Lazy summer days - and time to read.

And still a few more days of summer to enjoy, for relaxation and restoration. Making the most of the time .

For me, that means time to read.

There’s nothing better than a hammock or deckchair, sunshine, and a good book.

Although I could be persuaded to add good coffee, or a chilled glass of dry rosé or even just a china cup and saucer of Lapsang Souchong black tea (no additions thank you!) to enhance the lazy afternoons.

And a dog, of course.

So here are some of those I’ve enjoyed recently - in the order of reading over the past couple of months.

A re-read of my ancient paperback copy! Purchased originally because we watched Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh as the young couple, Harriet and Guy Pringle, way back in the 1980’s. I pulled it out to reread this summer and was soon immersed in the lyrical and glorious prose that is Olivia Manning’s forté.

Guy is working in Bucharest and takes his new innocent bride Harriet there as war breaks out. There, she learns to cope with loneliness, war deprivations, eccentric friends (especially dear Yaki, the Prince Yakimov!) and Guy’s increasing dependence on his work and his play directing. Forced to flee to Greece, Harriet grows in strength of mind and in independence while Guy become increasingly boring and bore-ish.

The work is semi-biographical as Manning’s husband was also in the diplomatic service and at the same time as the book is set. It lived up to my remembered expectations. I enthused over it so much that my husband then read it - and by the time he’d finished it too, the thick old paperback had totally fallen to pieces and went alas into the bin.

The sequel to these three books, known as The Levantine Trilogy, is awaiting my return home (after the summer hols) on my bedside table, to re-read!

I've read quite a number of Kristin Hannah's books. Most are truly gripping in their sweeping sagas set in various parts of the USA.

This one, this one - while no doubt historically true, was one of the most depressing books I've ever read! But isn't that because it's set in the time of the Great Depression; when people and families struggled, when the droughts and the wind storms devastated the lands, when people migrated west looking for hope, for a future, for anything that could be better than what they were leaving.

Having just driven 600 miles around Wyoming, N & S Dakota and Nebraska, I 'm better able to visualise some of the utter devastation, the isolation, the colours and the dust and grit. And the true grit of those who struggled to survive in those times.

The Grapes of Wrath is still the better account for me; but I'm glad to have read this book to gain further insight into those heart-breaking times, into the hardships people had to endure, into what has historically made parts of the USA and its people into what they are today. If you've struggled across the Great Plains, subsisting on nothing, unable to provide for your family; if you've lived miles from anyone else; if you've survived by sheer determination and self-preservation, it will inevitably impact not just you and the immediate family but your descendants too. It explains a lot about the mid West as it is now, to me.

Phil Anderson, known to many through his contributions to the daily LECTIO365, recounts his quest to uncover the story of Count Zinzendorf, one of the founders of the original Order of the Mustard Seed. In one sense, this is a pilgrimage - Phil and friend journey to visit the original Herrnhut, although instead of going on foot, they are in Phil’s little plane! But it’s also the pilgrimage of the Moravian church and its search for true relational community, wholehearted devotion and missional outreach.

An easy read, but a good one and well worth reading. I found an old second hand copy as the book was written a while ago. I wanted to read it anyway but also felt I should, as one of my directees is an oblate for the Order of The Mustard Seed and it was helpful to learn more about the origins of it all. The book certainly inspired me to be more committed and wholehearted in my Christian walk. Might it you too?

From the sublime to the ridiculous - almost! From the Moravians to the Rothschilds is a huge step!

A fascinating story of the wealthy Rothschild dynasty but told from the perspective of the women and their influence. From the ghetto in Frankfurt,with its patriarchal Jewish roots, the family spread into Europe’s leading cities and across The Pond; and the women played an enormous part in its success. This book tells the story of the English branch, and 250 years of historical background. I would have liked a family tree - I did get confused several times as names were re-used in different generations or across families! But otherwise, a fascinating and well-researched account, leaving you astounded at how one family could rise so far both financially and geographically, in days before our ease of travel and commuications.

In the Shadow of Queens, Alison Weir's collection of 6 short stories of women in the time of Henry VIIII's 6 wives.

Short stories are not normally something I enjoy. Tudor history is, however, and this set of stories about women linked with the Tudors was a fascinating insight into life in Tudor times, especially at Court. The author has provided some background information on the 6 wives of Henry VIII, and notes on each individual woman featured in this collection of novellas, helping to show what is conjecture and what is based on historical fact and research.
The stories begin in the times of Arthur, Prince of Wales, the first husband of Katharine of Aragon, and continue through until the tragic death of Katharine Parr, Henry's sixth and last wife, who remarried after his death, and whose story here includes what happened to her grave centuries later.
The women of the stories are brought to life, sometimes with a modern writing style and sometimes in a more stylised Tudoresque style. It could be described as 'faction,' a clever blend of fact and fiction,
Not a demanding read, but an enjoyable one.

I read a pre-publication download via Netgalley of the new paperback edition and this in no way influenced my views.

Lucy By the Sea by Elizabeth Strout, a stream of consciousness in the time of Covid in New England, which brought back a lot of memories of lockdown, as well as characters from some of her previous novels.

