An update and some new VMCs!

It's been exactly a month since I last posted on this blog, I haven't been managing to keep up with much reading at all, let alone VMCs. I have actually been doing some rereading - I have gone back to Rosamund Lehmann (and have Dusty Answer in my bag for work for tomorrow), and I reread My Cousin Rachel by Daphne Du Maurier last week whilst on my holidays (not sure that a gothic novel is the best choice for a sunny beach holiday, but I did enjoy the reread nonethless.

I was excited to return home from my holidays yesterday to a parcel of new VMCs - three of which I have read before, and two which I haven't. I'm very excited that Virago have decided to reprint Sylvia Townsend Warner, with The corner that held them and Lolly Willowes out at the start of March. I wrote about them a while ago on the blog, and I rather like these whimsical new covers. There is also going to be an e-book release of The dolls house and other stories, which is four short stories which have been recently discovered in the New York Public Library archive. Introductions to the two physical books are by Philip Hensher and Sarah Waters - it's always great to see eminent contemporary writers championing the Virago Modern Classics. I didn't actually own any SWT books so I am excited to have these as part of the collection.

Released on the 8th March is a new paperback edition of Daphne Du Maurier's Vanishing Cornwall. This is one of my very favourite books which I was very happy that Virago brought out in a beautiful hardback about 6 years ago, and now it appears as a glossy paperback with all of the original pictures. This book was described by The Times as "an eloquent elegy on the past of a county she loved so much" and I do recommend it to anybody with an interest in Cornwall or DDM.

Finally, amid these goodies is the second volume of Vera Brittain's autobiography which tells the story of Winifred Holtby. I don't think that I've ever read this book and I am looking forward to learning more about Holtby and the relationship of the two women. If it's as good as Testament of Youth then it'll definitely be worth reading.


(I've just spotted the the STW novels are under embargo until the 1st, so I shall set this post to post then!)

Daphne Du Maurier: Vanishing Cornwall VMC 528

Welcome to Daphne Du Maurier week on the VVV. I have vanished to Cornwall, but with the aid of technology, you don't have to miss out on VMC posts as I'm taking the opportunity to "catch-up" and cover the DDM books which I have read before commencing on my VVV adventure. Each day you'll get a picture of the title (the DDMs have only been published once by Virago) and a sentence about the book - it is holiday time after all. I hope you enjoy this week, and I'll be back, getting on with reading at least one VMC a week from 7/09. (I've packed a couple, but I've packed a lot of books, so might not get as far as doing any "homework"!)

528: Vanishing Cornwall
I LOVE this book, and it went into my suitcase for our trip to Cornwall. I owned this book previously in an old Penguin edition, but was absolutely delighted when Virago brought out this new edition, with all of the beautiful pictures on fabulously glossy paper. Incidentally, the pictures were all taken by her son Kit. If you've read my other blog, you'll know that I love Cornwall very much, and this book is DDM's celebration of Cornwall. She re-tells legends, describes places, and makes a passionate plea for its conservation. As Cornwall is the setting for so much of DDM's work, it really is worth getting hold of a copy of this to see why she loved it so much.