Lady in Waiting by Anne Glenconner

 September 24, 2020

Lady in Waiting by Anne Glenconner

Lady Anne Glenconner met the princesses Elizabeth and Margaret when the three girls were small children living on neighboring estates, long before Elizabeth became the heir to the British throne.  They remained friends into adulthood, and Princess Margaret eventually asked Anne to become one of her ladies in waiting.  Wanting to take a break from her disaster of a husband, Anne gratefully accepted and remained in the princess's household for the next 30 years.  As lady in waiting, Anne's role varied from actual serving duties to being just a companion to Margaret, accompanying her on her world travels as representative of the crown and attending social occasions with her.  Both women had made disastrous marriages, and while Margaret was forced to divorce her husband Tony Snowdon when his mistress became pregnant, Anne stayed married to her childish husband for 54 years, although they only lived together occasionally for the last 40 years of their marriage.

Anne's husband Colin Tennant, later Baron Glenconner, had serious psychiatric issues and was well-known for throwing public fits of rage and temper tantrums.  Today he would probably be diagnosed as having manic depression and narcissistic personality disorder.  But it was highly unusual for the English aristocracy to divorce at the time - instead, they all had multiple affairs (including Lady Glenconner).  It's surprising more of them didn't murder their spouses.  As Violet, Dowager Lady Grantham, states in Downtown Abbey, "People of our social class are never unhappily married.  We just aren't able to spend as much time together as we might like."

In addition to her erratic husband, Anne's children were also a source of heartache and tragedy in her life.  She takes the blame for some of it, being an absent mother for much of the time.  Again, it was traditional in the English aristocracy to have others raise your children while the parents spent their time socializing and organizing parties, working for charity, and sucking up to the royals.  

Anyone who is a fan of the Netflix series The Crown will enjoy this memoir by one of Princess Margaret's closest friends and confidantes.  Lady Anne didn't like Vanessa Kirby's portrayal of Princess Margaret in the first two seasons of the series, and was more pleased with Helena Bonham Carter as the older Princess Margaret.  English actress Nancy Carroll is playing Lady Glenconner in seasons 3 and 4 of The Crown (photo below).

 

 

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

 September 21, 2020

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

January Scaller lives with her guardian, Cornelius Locke, in a vast mansion filled with odd and unusual objects.  Her father works for Mr. Locke, traveling the world and collecting rarities for him, leaving January alone much of the time.  January is sure that Mr. Locke loves her, for she finds gifts that he leaves for her, most recently a wonderful book called The Ten Thousand Doors.  But then her father doesn't return from one of his trips.  With her faithful canine companion Bad (short for Sindbad, her favorite great adventurer and explorer) by her side, January resolves to go and look for her father or at least find out what happened to him.

First:  let me tell you that Bad the dog is fine at the end of the book, and he and January are together.

This is a wonderful fantasy adventure story about the power of words, books, and doors.  There is a book-within-a-book which I actually liked better than the story that frames it.  I'm not going to say too much more because that would spoil the story.  Wonderful characters, great world building and a complex plot, plus a beautiful cover, all contribute to making this a most satisfying read.  Set aside some time, curl up with your favorite cozy throw, and immerse yourself in January's world.

A Most English Princess by Claire McHugh

 September 18, 2020

A Most English Princess by Claire McHugh

Victoria, Princess Royal, was the first-born child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.  Intelligent and outspoken, at age 17, she married the Prussian prince who would later become Emperor Frederick III and went to live with him in Prussia.  Although their married life was happy and they had eight children together, the political climate was tense and Vicky found the court etiquette to be restrictive.  From the beginning, the aristocracy and their Prussian subjects did not trust Vicky, feeling she was too English and would always support causes that benefited the land of her birth.  Vicky and her husband Fritz favored a parliamentary government based on the English system and backed progressive causes, but were strongly opposed by Fritz's father and his chancellor Bismarck.

Extensively researched, this is a very well-written historical novel about a lesser known historical figure.  You can see the roots of the wars to come in the 20th century.  However, I have to say that I would have preferred more about Vicky and less about the politics of the time.  The constant infighting in the Prussian royal family and the wars grew repetitious after awhile.  There were also a lot of guys named Frederick and nicknamed Fritz!  Unfortunately, the novel ends when Vicky is 30, before her husband even becomes emperor.  Personally, I would rather have heard more about the last 30 years of Vicky's life rather than to have them very briefly glossed over in the epilogue.  

Victoria, Princess Royal, as a young woman

When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson

 September 15, 2020

When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson

A six year old child witnesses the brutal murder of her mother and siblings; 30 years later, the 16 year old baby-minder is the only one concerned when a mother and her child go missing; an ex-detective is convinced that his ex-girlfriend's child is his son and is dragged back into detective work by his ex-boss.  Four separate lives, each with their own tragedies and flaws, and four separate story lines are woven together.

There are a lot of good reviews for this book, but this isn't one of them.  Although this book is supposed to be a mystery or thriller, it is more about dysfunctional families.  The first 150 pages of the book really drag and I found myself skimming the rest of the book.  The plot is confusing and there are too many characters introduced who serve no point in the story.  Do we really need to have the back story and ruminations of every character in the book?  

