Random Jottings

The British Library Classic Crime - Michael Gilbert

I am delighted to say that the books being rediscovered and reprinted by the wonderful British Library keep on coming. So many of the author's names are familiar to me from my days working in the library system when I used to shelve yards of books. I remember Michael Gilbert well and can even visualise the covers of some of the titles. Odd how things stick with you.

Three of the Gilbert stories arrived on my doorstep. I have read two and rather than wait until the third decided to post about them now as I am not sure when I will get round to the last one of the trio.

Smallbone Deceased.

Horniman, Birley and Craine is a highly respected legal firm with clients drawn from the highest in the land. Therefore, when a deed box is opened to reveal a corpse, the threat of a scandal promises to cause them severe problems, particularly as it soon becomes clear that this is an inside job.

I found myself immediately delighted with the wit and style with which this book is written. "It was commonly believed in the office that once, just before the turn of the present century, one of Abel Horniman's leases had the signature eaten off by a mouse, a mishap which gave rise to expensive litigation in the Chancery Division. Accordingly, he sat down and devised the Horniman dust proof, moisture proof, air proof and, indeed, mouse proof deedbox"

An investigation into the books of the firm uncovers irregularities which is is likely that Smallbone discovered and made his removal a matter of urgency.

The policeman in charge of this investigation is Inspector Hazelrigg and he is assisted by Henry Bohun, an acquaintance of his who just happens to have started working at the firm and is very pleased to be his Watson. Another murder takes place, as in all good mysteries and the list of suspects narrows to just a few partners/employees.  I have to say that I usually guess the identity of the murderer in detective stories as I have read so many, but this time I did not and was totally surprised when the culprit was unmasked.

 

Death has Deep Roots

I just finished this yesterday, in fact sat up late to finish it.  Victoria Lamartine, a hotel worker and ex French Resistance fighter is the only suspect for the murder of her supposed lover Major Eric Thoseby, who once escaped from the clutches of the Gestapo. They arrange to meet at the hotel where she works and she is discovered standing over his body and a knife covered in her fingerprints shoved down the side of a chair.

When Victoria discoveres that her Counsel has based their defence on the fact that she was seduced and abandoned by the victim and leniency should be offered, she changes her lawyers as she is deterimined to plead Not Guilty with no extenuating circumstances.

Now I love court room scenes and there are plenty in this story. I love the elegantly phrased opening statements "I will now run briefly through the course of events reminding you first that the facts which I shall set out are not simply my version of my opinion of what hppened................if I make any statement that is not supported I feel confident tht eminent counsel for the defence will be the first to draw you attention to my oversight.  Mr Summers inclined his head graciously"

Wonderful stuff.   The ins and outs of the motive and its discovery lead back to war time France and it all gets a bit convoluted towards the end and I had to concentrate like mad to keep abreast of what was going on but it was worth it.  As with Smallbone Deceased written in an ironic and slightly sardonic style which I really enjoyed.

Another two gems.  Thank you British Library!

 

Random at Greenway - the home of Agatha Christie

I have wanted to visit Greenway for a long time. I hesitate to say it was on my bucket list as I have no intention of kicking the bucket just yet, but it was certainly on A List.  There are various ways to get there but I decided to drive. I ignored the fact that I think my satnav seems to be suffering from a nervous breakdown whenever we arrive at a destination and we set off. It appeared to be a 25 minute drive.  It took us an hour. I am slightly puzzled at my relationship with Hildegarde (I am calling her that as the satnav is of German origin and pronounces names in a most peculiar manner) as she seems to have a habit of telling me to take a turn up a street just as I sail past. When we are lost and she needs to ‘calibrate’ the route she takes her time and leaves me driving I know not where and swearing madly.  

I will draw a veil over the drive except to say that I now now the surrounding countryside on the way to Greenways very well indeed. And, quite frankly, even if we had taken the straightest route we would still have gone down a long windy curly hair raising narrow road to get there. Meeting something coming the other way tested my driving skills to the limit.

