Watching the English (by Kate Fox)

(Amazon UK link)

A couple of years ago my older son - who was working on a ship at the time - came online, and guided me to Amazon, telling me to look for Kate Fox. I wasn't entirely sure where this was leading, until he told me I should order her book and charge it to his virtual account, as a late birthday present. He had read it, and highly recommended it.

I actually ordered 'Watching the English' from the Book Depository, which has free postage to Cyprus. When it arrived, I spent several hours over the next few weeks dipping in and out of the book. Then I decided to read it in its entirety, which I did over about a year - or a bit more, in irregular sittings. It's the kind of book that can be enjoyed all the more over a lengthy period, reading and pondering a chapter and then putting it aside for a while.

It's sub-titled, 'The hidden rules of English behaviour' - and does exactly what it says on the cover. Kate Fox, herself English (note that her research is not about being British, but much more specifically about being English) spent a great deal of time and effort trying to work out what exactly it is that makes the rather diverse population of our small country so very 'English'.

In a nutshell, the author concludes that we tend to suffer from what she calls social dis-ease, which manifests itself in humour ('the importance of Not Being Earnest'), general moderation, a strange hypocrisy, class-consciousness (while denying that we care about such things), and an Eeyorish outlook. We do have a few positive traits: we particularly value fairness, politeness and modesty.

I was amused to read a couple of rather negative reviews of this book. One complains that the author has no real credentials and can't seem to take herself seriously. The other says that the book is fine, but that the author goes on far too much about class consciousness, which really isn't an issue any more. 

These comments are amusing because they actually reinforce what she says.... that we use humour at every possible time, that we tend to be over-modest and self-deprecating, and that for some reason our ancient class consciousness does still have many hallmarks, even while we deny that it matters in the slightest these days.

Topics covered in individual chapters include work, leisure, food, dress codes, rites of passage... and much more. There is a lot of research in this book. It's over 400 pages of fairly small print, so far from a light read.

It is, however, full of enjoyable anecdotes and examples of what the author is talking about, making it a most enjoyable read when in the right mood. I recognised myself and my English friends and family regularly, and - when I was totally honest with myself - couldn't find myself disagreeing with any of it.

I would recommend 'Watching the English' highly to anyone seeking to understand better how we English function.... if I can do so in a moderate and self-deprecating kind of way, aware that everyone has different tastes, so please don't blame me if you don't like it.

Available for the Kindle too.

Review copyright Sue's Book Reviews, 26th May 2011

Lavender Laughs at the Chalet School (by Elinor M Brent-Dyer)

(Amazon UK link)

On my meandering way through re-reading the lengthy Chalet School series by Elinor M Brent-Dyer, once again, I've reached 'Lavender Laughs at the Chalet School' which I last read in 2003.

Published in Armada in abridged form as 'Lavender Leigh at the Chalet School', this book isn't really anything special. It takes place in the later war years, and features a motherless girl of about twelve called Lavender who has never been to school. Instead, she has travelled around the world with her aunt, the author of a large number of children's travel guides.

However, Lavender has not been well, and her aunt has been called up for military service so their doctor recommends that Lavender join the Chalet School. It has an emphasis on good health, and looks after its girls well - and while neither of them is at all keen, Lavender's aunt realises that it's probably the best thing for her niece.

It's a theme that's followed in several of the Chalet School series; Lavender has a hard time settling down at first, partly because she has an over-inflated ego, and partly because everything is so new to her. However she turns out to be a nice girl at her core, once she gets things into perspective.

There are various school incidents, chats in the staff room, tea parties, and the almost inevitable almost-tragic accident that turns people around. Formulaic, undoubtedly, but pleasant light reading nonetheless. Worth reading as part of the series, but not a book that stands out above the others.

While I'm fortunate enough to have one of the early hardback editions of this book, and it can sometimes be found in libraries, even the Armada paperbacks tend to be expensive second-hand as it's no longer in print.

Update: in 2012 this book was be re-published with the original full content by Girls Gone By, which has the advantage of making some of the old hardback editions less expensive too.

Review copyright Sue's Book Reviews, 23rd May 2011

A Matter of Trust (by Robin Pilcher)

(Amazon UK link)

I've very much enjoyed the novels by Robin Pilcher, son of Rosamunde Pilcher who has sadly stopped writing now. He shares his mother's amazing gift of characterisation, while writing rather more gritty novels.

