Flowers for Mrs Harris by Paul Gallico

“The small, slender woman with apple-red cheeks, greying hair, and shrewd, almost naughty little eyes sat with her face pressed against the cabin window of the BEA Viscount on the morning flight from London to Paris. As, with a rush and a roar, it lifted itself from the runway, her spirits soared aloft with it. She was nervous, but not at all frightened, for she was convinced that nothing could happen to her now. Hers was the bliss of one who knew that at last she was off upon the adventure at the end of which lay her heart’s desire.”

 

That’s Mrs Ada Harris, a widowed London cleaning lady. A practical woman and a reliable worker, she left her good friend Mrs Violet Butterfield to look after her clients while she was away.

She’s honest and open, and definitely a glass half full person. I liked her from the start.

And though her life might seem drab and humdrum to many, Mrs Harris knows and loves beauty and colour.

“Outside the windows of her basement flat were two window boxes of geraniums, her favourite flower, and inside, wherever there was room, stood a little pot containing a geranium, struggling desperately to conquer its environment, or a single hyacinth or a tulip, bought from a barrow for a hard-earned shilling.”

And it was that love of beauty and colour that called Mrs Harris to Paris. It all started when one of her clients left her wardrobe door open …

“But now as she stood before the stunning creations hanging in the wardrobe she found herself face to face with a new kind of beauty – an artificial one created by the hand of man, the artist, but aimed directly and cunningly at the heart of woman. In that very instant she fell victim to the artist; at that very moment there was born within her the craving to possess such a garment.”

It wasn’t that she thought it would transform her, that she would ever have an occasion to wear such a dress; it was just that she wanted to own, see and feel such a garment.

And it didn’t occur to her that such things weren’t for the likes of her. The price was a shock, but she was determined to find the money. There were some ups and downs, tears and laughter, along the way, but eventually she did it. And that was how she found herself flying over the English Channel.

The storytelling is lovely. I read about Mrs Harris’s adventure in the same way that I read the books I loved as a child. I was completely captivated, living every moment, reacting to everything, wishing and hoping…

Buying the dress wasn’t as simple as she thought it would be. Well French fashion houses aren’t like London shops!

Some of the people she met looked down their noses at the common char-woman, but others where charmed by her sincerity and the clarity of her ambition.

There were more ups and downs, tears and laughter, before Mrs Harris found her dress, but, in the end, find it she did. And she made friends and had quite an effect along the way.

It made a lovely story. About the importance of dreams, about what you can do to make them come true, and about just what really is important in life.

There is much light, but just the right amount of shadow too.

And the ending! Just when I thought that a simple, heartwarming story was winding down it took a turn into something very special, full of all kinds of emotions, and the very thing that the word “bittersweet” was created to describe.

I was very sorry to part company with Mrs Harris, but we will be meeting again. She appears in three more novels.

And The Bloomsbury Group will soon be reissuing this book, under the American title “Mrs Harris Goes to Paris” together with the first sequel “Mrs Harris Goes to New York”.

I wonder what calls Mrs Harris to New York …

Library Loot

Now why is it that just when you’ve decided you have more than enough library books, and that you want to read your own books, yet more books that you really can’t resist appear?

I’m not risking another visit until after the bank holiday!

Here’s this week’s loot:

The Book of Fires by Jane Borodale

” Brought up in rural Sussex, seventeen-year-old Agnes Trussel is carrying an unwanted child. Taking advantage of the death of her elderly neighbour, Agnes steals her savings and runs away to London. On her way she encounters the intriguing Lettice Talbot who promises that she will help Agnes upon their arrival. But Agnes soon becomes lost in the dark, labyrinthine city. She ends up at the household of John Blacklock, laconic firework-maker, becoming his first female assistant. The months pass and it becomes increasingly difficult for Agnes to conceal her secret. Soon she meets Cornelius Soul, seller of gunpowder, and hatches a plan which could save her from ruin. Yet why does John Blacklock so vehemently disapprove of Mr Soul? And what exactly is he keeping from her? Could the housekeeper, Mrs Blight, with her thirst for accounts of hangings, suspect her crime or condition?”

