Tag: summer reading

UNWINDING IN MAINE

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We are fortunate that the Maine coast this week is one of the coolest places in the country, the U.S. at large suffering through another wave of record-setting heat.  For us, Maine is a time to slow down, read more, watch more, spend time with good friends and family, and just relax.  Here are some samples of recent fare.  

WATCHING

Grantchester (PBS Masterpiece)

Mrs. C. (Sylvia) & Leonard (cheatsheet.com)

This is Season 7 of Grantchester, and it’s an excellent one.  There are six episodes, and we’ve now watched all of them.  There is still a murder case to be solved in each one and the complexities of the cases are intriguing, but the real meat is in the focus on the characters.  The separation between Geordie and his wife Kathy is one thread; another is Mrs. C’s angry and disruptive behavior as she deals with a health issue.  And then there’s vicar Will, in love or lust with a woman named Maya, someone else’s fiancée, and attracted to Geordie’s sister-in-law Bonnie.  How these relationships evolve and grow makes for wonderfully satisfying viewing.  The writing is superb, and Tom Brittney both plays Will Davenport and directs this season. It is definitely one of the best seasons of all.  Highly recommended!

A light production moment with Geordie (Robson Green) and Sylvia (Tessa Peake-Jones)

Endeavour (PBS Masterpiece)

In contrast to Grantchester, I thought Season 8 of Endeavour fell short.  Endeavour is falling apart, is lax on the job, and resorting to alcohol.  There are cases to be solved with Detective Thursday, but in at least one episode, the ending did not satisfactorily bring all the pieces together.  There are three episodes, and this is said to be the next to last season.  Perhaps it has run out of oomph.

READING

Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner

Author Steiner (theguardian.com)

I decided to explore this author’s work after reading her recent obituary in the New York Times.  A journalist for The Guardian for many years, Steiner went on to write three crime novels set in Cambridge, England featuring DS Manon Bradshaw. This is the first one.  A 24-year-old woman, Edie Hind, daughter of a wealthy, well-connected father, goes missing, and a wide-ranging search is undertaken to locate her.  This has all the elements of a well-done police procedural and is told from several perspectives, principally that of investigator Manon, but also that of constable Davy, Edie’s mother Miriam, and others.  

The writing is graphic and punchy.  Despite that, the book moves slowly and never really catches fire until about three-quarters in when the pace picks up.  I liked this novel enough to stay with it, but haven’t decided if I will read the next one in the series.

The Last Garden in England by Julia Kelly

Author Kelly (simonandschuster.com)

With the grand, but neglected estate garden at Highbury House at its center, this historical novel is the interlocking story of several women, each of whom has some role in the creation of the garden.  It’s a novel of women who aspire to meaningful lives, often greater than what society allows or expects of them.  Along the way, they find fulfillment and love.  

In the present day, Emma, owner of her own garden design business, has taken on the restoration of the Highbury garden for clients Sydney and Andrew.  In 1907, Venetia Smith designed this series of garden rooms, and her story is the bedrock upon which the others unfold.  During WWII, Highbury House is requisitioned as a convalescent hospital and the owner’s widow, Diana Symonds, cook Stella Adderton, and land girl Beth Pedley must each in her own way deal with the shortages and sorrows of wartime.  

I found this a most absorbing novel both for the characters and the intricacies of designing a beautiful garden.  It shines a light on matters of class, ambition, and the role of women.  Kelly has written several other historical novels, and she’s on my list to explore her work further.

Note: Header photo is of a cove on Southport. ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved)

Summer Lollipops: Reading & Watching

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ADVENTURE IN NEW CALDONIA

Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce

This novel about female friendship is a joyful romp of a book.  Thanks to my sister Ann for recommending it.  It’s funny, painful, poignant, and just plain good!  The setting is London, 1950, and Margery Benson and others are still dealing with the losses and shortages of the Second World War.  In a fit of pique, middle-aged single Margery leaves her job as a teacher and decides to embark on a quest to find an elusive gold beetle in New Caledonia.  A beetle collector since childhood, she adds to her collecting equipment and advertises for an assistant to travel with her.  

Most of the candidates are unsuitable, but when one withdraws, she ends up with the flamboyant, uneducated Enid Pretty.  Margery (or Marge as Enid calls her) and Enid are complete opposites both physically and in personality.  Margery is large and plain and somewhat quiet.  Enid is petite, lovely, and a nonstop talker.  Each has a past with secrets and hurts.  

