Period Piece: A Cambridge Girlhood by Gwen Raverat – for the #1952Club

This is a gently affectionate and often amusing memoir of a Victorian childhood from an unusual perspective – Gwen Raverat was a granddaughter of Charles Darwin and had an outspoken American mother. In 1883, Maud Du Puy came from Philadelphia to visit an aunt in Cambridge, England. She was pretty and sociable but not well educated or academically inclined so it seems a little surprising that she enjoyed the university life of Cambridge and attracted several suitors.

Nancy and Plum by Betty McDonald, for the #1952Club

It is Christmas Eve, and Nancy and Plum are alone at Mrs. Monday’s Boarding Home in so-called Heavenly Valley, while Mrs. M, her spoiled niece, Marybelle, and the other orphans are enjoying the holiday in the city.  When the sisters dash outside to watch some merry sleighs go by, they are accidentally locked out of the house on a very cold night. But Nancy and Plum are intrepid: they take refuge in the barn, find a lantern, play with some kittens, crank the stove in the harness room so they can roast some potatoes they extract from the root cellar, and play imaginary games about having a family. They are stunned to find an empty box from their Uncle John, showing that although he left the girls at this boarding house years ago, he has sent gifts they never received.

The Far Country by Nevil Shute, for the 1952 Club

The Far Country was published in 1952 and provides a snapshot, albeit a depressing one, of post-war Britain, which made it a good choice for the 1952 Club, hosted this week by Simon at Stuck in a Book and Karen at Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings.

Jack and Angela Dorman have finally paid off the mortgage on their small sheep station in Australia after years of drudgery, reared four children, have money in the bank, and even added electricity two years ago.

Ladies' Bane by Patricia Wentworth, for the #1952Club

It’s time for the 1952 Club, featuring books published that year and hosted this week by Simon at Stuck in a Book and Karen at Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings. The inimitable Miss Maud Silver, along with a young woman fighting for her sister’s happiness, are featured in my first selection, Ladies’ Bane.

Spell the Month in Books – April

Spell the Month in Books is hosted by Jana at Reviews From the Stacks. Her theme for April is animals on the cover or in the title.

WWW Wednesday - 1952 Edition

WWW Wednesday is hosted by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

Love for Lydia by H.E. Bates caught my eye when I was looking for a book for the forthcoming 1952 Club, hosted by Stuck-in-a-Book and Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings.

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

Dominic Salt is the caretaker of Shearwater, a remote island near Antarctica where he lives with his three children, Raff, Fen, and Orly. The island is mostly inhabited by seals but visiting researchers have created a vast seed bank – which would help the world replant if there were a natural disaster. Because the sea is rising, the island will soon be uninhabitable so the Salts, after many isolated years, will be forced to begin again somewhere on the mainland. If they really leave.

The Wedding People by Alison Espach

It’s not every book that starts with a heroine planning to commit suicide and manages to make the situation quite humorous - albeit dark humor! When Phoebe arrives at a fancy Newport, RI inn, wearing a green silk dress and empty handed except for her cell phone, she finds herself surrounded by wedding guests, coming for six days of over-the-top events. 

Six Degrees of Separation - from Knife to The Witch of Blackbird Pond

It’s time for #6degrees, inspired by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. We all start at the same place as other readers, add six books, and see where it ends up. This month’s starting point is Salman Rushdie’s memoir, Knife.

March 2025 Reading

My favorite books this month were The Lost Passenger, which is much more than a Titanic story, a reread of The Heart Speaks Many Ways, and Just for the Summer, a contemporary romance set in Minnesota. I appreciated Prophet Song, the 2023 Booker winner, and its depiction of an authoritarian state but it was hard to enjoy something so much like our daily life and worries.