Reading Summary for April 2021

I read ten books in April, although some of the books were ones I had started in February or March and finished at the end of April. I was happy with the mix. I read six crime fiction books, and five of those were published before 1970. 

Nonfiction / Essays

Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader (1998) by Anne Fadiman

This is a wonderful book of essays, especially for people who love books, language and words. The author's family were all serious readers (her father was Clifton Fadiman), and her husband too, so many of the essays are related to books and reading. The first essay was titled "Marrying Libraries", and talks about when she and her husband combined their libraries after five years of marriage, rather than having some shelves for her books and some shelves dedicated to his books (and duplication of books).

General Fiction

The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (1955) by Brian Moore

The setting is Belfast in Northern Ireland, in the 1950s. Judith Hearne, plain and in her late thirties,  has just moved to a new room in a boarding house.   My full review is here.

The Pursuit of Love (1945) by Nancy Mitford

This was my book for the Classics Club Spin in April. Nancy Mitford was one of the Mitford sisters, and the characters in the family are based on members of her family. I haven't read much about that family yet so I had no idea of who was based on who, or how accurate it might be. The story is humorous but there are also serious moments and I was quite invested in the ending of the book. I liked it a lot, and thus will seek out others in the three book series.

Historical Fiction

Post Captain (1972) by Patrick O'Brian

This is the second novel in the highly acclaimed historical fiction series about Jack Aubrey (a naval officer during the Napoleonic Wars) and his friend Stephen Maturin (physician and naturalist). I enjoyed this one even more than the first book, probably because I had gotten used to the nautical jargon. Also, Jack and Stephen spend more time on land this time, and get involved with several women looking for husbands. I look forward to further adventures in this series.

Crime Fiction

Case for Three Detectives (1936) by Leo Bruce

This was one of the four books that I reviewed for the 1936 Club this month. It is a humorous mystery, poking fun at the Golden Age detectives created by Sayers, Christie, and Chesterton. Set in a country house, and surrounding villages, it is a lot of fun. My review is here.

Murder in Piccadilly (1936) by Charles Kingston

This was another book that I reviewed for the 1936 Club this month. Murder in Piccadilly tells the story of a young man, Bobbie Cheldon, who has expectations of inheriting the family estate and a large income when his uncle dies. The hitch is that his uncle, Massy Cheldon, is healthy and he could easily live another 20 years. This book provided a good picture of London in the 1930s, especially the less well-to-do London environments. My review is here.

The Clocks (1963) by Agatha Christie

This month I read two later books in the Hercule Poirot series, published in the 1960s. In general they are not as good as earlier books but I still found them to be entertaining reads.

In The Clocks, a good number of the chapters are told via first person narration by Colin Lamb, a secret agent, who gets involved with a case of murder while following up on an espionage assignment. Colin visits his friend Hercule Poirot, and describes the crime. An older man was found dead in the sitting room of a blind woman's home, and the body was discovered by a young woman who had an appointment to do some stenographic work for the blind woman, Miss Pebmarsh. Colin challenges Poirot to solve the crime without talking to any witnesses himself, but just based on the facts of the case as brought to him by the investigators. So Poirot makes suggestions and Colin continues to visit him and discuss the case.

Hallowe'en Party (1969) by Agatha Christie

Overall Hallowe'en Party was less satisfying for me than most other mysteries by Christie, but I do love it when Ariadne Oliver shows up. Again she involves Poirot in a mystery by asking him to come help out.  One unusual thing in this story is that the murder victim was a child and children play a big part in the story.  

The Meaning of Night (2006) by Michael Cox

This is a Gothic tale of revenge, set in the 1850s, mostly in London but with a good bit of time spent at a lavish country estate, Evenwood. Edward Glyver is the main character and he believes he is rightful heir to the estate. Many readers loved this book; I did not. It took me two months to finish reading it, and I considered not finishing it many times. But after 400 pages (out of 700) I wanted to see if it would improve and how it all ended. I did like the last third of the novel, and I think that was because finally more is shared about the story and it is no longer a mystery as to what the whole thing is about.

Sunset over Soho (1943) by Gladys Mitchell

I read this book between April 5th and April 26th, and that is a long time for such a short book (192 pages). But this was a read along and I am very glad I read it that way. It was quite confusing, with a very complex structure, and having a group commenting on that element was very helpful. I loved the book because it was both written and set during World War II, mostly in or near London, with some seafaring scenes, including a chapter about Dunkirk. Just fantastic, and I will surely read it again. Unfortunately, it is only really affordable in the e-book edition. There are four posts at Jason Half's blog about this book and the group's thoughts, all in April 2021.