Well we arrived and yes it was worth it.  The house overlooks the River Dart and the views are wonderful. It was a lovely day, the sun had come out, a slight breeze so walking was a pleasure and I just loved it all. I had wanted to go for so long that I had wondered if I might feel a bit of a let down but not so.

The house is a comfortable homely sort of place. It feels like a home and that is not always the case when you visit a National Trust property. You cannot imagine kicking off your shoes and collapsing on a sofa. You could here. The cupboards full of china and knick knacks she and her husband Max collected added to this. Yes, there was fine china around, but also a lot of stuff that was probably bought because they liked it. I recognised a few cups and saucers in there as I had some the same. It all added to the ambience.  But I will let the pictures below give you an idea...

The view coming up the hill from the river. Such a familiar frontage from those of us who have watched the Poirot series with David  Suchet.

 

River Dart and the pleasure boat coming up the river

Here I am sitting on the wall of hte Battery. It was here that Amyas Crale painted his portrait of Elsa Greer and then died of poison. This was in my favourite Agatha Five Little Pigs.

And here is the river from the Boat house where the body of Marlene was found in Dead Man’s Folly

 

And some photos of the glorious grounds.  I walked down to the Boathouse and the Battery and back. It took me an hour with rests on the way but so glad I did it.

A glorious place to visit. I would go again next week if I could but it is a long long drive to Torquay........

 

Random in Torquay

 

Whenever my friend and I drive off on holiday we have awful journeys. Road works, diversions etc. This time we set off in optimistic mood and all was going beautifully. Perhaps we are going to be lucky this time I thought. NOT so. Trouble began at the A303 at Stonehenge. The dual carriageway turned into a single one and we had a tailback. Then we cleared that and it went back to a dual carriageway. Ten minutes later turned back into a single lane and so it continued. I had heard horror stories about the A303 and now I know they are true. I will be plotting an alterntive route home.

The four hour journey turned into six and then down came the rain and the wind and the sleet and it was horrid. My satnav which seems to cope most of the time seems to suffer a brain fade when we get to our final destination and needs to navigate through a town. The nice voice kept telling me to turn up roads which were (a) not marked so I missed them or (b) told us when to turn after we had passed them. We eventually got to our destination and got out the car to be hit by a wind which Emily Bronte would have approved of. My friend, who is slightly dodgy on her feet and walks with a stick, was nearly blown over.  It was not a good arrival, both of us bad tempered, wet and fed up.

So dinner and bed.

Next day the sun shone and the wind had died down and all looked so much better. Here are pics of where we are staying.

I actually was able to sit out in the sun and look out at the view which was gorgeous

Today was windy and cool again but we went for a walk and watched the sea crashing in. I love the sea in all shapes and forms.

Tomorrow we go to Greenaway, the home of Agatha Christie and I am really looking forward to that. Photos will be taken that I can guarantee.

Recently Received and current reading

I am in the throes of watching IPL cricket at the moment, also tennis from Miami and find I am in danger of falling behind with the blog and posts. So I am doing one of my catch ups to let everyone know of recent purchases, books received and current reading.

The Gentle Art of Tramping by Stephen Graham. Publisjed by Bloomsbury and a little pocket book to pop into your, er, pocket. It was first published in 1924 but the joy of tramping/walking/hiking is as relevant now as then. It is full of widsom and joy though I did blink at the following advice: "In a snake swarming country it is as well to avoid caves, especially those with many ledges.  Sleeping against walls has its dangers not only from snakes but from scorpions. In tarantula country a sleeping bag or hammock is preferable to a bed spread on the ground"

I suggest that all readers take note.

The Five by Hallie Rubenhold. This is the story of the untold lives of the women killed by Jack the Ripper. They have been dismissed as Victorian prostitutes and not much notice taken of the - the only reason we know of them is because of their ghastly end. They came from London, Wolverhampton, Wales and Sweden.  The blurb reminds us tht they were never 'Just Prostitutes. They were daughters, wives, mothers, sisters and lovers. They were women. They were human beings"

I am looking forward to reading this one.

