SewWitty

I picked up a copy of the above book in a second hand book store (while on holiday). As I really enjoyed Larkrise to Candleford both the novel and the recent BBC adaptation, I thought I would like this one as well.

From a social history point of view it is really interesting – the period detail is fabulous and not many novels are written about agricultural labourers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. However, the book was dull and I struggled to finish it. The characters didn’t seem as compelling as in Larkrise to Candleford and it was written in a sentimental manner that didn’t appeal to me.

I’m a bit of a Janet Evanovich fan (in some ways it’s a bit like saying I’m an alcoholic!). Someone from my book clucb recommended them about six years ago and I’ve been addicted ever since. They are all the same (I think there is 15 of them now), but as Dorcas Lane says in Larkrise to Candleford ‘they are my one weakness’!

Here is the stuff on the back …

Stephanie Plum has a way of attracting danger, lunatics, oddballs, bad luck . . . and mystery men. And no one is more mysterious than the unmentionable Diesel. He’s back and hot on the trail of a little man in green pants who’s lost a giant bag of money. Problem is, the money isn’t exactly lost. Stephanie’s Grandma Mazur has found it, and like any good Jersey senior citizen, she’s hightailed it in a Winnebago to Atlantic City and hit the slots. With Lula and Connie in tow, Stephanie attempts to bring Grandma home, but the luck of the Irish is rubbing off on everyone: Lula’s found a job modeling plus-size lingerie. Connie’s found a guy. Diesel’s found Stephanie. And Stephanie has found herself in over her head with a caper involving thrice-stolen money, a racehorse, a car chase, and a bad case of hives.

These novels are hilarious – there is lots of sex (not graphic), so not for the faint hearted, but all the characters are fabulous – particularly Grandma Mazur – so if you like fast paced, far fetched, trashy stories this one is for you – although you might like to start with One for the Money.

I bought this book because the  Australian Book Review claimed it was an outback Pride and Prejudice. Definitely misleading advertising! Unless their talking about the small cast of characters in a country village or maybe the annoying mother.

Here’s the blurb

“A quirkily engaging comedy of small town manners. Set on a Victorian family vineyard in 1894, it’s the sort of provincial novel you might expect if Pride and Prejudice met Steele Rudd’s On Our Selection … While it’s the social and romantic intrigue that carries the story, it’s Ham’s wickedly black humour and finely researched social observation that deliver the real joy of the book”. The Australian

“Rosalie Ham’s second novel is unforgettable and unputdownable as her first, the quirky The Dressmaker… Ham is a gifted storyteller. Her ideas are fresh, unusual and entertaining, and result in a marvellous story steeped in an Australia at once recognisable but also new. There’s not a cliche within a cooee”. The Sun Herald

Here’s a plot summary from Dymocks

Phoeba Crupp is a young woman who lives with her parents and sister on a small farm near
Geelong in the 1890s. Her father is an eccentric ex-accountant who moved his family from
the city in order to establish a vineyard, a decision her mother bitterly – and loudly – resents.

While her sister makes a play for the local squatter’s son, Phoeba is content with her best
friend Harriet, until circumstances push her towards the world of men and money. ‘Summer
at Mount Hope’ has a lot of the black comedy of Ham’s first novel, ‘The Dressmaker’, but
also contains a more serious strand about the efforts of a woman a century ago to be
free.

I was disappointed with this novel – it was depressing. No one ended up with what they wanted. Phoeba settled for a marriage of convenience to escape her family, Lilith married the squatter’s son, but by then they had lost the farm and they had to move back to the Crupp’s place (hence Phoeba needing to marry Hadley to escape) and Henrietta ended up being an unpaid skivvy for her mother.

I chose to read this book because Jane Brocket (The Gentle Arts of Domesticity) recommended Elizabeth Taylor – she recommended At Mrs Lippincote’s – however, The Blushwas the only Elizabeth Taylor book I could lay my hands on (I bought it from Ebay).

Here is the blurb on the back …

In these short stories, first published in 1958, Elizabeth Taylor pursues the nuances of ordinary life with her usual dexterity. There is the upright Mrs Allen who unwittingly provides an alibi for Mrs Lacey, her ‘slackly corseted’ home help; Emily who has written fluent and amusing letters to a distinguished novelist for ten years but descends into small talk when they meet; Katie, Natalie and Frances, preparing for their first dance amidst a cloud of talcum powder and bathroom giggles; and the strained conversation between ex-lovers Peter and Catherine at her children’s seaside Barbecue. ‘Here Mrs Taylor displays her gift – her extraordinary gift – for sheer situation – not a tale here fails to expand in the imagination of the reader’ – Elizabeth Bowen.

I did enjoy these stories they have an old world charm – very middle England. The situations are ordinary, but vividly described and the inner life of the characters is described in an unsentimental manner that none the less makes you feel their pain, frustration, etc. These stories are all about character, so if you like a story ‘where nothing really happens’ then these stories are for you.

I’m definitely going to track down some more Elizabeth Taylor novels probably from here.