The House at Tyneford Readalong - Week 2

This week as part of the House of Tyneford readalong we read chapters 10 to 15 and now we are around half way through the book! I am enjoying it a lot and find it difficult not to race through to the end. Then again, I have that trouble with a lot of readalongs!

Our host, Carrie, hasn't actually set questions for us to discuss this week. She has looked at a few of the characters and prompted us to post about our thoughts on this section. What I wanted to focus on was the writing, and the fact that it is Tuesday suggests that I could do a Teaser and the Teaser will have a Bookish Quote feel to it too! I do love multi-tasking blog posts!

Last week, I mentioned that I had read and enjoyed Natasha Solomons' previous book and so I already knew that I really liked her writing. That doesn't mean that I didn't find myself rereading small sections of the book because I just loved the way that the author was bring the scene to life.

There were a few sections in particular where the author caught my attention. One I don't want to say too much about because there is a charm and sense of fun about the scene that I wouldn't want to spoil. I will say, for the benefit of those who either have read the book or are participating in the readalong, that it was the scene involving fish and the whole village! It was funny and festive, and really indicative of the inclusiveness of the lives of everyone who lives at Tyneford. Given that we know that there are some challenges coming for the village as a whole, I think this was a really good way to show the cohesiveness that crosses the social hierarchy.

The section that I have chosen to quote from has a different tone completely but I was moved, and I loved the final line. To set a bit of context, there has just been a big, emotional confrontation and so Elise, the Austrian Jewess who has come to Tyneford to work as a maid, flees to the library. The author that she mentions below, Julian, is her father, Anna is her mother and Margot her sister.

I padded through the silent hall and into the library. I scanned the bookshelves and, finding what I wanted, reached up and drew down The Spinsters' Diary by Julian Landau, before creeping into the drawing room. The curtains were open and the moon filled the room with cold light, bright enough to read by. I sat cross-legged on the floor, the book open on my lap. It was not my favourite of Julian's novels and Anna actively disliked it, complaining it was unkind. That was why I wanted it with me tonight. With this book in my hands, I could hear my parents row. The three virgin spinsters were the great-aunts. Julian described them in cruel detail, down to the single hair sprouting from the round mole on Gretta's chin. Only in the book she was called Gertrude. Julian insisted that the aunts were transformed by fiction and Gretta, Gerda and Gabrielle (real life) had nothing to do with Gertrude, Grunhilda and Griselda (novel). Anna and the aunts remained unconvinced. When Julian attempted to justify himself over coffee and sachertorte, Gretta grumbled that she did not wish for her wart to be immortalised for eternity. After the aunts withdrew, dignity wounded, a fight echoed through the apartment. To Margot's and my tremendous delight, Anna threw a series of Meissen plates at Julian. We cheered her on from round the nursery door, wondering if she'd succeed in hitting and killing him - "Do you think we shall be orphans? Will Mama wear lipstick in prison?" It was terribly thrilling.

I had understood Anna and the aunts' fury - they were not angered by Julian's lies but by his honesty. He ought not to have stolen from life, but tonight I was grateful he had. As I shivered on the floor in the drawing room of an English country house a thousand miles from Vienna, I could see my aunts in the pages of the book. They smiled up at me, offering me sugar biscuits and grumbling over the supercilious waiters at cafe Sperl. I have no photographs of the aunts, and so they seem almost characters from a children's story - a clutch of creased fairy godmothers, fond of linzertorte and nieces - not quite belonging to the modern world. Yet they are preserved between the pages of Julian's novel like the crushed wings of a butterfly.

I suspect that Elise is destined for heartbreak in more ways than one in the upcoming section and that life at Tyneford is about to be changed irrevocably.

The Firefly Dance anthology

It has been more than a year since we had a new novel from Sarah Addison Allen. Thankfully, there is news of her next book coming out in 2013 and the title will be Lost Lake. Because there has been no new book, the instant I saw this book on Netgalley I had to have it. To be honest, the only thing I knew about it was that it contained a new Sarah Addison Allen story. I hadn't even heard of any of the other authors, didn't know what the theme of the collection was or anything like that.

I was actually contemplating only reading the SAA story, but to have done so would have short changed myself and the publisher who made it available on Netgalley. I did have to force myself to read the others, not because I didn't want to but rather because the file was about to expire so I was running out of time.

First story is The Stocking Store by Phyllis Scheiber features a young woman looking back to the regular trip that she made with her mother to the stocking store, and in particular to a meeting with another young girl from her class whose mother was a survivor of the concentration camps of Europe. This was a very short story but it was quite poignant, looking not only at the issue of the survivors but also on how times have changed over the years.

There is also an excerpt from this author's book called The Manicurist.

Petey by Kathryn Magendie was the longest of the stories and there were times in the narrative that the story just leapt off the pages. There were, however, other times when the pace just was too slow.

The story focused on a young girl named Petey who was moving from her idyllic life in North Carolina amongst the mountains to the hot, dusty plains of Fort Worth, Texas due to her father needing to find work. The whole family seemed to be unhappy at the move and the new house that they are going to be living in,, but it is nothing compared to the despair they face not long after arriving. At this stage, the narrative felt quite oppressive and it really only changed with the introduction of the character of Anna. It was a little too obvious that she was introduced as a catalyst to change things for both Petey and the rest of her family. Towards the end of the novella though I was definitely enjoying the transition that was happening, especially with Petey's mother, and I was definitely hungry as I was reading.

