The Woman in Black by Susan Hill [Review]

As part of the Readers Imbibing Peril Challenge (RIP II)

Title: The Woman in Black
Author: Susan Hill (author's official web site)
Copyright: 1983 (initial publication in the UK); first US edition 1986; David R. Godine, Publisher, Jaffrey, NH, ISBN 1-56792-189-2
Length: 138 pages
Genre: Fiction/Ghost Story

Summary: Arthur Kipps is a man touched by tragedy as we learn following his storming away in a temper from Victorian festivities, complete with ghost stories, on a snowy Christmas Eve. He is fully aware that stories of ghosts may be told in frivolous fashion, but that ghosts themselves -- real ghosts -- rarely manifest in such a mood. Ashamed of his bad behavior and wishing to explain himself and make it up to his wife, he begins to write the story of his own horrific experience following the death of Mrs. Drablow in the remote village of Crythin Gifford. A young attorney, he travels up North to represent his firm at her funeral and clear up outstanding legal affairs. The reader follows Kipps casually but is soon caught up in a fearful exploration of human despair and its consequence.

There are clear references to the works of her literary predecessors in this genre -- Montague Rhodes James classic short story, Oh Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad is alluded to, as is Wilkie Collins' The Woman In White. What's particularly enjoyable is that these are only allusions; the story itself stands in its own right. Hill simply adds to the literary tradition of Wharton, James, and Collins.

The Woman in Black is a short and evocative tale, full of isolation and atmosphere. If not carefully controlled, one's reading experience may result in keeping wakeful company with Kipps in a dark silent house with many hours yet to go before dawn relieves the tension.

Extract: "I stopped as Mr. Jerome grabbed my wrist and held it in an agonisingly tight grip, and looking at his face, was certain that he was about to faint or collapse with some kind of seizure. I began looking wildly about me, in the deserted lane, wondering whatever I might do, where I could go, or call out, for help. The undertakers had left. Behind me were only a school of little children and a mortally sick young woman under great emotional and physical strain, beside me was a man in a state of near collapse. The only person I could conceivably reach was the clergyman somewhere in the recesses of his church, and if I were to go for him, I would have to leave Mr. Jerome alone."

Another sample from another paragraph just a page later: "It only took a few minutes at that pace to arrive back in the square, where the market was in full cry and we were at once plunged into the hubbub of vehicles, the shouting of voices, of auctioneers and stallholders and buyers, and all the bleating and braying, the honking and crowing and cackling and whinnying of dozens of farm animals. At the sight and sound of it all, I noticed that Mr. Jerome was looking better and when we reached the porch of the Gifford Arms, he seemed almost lively in a burst of relief."

Also Relevant: I am somewhat amazed that this Susan Hill's work has eluded my notice until now. I had never heard of her, until Elaine of Random Jottings posted about this book last year. Now, I see that I've been missing out on a wonderful writer. The real strength of The Woman in Black is Susan Hill's writing. After all, in this cynical age, what is it that can persuade us of the presence of a melancholy or malevolent ghost? We don't really believe in ghosts in any sensible, scientific way; but the words of Susan Hill are composed so as to draw up the fears of our primitive forebearers, the fears of childhood, that ultimate human fear of being alone and vulnerable to larger forces. Just as Elaine had warned me, the book is scary. It is artfully crafted and absolutely capable of raising the hair on the back of your neck.

For those of you with an interest in theatre and dramatic adaptations, the book was made into both a television production as well as adapted for the stage; it's been playing in the West End since 1989. (That is just shy of 20 years running, which is none too shabby.) I note however that there is a disclaimer on Hill's web site as to the legitimacy of used DVDs and video tapes of the television production that may be listed on ebay and Amazon.

The good news is that Susan Hill is relatively prolific. I believe that the first in the Simon Serrailler detective novels has become available here in the states. There are numerous works to be explored. The Woman in Black is quite as good as any of Edith Wharton's ghost stories.

Faint Praise: The Plight of Book Reviewing in America [Review]

Title: Faint Praise: The Plight of Book Reviewing in America

Author: Gail Pool

Copyright: 2007 (University of Missouri Press, Columbia and London; ISBN 978-0-82621727-1)

Length: 170 pages (including notes, bibliography, and index)

Genre: Non Fiction

Summary: Book reviews are, of course, a subject of dispute across many sectors of the reading and publishing communities; Pool accurately points out that even defining the nature of a book review is fairly slippery. Professionals clash with amateurs; readers clash with critics. Essentially, however, the author notes that book reviewing centers specifically around new books, recent publications. A review should have two major elements, an accurate description of what the book's text encompasses and an evaluation or assessment of how well the book succeeds. Assuming that the book review is intended for formal publication, there is a deadline to be met. The reviewer is hampered by the need to make a relatively quick assessment without necessarily having time to properly digest the book. The review may not be literary criticism, but it should be able to serve as a guide for potential readers, guiding them away from mediocrity while spotlighting the good and hopefully the excellent. In Pool's eyes, the review should be "an essay, however brief, an argument, bolstered by insights and observations" (see page 11 of the hardcover).

Of course the gap between theory and the practical is always greater than we like to admit. Gail Pool spends the bulk of her time in this slim volume, explaining the real drivers of and constraints on reviews and reviewing in the real-world publishing business and how that impacts on the the process. She covers the reviewing process without glossing over the ugly bits -- reviews where it is clear the reviewer did not, in fact, read the book in question or instances where the review criticizes the author, not for having written a bad book, but for having written a book that did not meet a reviewer's preferences. She even notes the ever-present hyperbole and cliched phrasing of book reviews ("luminous prose", "towering achievement", etc.). But neither is she a fan of the Amazon.com reviews and she makes no apologies for her disdain. Pool recognizes that writing a good book review requires time to read the book, time to consider the material and careful crafting of the final written assessment. (Pool is a professional reviewer which of course colors her argument but I don't think she's entirely self-serving in her thinking.)

Pool has ideas for improving book reviewing as a professional activity - more considered selection of what is to be reviewed, better pay for the activity and training for those who think they might want to pursue reviewing as a vocation. She recommends a greater dependence upon paid, regular columnists. She suggests that publication editors and reviewers should take more time to discuss why a particular book should be reviewed and how much space the review should be granted. Finally, she suggests that clear editorial policies regarding ethics and practice would be of service to those who review books and the readership they serve.

Also Relevant: I think every one who blogs about books would be well-served by reading this one book. This is an honest account of modern publishing operations. I understand that most casual readers don't care much about the business practices that fuel publishing. But publishing is a business, as inconvenient a truth as most readers and librarians find that to be. There are financial constraints, time constraints, and frequently constraints on the number of human beings involved in the physical process. That offends us (as consumers) because we're paying good money for the product and we feel justified in our expectations of what we should get from the transaction -- careful copy-editing, good editorial selection, etc.

None of Pool's recommendations for improving the quality of book reviews are faulty, but they are costly. Implementation of those corrective measures would add to the cost of books and magazines because her recommendations would slow down production and would involve more people (and, in American business, that means bearing the costs for employee health care). I consequently doubt the likelihood of her recommendations being implemented in our current business economy. But I loved that she wrote this book. The craft of publishing needs to improve and Pool's book points that up.