The Gown - Jennifer Robson.  Really enjoyed this book and read it straight through in one sitting. Set in 1947 when England was recovering from the War and life was bleak and hard it creates the atmosphere perfectly. I was a child of the fifties and things were still pretty basic then so I do have a vague idea of just how dull and grey life was. then came the engagement of Princess Elizabeth to Prince Philip and, just as we still do today, the country went potty at the thought of a Royal Wedding.

The story revolves around two people who are both embroiderers at Norman Hartnell the popular designer of the day. Miriam has escaped from the camps in Germany and is frightened, friendless and alone. She becomes friends with Anne, another survivor of the war and the Blitz and they become friends. they are both chosen to work on the intricate embroidery of the wedding dress. If you pull up a photo of the dress you will see just how elaborate it was. the descriptions of the work, how the materials were prepared and the hours of work involved form a fascinating part of this story.

Part of the narrative is set in 2014 when Anne’s granddaughter, who emigrated to Canada, is left some of the embroidery as a memento. Nobody in the family knew of her connection with the wedding as she had never spoken of her ife in London, having a secret to hide. She decides to go to London to see if she can trace her grandmother’s early life. I will say no more but do read and enjoy. It is the kind of book that is readable and engaging and will never feature on any award list and can be dismissed by the litterati. But that does not matter at all.

Moray Dalton - various. If you log onto Amazon and check this author out you will find several books that have been reprinted recently by this author. The author wrote two well-received early novels, Olive in Italy (1909), and The Sword of Love (1920). However, her career in crime fiction did not begin until 1924, after which Moray Dalton published twenty-nine mysteries, the last in 1951. The majority of these feature her recurring sleuths, Scotland Yard inspector Hugh Collier and private inquiry agent Hermann Glide.

These are available as e-books or paperbacks and are published by Dean Street Press. They are engaging and enjoyable and now I have to add this writer to my list of Books to Track Down. I can tell you now they are very hard to get hold of and those that I have traced very expensive so I am hoping that Dean Street Press continue to republish some more.

I have recentlyl read the latest David Baldacci which was so enthralling I have already forgotten what it was about. Ditto the latest Stephanie Plum by Janet Evanovitch. I enjoyed it but it was exactly the same as the previouos twenty and, as with Baldacci, I have already forgotten the stroy. But great fun. Don't get me wrong.

I have also tracked down a rather nice edition of Dombey and Son and that is going to be my next Dickens.

I am off to Torquay in ten days and am going to visit the home of Agatha Christie. Sooo excited at the thought of this and will be posting photos and burbling.

Death will Find me - Vanessa Robertson

This dropped through my letterbox this week with a letter from the author. I was delighted to receive it as I have known Vanessa as an online friend for several years. I used to purchase titles from her publishing company Fidra Books and we have blogged and chatted on Facebook and elsewhere. I knew that she was writing her first novel and I can say now that I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Death will Find me begins during World War 1 where Lady Tessa Kilpatrick, war time covert operations agent, is driving her Bugatti through war torn France. She rescues Major Henderson from a barn where he is hiding out and expertly shoots a German soldier who challenges them.  Fast forward three years and we meet up with Lady Tessa again, this time at a house party in Scotland. She is with her husband James and it is clear the marriage is not going well.  It comes to an end when Tessa discovers him in flagrante delicto with another guest in the library and tells him she is going to divorce him.

Among the guests at the party is the Major she rescued and who we met at the start of the book. The next morning they go out riding and make a gruesome discovery - the body of James is found in the boat house. At first it looks like suicide but as every detective fiction reader knows it will turn out to be murder. Tessa spots that the bullet wound can only be inflicted by a right handed person and James is left handed.

Suspicion naturally falls upon Tessa as the quarrel and ending of the marriage the night before was heard by many of the guests. She is certainly the main suspect as far as Detective Rasmussen is concerned. 

As the story progresses and there are further deaths it becomes clear that James murder and that of the others is linked to an episode during the War. Rasmussen soon realilses that Tessa is innocent and, though rather put out by her forceful personality and command of the investigation, works with her to find the culprit.

I am pleased to hear that there will be another Tessa book out next year. We have three excellent characters set up ready to feature in a series - Rassmussen, Tessa and Major Henderson who is in love with her. 

