Verity's Virago Venture

Charms for the easy life (Kaye Gibbons)

2012-01-26T19:57:00.000Z

Charms for the easy life is the fourth Kaye Gibbons novel that I've read for this challenge and she's an author that I have enjoyed reading who I probably would not have picked up otherwise - the front of this novel compares her to a later Eudora Welty (another author I've read as a result of VVV) and I think that this is true through the way that she writes about women's lives in rural America.

Charms for the easy life follows the story of three generations of women, told by the grandaughter Margaret. It is a story without a strong male presence, neither Charlie Kate her grandmother or her mother Sophia is married any longer, although they have various romantic entanglements, and it is interesting to see a world depicted where women can very much try to make it on their own even though it is the 1930s and there are many obstacles in the way.

Charlie Kate is a "healing woman", with considerable skill, she is the person often summoned when neighbours and other people in the town suffer ill health much to the chagrin of the local doctor who does almost everything he can to impede her work even though it is almost immediately obvious to the reader that she does things better.

What is so striking about this book is the way that the women depend on each other and can cope without depending on men, which makes it an interesting companion read to some of my most recent VMC reading such as Gissing's The odd women.

It's been published just the once by Virago with a green spine but very ungreen cover!

Two Mary Webb VMCs

2012-01-23T18:21:00.000Z

So last week I decided to tackle two more Mary Webb books which had been languishing in the TBR pile. Not overly enamoured by the ones that I've read so far (is it really only three, it feels like many more), but at least there is only one more to go after these two, the first and last books that she wrote.

The golden arrow was Webb's first novel, apparently penned in just under three weeks. Set in a poor farming community in Shropshire and strongly infused with Christian morals, it tells the story of Stephen and Deb who are searching for a "golden arrow" which is said to bind couples together if it is found on Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter, an old Shropshire legend. He was originally a preacher, but came to reject religion and convinces Deb to live with him out of wedlock which is the start of their downfall. Although they later get married, Stephen feels tied down and finds it difficult to love Deb in the same way.

The armour wherein he trusted was Webb's last novel and was in fact unfinished. It certainly feels quite "bitty" compared to her earlier works, and it is published here with 10 short (in some cases only two pages) stories. The main story is supposedly a medieval romance, set in the 11th century where an abbot named Sir Gilbert recalls his early life as a knight and his spiritual struggles to follow Christ. It seems to be very much a didactic book about trying to achieve heavenly ideals rather than earthly ones.

I enjoyed the short stories rather more, especially a little one about a woman who yearns to recieve a bouquet of flowers. Quite an extravagance, and really she is lucky enough to have money to put in the gas and to buy tea. However, she gives in to the desire and decides to treat herself to some flowers for her birthday. The day before, she goes to the market, chooses the ones she wants in her bouquet, tells the market seller that they are for a dear friend, and goes home for a sleepless night filled with anticipation of the next day. She waits, and waits and waits. Where are the flowers? Of course her landlady thought that they couldn't possibly be for her. It's like a kick in the stomach after the anticipation of seeing her get the flowers.

Both of these have just been published once by Virago with the original green covers.

The glimpses of the moon (Wharton)

2012-01-14T17:39:00.004Z

My colleague handed me The glimpses of the moon by Edith Wharton after the Christmas break. She, like regular readers, knows that I have struggled with Wharton books on this challenge finding them difficult to relate to, so she didn't mind too much when I wasn't terribly effusive. Let me be clear however, I was still grateful to have a VMC that I had not yet read put into my hands, and actually, I have to admit to getting more out of it than I was expecting.

Although, like the other Wharton books I have read, this focuses on "society", it had a strong plot line from the start which interested me enough to want to keep reading. Penniless Nick and Susy have just got married and are on honeymoon; we discover that it has been a pragmatic marriage where they think that marriage will benefit them financially and within society. They intend to live off their wedding present cheques and the hospitality of their friends and acquaintances and believe that these will last for about a year before running out. They make an agreement that should one of them have the opportunity to marry someone wealthy, they will break the marriage. However, when a misunderstanding results in them going off with other people, it seems that the time spent together has not just had a pragmatic effect, they have actually fallen in love.

I realised whilst I was reading the book that the reason I think I struggle with Wharton's books is because the emphasis on society life seems to make the characters predominantly interested in superficial things such as money and social hierarchies. Although this was certainly a strong theme in this book, I sensed from early on that perhaps this wasn't the most important thing.

Maybe I should try The house of mirth next which has been waiting for me for quite a while...

This has just been published once by Virago with an italicised green cover. Thanks again to Alison for passing it to me. Bizarrely it has the same number as No place on earth by Christa Wolf.

Story of an African farm (Schreiner)

2012-01-13T18:52:00.000Z

After two very plot driven VMCs, I struggled a little bit with A story of an African farm. It was recommended to me many years ago by a very dear friend but I had never got around to reading it before now. Although it follows the narrative of two women growing up, it is much more essay and description than actual story.

A story of an African farm follows Lyndall and Em, who live on a sheep farm in the Boer in South Africa. Published at the end of the nineteenth century, the book illustrates that the options available to women in South Africa were as limited as those in England (as illustrated in the last two VMCs that I read, Red Pottage and The odd women). The book describes Em’s willingness to accept her limited options and Lyndall’s refusal, leading her to leave home to attend boarding school and find a relationship, although having witnessed unsuccessful marriages she refuses to consider this for herself.

You can read a more extensive review of the book here .

Although it's been published many times, it's just been published once by Virago Modern Classics with the original green cover.

Red Pottage (Cholmondery)

2012-01-10T18:16:00.000Z

I purchased Red Pottage after reading Simon’s review about it – it seemed to have been yet another VMC that had passed me by thus far. It joined the TBR but flushed with the success of enjoying The odd women last week I thought it only right to attempt this book too – partly because it had been recommended by a fellow blogger, but mainly because it was published in the same year.

What makes this book so gripping is the way it starts with a suicide pact between two men associated with the Lady Newhaven – her husband and her lover – they draw straws and the one with the shortest straw must die within 5 months. Lady Newhaven overhears the drawing of the straws but has to wait for five months to find out who it is.

Around this suicide pact we follow the story of Rachel West and Hester Gresley, childhood friends who have ended up in quite different circumstances in adulthood. Rachel is a heiress following years of povert y whilst Hester is forced to live with her vicar brother who has quite a different way of life to the one which she would choose. He conforms to all of the social expectations, but she is writing a novel which is anything but.

Bits of the book are intensely humourous such as when the man who has drawn the short straw is nearly drowned (unintentionally) and ends up being rescued by the other man.

Although this book, along with The odd women, did some more to dispel my distrust of Victorian VMCs, I didn’t enjoy it quite as much – I wonder perhaps because I read it so close to a book that I had loved. I didn’t find its commentary on women went as far – it was much more a book about friendship between women than the lot of women. On the other hand, it went a lot further into the issue of class which plagued society, satirising it.

Do look at Simon’s review as it goes into it a lot further than me!

Confessions of a failed Southern lady

2012-01-08T12:03:00.000Z

Although this book reads exactly like a novel, and there is nothing on the blurb to indicate that it is anything but, Confessions of a failed Southern lady is actually the memoir of the author, Florence King. I picked it up as I needed something very different after Gissing and this book certainly fitted those criteria.

The author starts by stating that although "there are ladies everywhere...they enjoy generic recognition only in the South. There is a New England old maid but not a New England lady. There is a Midwestern farm wife, but not a Midwestern lady. There is most assuredly a Californian girl, but if anyone spoke of a California lady, even Phil Donahue and Alan Alda would laugh".

This book is devoted to Florence's grandmother's attempts to get turn her grandaughter into a Southern lady, having failed dismally with her mother. To escape these pressures, Florence goes to a college far away from home where she ends up falling in love with a female professor - pretty much contrary to what her grandmother would have wished for. However in the process of standing up for herself, Florence does eventually come to understand what her grandmother wanted for her and achieves some sort of compromise/

This is quite an entertaining book, more so I think once one realises that it is a memoir!

It's just been published once by Virago with this modern cover and an introduction by Sandi Toksvig.

The odd women (Gissing)

2012-01-06T17:22:00.000Z

I have to say that I have struggled long and hard with so very many of the victorian novels that I have read as part of this venture. However, the perseverence has paid off as I was finally rewarded with a victorian VMC that absolutely gripped my attention, and had me wishing work away so that it was lunchtime/teatime/hometime so that I could carry on reading it.

The novel - The odd women by George Gissing. I think I first heard about this on Darlene's recommendation, but I am quite sure that I have seen it extolled by another of my favourite bloggers recently, and I can't quite remember who. I immediately ordered a copy from Amazon, where it languished until I gave myself a little kick to get on with my Virago TBR (and it's always easier to start with the things that have been there for the least amount of time than those which have been there for ages isn't it?).

When I described the book to my husband, I said that it was a bit like Jane Eyre. I think that it is in the way that Jane Eyre follows a character throughout much of her life and provides endless twists to the plot which keep the reader interested. The odd women is similar in that respect although it follows a number of characters throughout their lives and demonstrates the huge difficulties many women faced in the nineteenth century if they were not able to achieve a happy marriage as independent life was virtually impossible. It also put me in mind of the problem of unmarried women as described in the Persephone published book - Alas poor lady by Rachel Ferguson.

The novel starts with a father talking to his eldest daughter about the need to provide for her and her five sisters on his death, by insuring his life for the sum of £19,000, as their mother has already passed away and they don't really have any relations. Sadly, that night he is killed suddenly before any arrangements have been made and the sisters are forced to survive on their own. It is not long before six sisters are down to three, owing to illnesses and accidents which kill off the other three and we are left with the characters of Alice, Virginia and Monica. They take jobs to try to keep themselves, but not very satisfactorily. The elder two, Alice and Virginia, are well beyond marriageable age by the time the novel gets going and Monica is the only one who has any hope of finding a husband. When she is pursued by Mr Widdowson, even though he is considerably much older than her, he seems like a sensible option rather than having to work at her typing for the rest of her life. Unfortunately, Widdowson is a jealous man and in effect becomes her jailer.

However, despite the story of these three women drawing a very bleak picture of the single woman's life, this is not the whole of the novel. Their experiences are contrasted with those of Mary Barfoot and Rhoda Nunn, early feminists who refuse to believe that women should be dependent on men. Together they run a typing training school to facitate women in their independence as well as opening their house to other women who share their views for discussion.

When I looked at review of this book on librarything I was disappointed that there seemed to be less enthusiasm amongst the reviewers than Darlene and I had felt. I'd hugely recommend this book to any of my readers; if you have read it, please let me know if you agree with my enjoyment of this book or whether you just found it depressing.

It's been published twice by Virago (and also by various other publishers), once with an original green cover (which I own) and once with an italicised green cover. At number 31 in the series it was a very early VMC

The company she keeps (McCarthy)

2012-01-03T18:24:00.000Z

So I'm sticking to my New Year resolutions and trying to once more make headway with my VMCs. As a treat for my first day back at work, I packed one of my new VMCs that I had been eagerly anticipating - The company she keeps by Mary McCarthy. I absolutely loved The group by the same author, and was hoping for more of the same.

However, rather than focussing on the stories of a number of people, this book is very definitely about one individual, Margaret Sargent. And rather than a straightforward story structure, the book is written in a series of vignettes or almost short story episodes which although appearing unrelated do eventually add up to give us a picture of Margaret. The picture isn't terribly likeable - following a marriage breakup, she leads a promiscuous and bohemian lifestyle. It's less of a story and more of a character study which didn't appeal to me in the way that The group had with its gripping story of girls lives.

It's a new Virago, with a new style cover.

Women in the wall (O'Faolin)

2012-01-02T17:27:00.000Z

This is another read from a little while ago that I just did not get around to blogging about. I first came across this via recommendation from Jane at Fleur Fisher Reads - Jane wrote a post about books that she wanted to revisit and the list included a VMC which I had not come across, so on the strength of her recommendation I bought a copy from Amazon.

The subject matter seemed to appeal to me - a story set mainly in a convent - I have to say that I find convent life fascinating and there are a number of novels that I have greatly enjoyed with this setting. This one was a little different however, being set in the 6th century.

The book centres around two royal women, one who is forced to marry a Frankish king who has killed her family, and a young girl who is given to the first woman as a child for her to look after. Out of this somewhat awkward situation, the two women come together to found a convent.

I have to say that I did not enjoy this as much as I hoped I would. I think I found the 6th century setting a bit alien (although I have a history degree, apart from my first term studying the Anglo Saxons (for whom I have great affection in hindsight), I concentrated on 20th century history and this is what I prefer to read about). I'm not the greatest fan of historical fiction, but other historical fiction lovers may well enjoy this more than I did.

This has just been published once by Virago with an original green cover.

I have a couple of other VMCs on my TBR pile which were purchased after reading about them on other blogs so I must try to prioritise these over the next few weeks.

Damage (Hart) Sin (Hart) 558 559

2012-01-01T18:12:00.000Z

Oops - started writing this post back in November, it should have been published at the start of December, and instead it's being published at the start of January. Oh dear :(

I love to get new books in the post, and I am very spoilt by Virago sending me the latest modern classics. It's even more exciting when I get books which are "under embargo", meaning that I can't write about them until a certain date. I find it impossible not to pick them up immediately, so I'm writing this post in the middle of November, to publish at the end of the month - the books in question are being published on the 1st of December. And what a fantastic pair of books they are!

Written by the late Josephine Hart - who died earlier this year - , the two new VMCs are the strikingly titled, Damage, and Sin with their equally striking covers.

Damage is apparently famous for its film, starring Jeremy Irons and Juliette Binoche (I must see that now as I am a big Jeremy Irons fan) and is described on the press release as "one of the most chilling explorations of physical passion and dark, obsessive love ever written". It's not an especially "nice" book due to being so dark but I found the tale of a man who falls in love with his son's psychologically damaged girlfriend absolutely riveting.

Sin somehow seemed slightly less complex than damage, but was another extremely psychological tale. It tells the story of Ruth's resentment and obsession with her elder adopted sister Elizabeth. It's another immensely disturbing tale with considerable tragedy.

I'd come across Josephine Hart before with her Virago published Truth about love which was a tragedy based book about an Irish family which I also found exceptionally gripping, but I'm glad to have had the opportunity to read these two books too. I wouldn't recommend them for a light, entertaining read, but if you want something dark and powerful then they will definitely fit the bill. I was also impressed to see advertisements for these in the press (I can't recall where now)

The Sheik (Hull) 411

2011-12-30T17:02:00.003Z

It's been a while, for which apologies. Along with apologies for the fact that most of the last posts on this blog have started in this way. I was so tired in November and December and my brain was so full up with other things that I didn't manage to read anything terribly literary (highlight was a reread of the Little House books!), and certainly not attack my Virago TBR pile. I've still got a way to go with my challenge to read all of the VMCs so I will certainly need some discipline to both read and write about them.

