The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

Currently I am ensconsed at my mum's house in Ireland for Christmas and New Year. Being in the middle of nowhere there is one convenience of modern living yet to reach their peaceful and idyllic hamlet: Broadband!

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I love this book. I know I’ve said it a million times before, but I do. The plot of the story is so complex and ingenious you can’t help but get drawn into it. Coupled with this are the characters within which are brilliant and which introduces to us two of the finest characters I think to be created in Victorian fiction.
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Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote a musical (yes I know, a musical!) based on this novel by Collins and I remember going to see it in London in 2005. The ending of the story and the discovery of the treachery involved is so complex I was mostly intrigued as to how Lloyd Webber would present this on stage. I would say that if you haven’t read the book then go and give the musical a look. However, if you have read the book and if you love it as much as I do, then don’t bother. Lloyd Webber gets around the difficulties in presenting this kind of fiction on stage by completely rewriting the end of the story. Sacrilege!
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Anyway, back to the book. I will try and give you the basic plot (which is hard not only because it is so involved but also because every time I read it discover something new!) with giving too much away and without confusing you, or me for that matter…
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Walking on his way back to London from Hampstead a poor drawing master (class and status is very important in this book) named Walter Hartwright meets a woman all dressed in white. She asks his for assistance in getting back to town as she has just escaped from an asylum near by. Walter agrees to help her after ascertaining that she has been falsely imprisoned there by a man whom she will only reveal as having the title of Baronet. They walk back to London together where he sees her safely on her way to a friend's house.

The next day Walter travels to Limmeridge House in Cumberland where he has secured temporary employment as a teacher of drawing to two young sisters. Enter Laura Fairlie and (the amazing marvelous) Marian Halcombe. These two are half sisters with their mother in common hence the difference in surname. Walter tells Marian of his adventure with the mysterious woman in white because she had mentioned Limmeridge (and Mrs Fairlie) to him on their walk back to London as being a place she had been happy in her childhood. Marian resolves to try and identify this woman by scouring her mother's letters for any reference to her as a child and finally concludes that her name is Anne Catherick.

In a nutshell, Walter and Laura fall in love but 20 year old Laura is unfortunately already engaged to 45 year old Sir Percival Glyde (Baronet!) by the wishes of her father and the promise she made to him on his deathbed. The only reason ages are important here is to reveal that Laura, being not yet of age is not legally able to speak for herself, and also that it is unlikely she will die before Sir Percival since he is so much older than her.

Laura is sent a letter by Anne alluding to Glyde’s unsavory characteristics and conduct but as Laura is tied by her promise she can’t claim her release from Glyde. Walter tracks down Anne in Limmeridge churchyard (it’s a long story) and is struck by the extraordinary likeness that she and Laura share. Laura tries to entice Glyde into releasing her from the marriage by telling him that she is in love with Walter and that her heart will always belong to him. This however, only seems to make Glyde love her more (sneaky bastard). It is worth mentioning here that Glyde has cunningly devised a marriage settlement whereby he will stand to inherit all of Laura’s fortune in the event of her death before him if she leaves no children… hmmm…! Seeing that there is no future for himself and Laura, Walter sails off to Central America and Laura marries Sir Percival to begin her miserable life as Lady Glyde.

Forward six month later and Laura returns from Europe with her new husband to reside with her sister Marian at the rundown Glyde property, Blackwater Park. Here they are all joined by the other great character in this story: Count Fosco, whose wife the Countess is also Laura’s aunt. The plot thickens. Count Fosco is the evil genius of the story and after his introduction the true level of deceit and betrayal against Laura, Anne and Marian begins… (although he can’t be that clever if he thought he could get one over not just one woman, but three of them – one of them being the remarkable Marian!). However, the sheer level of Count Fosco’s Machiavellian quality is brilliantly presented in his character by Collins. He is the puppet-master of them all.

