Well, that description sounds very depressing (Booker shortlist notwithstanding) but luckily I was reminded of The Exiles by Hilary McKay (1991), so my first link is a hilarious book in which the four Conroy sisters are forced to spend the summer with their grandmother, who tries to break them of their reading habit by substituting fresh air and hard work for books. Similarly, my grandmother, despite being a reader herself, was always trying to make us go outside and play when we visited, and we would beg to be taken to the Chappaqua library instead!
Hilary Clinton lives in Chappaqua (I just looked it up: 1.3 miles from my grandparents' house), and I liked and recommend the book she wrote with Louise Penny, State of Terror. The main character is a U.S. Secretary of State, who must unravel a global conspiracy involving terrorism and nuclear threats.
Third Degree
I am a big fan of Patricia Wentworth’s Golden Age mysteries but her first book was historical novel called A Marriage Under the Terror, set during the French Revolution The heroine is a brave young noblewoman and a revolutionary marries her to save her from the guillotine. It is probably only for diehard Wentworth fans but I enjoyed it.
Fourth Degree
I think I’ve used most of the books I’ve read about the French Revolution except for The Glass-Blowers by Daphne du Maurier. It’s an imagined story about her French ancestors, glass-blowers in rural France just before and during the Revolution. My review.
Fifth Degree
Glassmaking is my next link and is a key element of The Glass Phoenix by Mary Stetson Clarke (1969). When his father is lost at sea, young Seth Arnold starts working at the glass factory in Sandwich, MA to help support his family. You should go to the Sandwich Glass Museum if you ever visit Cape Cod!
Sixth Degree
The Phoenix and the Carpet (1904) is the second and maybe the best in E. Nesbit’s trilogy following Five Children and It, about five British children who discover a magical carpet and a talking phoenix that grants them three wishes a day, leading to many adventures, not to mention awkward situations.
Next month, (March 7, 2026), Kate plans to with a classic (and in celebration of the forthcoming movie) – Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë.
I am a big fan of Patricia Wentworth’s Golden Age mysteries but her first book was historical novel called A Marriage Under the Terror, set during the French Revolution The heroine is a brave young noblewoman and a revolutionary marries her to save her from the guillotine. It is probably only for diehard Wentworth fans but I enjoyed it.
I think I’ve used most of the books I’ve read about the French Revolution except for The Glass-Blowers by Daphne du Maurier. It’s an imagined story about her French ancestors, glass-blowers in rural France just before and during the Revolution. My review.
Glassmaking is my next link and is a key element of The Glass Phoenix by Mary Stetson Clarke (1969). When his father is lost at sea, young Seth Arnold starts working at the glass factory in Sandwich, MA to help support his family. You should go to the Sandwich Glass Museum if you ever visit Cape Cod!
The Phoenix and the Carpet (1904) is the second and maybe the best in E. Nesbit’s trilogy following Five Children and It, about five British children who discover a magical carpet and a talking phoenix that grants them three wishes a day, leading to many adventures, not to mention awkward situations.
So my chain took me from Japan to the British seaside to all over in State of Terror (Washington, D.C., Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and Russia) to Revolutionary France to Cape Cod and back England!
I loved The Phoenix and the Carpet as a child and thought it was better than the first book, although I'm not sure if I ever read the final one. I've been enjoying some of Patricia Wentworth's standalone thrillers recently but had no idea she had written a French Revolution book!
ReplyDeleteYou would like The Story of the Amulet because the children go to the British Museum to consult an archeologist, if I remember correctly!
DeleteI'm glad you freshened the starting point of a "history of loneliness.” Yikes. I'm curious about the Mary Stetson Clarke novel ... I wonder if my library might have it. I like how you remind us of these older good reads. thx
ReplyDeleteIt's always interesting to see all the chains.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know Hillary Clinton wrote another book, must check that out.
Here is my list:
https://momobookblog.blogspot.com/2026/02/six-degrees-of-separation-flashlight.html
This is a fascinating chain. I liked the story about your grandmother trying to get you to go outside and play instead of reading, especially since she was a reader. Not many people in my family read so much as I did, although they did support me in my reading. But my grandmother on my mother's side was probably the only one who read as much as I did and enjoyed it so much. I haven't been interested in reading State of Terror since I haven't finished all of Louise Penny's Three Inspector Gamache's books, but maybe I will look for a copy at the book sale.
ReplyDeleteYou would like it, I am sure. There was one minor spoiler about Three Pines.
DeleteMy grandfather wrote books on musicology and my grandmother edited them, so I wonder if she also wanted us out of the house so he could concentrate. By the time my three siblings and I came along, he was not used to children.
I always love seeing the path you take on these posts. I really enjoyed State of Terror--it felt like mostly Louise Penny but with Hillary Clinton providing the political insights. I would love to see them pair up on another book. As a DMM fan, I have yet to read The Glass Blowers, though I love the premise and big sprawling family dramas.
ReplyDeleteMuch as I love Wuthering Heights, I am going to pass on this movie version. It'll be fun to see what path it inspires you to take :)