I wish I had read this when I first downloaded it - I waited too long and delayed the pleasure it brought! Written in Elizabeth Strout's inimicable style, it is perhaps a stream of consciousness in the time of Covid in New England, which brought back a lot of memories of lockdown, as well as characters from some of her previous novels. William and Lucy, once previously married, escape New York and the pandemic, and take up residence by the sea in New England, where Lucy writes and makes a new friend or two, (surprised by and enjoyed another character from previous Strout novels) and gradually and somewhat reluctantly reconnects with William.

It's a novel about a pandemic; about loneliness, about loss, about life. And about reflections and regrets and perhaps coming to terms with life as it is. Grief and love, family and friends.

There were many quotes I scribbled down as I read - always a good sign, that shows the books has spoken into my own life.
"And then this thought went through my mind.
We are all in lockdown, all the time. We just don't know it, that's all.
But we do the best we can. Most of us are just trying to get through."

And although that spoke to me, I realised that while it may be true for many people, that sad and rather pessimistic quote also made me that actually, happily, there's more to life than this for those of us who know and love the Lord.

I regretted finishing the book and will certainly re-read it soon.

I read a pre-publication download via Netgalley and this in no way influenced my views.

The Forgotten Village by Lorna Cook.

I enjoyed this summer read - the story of a village 'lost' to requisition by the army in WWII and of the family who lived in the big house. A photo discovered, and closely studied by a young woman when the village is reopened in 2017 as a museum village, leads to a mystery about the woman in the photo, to the discovery of a murder; and to a new romance.

Set partly in the lead-up to war and partly in modern times, located in a coastal area of Dorset, this is a book to get lost in and absorbed by; excellent beach reading! An enjoyable, very easy read, with a most satisfactory ending - part of which was inevitable and part of which was a twist I had not foreseen at all.

Lily by Rose Tremain.

This is a powerful and well-written story of a foundling taken in to Coram Fields Foundling Hospital in Victorian times. Lily is found abandoned as a new born, and taken by policeman Sam to the orphanage. From there she is fostered for 6 very happy years in Suffolk on a farm; but the Hospital ‘rules’ means she has to be returned there at 6 years old. Once back within its cold and savage walls, Lily’s life changes with the devastating impact of its hard religious stance and the sadness of abuse and neglect. And those in turn lead to a crime.

It’s heartbreaking to read; be prepared for tears as well as for little touches of humour. Truman’s polished prose draws you in, arouses your sympathy for brave staunch and courageous Lily. She and the other foundlings are as slaves, valued only for the monetary value they can bring to the Hospital: “‘You are like them… You are like those slaves. For did you not work for the people paid to care for you?’” and condemned due to the bad behaviour that led to their births. (Not their fathers’ bad behaviour, just their mothers who each had the misfortune to become an unwed mother) Lily’s escape route she’s been promised disappears; you wonder if there could ever be a happy ending in this Dickensian horror-filled account. it does end with a touch of a promise of hope.

The Crane Wife. I have given up on this! Which is most unlike me. The idea of brief extracts of events seemed good, of brief essays to make a memoir - but then the style changed. The characters were not memorable and I struggled to retain any sense of the plot, where the characters were heading in every sense, and what the whole point was meant to be. The re-telling of a vintage Katharine Hepburn film finally made me give up - it went on FOREVER. I'm disappointed - maybe as much with myself for not persevering - especially as the critics rave about it. I’ve read a number of memoirs and enjoyed them but this is one of the very few books I’ve ever given up on before finishing. However, many reviewers rave about it - why not try it and let me know what you think!

Thank you NetGalley for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

The Lip by Charlie Carroll, a novel set in Cornwall, but told from the viewpoint of a local young woman, Melody Janie Rowe, who needs the 'emmets' (tourists and/or non-Cornish) to spend their money in the family cafe but loathes and despises them trampling on her beloved land, and who has to cope with mental illness, death, aloneness and financial hardship.

The style is fluid and full of beautiful descriptions of the Cornish landscape (the Lip is a projecting cliff edge above a beautiful cove on the Cornish coastline). It is also heart-rending in its descriptions of loneliness and aloneness; of mental health issues and how they impact the lives of those who live with it and near it; and of the poverty of many in the side of Cornwall that many of us don’t see as we’re not there all year round.

I hadn’t spotted the true identity of one of the characters. When all was revealed it was like the light going on, and suddenly a lot made sense and I skimmed back quickly to see how the author led so cleverly to this.

You might need to be feeling strong to read this book. I was drawn in by the beautiful cover and because it was set in Cornwall. I'm glad I read it but it wasn't always an easy read due to the themes covered. Well worth reading, however.

The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn, a good, debut novel about a young, unwanted and unloved orphan Christabel, and her stepsister Florence and cousin Digby, who live in a manor house on the Dorset coast, and whose story spans over 30 years, from the roaring twenties to the second world war, the background linking thread being playacting, whether that of the adults in their personal lives or the children and their amateur theatre, or the visitors and racy artists within the grounds of the house.

It's neither the Forsytes nor the Cazalets, and occasionally the writing is rather thin. The whale with its whalebone is perhaps the main character; most of the (human) characters lack sufficient depth of description and the style meanders from prose to letters to journals to lists to scripts. Maybe that’s intended as a clever literary device but I found it somewhat disjointed, interrupting the main flow.

However,I enjoyed it on the whole and there are some wonderfully descriptive sentences and phrases. I will certainly look for the next book by this author!

if you were to buy any of the books, I’d be grateful for the use of the links, but no pressure! it just adds a few pennies to the pension! Just click on the picture and it will take you to the link.