I’ve totally skimmed over the plot, and haven't even tried to explain the second half to you... but it’s so utterly involving and intricate that I think anyone would be hard-pushed to give you a complete guide to the ins and outs of the story without simply re-writing the whole thing in the process. To be honest this kind of sensationalist fiction (of which this book is widely considered to be the first of its kind) is something that you really have to sit down and read in order to be able to appreciate the true brilliance of it. I have yet to come across an adaptation in film, theatre or television that truly does it justice.

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The opening lines of the story are among my favorites:

“This is the story of what a Woman's patience can endure and what a Man's resolution can achieve”

And one of my other favorite lines is found in Mr Gilmore’s narrative when preparing to address Marian. He wisely states that:

“No sensible man ever engages, unprepared, in a fencing match of words with a woman.”

Excellent advice!

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Trust me. It’s a really, really great book. The Woman in White and I are off to get a room…

Grasshopper - Barbara Vine

Hmmm.... what to say about this one... I am going to go out on a limb here and say that it's a very very good book. Don't ask me why. I will freely admit that I didn't get the relevance of some/most of the sub-plots going on within this story. And at the end, I personally found it lacking in direction and hard-going. But I think this had more to do with me than the story because even having said all that I would definitely read it again. Don't ask me to put my finger on why though. Maybe it's because there is so much going on within that you can't possibly process it all at once? Or maybe it's because Clodagh and I experienced the same meaningless existence when attending college in London after an 'event' (although mine certainly wasn't as bad as hers)... Who knows...

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Blamed for a terrible accident on an electricity pylon resulting in the death of her boyfriend, Clodagh is dutifully sent to London to attend a polytechnic Uni and begin a mundane course she has no interest in. Living in a dark and dingy basement flat lent to her by an intellectually arrogant but no less flawed family friend, it seems to Clodagh life can get no worse. Then she meets misfits Silver, Liv, Winn and Johnny and her life roaming the roofs of Maida Vale begins. However, during this time they all make a discovery with regards to inhabitants of Torrington Gardens, which inevitably lead to tragic consequences for them.

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There is tons of atmosphere in the book generated by Vine's writing. Being set in the area of Maida Vale I imagine you would get a whole lot more out of this than someone like me who doesn't know the place so well. The high point for me however was when Vine mentions the local paper the Ham & High - which is the paper I first learnt my trade as a newspaper planner with :) But Vine does a good job describing the area and such. The story lines all intertwine and it is very cleverly written although at times I did find it lagged - but I'm putting this down to the fact that I don't think I fully 'got it'.

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I do find it ironic that Clodagh is scared of being in confined spaces and being underground when nothing has ever happened to her here, yet she loves being up high on the pylon and the roofs and has met with tragedy here several times. But again, just another aspect of the story I didn't understand the reasoning behind.

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But I will recommend it to you anyway. Like I say, I don't know why - but I would definitely give it a go if you happen to pick it up. And for those that don't happen to know; Barbara Vine is Ruth Rendall :)

Lily - Cindy Bonner

Hurrah!! At last... a spaghetti-western book for girls!

This was a cool book. I've not read many westerns in my time admittedly, but the ones I have read; Lonesome Dove and Comanche Moon by McMurtry are among the best. Can you class Cold Mountain a western too...? Anyway, this book has it all. Bandits, outlaws, robbers, religious do-gooders, gun-fights - great! And all told through the eyes of a woman/girl - 15 year old Lily.

The story follows mother-less Lily and her relationship with Marion Beatty, a supposedly no-good, bank-robbing murderous charmer. Bonner does well with Marion's character. You never really work out if he's a good guy or a bad guy. Marion and his brothers are known throughout the county as trouble-makers, but Marion always insists that it's his brothers who make the trouble, not him. So you have to make your mind up yourself really. I base my judgement on the way he treats Lily, so i reckon he's a good guy :)

It's quite a sweet little story - not very long, won't take ages to read. But you really get on board with Lily and Marion and their plight. Lily leads a pretty meaningless existence looking after her younger brothers and sister, and her farmer father, all of whom rely on her too heavily to take the place of her dead mother. When Lily meets Marion she realises what love can be like, and what life outside of her family circle can be. Her and Marion arrange times to meet in secret because her father will not allow her to associate herself with a Beatty. Then after a Beatty led rampage on a newly built church, Marion and Lily run away together but unfortunately the law is on their tail. Marion is caught and taken back to McDade and a now pregnant Lily follows and returns briefly home when she is accepted back in disgrace. But realising she can not live without Marion and can not go back to her old life, she makes plans to stand by his side and to help him to escape the jail-house.