A while back this kept popping up on recommendation lists. I liked the look of it but I didn’t rush to track down a copy. But when I saw it on the shortlist for the Orange Award for New Writers I decided that its time had come and placed an order

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

“The wireless crackles with news of blitzed-out London and of the war that courses through Europe, leaving destruction in its wake. Listening intently on the other side of the Atlantic, newly-wed Emma considers the fragility of her peaceful married life as America edges closer to the brink of war. As the reporter’s distant voice fills the room, she sits convincing herself that the sleepy town of Franklin must be far beyond the war’s reach. But the life of American journalist Frankie, whose voice seems so remote, will soon be deeply entangled with her own. With the delivery of a letter into the hands of postmistress Iris, the fates of these three women become irrevocably linked. But while it remains unopened, can Iris keep its truth at bay? “

This seems to have been around for a while, but it was only released in the UK a few weeks ago. So I consider myself lucky to have picked it up so quickly. And I’m glad that for once that we have the same cover as the US edition – I spotted it from a great distance!

Nimrod’s Shadow by Chris Paling

“Reilly is an impoverished painter who lives alone in a shabby garret, with only his unsold canvases and his faithful dog Nimrod for company. He seems destined to remain in artistic obscurity until he learns that the most influential art critic of the time has begun to notice his talent. But no sooner has he found a patron than the critic is found drowned in a local canal and trail leads directly back to Reilly. From Reilly’s prison cell in Edwardian London to an exclusive gallery in contemporary Soho, the clues that lead to the real murderer lie carefully hidden, until the day when Samantha a young office assistant finds herself drawn to one of Reilly’s pictures and decides to embark upon her own investigation.”

I might have resisted the synopsis,but I couldn’t resist the dog! Briar looks just like that when you say “beach” or “park”. And it’s published by the lovely Portobello Books, which is a very positive sign.

Echoes from the Dead by Johan Theorin

“Can you ever come to terms with a missing child? Julia Davidsson has not. Her five-year-old son disappeared twenty years previously on the Swedish island of Oland. No trace of him has ever been found. Until his shoe arrives in the post. It has been sent to Julia’s father, a retired sea-captain still living on the island. Soon he and Julia are piecing together fragments of the past: fragments that point inexorably to a local man called Nils Kant, known to delight in the pain of others. But Nils Kant died during the 1960s. So who is the stranger seen wandering across the fields as darkness falls? It soon becomes clear that someone wants to stop Julia’s search for the truth. And that he’s much, much closer than she thinks …

I picked up a book by Johan Theorin last week, and discovered later that it was his second and some of the characters had appeared in his first book. I ordered that book in so that I could read them in sequence.

*****

Have you read any of these? What did you think?  Which are you curious to know more about?

And what did you find in the library this week?

See more Library Loot here.

Roseanna by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö

I spotted this set of books on the crime fiction shelves in the library and I had to look more closely. I was intrigued by the numbering, by the twin Swedish names, and I was sure that a couple of the titles rang bells.

I picked up this, the first book, and I discovered that a series of ten books exactly had been planned from the start, by a husband and wife team. That there had been awards,and film adaptations. That back in the early sixties these books changed the genre. They were the first real police procedurals, and they influenced later generations of Swedish crime writers – including Henning Mankell, who provides a fine introduction to this edition.

It’s a mystery with all of the elements built on classic lines.

The body of a young woman is recovered from a lake. She has been strangled.

Detective Inspector Martin Beck is called in, and he and his colleagues begin a painstaking investigation.

They must identify the dead woman, establish how and where she was killed, and then identify her killer.

It’s a slow process, but that works well and makes it easy to appreciate the details of the investigation and the interactions of the police team.

There’s some great dialogue, and some lovely flashes of wry workplace humour.

A picture begins to emerge, the result of steady work, solid deduction and reasoning, and intelligent insight into the psychology of the people involved.

The prose is spare and straightforward, and the mixture of traditional narrative and interview reports is very effective.

At first I was interested, but as the story progressed and the tension built I realised that I was hooked.

I deliberately haven’t said much about the plot. If you like mysteries this is a book you should consider reading, and reading knowing as little as possible.

I will say though that it is very well constructed and that it definitely rings true.

And that it’s interesting as a point in the history of detective fiction as well as being a good book in its own right.

And although the world has changed in the last forty years – modern communications would have had a huge impact on this investigation – this didn’t feel like a period piece. It felt like one of those books with a timeless quality, one of those books that I could simply accept on its own terms.

I’m looking forward to finding out how this series develops.

Translated by Lois Roth

In which Margot says, “Louisa May Alcott?” … and I say,”How Lovely!”

