Persephone Review and Additions

I shared with you here that the Persephone book I received from my Secret Santa, Jodie, was Every Eye by Isobel English (the end-paper for which, a 1956 'Iberia' fabric, is pictured above), and I read it at the close of the festive period. This novella opens with the arresting first words, "I heard today that Cynthia died" and alternately tells the story of Hatty on her honeymoon with her younger hustband on a train through Europe to the Spanish island of Ibiza and a younger Hatty who had an older lover, a friend of her Uncle Otway and his wife, Cynthia. From the opening page the reader knows that Cynthia was an influence in Hatty's life, our attention is focused on her from the outset and we know that Hatty will reveal the details of the deterioration of their friendship:

... It is six years since I last saw Cynthia, six years since I cut myself free from the inquisitive disapproval; the light unfriendly laugh that always accompanied her sharpest barbs - the honey and the gall mixed to such a smooth consistency that were inseparable. And yet I should have known the reason for this; I am alwaus talking about a true sense of vocation - the time when I was going to become a pianist - and now once more when I am trying to put together the bits and pieces of my life to start off with a husband who is so many years younger than I.

The closing line of the novella -written in French and crucial to translate- is revelatory and refers to something that Hatty reads, which illuminates her perception of the past and the perception of the reader; I wanted to reread the novella upon hindsight to seek out possible hints. It is a cleverly-crafted work that is beautifully written. Isobel English (a pseudonym for June Braybrooke) was friends with a number of other talented writers one of whom was Muriel Spark; Spark wrote, "The late Isobel English was an exceptionally talented young novelist of the mid-1950s. Every Eye is one of her most successful and sensitively written books, a romantic yet unsentimental story of a young woman's intricate relationships of family and love, intensely evocative of the period, remarkable in its observations of place and character". The stunning prose of Every Eye impressed me and I found it a wonderful book to lose oneself in the descriptions of the Iberian landscape, the observations that Hatty makes of the social position of women and to study the hold Cynthia retains on Hatty even in death. Thank you, Jodie, for your lovely gift as it may not have been one that I would have purchased for myself for some time.

Some favourite passages:

So, it is Wednesday and the first for Cynthia below the ground - the cold raw earth lined with evergreens. 'Six feet of semi-detached will do me nicely, dear,' I had heard her say often enough when she was looking for another smaller flat when their lease had expired. At last this had been realised as a permanency.

The words carried right into the soft part of my brain and stuck there like three neutral stones. I suppose that I must have stood there with my mouth open, my bad eye focusing all over the place in an effort to materialise him again in the gap which he had left. This was the first time that anyone had ever said these words to me; the first time, and they were no more active that fizzy lemonade. I wanted to reach out and extricate them from the smutty stucco frontages of the ugly houses, save them from the smell of petrol and the dust-thick sun of two o'clock of that September afternoon.

I remember her now as she had been when I first saw her. The picture that had been taken with the unclouded lenses of a fourteen-year-old's eyes had gained in the intervening years another dimension; I could see now the might-have-been: the little touches of English chintz and pottery that she must have added to her hotel bedroom to make it like home; the warm nest of spinsterly living into which she would eventually wind herself. So often this is the way with solitary Englishwomen of character who retire abroad: they harden like the autumnal beads at their throat into hard little wax pellets that no heat will ever melt again, they turn into a self-supporting wholesome substance that can never take anything in, nor be taken in, again.

At that time, already the clouds were beginning to build up behind Cynthia. I saw her as an all-powerful magician who could produce black evil and despair at the flick of her wrist. Her small white voice creaked on, in and out of the teacups as she sat smiling at me behind the tray; these were no longer objects of domestic comfort, but stark receptacles for surgical performance, something in which to catch the sly tear, or conceal for second, with the raising of a hand, the buttoned-down anguish of her mouth.


With another Persephone book read and reviewed I look to the recent additions to my collection -bringing it to thirty five and the need for a longer shelf- acquired at the shop yesterday. Again, I would like to say how generous the shop are and I feel greedy and guilty looking at my Persephone loot. I purchased the copy of To Bed With Grand Music as I have been coveting a copy since October and Santa didn't me one (he brought other exciting and surprising things instead) and will most probably read that first swiftly followed by The Home-Maker, which I bought for my Santee, Thomas, and which he loved.

My new Persephones:

To Bed With Grand Music by Marghanita Laski
The Village by Marghanita Laski
The Home-Maker by Dorothy Canfield-Fisher
Daddy's Gone A-Hunting by Peneople Mortimer
Alas, Poor Lady by Rachel Ferguson
Amours de Voyage by Hugh Clough
Consequences by E.M. Delafield
How to Run Your Home Without Help by Kay Smallshaw
Making Conversation by Christine Longford
Marjory Fleming by Oriel Malle

More Tea and Chat

Verity and I had our long-anticipated tea and cakes at Persephone Books today to celebrate the success of Persephone Reading Week. We had such a lovely afternoon chatting with Nicola, Lydia and Fiona. I had a delicious passion-fruit cupcake with buttercream frosting from Bea's of Bloomsbury and we made a trip to the remainder shelf in the basement where we liberated some Persephones that will be much warmer and well-loved on our Persephone shelves now; I shall share the titles that have been added to my collection at a later date and probably gush some more about the generosity of Persephone and Nicola.