But here I am with my latest VMC acquisiton. Over at the wonderful site Library Thing there are community groups, and there is one devoted to Virago Modern Classics. I'm sure I must have mentioned this before as several members have kindly sent me VMCs in the past. Each year, there is a Virago Secret Santa and this year I joined in for the first time. Julie was my santee, and I bought her two Virago Travellers as well as a Storm Jameson VMC. My secret santa was Mary, all the way from Tennesse, and she chose a book from my wishlist - The sheik - by Edith M Hull. It had been on my wishlist for so long that I can't remember quite why I added it but I am glad that I did as it was a most enjoyable read.

Described on the back cover as "one of the Virago's trio of turn of the century erotic best-sellers", it was certainly a bit of a racy read. But not perhaps in the way that one is used to with books these days - there is sex, but it is much more implicit than explicit, certainly in the details anyway.

It tells the story of Diana Mayo, a boyish girl who embarks on a tour of the desert. She has never had any sort of relationship before, never even been kissed, when she is kidnapped by a Sheik, who spotted her a few days previously and forces her into bed with him. She is appalled and holds the Sheik in great contempt, until perhaps inevitably she falls in love with him. Of course the Sheik has announced earlier on that he gets easily bored by women in love with him, and one of the reasons that he likes Diana so much is because she isn't in love with him. But once she's fallen in love with him, she can only hope that he will do the same.

What I found most interesting of all was finding out that Hull was a farmer's wife who had never been near a desert at all. I suppose it was a bit obvious as the settings were never terribly detailed but I was impressed that she imagined so much.

It's just been published once, with a modern green cover, although my copy was actually a print on demand issue of this. Thank you very much again to Mary for sending this to me.

Virago Book Club

2011-11-21T18:00:00.000Z

Virago have asked me to post a little message to promote their book club. It doesn't exclusively deal with Virago Modern Classics but it still sounds really interesting and any of you that find it easy to get to London might fancy popping along.

Naomi says:

"Virago hosts a live book club event every month during which we invite members of our Book Club to come into Little, Brown for some wine and/or cake and a chat with our featured author and their editor. This month, on 29th November, our book club will be discussing Polly Samson’s Perfect Lives with Polly and Lennie Goodings, her editor. Here is the link for the book club:

http://www.viragobooks.net/bookclub/how-the-virago-book-club-works/

All members are able to attend the live event and get a 20% discount at Foyles on the book that is featured each month, as well as unlimited access to our Forum (http://bookclub.viragobooks.net/forum.php) where they are free to discuss anything and everything book and/or Virago related!"

Seventh heaven (Hoffman)

2011-11-14T19:07:00.000Z

It's not often these days that I spot a VMC at the library which I haven't read, but I did last week - it was Seventh Heaven by Alice Hoffman. I was already aware of Hoffman as quite a prolific author of whom I've already read a couple of books; it turns out that Seventh Heaven is her only VMC. Written in 1990 it must be one of the most recent VMCs to be on the list.

Set in the late 1950s on Long Island, it tells the tale of a mother and son who move to a suburban community and are outcasts. It's a time when social mores are absolute, and a single mother, a divorcee, is considered scandalous. There is a veneer of perfection in the suburb, but it is obvious from early on that there will be cracks and it is only time before they are revealed. To some extent, the arrival of Rita and her son precipitate this.

Reading reviews of Alice Hoffman's work, it seems that she is famous for magical realism in her writing. I have to say that I didn't especially notice that in this book, but this is also one of her more realistic books. I just found the plot and the characters absorbing as she paints a very good picture of life in the suburb.

It's been published once by Virago, with a modern green cover.

Aurora Floyd (Braddon); Now in November (Johnson)

2011-11-11T18:12:00.003Z

It's been a while, and I actually have been reading VMCs since I last posted, just did not get around to posting about them :( So I am going to briefly mention two very different VMCs in this post.

The first is Aurora Floyd by M.E. Braddon. The author was actually recommended to me last year when I started to get into Wilkie Collins books and was interested in exploring other sensation literature. So when I saw that Braddon had two in the VMC series, I had to get hold of them. Of course sensation literature is particularly good to read in the Autumn as the nights draw in, and I did enjoy this book, even though it took a lot of concentration due to the densely written plot with a lot of pages and very small writing. Do pop over and read Simon Savidge's review of it here; he was disappointed by it after reading her other VMC novel, Lady Audley's secret, so I should certainly give that a go.

The second is Now in November which seems an appropriate title to write about since I have not posted since October, although I read it back then. I spotted this in the local Oxfam bookshop - it was not a VMC that I'd ever heard of and of course I picked it up. It turned out to be a Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Josephine Johnson. This is her only VMC, although she did write a handful of other novels. Absolutely wonderful. It won the prize in 1935, and tells the story of a farming family deep in the Depression. Think Grapes of Wrath only somewhat more succinct and written by a female author. It is depressing, it is grim, but it is still an exceptional book that is very much worth reading.

Exciting news from Virago

2011-10-27T19:29:00.001+01:00

Some of you may have spotted this article in The Bookseller. I got in touch with Virago to find out more and this is the response that Donna, the senior editor, kindly sent me.

"I am pleased to say that in 2013 we will be starting a VMC YA list so that our books can reach a wider audience and we can include some great novels that we might not otherwise be able to publish. Our recent acquisition of some of Rumer Godden’s backlist has provided the opportunity to launch this venture, and alongside her adult novels such as Black Narcissus and Kingfishers Catch Fire, we shall also be publishing some of her books for younger readers – these will include her ballet-themed books, Thursday’s Children and Listen to the Nightingale in 2013, and The Dark Horse and An Episode of Sparrows the following year. She’s an incredible writer who writes as well for adults as for children, yet her books for younger readers are never patronising or overly simplified and can be read and enjoyed by an adult audience – so I hope you like them! "

I am particularly excited about this as I loved Rumer Godden's ballet books when I was little. Too bad that it's still a while before they will be landing in the bookshops!

A woman of independent means (Hailey)

2011-10-18T19:13:00.000+01:00

Wow! Sometimes during what at the moment feels like quite a struggle through the Virago Modern Classics list, a book pops up which I absolutely love, and want everyone else to read, and a book that I probably might not have come across were in not for that list. A woman of independent means by Elizabeth Hailey is this fantastic book.

Written in letters, it covers over 60 years of Bess's life, from early letters to her childhood sweetheart, whom she eventually marries, to the end of her life when most of her friends have died. The book is partly based on Hailey's grandmother - in fact the author says in the introduction that one of her grandmother's friends believed that it was HER letters - but also born out of 1970s feminism (the book was published in 1978). Hailey says in the introduction "I tried to imagine the letters [my grandmother] might have written from childhood to old age and in the process show how full of drama even a seemingly ordinary life could be".

Bess is quite simply an inspiring heroine. The independent means to which the title refers to is the legacy that Bess recieves which gives her considerable independence at a time in the early twentieth century when the majority of women were reliant on their husbands or their fathers for support. But Bess has plenty of independent spirit; she travels by herself, she deals with thhe death of her husband. The independence is perhaps most signified when she marries her second husband and what is effectively a pre=nuptial contract is drawn up.

The structure of the book is impressive; I can't quite conceieve how difficult it must be to come up with a plot, and then tell it not just through letters to one person but to a variety of correspondents.

Here is a quote which I love because it talks about marriage, something which is still very much on my mind at the moment:

""I am always amazed to hear people say the first weeks or months of marriage are the best and then, 'the honeymoon is over.' Of course I thought I loved you with all my heart when we were married, but it took marriage to teach me the outer limits of my anatomy, both physical and spiritual, and now I know that every moment we share further increases my capacity for love." (to her husband, Rob, in 1917)"

This book has just been published once by Virago with a modern cover.

The old man and me (Dundy)

2011-09-29T20:59:00.002+01:00

I actually read this before I was struck down with mumps, so apologies for not remembering that much about it! I had been looking forward to reading this book for a while, since reading the Dud Avocado very early on in the VVV, but had been waiting for a second hand copy to turn up.

It tells the story of Honey Flood, an American girl, who comes to London to find her quasi stepfather - the man who married her stepmother after her father died, called Charles McKee. She sets out to seduce him in an attempt to get his month.

In some ways it was very similar to the Dud Avocado, I found myself a bit annoyed by the narrator. It's just been published once by Virago with a modern cover.

PS: I have now read/blogged 380 VMCs! This means I have 176 to go! Hope to make to to 400 by the end of the year...if only I could read 3 a week and then I'd be done in a year's time!!

The Orlando Trilogy (Colegate)

2011-09-28T18:43:00.000+01:00

First of all an apology; mumps got into the way of me getting on with my VMC TBR and getting through 4 books as planned last week. Should not make promises! But I am back, and with a lesser known VMC that I have found really rather readable and enjoyable!

As the title suggests, The Orlando trilogy, is comprised of 3 books, telling the story of Orlando and his family throughout the 1930s where they wield considerable power, and then their decline as we move towards the 1950s. The first book, Orlando King, is a retelling of the Oedipus story - Orlando is brought up on a remote island by a friend of his mothers, and eventually returns to England where he finds his biological father, and ends up marrying his stepmother after his father dies. In the second book, Orlando at the brazen threshold, the action shifts to Italy where Orlando has moved, and he is joined by his 17 year old daughter. He reads the diaries of the man who brought him up in an effort to understand where he came from. Finally Agatha tells the story of his daughter after Orlando has died, she moves back to England.

They are fascinating stories of society in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s and I enjoyed the book far more than I was expecting to.

This is Colegate's only VMC, and it's just been published the once by Virago with a modern green cover. I rather like the angle at which the car is photographed and it certainly makes me think of the 1930s. Isabel Colegate I think is probably more famous for her novel The shooting party, a book that I have only heard of and not read, but something I would now like to read.

Crewe Train (Macaulay)

2011-09-19T19:58:00.000+01:00

I'm determined to make up for not reading any VMCs last week by reading my four newest acquisitions this week, which don't fit onto the VMC TBR shelf. First of the four is Crewe Train by Rose Macaulay. Macaulay was a fairly prolific novelist, most famous for her last novel, The towers of Trebizond, but only three of her books have made it into Virago Modern Classics, none of which I have yet read for the blog.

Set in the 1920s, Crewe Train tells the story of Denham Dobie (what an amazing name that is!), who lives with her unsociable father in Andorra. Her late mother's relatives visit, and take her back to London for a visit, putting her straight into the world which her father has sought to escape. It is difficult for her to join in with the socialising and dinner parties - it is definitely beyond her comfort zone. Eventually, she finds another serious person, Arnold, who she falls in love with and marries.

What I liked about this book was that it made me feel that my dislike of the glittering social worlds portrayed in Edith Wharton books which I always struggle to finish was perhaps justified. Certain sorts of people are just perhaps not as good at social situations as other people, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they won't settle down happily.

It's been published just once by Virago with a modern green cover - interestingly, it is numbered VMC 385, which is a duplicate with Where the apple ripens!

New Shelves for my VMCs!

2011-09-12T10:59:00.002+01:00

A little while ago, I showed you my VMCs, all sadly piled up and awaiting the construction of their special shelves. Finally this has been done! Don't they look smart?

And a close up so that you can peruse the titles a bit better (they're arranged alphabetically by author at the moment - my only hope of finding things!)

The overlanders (Birtles)

2011-09-09T18:37:00.000+01:00

I picked up The overlanders from the Virago TBR pile for something a bit different - I'm sure it's not the case, but it feels like I am overwhelmed with a pile of Victorian VMCs to read. It's an unusual book since it followed a film, which Birtles helped to write - the film certainly doesn't seem to be available anymore, but there is some information about it on IMDB here.

Set in the Australian outback during the Second World War, it tells the story of what happens as the Japanese start to try to take over areas of the country, and a trek made by one man, Dan McAlpine, with 15,000 cattle to Queensland, to make a place where food can be provided for the Australians. Dan is joined by the Parsons family - Ma, Pa, Mary and Helen who want to escape the bombing even though they have built up their home and business in the Northern territory. What amazing characters Mary and Helen proved to be - exactly the sort of young women that make Virago Modern Classics worth reading, strong, full of character. I loved the descriptions of the riding and the herding of cattle that they get involved with, but at the same time there is the sobering realisation that the people of Australia faced many of the same fears of bombs and war as people did in Europe.

It's Birtle's only novel and it has been published just the once by Virago with this original green cover.

Dear departed

2011-08-24T18:41:00.000+01:00

What a very different VMC Dear departed was. Lyrical, and a wonderful evocation of a life growing up in France at the start of the twentieth century. I loved the way the translation made the words and sentences seem slightly unfamiliar, in the way that something that has not been written in original English often comes across. Yourcenar was a prolific writer and essayist, and her experience in writing certainly shone through this book. It's a mixture of memoirs and letters and momentos that give such insight into French history.

It's part of a trilogy - this part deals with her mother's side of the family, the other Virago, How many years, with her father's side, but Virago have not published the third ("A vision of the void"). This volume was published once, with a modern green cover.

The harsh voice (Rebecca West)

2011-08-23T18:17:00.000+01:00

It's been a bit of a while since I've posted - but do not fear, I am determined to continue my quest to read all of the Virago Modern Classics. My husband is building me shelves at the moment to house my collection in all their glory, and I can't wait to display them again after having them piled up in the spare room since we moved :(

I do have my VMC TBR handy, and so I picked off The harsh voice by Rebecca West, mainly because I am feeling guilty about this book as I accidentally bought it twice. I've passed on the extra copy to a friend who is more keen on Rebecca West than I am, but I still felt I should read it sooner rather than later, given that I had spent twice the amount of money on it!

The harsh voice is actually 4 novellas, mostly with some connection to America, described in the blurb as exploring "the lives and relationships of rich women and men who are ruled by "the harsh voice we hear when money talks, or hate"".

I found the first story, "Life Sentence" in the book distinctly disquieting. It opens with a couple who are about to be married, only the groom announces two days beforehand that he does not want to go through with it. His future wife talks him into it since he has said that he will go ahead if she desires; but the reader feels unsettled and knows that nothing good could possibly come of that situation, particularly given the title of the story. Their marriage seems to start off happily but it is definitely fated, and the woman's obsession with money leads quickly to its breakdown. It did not make happy reading on the 3rd week anniversary of my wedding day.

In another, "The salt of the earth", the character Alice has an opinion on how to change everyone (but herself) for the better, which leads her husband to relieve everyone by poisoning her nighttime drink.

The book was distinctly unsettling and certainly not a feel-good read. I suppose it is in the grain of all of the Rebecca West novels that I have read that they are not terribly happy.

You can find a fuller review of the book here, on the Pages Turned blog. And, I also found this review by Edith Wharton in 1935 - I thought that was fascinating, one VMC lady's take on another.

This book has just been published once as a VMC with an original green cover.

Palladian (Elizabeth Taylor)

2011-08-05T12:03:00.000+01:00

Virago are continuing with their reissues of the Elizabeth Taylor VMCs, and the next one is Palladian. I like this cover rather more than some of their other new ET editions. It's out today, 5th August.

Sometime soon, I must do an Elizabeth Taylor catch up, to compensate for having read them all before I started this blog!

