Two Teasers Today!
These two titles are books that I reviewed for The Children’s Crown Award Reading Challenge and which are only marginally mysteries. However, they both deal with the South and are great contrasts with one another and with Whispers of the Bayou - my last entry.
1st Tease:
Red Moon At Sharpsburgby Rosemary Wells
Adapted from the front flap:
When the Civil War breaks out in 1861, 12 year old India Moody’s relatively comfortable life changes forever. As she struggles for survival, she gets an education in love and loss, the senseless devastation of war, and the triumph of hope in the face of despair. Though the daughter of a harness maker, she has always enjoyed the friendship of the wealthy Trimble family, owners of Longmarsh Hall Plantation. Independent and headstrong, India prefers learning botany and chemistry over the genteel subjects usually assigned young ladies.
From page 65:‘Pa is going to be safe in his new corps, we hope and we pray,’ I will tell her first. How can Julia understand this? Her father comes home from his law office every evening. He removes his beautifully polished shoes and sits down with a glass of sherry brought by a servant who is better fed and paid than any man who marched up our street today.
Four sentences instead of two, but a good tease for this excellent novel for young adults.
Wells’ style is right on pitch, capturing the soft Southern voice. Her research is meticulous, enabling her to capture the horror of the battle of Sharpsburg at Antietam Creek. The contrast of the civilians picnicking on the hills overlooking the battlefield with the nightmare they watch through their field glasses had me in tears.
Red Moon at Sharpsburg is intense with realistic descriptions of a horrible reality, yet it is also lyrical in its depiction of a young girl’s too rapid passage from childhood to adulthood as she finds a way to achieve her life’s ambition and her heart’s desire.
Four Delights with johnnycakes and sorghum syrup!!!!
2nd Tease:
Tennysonby Lesley m. M. BlumeThe CIP record summary:
After their mother abandons them during the great Depression, eleven-year-old Tennyson Fontaine and her little sister Hattie are sent to live with their eccentric Aunt Henrietta in a decaying plantation house outside of New Orleans.
Tennyson is for all intents and purposes a good Southern Gothic. The first chapter is mesmerizing, pulling the reader into the sultry, verdant landscape of south Mississippi and into the decaying luxury of the Louisiana plantation Aigredoux where the present is inextricably bound to the past.
From p. 45: The spiders in the trees began to weave great webs in the branches They worked faster and faster and soon the air between every branch and trunk turned into spider silk, as though a vast fine cloth the color of air had been draped over the entire oak alley.
Overall I enjoyed Tennyson - the first half more than the last half. It gives a glimpse into the Depression era South which is not so far removed from the Civil War. My biggest criticism is that Blume does not sustain a stable level of style but alternates between clichés and brilliant prose.
3½ Delights with pralines!!!
Oh well, my return to blogging obviously didn’t last very long. I have given much thought to my problem. I visit several blogs daily and have read some interesting entries. Apparently I am not alone in my blog resistance. Others are also reassessing their blog missions and apparently will cut back on their number of entries. I think that my problem might be a subconscious reaction against a perceived assignment!!! I have been a student (English and Library Science) for many years and always completed my assignments - even though I complained and procrastinated! Now I have apparently self assigned - given myself a regular project to be completed - and I am subconsciously resisting that assignment - strongly resisting!!! What a thought!!! So, I am restructuring my idea of how to construct my entries - shortening them.
I read today on Novel Challenges about a new weekly challenge - Teaser Tuesdays- and will adapt the criteria for my blog - at least until I can conquer my assignment phobia.
Teaser Tuesday Criteria:
1. Open the book to be discussed to a random page.
2. Share 2 teaser sentences (avoid spoilers) from that page.
Since I cannot be trusted (obviously) to always post on a Tuesday, I will call my entries Book Tracker Teasers.
Today’s Book Tracker Teaser:
Whispers of the Bayouby Mindy Starns Clark
from page 62:“Pardon my saying, but you’re Louisiana born, Miranda, descended from Louisiana gentry on all sides, not to mention a grandmother who was full Cajun. There’s bayou water running through your veins, girl, and jazz music framing out the cadence of your words.”