Or, in other words, I am signing up for the All Things Alcott Challenge!

I couldn’t possibly resist. I inherited Little Women from my mother and have loved it all my life. And last year I read Behind a Mask, which was very different and made me want to read more about the author, and more of her work.

The challenge is hosted by Margot at Joyfully Retired.

She was one of the first people I met when I started blogging and I have been keeping an eye on her ever since. And if you haven’t met her yet then it really is time you did. She has a lovely blog reflecting her love of family, books, films, travel … and chickens.

The challenge is simple: take in at least one thing related to Louisa May Alcott before the year ends.

Now what might that be …

I have  heard great things about The Woman Behind Little Women, a biography by Harriet Reisen, and I really must pick up my copy soon.

Eight Cousins and Rose In Bloom are waiting in my Virago bookcase. And I have a copy of An Old Fashioned Girl that I uncovered in a secondhand bookshop quite recently.

I know that the library has a copy of A Long and Fatal Love Chase, and a quick search through the catalogue shows that there is a copy of The Unknown Thrillers of Louisa May Alcott that I can order from reserve stock.

A re-read isn’t out of the question either, and I’m looking forward to discovering new books along the way.

Lots of lovely possibilities!

Sophy Cassmajor by Margery Sharp

“The White Cliffs of Dover moved jerkily by; but their motion was not yet so choppy that Sophy Cassmajor, on the deck of the East Indiaman, could not still stand and watch them. She was seventeen years old, and going out to be married to a particular friend of her uncle’s; but she was not really sad for there were packed in her box eight pots of redcurrant jelly, a delicacy to which she was passionately addicted; and she had never before had so much of it under her hand.”

I was thrilled to find a copy of this 1934 novella by Margery Sharp. And even if her name had been missing I would have known it was her work from that opening paragraph.

A heroine who is not ideally placed, but has a pragmatic streak, and steps firmly forward into her future. And who likes her food! It was quite impossible not to love Sophy.

Impossible too not to be sad that her circumstances were steering her towards an arranged marriage with an older man whose social position required a wife, not to be concerned at Sophy’s calm acceptance. It seemed quite at odds with her nature.

The story opens with Sophy’s last sight of England and closes with her first glimpse of India. And, along the way, she becomes a grown up.

Well, an awful lot happens – almost everything you could think of that might happen on a long ocean voyage.

At first things seemed simple. A classic shipboard adventure and romance. With a dash of humour provided by a mynah bird. Hooray!

But then Margery Sharp sent her heroine in another direction, one that wasn’t quite expected but one that made everything fall into place.

I’ve seen her do it before, yet still I was taken by surprise. She really is such a clever storyteller.

Sophy’s is a charming tale. I was disappointed though that it was novella length. There was enough plot for a novel and that didn’t leave quite enough space to get to know all of the characters. And I missed that because I know Margery Sharp creates such wonderful characters, and I could see so much potential.

But still the story itself  is so beautifully balanced, and its heroine so engaging.

It offers both entertainment and food for thought before reaching a bittersweet conclusion.

More please!

Illustrations by Anna Zinkeisen

Haweswater by Sarah Hall

In the early 1930s the Haweswater Dam was built to help to meet the increasing demand for water in the increasingly industrialised north of England.

And so a valley was flooded. And two villages – Measand and Marsdale Green – were destroyed.

The price of progress is high. Landscapes, communities and homes, all lost.

And Sarah Hall brings all of this back to life, using words oh so beautifully. Images of farming communities, whose lives follow ways established generations ago, are sent against the rising tide of industrialisation, modernisation, and the demands that they bring.

And then there’s the human story, a story that lays bare the emotional consequences of the flooding of the valley.

Sam and Ella Lightburn have both lived there for all their lives. They have two children. A grown daughter, Janet, and a young son, Isaac. The family farm and the surrounding countryside makes up the very fabric of their lives. They know nothing else. They want nothing else.

But change is inevitable.

Jack Liggett is sent by Manchester City Waterworks to supervise the construction of the dam and oversee the evacuation of the valley. He appreciates the countryside and the community that he is come to, but he cannot save them.

And so the stage is set.

The characters are lightly painted, but it is enough. It is the emotions that are important, and they are vivid and utterly real.

Janet, young, headstrong and desperate to save her home, is drawn to Jack, who must destroy it. A relationship grows, and deepens as the water levels rise and villagers begin to leave their homes.