The children (Wharton)

2011-07-25T09:49:00.001+01:00

I remembered whilst I was writing my review of Hudson River Bracketed the other day, that I had never blogged about a Wharton novel that I read pre-VVV - The children - so I thought it was time that it had a post of its own, for completeness sake. It's been quite a while since I read it, so I'll share the synopsis from Amazon.com....

"A bestseller when it was first published in 1928, Edith Wharton's The Children is a comic, bittersweet novel about the misadventures of a bachelor and a band of precocious children. The seven Wheater children, stepbrothers and stepsisters grown weary of being shuttled from parent to parent "like bundles," are eager for their parents' latest reconciliation to last. A chance meeting between the children and the solitary forty-six-year-old Martin Boyne leads to a series of unforgettable encounters. Among the colorful cast of characters are the Wheater adults, who play out their own comedy of marital errors; the flamboyant Marchioness of Wrench; and the vivacious fifteen-year-old Judith Wheater, who captures Martin's heart. With deft humor and touching drama, Wharton portrays a world of intrigues and infidelities, skewering the manners and mores of Americans abroad. "

It's been published three times by Virago - original green, modern green, and a modern cover, which is the one that I picked up in Borders a few years ago. I actually love the picture which is on the front of the modern edition, as unusually, it sums up the content rather well.

Sunflower (West)

2011-07-22T19:10:00.000+01:00

As I've said before, I have a somewhat mixed relationship with stalwart Virago Modern Classic author Rebecca West. So I wasn't quite sure whether or not I would like Sunflower, especially as it seemed to be somewhat different to some of her other novels. It's described as an unfinished fragment, although it is just as long as any of her other books. Where it differs I think, is the extent to which it is autobiographical.

Sunflower, of the title, is an actress and mistress to Lord Essington ("Sunflower" is his private name for her); she leads a glamourous life, but really wants to settle down in domesticity, and this leads her to pursue a millionaire politician named Francis Pitt who she believes will help her to attain this.

Apparently, this is a portrait of Rebecca West's relationship with HG Wells (Essington) and her doomed obsessive love for the politician Beaverbrook. The afterword says that those who knew West would not have recognised her as Sunflower, but surely, in a novel like this you would want to describe yourself as you would like to be? I found the novel quite absorbing although I couldn't quite decide whether I sympathised with Sunflower or not, but I think I was fascinated by the idea that it was based on real life.

It's just been published once by Virago with the original green cover - I can't help feeling disappointed that Virago didn't use an appropriate Vincent Van Gogh for it.

Bodily Harm (Atwood) 125

2011-07-19T18:11:00.000+01:00

I started out by looking at reviews on Amazon when I came to write this blog about Bodily Harm by Margaret Atwood. I have a mixed relationship with Atwood - I find some of her more futuristic writing quite inaccessible, and some of her books are compelling whilst others I have struggled to get into at all. The consensus on Amazon was that this was a disappointing Atwood novel; I disagree as it was one that I found quite gripping. Whilst, from the synopsis, on the back of the book, you might expect it to be a thriller, it is more of a book about a woman and her life, cleverly building up a picture of her life with flashbacks from the present.

The principal character, Rennie, is a journalist, who, takes an assignment to a Carribean island in an attempt to get away from her life. In the early part of the book we learn about how her relationship with her boyfriend Jake has broken down, and how she has suffered a masectomy. But whilst in the Carribean she becomes heavily involved in some political upheaval and an attempted coup to overthrow the government. I was less interested in this story than in learning about Rennie's life, although the dark ending made me wish for a more uplifting conclusion.

It seems to have been published as a VMC twice, once in the original green edition with the wonderful abstract picture on the front (I just love those colours!) and once in a modern version.

Hudson river bracketed (Wharton)

2011-07-15T17:45:00.000+01:00

Given my previous experiences with Wharton (with one exception, not very good), I'm not quite sure why I picked out Hudson River bracketed in the Oxfam bookshop. I suppose it was a combination of the immaculate original green edition, and the fact that because of this challenge, I will have to read it at some point.

It is one of Wharton's later novels, and the high society theme which characterises some of her most classic books (which is the thing I think I struggle with most), is less apparent. The book can essentially be summed up as "a portrait of a young man"; the main character is Vance Weston, who upon becoming ill, is sent off to convalesce with cousins who live by the Hudson river. While he is there, he meets Halo, a writer, who inspires in him a great love of literature, and the book follows his struggles to become a writer. He meets Halo later in life, and she introduces him to the literary circles of New York. Unsurprisingly, I enjoyed the first half of the book much more - although it does pose an interesting comparison between what Edith Wharton paints as the naieve Midwest and the glittering New York.

There's a sequel, which I also picked up at the same time - The gods arrive. I shall try to have a read of that in the next week, although I have to say that it is not a sequel I am especially looking forward to reading.

This one has been published twice, once in original green, and once in modern green.

New Virago hardbacks

2011-07-14T19:38:00.000+01:00

They're not out til August, but I was so excited to open a box brought back from the sorting office by K last night and see these wonderful hardback Virago modern classics which Virago have so kindly sent me. You may recall that they brought out 6 hardbacked VMCs a couple of years ago, to mark the 30th anniversary of the imprint, I've managed to collect 5 of those 6, and so I was very happy to have these to add to my collection and to show off to you all!

The titles are:
The tortoise and the hare (Jenkins)
The dud avocado (Dundy)
The enchanted April (von Arnim) [I have read this but seem not to have blogged about it - must rectify that]
My cousin Rachel (Du Maurier)
Good behaviour (Molly Keane) [the only one that I haven't read - not a huge Molly Keane fan but will give it a go very soon, inspired by this!]

I do own copies of these already in paperback editions, but who could resist a second beautiful hardbacked version for their shelves? You can find information about the cover designers on the Virago website here.

Brother Jacob (Eliot)

2011-07-12T17:52:00.000+01:00

Like yesterday's read, I have to confess again to picking up Brother Jacob from the TBR pile for its size - a mere 50pp + afterword, made it one of the slimmest VMCs that I've seen (with the possible exception of The yellow wallpaper). Having not particularly enjoyed Eliot's, The lifted veil, I have to say that I didn't anticipate this one very much, especially when the introduction told me that this novella was even more overlooked than that one.

It is the tale of David, who decides that he wants to become a confectioner, but upon taking up this trade he finds it much harder work than he had imagined, so he decides that he will emigrate to the West Indies. He doesn't have enough money, so tricks his brother, the rather simple Jacob, so that he can steal his mother's savings, and off he goes. The story then switches to another confectioners' shop, run by an Edward Freely. But who is he? The arrival of Jacob on the scene reveals everything...

I guess I might have better luck with Eliot's other more well-known novels, but of course they aren't VMCs!

It's just been published once by Virago, with an original green cover.

A virtuous woman (Gibbons)

2011-07-11T18:15:00.000+01:00

I have to confess that I picked this one out of the tbr because it was a) relatively slim and b) had reasonably large handwriting. But I was very happy to see that it was a book about marriage; marriage is something that is definitely on my mind at the moment, with a wedding in 21 days time.

The book starts however, with Ruby, the wife, dying in hospital at lung cancer, aged 45. Her husband is at home after her death, eating food that she had prepared out of the freezer. The end of marriage is something that absolutely terrifies me; as K is older than me I am quite likely to be the one left behind, and I just can't imagine it. From that chapter, we go back in time, with chapters narrated alternately by Ruby, and her second husband Jack, in order to piece together the story. Jack was responsible for rescuing Ruby after her first husband was killed, and she was left without any money or anywhere to live. Jack is 20 years her senior, but never married, not being particularly attractive or successful. It's an unlikely match, but the pair grow to love each other.

Gibbons has written some other VMCs, including Ellen Foster, and like that book, I found that this was an emotional read; it might not be very plot driven, but I liked the characters and the journey that I went on with them.

Civil to strangers (Pym)

2011-07-07T08:01:00.000+01:00

I'm excited that another Pym novel has made it back into print - it looks like Virago may be bringing out the complete set of her novels, as I see from Amazon that Crampton Hodnet (such an underrated Pym novel) will be out in May 2012. I just love this colourful cover which has Barbara Pym written all over. It's out today, 7th July.

Oops...

2011-07-05T16:49:00.002+01:00

Why yes, I may have popped into the Oxfam bookshop in Thame when I went to the cake shop to buy icing for my wedding cake. They had LOADS of green Viragos, including these which I didn't have. TWO Edith Whartons - not quite sure what I was thinking there, but they are beautiful, so maybe owning them in original green editions may encourage me - I hope so as they are mighty tomes. Ditto, Rebecca West, I am a little indifferent over, but I am excited by another Margaret Atwood. I've only read Death comes for the archbishop, and actually I can't remember what sort of edition I already own it in, owing to the disorganisation of my VMCs which are still waiting for shelves...

I must get back on track with the VVV so hope to write about some of these soon.

The semi-attached couple and The semi-detached house (Eden)

2011-06-24T18:31:00.000+01:00

I received this book as a "new house" present from Heather who reads this blog (and who has kindly sent me books before). Of course it is an exceptionally appropriate book since the house that we have purchased, and just moved into is a 1940s semi.

I couldn't resist starting with the second book in the volume, The semi-detached house. Of the two books, Semi-Detached was written second, but published first, and it was only when it met with success that the earlier book was brought into print. Set in the Regency period, and thus a somewhat older house than ours, it felt a little like reading Austen or maybe EH Young (although not somehow so good), being a book plotted mainly around social manners and social convention. It starts with Lady Chester moving into the semi-detached house, and being somewhat horrified that she has such adjacent neighbours, the Hopkinsons. It is not until the Hopkinsons offer hospitality to Lady Chester and her Aunt Sarah after a chimney fire in the kitchen that the two sides begin to get on, although they are not socially very well matched. Other neighbours, The Sampsons, are introduced, intent on social climbing, but somehow not as good as the Chester household. There is a lot of matchmaking and somehow everything seems to end happily.

It's now nearly three weeks since I read the other novel in the book, and I'm afraid I can't remember much about it! It's a story about a newly married couple, who didn't exactly marry for love. I just remember feeling glad that I will be marrying for love very soon!

This was a very early VMC (number 16 on the list), and was only published once in an original green edition, although the copy that I own is the black Dial Press version.

Dangerous calm (Elizabeth Taylor)

2011-06-12T15:01:00.003+01:00

I was a little disappointed by Dangerous calm, the selected stories of Elizabeth Taylor. Not because of the quality of the stories, which, like her other short story volumes are excellent, but mainly because most of the stories had already been published in VMC editions of her other short stories. Whilst it did include 2 previously unpublished stories, I felt disappointed as I was looking forward to a completely new (to me) collection of her work.

It's been published once by Virago in a modern green cover; I picked up the earlier (non VMC) hardback edition which features this cover:

(I think the lack of a beautiful original green cover edition with pretty flowers on the front was another reason behind my disappointment if I'm honest)

2011-06-09T10:41:00.000+01:00

They are tripled stacked here, and the eagled eyed among you will spot a non-VMC edition of a VMC which I fished out to reread and forgot about, but here is my complete collection of VMCs, which will go downstairs in our front room once the shelves are put in (the only way that I could get my collection of fiction to fit in the third bedroom...).

Ethan Frome (Wharton)

2011-06-03T18:06:00.000+01:00

Who'd have thought that I'd want to put "Wharton" and "wonderful" in the same blog post? I know the last Wharton book that I wrote about (her collected short stories, Roman Fever), were enjoyable, but Ethan Frome was a complete departure for me from the other Wharton books that I've read. And it's all about the setting I think. Set in a New England town, and featuring Ethan Frome, a farmer, it couldn't really be much further away from the busy world of the New York socialites. It's a slim volume, which is why I picked it up (I thought I might be able to handle a small dose of Wharton), but actually, I would have loved it to be a bit longer.

A rather wonderful love story about Ethan Frome, and his invalid (and rather demanding) wife Zeena. Their marriage was not a love-match, but one of convenience after she nursed his mother through her last illness, which she claims is the reason why she is so poorly now. Although, the reader surmises that perhaps a large part of her illness is caused by her imagination. Zeena's cousin Mattie is sent for to help around the house (although she isn't very helpful - quick to learn, but just as quick to forget how to do things). As the farm is so isolated, she occasionally goes into the town for an evening's entertainment, and Ethan always walks in (at the request of Zeena) to walk Mattie home again. Ethan falls in love with Mattie and seems to see her as representing the happiness that he doesn't have with Zeena. I don't want to say more without revealing spoilers, but I was gripped to the end to find out what would happen with the central characters.

I just thought that it was beautifully written, and I loved it. It was not what I was expecting frm an Edith Wharton at all. Let's hope that more of the remaining Whartons (I think I have 8 to go) are like this.

My copy is the italicised green edition above, and it's also been published with the same picture in the modern green edition, and with a different picture in an original green edition.

New Holtby editions

2011-05-26T18:12:00.000+01:00

These beautiful new Holtby edition are out today - I'm so excited that Virago have brought Holtby back into print (I guess in the wake of the success of South Riding). I think these covers are wonderful.

You can read my blogs about these books here:
Anderby Wold
Poor Caroline
The Land of Green Ginger

South Riding has also been reprinted with a similar style cover but I don't have a copy of that yet. Here's hoping for Mandoa Mandoa and the short stories (as yet to cross my path) to complete the set. I'm guessing they don't own the rights to Crowded Street since it has been republished by Persephone (so frustrating for someone who would like to own the complete works in uniform editions!).

The Microcosm (Duffy)

2011-05-24T18:20:00.000+01:00

It wasn't until I'd finished reading The microcosm by Maureen Duffy, and was looking for cover pictures on librarything, that I realised I had read another VMC by her, the partly autobiographical, That's how it was. And suddenly, I liked the novel a whole lot more, because it fitted in with that piece of writing, rather than being a seemingly random look at working class life.

The Microcosm is a book about relationships between women, and how they are forced by the ways of society to conceal that they are lesbians. Sadie works in a factory, Stevie is a PE teacher (I liked her sections best, always being interested in schools).

Most of the book is written in streams of consciousness, in different styles for each of the characters. I found that a little difficult to get into, particularly the one that lacked any capitalisation or proper grammer. But I did think that the characters were vividly drawn, and as I had misremembered the book as being one of short stories, it was a better read than I was anticipating.

This book has only been published once by Virago, in an original green edition.

And there's more information about Maureen Duffy on her website here. I'm actually curious now to seek out her non VMC works.

Joanna (Lisa St.Aubin De Teran) 429

2011-05-23T17:45:00.002+01:00

What a fantastic read Joanna turned out to be - it was a Virago that I knew nothing about before reading (which was probably why I ordered it online), and it was the next book out of my box. It's nice to be surprised by a book.

The novel is a tryptich of tales - the Joanna of the title, her mother Kitty, and her grandmother Florence, and their stories are all brought together at the end. Joanna spends most of her childhood attending convent schools and dealing with her mother who considers her to be an abomination (which is why she is sent away so often); unsurprisingly she rebels which seems to turn her mother even further against her. Finally, in what can only be described as a psychotic episode, her mother attacks her and she leaves home. Trying to find her place in the world is difficult, it is the war, and she becomes a nurse, marries, but her husband is called up and the relationship quickly breaks down. As we then follow the livesof Kitty and Florence, Joanna's story begins to make a bit more sense, but it is not until the very final chapter, when we return to Joanna, visiting her mother in an asylum that it all begins to make sense.