I liked the period setting, the story, the characterisation and found the narrative was engaging and moved swiftly. I sat down with a cup of coffee and read it right through in one gulp.

Loved it.

I revisit David Copperfield and find I love Dora

There are times when the To Be Read pile is toppling over, books are dropping through the letterbox and you have so much to read and you think I don't want to read any of them. This happens to me periodically and the only way to get out of this slump is to turn to something old and loved.  This time I checked all my shelves and decided Charles Dickens was what I needed and I had a think and picked up David Copperfield.

I had not read it for years. It has always been one of my favourite, if not my most favourite, of all the Dickens that I have read but I was so familiar with it I left it for a long time. I am glad I did as when I started to read it again it was alive and fresh and gosh, simply wonderful.   Dickens can be sentimental, sometimes overley so, and some of his characters can irritate. Little Nell from the Old Curiousity Shop and Esther from Bleak House being top of the list. David Copperfield is home to Dora Spenlow who I used to find a real pain but on reading this time I found myself feeling a great affection for her.

The story of how David's mother married Mr Murdstone and was on the receiving end of what would now be called mental abuse is a familiar one. When I first read this book when I was about twelve I wept buckets. On re-reading I was again reduced to floods of tears. How does Dickens do it?

"On the last night in the evening she kissed me and said 'if my baby should die too Peggotty, please let them lay him in my arms and bury us together.....and tell him that his mother when she lay there blessed him not once but a thousand times....

Peggotty my dear put me nearer you, lay your good arm underneath my neck and turn me to you for your face is going far off and I want it to be neaer'

I put it as she asked and Oh Davy the time had come when my first parting words to you were true - when she was glad to lay her poor head on her stupid cross old Peggotty's arm and she died like a child that had gone to sleep"

Parts of David Copperfield are autobiographical, particularly the part where he was put out to work in the blacking factory and the misery and suffering he underwent. It pervades his books and affected him for the rest of his life.  I will not go into this here but recommend that you get hold of  the wonderful biography written by Clare Harman.

There are parrallels later in the book when he falls in love with Dora Spenlow, the daughter of his employer, when he is in chambers and this part when he is totally besotted is very funny indeed and shows Dickens at this best.  They marry. And it is clear that Dora is like his mother, her gentleness, naivety and, to be plain, her silliness.  And when I reread this book when I was in my twenties it struck me then, and does so now, that David began to behave towards her the way Mr Murdstone had towards his mother. It is not unkind, he loves her very much, but he decides her 'mind needs forming'.

"The formation went on very slowly....I persevered for months and it began to occur to me that Dora's mind was already formed"

Fortunately he draws back from the brink when he realises that he has made Dora unhappy and just has to accept the way she is.  On re-reading this now I have discovered that there is an underlying strength of character in Dora that I had not noticed before. She does have wisdom and realises how David feels:

"I loved my wife dearly and I was happy but the happiness I had vaguely anticipated was not the happiness I enjoyed and there was always something wanting"

We now know that this was Dickens own feelings regarding his marriage to Catherine, They married young, had many children and he became rich and famous and then found that he had nothing in common with her any more. In the book David behaves better than Charles did who treated his wife abominably and curelly and even tried to have her committed to a lunatic asylum. A letter discussing this has recently come to light and it beggers belief how he tried to manipulate  public opinion by traducing her and telling lies.

Dora loses a baby and becomes ill. We are not told what her illness is merely that she gradually weakens and fades. And this is where I truly loved Dora. She knows she is dying and accepts it with a maturity that belies her character.

"I am going to speak to you Doady. I am going to say somethng I have often thought of saying lately. You won’t mind?"

"Mind my darling?"

'Doady dear I am afraid I was too young. I don't mean in years only but in experience and thoughts and everything.....I think it would have been better if we had loved each other as a boy and girl and forgotten It. I have begun to think I was not fit to be a wife...you are very clever and I never was'

"We have been very happy my sweet Dora"

'I was very happy but as the years went on my dear boy would have wearied of his child wife. She would have been less and less a companion to him. He would have been more and more sensible of what was wanting in his home. She wouldn't have improved. It is better as it is"

By this stage I was sitting in my arm chair with tears pouring down my face.  And this is why I now love Dora.

