Bookshelf Traveling - July 17

Time for another round of Bookshelf Traveling in Insane Times which is being hosted by Judith at Reader in the Wilderness.   The idea is to share one of your neglected bookshelves or perhaps a new pile of books. 

This shelf holds most of my Eva Ibbotson collection, a Viennese-born author (1925-2010) who spent most of her life in England.  I don’t recall if my mother or I first found Ibbotson but we became fans in the 80s after her first two books were published, A Countess Below Stairs and Magic Flutes.  Her seven adult novels are charming, light historical novels with romantic elements about resolute heroines with an oversized sense of responsibility for others, no matter how dire their own straits.  Ibbotson’s books display a sensitivity toward refugees and displaced people that likely resulted from her own experience.  They are real comfort books!

A Company of Swans, which begins in 1912, is about talented Harriet Morton who lives in Cambridge and longs for adventure but is restricted by Edwardian society and her controlling father and aunt.  Her only pleasure is ballet and when her family tries to push her into an unwelcome marriage, she runs away with a ballet troupe, ending up in the Amazon.  The book has humor and romance, but also reveals how dangerous life was for women when their male relatives did not have their best interests at heart (even the hero jumps to conclusions too quickly and with disastrous results).   The book is dedicated to fellow writer Patricia Veryan but I don’t know if she and Eva were actually acquainted, as Veryan moved permanently to the US after World War II.  They both write with wit and tenderness but I think Ibbotson is far more skilled and memorable.  Stay tuned and maybe I’ll share my Veryan shelves soon.

Several of Ibbotson’s books were repackaged for a YA market but I thought the new covers looked anachronistic and less attractive than the original paperback editions above (which live on a higher shelf).  She also wrote several actual young adult books, which are outstanding – I think The Star of Kazan might be a good choice for my niece’s book group – and some children’s books, including The Secret of Platform 13 (1994), which begins at King’s Cross where there is a secret door under Platform 13 that leads to a magical island.  Those who thought it resembled J.K. Rowling’s books didn’t seem to realize Ibbotson was there first!  Ibbotson was gracious about the similarity and, fortunately, the popularity of Harry Potter led to increased sales for Ibbotson’s juvenile fantasies.  I sent her a fan letter at some point in the 90s with an article I had written for RT Magazine and received a lovely response.  

My only excuse is that the conference room
isn't there anymore!

Also on this shelf are a very attractive edition of The Elements of Style that I picked up somewhere; one of talented Tracy Grant’s best historical novels, Daughter of the Game (2002) (retitled Secrets of a Lady when published in paperback); and The Collected Ghost Stories of M.R. James (1931).  Montague Rhodes James was a Provost at Cambridge University, and considered one of the best ghost story writers of the 20th century, admired by Stephen King and others.  His stories are quirky and dark, and were polished to perfection so he could read them aloud to his literary friends.  This book was recommended to me by my junior high librarian who also gave me Katherine by Anya Seton, Murder in a Nunnery by Eric Shepherd, and Miracle at Carville, about a girl with leprosy! She was a nun of wide interests and I was willing to read nearly anything.

At the right on the shelf, you can see the facsimile of the famous pitcher given by Tacy Kelly to Betsy Ray on her fifth birthday.  These were given to attendees at a Betsy-Tacy convention.

My final paper for my summer school course is due Sunday (Intellectual Freedom in School Libraries) and I am taking next week off!  Hooray!