Last week, my class on Adultery in 19th Century Literature, was finishing up discussion of Madame Bovary. There was so much more to explore but it is the nature of classes to keep moving on so…here we are. Next up is one of the best known and I think loved novels, Anna Karenina. This is a long one so I will need lots of time to read or should I say reread as I read this many years ago. Going back is always interesting because the book stays the same while the reader changes and may bring different insights the next time. Thus far, I am getting to know the characters including Prince Oblsonsky, his wife Dolly, Levin and Kittty. In the next few pages Anna will come in. The writing is so rich that I want to savor this novel as I go. I will share a snippet or two below.
First the opening line which is one of the best known in literature. “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” What do you think? Do you agree?
Next Prince Oblonsky (Stiva) and his reflections on himself, marriage and adultery. He…
“was a truthful man concerning his own self…He repented only that he had not managed to conceal things (his affair).” How does each of us rationalize, justify and hide things? Is this self-knowledge of the Prince useful?
More to come…hope you are interested because I think that there will be a lot to say.
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If you have read and enjoyed books by Susan Wiggs, I saw an offer today that you might welcome. Between You & Me will be published in June. For today only, you can preorder the ebook for $4.99 from sites like Amazon. This is good news if you tend to buy this author’s new releases. Below is Amazon’s summary of the novel:![Summer at Willow Lake (The Lakeshore Chronicles) by [Wiggs, Susan]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51z-BlRoVTL.jpg)
I first read a Susan Wiggs novel when I picked up this book. Summer at Willow Lake tells the story of the camp in the Catskills (New York) that Olivia Bellamy is renovating for her grandparents. While doing this work, Olivia recalls her past summers at the camp and of course, this includes a past romance. This novel was an easy read about a family whom I enjoyed getting to know. This was a good thing (!) as it is the first in the Lakeshore Chronicles, each of which features members of the clan and I have now read them all. Highly recommended if you enjoy calm reads about good people. I loved how both new and old characters interacted over the course of the series. Booklist comments on Summer at Willow Lake: “How good is perennially popular Wiggs in her new romance? Superb. Wonderfully evoked characters, a spellbinding story line, and insights into the human condition will appeal to every reader. ” Enjoy
I read I Let You Go when it was released in 2016. This was the author’s first novel. A former police officer, the author knows her crime details. The book told the story of a mother who lost her child after a brief moment of inattention when picking him up from school. This is not a spoiler; you learn this early on. What happened in the hit and run? Who was responsible? How does the mom, Jenna, cope? Where does she go to try to recuperate? This atmospheric novel had me turning the pages quickly and left me looking forward to reading other books by this author.
#TheGigglyGuideOfHowToBehave #NetGalley
![Love and Ruin: A Novel by [McLain, Paula]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51RV%2BSHfHWL.jpg)
I read The Paris Wife when it was released in 2011 and loved it. Paula McLain did a marvelous job of bringing Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley, to life. Many secondary characters in the novel were also well known figures from the time, including Sara and Gerald Murphy and the Fitzgeralds. Settings came vividly to life including the Midwest, Paris and France, as well as Spain. Here are some of the accolades for this novel:
by Nancy Horan
Recently I blogged about a book called Everything Love Is. If that book seemed like your kind of book, I am pretty certain that you would like to read Nina George’s novels. I adored The Little Paris Bookshop with its story of how one can become isolated and yet have a richer and more meaningful life when moving beyond that unsatisfying safety. From Amazon: “Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. (INTERJECTION BY ME…WHAT COULD BE BETTER?) From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can’t seem to heal through literature is himself; he’s still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappeared. She left him with only a letter, which he has never opened.” Will Perdu open the letter? If he does, what will this mean to him? Find out in this lovely book.
Twenty-one Days is an offshoot of Anne Perry’s Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series. I read the first Charlotte and Thomas book, The Cater Street Hangman, in 1979. I can still remember not wanting to arrive at my destination on the subway because I wanted to keep reading.
This novel contains so much that my class on Adultery in 19th Century Literature could discuss, that it is a shame that we only had two classes for this novel. It is on to Dostoevsky next week with a story called The Eternal Husband and then to Tolstoy and Anna Karenina after that. This class is an audit for me of a for credit college comp lit class so the pace is quick. But…back to Madame Bovary. There was much discussion of Emma. Is she someone to feel sorry for? Is she a victim? Why is she unable to be happy with her husband? What can be said of her as a mother? Why does she try to make herself feel better by spending lots of money that she does not have? What does it mean that she has read many novels and is quite influenced by them? Is she constrained by the roles that were available to her? What does the reader think about what happens to her at the end of the novel? And then…What of the men in the book? Does the reader feel sympathy for Charles? Why is he not enough for Emma? What does the reader make of Rodolphe? of Leon? Do any of these men love her? What of the many bourgeois villagers including the pharmacist and the money lender? We learned to watch for colors…blue symbolizes passion and yellow danger and, that there are many “threes” in the novel. We also learned that even the most casual seeming detail can come back later in the novel with great importance. Read Nabokov’s views on the novel as we did in an article. I am very glad to have reread this novel which I last read in my twenties. There is so much in it. If you don’t mind SPOILER some tragedy think about reading or re-reading this important novel of realism. And readers…let me know if you are interested in following this class as it continues or if this is enough on adultery. Thanks.
I have not read Fiona Barton’s first book, “The Widow,” although I probably will now. Her sophomore effort, “The Child,” is intriguing and suspenseful Who is the baby found on the building site? How are the characters and their stories connected? What does it mean to be a parent? To grieve? To confront and accept one’s past? “The Child” is about all of this while being a page turner. I did guess the answer to the central mystery but this did not in any way lessen my enjoyment of this novel. I feel confident that Fiona Barton’s next book will be, “third time the charm.” Recommended for suspense fans. Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to review this novel.
Fans of Andrea Camilleri and Donna Leon may well enjoy this mystery featuring a woman of a “certain age” who moves to Sicily. Enjoy the setting, the views and watch what happens to Auntie Poldi as she gets involved in solving a mystery. The book is narrated by Poldi’s nephew who is an aspiring author. Each chapter begins with an italicized summary.
I loved Missing Presumed, Susie Steiner’s first book in this series, and was very eager to read Persons Unknown. What I most enjoyed in reading both books was the author’s ability to create a quirky, interesting protagonist in Manon. I related to Manon’s observations on the bonds of parenting and her experience of pregnancy. Early on, I was glued to this book because I was so worried for Fly, Manon’s adoptive son. I found the mystery itself a bit less strong but that did not lessen my enjoyment of this book. Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book. I hope that there will be more in the series in future!
Joyce's mystery and fiction book reviews with some non-fiction too! 