Earlier in the day Verity and I also made a visit to another bookshop (I was on my best behaviour) and afterwards met with Book Snob and Bloomsbury Bell where they preempted our tea and cake (well, my tea and cake as poor Verity is currently on an exclusion diet to cure her ills).

Following our visit to the shop I had a great discussion about The Wind-up Bird Chronicle at the first Riverside Readers book group of 2010 then took my sniffly self home where I proceeded to slip on the ice outside my flat and bruise myself. Sore end to an otherwise idyllic day and now I am taking my aching body to bed. Woe is me!

Tomorrow I shall be reviewing the latest Persephone book read.

Artist's reproduction of the shop is by David Gentleman.

Are You Dreaming of a Grey Christmas?

Yes, Christmas will soon be with us and I know that I love nothing more than giving and receiving books as gifts. The only thing that can top that is a Persephone book. Book Psmith is arranging a very exciting Persephone Secret Santa, which I think is a wonderful idea and should be a lot of fun. I know that I will be participating, what about you?

Persephone Biannually

I am relieved that the Royal Mail strikes in the UK did not prevent me from receiving the Persephone 2009 Autumn/Winter Biannually as it allowed me to spend a pleasant hour yesterday perusing it whilst drinking a Chai latte in Starbucks (no cake, alas). I read the Biannually from cover to cover, flicked through the up-to-date catalogue (most of which I know by heart) and admired my pretty new bookmark; the bookmark matches the lapis printed cotton circa 1808-15 (from the Victorian & Albert museum) endpaper of one of the new titles, A New System of Domestic Cookery by Mrs Rundell.

The Biannually contains tempting information about the three new titles: the others being High Wages by Dorothy Whipple and To Bed With Grand Music by Marghanita Laski; I am most attracted to the latter (although I will undoubtedly also purchase the new Whipple novel). The Laski novel is primarily "about sex in wartime"; Deborah, the wife of a man posted overseas, takes lover after lover and provides a different view of life on the home-front. Apparently very funny as well as shocking, this is probably a realist work and one that intrigues me. The first scene of To Bed With Grand Music is described as a compelling one and is likened to "the five conception scenes at the beginning of Manja". Manja by Anna Gmeyer (mother of author Eva Ibbotson) was a Persephone title that had not stood out to me before but now the story of five children -all conceived on the same night in 1920- growing up in Weimar Republic Germany until the Nazis came to power, is at the top of my Persephone wishlist.

Within the pages of the Biannually is a short story "A Lovely Time" by Dorothy Whipple. In the vein of the two Whipple novels I have so far read -Someone at a Distance and They Were Sisters- the story possesses a rawness of emotion that is inexplicable in its effectiveness (what makes Whipple so readable and unbearably poignant?) A simple night out for innocent Alice Barnes, her first night out in London since moving there for work from a small town four months previously, evokes a sad loneliness; moreover there is a social embarrassment that we have no doubt all experienced at some point in our lives, where we don't fit in despite our best efforts. Dorothy Whipple doesn't do cheerful; she writes of the cruelty of life and we are left with pity for Alice.

The most exciting part of reading the latest Biannually, however, was skipping to the Bloggers Review section and finding myself quoted! It was a definite narcissistic highlight of the reading experience for me. If you click on the photograph below to enlarge it you can not only read the excerpt but you will notice that I am in very good company and surrounded by some of my favourite fellow bloggers; on the next page (not photographed) Rachel of Book Snob, Lynne of dovegreyreader, Claire of kiss a cloud and Naomi of Bloomsbury Bell are all quoted from and I was happy to see so many familiar bloggers! A good few of these quotes were taken from Persephone Reading Week posts and I am so pleased that we were able to provide them with so much material to choose from, albeit too much to use all. A big thank you to Persephone for recognising our efforts.

Round About a Pound a Week

In my wrap-up post for Persephone Reading Week, I mentioned that one of a number of Persephone Books that I subsequently wanted to read was Round About a Pound a Week by Maud Pember Reeves. Reading reviews written by Verity and Swati inspired me to read a title from the catalogue that hadn't previously appealed. I usually don't read much nonfiction, mostly because of a preference for fiction and also a fear that it will read as dry and specialised. I am, however, making a conscious effort to read more nonfiction and as one of my book groups reads an equal proportion of nonfiction to fiction, I decided to suggest Round About a Pound a Week when my choice of book to read came around for this month.