I loved reading this again and also because it contains my favourite Dickens character - Aunt Betsy Trotwood.

I have to forgive Dickens. He was cruel and vile to his wife and yet I feel in this death bed scene with Dora when he is totally grief stricken he realises the truth of his real life marriage and knows he behaved badly. 

Just a thought...

This has sent me back to my Dickens shelf and I am now thinking of Dombey and Son which I have never read. It is time I did.

Blood Orange - Harriet Tyce

Before I retired and was commuting to London every day I used to dream about being ill. Not awful ill but just a nice gentle sniffle and cold so that I could loll in bed and read. Well, the reality is that if you are ill you feel lousy and simply cannot concentrate on reading at all so it is a non-starter. I was reminded of this dream of mine this week when I was struck down with some fluey lurgy thingy and took to my bed. Blood Orange was sitting on my bedside table saying Read Me. Oh how I wanted to but could not.

Two days passed and I decided I was feeling a bit more humanoid so decided to give it a whirl. Picture me Dear Reader propped up on my pillows, cup of tea to hand, looking like the Wreck of the Hesperus and reeking of Vick's Vapour rub. Or perhaps NOT picture me...

I opened the book up and OH NO I scream it is written in the present tense. Well I did not actually scream because I had no voice but I did internally. I am sorry but I do not like books written in the present tense or the future pluperfect whatever (does that even exist?) but I soldiered on.

And you know what?

After two pages, yes two, it DID NOT MATTER. I was hooked.

Ok so after all this burbling, what is it about?

According to the blurb "Alison has it all: loving husband, daughter and a career on the rise - she is about to defend her first murder case. Why is she risking everything for somebody who treates her with no respect?"

Alison's client killed her husband. Stabbed him to death. She is found sitting by the body covered in blood and makes no attempt to deny she is guilty.  She seems curiously fatalistic about it all.  Alison and her work partner, Patrick, interview her and gradually tease out of her the true story of her marriage and it was not as perfect as it appears.  OK now here I have to say I guessed straight away what had happened, I have read far too many crime novels not to, but that was fine, no worries I wanted to see how it would work out.

Patrick - now Alison is having an affair with him. He is a womaniser, untrustworthy and treats her like dirt. And somebody knows she is involved and is sending her nasty vicious texts about it.

So we have a tangled web of deceit and lies and Alison trying to balance these complications and cope with her marriage which is slowly falling apart.

Right I cannot go on any further without delving into the plot and the ins and outs and I do Not Want to. I would make a poor fist of the intricacies and I also think it best if you nip out or go online and buy this book and sit down and read it yourself. Just bear in mind the murder victim, what a nasty piece of work he is. Contrast him with the wonderfull Carl,  Alison's husband who looks after their daughter and runs a clinic for sexual disorders. Look at the parrallels and wonder.

Enough.

I read this book straight through in two hours. I could not put it down. My tea went cold and I forgot I was feeling lousy. I was totally gripped. And the ending! oh boy what an ending. Though I had my suspicions I was not prepared for this and I have to say I sat up in bed pumped my fist in the air and said YES!

Compelling, page turning and simply terrific this book has garnered great reviews and raves from everyone who has read it. Every time I tuned into Twitter over the last few weeks Blood Orange was being raved about and quite rightly too.

After reading it I do went on Twitter, immediately started to follow Harriet Tyce and started to harass her. WHEN is the next book coming out? I am working on it she says. Oh good.

All I can say is Well get a Move on.

Brilliant.

Random Lurgy

Loads to write about but got a fluey thing at the moment which is turning my brain into mush. Back soon

Recent Reading - Part Deux

Right more recent reads.

Two more Montalbano books by Camilleri - the Overnight Kidnapper and Death at Sea. These books are sheer delight and I adore them so no reasoned review will be made. If you love them too then you will know what I mean. I gather that one can go to Sicily and have a 'Montalbano tour' and I must say it certainly is tempting. Read them both with huge enjoyment. How I love Catarella.