It is quite impossible not to be entranced by the story that unfolds.

But it is clear from the start that this is a tragedy, and the building of the dam would have consequences that were utterly heartbreaking.

But there was a glimmer of hope - and a new local legend was born.

It is rare to find such wonderful images created and such wonderful storytelling inside a single book.

Haweswater really is an extraordinarily accomplished debut novel.

******

And thank you Laura for inspiring me to pull this one off the shelf.

Library Loot

Eva is coordinating Library Loot this week.

I’m still trying to be moderate. My own books are calling. Loudly. But three very different books had to come home this week.

First there was the award winning crime novel:

The Darkest Room by Johan Theorin

” It is bitter mid-winter on the Swedish island of Oland, and Katrine and Joakim Westin have moved with their children to the boarded-up manor house at Eel Point. But their remote idyll is soon shattered when Katrine is found drowned off the rocks nearby. As Joakim struggles to keep his sanity in the wake of the tragedy, the old house begins to exert a strange hold over him. Joakim has never been in the least superstitious, but from where are those whispering noises coming? To whom does his daughter call out in the night? And why is the barn door for ever ajar? As the end of the year approaches, and the infamous winter storm moves in across Oland, Joakim begins to fear that the most spine-chilling story he’s heard about Eel Point might indeed be true: that every Christmas the dead return….”

I’m enjoying my journey through the Orange Prize longlist but I wanted a change, to bring home something completely different. And this one caught my eye. Winner of the Glass Key Award for the Best Nordic Crime Novel of the Year. Now there are a lot of great Nordic crime novels around at the moment, so surely to win this must have been pretty good.

Then there was the book of the shortlist for the Orange Award for New Writers that I just had to order:

The Boy Next Door by Irene Sabatini

“As Zimbabwe breaks free of British colonial rule, young Lindiwe Bishop encounters violence at close hand when her white neighbour is murdered. But this is a domestic crime, apparently committed by the woman’s stepson, Ian, although he is released from prison surprisingly quickly. Intrigued, Lindiwe strikes up a covert friendship with the mysterious boy next door, until he abruptly departs for South Africa. Years later, Ian returns to find Lindiwe has been hiding her own secret. It is to bring them closer together, but also test a relationship already contending with racial prejudice and the hostility of Lindiwe’s mother. And as their country slides towards chaos, the couple’s grip on happiness becomes ever more precarious.”

I was curious when I saw this on the shortlist and so I ordered a copy. I’ve only read one chapter in but I’m impressed – Lindiwe is an engaging narrator and the story looks very promising.

And, finally, there’s the book that caught my eye on the new books shelf:

Diamond Star Halo by Tiffany Murray

“Halo Llewelyn’s prayers begin, Dear God and Otis Redding, because she lives at Rockfarm, a rural recording studio where the sound of tractors and Stratocasters battle. One midsummer night an American band called Tequila arrives in a beautiful silver bus, and when they and that summer are gone, they leave behind an equally beautiful baby boy; they leave Fred. Fred is everybody’s favourite, a golden child, and Halo adores him. By seventeen his ambition has propelled him out into the word and into the stardom that was always his destiny. Yet up on stage, being screamed at by hundred of teenage girls and boys, Fred will always turn his spotlight on Halo in the crowd. That’s the problem with falling in love with your charismatic almost-brother: it can never be a secret. In the end, the whole world has to know.”

This looked so different that, although I wasn’t sure it was going to be my sort of book, I had to pick it up. I’m still not sure but when I saw the quote “Cider With Rosie with an impeccable soundtrack” from Mark Radcliffe on the cover I knew that I had to give it a try. And it’s published by Portobello Books, which is a very good sign.

*****

Have you read any of these? What did you think? Which are you curious to know more about?

And what did you find in the library this week?

This Is How by M J Hyland

This is Now is not the sort of book I usually read. But it was longlisted for the Orange Prize, it was highly lauded, and my library had a copy. It seemed to be time to step of my comfort zone. And I’m very glad that I did.

The story opens with Patrick Oxtoby  in his early 20s. He dropped out of university to become a mechanic, a disappointment to his family.

And then his fiancée deserted him. He decided to make a change. He found a new job in a seaside town and lodgings in a boarding house owned by a young widow where two other men are already in residence.

Soon it becomes clear that something is not right. Patrick is socially inept and he has absolutely no empathy with anyone else. He wants to fit in, but he doesn’t know how.

