Norah Lofts

Well I read that book by Norah Lofts and it was awful. First of all it wasn't a romance novel. Secondly it was horribly depressing. I will try another book by her because this one seemed like a book written by a romance writer who was trying to write a serious piece of fiction. Also to all the writers in the world- if you write a character who is excessively stupid- don't have her all of a sudden become clever and solve all sorts of problems at the end of the book when the rest of the book she was stupid enough to get lost in a closet. This was also another book where you just detest all the main characters. All of them selfish, stupid, shallow, immoral. It was awful and I can only hope not predictive of her other books. I will give her one more shot. Oh I can't remember the title but it had butterfly in it.

The Secret Fan by Lise See

I think this is the title. It is the book for one of the book clubs. I did not like it. I think Harvene started to loan it to me several months ago and I said no thank you- sick of books that are so depressing you want to slit your wrists. This is one of those books. I should have stuck with my initial gut reaction. I didn't much care for the main character and her best friend is a little more sympathetic- but I just couldn't care for any of them. I am sure Ms. See is a talented writer but I gorged myself on Chinese women's history books a couple of years ago and I am afraid that I just can't enjoy any more- not even fiction. (I do still enjoy modern non-fiction books about China today.)

The Peabody Sisters

I loved this book. It was part of my transcendentalist kick. This is a about three amazing sisters. All were well educated but very poor. Two married late in life. One to Horace Mann and the other to Nathaniel Hawthorn. This book was well written and very thought provoking. My one major criticism is that it ends mainly when Sophia and Mary marry. Mann still hadn't been elected to congress, Hawthorne hadn't written any of his novels, or served as ambassador. Sophia had yet to live overseas. The book didn't cover any of their children's births or any of Elizabeth's further career. The book also fained to discuss the unusual relationship between Sophia Nathaniel and Margret Fuller. Or discuss her death and its affects on the family. So a very good book, but truncated. Some of my thoughts:
-Very sad to me that Sophia and accomplished painter and sculptor never created anything again after the birth of her first child.
-Elizabeth and to a greater extent Mary (and Horace Mann!) were great reformers of education.
The discussions of the education theories was very interesting. On good point made: "Many of the most important curricular innovations of the nineteenth century were the products of women educators who were free to "experiment" in their schools for girls."
-The idea that a bright mind and good education was a tool to marry well for men of little or no wealth in New England. Wealthy fathers wanted intelligent son-in--laws. Not so much the other way around for women.
-Want to read novels by Susan Brunton and Mary Ferrier- Mary's favorite authors.
-So sad that Elizabeth's two sisters married the two men she had ever fallen in love with.
-Mary knew she would marry Horace Mann for 10 years and waited for him that whole time.
-The Hawthorn family was very odd- very. I have a hard time liking this strange yet very attractive man. (Very handsome- who knew?). I don't think I would have liked him in real life.

I must go Coen just asked me very nicely to turn off the computer.

A New Found Gem

I promise I promise I am almost done with the Peabody Sisters and am loving it and marking lots of passages for sharing and thought provoking discussion- only this isn't really a discussion so much as a lecture.

The reason I haven't finished it is I have discovered a new favorite mid-century romance writer (does using the term mid century make sound less trashy?). Anyways- as most of you know I love love love a trashy romance novel. I love the orphans, the amnesia, the plain girl who is really beautiful, the jaded duke who secretly has a soft spot that only can be revealed by the spunky out spoken scamp who doesn't care for social standards, the faithful family retainers, the pesky and adorable younger siblings, the mistaken understandings caused by evil yet beautiful ex-mistresses or cousins. What is not to love? In two words- the porn. This is why I love the old romance novels- all the good trash and it ends with a kiss- and that is all folks. Why why can't they be written this way anymore? So on the blog A Voice of Reason she did a post about her favorite romantic books- and most of them were respectable books that a librarian would recommend (including one of my all time favorites- I Capture the Castle sadly all but one or two I had already read) but in the discussion this one Author kept being mentioned and everyone loved her books. When I did a search on the library website I know- only romance and western authors could be so prolific. So move over Betty Neels English nurses falling in love with Dutch doctors (really how can one women have written so many books with this same premise- yet I love them still every single little plain nurse who is shocked- shocked I tell you when the doctor kisses her on the last page)I have found a new 60s romance novel writer- Georgette Heyers. Ahhhhh It is wonderful. I started with what was agreed to be her best book by the discussion Frederica and it did not disappoint. All the elements required in a good romance- with enough laughs to keep it fun. Oh I loved it and will be checking out all her other books from the library. I read a second one- but as enjoyable as it was it just wasn't quite as good. Even though I do admire the gall to make a book centered around a heroine who is sadly so young to still be shallow, self centered, and excessively foolish (of course her dear Earl heals her of these faults) this is difficult to do and I still can't convince Becky that my second novel can star one of these women who are usually kept in the annoying sister category.