The bright spot in the book is 16 year old Reggie, an "old soul" who is street-smart, loyal, and prepared for emergencies.  She is the link between the characters in the book and the true heroine of the story.

Another book where a good editor should have whacked out about 50 or 75 pages.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

 September 12, 2020

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Piranesi lives by the sea in a vast house filled with statues.  There is only one other inhabitant that he refers to as the Other.  Piranesi has contact with him only twice a week, when the Other issues his latest request for Piranesi's help with his research.  Piranesi's life work is to map the vast halls and chambers of the place where he lives, drawing the statues along with his maps, and to chart the tides.  But when the Other warns him about a third person in the house, Piranesi begins to suspect that there is something going on that is not right.

I'm not even sure what to say about this book.  It is vastly different from Clarke's previous novel, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.  The beginning of the novel is very confusing, and while the story does come together eventually, it takes about 200 pages to get there.  There are also a lot of things that aren't explained.  Not sure who I recommend this to, if anyone.  A reader would have to be a huge fan of speculative fiction to really enjoy it.  I admit it, I like books that have characters and a story line.

Piranesi knows that that is not his real name, it is just the name that it amuses the Other to call him.  Giovanni Batista Piranesi was an Italian artist who lived in the 18th century, known for his etchings of fictitious and fantastical prisons.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in return for a review.

The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd

The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd

Ana is the daughter of Matthias, the chief scribe to Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee who burns to be named king of the Jews by the Roman government.  Ana’s family is wealthy and she is destined to marry a wealthy man of her parents’ choosing, but what she really longs to do is study and write.  She especially wants to write down the stories of women in the Old Testament and also the stories of the remarkable women around her.  A chance meeting in the marketplace with a laborer named Jesus, who lives in the neighboring town of Nazareth, changes her life forever.

Wonderful writing and a completely different type of novel from Sue Monk Kidd, author of The Secret Life of Bees.  While Jesus and his followers are there, Kidd focuses on Ana and the women around her.  She skillfully weaves in the tales from the four gospels, but only those that would have been reasonable for Ana to have witnessed.

The story is about Ana, the fictional wife that Kidd created for Jesus, but Kidd also imagines the missing 18 years of Jesus’s life, based on historical record and traditions of the time.  It would have been unheard of for a Jewish man not to have a wife in the 1st century - marriage was the entry into manhood for a young man at that time.  It would have been expected by his family, his community, and his religion.  The celibate and ascetic Jesus of modern Christianity came into being about 200 years after Jesus lived, courtesy of a bunch of old guys who were running the church.  Kidd also notes that Jesus would have been a pariah (mamzer) in his community due to the questionable circumstances of his birth.  He might have been an outcast if not for the support of his earthly father Joseph.

Highly recommended, one of the best books I’ve read this year.  Don’t miss this one unless you can’t tolerate an idea that steps outside mainstream Christian teaching.

The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes by Elissa R. Sloan

September 3, 2020

The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes by Elissa R. Sloan

"When I grow up, I wanna be famous,

I wanna be a star, I wanna be in movies.

When I grow up, I wanna see the world,

Drive nice cars,I wanna have groupies.

When I grow up, be on TV

People know me, be in magazines,

When I grow up, fresh and clean,

Number one chick when I step out on the scene.

Be careful what you wish for, cuz you just might get it."

- When I Grow Up, The Pussycat Dolls

When Cassidy Holmes competes in a national TV singing competition (a la American Idol), she doesn’t win, but she does catch the attention of a large music producer.  A year later, she is tapped to round out the girl group Gloss (think Pussycat Dolls or Spice Girls), and the recording company thinks they can be BIG.  They hire publicists and stylists who set about remaking the girls' images, and marketing the girl group.  The four members of Gloss are shocked and delighted with their instant success, but they quickly realize there is a dark side to fame.  Cassidy decides abruptly to leave the group when they are at the height of their success, and the group quickly falls apart.  The other three girls shun and ignore Cassidy, and largely go their own ways, until they hear of her suicide 15 years later.

I loved Daisy Jones & the Six, and Sloan’s debut novel has been compared to it, but it is nowhere near as good.  The plot crawls along, with each of the four girls narrating in turn.  Every costume, every tour stop, every spat, is described in minute, incredibly painstaking detail, yet there is little about the four girls' lives since the group disbanded.  Rose, Merry, and Yumi, the other three Gloss girls, had been chasing fame and fortune since they were in middle school, but once they achieve it, they whine about wanting to be loved for themselves, not for their stage personas, and they’re upset when their fans give them nicknames (Rosy, Cherry, Tasty, and Sassy).  None of the three seemed like really fleshed-out characters – there were hints of their lives since their break-up but the only one whose life gets any detail is Merry.  Yumi in particular is like a cut-out.

There was a little more substance to Cassidy, but she suffers from depression and insecurity, and I wish the author had written more about that, rather than throwing in side bits about current event topics like directors who sexually abused starlets, and Hollywood men who were physically abusive.  We find out that a rival singer breaks Cassidy’s arm when she is 20, but then there is very little about her life over the next 15 years, except when her sister gives her eulogy, which is easily the most moving and best-written part of the book.  Not recommended - read Daisy Jones & the Six instead.

Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for providing an eARC in return for a review.