The Sarah Addison Allen 'story' is titled In My Dreams, and is in effect a collection within the anthology because the story is made up of six different vignettes that let us glimpse into specific events in the life of a young girl named Louise who lives with her mother (her father having died recently in the first story), and next door to her great aunt Sophie. The stories weren't actually written as one group of anecdotes either as evidenced by the fact that the copyrights on the individual stories range from 2006 to 2008

Of the characters in this collection, Sophie is definitely one that I could see making the transition to SAA's other works. Whilst the southern charm that forms such a strong part of SAA's other books is there, there is none of her other trademark that I like to think of as magical-realism-lite.

The first story was Fly by Night; Louise is staying the night at her great aunt Sophies and watching her mother. Her father has died not too long ago but the question is how well is her mother dealing with her grief.

In Nothing Disastrous Louisa's mother has had breast cancer and is celebrating the first anniversary of losing her breasts (kind of timely seeing as SAA has been going through her own battle with the disease. The preacher's new wife comes to town.

The third story is Lazarus and Louise's mother is getting remarried and no one can find her wedding shoes.

In The Wayfarer Louise's grandfather comes to visit. Great Aunt Sophie never approved of the man that her sister ran off with. Louise has never met him before, but she is not the only one to learn something new.

In God's Honest Truth at the Fashionette, Sophie is late for her weekly appointment at the hair salon and in I'll See You in My Dreams we hear the story of how Sophie met her husband, Harry. "Never marry a man who can't dance."

The Resurrection by Augusta Trobaugh - I will admit to skimming this one because from the very beginning I had no clue what was going on with this story! I kind of got what the author was trying to do with it, but it just didn't work for me at all.

According to the publisher blurb below, the link between these stories is supposed to be the challenges faced by children, but I am not sure that the link is all that obvious if you just read the stories themselves. As a collection, this one didn't really work for me. I may be a little cynical, but I wasn't quite sure what the point of releasing the Sarah Addison Allen stories were other than having something out there during the gaps between the last book and her next one, and also that the publisher hung the collection around the fact that there was a big name author involved. I guess that isn't really that unusual really.

Rating 2.5/5

Bright lights flicker in the dark evenings of summer. Pinpoints of hope float against the black descent of night. The sweetest of small and innocent creatures finds its way through the shadows. Fireflies seem to dance on sheer air, illuminating the space between heartbeats.

Children give off a similar brave glow, despite the challenges of their young lives. The lessons of childhood are often painful, the shedding of fragile wings in the gloam of an uncertain future. These rich novellas are small jewels reflecting the essence of what it means to grow up dancing among the shadows of life, carrying a brave, small beacon because you know that even the brightest days always, always, end in darkness.

Childhood can be so sweetly sad and sadly sweet, profound and deceptively easy to categorize, yet poignant to remember.

New York Times bestselling novelist Sarah Addison Allen (GARDEN SPELLS, SUGAR QUEEN, THE PEACH KEEPER) anchors THE FIREFLY DANCE with her wistful and funny novella about Louise, a North Carolina girl whose keen observations of the lives around her weaves an unforgettable spell with just a hint of everyday magic.

Phyllis Schieber's Sonya, a child of Holocaust survivors, is confronted with the responsibilities of her legacy when she has a poignant encounter with a classmate, another child of survivors, and her mother, in a local shop in their 1970's New York neighborhood.

Kathryn Magendie’s Petey deals wryly with her family’s move from the cool blue mountains of North Carolina to the hot flatlands of Texas.

Augusta Trobaugh’s stoic Georgia girl leads us through her surreal encounter with a mysterious backwoods toddler who turns out to be anything but ordinary.

The Rise and Rise of Rural Lit

Last year I attended the Australian Romance Readers Convention at Bondi in Sydney. One of the sessions that I attended was titled 'Outback and in Love'. At that time one of the publishers, Harlequin Australia, was represented, and they said very clearly that rural lit/romances were going to be the next big thing.

A year later, if you go to any of the chain bookstores, this has definitely been shown to be true. Whether that is a self-fulfilling prophecy is hard to tell. The other night I counted 8 or 9 different rural lit books that were already in the stores, and there are lots more on their way.

I thought this week I would ask a group of rural lit authors why it is that rural lit is doing so well now. The three authors who graciously agreed to answer my not-so-probing questions were Karly Lane (who was one of the authors on the panel that I mentioned earlier), Fleur McDonald and Fiona Palmer.

Fleur McDonald

Rural lit seems to be taking the Australian publishing landscape by storm at the moment. Why do you think it is so popular, and why now?

Fleur:  This is one question I'm asked a lot and one I haven't had an answer to. I have heard the success to McLeod's Daughters was unexpected but it definitely hit the spot with TV viewers, in both the city and country alike. With Purple Roads coming out I have thought a lot more about it, as I was sure I'd be asked! Then, a few weeks ago, while drenching lambs, I had a 'light bulb' moment ( I always like them!) This is what I came up with: maybe it's because women on the land are excited someone is taking an interest in them and other women like reading about success stories. For a long time, women have been the 'forgotten' people on farms and stations - the blokes tended to get a lot of recognition for the hard work they were doing, but no one really saw what the women were doing. Yes, they have been raising kids, cooking up a storm and educating the older children, but I'll bet you find that during other times, they were out in the paddocks doing exactly the same as the men were doing. Certainly this is the case with my family and many others I know. So perhaps this genre is resonating with people because women are being recognised in the agricultural industry.

This isn't a new genre; it's been around for a long time - a story that springs to mind is Robbery Under Arms, which was published back in the late 1800's - the story of a bushranger who marries the daughter of a grazier (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbery_Under_Arms ) Today's stories tell of strong rural women overcoming trials and tribulations and women on the land (and in the cities) having been doing this since time began.