Innocence by David Hosp [Review]

Title: Innocence

Author: David Hosp (official author web site)

Copyright: 2007; Published by Warner Books, New York, ISBN 0-446-58014-7. (Review copy supplied by Hatchette Book Group USA)

Length: 416 pages

Genre: Legal suspense/thriller

Summary: Scott Finn is drawn into a case involving illegal immigrants against his better judgement. His is a one-man practice and he hasn't time or resources to devote to getting Vincente Salazar out of jail. Salazar was convicted of shooting a female police officer in the line of duty; attempts to clear his name and free him from jail will be received poorly by many, including some upon whom Finn depends in his professional life. By accepting the case, Finn, his private investigator friend, Tom Kozlowski, and Finn's law intern, Lissa, are caught up in a series of events ranging from spoken threats in an elevator to bloody, barbaric murder. Why is it so critical that an apparently innocent man remain in jail? Or was Salazar convicted appropriately with Finn about to engineer the release of a guilty man?

In Raymond Chandler's essay, The Simple Art of Murder, he commended Dashiell Hammett for writing "at first (and almost to the end) for people with a sharp, aggressive attitude to life. They were not afraid of the seamy side of things; they lived there. Violence did not dismay them; it was right down their street." David Hosp is doing his best to write in that tradition. His plots require violent action as much as they require honesty about the flaws in our law enforcement and legal systems. The pace of the action is rapid; the reader is swept along. Characterization might not be handled with the depth found in reading P.D. James but, while on stage, these characters, first introduced in Hosp's Dark Harbor, have enough energy to maintain the reader's interest.

Extract: Available here. I will warn readers that I found the prologue (which actually precedes the extract in the book itself) to be fairly violent. Naturally, it presents the crime in context but some readers may find such an opening off-putting.

Also Relevant: Hosp makes a point about our legal system, articulating the points of friction that will inevitably exist in life, due to the limits of forensic science, the demands of society, and the emotional tensions experienced by victim, criminal and enforcer. Is Finn a modern Philip Marlowe, neither tarnished nor afraid? To return again to Raymond Chandler, he is intended to be "... a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man. He must be, to use a rather weathered phrase, a man of honor, by instinct, by inevitability, without thought of it, and certainly without saying it. He must be the best man in his world and a good enough man for any world."

The testosterone runs fairly high in this one; with some exceptions, the action is largely through the eyes of the male characters (good and bad). Female characters are tough and mouthy because the males are largely tough and silent.

Given that my personal taste runs to poison in a teacup or injury inflicted by a heavy pewter candlestick, I don't think that I'm quite the intended audience for Innocence. That said, I think there is an audience out there for Innocence who are likely to find it a satisfying read.

Plotting for Beginners [Review]

Title: Plotting for Beginners

Author(s): Sue Hepworth (her blog), Jane Linfoot

Copyright/Publication: 2006, Snowbooks, London, ISBN: 1-905005-12-1

Length: 345 pages

Genre: contemporary fiction

Summary: Sally is a woman who deserves a better time of it; she's got a spouse, a college-age son, and a brother, each of whom seems to be just a tad off kilter. The spouse is off emulating Thoreau in a cabin in Colorado. The brother is in the midst of a poorly handled divorce and has moved in with Sally. The son is somewhat vague as to his general direction. Meanwhile, Sally is muddling through menopause and the difficulties of getting her career up and moving again. Fortunately, Sally has good friends, Kate, supportive of Sally's hope of becoming a paid freelance writer, and madcap Wendy. The men in Sally's life (oh, I forgot to mention Iain) are a diverse and exasperating lot as are the editors who accept Sally's pieces, building up her belief in her writing skill and then casually dashing it. It's just too unfair (but very, very true to life).

This is a delightfully humorous book, told through a series of diary entries, letters, and email exchanges. Sally has to navigate the demands of family and friends while pushing herself to achieve her own goals. It's not easy but, for the reader, it's fun. Characterization is solid and the author's blog even supplies photos of the locations for specific incidents in the book.

Extract: see Sally's own blog entries for a flavor of the writing.

Also Relevant: Lisa (who is amazingly generous with her giveaways ) claims I won this one fair and square. I suspect her of a mixture of kindness and briskness, because she had moved ahead to her next giveaway before I had time to tell her thank you for sending me this one (with a bonus book in the package). Thank you, Benevolent Bluestalking!

As it happens, I enjoy epistolary novels so Plotting for Beginners was the best possible win for me. Even more happily, Sally was the right heroine for me -- competent and possessed of a self-deprecating humor. Finding good heroines that reflect my particular demographic is not that easy; most of the current crop suffer from being at least a decade younger and perhaps twenty-five pounds lighter (say, a size six rather than a ten or fourteen). The humor is gentle and never quite over the top. I was able to read some of the humorous bits of this out loud to my son who was patiently tolerant initially but appreciated the wit that Hepworth and Linfoot deliver.

Neil Gaiman's Stardust [Review]

Title: Stardust

Author: Neil Gaiman (official website; Gaiman's journal; be careful, he enjoys the occasional pun.)

Copyright: 1999, Harper Perennial, New York; ISBN 978-0061142024 (link goes to Amazon)

Length: 248 pages (for the story itself)

Genre: Fantasy

Summary: A youth of questionable parentage sets off on a quest to obtain a gift for the maiden he admires. The journey takes him beyond the ordinary world of mortals where he grew up and into the realm of Faerie. Intermingled with his adventure is a witch who seeks youthful immortality for herself and her sisters and a royal family of seven brothers, all of whom have reasons to divert him from his quest. There is a unicorn, an enchanted bird, and a flying ship of pirates as well as assorted magical entities and objects. The young man must manage all these encounters, while avoiding *other* witches and enchanted beings, in order to return to his home and come into his own as an independent being.

Neil Gaiman offers up a deft piece of story-telling, one that recycles and respects the old fairy tale motifs while incorporating humor and originality, the foremost example of which is a falling star who sustains a broken leg upon landing. Gaiman's use of language is entirely modern, but retains a flavor of folk tales; the story structure is clear and easy to follow. Rhythm and pacing of the story is precisely handled. Based on my reading of the book, he understands the function and requirements of the fairy tale and he honors that traditional form.

Excerpt: There are opening passages from Stardust available at Neil Gaiman's official website -- here. I don't think it's an ideal introduction to his prose. As an alternative, I include the following:

Tristran would have explained to her that all he could possibly hope for if he approached the raging beasts was to be skewered, and kicked, and clawed, and eaten; and he would further have explained that, should he somehow survive approaching them, there was still nothing that he could do having with him not even the pail of water which had been the traditional method of breaking up animal fights in Wall. But by the time all these thoughts had gone through his head, Tristran was already standing in the center of the clearing, an arm's length from the beasts. The scent of the lion was deep, animal, terrifying, and Tristran was close enough to see the beseeching expression in the unicorn's black eyes...

The Lion and the Unicorn were fighting for the crown, thought Tristran...

Also relevant: Neil Gaiman wrote this fairy tale for adults; he honors the works of Hope Mirrlees, Lord Dunsany, James Branch Cabell, and C.S. Lewis in this edition's acknowledgment for teaching him that fairy tales can, in fact, be written for adults. Having said that, let me caution prospective readers that he includes two scenes in the text that may offend on the basis of sex and gore. There is one teensy (literally) instance of foul language but given that the epithet is uttered by the star who has just broken her leg in a fall to Earth, the lapse in manners may be forgiven. Gaiman hasn't written high fantasy in the tradition of Tolkien; he has followed in the literary fairy tale tradition of Wilde.

The book has been made into a movie, due to be released on August 10. It stars, among others, Michele Pfeiffer as the witch seeking eternal youth and Robert de Niro as a pirate captain (delicate sigh). If you're so inclined, the official movie site is available with further details. Don't read any of the fan related material you might encounter on the Web in support of the film's release. Those seem to be rife with spoilers. You'll want to read the book before you see the movie. [ Really, trust me on this. In this particular instance, I honestly believe you'll be a happier, healthier human being. You've got a month before its release, which is plenty of time.]