How they find their way to the northern tip of New Caledonia, the adventures they have collecting specimens in dense tropical forests, and how their tribulations bring out the worst and eventually the best in each of them, make for a delightfully absorbing story. It’s a book about finding and accepting the best in yourself and learning how to befriend someone else.  The following quote reflecting Margery’s state of mind sums it up nicely:

The differences between them—all those things she’d once found so infuriating—she now accepted.  Being Enid’s friend meant there were always going to be surprises. …However close they were, it didn’t entitle her to Enid’s memories and neither did it allow her to be part of Enid’s life before they’d met.  Being a friend meant accepting those unknowable things. …’Look how marvellously different we are, you and I, and yet here we are, together in this strange world!’ It was by placing herself side by side with Enid that Margery had finally begun to see the true outline of herself.  And she knew it now; Enid was her friend.

CRIME IN AIX

Murder in Provence (Amazon Prime)

Antoine & Martine

Fans of TV’s Endeavour series might be surprised to see jowly Detective Thursday as the debonair and svelte Antoine Verlaque in Murder in Provence.  Judge Verlaque, a Chief Magistrate works alongside his romantic partner, Martine Bonnet (played by Nancy Carroll), who is a criminal psychologist.  Slim and beautiful, Martine is always attired in simple classic designs.   Together with the police commissioner, this threesome investigates and eventually solves their cases.  

Set in Aix in Provence, the series is sun drenched (nary a cloud in sight) and bright, meals are taken in a series of cafes, and the wine flows freely.  It is as much a paean to the beauty of Provence as it is a detective story.  It isn’t quite a cozy mystery series, but it has a gentle quality that makes it relaxing to watch and perfect for summer.  Based on mysteries by Canadian author, M. L. Longworth, there are three episodes in the first season.   Each is about 90 minutes long.  A second season is slated to become available in 2023. 

RETURN AND RE-ENTRY

Eyre Square in Galway

It’s true what you’ve been reading about travel in the summer of 2022.  We loved being in Ireland but coming home turned out to be a big slog.  The Dublin airport has been the scene of long lines, lines to just get into the terminal building.  Everyone was directed to one set of entrance doors with Do Not Enter signs at other doors.  We checked out the lay of the land the afternoon before our flight and noted where the Delta counters were (opposite end from Aer Lingus).  

Even knowing that, we arrived at the airport at 6:30 am for our noon flight, quickly entered past the do not enter sign, and found almost no line at Delta.  The lines for security and then clearing U.S. immigration ahead of our flight (something new) were long, but we still had a few hours to sit until our flight boarded.

The transatlantic flight itself was uneventful, and we landed at JFK about 2:30 in the afternoon.  We had a long layover (schedule change well before we left home) until our 8 pm flight to Tampa.  Around 5 pm, we got the news that our flight would now leave at 12:01 as in just after midnight.  Inquiring revealed that we were awaiting the arrival of a co-pilot.  Further checking showed that all the next day flights to Florida that would be closer to home were sold out.  More long hours hanging around the airport lounge with lots of other people!  

A bit after 11:00 pm, we optimistically walked to our gate, eager for a change of scene.  Flight departure time was now delayed until 12:19 and then 12:55 am.  About 12:40, we boarded, and all seemed in order.  Then some quiet waiting.  

Eventually, the pilot came on to say that we should be leaving very soon after dealing with “some passenger discrepancy.”  The next thing we knew, two police boarded the plane and proceeded to march a couple (ordinary looking man and woman) down the aisle toward the door.  All the while, one police officer was heard saying to the man, “Keep moving, we’ll talk outside.”  

We took off just before 2:00 am and landed in Tampa at about 4:30 am.  I expected the airport to be empty, but no, quite a few folks around, probably there for a very early flight.  The Chief Penguin could have kissed the ground.  I was relieved to finally be in Florida!  By 6:00 am, we were in our own driveway, our 30-hour journey at its end.  It’s taken us a week to recover and feel human again, but we didn’t get Covid and we’re glad to be here!

Luminous Florida summer clouds

Note: Photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved)

Girl surrounded by stacks of books

More Books for Summer Reading

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Here are notes about two books: one a memoir by their niece about an accomplished pair of Chinese sisters and the other the Elizabeth George mystery I just finished reading. In addition, there are a few more recommended titles.

CHINESE FAMILY MEMOIR

Daughters of the Flower Fragrant Garden: Two Sisters Separated by China’s Civil War by Zhuqing Li

Author Li (wwnorton.com)

This is a heartfelt family saga of determination, dedication, and resilience.  Sisters Jun and Hong, born into a formerly wealthy Chinese family, end up on opposite sides of the political divide and physically separated by the waters between mainland China and the island of Jinmen (now Quemoy). Their career ambitions (medicine and teaching) and their personal lives are impacted by the civil war and later, the hardships of the Cultural Revolution.  

Through extensive family conversations and research, author Li has crafted a marvelous account of how these two very different women, her aunts, accommodated themselves to their respective political climates, raised children, and still managed to forge a path ahead.  

Li’s perceptive rendering of their different approaches to life provides added depth. I was immersed in this book from the moment I began reading and give it a 5-star rating!  I received an advance copy of this book from BookBrowse. Publication date is later in June.