An absolutely gripping family drama.

It has quite an un-Virago like cover - almost a cross between a "green" edition, and a modern edition. The spine is green (except on my copy which is so badly faded that it is blue), but it has a little picture at the top of it.

*Edit* Interesting comment from Jane:

I could be wrong, but I think what happened with the cover was this - the book was a Virago original in the 1980s and became a VMC later, keeping the same cover. Does that make sense?

Liana (Gellhorn)

2011-05-19T20:36:00.000+01:00

The method of choosing the next VMC by which one comes out of the box of TBR first seems to be working (we are in the midst of moving house and everything is packed, but it a fairly organised fashion so I can sort of find things if not choose things), as I really enjoyed reading Liana by Martha Gellhorn, a book which is wonderfully reflected by the wistful looking girl on the cover of the Virago edition.

Liana, a young mixed-race girl is taken as a mistress and then married, by Marc, a wealthy Frenchman on a French Carribean island in 1940 (we are told that the island is cut off from the world by the war, but this doesn't seem particularly important). Marc renames her "Julie" and tries to make her into an appropriate wife, getting her to speak French, and finding a teacher so that she can learn to read a book. In some ways Marc seems very benevolent, but the more one learns about him, the more unpleasantly he comes across - the marriage comes with a contract that Liana's family can't visit her, he retains another mistress who he spends at least 3 evenings with a week. Liana's teacher Pierre provides a welcome escape, taking her on picnics and spending time with her for who she is.

It was really quite a different read to Gellhorn's other VMC, A stricken field. Of the two, I enjoyed, and would be more likely to recommend this one.

This has been published just once by Virago with an original green cover.

Lantana Lane (Dark) 212

2011-05-18T18:41:00.003+01:00

Today I picked up Lantana Lane by Eleanor Dark, which was another of the four books that I was kidnly sent by Heather. I read The little company, Dark's only other VMC (although she wrote 10 novels) a little while ago and wrote about it here, but this one was quite different (the type was of a much more readable size for a start).

Almost anecdotal and a series of vignettes rather than a novel, this book introduces us to the members of the farming community at Lantana Lane. (Lantana by the way is an uncontrollable tropical weed that plagues the farmers).

It's difficult to write more about it; I loved the descriptions of the characters, such as Gwinny Bell:

"And when you see her working down in the pines, or pedding out her vast quantity of garments on the line, or striding along the Lane to visit one of the neighbours, you seem to hear Wagnerian music, and lo! - the scene dissolves. Fade out the serviceable working clothes , or the best frock of gay, floral rayon; fade out the felt slippers, or the patent leather shoes; fade out the battered, weekday hat, or the Sunday straw with its purple flowers, and its little pink veil. Fade in accomplished draperies which reveal the limbs they should be covering, and shining breastplates which proclaim the curves they guard; fade in gold sandals laced about the ankles; fade in a horned helmet over blond, wind-driven fair."

The characters just seemed to absolutely spring off the pages in this book.

It's just been published once with an original green cover. Do look out for it!

A garden of earthly delights (Oates)

2011-05-17T18:34:00.000+01:00

I read my first Joyce Carol Oates, a little while ago (Expensive People) which was fascinating, not least because of its untypical (for a VMC) male teenager narrator. Shortly afterwards, Rachel at Booksnob reviewed a non VMC Oates book, and we got into a discussion about whether or not Oates was a "bleak" writer. Having only read the one novel by her, I ordered another from the library, A garden of earthly delights, which pleased me by arriving in a nice green edition.

It's one of Oates' early books and thus I'm not sure whether it is typical of the rest of her work. This book is a saga of the life of a woman named Clara, told through three novellas, each named after a man who was significant in her life: Carleton, her father, Lowry, her lover and Swan, her son. And yes, it is pretty bleak. Clara is born to migrant workers in the midst of the depression; we see her as she grows up, and then as she falls in love with Lowry, falling pregnant. But she ends up marrying another man, and the remainder of the book deals with her relationship with her husband and her sons.

This one has just been published once by Virago with a green spine but otherwise "modern" cover. One more Oates features on the VMC list - Solstice - and I shall certainly be intrigued to give it a go. And I found this page about Oates on the internet whilst writing this post which has some interesting articles.

Wreath of Roses (Taylor)

2011-05-16T17:50:00.000+01:00

Another VMC re-issue, out today - Wreath of Roses by Elizabeth Taylor. This features an introduction by the masterful Helen Dunmore. Although I have to say that I'm underwhelmed by the covers that Virago have reissued Elizabeth Taylor in, I am very happy that she has been brought back into print as I hope that it will enable her to find a whole cohort more of readers (see the previous edition's cover below - far more appealing!). Thanks to Virago for sending me a copy.

I've still not blogged about Elizabeth Taylor, as I read most of her books before this blog - if anyone fancies doing a guest review, then let me know!

New Vita Sackville-West editions

2011-05-12T17:52:00.003+01:00

Aren't these really rather lovely? I was sent copies of the latest Virago Modern Classics re-releases at the end of April and they're out in the UK today!

I am a big fan of Vita Sackville-West (or as one of my friends refers to her - Ryvita Snackville-West!), who I only discovered as part of my VMC journey, and am really happy that there will be such attractive editions of her works available in the shops as this will hopefully encourage more people to read them.

All Passion Spent is introduced by Joanna Lumley and The Edwardians is introduced by the historian Juliet Nicholson. Having loved both of these books, I am looking forward to reading the introductions and maybe rereading them, particularly as this summer I will finally get to visit both Knole and Sissinghurst on the August Bank Holiday (as part of a trip to do a sea swim at Margate).

Dessa Rose (Williams) 447

2011-05-11T17:41:00.000+01:00

I didn't know anything at all about Dessa Rose, which I think was why I probably ordered it from Awesome books a few months ago - it was on the VMC list and I had never heard of it. I wondered if it was an undiscovered gem or something which just didn't get talked about because it is not very interesting. I think the book falls into the first category, although I didn't find it very easy to read. I've since seen a number of reviews which compared this book to some of Toni Morrison's works, such as Beloved, and I would agree with that - I mention it here because I know that a number of readers of this blog are fans of hers.

The novel is apparently inspired by two real events as the author's note explains:

A pregnant black woman helped to lead an uprising on a coffle (a group of slaves chained together and herded, usually to market) in 1829 in Kentucky. Caught and convicted, she was sentenced to death; her hanging, however, was delayed until after the birth of her baby. In North Carolina in 1830, a white woman living on an isolated farm was reported to have given sanctuary to runaway slaves. I read of the first incident in Angela Davis' seminal essay, "Reflections on the Black Woman's Role in the Community of Slaves" (The Black Scholar, December 1971). In Tracking Davis to her source in Herbert Aptheker's American Negro Slave Revolts (New York, 1947), I discovered the second incident. How sad, I thought then, that these two women never met.

And this novel brings them together. It opens with Dessa, the pregnant slave who is waiting for her baby to be born so that she can be hung. I found one scene where she and other slaves join in singing negro spirituals together intensely moving; the very real sorrow at being trapped into this situation. In the second part of the book Dessa escapes, with the help of some other slaves, to Miss Rufel's plantation. Miss Rufel is a white woman, who harbours escaped slaves, but not wholly out of kindness. She has been left by her husband, and most of her slaves left too; she can only stay on the plantation with the help of slaves, and they stay because they have relative freedom.

It's a fascinating read, although the way it is told is not straightforward, mainly because Williams goes very far to try and subvert the usual way in which slaves, black people, white people, women are usually depicted.

It's just been published once by Virago in a green-spine only form/modern green edition.

Roman fever (Wharton)

2011-05-09T18:19:00.000+01:00

I picked up Roman Fever because I could not in my tired and exhausted state (do not ever try to move house, plan a wedding and train for a 10km swim all in one month) face ploughing through a whole book; at least while I have not had great experiences with Edith Wharton thus far, this was only short stories. Indeed, it was a gift from a kind lady Heather, and she said that at least being short stories it would be over quicker. In fact, I have to say that whilst it wasn't a book that I would rave about, it was definitely the most enjoyable Wharton that I've read so far, and the short stories were fairly chunky ones (20-30pp in comparison to the 4-6pp in Collette that I read last week) and actually captured my attention somewhat (no mean feat at the moment).

The title story is so clever, and its difficult to explain how without giving the point away. Roman fever is an ailment, a little like pneumonia, caught by lovers when they have been out too late at night, meeting at the coliseum. The story is set around two women, friends and rivals, who are visiting Rome with their daughters, and reminiscing about old times. Someone on librarything has described it as "the perfect short story with a twist" and I would certainly echo that.

Another story is Xingu, which is a funny satire about a women's book club. The ladies are hosting a Lunch with a famous author in attendance, but deeply regret having to invite Mrs. Roby, a lady who actually asked another member for her opinion of a book at a previous meeting! There is then a hilarious scene where Mrs Roby, at the lunch, introduces an invented topic of conversation "Xingu" which no-one is prepared to admit their ignorance on.

Maybe I liked these more than I usually like Wharton's work because although "society" is still important, somehow it is less of a focus than it is in her novels? Not sure.

It's just been published once by Virago, in an original green edition. Apologies for the blurry photo, but needed to grab one from librarything for convenience and this was the only one there! Thank you to Heather for sending me this and convincing me to try it.

The other woman (Colette)

2011-05-09T17:46:00.000+01:00

I know that I wrote last week about my struggles with short stories, but The other woman by Colette is a very slim volume, and it is years since I read any books by Colette (I greatly enjoyed her Claudine books when I was still at school).

The stories in the book are very feminine and generally focussed around love and set in Paris. Whilst I didn't particularly get into the volume due to the stories being so short (generally around 4p), it did remind me that I enjoyed Colette in the past. I must seek out some more of her work - can anyone recommend any novels (in English please!) apart from the Claudine books that I should read?

It's the only Colette published as a VMC, and it's only been published once with an italicized green edition.

Her (H.D.)

2011-05-06T19:54:00.000+01:00

The next book I was inspired to remove from that teetering tower of VMCs was "Her" by H.D. Not really because I wanted to read it - in fact, I'd struggled through H.D.'s other VMC (Bid me to live) round about the turn of the year. I remembered when I opened it that I'd picked it up before, and put it down again.... But my friend Claire said that she'd been desperate to read "Her" since reading H.D. at university, and I thought that I could pass this onto her when I was done.

It's a very experimental book. So although the synopsis sounded interesting and like the sort of book that I might want to pick up - a book about a girl in her early twenties trying to work out what she wants to do with her life (gosh, typing that suddenly made me feel old as having just had my 27th birthday I am no longer in that category - good job I feel reasonably happy with where I am at the moment!). But somehow the writing, dare I describe it as post-modern (seems like a bit of a cop-out) was so disjointed and confusing that I never really grasped the story properly.

What a struggle! 4 people on Amazon.com have given it 5 stars so it must just be me. Here's hoping for something a bit more "me" in whatever I retrieve next....

Although I could only find an image of the original green cover, which is pictured above, it's actually been published in the green italicised format

The doll (Daphne Du Maurier)

2011-05-05T19:51:00.000+01:00

I haven't yet read it, but today sees the publication of The doll and other stories by Daphne Du Maurier, some previously unpublished short stories by Du Maurier, mostly from earlier in her career. There's an interesting piece on the Virago blog today, including link to radio discussion of it, which is worth checking out.

I can't help wishing that it had been a manuscript of another of DDM's novels that had been found. Yes, it's great to have "new" DDM, but I'm just not a short story fan. I know there are plenty who disagree, and I agree with many of the excellent points made here in this piece on the Virago blog, but the short story medium is just not my favourite.

I do LOVE this cover though - very Du-Maurierish, and it fits in beautifully with the VMC editions of her books, most of which I own (I think I am just missing a couple of non fiction ones).

Some everyday folk and Dawn (Franklin)

2011-05-04T17:52:00.000+01:00

When I made a plea for inspiration as to which VMC to read next, another one that got mentioned several times was Some everyday folk and Dawn, and it reminded me that actually I had been very keen to read it, having loved the exhuberant and whimsical My brillaint career and My career goes bung over a year ago.

I enjoyed reading it but I'm afraid it didn't live up to the other two Franklin books that I had read; it was quite different. The books tells the story of a narrator who finds lodgings with Mrs Clay in Noonoon, Australia, 1904. Among the other people living with Mrs Clay, is her grandaughter Dawn. Dawn is a lively young girl determined to forge a career on the stage, but old Mrs Clay has other ideas and is determined to get Dawn to settle down and take a husband.

It was interesting reading this immediately after Thank heaven fasting, as it was a different take on a similar issue - should women focus on getting married or should they be allowed to (or encourage to) pursue their careers.

It was entertaining but it didn't for me contain the uniqueness that made My brilliant career or My career goes bung such wonderful books.

Unlike Franklin's two career books, which have had a couple of VMC editions, this one has only been published once in an original green edition. But I love the cover art which seems to evoke Australia at the early twentieth century when the book is set.

Thank heaven fasting (E.M. Delafield)

2011-05-02T19:56:00.000+01:00

Thank you everyone (especially those of you who de-lurked!) for the attempts to enthuse me about my VMC pile. Hearing people sound so excited about some of the titles did cheer me up a bit, and it reminded me that I did very much want to read both the Miles Franklin and the E.M. Delafield. So, I picked the E.M. Delafield as it was shorter: Thank heaven fasting.

It was a good read, although it raised lots of thoughts in my mind about the status of women and how lucky I am, living in the twentieth century about to be married...

The book opens with Monica, going with her mother to the dressmaker to get a gown to wear for her "Coming out". Monica is excited but also deeply concerned, for in her mind, "coming out" is deeply connected with the need for her to find a husband - her position in life will entirely depend on whether or not she succeeds (and girls encountered who are several seasons in and as yet un-engaged are pointed out with deep suspicion). We follow her as she attends her first dinner and ball, strongly influenced by her mother as to how she may or may not behave, and how she nearly brings shame upon herself by spending time with one man alone. As the book continues, tension rises as one wonders whether or not Monica will find a husband or whether mother will be left making excuses for her daughter's apparently inability to become engaged.

It made me sad that girls like Monica should not have had the chance either to pursue romance more informally or really to pursue success on a more personal level - through finding a career or fulfilment in doing some sort of charitable endeavour rather than through a man. I sensed that Delafield thought the same as although even Monica's mother, concerned with social status, is sympathetically drawn, she is pretty scathing towards the society that carries out these practices.

I felt lucky reading this that I had the chance to pursue both a university education, and a career, and, that never really expecting to get married, I met someone entirely without trying and am exactly three months away from my own wedding day.

Sadly, although Delafield wrote a number of novels, only two of the others (including Diary of a Provincial Lady) have made it onto the VMC list. I previously greatly enjoyed the non VMC War-workers, and also was gripped by the Persephone-published Consequences. I've sought out a friend who has quite a collection and will see if I can borrow some of the more obscure ones from him.