This is a *very* good book. It is a modern day classic of its kind. It is Neil Gaiman's heartfelt expression of the human experience and what more can we ask of an author in telling us a good story?

The Enchanted April [Review]

Title: The Enchanted April

Author: Elizabeth von Arnim

Copyright: Originally published in 1922. This work is in the public domain and can be found online at the University of Pennsylvania Celebration of Women Writers Project. I was reading the recent print edition from the New York Review of Books (ISBN: 9781590172254)

Length: 247 pages

Genre: Domestic Fiction

Summary: Two tired and secretly depressed women, Rose Arbuthnot and Charlotte Wilkins, rent an Italian castle as a residence for the month of April in the early 1920s. In order to afford the rent, they advertise for two more women who might also have reason to get away. Elderly Mrs. Fischer and stunningly beautiful Lady Caroline Destmer agree and the four women escape to the Italian countryside. Each must make slight adjustments in order to comfortably live with one another (removing barriers in some instances and erecting them in others) but the magic of San Salvatore slowly seeps into their minds and their bodies to soothe and heal. Friendships come alive. This slow-paced and gentle novel allows that healing magic to unfold and envelope the reader. It articulates the wonderful mental experience that escaping on holiday provides us -- the opportunity to be free of obligations and remind ourselves of who we are at heart. It is that reminder that allows us to straighten up and move on through the day, making real contact with others as we go.

Extract: The day was wretched, blustering and wet; the crossing was atrocious, and they were very sick. But after having been very sick, just to arrive at Calais and not be sick was happiness, and it was there that the real splendour of what they were doing first began to warm their benumbed spirits. It got hold of Mrs. Wilkins first, and spread from her like a rose-coloured flame over her pale companion. Mellersh at Calais, where they restored themselves with soles because of Mrs. Wilkins's desire to eat a sole Mellersh wasn't having–Mellersh at Calais had already begun to dwindle and seem less important. None of the French porters knew him; not a single official at Calais cared a fig for Mellersh. In Paris there was no time to think of him because their train was late and they only just caught the Turin train at the Gare de Lyons; and by the afternoon of the next day when they got into Italy, England, Frederick, Mellersh, the vicar, the poor, Hampstead, the club, Shoolbred, everybody and everything, the whole inflamed sore dreariness, had faded to the dimness of a dream.

Also Relevant: This is the type of novel that is usually dismissed by a portion of the population on the grounds that "Nothing ever happens in it". Certainly there is little in terms of external activity. No heroism, no drama, no wrenching emotional scenes. There is, in fact, an entire chapter given over to the settling of household accounts, surely a lackluster idea, but the point of The Enchanted April is that we tend to needlessly allow daily things to become too complex -- that were we to slow down and relax a bit and grant each other some physical and mental space, we would readily find that daily minor conflicts would be kept in the proper perspective -- in fact, entirely minimized. Spring blooms in the Italian countryside and heals all the greyness of a bourgeois middle-class trudging through life in a perpetual London winter.

Of course, The Enchanted April is simplistic. Life's complexities can't always be removed by taking a little holiday. Ruptured marriages aren't healed by getting away from one's partner. The pains and aches of the elderly don't mysteriously evaporate, even when the caring of others removes loneliness. But there is faith and hope woven into this novel. And that's why this slim volume goes on the shelf with other much-loved women's classics. Because, when weary, we can return to it and find our spirits restored.

One final note: I had never heard of this book until the 1992 movie with Joan Plowright and Miranda Richardson. Even then, I had only seen the movie when it ran on TV; had IMDB not existed, I doubt I would ever have learned about Elizabeth von Arnim's novel. The movie is largely faithful to the book and it is what induced me to track this one down and read it. Now if they'd just release the movie on DVD, I would be content.

The Other Wind [Review]

Title: The Other Wind

Author: Ursula K. LeGuin (her official website)

Copyright: 2001, Harcourt, Inc., ISBN 0151006849

Genre: Fantasy

Length: 246 pages

Summary: A minor wizard, one whose gift is merely the mending of ordinary broken tools, is tormented by dreams of his dead wife reaching out to him. He seeks out Sparrowhawk (Ged) who had once been the Archmage of Roke for advice and solace. That simple beginning to this tale takes the reader on an adventure into Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea -- complete with dragons, distrustful cultures and the need to mend, even perhaps, remake the world she initially introduced us to with the publication of The Wizard of Earthsea in 1968. What has been broken? How can it be mended? No population of Earthsea escapes responsibility for the rupture or obligation to contribute to a solution. Amidst the working out of the larger themes of death, rebirth and acceptance, we follow a rather touching love story between two very awkward individuals. LeGuin's style evokes a haunting sense of greater forces pressing down on her characters even as she lightens events with wry humor. The characters are those that have appeared in the previous four books of this series including Ged, Tenar, Irian, Tehanu, and Lebannon.

If you have read A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore, Tehanu and Tales of Earthsea (a volume of short stories), you will know each of those names. This is one of the few series that I would recommend you read all of the titles in the series in order. It is useful to have done so when you come to consider this, the truly final volume in the series. You'll have a better sense of LeGuin's final conclusion. She has matured since the first book and this is evident in the

Extract: LeGuin's official web site has two excerpts from The Other Wind for sampling her simple but effective writing style (Excerpts One and Two). The simplicity of her writing however does not mean however that the pace of her story-telling is rapid.

Also Relevant: Ursula K. LeGuin is one of my very favorite authors, the one whose books I will run out and buy in hardcover without knowing anything other than the title and her authorship. While I know I have not read everything she's ever written, I have read the bulk of her fiction and non-fiction work.

LeGuin understands mythology. (Re-read the quotes I pulled from Karen Armstrong's A Short History of Myth.) The universe of EarthSea organizes her sense of the way the world operates, its spiritual and physical ecosystems. Her thinking about fantasy, her writing and the differences in the way that men and women tell stories changed over the years as she wrote these books. I think one of the reasons that I enjoy Le Guin's novels so much is because so much of how she experiences the world resonates with my own development and belief system. Odd when you realize that she is more of a Taoist than anything else and I have never found Taoism to be particularly comforting or helpful.

I did not formally commit to participation in Carl's Once Upon A Time challenge. Yet, I did participate perhaps informally, spending time in recent months with various tales of mythology. The Other Wind fits in with that and Le Guin is a master of her craft.

Other reviews of The Other Wind may be found here, here (mind the spoilers), and here.

Hale's Austenland [Review]

[review]

Title: Austenland

Author: Shannon Hale (her blog)

Copyright: 2007, ISBN 1596912855

Length: 196 pages

Genre: Romance (chick lit)

Summary: Jane Hayes is a modern thirty-something graphic designer in New York City. Her great-aunt, interested in her welfare, provides her with an opportunity to spend three weeks experiencing Regency England. Hayes will be allowed to act out her fantasy of living in a Jane Austen novel, dressing and interacting with other visitors to Pembroke Park. (If you watched the PBS special, Regency House Party, you have familiarity with the basic premise.) Like so many women her age, Hayes has a mental image of the characters of Pride and Prejudice as the characters were portrayed in the 1995 A&E mini-series of that novel. Tired of fantasizing about Colin Firth as well as being disappointed in the men she encounters daily, Hayes decides the immersive therapy of the Pembroke Park experience is what she needs to dissipate the specter of Mr. Darcy and get on with her life. This short, light novel tells of the convergence in Hayes' world of Regency manners and modern male-female interactions.

