feather_ghyll

Happy new year! This is a review of the last book I read in 2024.

Sister Anne Resigns: Josephine Elder. Greyladies 2012

In a way, this is a career novel, but in another, ( Read more... )

Susan at Herron’s Farm: Barbara Wilcox, Spring Books, The Halycon Library

The longer this book went on, the more I realised it wasn’t just part of that subset of girls own career books, specifically the account of a sort of land girl, but a rum mixture of that and romantic suspense. ( Read more... )

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society: Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, Bloomsbury 2008.

I devoured this last weekend – abandoning any fellow feeling with correspondents waiting days for answers to their questions. It’s been a while (by which I mean over nine years) since I bought it and read it, though I remembered some bits.

As I said in my last post, it was seeing the trailer of the movie adaptation that spurred me into doing so, and I am curious as to how they’ll turn an epistolary novel, with letters from so many islanders into a film. Either characters will be dropped or combined. Mike Newell is directing, which gives me confidence, and I like many of the cast, even if Lily James is a touch on the young side to be playing Juliet. They seem to have cast a lot of actors who were in Downton Abbey, which is a canny choice. I'd hoped they'd filmed in in Guernsey, but read that they hadn't because it's a tax haven/much changed.

Rereading the book, it’s striking ( Read more... )

The Encircled Heart: Josephine Elder, Girls Gone By, 2012 reprint. (First published 1951)

Two words from the same root came to mind as I started reading this book: absorbed and absorbing. ( Read more... )

Angela Has Wings: Peter Ling and Sheilah Ward, A Girl novel, Longacre Press, 1960.

I had to look up to see whether Angela Wells was ( Read more... )

Guitar Girl: Sarra Manning. Speak 2003

Any book that makes me hum Kenickie's 'I Will Fix You' for days afterwards, as this did by referring to the band among other female-driven bands and artists in the dedication, is a good'un. After reading this, I’ll certainly keep an eye out for more of Manning’s books - I'd seen her rated on book blogs.

( Read more... )

A Popular Schoolgirl: Angela Brazil

I had an ‘oh, Angela’ moment when ( Read more... )

Sara Gay Model Girl in New York: Janey Scott

That's New York, 1961 - fit for girls. ( Read more... )

Dance with me by Victoria Clayton

Recommended. ( Read more... )

I look forward to reading more by Clayton (I think another book of hers may have been recommended by callmemadam.)

Finally I reread Three go to Switzerland: Mabel Esther Allan

It can’t have made much impact on me before, because I didn’t remember anything as I read it. ( Read more... )

Class: Jane Beaton Sphere 2008

I came across this book in a charity shop. It’s a chick-litty, modern day take on the boarding school genre, written for girls who wanted to go to Mallory Towers, whether that was a few years ago or, as in my case, quite a few years ago.

( Read more... )

This is the last of the reviews of books that I read over my Easter holidays:

The Secret of Magnolia Manor: Helen Wells Grosset & Dunlap 1949.

This is part of the Vicki Barr Flight Stewardess Series – one of those career girl mystery story series that the Cherry Ames books epitomise. Vicki is ‘just out’ of her teens, loves her job, but is very pretty and attractive, makes friends wherever she goes, including male ones who pay her compliments and provide transport or back up as she solves cases, but aren’t to be taken too seriously. Being a flight stewardess means that she travels a lot (as does her later and fabulously named British equivalent Shirley Flight).

In this story, Vicki’s given the route from New Orleans, via Merida, to Guatemala City. She’s thrilled to get a chance to visit ‘Crescent City’, and we get a colourful, travel-booky feel for it, with Vicki staying at a Creole pension (the secret of the title is linked to her ‘host’ family) and meeting barefooted Cajuns, eating square-shaped donuts and visiting the bayou. (The other end of her route doesn’t get a look in.)

Magnolia Mansion used to belong to the Breaux family, but was recently sold. News of the new owner’s planned alterations make Monsieur Paul Breaux, Vicki's host, act extremely strangely. Vicki was already dubious about him for treating his niece Marie as if they were living in the eighteenth century – she may be about to turn eighteen and get engaged (to practically the first man she’s met, but he’s a nice man) but she has to ask permission to do anything and is treated in a somewhat Cinderellaish fashion. Vicki eventually deduces why, but in the meantime, a man goes missing, everyone takes a while to figure that out (and nobody except Marie seems particularly worried, and her concerns are easily calmed) or to do anything about clues that are screaming for attention. There is a fancy dress party for Vicki to attend first of all, you see. Anyhow, she manages to get her act together before no more than a couple of concussions are doled out (none to her) and all is well. Vicki even gets to rejoin her family in corn field country for a break afterwards.

I generally like the detail about nursing in Helen Wells’ Cherry Ames book, although that is usually subsumed in the mystery. Vicki isn’t quite such a memorable character, feeling like more of a representative of ‘the modern girl’ than her own person (especially in this book where she's contrasted with Marie Breaux).