I do find that American book jackets can be desperately unappealing ... I mean, honestly, would you even think of picking up this dreary-looking thing in a bookshop? But I've been wallowing in Montmaray with guilty pleasure for the past couple of days. I don't read teen books very often but I'd have been in heaven if this had been around when I was 12. And if I were 12, I don't suppose I'd notice, let alone care that author Michelle Cooper has helped herself liberally from I Capture the Castle.
This is the journal of Sophia Margaret Elizabeth Jane Clementine FitzOsborne, begun this twenty-third day of October 1936, on the occasion of her sixteenth birthday ...
And if she isn't quite writing this sitting in the kitchen sink, listening to the dripping roof and watching her sister Rose ironing her only nightgown - well, give or take a title, Princess Sophia and Cassandra Mortmain are almost interchangeable. If Cassandra lives with her eccentric family in a decaying castle in the middle of the nowhere in the 1930s, the FitzOsbornes are living it in spades in their castle in the tiny island kingdom of Montmaray somewhere in the Bay of Biscay. There's a mad king, still wracked by WWI - a mad housekeeper, shades of Mrs Danvers - the housekeeper's handsome son - invading Nazis - secret passages - bombs ... and a bit too much author-splaining about the Spanish Civil War, Mrs Simpson and historical background, though maybe that wouldn't grate so much on a teen reader. Never mind, it was a jolly enjoyable read-in-bed although for my money, you can't beat Guard Your Daughters which has been republished by Persephone since I wrote about it two years ago. (I can't claim credit because lots of bloggers were urging it!)
Although the first book ends on a cliffhanger, I wasn't sure whether I'd continue with the Montmaray saga but as I was ordering this on Amazon last night - couldn't resist my baking heroine Regula Ysewijn at such a hefty reduction - I decided I needed something else to make up £10 and qualify for free postage. So that's three books bought this week, and I took three rather smaller books to the Oxfam shop - so it's one-in-one-out but not really solving the shelving crisis, is it?
Isn't Regula Ysewijn a fabulous name for a cook? I always think of her as Regulo Eis-wein but I'm probably mispronouncing her in my head.
I Capture the Castle is one of my all time favourite reads. Discovered whilst at school I have re read it several times and still love it, so this book sounds very interesting. I'd normally avoid teen fiction.
ReplyDeleteCurrently reading 'Nothing But Grass' by Will Cohu which I've been after for ages..
That is a totally fabulous name for a cook!
You might like this, Veronica - although if you haven't read Guard Your Daughters, I do think it's better.
ReplyDeleteI'm immersed in the Victorians tonight - some deeply miserable George Gissing and I've just watched the first episode of The Woman in White.
YA fiction just keeps getting better and better. It's nice to see a change from the theme of terminally ill family members and friends. Thanks for letting me know about this series, Mary, I'll submit a 'request to purchase' request with the Content office at the library.
ReplyDeleteHave a browse, Darlene - you might enjoy it yourself. And I do agree about miserable themes and dysfunctional families - here's to bit of escapism while you're young!
ReplyDeleteOh and a bit of escapism when you're old too. May Sarton is troubling me at present. I've abandoned Tirzah and Anjelica Houston.
ReplyDeleteCan you recommend someone who had an idyllically happy existence please. This virus has pulled me down quite sufficiently.
Pippilongstocking?
ReplyDeleteWhen all else fails, I read cookery books! I do feel rather dragged down by this very miserable Gissing but I'm past the point of no return. As I'm scanning my bookshelves, the best I can offer is stoicism in the face of the human condition.
Thank you for trying. As my GP says - You'll just have to tough it out. I don't bother her too often.
ReplyDeleteWould Swallows and Amazons do the trick?
ReplyDeleteMy brother is enjoying The Odd Women, Gissing. I might have to try a Batsford guide book. They have such nice jackets.
ReplyDeleteAlso re dysfunctional themes, I enjoyed Alison Graham's mini rant about issue driven storylines in soaps.
ReplyDeleteI loved The Odd Women, Lucille - I think it's my favourite Gissing so far. I chose it for book group and I think we all liked it.
ReplyDeleteI have to confess that I've given up on the soaps since my Mum died and I no longer have to keep up my end of a conversation about Coronation Street - so I am now a good decade behind the times.