Six Degrees of Separation – from The Naked Chef to The Clothes They Stood Up In

It’s time for #6degrees, inspired by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. We all start at the same place, add six books, and see where we end up. This month’s starting point is The Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver (1999), the bestselling cookbook and television star. I assume people watched his show because the title was salacious but I think he merely advocated for a simple approach to cooking (yet laughed all the way to the bank).

Several years before Jamie Oliver appeared on the scene, Nora Roberts launched her bestselling J.D. Robb series with Naked in Death (1995) which is now up to 56 books. I have read about 20 and will never catch up. However, the first one is the best as she introduces fierce homicide detective Eve Dallas and the mysterious, devastatingly attractive Roarke, a suspect in the investigation. I didn’t think I would like this series because it is set in the future but I am definitely a fan.  Berkley, where I was working at the time, had Roberts use a pseudonym both because she was so prolific and also they did not want to alienate her core fans with a futuristic series.  However, we dropped many hints about her identity and it turned out most of her fans were delighted she was producing books so frequently.  The series took off and soon boasted, "New York Times Bestsellng Author" and "Nora Roberts writing as J.D. Robb" on the covers.

Another deadly mystery series began with Death in the Grand Manor by Anne Morice (1970), featuring actress Tessa Crichton.  Although Tessa has a bad habit of encountering corpses, she is one of those lighthearted, bantering heroines, happily back in print, thanks to Dean Street Press. My review.

You know how much I love intrepid orphans and they too get their opportunities to infiltrate sinister manors. In The Treasure of Plunderell Manor by Bruce Clements (1988), fourteen-year-old Laurel becomes a lady's maid to heiress Alice Plunderell.  It is up to her to protect her mistress from greedy relatives, Lord and Lady Stayne, who want Alice dead.

The Goldsmith’s Treasure by August Šenoa (1871) is a Croatian story of forbidden love between the goldsmith’s daughter, Dora, a beautiful and devout young woman, and the willful son of Lord Stjephko. We read this in my book group several years ago and our reward for plowing through was a fabulous Croatian feast made by my friend Lidija. In style, it reminds me of Candide, although more flowery. My review.

"My heart got the better of me. My heart, Dora dearest – which holds a precious treasure inside – your name."

Elswyth Thane is one of my favorite authors but I have to admit her Cloth of Gold (1929) is nearly as over the top as the first Croatian historical novel (above). In this two-book series, heroine Alexandra escapes from her tedious and much older husband to follow a dashing explorer to India to help capture the golden robe of a goddess. My review.

My final link is cloth or actually The Clothes They Stood Up In by Alan Bennett (1998).  One evening, when Mr. and Mrs. Ransome come home from the opera, they find that everything they own, aside from the clothes on their back, has been stolen. Bennett is best known for The Uncommon Reader but this story is very funny. 

Have you read any of these? Did you play #6Degrees this month? Next month (December 3, 2022), we’ll start with The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey, which I have always meant to read because I like her Tolkien-inspired name.