: hmmm ... I have that one. Looks intriguing.

It's a stunning read Laura. However I would not classify it as a sunny beach read. So save it for when you are ready.

I started A Woman of My Age by Nina Bawden today - not sure what I expected, as it's my first book by her, but the tone is different from whatever it was that I expected! I am enjoying, though.

And I will be starting it too as soon as I have finished Ashenden!

I'm slowly savoring The New House and falling in love with Lettice Cooper. I love the quote that concludes her 1994 obituary in The Independent: "She is what we expect English people to be but what they so seldom are."

I loved The New House. It is definitely a VMC I will reread more than once.

This morning I started My Cousin Rachel, which hasn't drawn me in right away like Rebecca, but close enough.

I'm working my way rather slowly through Deerbrook. The writing is wonderful, but the story is a little trite and the lack of character development is bugging me.

ANDREW..............been missing you!

I am reading my lovely VMC designer edition of My Cousin Rachel - really enjoying it so far.

I just finished In a Summer Season by Elizabeth Taylor past it onto my husband who read it and then promptly picked up The Sleeping Beauty by Elizabeth Taylor from off the Virago shelf. One can't get a better recommendation than that. And I read somewhere that in the 1960s Ms. Taylor felt herself outmoded- interesting.

Having loved My Cousin Rachel I'm now re-reading and loving Jamaica Inn

I liked Jamaica Inn when I read it eons ago, but the movie with Charles Laughton and Maureen O'Hara was horrible. Apparently not even Alfred Hitchcock was able to reign in Laughton's ego. I say a remake is in order here.

I have started Illyrian Spring and am enjoying it so far (about 50 pages in).

I was blissfully carried throughout a summer night's reading of Eudora Welty's The Optimist's Daughter. I don't quite know what it is about Welty, but I can't get through a summer without reading one of her books (especially after having visited her home in Jackson, MS a couple of years ago).

Have started reading A Particular Place by Mary Hocking Think I am going to want to read everything she wrote. The back cover says "Mary Hocking is confirmed as the successor to Elizabeth Taylor and Barbara Pym" and having read less than 100 pages I would say that yes - she is a worthy successor to those wonderful writers.

#112 "the successor to Elizabeth Taylor and Barbara Pym" Oh dear, that really doesn't bode well for my wishlist....

Oooh, I'm sure I've got something by her ... Yep, Good Daughters and Welcome Strangers.

Awesome has two nonVirago copies of Indifferent Heroes, the last of the trilogy, for 2.49GBP. It can tide you over until you come across a Virago edition.

>112 Heaven-Ali:: no! No more temptation!!

OH gee. I'm done for already and it's Barbara's fault. I looked at A Particular Place too, and although I didn't read but 3 or 4 pages, I was so sold that I ordered four (4) Mary Hockings from AwesomeBooks - they had sent a buy-3-get-one-free code. Only one of my new ones is a VMC, and it's a modern one, but I have coming Indifferent Heroes, Welcome Strangers, Letters from Constance, and The Very Dead of Winter. W00T! Thanks a lot!!

>117 LizzieD::
Yes, our Miss Barbara is very easily blamable!~!

>116 lauralkeet::
Laura, aren't you just the definitive one. lol!~! We'll see how that works for you. hee hee......

I have just posted my review of A Particular Place - I might go and look at awesome books - : ) although I'm not suposed to be buying books at the moment ( apart from the new Sarah Dunnant I ordered the other day)

my review's here

http://heavenali.wordpress.com/2013/06/16/a-particular-place-mary-hocking-1989/

You can always borrow my ones?

umm I have just ordered four too : ) I ordered Good daughters Indifferent heroes Welcome strangers and The very dead of winter

#120 - oopsie too late : D

Clicky-clicky naughtiness!

Goodness Ali - the tbr will be expanding again!

Hmm, as I own both Good daughters and A particular place I think I will add one of them to my AV/AA pile this year.

: )
Incidently I am now reading A woman of my age by Nina Bawden - thanks again Elaine for sending it to me.

126 - Oh, I *shall* be interested to hear what you make of it!

I think I've made an executive decision here to save Two Serious Ladies for later and to read A Particular Place now. I feel so much better!

I'm back to My Cousin Rachel, but I don't like the narrator. I think I will try Mary Hocking after this.

Well, I finished My Cousin Rachel this morning. As with Jamaica Inn, I wanted to like it but didn't. This does not bode well for Mary Anne. And I'm starting to wonder if I reread Rebecca after 35 years, will I still like it?

But I will worry about that later. Good Daughters is still my bag from yesterday, so I will continue with that for bit.