Extract: Her heart was teetering precariously, and she almost put out her arms to balance herself. She didn't like to see them together. Martin, the luscious man who'd made her laugh and kept her standing on real earth and Mr. Nobley, who had bgun to make the fake world feel as comfortable as her own bed. She stood on the curve of the path, her feet hesitating where to go.

Also Relevant: I have nothing against chick lit per se; sometimes one's mood can only be satisfied by finding something in that vein and reading it until the mood passes. Forced to list the parameters for "chick lit", I would say that works in the genre tend to feature female protagonists bumbling through the demands of modern life, seeking professional success as a woman in a man's world while ultimately finding "True Love". For the most part, chick lit offers a humorous perspective on these attempts. The authors aren't expected by their readers to render particularly realistic characterization, but are expected to flex the structure and flow of conventional romance novels while still delivering a happy ending. Chick-lit is a marketable commodity -- entertainment, not literature, generally unremarkable.

Hale's Austenland likely meets the expectations of chick-lit readers. By that I mean, it's really not awful and, in the right mood, could even be found enjoyable. It isn't entirely predictable in the flow of events, but is predictable with regard to the underlying premise of all chick lit -- that a woman possessed of enough self-confidence to believe herself worthy of real love will ultimately succeed in her attempts to profitably use her talents and win Mr. Right. Hale includes recognizable references to various Austen novels and suggests parallels between Jane's situation at Pembroke Park and Fanny Price in Mansfield Park.

Shannon Hale has been a best-selling author of children's and young adult books; this is her livelihood. It is possible that Austenland was a commercial attempt to continue her relationship with a readership entering into the more adult phases of life. I don't think she's entirely successful with this attempt, but neither is Austenland a bad book. It is simply lightweight. To borrow a conventional assessment frequently found in book reviews for librarians, it is suitable for inclusion in the collections of large public libraries with respectable acquisition budgets.

Strapless by Deborah Davis

[ review ]

Title: Strapless: John Singer Sargent and the Fall of Madame X

Author: Deborah Davis

Copyright: 2003, Tarcher Penguin, member of Penguin (USA) Inc., New York, ISBN 1-58542-221-5

Length: 310 pages (including notes and bibliography)

Genre: Social History

Summary: The subtitle of the book identifies the two personalities documented in this book -- John Singer Sargent, one of the foremost American portraitists of the late nineteenth century, and Amelie Gautreau, an New Orleans-born socialite and celebrated beauty of her day. She was the subject of his famous Portrait of Madame X, a work first shown at the Paris Salon of 1884. The two were both in their late twenties at the time. Sargent was a rising artist of 28 and Gautreau was a married woman of 25 whose appearances in Parisian society were documented at length in the newspaper columns of her day. The display of her portrait at the Salon wrecked her standing and caused the near destruction of his professional career. Viewers found the implications of a fallen shoulder strap and the tight fit of the black gown Amelie wore for the portrait to be deeply shocking, suggestive of illicit behavior and corrupt society. (Sargent had actually selected the gown in which Madame Gautreau was shown.) In the face of such bad press that he feared might harm his career, he sought unsuccessfully to pull the portrait from the exhibition. Amelie's horrified family refused to pay the artist for the work. He retained the painting in his studio until 1916 when he arranged for Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to purchase the work. (Amelie had died by that time and Sargent felt she would not be harmed by any resulting publicity.)

Davis' intent was to pursue the back story beyond this famous painting, not as a story of Model and Artist but as ordinary people (with some public standing) who are caught in a bad situation. She succeeds in that Strapless is an exploration of a world where fine art held a significant place, Sargent a fascinating personality, and Davis is enthusiastic about the various figures he painted . Additionally, while the image of the painting is famous, the story she tells is not overly familiar to this generation. The events have a certain drama to them and Davis succeeds in building interest to the climactic chapter where she walks the reader through the various display rooms of the Salon that year leading up to the ultimate shock of entering the room where this particular work was displayed. Unfortunately, the drama flags once the scandal had exhausted public interest. John Singer Sargent was able to arrange a visit to friends in London and eventually he was able to re-establish himself. The 1884 Salon was the first negative experience he'd had with regard to his work so it was not as difficult for him as for Amelie who had to endure the truly embarrassing treatment by the press. She never recovered the attention and adulation she'd had prior to the exhibition of the portrait.

Extract: Her sleek and simple gown looks elegant to us today but its close fit would have suggested to late 19th century viewers that Amelie was not wearing her petticoat, a crucial piece of underwear that any proper young woman would have worn religiously. Although many society portraits at the time fairly dripped with ostentatious displays of family jewelry, there was little here; a diamond crescent in Amelie's hair, a subtly glinting wedding ring. There was little in the way of decorative touches to distract from Amelie's magnificent figure. The lines of her body were so visible, especially in the vicinity of her strapless shoulder that she might as well have been naked --not nude. (pg 171)

Also relevant: The fame of the Portrait of Madame X (a name it acquired officially upon acquisition by the Metropolitan) makes this an interesting story. Davis' doesn't attempt extensive technical or in-depth analysis of any of Sargent's works. Strapless is suited to the casual interest of a lay person but not up to the rigorous expectations of a scholar. There are plenty of footnotes, a bibliography and an index (albeit with a few errors).

Davis helped me to discover more about Sargent that I had known prior to reading the book so it wasn't a waste of time. I found it interesting, but it is true that the time period portrayed was in keeping with other material I'd been reading recently. If I were to assign a rating based on Amazon's stars, I would award it the four stars that indicate that "I liked it" but admit that it was no more than that.

Ironside's Death in the Garden

[review]

Title: Death in the Garden

Author: Elizabeth Ironside (pseudonym of Lady Catherine Manning who, just as a tidbit of useless nickel knowledge, serves on the Board of Governors for the Folger Shakespeare Library)

Length: 274 pages

Copyright: 1995 (First US edition published 2005, Felony & Mayhem Press, ISBN 1933397179)

Summary: Death in the Garden opens dramatically with delivery of a verdict in the trial of Diana Pollexfen for the murder of her husband, George. The crime was during a weekend house party that was in ostensible celebration of Diana herself turning 30. As we discover, the birthday party was less than a success but it's initially hard to determine who was responsible for the failure of the event. We are witnesses to the weekend but, while there is a certain amount of simmering animosity amongst the attendees, there are no obvious reasons for actual murder. Still, George is dead and someone did it. Diana has been found innocent by the jury, but there are those who suspect the verdict is due more to her beauty, status and wealth than any evidence presented in court.

Some decades later, we see Helena (whose last name we are never to learn) faced with Great Aunt's death; Helena is one of two executors of her will. Intrigued by journals found at Inglethorpe, the house that Great Aunt occupied, Helena seeks to unravel the mystery of spousal murder left as part of Diana's legacy.

This book equals the best of anything by P.D. James. The writing is impressive and the story complex and unpredictable. Characters are robust and exquisitely detailed. You envision each as distinct and real.

Extract:

On the central table was a great bowl of white roses and she imagined she could smell their scent from where she stood. Framed in the open doorway were Diana and Gaetan in close conversation. There was something comic in the two figures; the small Frenchman with his narrow, dapper person and huge head, and the elongated, stork-like Diana with her small dark skull looking down at him. They were laughing. Gaetan took Diana's right hand and raised it to his lips, holding it there for a minute and looking at her.

The library door opened and George emerged, prayer book in hand. Edith had now ceased any pretence of descent.

Also Relevant: I had been eyeing this title in the store for months, resisting temptation. When JenClair offered to send it to me in return for the Campion novels, I felt it was a sign of sorts and accepted gratefully. Her review of the book is here.

