Angela Carter's Nights at the Circus was an exhilarating read, as long as you can suspend disbelief and accept the reality of a winged woman. Fevvers life  is different from anyone else's, as she appears to have been hatched, raised in a brothel and spends her life as a circus entertainer. The details of this story are fascinating and apart from being a rollicking good read - the description of Fevvers teaching herself to fly is amazing - it also says quite a bit about the position of women in society as the 19th century becomes the 20th. Surprisingly, this is the first Angela Carter novel I have read - as it was published quite some time ago, in 1984, can't think how I missed her writings. The events in the brothel in which Fevvers grows up and begins her life as a performer starting as a cherub perched on a mantelpiece, then graduating to a winged Victory are concluded by the Madam of the brothel dying in  an accident, and the occupants, discovering the house has been left to Madam's brother, burn the house down and go their separate ways into the world.  Fevvers, after one or two  adventures, joins a circus which has an engagement in St Petersburg. During this episode the clowns, including Jack Walser, an American journalist who interviewed Fevvers in London and has followed her to Russia, seem to take centre stage. After the St Petersburg episode, the circus takes a train to Vladivostock, but is blown up while crossing Siberia.

Another first was Margaret Atwood's The Handmaids Tale. First published in 1985 ( What was I reading in the 1980's to have missed this as well?) and set in an unspecified future America where the position of women has changed radically, not for the better. Offred, whose tale this is, has become a handmaid to the wife of a Commander. Her function is to bear a child for the commander and his wife. She is not allowed to smoke, drink, read or even work, except for a bit of shopping in company with another handmaid.
Offred's future if she fails in bearing a child is either to be hung at the Wall or be cast out of Gilead, to die of radiation sickness.  Offred's past , recalled in a series of flashbacks, was as a wife and mother, but we do not learn precisely what has happened to her daughter or husband; neither do we learn what happens to Offred herself. A somewhat chilling tale of how that which we presently take for granted can disappear in an instant, and very relevant still today.

Reading at whim

Most of my reading is at random - I just pick up books in my local libraries, or occasionally charity bookshops. Sometimes I order books from newbooks, as I have a subscription and can get free books. although I have to pay postage, and some I order from The Book Depository or very occasionally from Amazon. This last I mostly use for my Kindle, which I regard as a useful addition to my library, not a total replacement for it. Who knows how long digital editions will last? Print, as we know, can survive in readable form for hundreds of years, but digital hasn't been around long enough. and backward compatibility is a real problem in information technology.  Of my recent reading, the bulk have come from libraries, and one a Persephone classic, Francis Hodgson Burnett's The Making of a Marchioness.
I enjoyed this tale of Emily Fox-Seton, and her life of at  first refined drudgery and later luxury. The first part of this story is how Emily, alone in the world and living in a cheap boarding house, doing errands for wealthy women, is invited to a country house by one of the ladies for whom she works. The time she spends there includes organising a fete for the local village, an exhausting job. The next day when Emily is sent on another errand, involving a legthy walk , Lord Walmerslet, another guest and a widower, rescues her  and proposes marriage. Happily settled at the Marquis' estate, Emily sets out to help her husbands presumed heir, Alex Osborn, recently returned fro a tour of work in India, along with his wife and her servant. The marquis is called to India on business and leaves his recently wedded wife alone . The second part of the story becomes more of a mystery or thriller, as threatening attempts  are made on Emily's life. The story however does have a satisfying ending, after a period of suspense and tension. A  really good read.

I thought Joanne Harris's Peaches for Monsieur le Cure another satisfying, enjoyable read. The third novel with Vianne Rocher as the main character and narrator, a follow up to Chocolat and the Lollipop Shoes. In this story Vianne and her daughter Anoushka returns to Lansquenet, the small town in which Chocolat was set, for a summer holiday, after receiving a letter from her now dead friend, Armande. Lansquenet has changed, however. The cure, Monsieur Reynaud seems to be in a precarious postion, especially over his relations with a group of Muslim immigrants, who have settled in the older part of the town near the river. A young Muslim, Karim Bencharki and his sister Ines seem to be setting a new stricter way of life for the younger Muslims, which is creating tensions in that community and with the local French town dwellers as well. Vianne gets involved  in the events and tries to sort things out in her way, by making some of her  delicious, seductive chocolates and also some peach jam. She also helps a young Muslim girl who runs away from her family. The tensions between the communities and different charaters is well maintained and provides a delightful read. I think this follow up more successful than Lollipop Shoes.

Anita Shreve's story Sea Glass sems to be a quiet novel, gentle, apparently a bit like the heroine. But appearances can be deceptive, and the tension mounts slowly to a very shocking event which has life-changing effects on all the characters. I hadn't for some reason read any books by Anita Shreve before, and found this story very readable, with believable characters and lovely descriptions of how Honora and her husband start to make a life for themselves in a small seaside summer resort. But the Wall Street crash of 1929 will have devasting results for the couple, and for the people they get to know in the small mill town nearby. The deepening effects of the Crash and how different people react to it make for a fascinating read.

Happy New Year

Something to brighten up a dark, gloomy, and very wet day. They are filling the room with gorgeous scent.

A few recent reads

Need to catch up on comments about books I've recently read. Michelle Paver's Dark Matter is a really haunting ghost story, set in Svalbard in the early 1920's and excellently written. Jack is poor and lonely, although he has been well educated. An offer to be the wireless operator on an expedition to an isolated part of Svalbard is too good a chance to miss, and he sets off with four other men, and several huskies to spend many months away. One by one, the other men are compelled through circumstance to leave, until Jack is finally facing an Arctic winter alone, execpt for the huskies. But there is apparently someone or something else at Gruhuken.  The feeling of tension and despair build up gradually but inexorably; I found this a frightening read even on a fine sunny day.


John Galsworthy's The Man of Property is the start of the The Forsyte Saga, which was televised a long time ago, and is still a really good read. Although I remember watching the series, I hadn't read the book, and as it was sitting on my shelves, picked it up and was engrossed. The story is mainly concerned with Soames and  Irene, his highly prized possession and wife, and the house he has built by Philip Bosinney, a young unknown architect. The introduction of various members of the Forsyte family and others of their ilk is slyly done - Galsworthy describes them as a tribe, who are all similar, and occasionally pokes fun at them. But the main emotional feeling in the book is tragic, as Irene falls in love with Bosinney, who is engaged to June Forsyte, her husbands neice.

I finally finished reading Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamasov, and it almost felt like losing an old friend when I reached the final page. The characters seemed so real, their lives so fascinating, that I felt somewhat bereft. But I still have the book, of course and could always re-read it in the future.

Autumn to Winter in the Cantal

We;ve been here in the Auvergne for over a week now, and have had the most variable weather.The English complain about the variability of their weather, but this region in France seems to outdo that. The day we arrived and for a few more, we had a gale force wind, fortunately from the south, so not too cold., but with gusts of 80 kilometres an hour. The French meteo warned about this.

Eventaully the wind died down, then it rained for a bit, and last Saturday night it snowed, and on Sunday there was a strong, cold north wind. Happily the weather here has improved since then, with clear sunny days, which are still fairly cold, but calm. Other parts of France have had extensive flooding, especially at Lourdes, in the Pyrenees. The day before the weather broke, we went up the vallley of the Maronne, and then up to the Puy Violent. The view from the  top of the Puy was amazing, over valleys and puys for miles. We went for a short walk along the valley road on Monday, meeting some elderly residents out for their constitutional; we returned through the woods, which are now passing quickly from autumn to winter. The path was deep with beech and hazel leaves, very pretty golden bronze colours underfoot.