Unlike the Diary... this has only been published once by Virago with an original green cover.

Inspire me people...

2011-05-01T12:35:00.003+01:00

As part of our imminent house move, I put all of my VMC TBRs in one place...I don't feel inspired to read any of them... Can anyone inspire me to take one from the stack?!

The year before last (Boyle) 225

2011-04-26T18:08:00.002+01:00

I have to admit to struggling somewhat - I have a whole stack of VMCs, probably around 30, but none of them are calling me. It feels like I have read a lot of duds recently, but scrolling down through the recent posts here I know that is not true. You can't get lost in Cape Town was vivid, Peking Picnic was another good Ann Bridge, if not quite as good as Illyrian Spring.

So my feeling when reading The year before last by Kay Boyle was, what if all of the VMCs I have left are like this? Not bad exactly, but just not books which captivate me. I will persevere anyway as I want to try to read as much of the piles as I can before I move house in less than 4 weeks time. It was my second Kay Boyle novel for VVV, although I don't remember much about Plagued by the nightingale - in fact, I just posted a teaser as I didn't really feel like writing about it.

Set on the French Riviera at the beginning of the twentieth century, it follows Hannah and Martin. The book starts with Hannah leaving her husband to join Martin, who is her editor, and it follows their love affair which is complicated by Martin's aunt, Eve, who is very possessive.

I just couldn't muster up much interest in either the plot or the characters I'm afraid.

Just published once in an original green edition which I own. I don't even like the cover art especially.

Shadows on the rock (Cather)

2011-04-22T18:14:00.000+01:00

I am enjoying my Willa Cather subsection of my journey through the VMC list, and Shadows on the rock is my latest. It's really quite different from other Cather novels, and I wouldn't recommend it as a starting point for her work, but nonetheless I really enjoyed it. Whilst other Cather novels frequently involve strong women characters and/or a compelling plot, this one has neither, but is undeniably beautiful.

Set in Quebec, it tells of an apothecary, Euclid Auclair, and his daughter Cecile, who have come to the Canadian province from France after the death of Cecile's mother. Set in 1697 and 1698 the book describes life at that time, the development of Quebec as a place in its own right, and not just as an outpost of the French, although the French influence is certainly both seen and felt. Cecile is 12, and runs the household admirably. In the second half of the book the focus moves to the endurance of a long and hard winter, which is especially difficult as no boats can get through from France, isolating the pair, and the other residents from the relatives that they have left behind.

It's been published twice by Virago, once in an original green edition, which I own, and once

You can't get lost in Cape Town (Wicomb) 420

2011-04-20T17:08:00.001+01:00

One of the great things about working in the reading rooms at the Bodleian is seeing the books which people are ordering up. 99.9% of the time the books don't interest me terribly, but occasionally someone is doing some research that involves the consultation of a Virago Modern Classic, and with the eye for a green spine that I have developed over the last couple of years, I usually spot it a mile off. About half of the time I spot a green spine, it is one that I haven't come across, and if so, I usually have a quick look at it, and quite often I am tempted into reading something that otherwise I might have taken a little while to come across. One of my recent spots was You can't get lost in Cape Town by Zoe Wicomb.

This is a stunning portrait of Frieda Shenton, a young South African. Given a rural upbringing, she moves to Cape Town, where she struggles somewhat to fit in. Yet when she returns home, she finds herself changed by the city life and no longer fits in there either. Gender, class, race issues are all addressed as obviously the apartheid has a bearing on the times. And at the end, she does return to her roots. Bits of the book were very hard to read, such as the abortion of a nearly full-term baby.

It's not written as a straight novel, rather as a series of interlinked short stories, and I wonder how much it loosely autobigraphical, since the last one ends with Frieda starting to forge a career as a writer (Wicomb wrote a number of short stories and essays on South African literature apparently).

The blurb on the back of this book also says "[this] is one of the first contemporary novels to join the Virago Modern Classics". It was written in 1987, so it is less contemporary now. I would love to find a list of VMCs with the dates of original publication on to see how many VMCs are "contemporary". And I guess it would just be interesting to see the spread of titles. Something for a rainy day, I guess.

Follow the blog by email!

2011-04-19T17:36:00.000+01:00

I've just added a gadget that should let you follow this blog by email - you'll see it in the top right hand corner. I hope this means that more people can keep up with the blog more easily - but please do leave comments if you can!

2011-04-18T17:56:00.000+01:00

I haven't yet read this one, and don't have a copy either yet but I covet it hugely. K and I have just bought a house, and it is a semi...

I didn't pick up a book all weekend; I hope that I am still going to find time to read! I would like to get rid of most of my VMC TBR before we move at the end of May...

All the dogs of my life (Von Arnim) 397

2011-04-11T17:52:00.000+01:00

I apologise for the lack of Virago Venture posts over the last couple of weeks - if you follow my other blog (Cardigan Girl Verity) you'll have seen that I've been reading my way through the Orange longlist. I'm nearly done, and I have a stack of VMCs at home which I'm really looking forward to getting back into. But I snuck one, by one of my favourite VMC discoveries in over the weekend. It was an enjoyable break from the more recent fiction that I've been reading, even if it didn't quite hold up to the other books that I've enjoyed by Elizabeth Von Arnim.

Rather than a novel, this is Von Arnim's autobiography, or at least the nearest she ever got to writing one. It isn't a traditional autiobiography, because she uses as a framework an account of the fourteen dogs that she owned in her life to date - so it is more of a biography of her dogs than really a story of her life.

"I would like, to begin with, to say that though parents, husbands, children, lovers and friends are all very well, they are not dogs." Dogs were hugely important to Von Arnim as reliable companions.

I didn't think it really quite worked for me - perhaps because I am not a doggy person, but mainly because she kept saying as an aside "if this wasn't a book about dogs, then I'd tell you about...." which just annoyed me, and made me wish for a proper autobiography. Elizabeth and her German Garden and The solitary summer seem to give a much better sense of Von Arnim as a person.

I wonder if there is a biography of Von Arnim out there (and if not, perhaps Virago should commission one - I'm sure it would make fascinating reading!)

That's the last Elizabeth Von Arnim that I've got to read for this challenge, although the good (and bad I suppose really) thing is that she wrote a number of novels which never made it into the VMC list and I've still got a couple of those to read. I would love to see the rest of them published as VMCs if anyone from Virago is reading this!

This was published just the once by Virago, with this slightly unusual cover. It does have a green spine even if the front of it looks quite un-Virago like!

4 new books

2011-03-29T18:48:00.001+01:00

Aren't I lucky?

I got an email out of the blue recently from a lady named Heather in the US, who had picked up some VMCs and thought of me - all four were ones that I didn't have! She very kindly posted them to me and they arrived extremely promptly (I hope my thank you card is as swift in its trip over the Atlantic!). I am particularly excited about reading Thank heaven fasting as I have greatly enjoyed the Delafield books that I have read, and this has been on my wishlist for a while. I did confess that I have struggled with Edith Wharton in the past, but Heather points out that this volume is short stories so may be more manageable. Here's hoping.

Thank you Heather!

New edition of The fountain overflows

2011-03-23T18:23:00.000Z

Hot on the heels of the rerelease of The Diary of a Provincial Lady in the VMC list is another rerelease of a title from their back catalogue, The fountain overflows by Rebecca West, the first of a trilogy of books, which is released at the end of march.

Like the Provincial Lady, I'd read this pre-blogging, so the post I wrote here is a little minimal.

But here's the synopsis from the press release that Virago sent me to whet your appetite. I'm looking forward to reading the new introduction by Amanda Craig, whose books I greatly admire.

"Rose Aubrey is one of a family of four children. Their father, Piers, is the disgraced son of an Irish landowning family, a violent, noble and quite unscrupulous leader of popular causes. His Scottish wife, Clare, is an artist, a tower of strength, fanatically devoted to a musical future for her daughters. This is the story of their life in south London, a life threatened by Piers's streak of tragic folly which keeps them on the verge of financial ruin and social disgrace . . ."

I rather like the pastel shades combined with silouettes chosen for the cover. I don't know if there are plans to do the rest of the trilogy, but hope they would be done to match.

New York Mosaic (Bolton) 464

2011-03-22T18:00:00.001Z

If you are interested in all things New York (like Booksnob perhaps...?), then this trilogy of novellas is likely to tickle your fancy. I was at first annoyed, because Virago have published many shorter novellas individually, but I had to read three novellas in order to cross only one more book off my list. And whilst I have been to New York, and could just about envisage the places described, the writing and plots didn't grip me enough to make it a VMC that I could rave about. Or even particularly enjoyed reading.

The three novellas in the volume are:
Do I wake or sleep The Christmas Tree Many mansions

Of the three, my favourite was the second - despite reading it in March, I enjoyed the seasonal story which had a sensitive treatment of the story of a gay man at a family Christmas dinner.

Apparently in her day, Bolton was compared to Virginia Woolf, but was forgotten until Virago issued this reprint. I hate to say it but it looks like she has been forgotten again.

Peking Picnic (Bridge)

2011-03-21T17:33:00.001Z

Hot on the heels of really enjoying Illyrian Spring, I felt that I absolutely must read Ann Bridge's other VMC novel (although she wrote other non-VMC novels too), Peking Picnic. Especially since unlike Illyrian Spring, Peking Picnic has recently been brought back into print by Capachin Classics. Peking Picnic was Ann Bridge's first novel; as a debut novel it is impressive, compared to Illyrian Spring I found it rather less enjoyable, so if you are planning to read both, then I would start with Peking Picnic and then move on. I actually read this several weeks ago, but in the rush of enthusiasm I had when I recieved my Awesome Virago loot I wanted to get on with reviewing those books first.

Set in Peking (and there aren't too many VMCs with a Chinese setting), the book follows the story of Laura Leroy, married to an attache and part of the diplomatic scene there, although she secretly missed England. The book is constructed around a trip made by some of the people attached to the Foreign Legation to a temple in the countryside; the individuals vary in ages, nationalities and life experiences, but all find the trip life-changing in some way. Laura acts as the centre for this, providing advice and inspiration, but also finding herself changed.

Like Illyrian Spring, what I liked best I think about this book was the description of China and the country, as well as the character studies and insight into the lives of the individuals which are beautifully done. Rachel at Book Snob reached a similar conclusion in her review which you can see here.

This by the way is my THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH VMC that I have blogged about (I haven't finished blogging about Elizabeth Taylor yet although I have read all of those), so I have just over 200 to go now (although the collection is of course ever expanding...)

One of ours (Cather)

2011-03-18T17:20:00.001Z

After Thomas raved about Shadows on the rock by Willa Cather, I was keen to read it. But that title has not yet passed through my hands. However, on my VMC TBR pile was another Willa Cather, so I thought I would try to compensate for not being able to read a book which had piqued my fancy with another one by the same author. Quite a chunky tome, and a Pulitzer Prize-winner no less, One of ours proved to be an excellent novel that stretched out over several days (I am getting better these days at pacing myself through long books and not either feeling overwhelmed by them or rushing through them...) (it is 459pp long).

It's a compelling story about values in the American midwest at the start of the twentieth century. Claude, around whom the story centres, lives on the family farm, and basically follows the path that is mapped out for him - he goes to college, he comes home to work on the farm, he gets married, but he finds the Nebraskan farming community increasingly materialistic and wants to find his own meaning of life. Of course, world views suddenly change with the advent of the First World War - Claude enlists, leaves the farm and finds himself in France. Quite literally finds himself in France. To say anymore would be to introduce a large spoiler, so I won't, but do seek this one out.

Of course, I am now interested in another Cather novel - Lucy Gayheart, which had a synopsis in the back of this volume, so I hope that both this and Shadows on the rock pass my way before too long.

This has been published three times; the copy that I acquired from Awesome books a little while ago is a creased original green edition at the top of this post which I think has a very stark and eye-catching cover picture which fits in with the WW1 theme.

Gooseboy (Barker)

2011-03-17T19:48:00.000Z

A.L. Barker is good at writing particularly original novels. John Brown's body which I read last month was extremely complex, and The gooseboy is no less original.

It's a book about twins; the male twin Bysshe (pronounced to rhyme with "fish") is a film star (although he has had to adopt a better name for the stage!) and is contemplating a new part as a doctor. His sister, Dulcie meanwhile is trying to retrieve her husband Pike, who has deserted her and headed to Nice with an adolescent girl, near where Bysshe lives. The gooseboy of the title lives on the farm where Bysshe lives when he is not acting, looking after the farm geese; he is characterised by extreme beauty coupled with extreme scarring.

The story is far too complicated to go into in any more detail than that, but it is actually a fairly short book (149p.); somehow Barker manages to weave all of these different elements together to create a clever tale that is extremely well written.

It's a book that I wouldn't have chosen to read were it not for the VMC challenge - a bit too literary for me, but it is great that such literary work is also on the VMC list.

It's been published just once by Virago with a modern green cover. I got my copy from my Awesome books haul a month or so ago...

(By the way, this and the rest of A.L. Barker's oeuvre have recently been reissued by Faber Finds)

Curious if true (Gaskell)

2011-03-16T17:20:00.000Z

I rather enjoyed this tale of "short stories" from Mrs Gaskell, if partly because there were only 5 stories in the volume which meant that they were quite long and more like novellas than anything else. I've never actually read any Mrs Gaskell novels before, although I had come across the tale "The old nurse's story" which is in this collection, along with "The grey lady", "The poor Clare", "Lois the witch" and "Curious if true".

It's a reasonably recent VMC, just published once with a modern green cover edition and an introduction by Jenny Uglow.

PS: Has anyone read any novels by Mrs Gaskell? Are they also slightly chilling? And is there a good one to start with? I get the impression that she may be an author who I should discover, like having discovered Wilkie Collins last year.

A stricken field (Gellhorn) 206

2011-03-14T17:50:00.000Z

Although I have another Martha Gellhorn book on my longer-term VMC TBR, I decided to pick up the one that arrived in my batch of books from Awesome books a few weeks ago - A stricken field. Unfortunately, not only did it take me a while to get through, it took me somewhat longer to get around to writing about it.

The book is based on Gellhorn's own experiences as a journalist during the Second World War in Prague. It starts with the Munich Pact and the subsequent issues, with the invasion of the Germans and the deportations to concentration camps. The story is told by a character Mary, who becomes involved with those suffering under Nazi rule and attempting to do her own bit to resist fascism.

I am often interested in reading wartime memoirs, particularly things like An interrupted life, or Christabel Bielenberg's The past is myself. But somehow, a novel influenced by personal experiences just didn't seem to draw me in. If it had been a memoir maybe I would have liked it somewhat more. Mary is certainly brave but I found myself wondering more and more about Gellhorn's experiences than in staying with the story.

It's just been published once by Virago with an original green cover.

The grain of truth (Bawden) 387

2011-03-11T17:42:00.000Z

It was with a mix of sadness and happiness that I picked up The grain of truth by Nina Bawden. Bawden is one of the authors that I have enjoyed without exception on my VVV, and am happy that there were 14 of her novels on the list. I thought I had read all of them, but then I realised last month that I still had one to go, and managed to acquire a copy! So happiness that I got to read another Bawden, but sadness that this was definitely the last. I even spun it out over a couple of days rather than racing my way through as I sometimes do with a good book.