So I was delighted when I learned that his latest, 'A Matter of Trust' (confusingly called 'The Long Way Home' in the USA) was available in paperback. I put it on my wishlist, and received a copy recently.

The story is about Claire, a young woman who has an unhappy - and entirely mystifying - end to a teenage crush on Jonas, the boy next door, as the story opens. We then flash back to her childhood, when her widowed mother first meets her stepfather Leo.

The structure is slightly confusing - each chapter has a heading giving the month and year, which vary from 1980 - when Claire is ten - to 2006 when she's a young wife, helping her American husband run a restaurant. This didn't always flow as well as I would have liked, although the flashbacks helped to fill in the story in a way that gradually gave a good picture of Claire's life.

Leo is a delightful character, and I very much enjoyed his friendship with Claire and her mother. However he has two children, a little older than Claire, who are most unpleasant types; I found them rather too nasty, not just as jealous, selfish children (not wishing their father to re-marry at all) but as grasping, bitter adults. It was hard to believe that anyone could be quite so vicious.

The writing is very good, with most of the people well-rounded and interesting, and the plot quite exciting. I was eagerly awaiting the resolution of the mystery posed in the first chapter, and pleased with a satisfying conclusion. All in all, a good book, although I had no problem putting it down after a chapter or two each night, and didn't have any real desire to keep reading in the daytime.

Definitely recommended.

Review copyright Sue's Book Reviews, 22nd May 2011

She walks in beauty (by Siri Mitchell)

(Amazon UK link)

I've never heard of Siri Mitchell, but this book was available for a while as a free download for the Kindle, under Christian fiction, and the blurb sounded interesting. So I downloaded it, and then read almost the entire book on a flight home from the UK.

'She walks in beauty' is 19th century historical fiction set in the debutante world, not of London but New York. Clara, the heroine, has to make her debut a year earlier than expected because her ambitious aunt wants her to marry the local heir.

Clara, like any teenager, is one moment excited, another terrified. She's inclined to be an academic, and the book opens with a conflict - she wants to study at university, although her father won't hear of it; her governess is fired, but although she does appear later in a minor role, that part of the story rather got lost.

The bulk of the plot involves Clara and her friend being launched into society - balls and dinners, and other events - and getting to know several young men. However, there are some rather unpleasant themes about the dangers of corsets, and other horrors which teenagers had to suffer in order to be thought attractive.

While the history is presumably accurate, I found that it intruded rather more than I wished into the storyline. There's also an underlying mystery about what happened to Clara's mother, who died some years before the book starts, which was intriguing enough to keep me wondering.

While I could believe in Clara despite her changeable moods, most of the other characters were pretty flat. Clara's father, in particular, seems a most unpleasant person by the end of the book whereas he's a typical traditional father earlier on. The Christian theme is extremely low-key, and I suppose this might appeal to teenagers who like historical fiction, but I wasn't particularly impressed.

However, it was ideal for reading on a rather dull flight, and certainly thought-provoking.

The link above is to a paperback version of this book, as it's no longer free for the Kindle (unless you subscribe to Kindle unlimited). 

Review copyright Sue's Book Reviews, 11th May 2011

Elsie's Girlhood (by Martha Finley)

(Amazon UK link)

Having read 'Elsie Dinsmore', first of the (in)famous 'Elsie' books written at the end of the 19th century by Martha Finley featured in one of the Chalet School stories, I wasn't exactly eager to read any more. But then I did wonder if the series might improve... and there were several of them available free for my Kindle. So I downloaded some of them.

'Elsie's Girlhood' is apparently the third in the series, but I didn't seem to have missed anything by not having read the second. When this book begins, Elsie is a young teenager, established as a wealthy young lady, now living with her much-loved father. This book follows her friendships and her gradual maturing, as she falls in love for the first time.

There are some poignant moments as well as a few that made me roll my eyes somewhat. I did feel that the story was a little more realistic than the first, and that Elsie felt a bit more believable, although the chasm between the 'good' and the 'bad' people is a little too big to be true. The writing style was better than I remembered from the first book, and I found it very readable.

A strong Christian theme underlies the story, but it wasn't quite as overt as in the first book, and Elsie isn't so irritating as she was as a young child. She no longer keeps dissolving into tears, and while she's hardly a typical teenager, she does seem rather more likeable.

I wouldn't particularly recommend it, but it's not a bad book, given the genre and age. Originally intended for teenagers, I doubt if most of today's teens would enjoy it.