A little investigation offered up this Washington Post review. As a little bit more nickel knowledge, Time Magazine reports that Laura Bush has also read this book. One imagines that she had a certain political obligation, given that Lady Manning is wife of the British Ambassador to the U.S. I mean no disrespect; it's just the way of the Washington Beltway crowd. One wants to be prepared with on-dits for meeting up with people at cocktail parties.

Death in the Garden has a crime at the center of events but it could easily be presented as a mainstream novel. Ironside uses her book to spotlight the inequities of the sexes in twentieth century Britain. We see Diana's life as a married woman in England between the Wars and we see Helena's life as a working lawyer during the 1980's. The author invites us to view the challenges faced by each, the trade-offs they make, but doesn't neglect to point out that constraints imposed society play a large part in the equation. The novel explores the bounds of honorable behavior by male and female under the pressure of social expectation. Ironside is far too intelligent to offer pat answers. Her women are strong, but their daily existence becomes twisted by external events as well as private emotions and my interpretation is that neither finds real happiness. Acceptance, perhaps, but not happiness.

I recommend this heartily.

Tales of Another Time

Over the course of the past month or two, I have been dipping in and out of four non-fiction books:

1. The Titled Americans - Elisabeth Kehoe
2. The Perfect Summer - Juliet Nicholson
3. The Return to Camelot: Chivalry and the English Gentleman - Mark Girouard
3. A Woman's Place, 1910-1975 - Ruth Adams

The commonality of the four is a glimpse of life as it was lived in another time and another place. All pertain to British history during the latter half of the 19th century and into the earliest decades of the 20th century; I was reading of life roughly a hundred 100 years ago.

The first book, The Titled Americans, is a family biography of the three Jerome sisters. Prompted by the Persephone tea back in April, I decided to learn a little more about Jennie Jerome, later Lady Randolph Churchill and mother of Winston Churchill. Anna Sebba had indicated that Frances Hodgson Burnett had used the experiences of the American-born Lady Churchill as fodder for her story, The Shuttle. Having only the shallowest of knowledge of the woman, I picked up this biography of Jennie Jerome and her two sisters, Clara and Leonie, to see what parallels I might encounter.

The three sisters, daughters of a wealthy American financier, had the misfortune of picking three British aristocrats as husbands who were not their equals -- not in terms of intelligence, backbone, or talent. Of the three males, one died of syphilis, another had a positive gift for picking bad investments, and the third was emotionally distant. By contrast, the three sisters were known as "The Good, the Witty, and the Beautiful". The sisters were close (even to the point of owning houses on the same street) and supported each other through their adult lives, both financially and emotionally. They hobnobbed with the rich, the famous, and the royal (two became royal companions, perhaps even mistresses). Their lifestyles offered the appearance of fabulous wealth and yet all were frequently fighting to make ends meet and fend off the bill collectors. One example was the sister who had to hastily dress to go to the bank on the day of her daughter's society wedding in order to withdraw cash to pay for the girl's wedding gown. The seamstress wouldn't leave the dress without payment and had instructions not to accept the family's check. The history of the three American women touches on most of the major issues of British life at the time (Irish home rule, land reform, wartime efforts, etc.) The Titled Americans is substantive biography and interesting reading for the educated layperson.

The second title above, The Perfect Summer, focuses on the summer of 1911. This volume takes a magnifying glass to the behaviors of the aristocratic class in Britain on the eve of the First World War. Nichols picks a few personalities -- the season's leading debutante, a butler, leaders in art, ballet, and literature, the prime minister, and the newly crowned Queen -- and follows their lives over the course of four months (May - September). It's the most readable form of social history, weaving together society news and details of daily life taken from diaries and letters, set against the broader concerns of the day. Imagine the temperature being 95 degrees (Farenheit) but being constrained by tight fitting and cumbersome clothing, even when trying to cool off down at the seaside. There were strikes all over England as workers rebelled against the conditions under which they labored. A threat of war was present.

The Titled Americans is a serious work of history that omits some of the social tidbits that might engage us in the interest of sustaining an objective tone; The Perfect Summer: England 1911, Just Before The Storm is a lighter, entertaining book that brings a vanished lifestyle to life.

The Return to Camelot and A Woman's Place are more general in tone. Camelot (Yale University Press, 1981) is written by Mark Girouard, an architectural historian who offers a descriptive time-line regarding the period fascination with legends of Arthur and ideals of knighthood. From the 1830s up to 1914, the volume presents the waves of artistic, literary and architectural efforts, demonstrating how that myth fueled social expectations and behaviors to such disastrous ends during World War I. The text is accompanied by wonderful photographs.

A Woman's Place, published by Persephone Books, is perhaps the least detailed of any of these books but offers a specific perspective on the issues faced by women in this period; Adams touches on the problems of superfluous women (like Susan in Lady Rose and Mrs. Memmary) during this period and the appalling treatment of women fighting with Prime Minister Asquith over the issue of the vote for women. (I confess that while this is a good educational overview, I did find it the dullest of the four titles.)

So having read romantic works such as The Shuttle (March) and Lady Rose (April), I have spent May wandering off into works that offered more of a reality check. It was not a simpler time; it frequently was an unforgiving social environment. We're better off where we are and would do well to remind younger women that they ought not to forget that our status quo is another generation's hard-won progress.

Ladies of Grace Adieu

Title: The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories

Author: Susanna Clarke

Copyright: 2006, Bloomsbury US, New York. (ISBN: 1596912510)

Length: 235 pages

Genre: Fantasy

Summary: This is a collection of eight short stories by the author of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. As might be expected by those who have read that lengthy novel, the stories are a curious mix of dark magic and light froth, alternately offering stories that remind one of robust Guiness stout and the best dry champagne. There is the same mix of historical figures with a history that never was with the same ability to disconcert. Faery folk are recognized as a dangerous and perhaps duplicitous population.

The story from which the anthology takes its name is an amplification of a minor incident in the Jonathan Strange narrative, but is itself fairly memorable as a literary fairy tale on the basis of the final twist. According to this interview, the tale of Ladies of Grace Adieu was intended as a way of encouraging publisher interest in the final novel. On Lickerish Hill is the story I wrote about earlier this month. The Duke of Wellington Misplaces His Horse, the title character of which is also a figure encountered in Jonathan Strange, appears in the collection; the full text of that story has been on the Strange website for some time. (Each of these tales has been previously published elsewhere.) Antickes and Frets appeared in the New York Times as a Halloween story and features the ill-fated Mary, Queen of Scots, in a rather macabre way. Mrs. Mabb tells of a jilted female who insists on eliciting the truth of her lover's disappearance. I thoroughly enjoyed the story of Mr Simonelli or the Fairy Widower although the ending was somewhat mystifiying. Conversely, I did not find the story of the Tom Brightwind to be very interesting, although it uses the same approach to story telling as Strange in terms of voluminous footnotes. The final story of John Uskglass and the Umbrian Charcoal Burner is actually very, very funny.

Brief Quote:

Mr. Hawkins said nothing; the Hawkins' domestic affairs were arranged upon the principle that Fanny supplied the talk and he the silence.

Now don't you just love that line?

Also Relevant: We had read and discussed these tales at Didi's this past week. Given that the form was short stories, there wasn't as much discussion as perhaps normal with regard to the narrative. We all found the stories enjoyable but not necessarily outstanding or something we'd remember vividly twelve months hence.