Andrew - I did not like either of those DuMauriers and I didn't like Frenchman's Creek because - if I am remembering correctly after 40 years - of her relationship with her children. But Rebecca and many others are still wonderful. The House on the Strand - read 40 years ago and never re-read is fantastic. The Scapegoat is also very good as are Don't Look Now and The Birds.

For some reason I've never been interested in Frenchman's Creek, but that's more because the plot strikes me as being more than a little far-fetched. But I won't write off du Maurier as a one-hit wonder just yet.

>130 Leseratte2::
Andrew; have you read her Myself When Young: The Shaping of a Writer or The Loving Spirit? These two are different than most of her novels. The one being a memoir and the other being her 1st novel and a 3 generational saga which I so loved. I think my review is on this page:
http://www.librarything.com/work/169873

I recently read Frenchman's Creek - it's the only other Du Maurier so far for me after Rebecca. I really enjoyed it, far-fetched though the plot is indeed. It's all about the dream of escaping - and whether or not a woman can be free.

>133 rainpebble:: No, Belva, just Rebecca, Jamaica Inn, and My Cousin Rachel. And The Birds, when I was 9, which scared the living daylights out of me. I still don't like birds.

>134 gennyt:: Genny, funny you should say that about Frenchman's Creek. I was going to add "but I suppose it could work on a fantasy/wish fulfillment level" to my previous post, but that seemed condescending, so I didn't.

I am now on Chapter Three of Good Daughters. Hocking manages to pack a lot in without overwhelming the reader. I like that in a writer.

135: The film of The Birds had the same effect on me at about the same age and I still have a phobia about them......

#135 It works very much on a fantasy/wish-fulfillment level - but with some subverting of expectations too, which made it a more interesting read.

Most of the Daphne Du Mauriers for me fall into the category of books I loved at 14 and need to reread to see if I still love them (there are books that fell into the first category and I think I will resist finding out about the 2nd, such as Jackie Collins' Lucky novels - I read a newer one in the series in my mid 30s and it was awful, such a crushing disappointment).

Maybe we should start a thread "Books that have not stood the test of time." I can think of a half dozen titles I absolutely adored and (thanks to Ali) have reread and though, "What drivel."

One that springs immediately to mind for me is Leon Uris. When I tried to re-read Mila 18 a year or two ago I found it was so badly written I gave up after 20 pages.

Think I'll start that thread.

DuMaurier is one that I suspect that I won't reread except maybe for Rebecca. I'm not willing to risk happy memories and I have a LOT of new stuff to read!
I'm just getting into my Mary Hocking, A Particular Place, and enjoying it very much. It is firmly in Barbara Pym territory but with a contemporary sensibility that I like a lot. As Andrew says, she does pack in a lot without overwhelming the reader.

I've been dreadfully neglectful of my Virago reading this year (must fix that, come August), but I'm happy to say I've started Saraband, by Eliot Bliss.

I've started listening to the Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, on CD. I'm intrigued to know where this one's going.

Helen - you are in for such a treat!

Peg - the two Hockings I have read were not one bit Pym-ish but more Taylor-ish. Thumbing through Good Daughters last night I see it is densely written whereas Letters from Constance is just pages of letters. I can see that A Particular Place has very a Pymish theme however.

#146 - Having read A Particular Place last week although the themes are very Pymish the writing leans more towards Elizabeth Taylor - although I don't think she is quite as good at depth of character - but there were moments when it remind me a little of E T.

Just starting Pirates at Play by Violet Trefusis. Actually right at this moment. :) I've had this one for a while, but it's never really called to me--I don't know why.

But a book that starts off like this can't be bad! :

'I think it is time,' drawled Vica from her horizontal position on the floor, in that voice, that even in those days constituted an attempt on people's self-possession, 'I think it's time we had a coat of arms.'

I have been hunting for Virago's since I found this group in the late fall.

I have managed to pick up a few and just started to read my very first Virago Modern Classic, A Well of Loneliness, by Radclyfe Hall. Just a few pages in so far.

Hi ccookie. Is this the first Virago for you? If so you chose some pretty daunting stuff to cut your teeth on but I loved this book. I hope you like it too.
I will be checking out your library and watching for any duplicates that I might be able to get my hands on for you.
Cheers,

> Hi, Bleva,

Yes, A Well of Loneliness is the first ROOT VMC I am reading.

After reading some of the reviews and thread posts, I am not sure it it the best one to start with but it sounded interesting to me.

I did read Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte and also am half way through Villette, maybe more, (listening on audio) by Charlotte Bronte, but don't own either of them. I chose those because of the 1001 group read.

I think I have caught the VMC bug. It is exciting to look for that little apple symbol at every second hand book store I walk into!