The link above is to a paid Kindle edition of 'Elsie's Girlhood'. Sometimes paperback versions are available second-hand too. But if you want to read it I would recommend, rather, downloading a free e-book edition from Project Gutenberg.

Review copyright Sue's Book Reviews, 10th May 2011

True Love Ways (by Sally Quilford)

(Amazon UK link)

I've had an online acquaintanceship with Sally Quilford for over two years now, and have enjoyed reading her blog and magazine columns. Living abroad, I'm unable to get hold of her recently published pocket novels, but in January downloaded one of them ('The Secret of Helena's Bay') for my Kindle, and enjoyed it very much. Sally deliberately prices her Kindle editions very reasonably, and I decided to look out for some more.

So last month, I bought 'True Love Ways', which is subtitled 'Midchester Memories', also for my Kindle. I wasn't sure quite what to expect, since I knew it was crime fiction and that's not really my preferred genre. However I've enjoyed Agatha Christie's novels and other similar lightweight mysteries, so thought - as the price was so good - I'd try it.

It wasn't long before I was immersed in the story, which is set in the middle of the 20th century. Meredith, the young heroine, has been brought up by a loving aunt, but has always rather hankered to live with her more eccentric aunt Peg, who makes a hobby of solving real life murder mysteries, somewhat in the style of Miss Marple. 

The story starts when Meredith is a young adult. Aunt Peg breaks her foot, and Meredith goes to look after her. High drama happens in a train carriage on the way there, where she meets an elderly housekeeper, a vicar and his wife, another young vicar (who is rather attractive), three teenagers, and an elderly war veteran.

These people all start chatting... then, before Meredith arrives at her destination, we learn that a terrible crime has taken place.

It's not a long book, and I read it in just a couple of days. The plot is a bit complicated: the war veteran mentions several unsolved mysteries from the past, which I never did quite straighten out in my mind. If I'd been reading a paper version, I might well have gone back to re-read the first chapter when I discovered the relevance of the various conversations on the train, but that's more difficult to do with a Kindle.

However, I found the characters to be distinct and believable, and that's what matters. Despite the brevity of the novel, I could picture them all in my mind. Unsurprisingly, given the title of the book, there's a strong romantic theme which runs alongside the investigation of the crime, which (to me) was a bonus.

With the historical setting and the genre, I was reminded more than once of Georgette Heyer's crime mysteries, which I like rather more than Agatha Christie's. My taste, on the whole, is for character-driven romantic novels rather than crime fiction, but I enjoyed the blend of genres very much and look forward to reading more by Sally Quilford in future.

Recommended.

Review copyright Sue's Book Reviews, 6th May 2011

Three Men and a Maid (by PG Wodehouse)

(Amazon UK link)

I've enjoyed reading books by PG Wodehouse for many years now. I started with some of the 'Jeeves' series in my teens. The books are set in the early part of the 20th century, generally featuring upper and upper-middle class men and women. 

Wodehouse has a wonderful way with words, and while I don't laugh out loud, in general, I regularly find myself smiling at his phrasing. I was very pleased to discover several of his books available for the Kindle. Better still, they can be downloaded for nothing from Project Gutenberg.

Billie - also known as Wilhelmina Bennett - is the star of this book, which is also known as 'The Girl on the Boat'. At the start of the novel, Billie is engaged to a young man whose mother is an eminent writer and lecturer in an obscure field. And she (the mother) does NOT want her son married.

Another young man is also in love with Billie, and ensures that the planned wedding does not happen. While this doesn't sound like the opening to a humorous light-hearted novel, in the hands of PG Wodehouse the most sombre of plots take on an amusing hue.

Most of the story takes place on a cruise ship, where romance blossoms between Billie and yet another young man. The plot is complicated still further by a stately British home being rented without its owner's permission... the owner being the above-mentioned esteemed writer, who is supposed to be doing a lecture tour in the USA.

To add to the mixture, there's a warm-hearted butler who likes to read light romances, a friendly (if unintelligent) dog, and a suitably placed suit of armour. The story moves apace, in typical Wodehouse style, ending with rather a farce in the stately home before the somewhat abrupt, inevitable conclusion.

This is not a long book; I felt it would make excellent light reading for anyone who enjoys Wodehouse. Recommended.

The link above is to one of the many Kindle editions of 'Three Men and a Maid', but it's still available free as an e-book from Project Gutenberg. 

Review copyright Sue's Book Reviews, 3rd May 2011