Karly: I'm not really sure why now..as a reader of Australian fiction- I know there was barely enough rural fiction coming out to satisfy me in years gone by, so as a reader, I think it's great to have so many titles coming out on a more regular basis.I guess Publishers have finally realised there is indeed an insatiable need out there for it. 

Fiona:  There have been other rural writers before us who have been very successful but as for why it’s really surged ahead now, I’m not so sure. Maybe because with the sudden dip of the industry, the rural books are still selling well so publishers are really jumping on board and have actively searched for more? Just one theory. Or maybe it’s just something new that is running ahead, and who knows how long it will stay popular for?

Karly Lane

A lot of the authors who are writing rural lit either live in the country or at least have spent a lot of time in the country. What is the best thing about being an author living in the country, and what is the hardest thing especially in the context of publishing new books.

Fleur: There isn't anything hard about writing, publishing and living in remote areas. The internet has seen to that. I do all of submitting, editing and some of the marketing, via email, Facebook, Twitter and my website. I guess if there were to be a down side, it does take time to get to places when I'm touring, but really, that is just a minor hiccup. The best thing is I have my inspiration all around me, the setting around me - if I get stuck, all I need to do is walk outside, breathe the air and listen to the sounds.

Karly: The best thing, I guess is that we get to write about our lifestyle.The hardest thing? I guess with most things rural; health care, representation, transport...being in regional Australia makes it difficult to have that face to face contact with publishers and readers and there is often long distances to travel to get to events, but technology has helped in bringing these things together and closing that gap a little.

Fiona: The best thing is that my inspiration is right out my window. I’m experiencing the sunsets everyday that I write about and seeing first hand the trials of bush living. It renews my enthusiasm for my rural stories. I don’t think I could write as authentic living anywhere else. As for the hardest, that is the publicity side of things. Especially being in WA. Doing a book tour to reach heaps of people means lots of travelling and it’s a huge expense. We have to be more online focused. 

Fiona Palmer

Fleur: Oh, that's a tricky one - I probably don't know enough people in the city to know of their misconceptions. Although I do think, sometimes, they might be shocked at the distances we travel without batting an eyelid. To me, driving nine hours to Perth is all in days work, but I have heard some people gasp at that!

Karly: I think it would be to dispel the concept of 'the outback'--what people believe makes up rural Australia. The outback isn't only dry desolate country, it's made up of all kinds of landscapes and environments. Bushland twenty minutes from the coast can be just as remote and lonely as the wide open plains of the Simpson desert. I think a lot of people confuse rural with the notion of red dust, drought and dried out animal skulls as the 'typical' outback image. 

Fiona: That it’s romantic. No, that’s not all true. It can be romantic but for a lot of people it’s a hard slog and its not always happy endings like our books. Not everyone finds a Mr or Mrs Perfect, as being so isolated it’s very hard to meet potential partners. It can be a very lonely lifestyle if you let it.

Finally, a chance for you to tell the readers about your own works. Also, what is it that you would like your readers to take away when they read one of your books?

Fleur: I really want people to feel sad the book has ended; I hope they've befriended the characters and will miss them when they're not reading about them. That the reader will want to go and visit the book again, over time.

I tell stories of farming through the eyes of a female main character. Of course there is always a bit of romance in there, but I like to think, the journey of the characters and the crime side of things is more obvious than the romance!

Karly: I tend to base my books more on the rural community and family aspect of rural life. I don't live on a working property and so I don't tend to write in depth about the day to day farm life that maybe some of the other rural authors do. I hope that readers finish my books and come away with a smile on their face. I hope that they've met characters they could easily become friends with in real life and that they can relate to some, if not most, of the characters and their situations in my books.

North Star, my first book, is being re-released in paperback and available in stores now and Morgan's Law is due to come out in May.

Fiona: My stories are about strong heroine’s, thrown in with some other memorable characters and heaps of rural magic that leaves you feeling like you’ve lived in the bush. My latest book The Road Home is out now about Lara, who is one determined woman, trying to find what makes her truly happy.

I’m hopeful that the readers get a story that they can’t put down and that they have a little more understanding of what country life is like. That at some stage they could feel as if they were in the country itself and if they get to the last page and have a big smile, then I’m a happy little writer.

About the authors:

Fleur McDonald - Fleur was born and raised in outback South Australia but now lives with her husband and children on a wheat farm outside Esperance, Western Australia. She is the author of three books so far.

You can find her at her website including a blog that she updates regularly on farm life, being an author and more, on Twitter (@fleurmcdonald), and on Facebook

Karly Lane - Karly Lane lives on the Mid North Coast of NSW.

Proud mum to four beautiful children and wife of one very patient mechanic, she is lucky enough to get to spend her day doing the two things she loves most-being a mum and writing stories set in beautiful rural Australia.

She has written two books under the Karly Lane name as well as also being published under the name Karlene Blakemore-Mowle. The second Karly Lane book, Morgan's Run, is out in May.

You can find her at her website, on Facebook and Twitter (@karlylane)

  

Fiona Palmer - Fiona Palmer lives in the tiny rural town of Pingaring in south-east Western Australia. She discovered Danielle Steele at the age of eleven, and now writes her own brand of bestselling rural romance. She received an Australian Society of Authors mentorship for her first novel, The Family Farm. She has extensive farming experience, does the local mailrun, and was a speedway racing driver for seven years. She currently works at the local shop in between writing her next book and looking after her two small children.