The hunt is fun cookie. In fact it's a blast. And for so many of us, we hunt more than we read (the Virago). We love them so and just want to, need to, have to have them all (we think).
I found A Well of Loneliness to be absolutely fascinating.
The Elizabeth Taylors and Kate O'Briens are good ones to cut your teeth on if you should come across any of those. There are so many good ones, so many fab ones, some uppers & some downers. With Virago authors, I truly believe you get it all. I also love the non-fiction Virago. I am glad you caught the V. Bug and have joined us.
:-)

I am enjoying A Particular Place very, very much! I'm relieved that I went ahead and ordered those other 4 from AwesomeBooks. Everybody is right: it's Pym territory with an E. Taylor sensibility. The writing isn't as good as Taylor's, but I like the quality of the characters!

Now I have to read it Peg. I am still holding off on the two from the trilogy I have so that I can read them during August - or at this rate start them about July 25th so that I can finish them early in August. I really must try and find the third book even if not in Virago just so that I have it ready.

>154 romain::
Barbara dear, do you have Indifferent Heroes, the 2nd of the Hocking trilogy? In checking your library I did not see it.

Yep I have that one Belva. That was the one that arrived so beat up I didn't have to pay for it. I will order the last one on interloan because all the copies available are either hugely expensive or from dealers I no longer use (BWB et al). In the meantime my interloan copy of When We Were Bad arrived at the library but they then lost it. I presume it is somewhere in the building but they can't find it.

I left here and read my personal messages and the wondrous Belva is sending me a copy of Welcome Strangers. Thank you dear lady. You are the best!

My wife is currently in Florence on a work-related trip, and spent today (our 24th anniversary) visiting the Uffizi, eating melon gelato, and eating at the fabulous Osteria de L'Ortolano. I am attempting to compensate by drinking prosecco, listening to Donizetti, and reading Fenny, by the marvelous Lettice Cooper, which is set in and around Florence.

It's official. I LOVE Mary Hocking. Why had I never heard of her before? A Particular Place is wonderful - maybe not quite as wonderful as E. Taylor might have written, but wonderful nevertheless!

Okay, that tears it. I have now added Hocking's A Particular Place to my list of AV/AA TBRs. Thank you Peggy for that resounding reck.

I'm reading a new Virago, musician/singer and songwriter Tracy Thorn's memoir Bedsit Disco Queen - she's a few years older than me and I enjoy 80s memoirs. I've waited a few months for this to come through at the library.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's new novel Americanah is next up as my library book, because I won't be able to renew either book - there's quite a queue of reservations - and because I'm really looking forward to reading it.

Peg - the first I read was years ago - sent to me in a German village by my best friend in London - and that was Letters from Constance. But she never turns up anywhere does she? You have to order her specially if you want to read her. I also have An Irrelevant Woman in an Abacus edition in my bookcase. Is that a Virago? A scan of my list does not show it.

>158 rbhardy3rd:: poor Rob! It sounds like you made the best of a bad situation.

161: I read Bedsit Disco Queen a week or so ago, after also waiting several months for my library reservation to come through - I'd thought maybe it was popular at my library because of the Hull connection. She has a wry, enjoyable writing style and I enjoyed the initial growing up in the 80s backdrop. I did feel at times though, as if I was being kept at arms lengths regarding her personal life. I'll be interested to hear what you think, Luci.

159: All the Mary Hocking talk is making me glad that I accepted A Particular Place as a ReadItSwapIt swap at the end of last year. I was hesitant as I didn't know anything about the book and the swapper hadn't stated which edition it was, but happily it was a VMC in lovely condition and now I'm hearing lots of good things about Hocking. I also have Letters from Constance which I bought from Amazon Market Place a while ago, but I can't remember what prompted me to do so.

Maybe other users of your library listen to Book of the Week on Radio 4 - I think I end up wanting to read at least 50% of the books serialised there, probably more like 70-80%! I have at least two other recent BOTWs in my library pile, and another on my Kindle, probably more than one. I'll have to start tagging - R4 Book of the Week, R4 Woman's Hour Serial, R4 Book at Bedtime to see how many books I end up tagging....

Hi, everyone
I am very glad I found this group and discovered VMC books. As mentioned above, I have just started reading The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall. I am 44 pages in and loving it! Such beautiful prose.
Was at a second hand bookstore on the weekend and sadly, no VMCs

I'm going to post here -- I'm looking for my 2011 Secret Santa from Virago to thank her for the Charmian Clift essays which I am FINALLY reading now and loving. I knew I would...... so thank you again!

I will add - I am a bit stuck in my June Virago pick (I try to read one a month) The Tortoise and the Hare by Elizabeth Jenkins. I like it, but I am easily distracted from it. It was also too similar to a number of other books I was reading earlier....