A Fabian Woman's study of forty two low-income families in Lambeth, South London, between 1909 and 1913, Round About a Pound a Week, is an illuminating historical document of working-class families (with the husband the sole breadwinner) who lived below the poverty line. To say that their poverty was abject by today's standards would be accurate although reading it one had to think how difficult it was for those families in the slums who had no income at all, let alone a low one; to say that conditions were stark for the families studied is an understatement. The findings of the study were that "round about a pound" a week was what these families had to live on and once that extends to rent, fuel, and food there isn't much -if anything- left for health-care, clothes, and luxuries (and their luxury items were items such as milk and sugar that we take for granted let alone alcohol, books and any other form of escapism/entertainment). Often these families had no space for more than one bed each for adults and children (large families being abundant in low-income households) let alone space for a board-game or a book; forms of entertainment were in little supply and it is observed in the reading that large families and lack of entertainment may correlate (also the requirement of additional heat).

The stark reality of how the working-classes lived during the early twentieth century is eye-opening. One hundred years on things are far improved although there are still so many families in the UK living below the poverty line and a distinct class system still exists. At least we now have a free health-care system and a drastically lower infant mortality rate. Many accounts of the loss of babies in the families studied were poignant and shocking. Families were also proud and paid funeral insurance each week to ensure that they did not endure the shame of a pauper's funeral for their dead child. One family's dead baby was buried in a family grave including seven other coffins of varying sizes; images such as this one proves why Round About a Pound a Week made such an impact upon publication.

Reading this historical study provided me with more of an insight into the period, an insight that had recently been widened by reading The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt. Although I was not a fan of Byatt's book as a novel, I can recognise its sheer scope in historical detail. Two of the poor characters from her large cast, Peter and Elsie, came from a low-income family where they shared a bed with their other siblings including a dead one as there was nowhere else to keep the body before the funeral. It was detail like this that remained with me from an otherwise negative reading experience and this detail was heightened by reading Round About a Pound a Week and the interesting, shocking, and poignant life stories. The Fabian study went a long way to influencing Liberal reforms and a century later we have to appreciate how lucky we are, even in an uncertain economic climate.

The Blank Wall

The Blank Wall by Elizabeth Sanxay Holding is a tense and suspenseful thriller. Adapted in 1949 into the movie A Reckless Moment starring James Mason (remade in 2001 as The Deep End with Tilda Swinton), it is a very atmospheric novel with a period feel to it; whilst reading it I envisaged events in black & white celluloid with Cary Grant in Mason's role as Martin Donnelly.

Lucia Holley is a surburban housewife in 1940s America; her husband is serving in WWII and she cares for her teenage children and her elderly father, dealing with the domestic dramas of running a home during wartime, with the help of her loyal maid Sibyl. In the opening chapter Lucia has the problem of the unsavoury Ted Darby to deal with, an older man that her daughter Bee is inappropriately involved with; this problem is solved accidentally by her father, Mr Harper, who "sent him off with a flea in his ear". It transpires a couple of pages later that Mr Harper has actually -and unknowingly- killed Ted Darby and to protect her father Lucia disposes of the body.

The Blank Wall has highly melodramatic moments juxtaposed with moments of domestic hilarity. Whilst Lucia is counting ration points, worrying about the lack of gas for the family car, is frustrated by a broken washing machine, frets that her letters to her husband are too dull, she also has to evade detection by police Lieutenant Levy, engage with blackmailing black marketeers, pawn her jewels in order to pay them and persuade her children that she is not having an affair with the sympathetic criminal, Donnelly. A very suspenseful yet amusing read ensues and I was completely gripped in finding out if Lucia managed to stay calm, keep it together, and maintain her integrity and freedom from prosecution. Uppermost in Lucia's daily efforts is to keep her family safe and she is aided in this by the wonderful Sibyl, who also cooks the illegal meat that Donnelly sends as gifts. Evocative of the time period and the uneasy undercurrent of helplessness in the face of war (especially as a woman), The Blank Wall is not just a fun read but one that is historically intriguing and a precursor for later psychological crime novels. Lucia is a fabulously strong and funny female protagonist, a middle-aged housewife caught up in a surreal case of murder and intrigue, and this is another great and unique Persephone novel.

Some favourite passages, the first central to the plots and themes of the novel:

She got a book and read it in bed, with stubborn determination. It was a mystery story she had got out of the lending library for her father, and she was not fond of mystery stories. Nobody in them ever seems to feel sorry about the murders, she had said. They're presented as a problem, m'dear, her father said. What's more they generally show the murdered person as someone you can't waste any pity on. I'm sorry for them, she said, I hate it when they're found with daggers sticking in them and their eyes all staring from poison and things like that.
Yet how little pity did she feel for Ted Darby! I really did that, she thought amazed. I concealed a body. Anyhow I took it away. And when I came back-after that-nobody could see anything wrong with me-anything queer. Maybe I haven't got so much feeling, after all. Maybe I'm rather too tough.
I'd better be, too, she thought, as she rose and began to dress.

