This has been on my TBR list for several years, so I thought it was about time I read it. It was written in 1898, but not published until 1916, one of the short stories in Xingu and Other Stories, set in a working class neighbourhood in New York.
In the days when New York’s traffic moved at the pace of the drooping horse-car, when society applauded Christine Nilsson at the Academy of music and basked in the sunsets of the Hudson River School on the walls of the National Academy of Design, an inconspicuous shop with a single show-window was intimately and favourably known to the feminine population of the quarter bordering on Stuyvesant Square.
It was a very small shop in a shabby basement, in a side-street already doomed to decline; and from the miscellaneous display behind the window-pane and the brevity of the sign surmounting it (merely ‘Bunner Sisters’ in blotchy gold on a black background) it would have been difficult for the uninitiated to guess the precise nature of the business carried on within. (page 1)
As the title indicates it’s about two sisters, Ann Eliza the elder, and Evelina the younger, who have a small shop selling artificial flowers and small handsewn articles. The sisters, both unmarried, have fallen on hard times.They meet Herbert Ramy, a German immigrant who also has a small shop, when Ann Eliza buys a clock from him as a birthday present for Evalina.
This is a sad tale, very readable and very descriptive. The characters are memorable, well drawn and are clearly distinguishable. Their lives are mainly filled with daily routine. But there’s a growing sense of foreboding and mystery, especially surrounding Ramy. As he gradually becomes an important part of their lives, the sadness becomes overwhelming, eventually turning into tragedy.
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. For the rules see her blog.
I wasn’t sure I could take part this week because I don’t really write personal posts, but I found the following posts that give a few glimpses of me and my life.
Blog Anniversary 12 April 2015! written for the 8th anniversary of BooksPlease, about starting my blog and my love of reading.
Here are some of the things that have influenced my reading
Libraries have always been important in my life – this post contains some of my library memories
I love cooking – This post is one of my Weekend Cooking posts about StrawberryMeringue Layer Cake.
I love history -reading both history books and historical fiction, visiting historic buildings, castles, cathedrals, and National Trust properties. This post combines my love of history with cross-stitching.
I’ve written a few posts about my family. This one is about my grandmother, my father’s mother.
I love cats as well as books. Here is one of the posts I’ve written about George one of the cats we have had.
Random House UK| 22 August 2024 | 335 pages|e-book |Review copy| 2*
Description:
Ex-detective Jackson Brodie is staving off a bad case of midlife malaise when he is called to a sleepy Yorkshire town, and the seemingly tedious matter of a stolen painting. But one theft leads to another, including the disappearance of a valuable Turner from Burton Makepeace, home to Lady Milton and her family. Once a magnificent country house, Burton Makepeace has now partially been converted into a hotel, hosting Murder Mystery weekends. As paying guests, a vicar, an ex-army officer, impecunious aristocrats, and old friends converge, we are treated a fiendishly clever mystery; one that pays homage to the masters of the genre―from Agatha Christie to Dorothy Sayers.
My thoughts:
Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson begins so well I thought that I was in for a treat. But sadly, as I read on I was disappointed. I was looking forward to reading more about Jackson Brodie, but he only has a minor role. It is amusing in parts. But there are so many other characters, and the story became far too long winded, the narrative jumping around from one set of characters to another, and then another, which made it confusing. The ending was just pure farce, which I’ve never liked, pushing it into the absurd.
Looking back at some of Kate Atkinson’s other books I’ve read I see I had the same reaction to her previous book, Shrines of Gaiety. My favourite books by her are Life After Life and A God in Ruins, both of which I loved.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my review copy.
It’s that time of year when real life kicks in, interrupting blogging. There’s the gardening to do and time for a break from blogging for a while – back towards the end of August.
Hope you all have a happy summer, or winter if you’re in the southern hemisphere. As Christopher Robin would write:
Spell the Month in Books is a linkup hosted by Jana on Reviews From the Stackson the first Saturday of each month. The goal is to spell the current month with the first letter of book titles, excluding articles such as ‘the’ and ‘a’ as needed. That’s all there is to it! Some months there are optional theme challenges, such as “books with an orange cover” or books of a particular genre, but for the most part, any book you want to use is fair game!