Then two reprints of Golden Age mysteries published by Dean Street Press. Who Killed Dick Whittington by E & MA Radford and The Strange Case of Harriet Hall by Moray Dalton. I shall be reviewing these in full in the next edition of the online book magazine Shiny New Books, but I must mention here that they are both worth a read. Who Killed Dick Whittington features D I Harry Manson 'analytical detective par excellence'. I find him slightly pompour but the murder and how it was done was tricky and well thought out.

The Moray Dalton title was terrific and I am delighted to see that there are more titles available by this author. They are all available in paperback or e-books and I really took to Inspector Collier of Scotland Yard. Another name to add to my endless list of Golden Age writers to explore.  Do check them out. Both Released in March but can be pre-ordered and at £1.19 a bargain.

I mentioned in Part One of Recent Reading that I had re-read A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter and was delighted with some of the comments re this which you kindly left.  One reader recommended Keeper of the Bees to me as another good read by this author.  I found it available on Kindle and downloaded and read. Victorian age fiction, English or American, can get overwrought at times and this has been taken into consideration. Females tend to 'pant' a lot with 'heaving breasts' but this is part of the style and I accept that. There is a certain amount of that in Limberlost but it does not worry me. However, in Keeper of the Bees in which the narrator and chief protagonist is male, he does go on a bit to put it mildly.  Injured and ill young man home from the war takes to the road and ends up helping the Bee Master, an old man taken ill and who needs somebody to look after his bees while he is in hospital. As expected in this kind of fairy tale world, he dies and leaves his house to his Good Samaritan.  I enjoyed the main premise of the book but the endless pages of description of how bees live went on for ever and really bogged everything down. There is also a character in it called Scout and I found that she/he made me feel very uncomfortable indeed.  I did enjoy it but not as much as I thought I would.

From a previous post you will have seen that I have been having a D E Stevenson binge and this is continuing.  Her books vary wildly in standard.  I have read Listening Valley which I really enjoyed even though the premise in it of a shy young girl of 19 marrying a 60 year old was slightly unnerving. I am currently a third of the way through the Four Graces which is profoundly silly and flappy. Four sisters living in a country village with their father the Vicar and I am sure we are supposed to find them charming and sweet but so far I am finding them a pain. It is set during the second World War but the author makes it clear that she is not writing about it at all. Fair enough. It does not impinge.

Then I read The English Air. What a difference. Franz von Heiden, who has an English mother and a German father, comes to England in 1938 to visit his English relatives.  As all readers will suspect he has been sent there to report back on morale etc by his father who is a member of the Nazi command. At first he finds everything odd, he feels that the British do not care or are not interested in world affairs but only fun. He despises a young man who sits around doing nothing all summer except the odd game of tennis and then has to revise his opinion when he finds out he is a decorated War hero and recovering from being badly injured.

As the book progresses and he returns to Germany he realises that all the views he held about his homeland are skewed and what he believed in is no longer true. It has a profound effect on him.

This book is out of print so you will have to hunt for it, but I was impressed with it. The view of England portrayed through his eyes and which he comes to love reminds me of Mollie Panter-Downes superb book One Fine Day, an elegiac country solid to the backbone.  I really enjoyed this book and thought it was streets ahead of many of her other titles. I have a later edition but it was originally published in 1940.   Worth getting hold of.

I have also read some vintage romances from Mary Burchell which reflect the times and mores of the fifties beautifully. So beautifully old fashioned and I loved them.  She is an amazing woman.  I am sure I have written about Mary Burchell before, but will do so again, as she is a most interesting woman. Her real name is Ida Cook and she and her sister, both opera lovers, travelled all over Europe visiting various opera houses. This was pre-war and they became very well know as they always wore fur coats and lots of jewellery and made friends in every airport and city they visited. During WW2 they continued these visits, even to Germany, where they were regarded as those Eccentric English Women and were allowed through. Sewn into their fur coats and smuggled in were more jewels and money which was passed onto those helping the Jews get out of the country. They continued doing this for years and, after the war, Mary carried on writing for Mills & Boon and all proceeds of her books went to supporting refugees from the war. She also wrote a wonderful biography of my favourite baritone, Tito Gobbi and became a great friend of his.