You can find her at her website, on Facebook and on Twitter (@fiona_palmer)

This post was bought to you as part of the the following

Weekend Cooking: Yorkshire Pudding

For this week's Weekend Cooking I am sharing a portion of two letters that appear in Helene Hanff's 84 Charing Cross Road, a lovely little book that many book lovers would definitely enjoy if they read it. The book is a collection of letters that have traversed the Atlantic Ocean starting when Helene Hanff starts ordering rare and unusual books from Marks & Co that was located at 84 Charing Cross Road and a correspondence begins between the author and the staff of Marks. Incidentally, the building at that address is now a Pizza Hut which seems a little bit wrong really!

There are quite a few discussions about food within the pages of the book, particularly emphasising the difference in the post-war food situation between Britain and America. Here, Cecily shares the recipe for Yorkshire Pudding with Helene.

Yorkshire Pudding seems to me to be a quintessentially British dish. There are lots of other foods that we probably think of in that way, but that does get eaten the world over (an example is fish and chips), but the only times I have eaten Yorkshire Pudding was when I was in the UK or when I ate roast meals at people who have British heritage.

A good yorkshire pudding served up with roast beef, crispy roast potatoes and sweet roasted carrots smothered in lashings in gravy is really delicious! Oh my goodness, I am making myself hungry just thinking about it!

Eastcote

Pinner

Middlesex

20-2-51

Helene my dear -

There are many ways of doing it but Mummy and I think this is the simplest for you to try. Put a cup of flour, an egg, a half cup of milk and a good shake of salt into a large bowl and beat altogether until it is the consistency of thick cream. Put in the frig for several hours. (It's best if you make it in the morning.) When you put your roast in the oven, put in an extra pan to heat. Half an hour before your roast is done, pour a bit of the roast grease into the baking pan, just enough to cover the bottom will do. The pan must be very hot. Now pour the pudding in and the roast and pudding will be ready at the same time.

I don't know quite how to describe it to someone who has never seen it, but a good Yorkshire Pudding will puff up very high and brown and crisp and when you cut into it you will find that it is hollow inside.

Love

Cecily

14 East 95th St.

February 25, 1951

Dear Cecily

Yorkshire Pudding out of this world, we have nothing like it, I had to describe it to somebody as a high, curved, smooth, empty waffle.

Best -

Helene

Before I finish for this week, I just wanted to add that this week I made a Weekend Cooking recipe that someone else put up last weekend. I made the Strawberry Lemonade muffins that were posted by Anita from A Woman, a Wife, a Mom, and they were absolutely delicious! I will definitely be making them again!

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.

Bookish Quotes: The Library at Tyneford

As I mentioned earlier this week, I am participating in a readalong of The House at Tyneford (also known as The Novel in the Viola) at the moment. One of the interesting things about the book that I am looking forward to finding out more about is not only the grand house at Tyneford but also the fate of the village.

First though, here are the main character Elise's thoughts on the library:

The library was situated in the north wing of the house, the drive and porch outside one window, and the front lawns outside the other. Unless Mr Rivers was present, the curtains were kept drawn to protect the fragile bindings of the ancient books. The sea air, so beneficial for rude human health, corroded the Rivers' family library, so that when some of the books were opened the pages sloughed away to nothingness. I once ran my finger along a leather spine and a layer of crimson flaked away onto my skin. Mrs Ellesworth instructed me to burn pinecones in the grate each morning and dip candles in lavender oil, but the fragrance of musty books pervaded. The daily housemaids detested the rooms, complaining it was 'duckish dark an' puts us all in a bother', and I earned their profuse gratitude when I offered to take over its cleaning. I liked the proximity of Julian's novels, and I found the permanent twilight soothing rather than eerie and I liked it best at dusk. Then I would trim the scented candles while the orange sun lowered in the west, making the spines of the books appear to blaze for a minute and then dull, as the sun slipped behind the shadow of the hill.

I should mention that Julian is her father and Elise is a Jewish refugee who has come to work in Britain as a maid in the days just before World War II.

Library Loot: April 11 to 17

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

My library was closed for four days over the Easter period. Now, I know that librarians are as entitled to a long weekend, but oh my goodness, I went through withdrawals on Saturday especially given that it wasn't really a public holiday on that day.

Never mind. They were open today and this is what I got:

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson - This is for the readalong that Carl is running as part of the Once Upon a Time challenge. The first questions went up yesterday so I am a bit behind but hopefully I will be able to catch up this week.

The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson - I read Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes last year and had checked the library catalogue a number of times to see if this book was on there, but it wasn't. That is, until a couple of weeks ago.

The Unseen by Katherine Webb - For an upcoming blog tour. I read, and liked, Webb's previous book, The Legacy, last year.

State of Wonder by Anne Patchett - Also for an upcoming blog tour. I went and heard Ann Patchett talk at the Melbourne Writer's Festival last year and thought she was really good to listen to.

84 Charing Cross Road (DVD) - Read the book earlier this year so I thought it would be fun to watch the movie adaptation while I have a few days off work.

Claire has Mr Linky this week, so head on over to share your link to your Library Loot post!

Teaser Tuesday: The Iron Hand of Mars by Lindsey Davis

It is no great secret that I am a sucker for a series. I have way too many going on to keep up with and every now and again one falls by the wayside. Actually, it is more regular than every now and again! This is one of those series for me.

I am a little ashamed to say that I actually read the first book in this series over five years ago. It took me nearly two years to read the second book, and now, five years after reading the first book I am finally reading the third book in the series. There are actually now twenty books in the series, so at this stage I should catch up in about...oh....forty years or so!

