Persephone Reading Week : The expendable man

In a grump with my fiance the weekend before PRW started, I decided to read The expendable man. It seemed an appropriate title, although I'm not quite sure that he noticed what I was reading. But this wonderful read fully engrossed me, and helped forget my grumpiness.

Thriller isn't quite the best description of the book actually, as although an extremely tense read it is not overdramatic in the way that many modern thrillers are. It starts off with a young American doctor, Hugh Densmore, setting off for his parents house to attend the wedding of his sister. As he drives, he spots a young girl trying to pick up a lift on a deserted stretch of highway. He hesitates about giving her a ride, but eventually decides to help her out, imagining how he'd feel about his own sister stuck in such a situation. She turns out to be somewhat feckless, a bit of a liar and with quite a dodgy past. However, once he eventually gets rid of her (and this takes two attempts after she gains another life from him the next day) he thinks that that is that. But his paranoia and hesitation turns out to be justified...

I won't say anymore because I do not want the power of this book to be spoilt, suffice to say that Dorothy Hughes has created a absorbing story centred around well-drawn characters in the almost stifling setting of Arizona. While it wasn't perhaps one of my favourite Persephone reads, I was gripped by the plot and revelled in reading a book, that being a thriller, had a different emphasis to many of the other titles on the Persephone list.




(My expendable man did the washing up and made a fuss of me later on, so I no longer consider him expendable - not until I can afford a dishwasher and someone to do the hoovering anyway!)

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.

Persephone Reading Week : An interrupted life

The Persephone book that nearly turned into a DNF, I struggled to engage with Etty Hillesum's An interrupted life. A collection of diaries and letters, the subject matter intrigued me - Hillesum was a Jew living in Amsterdam in the 1940s, and thus well-placed to observe the impact of German occupation and the policies against the Jews. She worked for the Jewish Council from 1942, and went to Westerbrok, a concentration camp for Jews, which was the "last stop" before Auschwitz, to work with those who were about to be transported.

But the diary which she began in 1941, aged 27, annoyed me from the start. It seemed to involve a lot of pontification about her own thoughts and feelings; rather than the historical account that I had anticipated, it was more an exploration of her heart and soul. She had a rather weird relationship with Julius Spier, the founder of psychochirology, and much of the journal reflects on that.

I was on the point of giving up on the book when things started to get more interesting. The balance in the diary moved away from the focus on her personal life and feelings and more historical detail was included as Hilesum began to fear for the Jews and their situation. Suddenly politics and the wider world became much more important to her.

The second part of the book comprises the letters that Hillesum wrote whilst at Westerbrok - whilst the conditions at this camp were in no sense like those at Auschwitz, it was still somewhat horrific. I found these letters to be hugely interesting - I did not know about the existence of Westerbrok and it was fascinating to read about life on the inside, although it was not a "feel good" read. Hillesum was lucky in that she was able to make a couple of trips back to Amsterdam, but she could not escape transportation and was sent to Auschwitz in September 1943 and died two months later.

Hillesum was only a year older than me when she started writing these diaries; ultimately I was impressed by the maturity that she exhibits in the diaries and letters, and the way in which she rarely displays fear about the situation. I am not sure that I would have remained so self-possessed nor able to acknowledge and write with such composed detail about the state of affairs that she and the other Jews faced in 1940s Holland.

Persephone Reading Week : Roundup #3

Thanks to Claire for doing the second round up which you can read here...

Since then, yet more plans have been announced - Claire at Kiss a cloud shows us her stack of books, and Claire at Captive Reader is about to embark on Cheerful weather for a wedding. Another cookie crumbles has Mariana and A very great profession at her disposal this week. Rachel from Booksnob asks if there is anyone who isn't participating in Persephone Reading Week - she's a third of the way through House-bound. JoAnn from Lakeside Musing quotes from Someone at a distance in her Tuesday Teaser, and asks which Whipple she should include in her next consignment of Persephones. Do help her out with a suggestion. And Thomas from My Porch shares with us the receipt of his first Persephone catalogue.

There have been a number of reviews of Persephone titles:

Nonsuchbook writes about Cheerful weather for the wedding, a title that seems to be in many people's hands this week, and thought that she picked a great choice for her first Persephone read - I hope that it inspires you to read some more!

Geraldine, a non-blogger, but loyal commenter, mentioned that she had also re-read this title yesterday, because Cheerful weather seemed a hopeful note for a chilly bank holiday. She wondered whether it was unique among Persephone titles in that the action occurs over just one day. The New House by Lettice Cooper would also fit into this category - I can't think of any others offhand, but perhaps other bloggers can?