It's very typically Bawden, less about the plot than about the characters and their lives and a meshing together of domestic experiences and roles. A story told from several perspectives that need to be brought together in order to understand what is really the "truth". Emma, her husband Henry, and her best friend Holly all have different stories to tell, partly fuelled by their own individual deceits, and although the book centres around the trigger of the death of Henry's father (who Emma is convinced that she pushed down the stairs), it delves deep back into their pasts - how they got to know each other. All very interesting and intriguing!

Only published once by Virago in an italicised green edition.

New edition of The diary of a provincial lady

2011-03-10T17:48:00.001Z

I have just been sent a copy of the latest VMC which is coming out on the 31st March, and it is a new edition of The diary of a provincial lady! How lovely to see all the volumes of the provincial lady back in print together (Virago published the first book in its cloth bound 40 year anniversary edition a couple of years ago). I wrote about it quite early on in my blog here, and I have to confess that this is my third Virago copy of the title, since I bought two other copies a year or so ago (in bookaholic induced madness, which my blog-readers did understand)...

It is a pretty cover design. This is the FIFTH time that Virago have issued it. I wonder if that is a record for a VMC.

Phoenix Fled (Hosain)

2011-03-09T18:05:00.000Z

Hot on the heels of reading Sunlight on a broken column, I acquired the other VMC by Hosain, Phoenix fled. This is a book of short stories, which were Hosain's first published work.

The stories are set in India and shed light on the class system and the role of the servant classes. And issues like arranged marriage. Reasonably enjoyable but not as memorable as the longer novel.

Published just once with an original green cover.

Another time, another place (Kesson)

2011-03-08T17:42:00.001Z

Although my colleague, to whom I lent the last Kesson novel that I wrote about, handed it back saying that it was a bit bleak and grim for her, I was quite looking forward to my next Kesson read. Particularly as Another time, another place, is a mere 94pp novella.

And it was less bleak that Glitter of Mica. A very rural, country novel, it did put me in mind of Mary Webb, but without her bleakness.

Set in 1944, it tells the story of a "young woman", who is referred to by this name throughout (although she is called Janie); this was an interesting technique as it made her seem very anonymous whereas all of the other characters were referred to by their names. Living in a remote Scottish village, and married to a man who works on a farm, she finds herself looking after three Italian prisoners of war from a group who have been billeted on the community. The novella tells the story of the community's interest and involvement with the prisoners of war; the young woman in particular finds them intriguing.

It is a very simple tale but beautifully told.

One more Kesson VMC to go - The white bird passes - and judging by the synopsis I read at the back of this volume, it is one that shall also interest me, and I hope I come across it sooner rather than later.

This one has just been published once, in an italicised green edition.

Bread and butter stories (Norton)

2011-03-04T18:23:00.000Z

Mary Norton is probably far more familiar to most people as the author behind The borrowers series, or a book that I absolutely adored as a child - Bedknob and broomsticks. But she also wrote stories for magazines - her daughter in the introduction says that these were written to provide the "bread and butter" for the family, hence the name of this volume!

And what good stories they are. I am still wary of short stories but these hit the spot over a couple of busy days where my teabreaks were mainly spent trying to sort out some other things! If you enjoy any of the short story volumes published by Persephone books then I think these will appeal too - subjects range widely from cruise ships to new hats to visually impaired women on trains, all wonderfully executed.

It's been published twice by Virago - once with a green spine (as my copy above) and one more modern edition. Do look out for these.

A favourite of the gods (Bedford)

2011-03-03T17:24:00.000Z

A favourite of the Gods is my latest Virago read, again from my Awesome books loot last month. (Having such a good selection to choose from is definitely inspiring me to get through them!). I had read the other Sybille Bedford, A compass error earlier in my project, and looking again at my review (the book had not stayed with me very much) I think that this is the prequel as it involves the same characters, only earlier on - I may now revisit that to see how it fits with this one.

The book starts with a lady called Constanza boarding a train from the Italian Riviera with her young daughter Flavia; they are on the way to England. But suddenly Constanza realises that she has lost her ruby ring and the journey is disrupted - in fact they never complete the journey, although it is not clear why.

The book then goes to an earlier time, and tells the story of Anna, Constanza's mother, an American heiress, who had married an Italian man. The story was interesting but so much dramatic tension had been built up at the start of the book that I struggled to get into it as I was desperate to return to Flavia and Constanza, which I did not get to do until the last third of the book.

It's been published twice by Virago, in original green and italicised green, both time with the same picture. My book is the more recent version.

Expensive people (Oates)

2011-03-02T17:21:00.000Z

From one over-typical Virago, to something completely different - a story narrated by a male teenager. Expensive people caught my eye on the TBR as the Cardigan Girl household is currently undergoing some financial sorting out, and although Joyce Carol Oates is an author who is quite well known, she is not one that I had heard of.

The book got off to an excellent start "I was a child murderer" - who would not want to read on (even if you don't like murder stories, I think with that sort of introduction you would be intrigued to find out what happens next). Told by Richard, we learn about his wealthy but disaffected childhood and find out what takes him to a position where he ends up being able to make such a statement.

The book reminded me a lot of A catcher in the Rye - the level of disaffection and the very immediate first person narrative, although Richard is far more screwed up than Holden Caulfield ever was.

It felt like an interesting choice for a Virago, particularly given how I felt after my last read. Obviously it is included because Joyce Carol Oates is an eminent female writing, but this one is so far from the run of the mill VMCs. I'm not complaining though - it made for a nice change!

It's been published twice, once with a modern green cover (which I have - part of my Awesome Books loot) and once with a modern cover (below)

The fly on the wheel (Thurston)

2011-03-01T17:29:00.000Z

Another day, another Virago modern classic - this time The fly on the wheel by Katherine Cecil Thurston. And a book that I found very typical of original green Viragos; I'm not sure how to explain it but sometimes one feels that books are particularly original green Virago-ish and this was one of them.

Set in the late 19th century (Victorian - check), in the village of Waterford (village - check), the blurb describes it as a "vivid portrait of social behaviour" (social behaviour them - check) "among the Catholic middle classes" (religious element - check). It centres around the character of Isabel Costello (even the name of the heroine felt particularly VMCish) who has become engaged (marital relationship - check) to Frank, a young doctor. But his brother Stephen intervenes (the path of love is never smooth - check) as Frank lacks money and Isabel has none bestowed on her either.

Things got a little more interesting and untypical when Isabel and Stephen who is married with children fall in love, but I couldn't help feel that Thurston was almost writing to a formula, or that Virago republished this book because it fitted in with her formula. Maybe I am being a little unfair to this book...I enjoyed it, but somehow it felt like so many of the books that I have already read for this challenge.

Thurston, the author, only wrote two novels, dying early (promising career cut short - check) and this is her only VMC.

It's just been published once, in the original green cover version, which I own.

Ellen Foster (Kaye Gibbons)

2011-02-28T18:03:00.000Z

Ellen Foster is yet another book from my loot a couple of weeks ago - I'm slowly working my way through the pile and enjoying it immensely! I had read one other VMC by the author already, Sights unseen, a book about madness and electro-shock therapy, but it hadn't stayed with me so I wasn't sure what to expect from Ellen Foster.

Told from the perspective of Ellen, a ten year old, this is a wonderful depiction of a girl dealing with a gruelling family life and eventually finding a home. It's a tale of survival - Ellen's mother and then father die, but he is such a non-father that it is almost a relief when that happens. Poverty, abuse, and being shuttled around between relatives are all things that Ellen has to contend with.

Another interesting sub-plot to the book is Ellen's friendship with a negro girl Starletta; the book is set just as segregation is coming to an end, which is why it is possible for the two to be friends. However, Ellen's unbringing makes it initially very difficult for her to relax in Starletta's company - for example, when she is forced to stay over at Starletta's house, she sleeps on top of the bed, with her clothes on, so that she can't actually have been considered to have slept there.

I remember now that I picked this out particularly because Ellen was described in one blurb as a Southern Holden Caulfield [Catcher in the Rye] - I'm not sure this is a very accurate or fair description as although Ellen certainly tells things like they are, in an immediate first person style, she has far more assurance than Caulfield and very real difficult circumstances to contend with. There isn't any of the teenage angst that there is in the Catcher in the Rye.

This seems to be an extremely popular book with bookclubs, especially in the US. It's only been published once by Virago with a modern green cover, but there are numerous other editions.

The sugar mother (Jolley)

2011-02-23T19:21:00.000Z

I pulled The sugar mother from my Awesome Books loot quite early on as my friend Claire commented that the author was on her radar; that was enough for me to choose it over another, but in practice it took me two goes before I could get through what I found to be a rather weird little book.

It is about a middle-aged university professor, Edwin Page, whose wife, Cecilia has gone abroad for a year on a research sabbatical. Early on, his next-door neighbour and her daughter Leila, lock themselves out of their house, and Page comes to their assistance. They quickly latch onto him and he invites them to move in. Mrs Botts, the mother, then suggests that Edwin should use Leila as a "sugar mother" (i.e. surrogate mother), and Leila becomes pregnant, although it is not obvious whether or not the baby belongs to Edwin. I found this all really difficult to believe in - does this sort of thing really go on? Do I just live in a sheltered existence?! The story isn't exactly resolved either, Cecilia has not returned and we are left wondering what will happen when she does.

This has just been published once by Virago with a modern cover, although it does also have a bright green spine.

One of Jolley's other novels, The newspaper on Claremount Street, is also a VMC.

One way of love (Gamel Woolsey) 239

2011-02-22T18:08:00.002Z

Another titles from my Awesome Books loot that I had never come across before; I don't think I've ever seen this title mentioned before. And again, how wonderful to discover a book that I really enjoyed reading that I would not have found had it not been for this project.

The book centres around the somewhat naieve character of Mariana Clare. Brought up on a childhood diet of fairy tales, she is convinced that eternal love exists and is desperate to find it. Finding herself in New York, alone, aged 21, she meets a set of artist friends. Several try to encourage her into bed, but believing in the importance of love, she refuses. A man named Alan spends considerable time wooing her, and eventually succeeds in persuading her to let him make love to her, but it is a while before she actually feels anything for him. Despite this, they marry, but it seems that Alan is primarily interested in the idea of being in love with her, and in making love and isn't actually in love with her. The slightly doomed partnership seems further doomed when they head to London to try to build a life there, although several months in Looe in Cornwall (this pleased me especially as I love to see Cornwall referred to in books) helps, but they do eventually part.

As the blurb on the back of the book says, when this happens she "is still left with "a curious fear that if she were not to find a lover she would be lonely in another world as well as this". I loved the way that the book gave such great insight into the thoughts of Mariana: who hasn't longed for love that will last forever and ever.

Apparently, although it was supposed to be published in 1932, it was withdrawn after The well of loneliness was taken to court for sexual explicitness. Although One way of love is sexually explicit at points in the story, I did not find it in bad taste as can sometimes be the case. It was eventually published in 1987, having been rescued by Virago from the British Museum which held a copy of the proof.

It's just been published once by Virago, with an original green cover, and I would say that it is definitely an underrated one. (The author was primarily a poet and this was her first novel, and you can read a fuller account of her life here)

A wreath for the enemy (Frankau)

2011-02-21T17:27:00.001Z

I was spurred onto read this Frankau when a reader called Harriet visited this blog and commented on one of my other Frankau posts, The Willow Cabin (the other being The Winged Horse, which I did not enjoy so much) which reminded me that I still had another volume of hers to go.

A "coming of age" novel, the book, which falls into three sections, centres around the character of Penelope Wells. A precocious child, she lives in a hotel in the French Riviera with her parents. One summer she meets the far more conventional Bradley children; whilst the children get on well, the Bradley parents find the hotel disreputable and the friendship sadly ends. But the childhood encounters and an episode at the end of their friendship proves strongly influential on the lives of both Penelope, and Don Bradley. Penelope seeks order as an adult, and Don rebels against his family values, and it is this which is explored in the other two sections of the book. The middle section is told through the eyes of Don, as he develops a friendship with a man called Crusoe, involved in the horse-racing scene, and the final section returns to Penelope.

Perhaps it wasn't quite as captivating as some of the other "coming of age" VMC novels, I capture the castle or The constant nymph, for example, but I did find it very absorbing and different, and not at all dated (which, although I hate to say it about a range branded as "classics" can sometime be the case), and according to the introduction by Rafaella Barker, it is strongly autobiographical.

It's just been published once by Virago with an original green cover, but bizarrely appears in my VMC master-list with two numbers - I can't quite explain this. I love the cover image and would be glad to see the Frankau books (which I have now read all of, or at least the VMC ones - she wrote 33 in total) back in print. I think however that The Willow Cabin remains my favourite of the three.

*edit* the second number is a mistake - 272 which I previously mentioned on this post actually belongs to Willa Cather - One of ours

New Daphne Du Maurier Short Story Collection in May.

2011-02-20T15:25:00.001Z

I already knew about this from the list of VMC titles to be released in 2011 that I was kindly sent by Sophie from Virago at the end of last year, but I was excited to see a mention of it in the Bookseller - some previously unpublished (and other) stories from Daphne Du Maurier will be released in May. You can read more about it here.

The blurb that I recieved from Virago says:

‘I want to know if men realise when they are insane. Sometimes I think that my brain cannot hold together, it is filled with too much horror – too much despair . . . I cannot sleep, I cannot close my eyes without seeing his damned face. If only it had been a dream.’ In ‘The Doll’, a waterlogged notebook is washed ashore. Its pages tell a dark story of obsession and jealousy. But the fate of its narrator is a mystery. Many of the stories in this haunting collection have only recently been discovered. Most were written early in Daphne du Maurier’s career, yet they display her mastery of atmosphere, tension and intrigue and reveal a cynicism far beyond her years.

Daphne Du Maurier is one of my very favourite authors so I don't need to say quite how excited I am about this!

‘I w

Rose in bloom (Alcott) 338

2011-02-17T17:53:00.000Z

I ticked Rose in Bloom off my VMC list quite near to the start of the project; I never set out to reread books as part of VVV if I had already read them at some point before I began, and I had read both Eight Cousins and Rose in Bloom whilst at school. But I hankered after my own copies and was very excited to get Rose in Bloom as part of my Awesome Books loot this week. Particularly as the copy that arrived was in almost pristine condition.

I still didn't plan to reread it, rather just put it onto my bookshelves, particularly as it is the second in a pair of books, but something made me pop it into my bag yesterday. and I'm really glad I did. I started off by skipping over the introduction and attacking the novel, but then something made me turn back. Written by Sara Maitland, it set a book that I can remember reading at school into the far broader context of women's literature at a level that I would not have appreciated when I read the Puffin classics edition at the bottom of this post merely for its story (and I am ashamed to say that I would have, if you'd asked me, dismissed it as a children's book, based on the fact that I read it at school, when actually I think it is more than that).