>167 sibylline::
Oh my, Lucy....I really dislike when that happens. I want to just fall into the book. Not a Virago, but the same thing happened to me as I was reading Wolf Hall and it was so disappointing as I had great expectations. The saving grace for me was the latter third of the book. It saved it for me. I hope The Tortoise and the Hare picks up for you dear.

I've finished The Age of Innocence and it was really very good. I can't quite work out who the "innocence" is in reference to. They all seemed so very blinkered and naive - albeit in very different ways. The rigid strictures of society were so rigidly enforced, yet so highly artificial. But I did love the way the ending wasn't at all happily ever after.

>167 sibylline:: Lucy, I just checked our extensive Virago Secret Santa archives and it looks like your 2011 Secret Santa was Trish (mrspenny). Your message on the "Opening!" thread is here.

169: Francesca Segal's The Innocents is a modern day take on the Edith Wharton novel set in the Jewish community in Hampstead, north London. I recently urged a friend who enjoyed this one to go back to Wharton too.

I'm on the last stretch of Good Daughters; just 50-odd pages to go, and I have no idea where Hocking is going with this. I am definitely looking forward to the next two volumes of the Fairley family saga.

I'm reading The Age of Innocence now, and since it is on my Kindle, I know it really doesn't count, but it is lovely. My daughter has a shelf full of green covers that I hope to start borrowing soon. :)

Thank you so much Laura - I forgot all about going back to the OPENING thread.

>174 sibylline:: well I did too actually. I checked the elves' master spreadsheet first and then remembered the thread.

*At last* I have started June's first Pym No Fond Return of Love - enjoying it so far tho' it is familiar territory.

I'm not ready to dive in to Indifferent Heroes just yet, but I don't know what to read as a palate cleanser, so to speak. Preferably something short, without clergymen as main characters.

ETA: I've short-listed Delafield and von Arnim; apparently I need something on the escapist lit side.

In the meantime, I have posted a review of Good Daughters. It's brief, but I wanted to avoid spoilers.

#178 : ) I am looking forward to reading it soon.

I confess that I've had to abandon No Fond Return of Love - just couldn't work up the enthusiasm to carry on, so I'm obviously not in the right mood for Pym. Considering trying Mr. Skeffington - we shall see!

I'm suddenly much more 'into' The Tortoise and the Hare - I think because I've cleared the decks of other similar books and now it has some breathing room, plus I think the story is getting going and started slowly and painstakingly....

I'm reading this month's Pym, The Sweet Dove Died, but not in a Virago edition.

I'm reading A Woman of Independent Means and enjoying it much more than I thought I would!

As I somehow missed May's Pym, I am getting ready to begin A Glass of Blessings.

My wife was in Italy (Rome and Florence) for ten days, so I read Lettice Cooper's Fenny. Great novel.

Second-hand bookstore heaven today:
My collection is growing:

My very first Greens:
Bobbin Up - Dorothy Hewett
The Little Ottleys - Ada Leverson
Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont - Elizabeth Taylor
Two Days in Aragon - M. J. Farrell (Molly Keane)

A Black:
The Return of the Soldier - Rebecca West

And more modern ones:
A Quiet Life; Sweet William; Harriet Said; A Weekend With Claude - Beryl Bainbridge

High Wages was a fine palate cleanser. Tonight I will start Indifferent Heroes.

186: Wonderful finds - well done!

> 186:
Cathy, good on you. What finds. West's The Return of the Soldier is very good. And I think you will find all of the Elizabeth Taylors very good. Hers are books that I read & reread.
Nicely scored there!

186/189: I love Molly Keane's books, and I really enjoyed The Little Ottleys though it's some years since I read it and I need to reread.

A great beginning!

It is certainly fun! I could have bought more but I had to reign in the spending!

Oh I'm sorry Cathy - clearly you don't know that under our code we never reign in the spending! You did pick some great ones though. Little Ottleys is fabulous as is the Taylor and the West. Haven't read the other two.

> Oh dear, Barbara, I didn't know that was a rule. Should I go back and buy the other 5 or 6? I envy those who I am hearing about finding their books for $1.00 The bookstores here usually charge half of the original price so some of the older ones can be more affordable than the newer ones. I spent close to $100.00! Got some other books beside the VMC's too. The best prices I have found are at the church rummage sale and I will certainly be spending time scanning the books in October at the next one.

You're in Canada, right? This means you can find British edition books but at a price. Here (USA) I can find really cheap second hand books but - alas - the chances of walking into a book shop and finding multiple Viragos are about nil. We all grit our teeth in vexation when our British members clean out their local Oxfam shops, which all seem to be packed with Viragos. But given that you spent close to $100 I'll let you off the hook. :)

Yep, Canada.