Nymeth reviews one of Persephone's short story collections, Good evening Mrs Craven by Mollie Panter-Downes, describing them as "extraordinarily good".

Buried in print continues her reflections on Persephone reads of a wartime nature here.

Mrs B at The Literary stew has read They were sisters, which she thinks is the best of all of the Whipple novels that she has read.

Alison M, one of my colleagues, borrowed Katherine Mansfield's Montana stories from me last week, and has written a review on librarything.com which you can read here. She is the second of my colleagues to have succombed to the influence of Persephone books - one by one I hope that I will be able to get more people to follow!

I'm sure there will be many more reviews posted later, which I'll let Claire gather together. Happy reading everyone!

PS: Don't forget to have a go at my quiz...

Persephone Reading Week: Second World War themed quiz and giveaway

One of the books that we have to giveaway this week is Doreen, by Barbara Noble. Set in 1940, and exploring the issue of evacuation, this is an appropriate choice given that this September sees the 70^th anniversary of the Blitz. So I’ve come up with a Second World War themed quiz for you to try your hands at. Here are 10 quiz questions, all relating in someway to Persephone books and the Second World War. If you get stuck, the Persephone bookshop website should offer some help!

1. Which is the most recently published Persephone book set during WW2?

2. Who wrote a cookery book in response to rationing published in 1940?

3. Which Persephone book has an endpaper taken from a 1940 silk scarf “London alert”?

4. Who comes home and finds it impossible to understand England in wartime?

5. Where were Mollie Panter-Downes wartime stories originally published?

6. Which Persephone diarist worked for a charity in Notting Hill Gate during the Second World War?

7. Having been too young to fight in the First World War, and too old to fight in the Second World War, which character from a Persephone book eventually plays a part in the Allies victory?

8. Which Persephone book tells the story of the disintegration of a family as a result of the Second World War?

9. Who wrote letters to her family during the war from Germany, which were never posted, but subsequently published to give an insight into daily life under a Nazi wartime regime?

10. Name one other Persephone book set during WW2 that hasn’t featured in the above questions.

Email your answers to me at verityDOTormeATgmailDOTcom and the winner will be randomly chosen after midnight on Sunday 9^th May (London time) and announced next week. Good luck!

Persephone Reading Week : Review : Still missing

I have to confess that I read the book for my first review of Persephone Reading Week a fortnight ago. Next time we have a reading week we'll have to plan it so that it starts as soon as I get my hands on the latest titles - having heard about Still missing from Nicola Beauman both when I heard her speak at the Woodstock bookshop last December and when I visited the shop in January, it was a title that I was hugely intrigued to read. I put it on my pile of books to be consumed this week; less than 24 hours later, I was standing by the bookshelves with it in my hands, pretending not to be reading it. I gave in and took myself off to a coffee shop and then the Oxford Botanic Gardens to read it properly.

I was immediately gripped by the opening lines; the reader knows enough about the story to know that it involves the abduction of a small child, yet this is not referred to:

"You could hardly get to age 34 without kearning something about loss. By thirty-four you're bound to have lost your Swiss Army knife, your best friend from fourth grade, your chance to be centre forward on the starting team, your hope of the Latin prize, quite a few of your illusions, and certainly somewhere along the way, some significant love. Susan Selky had in fact recently lost an old battle, for her marriage to the man she was in love with, and with it, many ancillary dreams of more babies and of holding his hand in the dark when they were old".

The abduction of six year old Alex happens shortly after. When he does not return from school one day, his mother Susan immediately rings another mother to see if he walked home with her daughter. Susan's nightmare begins when the daughter says that Alex never arrived at school that day. She rings the police, and moments later an investigation begins. The lead detective, Menetti, reassures Susan that the majority of children do not disappear without a trace and believes it will not be long before mother and son are reunited. But the hours turn into days which turn into weeks and into months and Alex does not return...

There is a hugely poignant moment where Susan, Graham (her husband from whom she had recently separated but who becomes an integral part of her life once more as they wait for Alex's return) and the rest of the team trying to help find Alex decide that they need to refresh the poster campaign about Alex to ensure that it remains within the consciousness of anyone who might see something. Posters will take a while to be made, but Susan comes up with the idea of stamping "Still" in front of the "Missing" on the existing posters, which of course leads to the title of the book.

I won't say anymore about the story, suffice to say that I genuinely did not know what its outcome would be until I turned to the very last pages.

Originally published in 1981, this book might seem somewhat at odds with the rest of the Persephone catalogue which has a focus on the first half of the twentieth century. But it deals with many of the themes and issues familiar from the other books - the role of the mother and of family relationships and the importance of the home as the centre for existence.