It was hard to find a teaser to share because the voice of Falco is just so pervasive and there were just so many that I could have chosen from the early part of the book. He is like a jaded gumshoe detective but instead of living in New York in the 1930s he is in Ancient Rome. Like many of those style of detectives, Falco is down on his luck, just scraping by financially, and he often has women trouble as well! If it isn't full on trouble, it is definitely complicated!

This quote comes from page 38:

One thing was certain. I had committed domestic sacrilege. Helena Justina might overlook many insults, but my bumming off to Veii on her birthday was not one of the. The fact that I didn't know it was her birthday was irrelevant. I should have done.

"Didius Falco, Caesar ... " Before I was ready to concentrate on political matters, a major-domo who reeked of long-standing vanity and recently braised onions announced my name to the Emperor.

"That's a long face. What's up, Falco?"

"Woman trouble," I admitted.

Vespasian enjoyed a laugh. he threw back his great head and guffawed. "Want my advice?"

"Thanks, Caesar." I grinned. "At least this heartthrob didn't run off with my armpurse or elope with my best friend..."

We hit a small moment of stillness, as if the Emperor had remembered with disapproval who my latest heartthrob was.

From the subtitle (Death Lies Beyond the River Rhine) and from the back cover blurb we know that Marcus Didius Falco is about to be sent to Germany so it's going to be hard to fix his domestic issues from that kind of distance!

The House at Tyneford Readalong - Week 1

Today is the first milestone in The House at Tyneford readalong being hosted by Carrie at Books and Movies. I am actually reading the UK/Australian version of the book which is called The Novel in the Viola. I hope that isn't too confusing.

I am going to briefly answer the questions (or as it turns out, not quite so briefly) and then share a video of the author speaking with Richard and Judy after the book was chosen as part of the Richard and Judy bookclub last year (think Oprah's book club but British).

Here are Carrie's questions:

What do you think of the writing?

I read Natasha Solomons first book, Mr Rosenblum's List, in 2010 and it made my list of top reads for that year. I therefore knew that I liked her writing. So far, I haven't been disappointed. Mr Rosenblum's List was also published under the title Mr Rosenblum Dreams in English in the US and other markets.

Once again, I am enjoying the sensuousness of the writing. I felt the coldness of the water as Elise waded into the water at the beach, and the role of food is important as it was in her previous book.

I have previously shared a couple of different excerpts from Mr Rosenblum's list. Click on this link if you are interested in reading them.

Have you learned anything surprising?

I don't know that I have learned anything new as such, but the first part of the book definitely had me remembering my couple of days that I spend in Vienna many years ago. From what I can recall, the centre of Vienna itself was quite modern as a result of the damage done during WWII and then subsequent building, but there were some gems to be found - most notably the Opera House. We stayed in a hotel not too far from Schonnbrunn Palace. The hotel had been converted from an old house (I use the word loosely) and so the rooms were immense, especially considering some of the shoe boxes we stayed in during the tour) with very high ceilings. It was obvious that it was a faded glory and the foyer had a very dated (as in 70's or 80's) feel to it, but the rooms made up for it as did the location. Oh, and we ate our continental breakfasts in what would have been the ballroom originally! Very grand!

In Carrie's post for this week she spoke about the fact that refugees came to England in the late 1930s and found work in menial tasks.This part actually reminded me of the Eva Ibbotson book I read not too long ago, A Countess Below Stairs, which featured Russian refugess who were displaced to the UK, although that was twenty years earlier following the events of the Russian revolution. Another book I read this year which talked about refugees coming to the UK in the late 1930s was Anna Funder's All That I Am, although in that case the refugees weren't coming to work as such.

Also, I should mention that Mr Rosenblum also comes to England during this time and so Solomons has explored this time a little before, but there is a very different feel between that book and this one so far.

What are your first impressions of Elise?

I think that we have been introduced to someone who is conscious of not really fitting in anywhere. Her family loves her, but she doesn't share their passions or talents, and she thinks she looks very different from them, but I think that the time spent away from them is helping her see that she is the same of them. An example of this is when she remembers that her hair is the same colour as her father's hair.

Now, she has come to a new country, a new circumstance where she doesn't really speak the language and she is even more aware of not fitting in.

Do you think Elise will ever see her parents, or her sister, Margot again?

I really think that Elise won't see her parents again, and I think that they know that they won't see her. I do think that Margot and her husband will make it out of Vienna safely, but it will be some time before the two sisters are reunited.

Want to make any predictions?

It is obvious from the blurb and the trailer that this is a love story, so I expect that the next section will see this aspect of the story developing a bit more. I am looking forward to finding out more about the novel in the viola and the role that plays in the story.

I am also looking forward to finding out more about Tyneford after reading the notice that was put on the church door that was mentioned at the very beginning of the book, and is also mentioned briefly in the video below:






On a tangent, when I was watching this video on Youtube I noticed a link where Richard was talking about being featured on Who Do You Think You Are? I love that show, and hadn't seen his episode. I ended up watching the show and thought it was interesting. The one thing I learnt - I am never going to Nova Scotia in January!

In my head I do have a trip to Canada planned, mainly to see Kelly from The Written World. I would fly to New York (because I have always wanted to go there), then travel up the coast through Maine and then into Nova Scotia and I would also head up to Quebec to see another couple of online friends.  The likelihood of that trip ever happening is remote, but it doesn't hurt to dream right? It would however be a Canadian summer trip!

*In theory, I am also participating in the Mistborn readalong that Carl is posting as part of the Once Upon a Time challenge but the book has only just come into the library so I won't be picking it up until tomorrow at the earliest so I am going to be a bit behind posting on that one!