I couldn't believe my good fortune actually. The owner of the shop went down to the basement and came up with a whole bunch.

I will certainly go back there.

If anyone wants me to look out for a favourite for them, message me. I paid about $8.00 ea for them, some a little less.

I don't do reins when it comes to spending money on books, but lots of people are a bit more disciplined. If you want encouragement to buy too many books, this is a good place to get it, and we will accept any and all excuses, but I will admire and respect your restraint if you rein in your spending, and admire and respect your extravagance if not.

I think I actually bought a couple of Viragos - one of the harder to find Barbara Comyns books and 1 or 2 others - and I certainly bought some other very cheap secondhand books in a suburb of Montreal when we were on holiday in Canada (it was October 2004, and the exchange rate was quite favourable to the pound although not so much to the US dollar, so as I live in London, England it worked well for me. We were staying with a friend so the bookshops I found weren't anywhere most visitors to Canada would come across.

I am waiting for a condo apartment to come up for sale in the building my best friend just moved into just before Christmas. It is a lovely building, affordable and because it is older the rooms are bigger than the newer condos so I CAN TAKE ALMOST ALL OF MY BOOKSHELVES WITH ME. I just have to give up one of them; mind you it is a fairly large one and I have gotten rid of approx 200 books so far. It just about killed me!

So, where am I going to put all these books I am buying?

Actually, I AM trying to read some of my real books that I feel I can probably move out after reading. That will make room for some of the 'new' ones.

Definitely a book addict!

This is my book philosophy:

"Even when reading is impossible, the presence of books acquired produces such an ecstasy that the buying of more books than one can read is nothing less than the soul reaching towards infinity... we cherish books even if unread, their mere presence exudes comfort, their ready access, reassurance."
--- A.E. Newton

>198 ccookie:: "Even when reading is impossible, the presence of books acquired produces such an ecstasy that the buying of more books than one can read is nothing less than the soul reaching towards infinity... we cherish books even if unread, their mere presence exudes comfort, their ready access, reassurance."
--- A.E. Newton

YES! This is so true. It's one reason why brick-and-mortar bookshops must never die out: the pleasure of browsing amongst physical books can never be replaced by online browsing, IMO. Being around books can make most things better :-)

I totally agree with A.E. Newton & Cathy. There is nothing like that feeling of drifting through a bookshop, preferable a used bookshop for I love the smell of lovingly handled books, for titles wanted or just for the love of looking, touching & smelling the books. I will admit that I use Amazon.com occasionally but do try to do most of my shopping in 'real' bookstores. I try to stay away from the Barnes and Nobles of the world. While I am glad they are there I would much rather spend my hard earned $ in a smaller independent bookshop. It is so important to keep their doors open.

>198 ccookie:: ooh, I love that quote!

198/201: Isn't it wonderful? Just encapsulates the effect of books. There's nothing better than being in the presence of the physical objects!

My review of Mr. Skeffington by Elizabeth von Arnim is up:

http://kaggsysbookishramblings.wordpress.com/2013/07/12/virago-volumes-mr-skeffi...

>198 ccookie: - Perfect! Thank you, Cathy!!!

Having just completed The Debut by Anita Brookner for Ali's challenge I am getting ready to begin I'm Not Complaining by Ruth Adam. I hope I find it as good as the Brookner.

I think you will like it, Belva. I found it to be a page-turner.

I'm five chapters into Indifferent Heroes and liking it even better than Good Daughters. The war is on and the Fairleys are in the thick of it. Largely on the home front so far, but that is part of the appeal. The realities of the London Blitz are described so well - something that was largely absent from To Bed with grand Music, now that I think of it.

For the Commonwealth challenge, I'm currently in Dominica with The Orchid House by Phyllis Shand Allfrey. Just started it, but excellent so far.

Well I got a bit over-excited and pulled two books off the shelf to read for All Virago All August but ended up reading one of them right away - The Edwardians by Vita Sackville-West. My review is here.

I am finishing up Indifferent Heroes; Mary Hocking has scored again. PBS should dramatize this series.

I finished Indifferent Heroes a few days ago and can't get Ben's storyline out of my head. Loving Judith more and more.

I can hardly wait to begin this trilogy. I am hearing nothing but positive bits about these books. COME ON AUGUST!~!

I love that quote at #198 too. Being in the throes of packing I am not currently managing any VMC reading (or much reading at all indeed) but I've had the pleasure of handling each of my books as well as the sadness of knowing I'll not see most of them now for a year or so.

I just finished Welcome Strangers, the last in Hocking's trilogy.

