Six Degrees of Separation: Life of M to Champagne Widows

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 and A Good Book and a Cup of Tea hosted at Boondock Ramblings.

This month, the starting point if Life of M by Rachel Cusk. At first, I wasn't sure I had any ideas ono where to start with my first link. In the end though, I did three different chains with different ideas for each starting point, but eventually had to pick one and go with it.

My first link uses the initial M being part of the title as the connection. The Unselected Diaries of Emma M Lion Vol. 1 by Beth Brower is a book that I am desperate to read. I have downloaded the audio but just need to finish my current audio book before I can start it. I also have it requested it from the library but I am in the queue. I may still end up just buying the ebook so I can read it but I do have two books on the go already.

My next link is to Emma by Kaoru Mori which is the first book in a graphic novel series set in Victorian England. Whilst I have been read quite a few Japanese books over the last few years I had forgotten that I was reading this series more than 15 years ago!

Another first book in a graphic novel series that I was reading around 14 years ago is Fables: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham. This series feature many familiar fairy tale characters like Cinderella, Prince Charming who come to live in our modern world.

Good Spirits by B K Borison features a Ghost of Christmas Past who also finds himself living in our modern world where he is meant to be haunting a woman

I am going to take the word spirit and use it in a different context. A good spirit is whisky, so my next choice is The Whisky Widow by Karen Brooks, which tells the story of a woman trying to make her way in 18th century Scotland.

I was going to use the word widow as my next length and then I was pleased to see that Champagne Widows: First Woman of Champagne, Veuve Clicquot by Rebecca Rosenberg shares both the word and a form of alcohol in the title!

Next month, the starting point is to start with a novella that's on your reading list, in recognition of Novellas in November. Hmmm. Might have to start with a very short book LOL

Spell the Month in Books: November

 

Reviews From the Stacks

For 2025 I have decided to have a go at Spell the Month in Books which is hosted at Reviews From the Stacks. The link party opens on the first Saturday of the month, but I won't be posting until after that as I already have other things scheduled every Saturday and for the first two Sundays of the month. I will be sharing this post with Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz.

The idea is that you use the titles of books to spell the month name. The theme for November is Nostalgia so I am going to use books that I read more than 10 years ago. Quite a few of them have brought back memories for me. Let's get started!

N - Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss - I don't read much fantasy these days, but I adored this book when I first read it! And then I was super eager for the second book which I liked, and super eager for the third book.....which has never arrived and I don't think it ever will.

O - One for the Money by Janet Evanovich - I thought the early books of the Stephanie Plum series were absolutely hilarious. I remember laughing until I cried in the middle of the night at the antics. Then, as the series went on, they were less hilarious and more silly. I finally gave up reading them at book 19. 

V - Virgin River by Robyn Carr - I loved the series so much I read the series, which at the time was 18 books long, and then reread half the series again. I can't think of another author I have done that with. Despite that, I still haven't read the last book in the series which came out 8 years later. (My post about the series)

E - Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell - I loved this book so much!(My review)

M - Me Before You by Jojo Moyes - I used to cry a lot at books, but this is one that I remember ugly, ugly crying at it. It was so good! There's supposed to be a movie coming out of the follow up book soon too! (My joint review)

B - Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant - I used to read a lot more Medieval and Renaissance books than I do these days. This was a good one!

E - Emma (Vol 1) by Kaoru Mori - Influenced by other bloggers at the time, I was reading two graphic novels series, although I guess this one is more technically manga. One was the Fables series by Bill Willingham and this was the other series. (My review)

R - The Red Tent by Anita Diamant - My review of this book was one of the first I ever wrote.

The theme for December is Giftable!

Emma Vol 4 by Kaoru Mori

Secrets are revealed when Emma makes a return visit to London

Behind William's upstanding exterior, he is still despondent over losing Emma. His sister's friend Eleanor is doing everything she can to insinuate herself into his life - perhaps on a permanent basis! As for Emma, she is on her way back to London to accompany the mysterious Mrs. Trollop to an important social event - an event that holds some shocking surprises!

Emma and William are separated by their different social positions, by circumstance, and by distance, as they were for most of the last book. William is still in London, and is still seen as a very eligible young gentleman. He is also the target of one young woman's desire. Eleanor is a friend of William's sister, and she is determined to catch William's eye but he is relatively oblivious to her intentions.