It could be depression. It could be that he falls somewhere on the autistic spectrum. Or it could be that he is a psychopath.

Patrick tells this story in the first person. Simply and clearly, reporting conversations, facts, events. It may not seem gripping but it is, it really is.

Some things go well for Patrick. He begins a tentative relationship with a barmaid, he socialises with his fellow lodgers, he gets on friendly terms with his landlady.

But things go wrong too. His equilibrium is disturbed by an unexpected visit from his mother. There isn’t enough work to occupy him and he has time on his hands. And everyone else seems to have their own life, things to do. Patrick doesn’t.

And Patrick can’t cope with things going wrong. Small things begin to annoy him. And that leads him to an extraordinary act.

It would be unfair to say exactly what happens, but it redefines Patrick’s life. He is more constrained, but in a strange way he is less troubled, and more able to cope.

I’m struggling to explain why this book works so well.

The prose is sparse, and yet it conveys everything that you need to know. And draws you into Patrick’s life. You see the world through the eyes of somebody you wouldn’t have noticed, wouldn’t have given a thought to otherwise. And you see things that you don’t expect to see, in life or in fiction.

It isn’t faultless. There are inconsistencies, there are some strange moments. But I was so gripped by the story that I didn’t want to stop. And there were far more things that were caught quite perfectly.

This is a book that will stay with me long after it goes back to the library.

A dark and dazzling piece of writing.

Savage Lands by Clare Clark

Oh, what a maddening book!

The premise sounded wonderful when I discovered it on the longlist for the Orange Prize.

In 1704 a few hundred men were struggling to maintain a colony in Louisiana. Young women were sent from France to join them. To support them as their wives, to raise children and build a community.

One of them was Elizabeth Savaret, an orphan who had been raised by an aunt and uncle. Because it was their duty. She had little chance of finding a husband at home, but the New World held alluring possibilities.

And so the stage was set. An endearing heroine – who thinned out the linen in her trunk to make room for books – and masses of story potential.

Sure enough Elizabeth was quickly married, and passionately in love with her husband. How did they meet, what drew them together, how did their relationship grow. I haven’t the slightest idea!

And that was my problem with this book.

So many crucial moments, in fact all of the major turning points of Elizabeth life were passed over. The story showed me Elizabeth’s life, but I couldn’t get to the heart of it.

I wanted to. She was an interesting character. She grew into a strong, independent woman, but a woman who was often blinded by her almost obsessive devotion to her husband.

He would let her down. Badly. And that would change the course of her life.

A ship’s boy who arrived in Louisiana at the same time as Elizabeth crossed paths with Elizabeth and her husband more than once. Their destinies were linked. And another young Frenchwoman, who travelled along the same path as Elizabeth some years after, would also play a pivotal role.

Yes, the story was well constructed and well written.

Louisiana and life in the colony was very well evoked, with lots of telling details.

If only Elizabeth’s heart and mind had been better illuminated, if only the people around her had been drawn with just a little more detail, this could have been an enthralling historical novel.

Instead though it was maddening!

Orange Prize: the Shortlist for 2010

Last night I decided to try to predict the shortlist for this year’s Orange Prize. I’ve read a few of the books, I’ve got more lined up and I’ve read lots of posts about this year’s books.

So here’s what I came up with:

I was surprised not to see This is How or Hearts and Minds on the list – both have been so widely praised.

The Still Point and The Way Things Look to Me were both books I’m reading and enjoying and worked well to make what I thought was a nicely balanced list. But not on the real list.

And I was right about The White Woman on a Green Bicycle and The Lacuna.

Two out of six. Ah well.

So now, here’s the real list that was announced this morning:

Did I mention that I was right about The White Woman on a Green Bicycle and The Lacuna?!

The Very Thought of You I didn’t expect but I’m delighted to see. It looks lovely and I really must get to my copy soon.

I’m pleased to see Black Water Rising too. It’s not your typical Orange prize book, and I’ve read a couple of great posts about it in the last few days.

A Gate at the Stairs was a surprise. I’ve not read much about it, but I’m prepared to give it a try.

And maybe I should have predicted Wolf Hall. I did like it, but I don’t see it as a double-prize winner and so I was inclined to drop it at this stage.

I can’t say if it’s a good list, because I’ve only read one of the books so far, but it is an interesting one.

What do you think?

Results on 9th June.