>213 Liz1564::
Elaine, are the 2nd & 3rd as good as the 1st? I am better than midway through the 1st and am loving it.

The second is certainly as good. The third I found a bit slow because a major subplot concerned two of the less appealing minor characters, But the story of the Fairley's continued to please.

I think I can live with that. I just completed Good Daughters and was not disappointed at all. The images of Alice going nose to nose with God in that last sequence will probably be running through my head for a few hours or perhaps more.
I liked most of the characters and the ones I didn't I thought needed to be the way they were for the story-line to work out the way it did. I am looking forward to beginning the 2nd when I head to bed shortly.

Finished Roman Fever and starting The Custom of the Country thanks Heather for these first three AV/AA reads from your VSS parcel last CHristmas!

I couldn't decide between Jameson, Keane, and White, so I'm just going to finish up the Hocking trilogy.

Lyzzy - Custom of the Country is 5*

I have gone from Good Daughters to Indifferent Heroes and must say I am really enjoying this trio by Mary Hocking.

>219 romain:: I concur! My favorite Wharton.

I finished Good Daughters earlier today really liked it looking forward now to the second installment but I will be spacing out my Hockings a little, although I too was tempted to go straight to the next one.

You are definitely stronger than I, Ali. I had to snatch up the 2nd one immediately.

Finished the excellent The Harsh Voice and now loving The Solitary Summer (OMG - I'm sticking to my August reading plan so far.........!)

The Custom of the Country is marvellous - a first read for me as I didn't have it in my first burst of Wharton in 1999. Hard to put down when you have to go to work but you can work when you choose to. I do have deadlines though!

YEA Karen!~! I find it difficult to stick to my plan no matter how hard I try.

Liz, I am going to have to move that one up on my 'need to read' list. It is one of Edith Wharton's I've yet to read.

>224 kaggsy:: OMG - I'm sticking to my August reading plan so far.........!
OMG is right. What's happened, Karen? This is highly unusual.

>225 LyzzyBee:: The Custom of the Country is marvellous
Oh I'm so glad. Isn't Undine Spragg just awful? So awful, you have to kind of like her.

>226 rainpebble:: I am going to have to move that one up on my 'need to read' list
Yes you should. :)

I loved The Custom of the Country so I'm thrilled you did too, Liz. (Belva, move it to the top of that pile)

227: :))))) I know! I'm a little worried..........

The Custom of the Country was dramatised on Radio 4, maybe 3 years ago? It was after I joined LT and it made me wonder why I'd never got round to reading beyond her most famous 2 novels (arguably) - The Age of Innocence and The House of Mirth - it brought out very well how appalling Undine is.

I did then read Custom.

Finished a reread of Carter's The Bloody Chamber last night. It remains delicious.

I've just started reading my copy of Rumer Godden's Kingfishers Catch Fire - 2013 VMC - it's intriguing so far - one of her India set novels.

One of my top ten books of all time Elk. Hope you love it!

I'm reading E.H. Young's Chatterton Square. I'm used to her lighter books (like Miss Mole). This one explores some deeper family issues and I'm finding I have to concentrate more. Very insightful though.

>225 LyzzyBee:, >227 lauralkeet: I know I keep saying this, but when I think of The Custom of the Country, my mind immediately skips to my two 11th graders who read it together and spent their whole book project moaning and screaming about how unfairly poor Undine was treated by the world! They are the two who also moaned and screamed about the sadness of the oldest sister in The Poisonwood Bible.
Meanwhile, I'm reading Good Daughters bit by bit and liking it a lot.

I'm reading a Virago non-fic about women in business in 1992 (it's downstairs, I'll tell you what it is later). It's so sad, as she's so hopeful about how women's situation will improve, the pay gap will close ... ...

235: Laughing. I wonder what they'd make of the young French woman in Someone at a Distance or Goneril and Regan in King Lear. Were they Undines in the making?

My monthly Virago was Armour Wherein He Trusted by Mary Webb - a novella and a selection of her short stories. Rich writing and while I was appreciative I was not entranced. She lived in Shropshire, and it must be an utterly entrancing landscape - the descriptive writing, and the eccentricity of it, use of archaisms is beautifully done. But the stories are thinner than thin as are the characters - not at all what mattered to Webb. That is not to say I wouldn't recommend it; I think every Virago is worth full attention, but don't pick it up expecting to get deeply immersed in a story..... oh, it's hard to explain.... and I feel I'm doing an inadequate job. And my garbled response is the only review, so far, on the LT page.....