The test works for me. These sentences capture the tone of this fascinating book.
from the back cover:
Follow one woman’s search through the hidden rooms of a bayou mansion, the enigmatic snares of an ancient myth, and the all-consuming quest for a heart open enough for love - and for God.
Clark cleverly weaves the history of the forced move of the Acadians (Remember Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Evangeline?) from Nova Scotia to what is now Louisiana into her intriguing novel of family lies, family secrets, and a hidden treasure in the mysterious, romantic, and dangerous bayou.
3 Delights with pralines!!!
Reading Challenges 2nd Quarter Roundup!
April 2008
1. Piper Reed Navy Brat by Kimberly Willis Holt
2. Bleeding Hearts by Susan Wittig Albert (A ReRead) (A China Bayles Mystery)
3. Spanish Dagger by Susan Wittig Albert (A China Bayles Mystery)
4. Bulls Island by Dorothy Benton Frank
5. Winter Study by Nevada Barr
6. Evan’s Gate by Rhys Bowen
7. Into the Dark: An Echo Falls Mystery by Peter Abrahams
8. Still Life by Louise Penny (Favorite April Read)
May 2008
1. A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny
2. Love for Sale by Jill Churchill (A Grace and Favor Mystery)
3. Bell Book Scandal by Jill Churchill (A Jane Jeffry Mystery)
4. A Farewell To Yarns by Jill Churchill (A Jane Jeffry Mystery)
5. The Winter Garden Mystery by Carola Dunn (A Daisy Dalrymple Mystery)
6. *The Xibalba Murders by Lyn Hamilton
7. Grime and Punishment by Jill Churchill (A Jane Jeffry Mystery)
8. *Generous Death by Nancy Pickard
9. *The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham (An Albert Campion Mystery)
(Favorite May Read)
June 2008
1. Evidence of Things Seen by Elizabeth Daly (A Henry Gamadge Mystery)
(Favorite June Read)
2. ***Tennyson by Lesley M. Blume
3. ***Red Moon at Sharpsburg by Rosemary Wells
4. Look to the Lady by Margery Allingham (An Albert Campion Mystery)
5. Sweet Danger by Margery Allingham (An Albert Campion Mystery)
6. ***Kringle by Tony Abbott
7. ***Julia’s Kitchen by Brenda A. Ferber
8. *Miss Zukas and the Library Murders by Jo Dereske (A Miss Zukas Mystery)
9. Nothing Can Rescue Me by Elizabeth Daly (A Henry Gamadge Mystery)
10. Mystery Mile by Margery Allingham (An Albert Campion Mystery)
11. Police at the Funeral by Margery Allingham (An Albert Campion Mystery)
12. The House Without a Door by Elizabeth Daly (A Henry Gamadge Mystery)
13. Murders in Volume 2 by Elizabeth Daly (A Henry Gamadge Mystery)
14. House of Seven Mabels by Jill Churchill (A Jane Jeffry Mystery)
*1st In A Series Challenge: 3 Titles
**Nineteenth Century Women Authors Challenge: 0 Titles
***Children’s Crown Award Review Title (Not Counted In 100+ Challenge Count)
100+ Challenge: 26 Titles
Return to Blogging!
1st In A Series Challenge
The Crime at Black Dudley
by Margery Allingham
first UK printing in 1929
Reading has never been a problem for me. Writing has. I have always wanted to be a diarist, a journalist but have never been successful. This spring I have had trouble with both! But I redeemed myself over the Memorial Day weekend by reading 6 titles! Now I just have to force myself to blog about them. I am being spurred on by watching the French Open this week, by watching players match point down coming back to win their matches. Their never give up attitude has inspired me to just write. My entries may not be inspiring, but I hope to persevere!