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This is one of those stories which leaves you hanging at the end. But I found out recently that the story continues somewhat in Looking After Lily, also by Bonner, which is told through the eyes of Marion's brother Haywood, who he and Lily has to leave when they run away after a good old fashioned western-style shoot out in the town high street. I really enjoyed this book anyway. Lily has guts and determination and her attempts to tame her wild gun-slinging husband, although vain, make for some good story-telling :)

Our Yanks - Margaret Mayhew

This book was okay for a holiday read but I didn't really enjoy it I have to say. It was a bit disappointing but there was always part of me that knew it wouldn't be as good as Bluebirds. Having said that, I really don't think that even if i'd've read this book entirely on it's own without ever having read Bluebirds, I still don't think i would have enjoyed it that much to be honest.

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It's a nice story for sure, don't get me wrong, But the characters weren't brilliant. There was no one character that I really latched on to or took any real interest in. The stories within the story were all okay, chugged along pretty well. But there was no magic moment when i thought "yeah, exactly! What a fab book this is". And I really like it when that happens :)
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As far as the story goes, it's about how a small village in the country is affected when the Americans take over the local air base during WWII. Some of the locals like them, some don't. All the girls love them, all the lads think they joined the war to late etc, etc. Mayhew tried to get into the emotional side of war - what it was like for the yanks to leave their homes and come to fight, how the villagers left behind felt about the war, especially when they had friends or family fighting overseas. I don't feel like Mayhew ever went deep enough into the minds of her characters to get me interested enough to be honest. If writers are going to delve into the human psyche then I like them to get right in there with all the nitty gritty - not just skim the surface. But then if Mayhew had've done this then the whole book may have been a wholly depressing read... so maybe it's a good job she didn't.

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So I'd say, if you have the time then definitely give this book a go. Make up your own mind and see if gets you excited. On the plus side, I am determined to read more of Mayhew's work - I know she's good and I'm sure that there are other works she's done that I'll like as much as Bluebirds (fingers crossed!). Alternatively, the next time I find a book I really really love, maybe I will just have to not read anything else by that author ever again...

Call the Midwife - Jennifer Worth

There's not must to say about this really apart from it gives a factual and hugely graphical insight into the lives of women living in 1950's London. Worth is a good story-teller and paints a good portrait of the women, their husbands, and what it must have been like to give birth at a time when a woman's job was considered that of homemaker and baby-maker. Some of the scenes are quite graphic and enough to put you off having kids forever! But remember that these were the days when most children were born at home and going to hospital was not something many cockney dockers wanted to do since many hospitals were converted workhouses. All in all it's a good book if you fancy reading a documentary.

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The only annoying part of the book is that Jenny Worth hints quite regularly about her life before she became a midwife and working with the nun's at Nonnatus House. The only bits I can gather were that she was deeply in love with a man who, for whatever reason, she had to leave behind and forget - but she never tells you this story!

