Time for another round of Bookshelf Traveling in Insane Times which was created by Judith at Reader in the Wilderness and is currently hosted by Katrina at Pining for the West.
This bookshelf is directly below
last week’s and you can see it begins with two hardcover
Brenda Jaggers (I had to reread
A Winter Child last weekend – still a 5, with a quirky ending) there was no room for above. Next are my Daphne du Mauriers, although I think I loaned
Rebecca to my niece and
The House on the Strand is in a box I mailed in May to my sister in New York. The post office periodically sends unconvincing updates to say they are still looking for it. That USPS sent my box of books to North Carolina instead of New York does not give me a lot of confidence many of those mail-in ballots will be delivered in time to be counted next week. Thank you for nothing,
Louis de Joy.
There are still a few du Mauriers I have not read but thanks to Heaven Ali’s annual
Daphne du Maurier Week I am making inroads on the lesser-known titles and becoming more and more determined to visit Cornwall on my next trip across the Atlantic. In the meantime, I have
Enchanted Cornwall, The King’s General,
Hungry Hill, The Glass- Blowers, Jamaica Inn,
Kiss Me Again, Stranger,
Myself When Young, and Frenchman’s Creek.
Next is Norah Lofts’
The Concubine, a historical novel about Anne Boleyn. I am a little sentimental about this book because it was the first book selected for me by Sister Sessions, a kind librarian at my secondary school. I really enjoyed it but I was a sheltered 13 and was afraid concubine was a bad word – I was torn between being impressed the nun was so cool and unsure how to tell her I liked the book if I couldn’t utter the title!
I have never made it through
The Towers of Trebizond, the most popular of Rose Macaulay’s books, and, of course, I couldn’t find it when I wanted it for the
#1956 Club earlier this month. This copy is a first (American) edition which probably belonged to my grandmother. I suspect most people like/remember this book because of its famous first line:
"Take my camel, dear," said my aunt Dot, as she climbed down from this animal on her return from High Mass.
Next is Georgette Heyer’s Regency World, The definitive guide to the people, places, and society in Georgette Heyer’s Regency novels by Jennifer Kloester, a useful reference, although I know most of these books practically by heart. At the right of the shelf are all my Heyer paperbacks, starting with copies I picked up in New York many years ago (an astute eye will see three piles). Heyer is one of my favorite authors so I also have two shelves of hardcovers beneath this shelf. Some of these covers are both lurid and nothing like the characters inside but you never know when you might need a duplicate copy.
Do you have a favorite Heyer? Mine is
The Grand Sophy or perhaps
Devil’s Cub, but it is hard to choose.
I love du Maurier and wanted to go to Cornwall for decades, we managed it about 15 years ago and it rained nearly the whole week, but it was still good. I enjoyed The Towers of Trebizond's humour and quirky characters. Norah Lofts is a blast from the past, I read her a lot of her books in the 1970s. That's so funny about the word concubine. I remember the days when the word 'virgin' was a dirty word as far as I was concerned as I had a hazy sense it had something to do with sex - whatever that was! I have so many Heyer books still to read but I've enjoyed all the ones I have read. Granny was a huge fan, I wish I had her copies of the books. I'll link to this post tomorrow when I get around to doing my own insane travelling.
ReplyDeleteI've only read a couple of Heyers - one mystery and and one Regency romance, but neither really connected with me which is too bad.
ReplyDeleteI have a handful of Norah Loft hardcovers to read inherited from my mother. I've only read one, Knight’s Acre, but I liked it. I'm afraid she has fallen out of print, but she is every bit as good as other authors and deserves a renaissance in the book world of Historical Fiction, I think. :D
That story about Sister Sessions is adorable. Kids are so weird, the things we think of.
Love Heyer- my favorite is "The Reluctant Widow" with "The Toll Gate" not far behind.
ReplyDeleteHi Connie,
ReplyDeleteWe are following your US elections today from afar, and hubbie has even decided he may have to stay up into the night, or even tomorrow night, just to see who wins and what happens in the aftermath! Our two countries are so linked, that the implications of the result are sure to resound loudly over here!
It's a bit worrying that you have so little confidence in you postal service, as the Biden vote is quite heavily dependent on the postal ballot from what I can make out!
I do love your 'blast from the past' classic authors, although out of Heyer, Lofts and Du Maurier, I definitely prefer the latter, as I never tire of re-visiting 'Rebecca', whether it be in story form or on the big or small screen!
Thanks for sharing those classic memories and for visiting Fiction Books today :)
I have The Towers of Trebizond on my tbr pile. I might save it for next year's European challenge, in fact it's quite likely I will. My favourite Heyer? Sylvester I think but there are so many others... The Grand Sophy, Frederica, Arabella, Black Sheep, I could go on and on. I've never read any Norah Lofts but own the Suffolk House set of books which someone very kindly gave me a few years back. Another reading plan for next year perhaps.
ReplyDeleteSorry to be so late. Another case where I thought I had commented. So scattered these days.
ReplyDeleteI would like to read some Daphne du Maurier. I am fairly sure I read Rebecca years ago and possibly other books by du Maurier, but want to read Rebecca again and look for other books of hers. Maybe I will remember about the du Maurier reading week next year and take part.
I don't know much about The Towers of Trebizond, or Rose Macaulay. Another author to look into when I have time.
I have read most of Georgette Heyer's mysteries, and only one of her Regency romances but I am planning to read more. I have read Frederica and enjoyed it. I have The Grand Sophy on my TBR pile. My favorite mystery by Heyer is Envious Casca.