Ian Sansom : The Norfolk Mystery(The County Guides Book 1)

Ian Sansom is an interesting fellow. A graduate of both Oxford and Cambridge he is now Professor in the Department of English and Comparative Literature at Warwick University. He has written several single books, and two series: the Mobile Library Series and the County Guides Series.

Anthony Trollope: Doctor Thorne

Elizabeth Jenkins : Dr. Gully’s Story

Elizabeth Jenkins was probably best known for her 1958 biography of Elizabeth the First, Elizabeth the Great, in which the New York Times said she achieved ‘ a psychological dimension to her portrait that other historians had scanted,’ but I, like most of us, missed it. I only came upon Elizabeth Jenkins through a review of The Tortoise and the Hare on Jacqui’s blog. She gives high praise to this novel which she likens to a modern take on Jane Austen. But I would add, a Jane Austen  who does not shrink from intimate details of life and marriage and with a wonderful sensibility for the workings of deceit and manipulation.

Autumn

George Saunders: A Swim In The Pond In The Rain

Maria Gainza: Portrait Of An Unknown Lady

Rhododendron Pie : Margery Sharp

Margery Sharp is best known for her series The Rescuers, witty and delightful tales about heroic mice among whom we find Miss Bianca and Bernard. The books were made into some Disney films, which probably made money for their author, if not doing justice to her subtle and amusing writing. Rhododendron Pie is her first novel, long out of print and written in one month when she was twenty-five.

Jill Dawson: The Language of Birds

Simply Messing Around in Books

The last week has been busy, so I have enjoyed some amusing and undemanding reading: a couple of new names and an old favourite. The new names couldn’t be more different in approach. One is set in a small English town in the 1950’s where some of the criminal activities involve sending money in the post to purchase dubious goods. The other takes place in modern Dublin and is firmly in the 21 st century with blogs, vlogs, Googling and mobile phones. The old favourite is P D James Devices and Desires and is as good now as it was thirty-three years ago when I first read it.