She had never felt anything like this turmoil of the spirit, this anger. He's the one who brought the letters here. He's the one I'm to pay the blackmail to. And he says he did that. For me. Liar. Blackmailer. Contemptible crook. I hate him so...

This my first book read for the R.I.P. IV challenge; although it wasn't by any means scary it was thrilling and suspenseful.

Persephone and cake

I thought I would take this chance to update you with a latecomer to the festivities. Rachel has written a fabulous post that resonates completely with me and succinctly explains why I love Persephone Books. I take the time to appreciate the small things in life and the small publishers. I also recognise "the pleasure of eating a freshly made cake" but, as Bloomsbury Bell points out in the comments, there is nothing more wonderful than reading a Persephone along with tea and cake. I said likewise here and I am beginning to think that it is the the only true way to enjoy a Persephone, a rich and sheer indulgence that is also one of the best comforts.

As a thank you for the success of Persephone Reading Week, Nicola Beauman has invited Verity and I to the shop for cakes from here. Cake and books are two of my favourite things and I can't think of a better or lovelier way to celebrate.

Persephone Wrap Up

This is my final update post for the wonderful Persephone Reading Week. I have greatly enjoyed co-hosting this week, indulging in reading Persephone Books, and reading all of your comments and related posts. I would like to thank Verity for all of her hard work and enthusiasm, the generosity of Persephone Books, and all of the excited participants for making this an amazing week. Here's to Persephone Reading Week 2010!

Random Number Generator reliably informs me that the last lucky winner of Good Evening, Mrs Craven is ...

STEPH

Congratulations! Please email your details and I'll post that along with the others next week.

Commiserations to those who didn't win anything this week; console yourself with the thought of the prizes next time!

Yesterday, Tracey wrote a great review of The Wise Virgins by Leonard Woolf. Nymeth, Claire, and Book Psmith all wrote wonderful summary posts from which I will borrow a part.

During this week I read one Persephone every day for four days until yesterday when, with a headache and sheer tiredness, I only managed a quarter of Good Evening, Mrs Craven so look forward to a review for that at a later date. I was also tempted by so many others on my grey -especially Saplings and Miss Buncle's Book- but will savour those some time soon; I also have a couple more on my immediate reading list that weren't mentioned this week and borrowed a couple from Verity. As for the ones that are now top of my Persephone wishlist:

The Wise Virgins

Round About a Pound a Week

Miss Ranskill Comes Home

The Village

The Runaway

Lastly, fleur fisher asked how we all discovered Persephone Books and Verity answered this herself midweek.

As for me, a friend actually told me about Persephone Books back in 2006 but I didn't really follow through. I bookmarked the website, had a look at their catalogue (only really paying attention to the author names I had read: Virginia Woolf, Katherine Mansfield, and Frances Hodgson Burnett) but missed the opportunity to truly discover them. I was intrigued, however, and planned to go to the shop during a visit in '07 but didn't... Then in April '08, I googled for more information regarding the VMC 30th Birthday Commemorative hardbacks and came across this blog post written by Danielle of A Work in Progress. I was surprised and thankful that Persephone Books had again been brought to my attention and immediately attracted to the sound of Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. Upon further research, I discovered that it was about to be released as a film, and promptly purchased a Classics edition of it; I read it as soon as it arrived and a love affair was born. A couple of months later I made my first order from the shop (The Victorian Chaise-longue) and added myself to their mailing list. In October, having just moved to London, I made my first visit to the shop and haven't looked back since. Sixteen months from reading Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, I have read a further fourteen Persephones and have another eight unread on the shelf. I am definitely in love with the magical imprint.

Thank you for sharing in and contributing to my Persephone passion.

Persephone Update 13

The first Persephone I read and reviewed this week was Flush by Virginia Woolf, which Danielle of Leaning Towards the Sun has also read and reviewed. The second title I read was A London Child of the 1870s and you can read my thoughts here and compare with Christy's opinion.

Danielle's photograph of her golden cocker spaniel, Tucker, reminded me that during the scene where Flush is unceremoniously shorn of his full coat (a symbol of his pedigree breeding) to rid him of an infestation of fleas, I thought of my parents' springer spaniel, Laddie. As a recent measure to assuage his suffering in the heat, Laddie had a drastic hair cut and is photographed below looking accusatory; I thought I would share.

Persephone Quiz Result

Here are the answers to my Persephone Quiz and the result.

