Sunday, September 05, 2021

Six Degrees of Separation: Second Place to The Kitchen Child

Welcome to this month's edition of Six Degrees of Separation, which is a monthly meme hosted by Kate from Books Are My Favourite and Best.  The idea is to start with a specific book and make a series of links from one book to the next using whatever link you can find and see where you end up after six links.  I am also linking this post up with The Sunday Salon, hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.





This month, the book that Kate has chosen as the starting point is Second Place by Rachel Cusk who I am plannning to watch in one of the online sessions at Melbourne Writers Festival (MWF) this weekend.





Another author that I  have seen at MWF is Sarah Dunant. At the time she was talking about her book Blood & Beauty which is about Lucrezia Borgia. One of the talks I attended was also addressed by an art specialist who talked about some of the symbolism in a painting.





I do have a lot of books that I have read which talk about art and history. I ended up choosing Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland which traces the various owners of a particular painting back through time. (review)





The Riviera House by Natasha Lester is a new release that I read last week which focuses on art that was stolen from owners during World War II, in particular a painting that is owned by one of the main characters in current times. I am planning on posting a review of this book in the next week or so.





As I mentioned I could just do a whole 6 Degrees post on historical fiction books that I have read about art through history. Maybe another time. For today I am linking to Mr Rosenblums List by Natasha Solomons, a book that I read and loved years ago.





There isn't really a logical link between Mr Rosenblums list and my choice, Major Pettigrews Last Stand by Helen Simonson. In my mind though, they are books that seem to have a similar feel, and I think I read them relatively closely together. I just checked my list and there was two months difference. (review)




My final link is actually to a short story called The Kitchen Child by Angela Carter. I chose it because it is read by Helen Simpson (sounds similar to Helen Simionson)  as part of a series that was original released by The Guardian around 10 years. If you have twenty minutes spare, I did listen to this story again as I wrote this post and it was still delightful. (review)



The starting point for next month is The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, and I already know what my first link is!!



32 comments:

  1. Lovely chain. I look forward to hearing your opinion of The Riviera House.

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  2. Cusk's session at MWF is the reason that I quickly started reading Second Place (and I'm also reading Nunez at the moment for the same reason). Looking forward to those sessions.

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    1. I need to finish listening to her session and the other one that I booked!

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  3. Lovely chain! I really liked the covers of your chain, especially Mister Roesenblum's List. The book also sounds interesting.

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  4. Sarah Dunant is an interesting author. I've read and enjoyed her 'art' fiction, but did not enjoy her contemporary novels at all.

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    1. I have only read her historical art fiction. Haven't read any of her contemporary novels and don't really intend to!

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  5. That's a very different cover from the usual style for Sarah Dunant. I wonder if the book is very different too? What a great idea fo a chain though, linking books and art. The Lester and the Vreeland sound particularly interesting

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    1. I really like Susan Vreeland's books Margaret.

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  6. It's been ages since I last did the Six Degrees of Separation meme. Maybe I will try to join in next month. I love the way you connected the books this month. I must check out The Riviera House. Have a great week!

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  7. Some interesting books here, especially The Riviera House. I'm looking forward to reading that one.

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  8. Great chain! I would love to see a full chain of historical fiction books, so don't hold back ;-)

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    1. There are always some historical fiction books in my chains stargazer!

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  9. Great list of books.l I want to read The Riviera House. It looks great. Hope you have a great week!

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  10. I had the pleasure of a workshop with Sarah Dunant and she is so enthusiastic and imaginative, absolutely love her!

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  11. What a clever way to approach this month's starter book (one with which I struggled). The search for art stolen during the war reminded me of Sarah Winman's wonderful Still Life, which I recently listened to on BBC Sounds, and which is defintely one of my favourite books of the year so far - so the Riviera House interests me too - and what an evocative cover it has.

    I read Major Pettigrew years ago and enjoyed it very much. I have had one of Sarah Dunant's crime novels on my shelves for a very long time - I think it is Fatlands; your mention of her here led me to look her up on wikipedia, and what an interesting career she has had. I think I should get that novel down and read it at last.

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    1. That first link is always the key in getting going for this meme I think! It really determines the direction of the chain! Still Life sounds interesting. Thanks for mentioning it.

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  12. Interesting chain. I'm not familiar with any of these...though Major Pettigrew evokes a vague recollection. Cheers!

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  13. I'm eager to hear what you think about the Melbourne Writers Festival this year. I'd love to hear Rachel Cusk speak. The Riviera House sounds intriguing. And I'd love to read Mr. Rosenblum's List.

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    1. I loved that book when I read it 10 years ago Deb!

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  14. I haven't read any of those books. I love the covers of the last 3.

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  15. Replies
    1. There are so many possibilities for stories to be discovered and told Emma!

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