READING NEXT?

I started The Mirror & the Light by Hilary Mantel on April 28th. I think it may be a long slow read, because it is hard for me to follow the large number of characters and it is about 750 pages long. I am enjoying it so far.

I may be blogging a bit less for a while, and spending more time on gardening and other home maintenance tasks. Below is a photo of one of my geraniums in bloom this month. The photo at the top features a geranium in my front area with curly variegated leaves and multicolored flowers. Click on the images to enlarge.

The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne: Brian Moore

This year Cathy at 746books is hosting a year long read-along of Brian Moore’s work. She will be reading one of his books each month and will discuss it in the last week of that month. She has invited others to join in. The book for April is The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne.

From the back of the book:

The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne is an unflinching and deeply sympathetic portrait of a woman destroyed by self and circumstance. First published in 1955, it marked Brian Moore as a major figure in English literature (he would go on to be short-listed three times for the Booker Prize) and established him as an astute chronicler of the human soul.

Judith Hearne is an unmarried woman of a certain age who has come down in society. She has few skills and is full of the prejudices and pieties of her genteel Belfast upbringing. But Judith has a secret life. And she is just one heartbreak away from revealing it to the world.

The setting is Belfast in Northern Ireland, in the 1950s. Judith Hearne has just moved to a new room in a boarding house. Her lack of money is a problem. She lives on a small annuity from her aunt and doesn't have even enough money to buy enough nutritious food, which is affecting her health. She only gets breakfast provided at the boarding house and that is only toast, except once a week. She has no marketable skills, and makes a bit of extra money by teaching piano lessions. But she has lost several students lately.

Judith is desperate to find a man to marry. She alternates between being attracted to any available man and fantasizing about the possibilities, and looking down on those she is attracted to because they are too common. 

She has few friends and nothing to do in her life. She looks forward to visiting the O'Neill family each Sunday after church, and sees them as friends, but in reality they are just tolerating her out of a perceived duty. The O'Neill children laugh at her in secret and are rude in her presence.

At the new boarding house, she meets James Madden, brother of her landlady and recently returned from years of living in the US. Madden's goal is to open a diner, but he needs an investor to provide more cash. He sees Judith's jewelry and decides she has money to spare. Judith misinterprets his advances towards her and sees a future with him as her husband. They are both so eager to get what they want that they ignore the reality of the situation.

Judith is hard to like. She feels sorry for herself, ingratiates herself to others, makes up things to impress people, and she is overly concerned with what people will think of her. Yet she keeps trying, although she is delusional in her view of herself and her life.

My thoughts:

The book is beautifully written. It was amazing to me that a male author could tell this story of a woman's lonely life so well. The characterizations are lovely, from the in-depth portraits of Judith Hearne and James Madden, to the smaller but important roles of the landlady, her son, and the other boarders.

But the story is very sad and the book is painful to read. It held my interest, even as Judith wrestles with her religious beliefs at her church, but at no time was it a pleasant read. It is a perfect length, though (223 pages). I am glad I read the book, and I might even try a reread someday.

For further information on the Brian Moore at 100 Read-Along, check here! 

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Publisher:  New York Review of Books, 2010 (orig. pub. 1955)
Length:      223 pages
Format:     Trade Paperback
Setting:      Belfast, postwar
Genre:       General Fiction
Source:      Purchased in March 2021.

January 2021 Reading Summary

January was a very good reading month. Out of the eight books I completed, all were fiction; two were historical fiction, and the rest were crime fiction. Six of the books were read at this time because I wanted to watch the film or TV adaptations. I read my first book for the Japanese Literature challenge. 

The settings were varied. One book was set in Japan, one in the US, two books set in Canada, one set in the Mediterranean and mostly at sea, and three books set in the UK. 

These are the books I read in January.

Historical Fiction

Black Robe (1985) by Brian Moore

This book is set in the 1600s in what is now Canada. It was called New France at the time. Some members of the Algonkin tribe have contracted to take Father Laforgue and his companion Daniel (a younger French man) to another part of New France to work with a Huron tribe. The story is interesting but full of violence.  See my thoughts here.

Master and Commander (1970) by Patrick O'Brian

This is book 1 in the Aubrey & Maturin historical fiction series, following the adventures of Jack Aubrey of the Royal Navy and Stephen Maturin, physician. I enjoyed the story and I am eager to continue reading the series. See my thoughts here.

Crime Fiction

How the Light Gets In (2013) by Louise Penny

I read this book right after finishing The Beautiful Mystery, because the stories are linked, in a way. This book was a very good read, with a fast pace and thrilling action. My thoughts on both books are here.

