House-bound (Winifred Peck)

Over the last two months, I've been doing a lot of rereading. I used to reread books constantly as a child as supply of books could never keep up with the demand, and I realised that there are lots of books on my shelves which I have only read once. In frugal circumstances where I am trying to buy less books, and in busy times where I am only getting to the library about once a week, re-reading is just perfect. It is lovely to revist books which were enjoyed first time around and enjoy them again. Many of the books which I have been rereading are Persephone books. When I first came across the publisher, I could not afford to buy many of them, so I checked the Persephone catalogue against the library catalogue and borrowed those that were in stock, usually in old hardback editions. Now I have a nearly complete collection of Persephone books (all but 4) it is good to reread them in the Persephone edition, especially as the titles often have new introductions or afterwords. Plus I get to admire the beautiful endpapers.

I re-read House-bound at the end of last week. It's not one of the Persephone books which is that frequently mentioned which is one of the reasons I wanted to write about it here. The book tells the story of Rose as she and her household are affected by the war - the book is particularly interesting because being published in 1942, it was written during the war and not retrospectively. After difficulties in getting domestic servants, Rose decides that she will take on the running of the household herself. However, she has no domestic experience at all - she cannot even cook. Luckily, she manages to get hold of the wonderful Mrs Childes, a daily lady who comes in for 2 hours to give Rose a hand in the house and to provide instruction in how to clean/make lunch etc. Unfortunately, Mrs Childes is a bit of a mixed blessing as she insists on the proper way to do everything - which is quite an onerous task for someone new to domesti work, when perhaps Rose should be advised on short cuts. I did feel sorry for Rose coping with a husband who didn't seem to be of much assistance, but at the same time I felt that she rose splendidly to what was asked of her.

What I liked about this book is how it made me think about my own experiences of domesticity. As a child I helped out with the odd domestic task, the occasional bit of hoovering or cleaning the bath, and sometimes cooking, but not very much. When I came to university, my room was cleaned once a week (and my bin emptied every day), and I had meals provided by my college. I spent the summer between second and third year living in the flat where I live now, but it was in the process of being refurbished:

(I spent three months without any carpet, plaster or paint on the walls, without washing machine or wardrobe (the wardrobe is the suitcase you can see) or any bookcases (!), and with builders going in and out).
What I am trying to get towards saying is that it was not until I was 21 and suddenly working full-time that I had to try to get my head around being domesticated. It was difficult to know where to begin, but how much easier was it for me on my own in a 2 bedroom flat than it must have been for Rose in a house with streams of visitors and the expectations of her husband. I'd like to think that I am quite domesticated now - I am certainly very house-proud and enjoy trying to make meals out of nothing as well as baking creations. I very much hope that 2011 is the year when I will have a house of my own - I wonder if I will manage to be quite so domesticated with more space...

Persephone Reading Week : Roundup #7

How exciting that we're on roundup #7 of the week, and the posts are coming thick and fast. Do check out Claire's roundup from yesterday too.

First up is a very exciting post from Fleur Fisher - she's very kindly giving away copies of Miss Pettrigrew Lives For the Day and Making Conversation - all you have to do is comment on her post and tell her which Persephone book is calling you the most, so do head over and join in.

Hannah Stoneman recieved her copy of The Persephone BiAnnually, and is planning a Persephone fest for today.

Buried in print continues her Persephone wartime reading.

Claire at Captive Reader was shockingly reading a non-Persephone book...when two of the characters visited the bookshop!

Mrs B at the Literary Stew shares her story of discovering the imprint whilst living in Hong Kong.

Chasing Bawa has reviewed Good evening Mrs Craven, her first Persephone, which she has enjoyed enough to want to seek out its companion, Minnie's Room.

HJ Elliot has reviewed Hetty Dorval on librarything (but beware, it does contain a spoiler!)

Anna from the Green Room was seduced into reading Greenery Street despite the fact that she has no time to read anything other than for her studies! I love it when a book calls so strongly!

Lyn at I prefer reading reviews one of her favourite Persephone books, Little Boy Lost, and lists her top 5 too - do you agree?

Katherine at A girl walks into a bookstore reviews The young pretenders, and also updates us on her current reading here.