Sunday Salon: March Reading Reflections

Last week I mentioned that we were going to have a giveaway of Kate Forsyth's Bitter Greens at Historical Tapestry. That giveaway is now open, so I hope that you will hope over and enter into the draw!

This week's post is all about March - or at least what I read in March. Here is the list of reads:

The Crown by Nancy Bilyeau 4/5
Instant Temptations by Jill Shalvis 4/5
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green 4/5
A Breath of French Air by H E Bates 2.5/5
84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff 4.5/5
Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness 4/5
Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich 2.5/5
Lord and Lady Spy by Shana Galen 4/5
The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse by Susanna Davis 3/5
All Mortal Flesh by Julia Spencer-Fleming 4.5/5
Putting Alice Back Together by Carol Marinelli 2/5
Smut by Alan Bennett 3/5
Mill River Recluse by Darcie Chan 3/5
How to Eat a Cupcake by Meg Donohue 3.5/5
Visions of Heat by Nalini Singh 4/5
Showtime by Narrelle M Harris 4/5
Paris, My Sweet: A Year in the City of Light (and Dark Chocolate) by Amy Thomas 4/5
Double Play by Jill Shalvis 4/5
Shalimar by Rebecca Ryman 4.5/5
The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister 4/5
Dangerous in Diamonds by Madeline Hunter 4/5
Home Again by Mariah Stewart 4/5
Earthly Delights by Kerry Greenwood 4/5
The Island by Victoria Hislop 4.5/5
Rogue Pirates Bride by Shana Galen 4/5

In terms of the challenges that I am participating in, I am really happy with my progress in the Australian Women Writers challenge and the Aussie Authors challenge (and it is no coincidence that these too overlap a lot!). Liar Bird, Earthly Delights, Showtime and Putting Alice Back Together all count for these two challenges. In theory, I have only one more book to read for the Aussie Author Challenge and 3 more for the AWW challenge but I don't intend to stop once I have reached those targets.

Similarly, I am doing quite well with the Historical Fiction Challenge as well with The Crown, Shalimar and The Island all qualifying for that challenge. I have five more books to read for that challenge, but it is a given that I won't stop reading historical fiction when I hit that target either!

Lest you think that I am just about finished all my challenges, I didn't actually read anything for either War Through the Generations or What's in a Name, and I also joined in a new challenge (Once upon a Time).

Currently Reading

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes (loving this one) and Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks

Up next

The Diplomat's Wife by Pam Jenoff and The Iron Hand of Mars by Lindsey Davis

Weekend Cooking: MoVida: Spanish Culinary Adventures by Frank Camorra and Richard Cornish

Last year I posted about going out to eat tapas at Movida Aqui - good weather, good food, good company, good times!

In that post I mentioned that there were a couple of Movida cookbooks. I had actually borrowed one of them from the library not long after going to eat there but it was when my oven wasn't working and as I looked through I didn't really find much to make. I suspected that I possibly hadn't given the book a fair go so I reborrowed it. This time, I had a lot more success in terms of finding recipes that had my mouth watering.

The book itself is a lovely object. The paper is thick with a matt finish - kind of rustic really - with lots of photos of not only some of the recipes but also artistic photos of various ingredients and the occasional photo of the original Movida restaurant.

One of the things that I love when I read a cookbook that features food from another culture is how the author connects with that particular food or regions. In this case, Frank Camorra is of Spanish descent and talks about growing up in Australia with Spanish parents who brought many of their Spanish traditions to life during his childhood. He also talks about travelling through Spain finding new recipes and ideas to bring back to the restaurant that he planned to open and how they have adapted some of these recipes for restaurant use.

There were quite a few recipes that I think I am going to have to try including Patatas a lo Pobre (Slow-Cooked Potatoes with Onion and Capsicums) and Pollo al Chilindron (Pyrenees Chicken with Paprika, Tomato and Capsicums). I am intending to borrow the next cookbook and see what is in that one too. I can see myself reborrowing this one again as well. Or heck, maybe even buying it! I was also thinking that it must be time for me to head back to the Movida tapas bars and try a few new tasty treats.

Today I thought I would share a recipe for Torrija. In the introduction to the dessert section, the authors say that this recipe is usually only eaten at Easter in Spain, "but here in Australia, untied from the bindings of tradition, we are free to make this and other festive desserts at any time of the year." In the introduction to this recipe, Frank Camorra calls this "extreme French toast - beautiful, golden slices of fried bread soaked in a cream and citrus infusion and slathered in honey and sherry syrup." He shares that his mother used to make a huge batch with the intention that they would last all Easter but they would be gone by the end of the day! Apparently they are also good with vanilla ice cream and a little glass of Pedro Ximenez sherry.

Torrijas (Fried Milk Pudding Dusted with Cinnamon and Honey)

1 litre (35 fl oz/4 cups) milk
1 litre (35 fl oz/5 cups) pouring (whipping) cream
rind of 2 oranges, cut into large strips
rind of 2 lemons, cut into large strips
175g (6 oz) caster (superfine) sugar
4 cinnamon sticks
2 loaves 2-day-old pasta dura or other firm crusty bread, cut into 2.5 cm (1 inch) thick slices)
480g (1 lb 1 oz/1 and a third cups) honey
500 ml (17 fl oz/2 cups) oloroso sherry
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
180 g (6 and a quarter oz/3 quarters cup) caster (superfine) sugar, extra
6 eggs
100g (3 and a half oz) unsalted butter

Put the milk, cream, orange and lemon rind, sugar and two of the cinnamon sticks in a large saucepan over low heat and simmer gently for about 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to lukewarm (this should take 30-45 minutes).