Her later books which feature opera and music are available as ebooks and worth a look as well. Her knowledge of music and singing is obvious.

I have reached one of those plateaus when I look at the heap awaiting my attention and feel no desire to read any of them. When that happens I do a re-read and this time I have picked up David Copperfield and am looking forward to rediscovering all those wonderful characters.

Well, perhaps not Mr Micawber....

Au reservoir

Recent reading

Time goes by so quickly and I have just realised that it is a little while since I posted so as it is a cold chilly afternoon and I am indoors nice and warm and music playing, now seems the perfect time to catch up on my recent reading. A lot the titles I have read in the last week or so are old friends and re-reads with a couple of new ones thrown in. We will start with the old friends first.

A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter.  I first came across this book in my teens. I had never heard of it and there it was languishing on the shelves at my school library. As far as I know I was the only person who ever read it. When I left school I checked and it was still there, my date stamp on it the only one. Rather sad really.

It was published in 1909. The author came from Indiana and later, when she was well known, used her position and infuence to urge legislative support for the conservation of Limberlost swamp and other wetlands in the State. A Girl of the Limberlost is her best known work and brought her worldwide fame.  The central character Elnora Comstock is a lonely poverty sticken girl living on a farm in Adams County with her mother who cares little for her daughter and neglects her.  Elnora goes to the Limberlost Swamp to collect and sell moth speciments and earns money to pay for her education.

Elnora's mother went into labour while trying to save her husband who had fallen into the swamp and had to watch him die. She blamed her daughter for his death and Elnora's upbringing is a barren and unloving one.  Her mother finally discovers her husband was faithless and was visiting his mistress when he fell into the swamp. Once she realises this Katherine does her best to make up to Elnora for all the loveless years.

At time the story reminded me somewhat of Anne of Green Gables - in both books we have a humourless dour woman softened and changed by the love of their daughter.  I re-read this story on a whim last week when I was tidying my shelves and picked it up. It seemed to suit my mood at the time and I loved it all over again.  (It is available for your Kindle at 99p - a bargain).

The Governess by Peggy Chambers. I recently tracked down a newer copy of htis than the one I possessed which I have had since the sixties. It is a Penguin book and cost me 4 shillings which gives you an idea of how long I have had it. The pages were brown and falling out and so I went on the internet and found another copy which I now have.

The title is self explanatory. Isabel Dennison is alone in the world and has to earn her living and the only profession open to her was that of a Governess. She has a post with the Staveley family, seven children of varying ages, and hopes to stay with them for a long time and secure her immediate future. Mrs Stavely just wants her children to follow the convential route of minimum teaching and the daughters to marry well and the sons to live a society life. But they have different ideas and encouraged by their governess and her teaching look for more fulfilling lives.

A thoroughly enjoyable book. It was published by the Peacock section of Penguin, then a brand for junior books, but I have read it several times as an adult and it is beautifully written and I found I read it right through again just as I did the first time.  I have no idea who Peggy Chambers is and have not managed to find out anything about her so if anyone out there has any information I would be delighted to hear. This seems to be her only fiction book.

OK so another re-read now. Queen Alexandra by David Duff. Quite some time since a biography was written about the consort of Edward VII. I have the impression that she is viewed as of little interest and just regarded as a beautiful woman of little brain but this is not the case. Dealing with a husband such as hers certainly tested her mental strength and her character. 

I am currently reading Inside the Royal Wardrobe, a dress history of Queen Alexandra by Kate Strasdin. This is quite a read and I am taking it slowly but I thought it a good idea to have a popular history about her to hand to read in tandem.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading it - David Duff wrote many books on Queen Victoria and Albert back in the sixties and seventies and I read them all so it was good to renew happy memories.

Oh dear I have loads more to write about but think I will have to split this post into two parts else it will be interminable.  I will be back with more.  Two new Golden Age reprints to write about and some Camilleri and lots of D E Stevenson.  Nothing hugely intellectual but all immensely enjoyable.

Au reservoir.