1. In the grey edition of Someone at a Distance, who designed the fabric that is used as the end-paper? Ashley Havinden


2. Which year was Persephone author, Monica Dickens, the great granddaughter of Charles Dickens, born? 1915


3. Could you tell me which Persephone titles the endpapers to the left come from?

The Were Sisters
The Shuttle
The Young Pretenders
Hostages to Fortune


4. List please the three forthcoming titles for Persephone's catalogue this October.
To Bed With Grand Music, High Wages, A New System of Domestic Cookery by a Lady


5. Which famous literary husband and wife both feature in the Persephone catalogue? Virginia and Leonard Woolf


6. The artwork to the right is by Ann Doughty and depicts 58 Doughty Street, Bloomsbury, a flat that Winifred Holtby shared with which other writer? Vera Brittain


7. The beautiful artist's impression of the Persephone shop and office in Bloomsbury is by David Gentleman. At what number on Lamb's Conduit Street is the shop situated? 59



8. A famous Virago author (recently reviewed on this blog) has a cousin who is published by Persephone; can you tell me who that cousin is? Katherine Mansfield (cousin of Elizabeth von Arnim)



9. At the present time, how many Dorothy Whipple titles do Persephone publish? 5



10. The Islington House below, painted by David Gentlemen also, is the setting for which Persephone novel? The Victorian-longue

Thank you to everyone who completed the quiz; you all did extraordinarily well and I used a Random Number Generator to select the prize-winner of the Persphone Classics edition of Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple to...

Darlene

Congratulations, Darlene! Please email me your address and I'll pop this in the post to you next week.

Quote of the Week

Earlier this week, Simon S of Savidge Reads described Persephone Books as "the Cath Kidston of the book world", which filled me with utter delight as never a truer thing was said. To anyone outside the UK, Cath Kidston is a designer who uses classic style prints for the discerning home and individual (the pattern on her cushions above wonderfully complement the end-paper photographed). I loved this quote so much and I think that Simon deserves recognition for it. Nobody was tempted by my Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day DVD competition and I think that calls for Simon to be rewarded instead. So, Simon, would you like a copy of the DVD or the book (and if the book, with the Classic cover or the original dove-grey)?

Congratulations!

Little Boy Lost

I purchased Little Boy Lost by Marghanita Laski in February of this year (I tend to purchase the Classics from online booksellers and the dove-greys from Persephone themselves, which is why I can be clear on when I bought it) and I am ashamed that I haven't read it until now. Not ashamed because it has been unread for so long as I have books on my bookshelves that have stayed unread for far longer but ashamed because I didn't realise straight off how much I would adore this book. This has immediately become one of my Persephone favourites and is definitely my reading highlight of this week.

The Victorian Chaise-longue by Marghanita Laski was the second Persephone I read, in October last year, and I enjoyed it but wasn't wowed or as thoroughly charmed as I had been with my first foray into the world of the dove-grey book, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. My third Persephone, Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple, however, I adored for its emotional intensity and raw evocation of infidelity's effects on all concerned. This week I have been tempted to revisit The Victorian Chaise-longue and I definitely will to see if my opinion changes any, but it perhaps explains why I didn't instantly read Little Boy Lost; now that I have, I will be purchasing and reading The Village as soon as I am able and the forthcoming title by Laski published this October, To Bed With Grand Music, was one that appealed anyway.

Do not miss the wonderful opportunity to read this book. It is a egregious crime that it ever fell out of print, for Persephone Books to have to rescue it, but I am glad that they did. Little Boy Lost has a reputation as a heartbreaker and rightly so but although disheartening, it is not completely devastating. I don't want to spoil this book but the unbearably poignant closing lines elicited such a powerful, emotional response in me; I don't think I have ever been so moved by a book's ending. I instantly wanted to reach over and wake up my boyfriend to tell him all about it as I knew I couldn't tell any of you, unless you had also read it. This is a book that I hugged upon closing, with watery eyes.

I hope Jessica Crispin of Bookslut doesn't mind me posting the first part of her review of Little Boy Lost from earlier this year but is truly too good not to share (for the second half of the letter, click on the link and scroll down to January 14th; she doesn't spoil anything.)

Dear Marghanita Laski:

Fuck you. Because of your novel Little Boy Lost, I spent ten minutes yesterday on my living room floor, crying. Over a story about a man incapable of love and a boy who might be his son in a post-WWII orphanage. Are you fucking kidding me? But really pissed me off is the fact that your book is not at all sentimental! Not even a twinge of manipulation, just told simply and plainly. I started muttering to myself about halfway through, talking back to the book, calling Hilary an idiot. Then came the heavy breathing, and then the crying.

How evocative a response to a book is that? When Darlene quoted the review opening in her comments earlier this week, it convinced me to pick up Little Boy Lost. I am so thankful to Darlene (and Jessica) for that; I enjoy being emotionally wrung out by a book and this one does that so wonderfully well, without being emotionally manipulative.