Don't forget to check out my competition to win a copy of the DVD of Miss Pettigrew lives for the day - some interesting answers already! And don't forget about the other giveaways on our blogs - closing at the weekend.

Persephone Reading Week: Roundup #5

We're nearly halfway through the week now and it's been great to see so many Persephone related posts. Claire brought us up to date yesterday with the fourth roundup, and here I am with number 5 and everything that's been posted since then!

Bibliophiliac announces that she plans to read The world that was ours this week - I especially look forward to hearing what she makes of it as it was certainly one of the most powerful books I read last year.

Joan from Flowers and stripes posts a reflective quote from Mariana here.

Donna has written a wonderful post inspired by To bed with Grand Music, thinking about the "grand music" with which Deborah took to the dance floor with a fabulous video clip of the Soft Shoe Shuffle. HJ Elliot reviews To bed with Grand Music here.

Buried in Print continues her Persephone wartime reading with a third post on the subject.

Katherine at A girl walks into a bookstore has written a post about one of the favourite Persephone authors, Dorothy Whipple. Do take a look!

Thomas at My Porch was excited to recieve his copy of the Persephone BiAnnually...which featured an extract from his review of The priory written last year.

Nymeth reviews Lady Rose and Mrs Memmary, which she describes as a book with "extraordinary emotional impact".

Sarah at What we have here is a failure to communicate has reviewed Cheerful weather at the wedding; she mentions that Strachey has another book, Man on the pier, which I have not come across, but would love to, although it seems sadly out of print and very expensive. Cheerful weather was also the choice of Claire at Captive Reader, who describes it as reading more like a play than a novel.

Mrs B at The Literary Stew has reviewed Fidelity - I'm sure that will add to Claire's desire to read it after she enjoyed Brook Evans at the start of the week!

And I've written about "My Persephone Reading Life", with a picture of my collection and trying to whittle out some of my favourites. Do you agree? Let me know your thoughts!

Persephone Reading Week: My Persephone Reading Life

Last year during Persephone Reading Week I wrote a post called My Persephone Life in which I described how I became a Persephone enthusiast. I have to say that since then my enthusiasm has only been increased, as has my collection (as Darlene commented on that post - "Once you've read your first Persephone I think it's safe to say you'd better clear a shelf on your bookcase for more"), as you can see if you compare the above photo with the one in the post last year (a couple are on loan to people so it is not my complete collection) ! By the end of this Persephone Reading Week I intend to have read all of the Persephone books - I just have three non fiction titles to go, plus The hopkins manuscript which I plan to take on the bus trip to London for the bloggers meet-up at the end of the week.

It's then going to be time to reread some of my favourites. Top of my list is the first Persephone book that I ever read, Family roundabout, as it must be at least eight years since I read it. I'd like to revisit Mariana too and some of the Dorothy Whipples which I read comparatively early on.

But what has been my favourite overall? I have been pondering this over the last couple of days as I have been reading various reviews. Many of the same titles seem to be popular among bloggers, particularly the Whipples and Laskis. Other titles such as Cheerful weather, Mariana and Miss Pettigrew are also often mentioned - all of which are Persephone Classics. I wonder whether it is because they are popular that they were chosen to be classics or whether it is because the classics are more widely available (particularly in the US and UK bookshops).

I think my favourite Persephone reads have been some of the books which are less frequently mentioned. I was absolutely bowled over by The world that was ours last December, and I thought that Nicola Beaumann's A very great profession is a fabulous read that sets the books of the Persephone phenomenon into historical context. Round About A Pound a Week is a key historicla text because it was so critical in contributing to the debate about the need for social reform at the start of the twentieth century, and gives an absolutely fantastic insight into the world of the poor. A London Child of the 1870s is a book that I have loved for years, long before its Persephone incarnation, but worth mentioning for that! Of the novels, I have especially enjoyed A fortnight in September, Miss Buncle's book (which I recommended in the Bookseller back in December), and Princes in the land. Dorothy Whipple's short stories forced me to reconsider my dislike of the genre, although I have yet to read any short stories that I have enjoyed as much as those. Ultimately one of my very favourites has to be Bricks and Mortar by Helen Ashton.