The book follows on from Eight Cousins, which I am now also keen to reread (particularly if that has an interesting introduction!), and tells the tale of Rose, now a woman of fortune as she tries to find her place in the world as an adult, coming out as a debutante, falling in love and learning who her friends are. Yes, it is sentimental, but it is also very interesting.

According to Maitland, Alcott was strongly influenced by the belief of transcendentalist philosophy, and this informed her concept of the "ideal woman" which is what she wants to portray Rose as. It was a movement believing in the "divine sufficiency of the individual" - in other words, it is about being true to oneself, with the virtues of strong-mindedness, self-control and self-knowledge being the most important. And this is the underpinning philosophy that Alcott used to draw the character of Rose.

Maitland also draws parallels between this and other Alcott sequels; Rose in Bloom is a sequel to Eight Cousins like Good Wives follows on from Little Women and Jo's Boys follows from Little men. The first books focus on childhood and moral education whereas their sequels are more romantic, and look at the issue of finding one's marriage partner, frequently ending with engagement. This Maitland suggests was typical of the time for books aimed at the adolescent but may also have reflected that Alcott herself never married (how that surprised me!)

Hackenfeller's Ape (Brophy)

2011-02-16T17:51:00.000Z

I have dived straight in with the books that arrived from Awesome books yesterday; it was difficult to decide what to pick first as I was immediately tempted by more than half of the pile (and how easy it is now to ignore the poor languishing VMCs). I was especially gratified to see that some of the books which arrived were really quite short, so having read some chunksters this year, I thought I deserved to make a start with one of the novellas and I picked up Hackenfeller's ape by Brigid Brophy. I had not come across this until my perusal of the Awesome Books website. And what an interesting VMC it is. It is the first one that I have come across where one of the principal characters is an animal.

Percy is a rare Hackenfeller's ape at the London zoo. (We are told that Hackenfeller discovered these apes in the nineteenth century and they are particularly special because they are so very similar to humans). He lives with his fellow-ape Edwina. The pair are befriended by Professor Darrelhyde who is determined to see the pair mate, apparently they have a very beautiful mating ritual and he is also concerned to protect their future. One day The Professor (as he is described) finds out that Percy's owner has arranged for him to be shot into space, and becomes deeply concerned to save him. The rest of the book is about how he arranges the escape; and the end is somewhat bittersweet and not wholly expected.

Really enjoyed this novella; it was certainly not what I was expecting from a VMC, and whilst dealing with the issue of the treatment of animals by humans, it is extremely readaboe.

This title has just been published once by Virago in the italicised green edition. As I checked it off on my spreadsheet masterplan I spotted that Brophy has another VMC, King of a rainy country, which now intrigues me. (Wonder if that rainy country is the UK - you will have seen the rain in the photo I took when the books arrived!).

A slight confession

2011-02-15T18:45:00.000Z

Oops - I just picked up 19 VMCs which I didn't have/had not read courtesy of having a discount code for Awesome books - £36 including postage! Well, our household income has now doubled now that OH is back at work.

But most of them I've not really come across and having felt inspired recently to get on with my VVV again after the stagnation in the latter part of the year, I feel justified in ordering them as it should make a bit more - will make a bit more of a dent in my Virago reading venture. Here's the list:

Expensive people (Joyce Carol Oates)
The grain of truth (Nina Bawden) - excited by this as realised the other day that I still had one of her books left to read and it was this one! Nina Bawden is one of the VMC authors with a large output that I have consistently enjoyed.
New York Mosaic: "Do I Wake or Sleep", "Christmas Tree", "Many Mansions" (Isabel Bolton)
The sugar mother (Elizabeth Jolley)
The fly on the wheel (Katherine Thurston) - not heard of this author
Rose in Bloom (Louisa May Alcott) - I've always wanted this one since finding out that it was a VMC
The rock cried out (Ellen Douglas) - one of those authors who have only one VMC published.
Curious if true, Strange tales by Mrs Gaskell (Elizabeth Gaskell) - should be good!
A stricken field (Martha Gelhorn) - I have another of her books on my VMC TBR
One way of love (Gamel Woolsey) - another one-book author I've never heard of.
One of ours (Willa Cather) - I really like her books which I only encountered through reading my way through the VMCs.
The bread and butter stories (Mary Norton) - I've heard that this is good, and am intrigued as Mary Norton to me = Bedknob and Broomstick (which I loved!)
The gooseboy (A.L. Barker) - just finished John Brown's Body by the same which I quite enjoyed
Ellen Foster (Kaye Gibbons) - this is described as a southern, female version of Holden Caulfield which intrigues me!
Phoenix Fled (Attia Hossein) - just finished her other VMC, Sunlight on a broken column which was very different from the run of the mill so will be itnerested to see this.
Hackenfeller's Ape (Brigid Brophy) - never come across this before
Another time, another place (Jessie Kesson) - enjoyed one of her novels the other month
A favourite of the gods (Sybille Bedford) - I enjoyed her Compass error a year or so ago...

Awesome books are definitely Awesome - far better deals than the cheapest books on ebay or Amazon! Probably will regret sharing my secret!

Death comes for the archbishop (Cather)

2011-02-14T18:05:00.000Z

What a coincidence it was to put this book into my bag and then read a review by Rachel from Book Snob! I do hope you'll go and read her review, as I need to save my fingers a bit as I am starting to suffering from what may be RSI and I need to limit my typing :(

As Rachel says, it's very different from her prairie/pioneering books; I've read some of her non-prairie books before (particularly Alexander's Bridge) which I loved. Sadly I didn't find this one so enjoyable - more of a narrative than a novel, it is a series of sketches concerning two French Catholics who come to America to spread religion among the Mexicans. It sounded promising but there wasn't sufficient story to grip me.

It's been published three times by Virago, and I had the third, most modern version from the library.

Marriage (Ferrier)

2011-02-11T17:18:00.000Z

I'm not sure why I had not come to Marriage by Susan Ferrier before, particularly with my forthcoming nuptials making me home in on anything potentially wedding/marriage related. But anyway, I spotted it on Amazon and ordered it for Virago Reading Week. As it was quite a chunky tome, it took me a little longer to actually pick it up. But I did this week.

Ferrier has sometimes been described as a Scottish Jane Austen; it's difficult to say whether or not that is true from reading one book. Certainly there were elements of social manners. I'm afraid that I struggle with 19th century fiction so this wasn't one of my favourite VMCs. It starts off well - our heroine, Lady Juliana is about to be forced into marriage with an ancient earl by her father, simply because he represents the best prospects. Just before, she elopes with a penniless man. They go to Scotland, where his father is based, simply because they do not have any money to live on! She struggles with the rugged Scottish castle where she is now forced to live, and a marriage which does not seem likely to be successful now that the initial romance has disappeared. Twin daughters follow, and then the focus of the story shifts to them; a change in fortune means that Lady Juliana can move to London, but she only takes one of the girls with her. We then follow the differences in their upbringings, a classic story of contrast. I thought that this latter part of the book lacked the drive and humour of the first part; it is a long book and might have been better as a shorter book perhaps? I read in the introduction that Ferrier started out co-writing it with another lady, who dropped out early on, and I wonder if that is responsible for its over-longness?

It's just been published once by Virago with an original green cover.

The Ponder heart (Welty)

2011-02-10T17:53:00.000Z

The Ponder Heart by Welty was one of the books that I picked up on my visit to Woodstock at the end of Virago Reading Week and it didn't wait long on my TBR pile, mainly because it is a slim volume and I thought I could get it out of the way fast! I have read 3 of Welty's novels already for this blog - Losing Battles and Delta Wedding, which I didn't get on with very well, and The Robber Bridegroom, which I loved. Whilst I liked the tone of this book, I am afraid it fell into the category of the first two that I read.

The book is narrated by Edna Earle, and tells the story of the Ponder family, centering primarily around the character of her Uncle Daniel, who we discover was falsely accused of murdering his wife. The content and plot of the book isn't really its main focus however, rather the book is more about a depiction of small town life in Missisippi at the start of the last century.

As I've noted before when writing about Welty's work, I'm still not convinced that she is the author for me, but I know that her book The optimist's daughter is supposed to be the best of them, so until I have read that I will suspend my judgement!

This book has been published twice by Virago, once in an original green cover, which I own, and once in a modern cover.

Seven for a secret (Webb) 93

2011-02-09T17:26:00.000Z

I'm afraid I read Seven for a secret ages ago - way before Christmas I think. It's been hiding and I only just stumbled on it when I was tidying up my library books pile. Unfortunately, it wasn't terribly memorable, so there isn't much I can say about it at this later date, except that if you like Mary Webb's style and themes (pastoral Shropshire, a bit Thomas Hardyish) then you will probably enjoy this one. One of my colleagues who likes VMCs too quite likes Mary Webb, so I have lent the volume to her and we both commented on how lovely the picture on the front is. Probably the best thing about this book for me. Sadly, there is still quite a lot of Mary Webb left on the list...

John Brown's Body (Barker)

2011-02-08T18:17:00.000Z

I have never read anything by A.L. Barker, although I have heard of her and for a while I have been keen to read her book "The haunt", because it is set in my beloved Cornwall. John Brown's Body was on the 1970 Booker Shortlist so I hoped that it would be rather good.

It's a clever novel, that is told through two differing viewpoints - Marise, a young and naieve girl, who is married to Jack, a travelling salesman - and Ralph, who owns the building where the couple live. Marise believes that Ralph is John Brown, a man from the neighbourhood of her childhood who was accused of, but later acquited, of the gruesome murders of a pair of sisters. Ralph starts to play along with her fantasies and also starts to act differently from his staid and comfortable character and the book develops into an investigation into the ways of escapism. In no way straightforward, this book certainly made me think hard as I read it,

It has only been published once with a modern green cover. I shall be looking forward to reading the other two A.L. Barker's on my VMC list, "Gooseboy" and "Submerged", neither of which have passed my way yet.

Anyone else read anything by her?

Illyrian Spring (Bridge) 348

2011-02-06T14:46:00.000Z

From the unenjoyable to the wonderful; it pleased me to spend some of the weekend reading Illyrian Spring after battling through more Edith Wharton last week. I had been looking forward to coming to this book for sometime since it is one of those VMCs that everyone has read it raves about it. I had decided that I would not read it until I got a copy for myself (often they retail at £20+ on Amazon), and thanks to Rachel mentioning that there were a couple of reasonably priced copies when she wrote about it as part of Virago Reading Week (both now sadly gone), I managed to pick up one for only £5.80. The item was described as in "good" condition, but the book that turned up far exceeded my expectations - apart from one spine crease it is in excellent condition so I am very pleased to have it for my collection.

I didn't know anything about the title when I sat down to read it; a colleague of mine has had it ordered up to one of the reading rooms where I work where she is slowly savouring her way through it, but despite seeing it almost every day I had resisted even reading the blurb on the back. For me, the book felt a little like An enchanted April or A room with a view; I could imagine it being made into a lovely film that full of the wonderful atmosphere that Ann Bridge evokes in the book.

It's a novel of escape. The principal character Grace, Lady Kilmichael, is frustrated by her family and her life and goes off to Dalmatia to paint, take some time out and perhaps find herself. There, she meets a young man, Nicholas, also a painter, and also struggling to find his place amid familial expectations. An unlikely friendship forms and the time they spend together enables them to come to terms with their lives.

For me, it wasn't so much the story that I enjoyed, but the wonderful setting and easy writing enabled me to gulp the book down in an afternoon. I shall lend it to my colleague so that she can take it home and enjoy it in a more leisurely fashion than snatched moments at work!

It's just been published the once by Virago, with an original green cover, and now having read it, I want to add my voice to the masses who want them to bring it out again. I really think that there would be a market for a modern cover edition of this book, it would make a lovely summer read (or equally a winter read where one wants to think of warmer climes)

Ann Bridge's first novel, Peking Picnic, is also a VMC, and I have to confess to ordering myself a copy from Amazon to indulge in. I hope it will prove as enjoyable; if it looks like it will do, then I may suffer another couple of Edith Wharton's first...

Custom of the country (Wharton)

2011-02-04T17:36:00.000Z

I've done two Edith Whartons so far on this blog, and really they did not excite me very much. A colleague who reads this blog lent me her copy of Custom of the country quite a while ago; I can't remember what she said about it but it was along the lines of "this one will make you like Edith Wharton". I'm afraid it took me a while to get to, and it was only Virago Reading Week and the mention of this title by Laura, and a link to her review, that made me finally take it home from my desk and start reading it. I'm sorry Ali, but although I enjoyed it slightly more than the last ones it just didn't really do it for me. I think the issue is that I don't particularly enjoy the setting very much, but I guess I'm going to have to learn to enjoy books about New York "society" and social climbing as there are 16 Edith Whartons in total on the VMC list.

As Laura has written such an elegant review, I think I'll direct you over there, rather than struggle to write a post about a book which I didn't enjoy very much. Wharton along with Keane is an author that I wish Virago hadn't published so much of.

My borrowed copy was a Bantam Classic edition; it looks like it has only been published once in a green italicized edition.

Playing the harlot (Patricia Avis)

2011-02-02T18:04:00.000Z

Why is it so much easier to read Viragos recently acquired than those which had been languishing in my posession for some time? (I may take a photo of those at some point soon so that you can all persuade me to read them!). Playing the harlot by Patricia Avis is another one from my recent tranch of VMC acquisitions. I originally read about this book here at Danielle's blog, but had long since forgotten that I wanted to read it. I guess I knew I'd get to it eventually, such is the nature of this project, but that didn't stop me being amused to reread my comment back in 2009. I was particularly pleased by the books alternative title: Mostly coffee which I liked very much and thought might actually have made a good proper title.

Apparently a "roman a clef" which is a sort of fictional memoir, it was far more enjoyable than the last roman a clef, a term which I had not previously encountered until I came across Bid me to live. As the back of the book states, it was originally rejected for publication by an eminent publisher because it slandered his friends. His friends including that well-known librarian, Phillip Larkin. Avis had an affair with Larkin in the 1950s. Avis did not have a very successful career as a novelist, although she had much poetry published, she had no success with her books, and in fact killed herself with an overdose after her second novel was turned down.

Playing the harlot is a lively novel centring around the lives of several women in the 1950s, all students when we first encounter them. I warmed to Mary, the principal character immediately, when we meet her writing to her parents, who live in another country, attempting to persuade them that she should move out of the convent accommodation where she at present lodges; her letters to them which recur in the book amused me immensely as she invariably writes to inform them of something that they might disapprove of/ask for money but couched in terms to elicit their approval.

Other characters include Theo, with whom she moves to share a flat, and Abigail, an art student. And of course there is a cast of men. Mary marries Pete, a medical student, but it is Rollo, the supposed Larkin character, with whom she has an affair. And the book follows them all as they leave college and move around the country, apparently drawing on Avis' experience of living in France and in the countryside and in London as well as in the provinical town where the book begins.

It's just been published once by Virago with the modern green cover.