The beautifully understated and emotionally evocative novel concerns Hilary Wainwright, a poet and intellectual, who has to leave his wife, Lisa, and their newborn baby, John, in Paris when WWII breaks out. Hilary is English and Lisa is of Polish birth, and part of the Resistance movement; Lisa gives their baby to a friend when she discovers the Gestapo are aware of her involvement and is killed (all of this is discovered in the opening pages). When Jeanne, Lisa's friend, is also killed, the baby boy is thought lost but after the War, Hilary returns to France to search for his son, with the help of Jeanne's fiancé, Pierre. A boy of the right age, blood type (of course during a time when DNA testing was not an option), and circumstances is located in a provincial French town but there is no way of accurately determining whether the boy, Jean, is indeed Hilary's son.

The crux of the novel is of Hilary and Jean's growing relationship over one week and of Hilary's ambivalence towards his growing feelings for the boy, who may or may not be kin, and his contempt for the post-war corruption of France. The emotional state of Hilary is beautifully evoked, and although he and his choices are not always agreeable, his character is sympathetically portrayed. Hilary has experienced such unbearable loss that he closes himself off to loving again because that opens him up to future potential pain; such conflict within his inner-self is deftly evoked.

The traitor emotions of love and tenderness and pity must stay dead in me. I could not endure them to live and then die again.

Jean is once of the sweetest and heartrending children that I have come across in literature and it is impossible not to give your heart to him and his potential fate. "[Jean] walks straight into the reader's heart. He is, in one sense, every lost child of Europe", wrote novelist Elizabeth Bowen and the poet Stevie Smith wrote: "The poor, cold child, starved of love but most endearing, and the father who fears he cannot love, seem frozen in time; there is great depth of feeling in this story and an admirable simplicity of style."

One of my favourite passages, that accurately sums up the dilemma Hilary faces in recognising his son, and is central to the plot:

If he is my son then we met once at the moment of his birth and have had nothing in common ever since. He might tell me what toys he played with - but I have never seen them. He might tell me of other children he knew - but I have never met them. If he remembered being kissed on this particular spot, being put to bed with that particular formula, I would still not know if those were the things that happened between Lisa and my son. I don't even know the little pet names they would have had for each other.

Please read Little Boy Lost. Elizabeth Bowen also wrote in her review that "to miss reading Little Boy Lost would be to by-pass a very searching, and revealing, human experience."

Persephone Update 12 & Prize

It's the last day of Persephone Reading Week, everyone; are you as sad about that as I am? I have enjoyed myself immensely and had such a wonderful reading experience yesterday with my Persephone of the day, Little Boy Lost by Marghanita Laski (review forthcoming).

I will be rounding up over the next couple of days, linking to your reviews and awarding some of the outstanding prizes. Once Verity returns from holiday we will together decide our favourite Persephone-related post and award A London Child of the 1870s.

Speaking of prizes, I have drawn yesterday's copy of Good Evening, Mrs Craven and the lucky recipient is...

NYMETH

Congratulations! Please email your address and I'll pop that in the post to you next week. I'm so glad that a) you have another Persephone to read now (as you have the self-imposed book ban and can't buy any) and b) it's a Persephone of WWII short stories, a time period you have been seeking out in literature.

For everyone else: don't be downhearted as there is still one remaining copy of Good Evening, Mrs Craven to win and all you have to do is comment here today. I will also be announcing the winner of my Persephone quiz this evening.

Speaking of Good Evening, Mrs Craven, we have our first reviews of it this week from Danielle and Simon S. I am delighted that Simon enjoyed his first Persephone book (the first of many, I imagine!) and I plan to read it myself today.

In honour of the last day of Persephone Reading Week, The Persephone Post have treated us this apt and beautiful painting. To me, it epitomises the joyful experience of this week.

Verity has summed up her experiences in this lovely, gracious post and has given voice to sentiments I wholeheartedly agree with.

Darlene has reviewed The Village by Marghanita Laski for us, and I now covet the book (of course). Laski has definitely been our most proficient and popular Persephone author this week; she has indeed been my favourite, although I still have one more Persephone to fit in before the challenge ends.

Also, you MUST visit fleur fisher's blog today as not only does she have a wonderfully generous prize giveaway of TWO Persephones, she also has this lovely and highly informative feature (part one) published yesterday with part two to come today. Thank you so much on behalf of myself and Verity.

I hope you have enjoyed this week and enjoy this last day of it. Please share your highlights with me in comments and inform us of anything you would like to see during our next reading week devoted to the lovely dove-grey books.

Persephone Update 11

This evening's links for you before I curl up with what remains of Little Boy Lost By Marghanita Laski:

Swati has written a comprehensive and illuminating review of Round About a Pound a Week by Maud Pember Reeves, which I am now most curious to read.

fleur fisher provides a look at one of the under-represented poetry offerings of Persephone, which appeals far more to me than I would have thought. Isn't the end-paper beautiful?

Speaking of verse, Simon T teases us with a preamble to the review he will post tomorrow.

Happy reading, Persephonites!

Persephone Update 10

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?