What we did spend some time on were the illustrations by Charles Vess, an award-winning graphic artist (his blog is here). I believe it was Pat C. who noted that, based on the illustrations, the artist had a particular difficulty with rendering feet. In almost every instance, the feet were hidden by other objects, but when these particular extremities were shown, they didn't look right. They didn't look as if they were bearing any weight. Didi conversely was quite taken with his backgrounds; for example, the tapestry behind Mary, Queen of Scots, in Antickes and Frets. She's posted her thoughts. We assumed Mr. Vess was responsible as well for the cover art of the book which none of us cared much for.

(Pat P.'s beloved green suitcase with miraculous pockets was the other lengthy discussion that evening, but the specifics of that have no place here. Suffice it to say that she was forced to replace the incredibly useful green suitcase with inferior luggage in cobalt blue. Baggage handlers have no idea of the heart burnings that their work may cause.)

All in all, I think this volume of short stories would be the ideal for your 2007 beach reading. Nothing too challenging, but enjoyable and unconventional ideas.

Heartbreaking

[ an ordinary review]

Title: Lady Rose and Mrs. Memmary

Author: Ruby Ferguson (bio)

Copyright: Originally published 1937; Reissued in 2004 by Persephone Books, London, paperback, ISBN 1-903155-436

Length: 222 pages

Genre: Fiction

Summary: This book is so short that one hesitates to summarize it for fear of giving anything away. The tale's framework is three tourists being shown about one of the great houses of Scotland by its elderly caretaker. The owner can no longer maintain the property and is seeking a tenant; the tourists, a young English couple and an American friend, are simply looking for an afternoon's entertainment. In the space of an afternoon therefore we are allowed a glimpse into another era's social setting and practices, specifically into the life of Lady Rose Targenet over a span of some fifty or more years. She has perhaps a less eventful life than some women, but her story is both sweet and ultimately heartbreaking. You, the reader, like Lady Rose -- in the scenes with her governess, with her adult friends, with her children. You can't bear to think that misfortune may come, but of course, as in every lifetime, it does. No one (even in that period, even with all that wealth) ever had a perfect life.

Extract:

Somewhere hidden away in the dusty portfolio of Time was a picture that fitted here. It was as though the Old Man with the forelock and the scythe was watching, with folded arms, that arrested moment when three tourists and an old caretaker stood in the silent and almost empty shell of Lochlule House, in the blue nursery which had belonged to Lady Rose as a child. So old Time seized his book and began to turn back the pages, ten, twenty at a time -- more than seventy years of yellow leaves. Through them all the great white house gleamed whiter, and soon the Greek girl at the fountain was laughing as the waters of a bygone day gushed over her reaching fingers.

Really, the whole book has that lilt and loveliness.

Also Relevant: I finished this book in an evening. The romantic in me emerged, it cast a spell and, despite the late hour, I didn't want to put it down. I don't think this is a book that an American could ever have written; we lack the history and the romance that Ferguson managed to bring into the tale - references to Mary, Queen of Scots, and Bonnie Prince Charlie. Indeed, there is the sweetest scene of three young ladies gathered together who have just made their curtsey to the Queen, but pause briefly to view and sigh over a picture of the romantically-exiled prince. [ American teens sighing over Orlando Bloom just aren't quite in the same league. ]

Lady Rose and Mrs. Memmary is, I suppose, best described as a character portrait but the author's rendering is light and deft.

There are lovely illustrations in the Persephone edition and an introduction by Candia McWilliam who writes, "It's a little book about dreams and the hard world of money and position and their relation to one another. It's also a love story and a love letter.."

I heartily recommend this one, from the bottom of my heart. Do get your hands on a copy and read it.

Ross King's Ex Libris

[a review]

Title: Ex Libris

Author: Ross King

Copyright: 2001, Penguin Books, paperback (ISBN 0-14-200080-9)

Length: 392 pages

Genre: Historical fiction/mystery

Summary: In 1660, in the wake of the restoration to power of the monarchy in England, Isaac Inchbold is summoned to Pontifex Hall by Lady Alethea Marchamont. The hall is a crumbling wreck following the depredations of Cromwell's soldiers, but rather than focusing her strengths on rebuilding, Lady Alethea is more concerned with the recovery of a specific volume taken from her father's library. Isaac, an asthmatic, near-sighted, lame bookseller, may strike one as a disconcerting choice for a satisfying protagonist, but he is dogged in his pursuit of the trail to locate the mysterious volume. He leaves his bookshop for the London underworld.

To further complicate the narrative thread, interwoven with Isaac's search, is a related series of events associated with the outbreak of the Thirty Years War in 1620. Running as a parallel subplot, the reader follows the journey of Vilem, a royal archivist, and lady-in-waiting Emilia in 1620 as they attempt to smuggle crates of material from the Emperor's library over land and sea to safety in England. The city of Prague has fallen and with the aid of Sir Ambrose Blessington (Lady Alethea's father), the books must be got safely out of the hands of the rebels for both state and religious reasons.

A trio of dark mysterious strangers, dressed in black and gold livery, emerge and recede in the story, further clouding the novel with a sense of espionage and subterfuge.

A recurring motif is a Latin phrase "Verba Volent; littera scripta manet". [Words fly away; the written letter abides] To my mind, the point of the story is indeed the preservation of human knowledge in the form of the written word, whether a book, a scroll, a palimpsest, etc. Another reference that frequently surfaced was Don Quixote -- a man who tries to operate in the real world according to what he has read of only in romances. Isaac must step beyond his safe world of books in order to find his way through a labyrinth of real-world schemes and plots.

The historical detail provided is extensive; what is missing is perhaps a guide to the early half of the seventeenth century. Reading this did prompt me to look up a variety of monarchs, events and subjects. Not since a freshman survey course in Western Civilization, have I had to rack my brain for specifics. Did Sir Walter Raleigh actually explore Guiana? What do I really know about Galileo? There was a revolution in Bohemia in 1620?

Extract:

One of my earliest memories is of watching my father write. He was a scrivener, so writing was his profession., an affair governed by all sorts of precise and complex rituals. I can still picture him hunched as if in supplication over his battered escritoire, his hair hanging over his face, a turkey quill pivoting back and forth in his slender hand. In appearance, he was ,as I am, unimposing; a small man with dark garb and the morose worried eyes of a puffin. But to watch him at work was to marvel at the genius of the scribe's hand. I used to stand beside his desk, holding aloft a candle as he mixed his ink or trimmed his quills with a penknife as carefully as if performing the most delicate surgery.

Also Relevant: As with so many books I have talked about on this blog, I find myself once again favoring one that is complex, requiring time and attention in order to fully savor the meaning. This book ought not to be approached as a casual read; King's story-telling skills aren't inclined to the simple and straightforward. Reviews of the book, when it was initially published, faulted him on that score. Characterization (except for the development of Isaac) is not particularly insightful or engaging. But King is writing more to make a point, rather than entertain. I believe his point is that cultures and history are shaped as much by what nations fail to preserve in libraries and books as by what is successfully archived and preserved. Time and again in this book, the recognition is that libraries represent arsenals of power.

Did I love this book as a "great read"? Nope. Nor would I offer this book to someone seeking a relaxing beach read. You probably ought not to approach Ex Libris, expecting "just" entertainment. The complexity serves a real purpose in discussing how we rip apart the fabric of human knowledge when we destroy libraries in wartime or burn books. If you give up at page 253, you won't engage with the author's intent. You have to make it to the very end to grasp the point King makes about the vulnerability of mankind's aggregated knowledge.

Death at the Priory - James Ruddick

Title: Death at the Priory: Love, Sex and Murder in Victorian England

Author: James Ruddick (author's official web site)

Copyright: 2001, Atlantic Monthly Press, New York.; link to work at LibraryThing

Length: 209 pages, including endnotes, bibliography and index.