I finished Trooper to the southern cross and really enjoyed it. Thirkell was very effective at channelling the voice of the Australian army doctor, and created a very interesting and well-rounded character in him. The introduction to the book was fascinating, talking as it did about the autobiographical inspiration for the novel and how much of it was based on events and people from Thirkell's life. I would not have liked to be on that ship!

Now I'm starting The Misses Mallett, my first by E. H. Young. I've only read the first chapter but I like it already.

Just started Rebecca West's The Meaning of Treason which is not a VMC but is a Virago - her writing really is excellent.

I am just starting Frost in May

I think I am going to start Remember, Remember! by Winifred Holtby - which I picked up yesterday at the new library in Birmingham. I blogged about my trip to the new library here too
http://heavenali.wordpress.com/2013/09/07/a-nice-cup-of-tea-and-a-chat-about-boo...

oh and on the subject of Remember, Remember! the selected stories of Winifred Holtby we all need to lobby hard for Virago to re-issue it - it is very hard to get - on abebooks today a couple of spanish editions for around £14 and a virago edition identical to my library edition is £22.50. No doubt that is why Birmingham central library had it hidden away in the stacks. I feel already I am going to want my own copy one day.

243: You're right Ali, and it's not particularly cheap on A****n - nearly £10 for a rubbish copy! I wonder why they've let it go out of print?

#243 I managed to get hold of a library copy a couple of years ago and really enjoyed the stories too. Would be lovely if Virago reissued it though.

I'm still in light reading mode but I've just finished Provincial Daughter by R. M. Dashwood and found it very amusing.

#243 I managed to borrow a library copy a couple of years ago and really enjoyed the stories too. Would be lovely if Virago reissued it.

I'm still mainly doing light reading but just finished R. M. Dashwood's Provincial Daughter and found it very entertaining.

I have Remember, Remember! - can't remember where but it came home from a charity shop with me a couple of years ago. According to Amazon it's in print, but it does cost £13.26 (new copy) - 2 copies in stock, more on the way. And an audio version from Audible for £17.25 (unabridged, Cover to Cover recording).

It's a selected stories, one of her published collections Truth is Not Sober is available on Kindle, currently £4.99.

I'm reading A favourite of the gods, although not in a Virago edition. Very interesting so far, with echoes of Edith Wharton and also reminiscent of Pirates at play.

I remember being a tiny bit disappointed with Remember, Remember! (also found in a charity shop) but that might have been because I read it immediately after The Crowded Street which I loved.

I think I should give Holtby's shorter works another try though, which must surely justify buying the collection mentioned by Luci above (:

I've just finished Tenterhooks, the second volume in Ada Leverson's The Little Ottleys which I enjoyed a lot more than the first volume, Love's Shadow. Diving straight into the final volume, Love at Second Sight.

Just finished Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, 3½***, which I started for AV/AA and only just finished. It's one of those books that I'm delighted to have read (notice the present perfect tense), but at times it was a real chore and I did toward late-August get "virago-ed out" as a result of working my way through it.

Beautifully written language (though at times verging into purple prose). It somehow reminded me of The Handmaid's Tale in its narrative structure – that "look back" from the 24th century into a reconstruction of a dystopian 20th century – but Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow turns out to be as much a critique of the 24th century as of the 20th. Though set in Australia, it seems to have a geographic universality.

I finished Remember, Remember! selected short stories earlier. There were a few rather odd stories but on the whole enjoyed them, review up on my blog tomorrow.

Oh, GOODNESS! I finished Vita's Family History last night. Thank goodness I was a little prepared for the ending, given that I'd accidentally noticed in the Introduction (which I never read first these days) that it made Harold Nicolson cry all the way from Staplehurst to Charing Cross (passing through my own childhood railway station, I might add). Whew. I loved it most for the beautiful portrait of the early days at Sissinghurst, though.

I'm about to start Tin Toys Trilogy because I just can't wait. I don't have reading time for it this minute, but I just can't help it!

Liz, I found F.H. to be a most beautiful book when I read it as well and shed many a tear.
Part of my review back when I read it in April coincides with part of your comments:
"I will also say that while reading the last portion of the book, one is unable to set the book aside. This part of the book is a grueling read but a necessary and actually beautiful part of the story.

Peggy, I am anxious to read that one as well. Elaine made it sound so interesting that I had to order it before she finished it.

Yes, I saw that in your review and it's so true. I haven't even written my review in my notebook yet, still processing the book!

That took me some time as well. It is one that sticks in the reader's head.

I felt the need for some comfort reading this week so have been savouring Angela Thirkell's High Rising in the lovely new VMC edition.

Yesterday I finally finished The Vicar's Daughter by E. H. Young. It was really good, but for some reason it didn't engage me as much as the the previous two (The Misses Mallett, William). But that's okay, because the next Young novel on Mt. TBR is Miss Mole.