I also checked out a book by an author recommended by Andrea's brilliant co-writer sister name Norah Lofts- I have only read a couple pages of this book. She convinced me by quoting this line from one of her books "Well sir I am generally opposed to having my wife hanged." Now that is a classic romance hero's line- I was sold. I will let you know how I like her book. It looks like a bold writer to put her heroine in a house of ill repute. I do enjoy that.

Transcendentalisim

Well believe it or not this all started with a trashy romance novel. It was written by a literature professor and in the post script she mentioned that she was inspired by Louisa May Alcott's novel Rose in Bloom. So I had to read it. I think it worth pointing out that I have no memory of all about the book that inspired this all except the post script. Anyways I recommended it for our book club. While ordering it and the other book in the series I found a book called American Bloomsbury and that started a crazy transcendentalism festival.

Good Wives by Louise May Alcott. I found this in our library and read it while I waited for my other books to come in the mail. It is really the second half of little women. Apparently in England they are published in two different books. Why- I don't know. Why our library had the British version I also have no idea. I loved this book as a girl. Reading it as an adult I was really struck by the morals and ideas presented. Alcott had a tongue in cheek way of describing home and family life that made her lessons not seem like preaching.

Eight Cousins- is another sweet book about Rose who is orphaned and moves to live with two aunts and a bachelor uncle. In the neighborhood live eight boy cousins. This was not as good as little women. I do like the dynamic between Rose and all the wild boys. The more interesting part of the book is the ideas she is putting forward. The uncle Alec character had many of the same ideas and theories of her father who was an educator with some unusual ideas for the time. Uncle Alec shocks all the aunties with his theories about education and health. You can really hear the echos of Thoreau and Emerson in this book. These were the men Louisa was raised around. Thoreau was her teacher for a while and they lived in a home provided by Emerson. In this book I really felt the love she had for these men and her father. He also has a passage that really described what she was trying to accomplish with her books- "It does seem to me that some one might write stories that should be lively, natural, and helpful- tales in which the English should be good, the morals pure, and the characters such as we can love in spite of the faults that all may have."

Rose in Bloom- This is the sequel. It is not as good. It tells about Rose returning from Europe and starting her romantic life. I just really didn't like it. I especially disliked that the romance with the bad cousin. Hello- it is made obvious from the start that he only cares about her money and then even worse he is an alcoholic. We are expected to believe that she cares for him!? and feel sorry when he dies. Ugh I just hated it. And she ends up with who we all thought she would from the first book so why torture us in between. It made me dislike Rose.

So then I read American Bloomsbury by Susan Cheever. This was a wonderful quick look at Concord Mass in the 19th century. Not only did the Alcotts, the Emersons, Thoreau, the Hawthorne's, and Margret Fuller all live here their lives were intertwined. They were there to be near one another. They were all leaders in the transcendentalism movement. This book had a joke that made me laugh Poe said " There are three type of people in the world, Men, Women, and Margret Fuller." I laughed and laughed and told Alma to which he responded "There are four types of people in the world, Men, Women, Margret Fuller, and people who know who Margret Fuller is. " I also loved that when I called Becky to tell her the joke, she laughed and laughed because she knew who Margret Fuller was. Hello if no one knows who Margret Fuller is go and find out you non-history geeks. This was a very interesting if brief look at these fascinating people.

So reading the previous book made me want to learn more. So I am reading The Peabody Sisters which is even better. I love it and can't wait to review it for you. I love any 700 pg book with 200 pages of footnotes. Ahhh history geeks, you are my peeps. I also am reading several of Emerson's Essays and will reread Walton when Holly returns it to me. I also am thinking about reading some essays by Channing and Elizabeth Peabody. Also I am not going to read any Hawthorne, I know he is an American classic, I know- but I am afraid that I feel about him like I feel about Edith Wharton- an obligation to read but no enjoyment and some hatred at their books. Okay maybe knowing the Scarlett Letter is about Margret Fuller I may have to read it. Also knowing more about Hawthorne I may like him even less- but I really like his wife. (Sophia Peabody) Which reminds me I have found one flaw in Cheever's book- so beware her research may have some flaws. Sophia Peabody was not the illegitimate child of Royal Tyndall, rather named after her aunt who was the child of Royal Tyndall (who creepily enough went on to marry her older sister and may have molested her other sister- ick). The family always acted like Sophia was the full blooded sister but she wasn't. Also I still need to review the History of Alexandria that I have read and I am reading a biography of CJ Walker that is interesting.

The Penderwicks

If you haven't read The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy you need to read it. I just read the sequel The Penderwicks on Gardam Street. I loved it too. I read several reviews that didn't like it as much, but I thought it was just as charming and sweet. I actually cried in the prologue. I feel like these books are a perfect example of children's literature. Innocent and sweet with out being cloying. You must read these. There are fewer funnier bits in the second but I am still looking forward to the next three planned in the series.