Bluebirds - Margaret Mayhew

This is one of my other favorite books of all time although I've not read it for a fair few years now and I'd forgotten how much I love it - this is the third time I've read it (not including the time I read just the parts relating to my favorite character; Winnie Briggs).
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You could say this book has two parts to it. The characters and the plot which makes up the stories within, and then the historical aspect of it being set in the second world war. I admit that I'm not completely au fait with the ins and outs of WWII (one of my life regrets is not ever asking my grandfather what it must have been like for him and my Nan). But in reading Bluebirds I think you get a pretty good idea of what it must have been like - not just physically but emotionally too. To not know whether you will ever see your family, friends or husband again. Mayhew even manages to touch on the disappointment and feelings of inadequacy felt by those who were too old or too sick to volunteer to fight for Queen and Country. Whether the historical aspects of Bluebirds are accurate or not (although I strongly suspect they are...) Mayhew manages to give an engaging and endearing portrait of Britain in the early 1940's - full of patriotism. And then when the Yanks come to our aid she cleverly captures the social transitions that take place.
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I won't lie - this is a total woman's book. Full of romance, heroic women and men that are real men (but still managing to steer totally clear of the Mills & Boon genre!). The plot follows the lives of four women in Britain from the time they join the Women's Auxiliary Air Force in 1939 as war breaks out in Europe. They come from all backgrounds and must work together in a new and alien environment where their presence is not welcome - especially not by Station Commander David Palmer who makes this clear from the beginning. Mayhew writes about their struggle to become accepted in the eyes of the men who think war is no place for a woman, their friendships with each other, the RAF crew and pilots they fall in love with and subsequently lose in the throes of war-time, and their need to prove to themselves and other that they really are valuable assets in the war against Hitler. The synopsis on the front describes the book as "heartbreaking and triumphant" and I really can't put it any better myself to be honest.
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Mayhew is a brilliant writer. Her characters are so alive and vibrant and she can plot a scene to perfection. She absolutely knows what she needs to put in to guide you in the right direction, and what to leave out to let your own imagination fill in the details important to you, making the story your own.
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It's nigh on impossible to find any biographic info on Mayhew save that she was born in London, lived through the Blitz as a child and is now married to Phillip Kaplan, an aviation author. I keep asking myself why I have never read any other of her books since I love Bluebirds so much. I can only think it's because when you find perfection you don't want anything else to spoil it :)

Lucky - Alice Sebold

This was a pretty hard book to read. Not because of the way it's written, but because of the story and it's unflinching honesty. Sebold did a fantastic job with this.

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Lucky is the autobiographic story of Alice Sebold, focusing in particular from the night when, as a college freshman at Syracuse Uni, she was beaten and raped on her way home, the subsequent trial, and how she, her friends and family cope in the aftermath of the rape.

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Right from the off this story gets under your skin. Sebold leaves nothing out. After reading her story and realising how awful it must have been you get the impression that writing this story was something that the author had to do. She says herself in the book that she is the kind of person do just let it all hang out - and in this book she certainly does. She details the rape itself which makes very difficult reading indeed. But more importantly are the observations that she makes in the aftermath; how people's reactions and opinions change towards her; how she is seen differently in the eyes of those who no her; how the the police and detectives deal with her. It is a harrowing yet brilliantly written piece of writing. Sebold is so so good at picking out what matters in the story (I hate using that word with this book - it suggests fiction, or something trivial which this certainly is not) and in eloquently drawing out what you know is lurking in the back of your mind but can't quite pin-point. This is one of my favourite quotes from the book:

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"I also discarded certain assumptions I had held about how the world worked and about how safe I was." (This quote was actually taken from the piece that she wrote in the New York Times on Feb 26th 1989 entitled 'HERS; Speaking of the Unspeakable' but appears in her book also).
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I think that this quote just sums up everything about the whole experience. Particularly in the way you no longer feel safe, how you no longer fit into your life from that point on, how everything is measured in terms of "before the rape" or "after the rape", how people see you differently even though they don't mean too. And most importantly how it impacts the rest of your life, not just through post-traumatic stress disorder, but also in the decisions you make be they subconscious or conscious.

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When I read The Lovely Bones last year I said that I didn't like where it was going. Having read Lucky I suddenly feel like I understand The Lovely Bones a whole lot more. I realise now where Sebold was coming from. The purpose and plot has now slotted into place.

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Would I recommend Lucky as reading material to someone who had been raped? Tricky question... But I would say yes. Sebold is a heroine. She goes round the hard way (her words!) but doesn't give up, and I think that her honesty and ability to unflinchingly put into words the emotional turmoil involved are so effective in bringing the reality of rape out into the open. I have immense respect and admiration for her.