Genre: Non-fiction, history

Summary: The book provides an in-depth examination of the murder of Charles DeLauney Turner Bravo at his home in April 1876. Death was due to the ingestion of antimony, a caustic poison having a particularly ugly impact on the body's vital organs. The range of suspects includes the gentleman's wife, her former lover, her paid companion, an employee recently discharged from service and even the victim himself (as an intentional suicide). The question of who-dun-it has never been definitively answered, although various scholars and mystery writers have proposed solutions to the mystery. Ruddick claims to have come closest to the final answer. The book is a surprisingly enthralling read, less lurid than many true-crime accounts, offering lively story-telling with a certain whiff of distant historical scandal.

Also Relevant: I had written briefly last month about watching a BBC production, A Most Mysterious Murder, hosted by Julian Fellowes, the Oscar winning script writer of Gosford Park. The pilot for that series told the story of the Priory murder and, watching it, I recalled this book as an Amazon recommendation for me and sought out a copy. I sped through it, perhaps because I'd seen the episode on DVD, but Ruddick (a) comes to a conclusion that differs from the one offered up by Fellowes and (b) offers more specific details than the television episode. Watching Julian Fellowes' rendition, it was as sensational as the book's subtitle "Love, Sex and Murder in Victorian England" promised. Ruddick's book, of course, is written in a slightly more conservative tone, but there is still close examination of each individual -- Florence, the abused wife, Mrs. Cox, the competent paid companion, Dr. Gully, the rejected former lover, etc.


Were the victim just a fictional character, one might cheer the expeditious manner in which he was got rid of. He was, after all, more than a little autocratic in his manner, a petty tyrant who exercised what he thought were the God-given rights of an adult male with regard to sex, money and order. Even Florence suspected he was mostly after her money. Ruddick is however careful to indicate that Bravo seemed to have had his charming aspects:



He traveled widely, read voraciously and had many diverse interests. He loved literature, particularly Shakespeare, and had a faultless knowledge of English poetry. He played chess with a passion, relishing the twists and turns of the game. He could talk confidently about politics, business, nature, and history.



Noting the knowledge of poetry, I thought to myself while reading that he must have known his Tennyson and that must have had some bearing on his ideas of world and domestic order. Florence was a naive young woman in her twenties when she married him, but as Ruddick's book makes clear, her ideas of domestic order clashed dramatically with those of Bravo. But he offered married respectability, something Dr. Gully was unable to do since Gully had a living wife (locked in an insane asylum). With details like that, you can start to understand the Victorian fascination with the two inquests that were unable to clear anyone's name of suspicion. It might indeed have been any of the various parties noted above; some motives are weaker than others but Charles Bravo gave ample reason that he might be added to that Gilbert and Sullivan list of those who "never would be missed".


Still there is some part of me that is a little abashed at having enjoyed so much this whole salacious affair. It bore more than a little relation to gossiping with Mary Anne, the upstairs maid in the story, who listened at doors and tattled below-stairs.

Burnett's The Making of A Marchioness

[ Just an ordinary review; not for any challenge]

Title: The Making of a Marchioness

Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett

Copyright: 1901 (this work is in the public domain); I read the Persephone Books edition of the text, ISBN: 978-1-903155-14-1.

Length: 297 pages

Genre: Fiction

Summary: The Making of a Marchioness features Emily Fox-Seton, about whom I wrote in March here. The important thing to remember about Emily is that she is not clever; indeed a truly unkind soul might suggest that, for a woman of thirty-four, she's really not the sharpest knife in the drawer. She's somewhat unworldly, but very willing, very accommodating and very kind. Those of better birth and means, such as Lady Maria Bayne, depend on Emily to do for them those mundane boring tasks (writing notes, running errands, hiring of staff, etc.) that they don't choose to do for themselves. Consequently, Emily is invited to Lady Maria's country house, Mallowe Court, to manage the handling of her house party. Among the guests is the eligible Lord Walderhurst and three females (charming and otherwise) who spend time angling for his attention. There are two love stories that emerge in the first part of this novel and it is comforting to know that Frances Hodgson Burnett is skilled enough to bring both sets of lovers together without boring us with the obvious.

It is the second and longer segment of the novel, published originally as The Methods of Lady Walderhurst, that is somewhat more sensationalistic. Emily is placed in mortal danger and the question is whether her great love will return to her in time to ensure her safety and complete recovery. Burnett provides glimpses into two marriages (not the same two couples as presented in the first part of the book) and contrasts the spousal behaviors and attitudes.

I tend to characterize books like this as charming; you can trust the author's intent and narrative as completely as your own mother's cooking. There's a reassuring coziness to the novel. The modicum of suspense is just enough to make it interesting but it's a text ideal to read just before bedtime.

Also Relevant: The virtue of the Persephone edition is the inclusion of both a preface by Isabel Raphael and an Afterword by Burnett biographer Gretchen Gerzina. The bits of biography supplied indicate that Burnett wrote to support herself and her sons in the wake of two unhappy marriages. She was wildly popular as a storyteller in her lifetime, her works read by statesmen as well as the general public.

It's the very gentleness of the narrative that I find endearing, but the note on which the novel closes is actually quite harsh for the time period. Murder has been committed, but the nature of the crime is hidden until the final paragraphs. At the same time, during the second segment of the novel, the women we've come to know each move center stage so that we see the strength and depth of Hester, Emily, Jane, Ameerah.

I thoroughly enjoyed re-reading this and was able to completely identify when Emily resorts to coping with stress by reading the Book of Common Prayer, while sitting at the sunny desk in her library as the church bells in Berkeley Square ring out. It's just so indicative of a belief in an ordered universe. That belief, I think, is a big part of the book's charm for me.

Note: The Persephone edition is lovely. (I really wish the exchange rate was better...)

An Infinity of Little Hours - Maguire

[ just an ordinary review ]

Title: An Infinity of Little Hours: Five Young Men and their Trial of Faith

Author: Nancy Klein Maguire (see author's web site; her bio)

Copyright: 2006; Published in the U.S. by Public Affairs (tm), a member of the Perseus Books Group.

Length: 264 pages, including a number of appendices

Genre: Non-fiction

Summary: A surprisingly intimate look at the formation process during the early 1960's of five young men who arrive at St. Hugh's Charterhouse in Parkminister (UK) to try to pursue their respective vocations as Carthusian monks. Because the author is married to one of the five individuals in the book, she sought and was granted access (to an unprecedented level) to both current and former members of the order.

The Carthusian Order retains a monastic tradition that has not changed in 900 years, one oriented entirely to the fostering of a unity between a single human soul and the Deity. The two most important buildings in a Carthusian enclosure are the Church itself and the library; the monk spends most of his time in his own cell alone [see this photographic tour of a monk's cell]. The intellectual stimulation of study is one of the attractions of the contemplative life. The monks' daily practices are particularly austere, reflecting those known in 1084 when the order was founded. The eremetical, contemplative life depends on strict solitude, prayer, and silence (aside from the scheduled gathering of the community to say the Divine Office). We follow Paddy, Hans, Chuck, Dave and Bernie through a transformation of their personalities and mental processes; the extreme nature of this particular monastic tradition requires such a complete conversion of life that most modern Christians would challenge the theological and the psychological foundation. Can such isolation and denial possibly be the best way to find God? The book is testimony that it may be the best path for some individuals, certainly not for all.

