feather_ghyll

A Tangled Web: L.M. Montgomery. Read Books, 2017.

The title of this novel is a bit of a misnomer, because it makes you think of the saying/proverb ‘What a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive’ and this isn’t a story about deception, per se. Referencing ‘Blood is thicker than water’ might have made more sense, although I think the best title might have been ( Read more... )

The Swallows’ Flight: Hilary McKay. Macmillan, 2021

This book mainly follows four humans and a dog. We are introduced to ( Read more... )

Shirley at Charterton: Christobel Marlowe, Nelson

This must be quite an early example of girls own – the fictional schoolgirls are daring to dream of becoming aviators or politicians when they grow up, but ( Read more... )

[Edited for typos and flow 13/4/25.]

Lavender at the High School: E. C Mathews, Blackie

At its best, this was an absorbing read. ( Read more... )

Portrait of a Murderer: Anne Meredith British Library 2017

Hmm, I’m now thinking I should stop this ‘tradition’ of reading Golden Age Christmas crime/murder stories written by women. ( Read more... )

The Skylarks’ War: Hilary McKay. Macmillan Children‘s Books, 2018

I’ll start this review by discussing preconceptions, or, less pretentiously, admit that for some reason I thought this book was set during the second world war. I didn’t really look at it when I snapped it up in a charity shop (way back when) as it had been so widely lauded. It was only upon opening it up to read it that I realised my mistake. And, of course, it was suitably published a century after the end of the first world war.

( This review refers to some details from the end of the book. )

Madge Hilton: Agnes C. Maitland Blackie (inscribed 1934)

This family tale with a moral is set in the Victorian era. Indeed, the queen herself makes a cameo, but ( Read more... )

I managed only four and a half rereads during the month of February, and I still haven’t completed the fractional! I intended to read more, but there you go. I needed something to drive me to reach for the ‘to reread’ pile, and this ventured did that. I reread and reconsidered a couple of books.

I also treated myself by rereading ‘The Blue Castle’ by L.M. Montgomery, which I love, although that didn’t blind me to some weaknesses. ( Read more... )

So, I don’t think Rereading February was a worthless exercise, and if I don’t reread more books, I’ll probably set aside another month like that in future. It was weird, though, to continue buying new books – as if I’d walk past a charity shop or second-hand bookshop and not browse! – whilst having to admit to myself that I wouldn’t be reading the book I’d purchased forthwith. It’s rare that I do, but normally there’s the possibility I might, so there was that change in perspective.

The Fortunes of Prue: Bessie Marchant. Ward Lock, published as part of the Sovereign series.

Orphaned Prue, age unknown, and her older brother Theo are travelling to London ( Read more... )

Here is a round-up of some things I posted about last year. ( Read more... )