Kathy Hamilton I totally forgot to write my mini book review round up last month! But that’s okay, because I’m bringing you a bumper What I Read in March and April edition today! It’s been a diverse couple of months in terms of reading, from classics to contemporary and everything in between.
Emma by Jane Austen
Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, rich – and fiercely independent – is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of others. But when she ignores the advice of her good friend Mr Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her pretty, naive Harriet Smith, her well-laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected.
After reading series of contemporary and short books in January and February I was itching to read a classic. There’s just something I love about classics, maybe it’s because they tend to be longer and so you get to spend more time with them?
This was my first time actually finishing Emma. I know that general consenus paints it as Jane Austen’s most accomplished book but I’ve struggled with it in the past (I wrote more about that here). However, I have to admit that I enjoyed reading the whole book. I think Emma grows on you the more you read and I did enjoy the bigger scope, i.e. more time spent with different characters. Overall, a satisfying Classic read and one that I spend most of March with!
A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Bakman
At first sight, Ove is almost certainly the grumpiest man you will ever meet. He thinks himself surrounded by idiots – neighbours who can’t reverse a trailer properly, joggers, shop assistants who talk in code.But isn’t it rare, these days, to find such old-fashioned clarity of belief and deed? Such unswerving conviction about what the world should be, and a lifelong dedication to making it just so? In the end, you will see, there is something about Ove that is quite irresistible…
This is the second book by Fredrick Bakman that I’ve read. The first being Britt Marie Was Here. Fredrick Bakman’s real skill is his ability to create a community of characters. I have to say, he really knows what he’s doing! The running theme in both books I’ve read by him is community and how people can enhance your life. Ove is isolated (partly by choice, partly by circumstance) but through a series of events becomes an integral part of the community and gains a family of sorts. It’s a lovely, heartwarming read and one of the only books to make me weep in a long time.
Madame De by Louise de Vilmorin
An elegant fable for the modern age, Louise de Vilmorin’s novella Madame de is a poignant tale of honour, deception and fate. This is the story of Madame de -‘s earrings. It is a story of jewellery, of love, of denial, of pain, of delight, of society, that has the simplicity of a fairy tale, the elegance of an eighteenth century roman-a-clef and the particular echoing loneliness that is a phenomenon of the twentieth century: the circle of deceit that society allows proves fatal to the honesty of intense passion.
I had never hear of this book or its author before I spotted this beautiful edition in a charity shop. This is how it ended up in What I Read in March and April! It was a bittersweet read, but one that left me more than intrigued. After I researched Louise de Volmorin I discovered her own life more than resembled the plot of this book which added to it’s poignancy. Married to a Hungarian count, her lovers included Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Orson Welles and Andre Malraux. But it was Duff Cooper, British Ambassador to France, during the 1940s, who was the love of her life, and the translator of this novella.
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
Mrs Wilkins and Mrs Arbuthnot, cowed and neglected by their husbands, make a daring plan: they will have a holiday. Leaving a drab and rainy London one April and arriving on the shores of the Mediterranean, they discover a flower-filled paradise of beauty, warmth and leisure. Joined by the beautiful Lady Caroline and domineering Mrs Fisher, also in flight from the burdens of their daily lives, the four women proceed to transform themselves and their prospects.
Enchanting really is the best word to describe this book! Of all the books her on What I Read in March and April, this is the standout. It even moved me to write a full review (so you know it’s special!) On the surface it’s a novel about so little, four women on an impromptu holiday. But the beauty of life is, as always, what simmers beneath the surface of each character. I read this for a read along on Bookstagram and I’m so glad I did. I was a rejuvenating read.
Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss
Teenage Silvie and her parents are living in a hut in Northumberland as an exercise in experimental archaeology. Her father is a difficult man, obsessed with imagining and enacting the harshness of Iron Age life. Haunting Silvie’s narrative is the story of a bog girl, a young woman sacrificed by those closest to her, and the landscape both keeps and reveals the secrets of past violence and ritual as the summer builds to its harrowing climax.
From the fat to the fire as they say! Next on What I Read in March and April is the curious, unsettling Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss. It was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, which is how it caught my attention. For such a small book, it packs a punch covering themes such as Feminism, Classism, and Nationalism. Critics are calling it a “Brexit Book” and I can see why. Using one man’s fascination with an imagined ancient past, Sarah Moss deftly erodes our assumptions about what nationalism really means. It’s also a reminder about how, deep down, human motivations remain unchanged, the only difference is how we act on them.
A Year of Marvellous Ways by Sarah Winman
Marvellous Ways is eighty-nine years old and has lived alone in a remote Cornish creek for nearly all her life. Lately she’s taken to spending her days sitting on a mooring stone by the river with a telescope. She’s waiting for something – she’s not sure what, but she’ll know it when she sees it. Drake is a young soldier left reeling by the Second World War. When his promise to fulfil a dying man’s last wish sees him wash up in Marvellous’ creek, broken in body and spirit, the old woman comes to his aid.
We’ve reached the final book in what I read in March and April! I was given this book to read by a friend and it’s not something I would have picked up otherwise. After reading so many heavy books in March and April I struggled to get into this one a little as it felt light in comparison. However, I kept going and I’m glad. It’s a life-affirming story about the magic of life and how we learn to continue despite grief.
That Rounds Up What I Read in March and April 2019
Did you have a good reading month? I sort of fell off the wagon a bit towards the end of April, definitely feeling a little bit of book burnout. I’ve been reading roughly one book a week since January for my reading challenge and I started to feel a little uninspired last month. All that to say, I’d love to get some recommendations from you – what books have you loved recently?
Oh yes! Did you know I have a dedicated book account on Instagram? I share what I’m reading, along with other book related posts. If you enjoy these monthly posts, I’d love to see you over there. You can follow me @female_scriblerian.