Strain the lukewarm milk mixture into a shallow bowl, large enough to hold all the bread. Soak the bread in the milk for 30 minutes.

In another saucepan make the jarabe by heating the honey, sherry, remaining cinnamon sticks and 250ml (9 fl oz/1 cup) water over high heat. Just before boiling point, reduce to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes. The syrup should still be quite runny, but thickened slightly.

Make cinnamon sugar by sifting the cinnamon and extra sugar together in a small bowl. Set aside.

Lightly beat the eggs in a shallow bowl. Melt half the butter in a large frying pan over low-medium heat. Lift the bread from the milk and drain for a few seconds before placing it into the beaten egg. Cover the bread very well, as this will form a seal and keep the flavoured milk and cream in the bread when fried.

Cook the bread, in two batches, for 2 minutes each side, or until golden, adding more butter as needed. Remove the bread from the pan and briefly drain on paper towel. Dust the fried bread with cinnamon sugar. Place in a non-metallic tray in a single layer adn cover with the jarabe while still warm.

When ready to serve, pile the torrijas high on a serving plate and spoon over a little of the residual jarabe.

Note: This recipe makes a lot of torrija, but it is a traditional family dish - for a large family.

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.

Bookish Quotes: The Library at the Unseen University

Whenever I read a Terry Pratchett novel I can usually find a ton of quote that I want to share because they are so funny/clever/choose-your-own-description. I usually try to control the urge, but this was perfect for a bookish quote so today I couldn't resist.

The quote comes from pages 10-11 of Guards! Guards!

Damp darkness shrouded the venerable buildings of Unseen University, premier college of wizardry. The only light was a faint octarine flicker from the tiny windows of the new High Energy Magic building, where keen-edged minds were probing the very fabric of the universe, whether it liked it or not.

And there was light, of course, in the Library.

The Library was the greatest assemblage of magical texts anywhere in the multiverse. Thousands of volumes of occult lore weighted its shelves.

It was said that, since vast amounts of magic can seriously distort the mundane world, the Library did not obey the normal rules of space and time. It was said it went on forever. It was said that you could wander for days among the distant shelves, that there were lost tribes of research students somewhere in there, that strange things lurked in forgotten alcoves and were preyed on by other things that were even stranger.¹

Wise students in search of more distant volumes took care to leave chalk marks on the shelves as they roamed deeper into the fusty darkness, and told friends to come looking for them if they weren't back by supper.

And, because magic can only loosely be bound, the Library books themselves were morethan mere pulped wood and paper.

Raw magic crackled from their spines, earthing itself harmlessly in the copper rails nailed to every shelf for that very purpose. Faint traceries of blue fire crawled across the bookcases and there was a sound, a papery whispering, such as might come from a colony of roosting starlings. In the silence of the night the books talked to one another.



^{1. All this was untrue. The truth is that even big collections of ordinary books distort space, as can readily be proved by anyone who has been around a really old-fashioned second-hand bookshop, one of those that look as though they were designed by M. Escher on a bad day and has more staircases than storeys and those rows of shelves which end in little doors that are surely too small for a full-sized human to enter. The relevant equation is: Knowledge = power = energy = matter = mass; a good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read.↩}

Special thanks to Sean for helping me with how to put footnotes in a post! It's my one thing I learned today.

Library Loot: April 4 to 10

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

When I saw this today at Little Black Marks I knew that I had to share it for my Library Loot post this week! I certainly know that if my library isn't available for any reason I go through withdrawals!

My library enabled me to pick up these books this week (including three interlibrary loan requests):

Helene Hanff Omnibus - I read 84 Charing Cross Road a few weeks ago and I wanted to read the follow up book, Duchess of Bloomsbury which is contained in this omnibus. Might as well read the other sections of the book too!

Legacy by Susan Kay - I am a bit Tudored out but I have repeatedly been told that if you are only going to read one Tudor novel then this should be the one.

The Opposite of Life by Narrelle M Harris - There was a short story in Showtime which I read a few weeks ago that is connected to this book.

Between the Duke and the Deep Blue Sea by Sophia Nash - This is a new to me author. I tend to be sticking to authors I know and trust in romance, but every now and again I am induced to think about trying a new one.

The Gods of Gotham by Lindsay Faye - This is an Amy Einhorn imprint book. I have liked all of the books I have read so far from that imprint, and this one in particular sounds like something I would enjoy. It's a mystery set in New York in the 1800s - from memory at the outset of the New York police force.

Almost Home by Mariah Stewart - The next book in the Chesapeake Diaries series.\\

Teen Cuisine by Matthew Locricchio - This one was mentioned during Weekend Cooking a few weeks ago and I thought it might be something that the little chef might be interested in exploring.

Heavenly Pleasures by Kerry Greenwood - The next Corinna Chapman book.

What loot did you pick up from the library this week? Share you link in Mr Linky below so we can all come and take a look!

Teaser Tuesday: Ride for Rights by Tara Chevrestt

I read quite a lot of historical fiction books and quite a few young adult books but for whatever reason I don't much YA historical fiction. I am not sure why that it is really because with so many great stories to be told from history, I am sure that there are many fascinating YA novels telling those stories that I just don't know about yet!

This novel tells the story of Adelaide and Angeline who decide to ride motorcycles across America in order to prove that girls are capable of helping out during times of war, and  also hopefully to be able to gain the vote. The fact that this story is loosely based on real life sisters August and Adeline van Buren makes it all the more interesting.  Another bonus for me is that the book is set in 1916 (during World War I) when the politicians in the US were trying to decide whether or not to join the theatre of war in Europe.