The Hollow (1946) by Agatha Christie

This was another month when I read three books in the Hercule Poirot series. This one now ranks as one of my  favorite books in that series. See my thoughts here.

Taken at the Flood (1948) by Agatha Christie

The second Poirot book I read this month. Also written in the 1940s, this is an excellent post-war novel, with many of the characters suffering in some way from the effects of World War II. 

After the Funeral (1953) by Agatha Christie

I started out planning to read all the Poirot books in order of publication, but over time I ended up jumping around. I am getting close to the end of the Poirot books, I have only nine left in the series that I plan to read. This one was not a favorite, and I had some issues with the plot, but it was fun to read as always. We watched the adaptation starring David Suchet as Poirot only a couple of days after I read the book.

Under the Midnight Sun (1999) by Keigo Higashino

Translated by Alexander O. Smith with Joseph Reeder

I  read this book for the Japanese Literature Challenge. This book starts out as a police procedural, then turns into something else. Detective Sasagaki is investigating the death of a man in an empty building. After the investigation stalls, the story follows the main suspect's daughter, Yukiho, as she grows up, goes to university, and gets married. Also Ryo, the son of the murdered man. See my thoughts here.

In a Lonely Place (1947) by Dorothy B. Hughes

Another post-war mystery novel, but this one is noir, much different than the one by Agatha Christie. Dix Steele is in L.A., living off money from his grandfather for a year while he writes a book, staying in an old college friend's apartment while he is out of the country. There have been a spate of women who have died by strangling in the Santa Monica area recently, and Dix's ex-pilot buddy is a police detective investigating the cases. A beautifully written book which gets very creepy. This novel was published in the Library of America volume titled Women Crime Writers: Four Suspense Novels of the 1940s.

Black Robe: Brian Moore

Description on the back of the book:

His name is Father Laforgue, a young Jesuit missionary come from Europe to the New World to bring the word of God to the heathen. He is given minimal aid by the governor of the vast territory that is proudly named New France but is in reality still ruled by the Huron, Iroquois, and Algonkin tribes who have roamed it since the dawn of time and whom the French call Savages. His mission is to reach and bring salvation to an isolated Huron tribe decimated by disease in the far north before incoming winter closes off his path to them. His guides are a group of Savages who mock his faith and their pledges even as they accept muskets as their payment.

Quote from the Author's Note preceding the text of Black Robe... 

In the early part of the seventeenth century the native people of Canada were not known to the French as “Indians,” but by the names of their tribal confederacies, and were referred to collectively as "Les Sauvages" (the Savages). The natives, for their part, spoke of the French as “Normans” and of the Jesuit fathers as “Blackrobes.” As for the obscene language used by the natives at that time it was a form of rough banter and was not intended to give offense.

Throughout the book this terminology is used, and there is much rude language used by the Algonkins and the Iriquois. Brian Moore's source data for this novel was Relations, letters from Jesuits in New France sent back to their superiors in France.

This book is set in the 1600s in what is now Canada. Some members of the Algonkin tribe have contracted (informally) with Champlain, the leader of the settlement, to deliver Father Laforgue and his companion Daniel (a younger man, also from France) to their destination. The guides and the two Frenchmen making this journey travel in two canoes that also contain supplies. The Algonkins travel in family groups, men with their wives and children of all ages.

Along the way they have many problems: bad weather, not enough food, the mutual distrust between the priest and the Algonkins, and much worse along the way. Daniel is in love with the daughter of one of the Algonkin leaders. Algonkin females in their teens are promiscuous, having sex with any males they desire, but when they marry, they are treated by their husbands as slaves. It appears in this group that the men value their wives, but they keep it to themselves.

This was a challenging read for me. Eventually some of the Algonkins and the two French men are captured by members of the Iriquois tribe. The violence and torture (and more) in this book was disturbing. But it is also a compelling story, thrilling and very well-written.

Moore does an amazing job of portraying the points of view and beliefs of the Savages and Father Laforgue without being judgmental of either one. They have different spiritual beliefs and the priest wants the Savages to be baptized to save their souls. I found myself more sympathetic to the beliefs of the Savages, at times. Clearly, religion, the differences in belief systems, and the clash of different cultures is a theme in this book. 

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Publisher:  Plume Books, 1997 (orig. pub. 1985)
Length:      246 pages
Format:     Trade Paperback
Setting:      New France in North America, 1600s
Genre:       Historical Fiction
Source:      Purchased in November 2020.