Though my favorite genre is the Mystery and my favorite authors of that genre are those of the Golden Age, Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie, I was not familiar with Margery Allingham. What a delightful find! The Crime at Black Dudley is technically the first in a series featuring Albert Campion. However, Campion in my opinion plays a very minor, very mysterious part in this country house mystery. Physician George Abbershaw takes center stage as the amateur sleuth. During a weekend house party at the remote, stark, ominous mansion named Black Dudley, a ritual supposedly dating from medieval times, is reenacted. A dagger is passed from hand to hand - in total darkness, without knowing whose hand passes the blade, for a designated time limit. When the ending gong sounds, the person left holding the bag, so to speak, forfeits the game and pays the price - kisses! The medieval origin of the ritual, however, was played to identify a murderer! The person whose hand was covered with blood at the end of the time limit, was identified as the murderer and paid the forfeit - life for a life! The currently played ritual turned the tables. The person left with the dagger was literally holding the dagger - in his back. Murder was committed in the darkness of Black Dudley! The blade of the Black Dudley Dagger was its most remarkable feature. Under a foot long, it was very slender and exquisitely graceful, fashioned from steel that had in it a curious greenish tinge which lent the whole weapon an unmistakably sinister appearance. It seemed to shine out of the dark background like a living and malignant thing.
There are many elements of the gothic used to great advantage by Allingham. A secluded, brooding, primitive mansion; hidden passageways; physically strange, totally evil villains; a helpless maiden; a mentally unstable crone. The setting is dark and isolated. There are references to the great Sherlock! The description of the villain is very Moriartyish who is in charge of a well organized multi national crime syndicate. I loved it!. There is nothing like a well written early 20th century mystery! Early motorcars. Early airplanes landing on isolated coastal grass strips. Upper class characters with the leisure to play.
Allingham to her credit meets one of my requirements for a great read - she includes a female character who shows spunk and independence.Meggie glanced at him sharply, and again the faint smile appeared on her lips and the brightness in her dark eyes. For all his psychology, his theorizing, and the seriousness with which he took himself, there was very little of George Abbershaw's mind that was not apparent to her, but for all that the light in here eyes was a happy one and the smile on her lips unusually tender.
One of the characteristics of these early mysteries I find very amusing. There is a tendency for characters to fall in love literally at first sight - to agree to marriage on the basis of this first sight love without knowing a single thing about the other person. This characteristic plays a crucial part in the motive for the murder.
The ending is well worth the read!. Anything that I say about it will give it away! Though not - in my opinion - on the same level as the great Sayers and Christie, Allingham is a fascinating author. I plan to read as many Campion mysteries that I can find.
3 delights with 2 dollups of whipped cream!!!^^
Reading Challenges 1st Quarter Roundup!
January 2008
1. All the Crazy Winters by Deborah Adams
2. Murder Shoots the Breeze by Anne George (4 Delights !!!!)
3. The Case of the Missing Marquess: An Enola Holmes Mystery by Nancy Springer
4. Down the Rabbit Hole: An Echo Falls Mystery By Peter Abrahams
5. Open Season by C. J. Box (4 Delights !!!!)
6. *O’Artful Death by Sarah Stewart Taylor (4 Delights !!!!)
7. *Evans Above by Rhys Bowen (4 Delights !!!!)
8. Web of Evil by J. A. Jance (3 Delights !!!) February 2008
1. *Haunted Ground by Erin Hart
2. **Behind A Mask or A Woman’s Power by A. M. Barnard (5 Delights !!!!!)
3. Hunter’s Green by Phyllis A. Whitney (4 Delights !!!!)
March 2008
1. **Wyllard’s Weird by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
2. *Death at Wentwater Court by Carola Dunn
3. Feint of Art by Hailey Lind
4. **Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (3 Delights !!!)
5. Mansions of the Dead by Sarah Stewart Taylor
6. Judgment of the Grave by Sarah Stewart Taylor
7. Still as Death by Sarah Stewart Taylor
8. *A Share in Death by Deborah Crombie
9. Consigned to Death by Jane K. Cleland
*1st In A Series Challenge: 5 Titles
**Nineteenth Century Women Authors Challenge: 3 Titles
100+ Challenge: 20 Titles
Gotta do better!
