The Chinese Shawl by Patricia Wentworth: A Miss Silver Mystery

If one has to be an orphan, it is helpful to have some sort of inheritance and be reasonably attractive. Laura Fane has “white skin, dark hair, and the grey-green eyes which were her real beauty.” She lost her parents when she was just five but her father’s decision to jilt his cousin Agnes when he met and fell for Laura’s mother caused a family rift. Now 21, she has come to London to meet with a lawyer about her inheritance. She currently receives £400/year, mostly from renting her father’s home, the Priory, to her Cousin Agnes, and she works as a secretary at a convalescent home for soldiers.

Six Degrees of Separation – from Founding Mothers to The Little Wartime Library

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 Kate suggested we start with our book group’s current selection, which for me is Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation by Cokie Roberts (2004). My friend Carrie chose this with the recent 250th celebration in mind, and she made our meeting very festive with Chicken Pot Pie as the entrée and red, white, and blue (or purple) gelato and little bags of red, white, and blue Hershey’s Kisses.