A Little Tea & A Little Chat at Persephone Books

Serendipitously both Darlene and I today have written about having tea at Persephone Books. Where Darlene was lucky enough to attend one of the shop's book chats, I was visiting to collect the prize copies that Persephone so very kindly offered Verity and I for this week's give-aways.

Last month I popped in on my way home from a job interview and spent a couple of hours in the pleasant and wonderfully welcoming company of Nicola and Lydia. Imagine my disappointment though when I first arrived to find the door locked! Lydia had to go to the loo, you see, which I promptly forgave her for. My first stop was the basement where I was in Persephone lover heaven to see all the titles stacked up and the wonderful bookcase of slightly damaged copies. If I hadn't been wearing a suit, I would have plopped myself down in front of them, amongst dust and some cobwebs (Lydia warned me of spiders), and meticulously chose copies but as it was I chose at random whilst Lydia kindly carried a box of Good Evening, Mrs Craven upstairs and put them in a lovely jute bag. As well as thanking Persephone for their generosity, I would also like to take the opportunity to express my wonder at their customer service and quality of book provided: I have bought or been sent new books in worse condition from other booksellers than the ones supplied for prize copies but Persephone are unwilling to sell anything less than pristine, which is admirable.

Whilst waiting for Nicola, who was on her way, Lydia and I discussed our mutual Master's degrees as it transpired that we had both done similar courses at different Universities and then the Booker longlist as it had been announced the previous day (Lydia, like me, was most excited about The Quickening Maze by Adam Foulds), leading to a longer conversation about The Little Stranger, which Sarah Waters had sent as a gift to the shop, as she is a huge admirer, and which Nicola later said I was welcome to borrow if I hadn't read. Following Nicola's arrival and settling down to Elevenses (Nicola, I was charmed to notice drank from a Nancy Mitford, Pursuit of Love Penguin Classics mug) we engaged in some general literary chat, as well as discussion covering blogging and Verity's and my challenge, Simon at Stuck in a Book who is thought of highly (and rightly so), my career goals, and publishing.

The literary chat was fascinating and, in my opinion, you would be hard-pushed to find someone as enthused and passionate about literature and the book industry as Nicola Beauman. We spoke of The Group by Mary McCarthy which I had recently read and loved. I told Nicola that I thought it should be a Persephone and she is of the same mind but, regretfully, she was unable to obtain the publishing rights to it. Interestingly, the Persephone title that took the longest to obtain the rights to was The Wise Virgins by Leonard Woolf and she would also love to possess the rights to The Expendable Man within the United States.

We also touched upon Stella Gibbons and the possibility of Persephone publishing one of her titles but Nicola told me honestly that she hasn't found a book that challenge Cold Comfort Farm. Indeed the vision of Persephone is to publish wonderful books because, as a reader, Nicola only wants to publish wonderful books.

The new Bloomsbury Group project was covered as was the original and beautiful cover art of Virago Modern Classics; the Editor-in-Chief of Bloomsbury, Alexandra Pringle, began her career in Virago editing and choosing the artwork for those iconic covers. Nicola also told me about this article, at that time forthcoming, and enthusiastically recommended the novel Hearts and Minds by Amanda Craig.

Another highlight to my shop visit was spying the reproduction endpapers for the new books (forthcoming - Oct 22nd) which, of course, are typically beautiful.

I was struck by how friendly, welcoming, and warm both Nicola and Lydia were and not just to me but to their customers. The customer service is fabulous and their passion for books is apparent as they happily discuss non-Persephone titles with visitors to the shop.

There is definitely an endearing quality to the shop as well as to the imprints. India Knight describes Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day and The Making of a Marchioness as "bed books", along with beloved classics I Capture the Castle, Pride and Prejudice, My Cousin Rachel, the Anne of Green Gables books and everything written by Nancy Mitford (The Shops p. 108). I love "bed books" and the indulgence of comfort reads and fairy tales for grown-ups but there is also a lot of substance amongst Persephone Books, some of which we have seen this week.

I spent a lovely morning at Persephone having tea and I am only sad that Verity wasn't there to join me.

I had to include in this post the beautiful artist's reproduction of the shop by David Gentleman as it is one of my favourites.

Hetty Dorval

After reading fleur fisher's review, I was intrigued by Hetty Dorval by Ethel Wilson, and anxious to read it. I find that my anxiety to read a book as soon as possible often results in rash purchases but luckily Verity had a copy and when we met yesterday afternoon I borrowed it from her, began reading it immediately, and finished it last night. It is a very quick read and is one of Persephone's shorter titles.

