The Regency Detective

Talks are under way with broadcasters over a TV detective series set in Bath during Jane Austen's time. The Regency Detective has been created by Bath-based scriptwriters David Lassman and Terence James and is billed as showing the darker side of the period. It would be set in the period between 1800 and 1805 when Austen lived in the city. The director, Giles Foster, was responsible for the recent Northanger Abbey mini-series.

What do you think? If done properly, it might be delightful. . .

Sisters Red

While I found the three main characters and the relationship of the sisters convincing and moving, I confess my other reaction is simply supernatural overload. I like YA fantasy as much as the next person but despite appreciating the Red Riding Hood theme of this book I am getting tired of characters that spend a whole book fighting vicious bad guys, only to be confronted (they and I) with a sequel at the end. The angst never ends! In addition, Scarlett's situation seemed so bleak - having saved her sister's life but becoming mutilated in the process - she attracts pity or horror from strangers. Not to impose real life solutions on a fantasy but I couldn't help thinking rather than shunning everyone in Ellison, where they live, Scarlett needed plastic surgery and counseling . . .Overall, I liked it but am not sure I would be first in line for more in the series. You know what they say, so many books on my floor, so little time . . . This one came from the library.

A Long Way to Go by Borden Deal

Children abandoned far from home and forced to elude adults who may not have their best interests at heart? Right away this reminded me of Homecoming (1981) by Cynthia Voight, which I believe spawned a whole series. I only read the first one, in which Dicey’s mother abandons her four children, and Dicey leads her siblings on foot, first to a relative in Connecticut and finally to their grandmother in Virginia. I thought that book was pretty dark and gloomy but A Long Way to Go, which predates it by 16 years, is bleaker yet even more compelling.

Sunnycove by Amelia Elizabeth Walden

In this 1948 YA novel, Sunnycove, by Amelia Elizabeth Walden, Vicky Lind is a quiet teen from a West Virginia mining town where even the families who own their homes do not have running water. Vicky has something priceless, however, an older brother who recognizes her acting talent and is determined she will get her chance in the real world - the chance he wasn't talented enough to pursue. Gus returned to Pittstown after college to teach, and gave Vicky drama lessons every day. After she graduates from high school, it is Gus who secures her place at Sunnycove Playhouse in Connecticut for the summer where she will have the opportunity to appear in student productions and possibly earn a role with professional actors.