Sunlight on a broken column (Hosain)

2011-02-02T18:03:00.001Z

I spotted Sunlight on a broken column at work the other day; someone had ordered it up from the Bodleian bookstacks. It wasn't one I'd ever seen so I read the blurb and was immediately intrigued. As I've often said before, the VMC collection covers so many different worlds, in terms of time, space...and now religion. I haven't come across another VMC dealing with Muslim life before (although do let me know if you know of one). I wanted my own copy, but it is extortionately expensive on Amazon, but luckily the local library had a hardback of a different edition, so having at least seen the VMC version, I decided to read it.

It was an extremely rich read, painting evocative pictures of life in the 1930s in a Muslim family in India. It centres around the character of Leila, an orphan girl who is brought up by her deeply religious aunts. Aged 15, she moves to live with her Uncle, at a time when the independence issue (at this time, India was struggling to gain independence from Great Britain) becomes increasingly pointed, and those around her are involved in politics. Her Uncle is quite a big contrast to the aunts, he is more liberal, and Leila struggles to make sense of the two different households against the political climate.

I found a fascinating interview with the author online here which sheds far more light on the book than I can.

This book has some intriguing cover history it seems. It's been published only in an original green edition, but there is also a penguin green edition. This isn't hugely unusual, but what is unusual is that the penguin green edition has a different cover image to the Virago version. Hvae never seen this before in over 300 VMCs! Has anyone else seen this on one of the VMCs that I have yet to come to?

Dust Falls on E. Schlumberger/Toddler on the Run (Mackay) 336

2011-02-01T17:02:00.000Z

The first book I picked up from my binge of books (I quite like that phrase for describing over purchase, although really a book binge would more accurately describe overconsumption), was a slim volume containing two novellas by Shena Mackay. It's the second time I've "done" Shena Mackay on this blog, although I am familiar with some of her later writing, which has even featured on my other blog.

The two novellas are Dust Falls on E. Schlumberger and Toddler on the Run and were apparently Mackay's first books to be published. If you enjoy 1960s depictions of working class life, then you will probably be intrigued by these - I liked them, but not as much as I enjoyed Nell Dunn's books which are somewhat similar, perhaps because there is less scope with a novella than with something longer.

The first book was the one that I liked best. It tells of the schoolgirl Abigail, and her lover Eugene, who rebellious against authority, go joy riding. They crash the car and Eugene is sent to prison. This only fuels Abigail's adolescent torments. It was a good insight into adolescent angst and made me wonder about Mackay's teenage years!

Toddler on the run is more disjointed; there are several stories running through the novella whichI found it a little difficult to keep track of. Primarily though it is the story of a very small man, who is less than four feet tall, and the relationship he has on the run with a girl called Leda. It was adapted for television, and I think the different threads would work quite well there, as they do in soap operas.

This book has been published not only in the original green edition which I picked up (and which I think has an extremely striking cover image), but also in a modern version too. Many of Mackay's other books have been published by Virago, although only this and Music Upstairs are VMCs.

A Virago Reading Week haul

2011-01-30T12:10:00.002Z

Of course one should mark Virago Reading Week with some new books...I have eight to add to my collection (although only six are shown here). Last Sunday I was at work, but my lunchbreak got interrupted and I had to come back to the building early and could not be bothered to trudge back to the staffroom for the remaining 10 minutes. So rather fatally, I followed an email that I had been sent by Awesome books for Bargain Bin madness to see what I could find in the way of VMCs. I ended up getting 12 books for less than £20 including postage (the rest were non VMCs). Of the above, I have already read William, although not in a Virago edition (and I'd still upgrade it to the older green cover if I found one).

I am most looking forward to the Miles Franklin - Some everyday folk and dawn - as this has been on my wishlist for ages, since I loved her "Career" books which I read as part of this blog.

I am also looking forward to the A.L. Barker, John Brown's Body, as this is an author I am een to discover (and indeed, one of the other books I bought from Awesome books was The haunt by the same author, which I have been after for a while as it is set in Cornwall).

The other titles are Playing the harlot (Avis), Dust falls on Eugene Schlumbucher (Mackay) and Liana (Gellhorn). I am pleased that none of them are chunksters which may entice me into reading them sooner rather than later.

The other two titles I picked up this weekend were from a little second hand charity bookshop in Woodstock which I'd never been before. I was happy to get a copy of The love child, which I'd borrowed when I read it for this blog, as well as Playing the harlot by Eudora Welty. Both for £1 each! Will be returning to that bookshop another time...

I am determined to keep up the momentum that Carolyn and Rachel have prompted me into this week.

Zoe (Jewsbury)

2011-01-28T17:39:00.000Z

My fourth read for Virago Reading Week is Zoe by Geraldine Jewsbury. We do not meet the title character until page 67; cleverly constructed, the book begins with the tale of Everhard, a young man who is destined for the priesthood although he has considerable doubts about his vocation and whether or not he has sufficient faith to pursue it. On page 67, we meet Zoe, a lady of illegitimate birth, who has overcome her illegitimacy to marry, although she is not terribly happy in her marriage. It is immediately obvious that the two's paths will become intertwined, but quite how and when remains to be seen. I was really engaged by this book, and longed for Everhard to be able to escape the confines of his religious doubt.

It's just been published once by Virago with an original green cover, and it's Jewsbury's only work featuring on the VMC list. Once I eventually read my way through the VMC list, she is another author who I might seek out again.

Thanks again to Carolyn and Rachel for prompting me to get my VMC reading head in gear this week. It can get a bit lonely ploughing through the VMCs at times so it has been great to have company over the last week and a few more visitors to my blog as a result. Do carry on popping in and saying hello - as we said at the start of the week "it's Virago Reading Week" every week here.

We that were young (Rathbone)

2011-01-27T13:08:00.004Z

Although I read this book at the start of the Virago Reading Week, it has taken me a couple of days to gather my thoughts about We that were young. I am surprised that it took me more than halfway through my project before I came across it, because it was a book that very much appealed to my areas of interest - the world wars from a female perspective. Throw in their affairs of the heart and some distinctly readable prose and the result is an unputdownable book that may not exactly be great literature but is immensely readable.

If you liked Testament of Youth, then I would certainly recommend this book to you. Similarly autobiographical it gives a broad account of women working during the First World War - with a foreword by VMC author E.M. Delafield no less, who wrote the (non VMC but nonetheless fantastic) The War Workers.

I did nearly put the book down on p.3 after reading what to me felt cringeingly awful: "Oh Colin, I do care for you, you know. I am your friend. and it's not thatI despise the sex business, but I just don't want it yet. To me a friendship between a man and a girl is the loveliest thing in the world. Why can't you think so too and leave the rest?". Of its period of course, but I was worried that the subsequent 446 pages would be more of the same; luckily they weren't and the plot and the characters and the WW1 detail and insights more than made up for the occasional bit of cringeyness.

The book follows Joan Sneddon during the war, and her friends as they take part in the war effort. Between them they work at YMCA camps in France, serve foods, take up nursing as a VAD and munitions work. It is not really a plot spoiler to reveal that Joan loses both her brother and lover during the war and becomes hugely embittered by it, coming out the other side as a pacifist since the process of this happening is gradual and interesting.

A fascinating and readable book, this definitely deserves to be more widely read. Only published the once by Virago with an original green cover but I see that there are a number of copies available on Amazon (where I picked mine up from)

Susan Spray (Kaye-Smith)

2011-01-26T17:10:00.000Z

As soon as I picked up Susan Spray I was struck by the pastoral theme of the cover image. VMC cover art doesn't always seem to tie in with content, but it does on this occasion. Sheila Kaye-Smith, who I first encountered in her wonderful novel Joanna Godden, last year had a reputation for writing novels strongly influenced by her love of the countryside, in particular her native Sussex, and Susan Spray reflects that. Susan Spray reflects Kaye-Smith's other interest, aside from writing, being religion. According to the information in the front of the book, Kaye-Smith had quite a strong religious life - brought up as an Anglican, she later converted to the Roman Catholic Church. And religion is a strong element in Susan Spray; as the introduction states "it is a success story, with a twist - the twist being religion". I was absolutely fascinated by this novel, having never read anything with quite the same sort of themes.

"Susan Spray was born at Copthorne on the Surrey and Sussex borders, in the year 1834.", begins the book. But she is born into a family who belong to the Colgate Brethren, an obscure religious sect. At the age of six, she has a vision of the Lord and seems set on a religious future. Unfortunately, very early on, she and her siblings are orphaned, and after a spell in the Poor House in Horsham, she and her sister end up working on a farm in Sussex. The rest of the book details how Susan goes on to become a preacher for the Colgate Brethren, but at the same time it deals with her personal life - marriage, widowhood, marriage, separation, love...and a final astonishing twist that I really wasn't expecting. The book is well paced and was difficult to put down, hence I got through it quickly despite it being 375p.

This book has only been published once with an original green cover. And although it was on my TBR pile I was motivated to get on and read it partly by Virago Reading Week, but also because I came across the name Susan Kaye-Smith in connection with Noel Streatfeild whose biography I was rereading having picked up two of her books at the Oxford bookfair at the weekend (isn't it wonderful where trails can lead us?). There are only two books by Kaye-Smith on the Virago list but I would seek her other novels out too.

My Virago Life

2011-01-25T17:28:00.006Z

I wrote a post for Persephone Reading Week (coming up at the end of February over on my other blog in a new weekend format- Virago-ites are often Persephone fans too!) about how I discovered and started collecting the imprint, so I thought I'd do something similar for Virago as part of Virago week. (I had thought that I had written about this somewhere before, but I can't find it!).

My first encounter with the Virago Modern Classics list would have been when I read Frost in May by Antonia White. This was in fact the first VMC to be issued, although I didn't know it at the time, and I don't think I even read a VMC edition. I was still at school and my Mum recommended it to me. About 5 years later, Virago brought out the beautiful modern editions of Antonia White's quartet of books and I could not resist purchasing them even though I was very short of money at the time. I still did not know anything about the VMC imprint. IT was not until after a bad bout of depression, which resulted in me spending several months on a diet of chick lit, that I happened upon Rosamund Lehmann's Dusty Answer at the library.

I devoured it - it was wonderful to read a properly good book. I sought out Rosamund Lehmann's back catalogue and read them all in the space of a month.

A colleague then suggested some other authors that I might like on that basis - Elizabeth Taylor, and Sylvia Townsend Warner, all of which I found in characteristic matching green editions. This coincided with my discovery of the book blogging world and I found a whole appreciative audience of these books.
I then embarked on my challenge to read my way through the entire VMC list - I wanted something to give me focus in my reader. There were about 540 when I started, but as Virago are continuing to issue VMCs, the list is growing and now stands at 555! I have made friends with Sophie who looks after their publicity and she kindly sends me the latest titles as they come out, something which I always highlight on my blog. I did initially try to approach the task in hand with some sort of method, but since then it has become rather more haphazard.

I have found some truly wonderful books which I would not have come across had it not been for doing the VVV. Here are links to some of my favourites, which might inspire your reading for Virago Reading Week.
Pin to see the peepshow
Novel on yellow paper
Family history
One fine day
My brilliant career
The getting of wisdom
The Ha-ha
On the side of angels
Happy Foreigner
The Good daughters trilogy
Anything by Elizabeth Von Arnim - a real find of an author!

As a result of my project, I have come across a generous community of fellow Virago lovers. The librarything Virago Modern Classics group is a truly wonderful place where VMCs and other books are discussed; members are often willing to pass on duplicates, and I have recieved a several books this way. In addition a number of people who read this blog have offered me books which has been extremely kind!

The other main result of the project has been a huge increase in the number of books residing in my flat (actually, that has been more a result of blogging in general, but a large number of the books I have acquired over the last 2 years have been VMCs). It's fun to have something to search for when in charity shops and I console myself with the fact that they are very collectable!

Virago Week / Glitter of Mica (Kesson) 386

2011-01-24T18:24:00.003Z

This week Rachel and Carolyn are holding a Virago reading week, which is a chance for bloggers to read and celebrate the wonderful world of Virago Modern Classics. Of course, every week is a Virago Reading Week here at Verity's Virago Venture, I thought that I would mention it. As hopefully this week will be a good chance for people to be exposed to VMCs, I thought it might be a good idea to focus on ones on my TBR pile which are rarely mentioned and largely out of print. it seems to me that there is a core of VMCs which are widely read - predominantly the ones by authors who have been reprinted several times - and many of the others languish forgotten. Yet, they were published originally because they fitted into the remit of the list and therefore (to me at least!) have some sort of interest. I've amassed a little pile of late following a spree on ebay and Amazon, mainly titles which I had never come across before and which I thought I would order to investigate (unfortunately they are mainly long ones, but since I plan to read them eventually I'll give them a go!). The first of these titles is Glitter of Mica by Jessie Kesson.

Kesson is an author who I have only encountered as a result of this project, and only once before when I read her short stories back in 2010. I found them "delightful"and am sorry that it took me so long to get around to reading one of her novels. Set again in her native Scotland, this book is a wonderful evocation of life in a farming community in a small parish called Caldwell. We see the distinction between the crofters (who work on land that they own) and the cotters (who work land belonging to others) and learn about the subtle differences in status that they have and the way that they expect to be treated by others.

The story centres around the character of Hugh Riddel, Head Dairyman, and his family. He is unhappily married, with one daughter Helen. It is Helen's life which fascinated me most. College educated, and with a place to go to university she is apart from the community. Yet she has an affair with another member of the community. The way that this story plays out was sad and had a sudden and tragic ending which came almost out of nowhere. I love it when an author is able to create such drama in the space of a couple of pages.

A short book, but one which is beautifully written and gives insight into a world that I did not know much about. I am very keen to get my hands on the other two novels by Kesson which are VMCs! This has just been published once by Virago in the italicized green edition.

Millennium hall (Scott) 214

2011-01-17T17:55:00.002Z

Millennium Hall by Sarah Scott has been on my Amazon wishlist since the beginning of the year; at the Bodleian where I work, readers occasionally order up Virago Modern Classics from the bookstacks for their work and this was one that passed through my hands. The synopsis looked interesting at the time, so I added it to the list, and finally bought myself a 1p copy the other week. What an intriguing book it turned out to be! My first impression was that the language was incredibly dated - things were "agreeable" - but then I realised that the book itself was written in 1762, and whilst the language was dated, the ideas in it were incredibly forward thinking for its time. Essentially, it is a book suggesting alternatives to marriage for women. Millennium hall as the blurb says "is an elegant mansion, surrounded by fragrant pastures and hedgerows of hyacinths and primroses", and it forms the home for a utopian community or co-operative inhabited by six very different women who have come together to live and utilise each other's support rather than relying on family or men. The book starts by describing the hall, from the point of view of a visitor, and then relates the tales of the women who have come to live there.

Sarah Scott was apparently briefly married and then spent the rest of her life living in Bath with a friend (I wondered to what extent they were friends or whether their relationship went deeper), so the book obviously draws on her own experiences and life values. It is interesting to note that while there is sex in the novel, it is only ever in a negative form, such as rape or merely for procreation which suggests that Scott had had a somewhat negative experience of marriage.

This book is very different from many of the VMCs that I have read, and whilst not a hugely gripping story is one that I would nonetheless rate extremely highly for its interesting ideas and values.

It's just been published once, in an original green edition. There are other 1p copies on Amazon, so go and buy them!