It was disturbing, it was full of suspense and I was completely unable to put it down. It is one of the most gripping books that I have read this year, and I remain haunted by the way in which Susan's life changed overnight.

Persephone Reading Week : Roundup #1

It's time for the first round up of the Persephone Reading Week. Lots of you have posted about your plans to get involved and I can't wait to see your reviews in due course - which we will round up!

Here's a helping of those of you who have written about your plans for the week:
Flowers and stripes
Rambling fancy
Skirmish of wit
Make do and read
Stuck in a book
Lakeside musing
An embarrassment of frivolities

(Apologies if I missed yours...please help us to share the Persephone love by posting links to your reviews under Claire or my welcome post)

The first review of the week was posted by Fleur fisher , who writes about Tea with Mr Rochester, a book of wonderful short stories which she has been savouring slowly since the last Persephone Reading week. She concluded: "My heart wants to tell you about them all, but my head says no. These are stories should creep up on you, and delight you, as you read."

Other posts have quickly followed...

Buried in Print has written about Vere Hodgeson's Few eggs and no oranges as part of immersing herself in WW2 literature.

Thomas at My Porch reviewed High Wages by Dorothy Whipple and issued a stern warning to Persephone that he shall not be responsible for the consequences if they do not republish the rest of Whipple's work. I echo his sentiment - I have been lucky enough to discover some of Whipple's other novels in the store of my public library and have greatly enjoyed them.

The tea lady didn't particularly enjoyed The runaway, but she highlights the wonderful woodcut illustrations by Gwen Raverat which make the Persephone edition so covetable.

You'll be able to see my review of Still Missing later on tonight! I have been reading Julian Grenfell today and am hoping to browse through Plats du jour this evening...

Persephone Reading Week : Welcome

Welcome to Persephone Reading Week! I'm really excited to be hosting this event once again with Claire from Paperback Reader and I'm looking forward to reading some more of my Persephone books, and seeing what others have been reading.

There's no real rules for the week, all you need to do in order to participate is to read one or more Persephone books. I'm aiming to read one a day, and to hopefully blog about them too. It should be a lovely relaxed reading challenge with plenty of wonderful books to choose from.

Along the way, Claire and I will collate your posts and blog about them to make it easy to see what everyone has been reading and talking about; to help us, every time you write something as part of the week, please post a link to the post in the comments section of this welcome post, or in the comments section of Claire's welcome post. Do this to be in with a chance to win a copy of The closed door and other stories by Dorothy Whipple which will be awarded to our favourite post of the week.

Nicola Beaumann from Persephone books has kindly given us three other brand new Persephone books in addition to The closed door, which we'll be giving away through quizzes on our blogs thsi week, and we also have a copy of the DVD of Miss Pettigrew lives for a day.

Bank holiday bookshopping

I can't resist sharing the finds that I made which cheered up an otherwise grey and sickly feeling Bank Holiday Saturday. The highlight was the book at the top of the pile - Plats du jour - which is one of the few Persephone books that I don't own, and the only one that I hadn't read of those that I didn't own (9 more to go for the complete set!). I couldn't believe it when I saw it for £3 in Oxfam! Also in Oxfam I picked up the rather lovely original green edition of An enchanted April which I already owned in the new edition (equally delightful so won't be parting with that). At £2.99 it was the greatest expense of the outing, but worth every penny as is in lovely condition. I then went on to a new bookshop which I've not visited before, called The Albion Beatnik Bookshop (I think) which had a wonderful mixture of new and second hand books - I avoided the new ones although it looked like an excellent selection, but spotted an original green Virago edition of Margaret Atwood's Surfacing for £2. I then went over the road to The last bookshop where everything is £2 and picked up the two hardbacks at the bottom of the pile, both of which I've read and liked enough to want to read again - and Can any mother help me? and Looking for Enid which is the slightly silly tale of a man's investigation into Blyton's life. On my way home, I called in at the Mind Charity shop, where I found an immaculate copy of Sylvia Townsend Warner's Summer will show - I haven't yet "done" Warner for my Virago venture. I was then tempted into getting Still glides the stream which is one of FLora Thompson's later follow ups to her Lark Rise Books - my father owns this in a hardback, but the Oxford paperback edition is equally wonderful and certainly one for my collection, as well as Beyond the glass by Antonia White. I already own her Frost in May quartet in the more modern editions, but as she is the first Virago author I think it would be nice to have a set of her in green, and as all of the Mind purchases were only £1.20, it didn't break the bank.

What have you been purchasing this Bank Holiday?