I started Peking Picnic and am five chapters in but having a bit of trouble with Bridge's ambivalent attitude towards the Chinese, whom she seems to regard as an admirable yet inferior race.

I'm afraid you have to accept that about Bridge, Andrew. In the Julia books she takes that view about other Europeans as well. All very well to be Swiss but sadly, not British... Although she is quite taken with the Albanians in Singing Waters Wikipedia describes Bridge's heroines as 'snooty'.

I'm about to start No Signposts in the Sea, by Vita Sackville-West. Chosen simply because I wanted a shortish Virago.

261: I've nearly started the same book for the same reason several times, but always got distracted by another book!!

Karen, having just finished two chunky tomes, a short book is exactly what I need right now.

:) I'm the opposite - just read several slim volumes and thinking about another chunkster!

Chunksters/Tomes=400 pages & up, correct? (just askin')

265: yeah - Big Books!! I am still trying to work up the courage to take on The Brothers Karamazov or Life: A User's Manual!

I've finally managed to review Family History, hope I did it justice! http://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2013/09/22/book-reviews-78/

>265 rainpebble:: yeah, that's a good tipping point, Belva.
>266 kaggsy:: Karen, my 17yo daughter is taking a Russian Lit course this semester and they're currently reading The Brothers Karamazov, having read Dr Zhivago as a summer assignment.

>266 kaggsy: I read The brothers Karamazov this year. Could have done with a good editor - just waaaaay too long!

>269 Helenliz:: I'm not about to tell my daughter that! I'll let her discover it on her own :)

268/269/270: Well, I just started it and it does look very long - but surprisingly readable so far! And as the chapters are fairly short so far, it seems manageable. I'm reading the David McDuff translation which seems to be quite highly rated by several Amazon reviewers (and I have read and enjoyed many of his other translations). We shall see if I stick it out! This one is nearly 900 pages - so up there with Anna Karenina....

I read pretty much all of Dostoevsky back in college a few (don't I wish) years ago. It was an Honors seminar in "Russian Literature in Translation" but the teacher was a Dostoevskian so that was all we read.

I've got several of the new Pevear-Volokhonsky translations in various TBRR piles (that's "To Be ReRead") and may get around to some of them one of these years. I'm personally not much a fan of Dostoevsky, though, and really adore Mikhail Bulgakov.

I *love* both Dostoevsky and Bulgakov, but I still have to tackle some of FD's longer books. I think I shall stick with this - enjoying it so far, and happy with the McDuff translation - I had a copy of the PV trans but compared several passages and didn't like their version, so it will be back to the charity shop with it!

>271 kaggsy:: up there with Anna Karenina.... -- which is the 3rd Russian novel on my daughter's syllabus. They are reading the Pevear-Volokhonsky translations of all three.

274: Well, I won't rant - because the matter of translation is a personal one - but I really hate every attempt I've had at the PV versions - I just find them awkward. I read the Maudes Anna Karenina and loved it - and they knew Tolstoy and he approved their version - so that's good enough for me! Good luck to your daughter!

I read half of Karamazov - the old Penguin edition was split into 2 vols. Unfortunately, the second vol began with an enormous chunk of sermon text, which made me put the book down and not pick it up again. I'll have to start again from the beginning of the one volume edition that is sitting on my shelf.

275: The extracts I've read of the PV translations included a lot of Americanisms which I found jarring. However, I suppose that Britishisms which I am able to absorb without noticing in other translations must be just as invasive to an American reader.

I got the Penguin edition of Karamazov as a prize for doing well in my O-levels, forty years ago now. At the time I was reading a lot of Russsian classics but it was purely intellectual showing off and I didn't really enjoy them. I've read some others since I've been more grown-up but my my prize is still unread and if I do attempt it at any stage I shall read it on my kindle!

>275 kaggsy:-276: Interesting comments on the PV translations. If they are in fact filled with Americanisms, that could be why my daughter's teacher chose those editions. When I attended parents' night, he mentioned that he specifically chose these translations over others, but didn't elaborate on his rationale.

276/278: That may be partly the problem, though I sense there is a little 'emperor's new clothes' about PV. I've seen specific comparisons of passages online where they actually don't get the sense of what's said correct, and some Russian commentators who say their translations aren't very good. I guess, as I said, it will always come down to personal preference and I'll personally stick to the translators I'm comfortable with!

277: Kerry, I suspect a Kindle might actually be more comfortable to read it on, though my copy is quite a nice Penguin edition with thin paper that flops open quite nicely!

Hmph. Finished No Signposts in the Sea last night ... OK, not great. But short, which was a plus.
And with that, methinks it's time for a new thread.