hjelliot has very kindly provided us with another review, this time for Miss Ranskill Comes Home by Barbara Euphan Todd:
Miss Ranskill Comes Home begins with a burial. It is a bleak beginning however ridiculous, but we know she is rescued and returns to 'civilization.' This return, a return she has dreamt of all these years, becomes a heartbreaking reality as she finds her home changed. England is not the England she remembers and her home no longer her home. Of course nothing is as we remember and we can never go home again as they say. Miss Ranskill is looking at her country, her people, through the eyes of a foreigner and thus she is treated. England is harsh, people unfriendly. Even her sister finds her a burden rather than welcoming her with open arms. But Miss Ranskill did not survive on a desert island for four years to be defeated by her newly war-transformed country. It is another type of survival she must learn.
This is a Persephone that intrigues me; it sounds quirky. It is written by the same author who created the children's character, Wurzel Gummidge. Has anyone read Persephone #46?
7 comments:
I've only had my copy a few weeks and I haven't read it this week because it's a long one and I wanted to write about a number of titles to point up the diversity of Persephone's list. So I'm currently reading and writing about Persephone poetry. Anyway Miss Ranskill looks quirky and wonderful and hopefully I'll be reading and writing about her before too lond.
This was the second Persephone I read, back in 2003, and I remember it being an original, clever, and witty look at the war.
I like that you have focused on the diversity of the titles, Jane. I was hoping to go a little bit more off the beaten track than I have but some I would prefer to read when I feel less rushed, like There Were No Windows.
Simon, that's what I was hoping it would be! I think I shall include it in my next purchase.
I've read it - I found it quite unsettling but hugely intriguing. It was, as Simon said, definitely a different way of looking at the war.
Thanks, Verity! It's definitely one I will be buying soon.
I read it a couple of months ago and thoroughly enjoyed it, laughter and tears. You can't help but feel for Miss Ranskill when she returns to the UK and is thrust into the drab austerity of WWII, with unfamiliar restrictions and a language all of its own. I'm at work so I don't have the book to hand; I shall post a quotation later in hope of another prize ;-)
coops, wonderful! I'll definitely be buying this one.
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