I loved the glimpses we get of various aspects of Victorian life in these books. For example, in this book William and Eleanor go to the opera, and she declares her feelings. The next day, her firebrand sister takes matters into her own hands, and challenges William regarding his intentions for Eleanor and being above all honourable, William does what is expected of him.

Meanwhile, Emma is still working at a house in the country, that is until she is chosen to accompany her mistress to London. When in London, she finds herself attending a party in the capacity of companion to a friend of her mistress, not realising just what event the party is a celebration for. Of course, she cannot attend a high society party in her uniform, so she is given a makeover.

The scene is set for Emma and William to meet again. I have to say the anguish in the last few pages of this bookwas jumping off the page! I can't wait to read the next book in this series!

One thing I was a little surprised by in this book was that there was an introduction of a little nudity into the story. Because this is the fourth book in the series that I have read, and there has been no sign of that before, it was a bit of a shock when I turned the page and saw it. It is not overwhelming or even all that out of place. Just surprising!

Another really good entry into this series. Despite the fact that I the last two books I have read have been graphic novels, I wouldn't particularly say I read a lot of them. When this series finishes, I will have to try and find another accessible manga series to read.


Rating 4/5

You can read my mini-reviews of the first three books in this series here.

Alphabet in Historical Fiction: Emma series by Kaoru Mori

The Alphabet in Historical Fiction challenge being hosted by Historical Tapestry continues and this time I want to focus on a manga series that is set in Victorian England - the Emma series by Kaoru Mori. So far I have read three of the books in this series, so I thought I would do mini reviews of those three books.

I have read very little manga, but when I heard about this series, I was interested enough to give it a go, mainly because it was a way of being introduced to manga but without going too far out of my comfort zone given the historical setting.

One of the interesting things about this series is that in a way it seems to be a series of entertaining vignettes within an apparently slow moving storyline, and yet there is humour, there are historical details and there are  amazing images that convey a very colourful storyline, all in black and white. The class distinctions between our two main characters might not always at the very forefront of the storyline, but it is always bubbling away in the background, none more so when the two characters are portrayed in their own individual environments.

The characters are all visually appealing and very much fit into the setting of the novels, without losing the 'manga' style.

I have only read the first three in the series so far, but I have every intention of reading more. Below are the covers and synopses, and just a couple of highlights from each novel that I have read.




An upstairs gentlemen and a downstairs servant share a secret love.

The saga begins. In Victorian England, a young girl named Emma is rescued from a life of destitution and raised to become a proper British maid. When she meets William, the eldest son of a wealthy family, their love seems destined. But in this world, even matters of the heart are ruled by class distinctions.
Emma is the maid to the former school teacher of a young gentleman, William. They meet when he comes to visit his former teacher, and there is an immediate attraction. Like the setting, the courtship such as it is, is very understated and gradual, that is until William's friend arrives from the continent complete with his entourage of dancers and elephants, and he too is attracted to Emma.

London's elite society places great importance on class differences, unlike William Jones. He regards Emma as a beautiful, charming young woman and not merely a servant. After their first real date, things seem to be going in a positive direction for them. But the leisurely pace of the growing relationship between them ends suddenly when disaster strikes at home.

Whilst in the previous book, the class differences between the two characters were present, it is in this book that the consequences of going against societal norms come to the fore.

A chance meeting leads Emma to a new situation ... and new challenges

One the train back to her hometown, Emma meets Tasha, a maid working at a wealthy family's mansion in the country. This fateful encounter leads leads to Emma finding employment with the family as well. But despite her years of experience as a maid for Mrs Stownar, living in a mansion filled with servants is something for which she is not prepared.

Circumstances have changed for Emma,and it is only as a result of a fortuitous meeting on a train that Emma finds herself employed in a large house, part of a large group of household servants, and that we therefore get to see more of life downstairs, including a really fun scene where the servants get to celebrate with a party.

Meanwhile William is trying his hardest to meet his family's expectations.

Here are the remaining covers from the original series. There have now also been a further 3 books released which tell the background stories of some of the secondary characters.

For other opinions on this series check out the following links. A couple of them includes some examples of the art.


Things Mean a Lot
In Spring it is the Dawn
Bold. Blue. Adventure
The Written World

The third volume also counts as my read for the Year of the Historical Challenge.