The writing and the flow of the text are marvellous. Maguire devotes an entire chapter (Chapter 11) to the tension created by some percentage of the community who are casual in their singing of the solemn Night Office and Midnight Mass of Christmas. For two of the monks, musical by training and/or talent, this is a significant challenge to holiness and Maguire conveys their frustration and agony. She describes a battle of sorts between those monks struggling to maintain the correct pacing and pitch of the Chant and those for whom the importance of the Office resides in articulating the words rather than the perfection of the sound. While I recognize that for some readers that the inclusion of such a chapter may sound incredibly dull, I thought Maguire pulled it off. The chapter accurately reflects the magnification of small irritations that strict enclosure would naturally tend to fuel.

Also Relevant: I confess to a fascination with the monastic life. On some level, it appeals to me, although whether that is due to a true desire for God or simply for personal calm in a chaotic society may be up for discussion. Having said that, I am quite sure that the Carthusian Order would never have been compatible with my mental, emotional or spiritual constructs. Such an introspective exploration of human spirituality as described in Infinity of Little Hours is both intellectually and physically challenging for even the healthiest soul.

A brief extract from the narrative at the point of one novice contemplating the final solemn profession of vows: ...he knew how difficult it was to get up in the middle of every night, he knew how hard it was to fast on dry bread and water on the coldest winter days. Above all, he knew the hardness of a life that never changed, that would never change, when every day looked like every other day. (pg. 214)

Another quote: The noonday demon tormented Dom Philip with the unchanging routine to which he was committed--today, tomorrow, tomorrow and tomorrow: to bed at 7:00 pm, up at 11:00 pm to pray, then to church for night office, back to pray, to bed again around 2:30 am, up again at 6:00 am for Prime, then to church for the conventual and private Masses, then back to the cell for Sext and reading, dinner at 11:00 am, manual labor and reading, back to church at 2:45 pm for Vespers, back to the cell for Compline and then to bed at 7:00 pm.

Why would someone embrace this rigorous marathon? Unless you have the psychological strength as well as the depth of faith to believe that this is an effective means for achieving closeness with a living God, you must surely question, even condemn, the process. And yet the men who Maguire follows in the book, even those who fail in the attempt to pursue it for a lifetime, value the time spent in the enclosure. This is a thoughtful exploration of how *some* few human beings pursue union with their God, neither dismissive nor bitter in tone. I loved it.

Update: Sylvia over at Classical Bookworm has also reviewed this book.

Burnett's The Shuttle

[just an ordinary review; not for any challenge]

Title: The Shuttle

Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett

Copyright: 1907 (this work is in the public domain); I read from an older edition published by Grosset & Dunlap. A full text version is available from Project Gutenberg, but a print edition is being launched by Persephone Books in the UK in April 2007.

Genre: Fiction/Romance

Length: 512 pages

Summary: Following her marriage to Nigel Anstruthers and the subsequent relocation to his estate in England, the naively sweet and loving Rosalie Vanderpoel, now Lady Anstruthers, gradually loses touch with her family. After some twelve years of increasing silence and detachment, her younger sister, Betty Vanderpoel travels to England to learn the reason. Betty, operating from a fine sense of practicality and confidence, is shocked by the changes in her sister when she arrives at Stornham Court. The Shuttle centers around the actions that Betty takes to restore her sister to herself and set things right. There is a meeting with a neighboring nobleman, Mount Dunstan, who lacks money to restore his own estate but whose pride prevents him from sinking to the behaviors of Nigel Anstruthers' ilk. Ultimately, of course, we see Betty and Mount Dunstan fall in love but the romance is not the paramount story here. Burnett was making a point about the marital alliances between American heiresses and the British titled aristocracy. A theme of restoration runs throughout the novel, based on the respective strengths of each country and culture and it makes for a most satisfying read.

Burnett's writing style is certainly in keeping with the style of her time. This is from a period where it was understood that one had the leisure to properly immerse oneself in the written word. The excerpt below is taken from Mount Dunstan's view of the gap between the two cultures; he is seated in something approximating the "cheap seats" when he catches sight of Betty in one of the expensive boxes above him. This is how Burnett reveals her theme.

Extract: The necessity of seeing his solicitors, who happened to be Messrs. Townlinson & Sheppard, had brought Lord Mount Dunstan to town. After a day devoted to business affairs, he had been attracted by the idea of going to the theatre to see again a play he had already seen in New York. It would interest him to observe its exact effect upon a London audience. While he had been in New York, he had gone with something of the same feeling to see a great English actor play to a crowded house. The great actor had been one who had returned to the country for a third or fourth time, and, in the enthusiasm he had felt in the atmosphere about him, Mount Dunstan had seen not only pleasure and appreciation of the man's perfect art, but - at certain tumultuous outbursts - an almost emotional welcome. The Americans, he had said to himself, were creatures of warmer blood than the English. The audience on that occasion had been, in mass, American. The audience he made one of now, was made up of both nationalities, and, in glancing over it, he realised how large was the number of Americans who came yearly to London. As Lady Anstruthers had done, he found himself selecting from the assemblage the types which were manifestly American, and those obviously English. In the seat next to himself sat a man of a type he felt he had learned by heart in the days of his life as Jem Salter. At a short distance fluttered brilliantly an English professional beauty, with her male and female court about her. In the stage box, made sumptuous with flowers, was a royal party.

As this party had entered, "God save the Queen" had been played, and, in rising with the audience during the entry, he had recalled that the tune was identical with that of an American national air. How unconsciously inseparable - in spite of the lightness with which they regarded the curious tie between them - the two countries were. The people upon the stage were acting as if they knew their public, their bearing suggesting no sense of any barrier beyond the footlights. It was the unconsciousness and lightness of the mutual attitude which had struck him of late. Punch had long jested about "Fair Americans," who, in their first introduction to its pages, used exotic and cryptic language, beginning every sentence either with "I guess," or "Say, Stranger"; its male American had been of the Uncle Sam order and had invariably worn a "goatee." American witticisms had represented the Englishman in plaid trousers, opening his remarks with "Chawley, deah fellah," and unfailingly missing the point of any joke. Each country had cherished its type and good-naturedly derided it. In time this had modified itself and the joke had changed in kind. Many other things had changed, but the lightness of treatment still remained. And yet their blood was mingling itself with that of England's noblest and oldest of name, their wealth was making solid again towers and halls which had threatened to crumble. Ancient family jewels glittered on slender, young American necks, and above - sometimes somewhat careless - young American brows. And yet, so far, one was casual in one's thought of it all, still. On his own part he was obstinate Briton enough to rebel against and resent it. They were intruders. He resented them as he had resented in his boyhood the historical fact that, after all, an Englishman was a German - a savage who, five hundred years after the birth of Christ, had swooped upon Early Briton from his Engleland and Jutland, and ravaging with fire and sword, had conquered and made the land his possession, ravishing its very name from it and giving it his own. These people did not come with fire and sword, but with cable and telephone, and bribes of gold and fair women, but they were encroaching like the sea, which, in certain parts of the coast, gained a few inches or so each year.

Also Relevant: There are many reasons why Persephone may see the value in bringing this novel back to the attention of the modern public. There is the story of the abused wife, the culture gap with its tensions, there is a remarkably self-sufficient heroine who "gets things done" effectively as well as graciously. Burnett was in fact a successful writer for adults as well as for children and Persephone's list is largely oriented to the work of women writers whose works are neglected or in danger of being marginalized. How better to marginalize a woman writer than by dismissing her as a writer for children, a field that may be casually perceived as being of lesser status than adult fiction? One might legitimately raise the complaint that Betty is a little too perfect to be borne with; a flaw to her overall make-up might have been welcome. But by and large, this book entertains as well as makes a point. Readers of today may find it to be as worthwhile now as when it was initially published one hundred years ago.

Elaine of Random Jottings had this to say about The Shuttle earlier this month.