The teaser comes from page 13 of the ebook version of the book.

Having taken the podium from her meek husband, Mrs. Wentworth spoke clearly. 'Numerous women are riding motorbikes nowadays. I can name a few. Nevertheless, I feel if we gave the weaker sex" - a brief sneer of contempt for the previously used words accompanied this sentence - "a chance, they would indeed prove to be good candidates for dispatch riders."

The room broke out into much raucous chatter, but Angeline was mute. Thoughts were roaring through her head. Her brother had just brought home a motorbike. Women could ride. Men didn't think so, however. Something needed to be proven here.

With sudden resolve, Angeline made a quick and impulsive decision that she hoped she would never come to regret. With as much dignity as she could muster, she patted down what flyaway hairs she could, and with a grimace at her dusty dress, she stood in front of the entire assembly before speaking.

"What if a woman rode a motorbike across the country? Would that be enough to prove to you old-fashioned men that we, the weaker sex, can aid in the war effort as dispatch riders?"

I have had this book for a couple of months and it has been calling my name ever since I recieved it. I have decided that I just need to make room for it rather than waiting for a gap in my reading schedule. The idea was that I would read one chapter a day, but tonight on the train I ended up reading four chapters without even realising it! Looking forward to getting back to the story tomorrow.

Currently reading: Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks

I should be at book club tonight discussing this book. There are two reasons why I am not. The first is that I am only half way through the book despite the fact that I was very pleased when this was announced as the choice for this month. I actually went and heard Geraldine Brooks talk when she came to Melbourne last year and she also signed my copy of the book so it was a great excuse to finally actually read the book!

The second and most important reason is that it is the school holidays and the boy invited a friend over for a sleepover. He then rang and asked if it is okay and my answer was not really because I was going to be out tonight and at work tomorrow. It turned out that the friend was already in the driveway - fait accompli. I figured that it would be best if I actually was at home at least tonight.

I am just over half way through the book and I am enjoying it. I generally like Brooks' writing but I have, in the past, had issues with her endings. It will be interesting to see if that is the case with this book. I am kind of wondering about the title, Caleb's Crossing. Yes, there is an important character called Caleb but his story is not the main focus of the book as such. The main character is a young girl, Bethia, and so far she has had more than her fair share of hardship. I just reread my post about her visit last year and am reminded that she actually talked about the reason for using Bethia as the narrator during her talk.

Below are the synopsis and the trailer:

In 1665, a young man from Martha's Vineyard became the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College. From the few facts that survive of his extraordinary life, Geraldine Brooks creates a luminous tale of love and faith,  magic and adventure. 


When Bethia Mayfield, a spirited twelve-year-old living in the rigid confines of an English Puritan settlement - and the daughter of a Calvinist minister - meets Caleb, young son of a Wampanoag chieftain, the two forge a secret friendship that draws each into the alien world of the other. 


As Bethia's father feels called to convert the Wampanoag to his own strict faith, he awakens the wrath of the medicine men. Caleb becomes a prize in this contest between old ways and new, eventually taking his place at Harvard, studying Latin and Greek alongside the sons of the colonial elite. 


Fighting for a voice in a society that requires her silence,  Bethia becomes entangled in Caleb's struggle to navigate the intellectual and cultural shoals that divide their two cultures. 


Once again, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Geraldine Brooks brings to vivid life a shard of little-known history, and through Bethia and Caleb explores the intimate spaces of the human heart.

Sunday Salon: Announcing....

Normally for this particular Sunday Salon (being the first one in April) I would bring you my reading stats for the month of March, but I have far too many other things to talk about so that will have to wait until next week.

First up, some Historical Tapestry news.

On Monday, Australian author Kate Forsyth will be guest blogging as part of the blog tour to celebrate her new book, Bitter Greens. The book is a retelling of the Rapunzel fairy tale set in 17th century France and Venice! And there will be an international giveaway as well!

From April 9 to 16, we are going to be commemorating the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic with Titanic week.

There are going to be guest posts, book reviews, giveaways and more, as well as some brief facts of what was going on in relation to the Titanic 100 years ago each day. These have actually already started!

Later in the year we will also be having another exciting event. A few years ago we had Jean Plaidy Season and then Anya Seton Season. This year, we are pleased to be hosting Daphne du Maurier Season.

Again, there will be guest posts and book reviews and more.

You can also be involved. Do you love Daphne du Maurier? Or maybe adore a specific book that she has written? Are you an author who has been influenced by the work of Daphne du Maurier? If so, we would love to have you guest posting for us as part of the season. Either leave a comment on this post and we will contact you or send an email to us at Historical Tapestry.

Today is also the start of Aussie Author Month which is an initiative that was started last year by a group of bloggers and booksellers who wanted to have a month long celebration of all things bookish and Aussie! It also ties in nicely with the Australian Women Writers Challenge!

There is now a number of ways you can participate - there is a dedicated Aussie Author Month blog, you can follow on Facebook, or if Twitter is your game you can follow the #ausbooks.

On the blog there are some posting prompts if you are interested, and also details of how to donate to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.

*Important Note* - all fundraising is being done through Go Fundraise and no money should be collected by individual participants. The Aussie Author month fundraising page can be found here.

I am working on a feature for later this month and will be linking up some of my reviews as well! If you are interested in signing up whether it be for just a couple of posts or for lots of posts then click on this link! We hope you will join us!

Here is a link that will show you the posts that I linked up to Aussie Author Month last year!