The optional theme this month is Water. These books all have water on the covers
A is for The Art of Drowning by Frances Fyfield, a very edgy and tense crime thriller.
Rachel Doe is a shy accountant at a low ebb in life when she meets charismatic Ivy Schneider, nee Wiseman, at her evening class and her life changes for the better. Ivy is her polar oppositte: strong, six years her senior and the romantic survivor of drug addiction, homelessness and the death of her child. Ivy does menial shift work, beholden to no one, and she inspires life; as do her farming parents, with their ramshackle house and its swan- filled lake, the lake where Ivy’s daughter drowned. As Rachel grows closer to them all she learns how Ivy came to be married to Carl, the son of a WWII prisoner, as well as the true nature of that marriage to a bullying and ambitious lawyer who has become a judge and who denies her access to her surviving child. Rachel wants justice for Ivy, but Ivy has another agenda and Rachel’s naive sense of fair play is no match for the manipulative qualities in the Wisemen women. (Goodreads)
U is for Undercurrent by Barney Norris, a moving and intimate portrait of love, of life and why we choose to share ours with the people we do.
The main story centres around Ed and his immediate family, but the narrative also includes the stories of his grandparents and great grandparents. He had a troubled childhood, living on a farm in Wales with his mother, stepfather and stepsister, Rachel. When he was ten At the age of 10 in an almost accidental moment of heroism, he saved Amy from drowning. Years later when he meets Amy again by chance they form a relationship. But then tragedy overtakes him, and Ed must decide whether to let history and duty define his life, or whether he should push against the tide and write his own story.
George Gently is called in to investigate a murder in Starmouth, a British seaside holiday resort. An unidentified body was found on the beach. The victim was naked, punctured with stab wounds. It was first published in 1956 and reflects that period of time. Gently smokes a pipe and puffs his way through the investigation often in a haze of smoke when questioning suspects who also smoke. And it has a very ‘English’ feel about it. The fifties were also the period where the death sentence was still in force and Gently and the main suspect discuss the ethics of killing comparing a hired killer with the hangman.
U is for The Unquiet Dead by Ausma Zehanat Khan, a powerful and thought provoking story.
When Christopher Drayton’s body is found at the foot of the Scarborough Bluffs, Detectives Esa Khattak and Rachel Getty are called to investigate his death. But as the secrets of his role in the 1995 Srebrenica Massacre surface, the harrowing significance of the case makes it difficult to remain objective. In a community haunted by the atrocities of war, anyone could be a suspect. And when the victim is a man with far more deaths to his name, could it be that justice has at long last been served?
S is for The Seagull by Ann Cleeves, crime fiction, set in Northumberland.
In Ann Cleeves’ eighth novel in her Vera Stanhope series Vera investigates a cold case involving her late father, Hector. he had been one of a ‘Gang of Four’, who had traded in rare birds’ eggs and sold raptors from the wild for considerable sums. Was he also involved in the Gang’s illegal activities? At the same time Vera and her team, Joe, Charlie and Holly – Vera’s own ‘gang of four’ – investigate a present day murder that looks very much as though it links in with their cold case. I enjoy watching Vera on TV, but I enjoy the books even more.
T is for Turn of the Tide by Margaret Skea, crime fiction set in 16th century Scotland.
This is historical fiction and it captivated me completely transporting me back in time to 16th century Scotland. If you have ever wondered, as I have, what it must have been like to live in a Tower House in the Scottish Borders then this book spells it out so clearly. And it puts you firmly in the middle of the centuries old feud between the Cunninghames and the Montgomeries, with all the drama of their battles, ambushes and schemes to further their standing with the young King James VI. It’s a tale of love, loyalty, tragedy and betrayal.
The next link up will be on September 7, 2024 when the optional theme will be Back to School.
BooksPlease 