Good Afternoon, Mrs Craven.

Verity drew the first prize-winner for Good Evening, Mrs Craven: The Wartime Stories of Mollie Panter-Downes this morning. Congratulations! Please email me your details and I'll post them out with the other Persephone prizes next week.

Everyone else, please keep those comments coming on mine and Verity's challenge welcome and launch posts and good luck!

As an aside: Verity reviewed Mollie Panter-Downes' Virago novel One Fine Day today.

The Grey Shelf

I retained the grey shelf in my book collection to share with you this week during our Persephone Reading Challenge. Some of the Persephones shown above will feature themselves when I blog about them, either as ones I have previously read and loved or ones that I will be reading, at some point this week. Those books to the left of the slim volume of The Victorian Chaise-longue -which interestingly is so slight that it foregoes the Persephone logo- are the ones unread, including Miss Buncle's Book that lies along the top. I also have another grey Persephone currently on my bedside table, the Classics on another shelf, and other editions of Persephone titles shelved elsewhere. I love the uniform refinement of these books on a shelf of their own.

How do you shelve your Persephone Books? I considered ordering them in number and at first shelved them randomly, but then settled on dividing those read and to-be-read titles. I am already struggling for space so I foresee a reorganisination of my bookshelves in the near future (especially as forthcoming Persephones will be published on October 22nd). I envisage one day having an entire bookcase devoted to Persephone Books.

Persephone Teaser Tuesday (and prize)

In honour of Persephone Reading Week and seeing as it's Tuesday, quote a couple of spoiler-free sentences from the Persephone book you’re currently reading to tempt others. Once you have then link to that post in comments and Verity and I will then judge the post that teases us the most and reward you with Few Eggs and No Oranges by Vere Hodgson! If you do not partake in Teaser Tuesdays on your blog then feel free to post a one-off below and we'll include it in the prize giveaway.

"We were rich too in another way, richer, so far as I can observe, than the average children of to-day. Our parents had accumulated a large number of books, which we were allowed to browse in as much as we liked."

A London Child of the 1870s by Molly Hughes p. 7

Flush

Persephone Books are the types of books that go wonderfully well with a cup of tea in the other hand and this afternoon I curled up with Flush by Virginia Woolf (the first sitting occurred in bed this morning -another indulgence) in my cosy grey top and a mug of Earl Grey.

Flush is a biography of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's (the Victorian poet) cocker spaniel, Flush, so not what you would expect from Virginia Woolf and yet also radical in its own way in her characteristic stream of consciousness style. Woolf was inspired by a 1930 edition of the love letters exchanged between the Brownings and the appearance of "their dog made me laugh so I couldn't resist making him a Life." Comedic and charming, the novella is far removed from Woolf's Modernist and seminal texts, but I love both. It is an illuminating insight into Woolf' lighter side and her mocking sense of humour, attributes that are often overlooked when considering such a great writer.

We first meet Flush in 1840 when he belongs to Mary Mitford, who then presents him to her friend, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, whom he lives with as a companion until his death in 1854. The narrative follows the relationship between Flush and his owner through courtship, kidnap, and a move to Italy, with many amusing incidents including a bad case of fleas. On the surface an absorbing and lovely tale of a dog it is also an allegory of class and the status of women (and female poets) in Victorian society; Flush is a shameless snob, absurdly obsessed with breeding, and he is also tamed and house-trained. The ways in which Woolf draws comparisons are very subtle and she employs Elizabeth Barrett Browning's only biographical history in order to do it; the feminist slant the work begins to take is hardly surprising in relation to Woolf. Experimental and progressive, Woolf considers the relationship between [wo]man and her best friend and the communication barriers; she also observes the Modern world and city through the eyes of Flush.

Flush is entertaining, cleverly creative, and wonderfully written with passages of distinct beauty, typical of Woolf.

The passage that amused me most:

They entered the bedroom. There was a faint bleating in the shadowed room - something waved on the pillow. It was a live animal. Independently of them all, without the street door being opened, out of herself in the room, alone, Mrs Browning had become two people. The horrid thing waved and mewed by her side. Torn with rage and jealousy and some deep disgust that he could not hide, Flush struggled himself free and rushed downstairs.

Persephone Update 1

We have our first Persephone Reading Week review! Nymeth read The Victorian Chaise-longue by Marghanita Laski in little over an hour this morning and you can read her thoughts here. I read this Persephone around a year ago but feel inspired to re-read it during the colder, creepier months that are approaching.

The end-paper is a 1950s curtain-fabric " printed with huge pink roses" and is evocative of Melanie's present period before she time-travels to Victorian times.

Happy reading, everyone!

Persephone Quiz

To launch Persephone Reading Week, Verity and I have each composed a quiz for you to complete. My quiz will be open until Friday 5pm GMT and please email me your answers, all of which can be found on the Persephone Books website. The prize I am offering is the stunning Persephone Classics edition of Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple, a wonderfully raw evocation of infidelity. In the event of a tie, I will use a random number generator to determine the winner.

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


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


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


4. List please the three forthcoming titles for Persephone's catalogue this October.


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


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?


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?



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?



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



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

Persephone Take-off!

Welcome to the Persephone Reading Week Challenge! As delighted as I am to co-host this exciting event with Verity, I am just as giddy about a week-long indulgence in reading Persephone Books. I'm starting off with Flush by Virginia Woolf, what about you?

We have some fun things planned this week so please check back often. Later on this morning we will both launch our own Persephone competitions that will run all week - please join in!

As for prize giveaways, let's start the ball rolling... Persephone very kindly provided us with ever-so-slightly damaged books to offer as prizes (honestly, some of the marks or faults are barely noticeable, if at all), some of which are photographed below.

We are offering a Persephone Classics copy of Good Evening, Mrs Craven: The Wartime Stories of Mollie Panter-Downes EVERY day this week. All you have to do is comment on this post or on Verity's launch post each day for an entry into the draw; the more comments, the more entries, and please include links to Persephone Reading Week related posts or simply comment to inform us of your reading progress this week or if you are enjoying yourself so far. The following day either Verity or myself will announce the winner of the previous day's draw. Is that clear enough (an answer to this will even obtain you a chance of winning)?!

In addition to the prize draw every day, we are going to award a copy of A London Child of the 1870s by Molly Hughes (a Persephone that Verity speaks highly of and one that I am hoping to read myself this week) to the Persephone Reading Week related post that we love the most so please link to those posts and reviews! That will be decided once Verity returns from holiday in September and once we have all caught up on our reviews and summations of the week.

Have fun and happy Persephone reading.