I knew nothing of Ethel Wilson and her reputation in Canada and this short story is all about reputation or of a "woman of no reputation". Less about Hetty Dorval, it is actually a coming-of-age story about Frankie Burnaby and her various encounters with Hetty Dorval over the years, and the effect that the older woman has on her. Frankie's parents think of Hetty as "The Menace" and forbid Frankie to speak with her, knowing nothing of her except of the hint of scandal that has followed her from Shanghai to Lytton, near Vancouver. This clever little book, which is compelling, is about the insidious danger of gossip as much as it is about the insidious nature of people with faces like angels. I found it quite hard-hitting in its way; I am sure we have all encountered people who are not what they seem and who sometimes we are desperate to eject from our lives before they harm us or the ones we love. However, it is also about prejudice - is Hetty as awful as everybody makes out and were Frankie's innocent first impressions as a naive child more accurate than her adult prejudiced by gossip and influence take? This is definitely morally ambiguously but what is clear is that Frankie has matured and Hetty stays the same, seeking to be alone outwith society and their judgement, but as is mentioned in the text, by quoting Donne: "no man is an island" and apparently no woman either.

Bookshops III

My third post in my Bookshops series is appropriate for Persephone Reading Week as it is Persephone Books. The Lamb's Conduit Street shop and office is one of my favourite places -not just shops or bookshops- to visit in London, not least because I emerge each time with at least one beautiful Persephone clutched to my chest. Lamb's Conduit Street is an ambient, Parisian-like street with lovely boutiques, delis. and restaurants in Bloomsbury, London, and is definitely worth a visit, not simply for the wonder that is this bookshop.

As you can see from the photograph above (apologies for the reflection but it is impossible to avoid), the door is open and welcoming and the hanging basket you see contains the Persephone catalogue and Bi-annually for you to pick up as you enter, exit, or walk by. The shop is cosy and lovely; also the main office it has a sense of bustle but also of homeliness. Light and breezy (the back door is open to the garden), Persephone Books is such a pleasure to spend time in with lots of flowers scattered around and beautifully framed posters, paintings, and fabrics on the walls to delight and engage those who browse. It is such an informal, friendly atmosphere with Nicola and Lydia engaging with customers and enthusing about books in general, not just Persephones. On occasions where Nicola (Beauman, Persephone's founder) needs to pop out quickly to one of the neighbouring shops to pick up lunch or a coffee, she will leave the shop momentarily in the hands of the customers; that is the type of bookshop Persephone Books is.

In The Shops by India Knight, she declares, "oh, the bliss of Persephone Books!" (p. 46) and the shop really is blissful. From the bookcase facing the door (seen in the photograph) the books are arranged clock-wise in order of the books' position in the catalogue. Beside each individual stack of a title are the free accompanying bookmarks (which match that particular Persephone's endpaper) and another stack of prettily tissue-wrapped copies of the book. The books are so elegant and sophisticated in appearance with one book standing open above the pile so that the colourful and beautiful end-papers are on display too, adding a vibrancy to the shop as they contrast with the pretty dove-grey.

Persephones do make wonderful gifts and I have both given and received them. The Persephone website (where the bulk of their business is conducted via mail-order worldwide) has this indispensable guide to the giving the perfect present. In her presents section from the book linked to above, India Knight says the best presents for mums are "Books from Persephone, particularly Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" (p. 194) and how true! Recently I was speaking to someone who purchased twenty Persephone titles as a wedding gift for a dear friend; lucky friend... although I wonder how the groom felt. As a result, I daydreamed about one day having Persephone title Cheerful Weather for the Wedding as a wedding favour for the guests but perhaps it isn't that fair to impose my addicition onto everybody else.

Later today I will be posting about my most recent visit to Persephone Books.

Persephone Update 9

Yesterday's prize-draw winner has been announced. Congratulations!

For a chance of winning those last two remaining copies of Good Evening, Mrs Craven then please comment on this post each day between this morning and midnight tomorrow. Good luck!

As for today's links: we excitingly have a review of forthcoming Persephone title, High Wages by Dorothy Whipple. Written by fleur fisher, this review highly excites me and I will be purchasing this on October 22nd, when it is released. I can also reliably inform Jane and you all that the end-paper is beautiful -of course- as I spied it when I visited the shop to collect the prizes they so kindly donated! It was one of the many highlights but more about that later...

Book Psmith has a crafty offering for us, which makes me feel creative. I do love bookmarks!

Christy has given us a gorgrous, colourful post to gush over and plenty of reading!

Lastly, for the moment, is Simon T's daily review from yesterday, this time on one of Persephone's children's books, The Runaway.

Please don't forget the last few days of entering the Miss Pettigrew DVD competition and our quizzes here and here, if you haven't done so yet!

Thank you to everybody posting and contributing to such a versatile and fun week!

Persephone Update 8

One more link before one tired Persephone Reading Week co-host calls it a night and retires to bed with a Persephone, of course, tucked up with her (oh and grey pyjamas!)

Nymeth has written a lovely review of Saplings by Noel Streatfeild for your perusal and temptation. Saplings is one of the Persephones (much like Mariana by Monica Dickens) that I have been saving for a grey, dismal couple of days and I forecast that those are fast approaching.