COMPLEX MURDER MYSTERY

Something to Hide by Elizabeth George

(elizabethgeorgeonline.com)

Elizabeth George’s Lynley mysteries are character studies as much as they are mysteries which, for me, is a large part of their appeal.  Something to Hide has a range of characters from the usual detectives Thomas Lynley, Barbara Havers, and Winston Nkata, to the family and friends of the murder victim and two Nigerian families.  

George has taken on the delicate subject of genital cutting or infibulation which is still practiced in Nigeria and, in this novel, also in London.  How the murder victim, herself a police officer, and one Nigerian family indirectly intersect makes for a complex mix of protest, race, class, and love.  

Not only does the reader experience an abusive marriage in one Nigerian family, but Lynley grapples with the nuances of his love for Daidre and his expectations of her.  Yes, it’s very long, but I found it a most satisfying read.  

MORE RECOMMENDED TITLES

Here are a few titles recommended by my sister-in-law.  I was pleased to see that two of these titles my book group will read this year.

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

French Braid by Anne Tyler

Memphis by Tara Stringfellow

Miss Aldridge Regrets by Louise Hare

The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper 

Summer Fare: Watching & Reading

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QUIRKY SCOTTISH DETECTIVE

Annika (PBS Passport)

Annika & daughter Morgan (imdb.com)

The Chief Penguin and I were big fans of Unforgotten and Nicola Walker who played one of the two detectives researching cold crime cases.  We were sorry to see that series end and delighted that Walker is starring in a new series.  This one, based in Glasgow, features Walker as Annika, the head of a marine homicide team dealing with drownings and other suspicious deaths.  This season has 6 episodes.  

The first episode gave us pause as Annika talks to the screen and is often quoting from Norse legends or other literature.  In addition to her professional duties, she also has a rebellious 15-year-old daughter.  Between her ragtag team of colleagues and the challenges of parenting, it’s a series that grew on us and by the end of the second episode we were hooked.  

A different Nicola Walker, but, ultimately, an engaging one!  We binge watched all the episodes on PBS Passport, but the series will also be shown on Masterpiece later this year.

ROMANTIC CORNWALL

Four Seasons (Acorn)

Julia & Charles enjoying a seaside picnic (crew-united.com)

This 4-part series made in 2008-2009 is based on several novels by British author Rosamunde Pilcher.  She won world-wide popularity with her family saga, The Shell Seekers, published in 1987.  Many years ago, I read a bunch of her novels.  They were perfect bonbons for summer.  

Julia, divorced wife of Stephen, returns to Endellion, the family estate which will one day become Stephen’s.  Julia and Stephen’s daughter Charlotte died twenty years ago.  Granddaughter Abby, who was raised by Stephen, is keen to learn more about her mother and her death.  Add in the gentle patriarch Alex, Stephen’s warm and more laid-back younger brother Charles, Abby’s slick boyfriend Jamie, and you have the makings of conflict mixed with romance.  

Filmed in Cornwall, the mansion and the scenery are stunning.  The initial pacing is somewhat languorous, the background music heavy, and the dialogue pedestrian.  It picks up in successive episodes as conflicts erupt.  What happens is mostly predictable, but I’ve stayed with it as it’s good enough to keep me on the treadmill.

SUMMER READING

(123rf.com)

Every June, I start to take stock of which books I want to read over the summer and which ones I’ll pack or download for our Maine sojourn.  This group of titles is mostly lighter fare, perfect for lazy afternoons.

MYSTERY

Something to Hide by Elizabeth George

I’m reading this now and it’s the latest Thomas Lynley and Elizabeth Havers mystery.  At more than 600 pages, it’s a tome and not one for reading in bed!

***

NOVELS

The American Fiancée by Eric Dupont

A family saga of the 20th century translated from the French.

The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed

A Booker Prize finalist recommended by my favorite local bookseller, it’s a historical novel about a Somali man in Wales accused of a crime he didn’t commit.  

The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles

Libraries and librarians are very popular in fiction now.  This historical novel is about a librarian at the American Library in Paris in 1939.

The Women of Chateau Lafayette by Stephanie Dray

A historical novel about a real French castle through the years and wars from the 18th century to the 20thcentury.

Vigil Harbor by Julia Glass

The latest novel by one of my favorite authors, this one is set in the future around characters dealing with climate change.  I’ve seen no review or publicity about it, so it’s a gamble.

***

NONFICTION

The Gilded Edge by Catherine Prendergast

A 20th century love story laced with cyanide set in Monterey and San Francisco.

The Women I Think about at Night: Traveling the Paths of My Heroes by Mia Kankimaki

I received this title through a book exchange.  Translated from the Finnish, it’s the account of one woman’s worldwide journey to the places where artists and explorers she admires have lived.

Note: Header photo of book stack ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).