2nd Completed 19th Century Women Writer(An Unexpected Addition)
Jane Austen
(1775-1817)
(A Public Domain Image)Northanger AbbeyJane Austen
Published posthumously in 1817
(My Purple Cover)
(A More Gothic Cover)
Serendipity! Sidetrack! Surprise!My Spring Break began with a movie marathon - a DVD movie marathon! One of the titles was “The Jane Austen Book Club“. I am not sure what drew me to this movie, but I was. Maybe it was the phrase book club. At any rate, it is a fun escape movie that gives insight into a group of women (and one man) and their connection to Jane Austen. I enjoyed it, and it renewed my years old resolution to read Jane Austen. As a teenager I read Pride and Prejudice and at the time, being a romantic teenager, I loved it. As I grew older and perhaps more jaded, I turned from romantic themes to my genre of choice - mystery. As I watched the movie, I was immediately drawn to the description of Northanger Abbey and decided, why not? The next day I bought the book, a new edition whose cover is purple - what’s not to love?!? If I had followed the page 69 test, I would never have completed it. But I am nothing if not stubborn and so persisted - to my great delight! By page 107 I was hooked and finished reading the entire novel in one sitting thus experiencing serendipity and being surprised and sidetracked from my original choices for this challenge.
Northanger Abbey can, with a stretch, fit into my obsession with the mystery genre because Austen parodies Gothic Thrillers throughout, especially Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794). And the case can be made that Catherine is a strong, independent female protagonist. She is determined to make the truth known to the Tilney family when she is tricked into missing an appointed walk. When she is rudely evicted from the Tilney home by the very autocratic patriarch, she finds her way home alone, never missing a coach connection. Perhaps my favorite example of her strength is Catherine’s dogged desire to explore what she imagines is a forbidden section of the Abbey, the room of the dead mother. Influenced by her love of Gothic novels, Catherine comes to believe that Mrs. Tilney is not deceased, but hidden from the public, imprisoned by General Tilney for nefarious purposes. This certainly brings to mind Jane Eyre which was not published until 1847 and suggests another avenue of research.My favorite passage of Northanger Abbey is from page 107, the page that kept me reading: But you never read novels, I dare say?
Why not?
Because they are not clever enough for you - gentlemen read better books.
The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.
Abbey is described as a parody of the Gothic novels popular at that time, satirizing that popularity. Austen may have indeed intended that purpose, but her description of Catherine’s fantasy about fitting Northanger Abbey, the estate, into the Gothic mode suggests that she could have written an excellent thriller! And are you prepared to encounter all the horrors that a building such as 'what one reads about' may produce? Have you a stout heart? Nerves fit for sliding panels and tapestry?" . . . We shall not have to explore our way into a hall dimly lighted by the expiring embers of a wood fire - nor be obliged to spread our beds on the floor of a room without windows, doors, or furniture. But you must be aware that when a young lady is . . . introduced into a dwelling of this kind, she is always lodged apart from the rest of the family . . . she is formally conducted by Dorothy, the ancient housekeeper, up a different staircase, and along many gloomy passages, into an apartment never used since some cousin or kin died in it about twenty years before. can you stand such a ceremony as this?
In the end, however, Austen has written a story about the rite of passage of a very young girl, a young girl who in the space of a year recognizes that she has been foolish in letting her imagination run away with her but not foolish in her estimate of the worth of Henry Tilney. She did not learn either to forget or defend the past; but she learned to hope that it would never transpire farther, and that it might not cost her Henry's entire regard. . . . Charming as were all Mrs. Radcliffe's works, and charming even as were the works of all her imitators, it was not in them perhaps that human nature, at least in the Midland counties of England, was to looked for.
I am not sure that I entirely agree with Austen here. I choose to believe that this is another instance of her irony, saying one thing but meaning another, because I do believe that readers of mysteries and of thrillers can learn about human nature.
Three delights!!! (With scones and honey!)
1st In A Series Challenge: 12 Titles
Nineteenth Century Women Authors Challenge: 6 Titles
100+ Challenge: 104 Titles
