More Mitford

As the Mitford industry continues to churn out memoirs, biographies and volumes of letters Nancy Mitford's great novel Love in a Cold Climate is sometimes over-shadowed. As Jane Smiley puts it in her excellent 13 Ways of Looking at the Novel:

There is much more to her work, technically and substantively, than meets the eye, but if only the reader can stop wallowing in pleasure long enough to notice it.

Relayed by the clear-sighted and adorable Fanny we share her agonies about being house guest at Hampton, acutely aware of her uncontrollable hair and ill-fitting tweed skirt and fending off questions about her infamous mother the Bolter. We share her delight in the luxuries of Hampton, the copies of the Tatler in the long gallery, Cooper's Oxford (marmalade) in the breakfast room and the fashionable Mrs Chaddesley Corbett with her diamond clips and scandalous gossip. And of course, we share her love of the Alconleigh crowd; mad Uncle Matthew, hyperchondriac Davey and outrageous Jassy and Victoria. I re-read Love in a Cold Climate every five years or so and, as with the best novels, I read more into it each time.

This time I was struck by the sadness of Polly and her strained relationship with her mother, Lady Montdore. I'm very fond of my copy with its frozen rose on the cover, but I love some of the vintage editions on pinterest.

The Beginner's Goodbye

Shoulda read a few reviews before purchasing Marilynne Robinson's When I Was a Child I Read Books. I thought it would be a novel like the wonderful Gilead but it was a collection of essays and unfortunately they didn't speak to me. If anyone would like my copy do let me know ... I ought to do a giveaway!

I've always hoped to find a pristine copy of Rumer Godden's Black Narcissus in a second-hand book store instead of numerous copies of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo but I need search no more. Virago Modern Classics have acquired fifteen Rumer Godden titles including Black Narcissus . I am so pleased about this. The Greengage Summer is my favourite coming-of-age novel and Rumer Godden is long overdue for a popular revival.

Very much enjoyed Anne Tyler's latest novel The Beginner's Goodbye but I don't think it is quite on a par with her great novels Breathing Lessons or Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant. Aaron Woolcott's wife is killed when an oak tree smashes into their house while she is sitting out on the sunporch. While he is struggling to cope with the grief and loss his wife revists him, suddenly reappearing when he is shopping for vegetables or falling into step beside him as he strolls along the pavement. Whenever she appears she looks wistful or unhappy.

If you've read The Accidental Tourist you will remember that Macon writes travel books for people who don't like to travel. Tyler has some fun with a similar theme in this novel. Aaron works as an editor for his family publishing house which produces Beginner's Guides and 'vanity' titles. The office camaraderie and chitchat about the titles they publish is highly amusing.

You may have noticed some word links on my blog to very tacky ads. I didn't put them there - I've never wanted to monetise - and I think it is some kind of malware that I've reported to Blogger. Has anyone else had this problem?

Anne Tyler in Oxford

Chloe and Imogen at Christ Church

Just floated back down to earth after attending the literary event of the year - if not the decade - last Sunday. Anne Tyler's interview at the Sheldonian Theatre in beautiful Oxford.

The theatre was packed and the audience was quite jittery . Knowing that Tyler is notoriously reticent to be interviewed I think we were nervous on her behalf. In fact she was extremely composed and serene. The audience was apparently full of writers (although I didn't recognise anybody!) and she spoke a lot about the writing life, how she is happiest when writing, how she drafts and redrafts continuously and how she loves to be in the middle of writing a novel.

The audience were invited to ask questions and as a reader rather than a writer I was most interested in the question about what she likes to read. She said that she reads a lot of contemporary novels particularly first novels and that she came to Jane Austen late, reading Pride and Prejudice in her thirties when she was in bed with flu. She was warm and funny and throughout this week I've recalled different things she said. A podcast is available on The Sunday Times website but it is not free, unfortunately.

After the interview I bought a copy of the new book The Beginners Goodbye but the queue for signing stretched right around the theatre so I decided not to wait because I wanted to join my daughter Chloe and her friend Imogen to wander around Oxford, look at beautiful Christ Church college, browse Blackwell's enormous book store and visit the ice cream cafe in St Aldates. A very enjoyable day.

Bird Cloud

Above the snooty sink hung a mirror with high-wattage bulbs blazing straight into one's face rather like something John Gielgud might have had in his dressing room. For an aging woman it was frightening rather than useful. Annie Proulx

I like the fact that this book is a memoir rather than an autobiography. Annie Proulx focuses on a particular event in her life - the construction of her house at Bird Cloud near Medicine Bow in Wyoming. She wanted a house built to her specifications, using natural materials where possible, with plenty of space for her large collection of books. She wanted to be able to write without interruption, spread out old maps and photographs, view the cliff face in the changing light and watch the eagles from her window.

Unfortunately, things didn't go quite to plan. There were problems with builders, architects and sub-contractors, spiralling expenses and long, long waits for materials to arrive and work to be completed. Not to mention the fact that the area is isolated and exposed to high Wyoming winds. Bird Cloud is on the North Platte River near the town of Saratoga on the western slope of Medicine Bow. The wildlife is spectacular and Proulx weaves in details of a clever mountain lion, tagging elks for a conservation project and a whole chapter about pine cones. This book reminds me a little of The Blue Jay's Dance by Louise Erdrich and has reawakened my interest in Annie Proulx. A few years ago I read several of her novels back to back and then got a bit depressed with the grim realities of life for ranchers, cowboys and drifters. One can only stand so much reality!

Now I want to re-read her wonderful novel The Shipping News.

I also have Barbara Kingsolver's Homeland to read and my author of the month is that queen of American landscape writers Willa Cather. Fabulous picture of her, don't you think?

More Elizabeth Strout

Does anybody use Pinterest? I've become quite interested in its potential for book bloggers and I do like the wish list element to it. Very much enjoyed Anbolyn's recent post on American women writers and I've also been browsing interviews with Elizabeth Strout. I have her novel Abide with Me ready to start on Sunday night. I do like to start a new novel on a Sunday - kind of sets you up for the week!

I have to say that Olive Kitteridge is not exactly a laugh a minute. There is suicide, anorexia, adultery, murder and debilitating illness - but the sheer cussedness of Olive keeps you avidly turning the pages. I loved the story where Olive and Henry have a night out with friends and Olive desperately needs the bathroom on the way home. Henry turns into the local Accident & Emergency department just so she can use the loo when a nurse with not quite enough to do decides that Olive must be examined by a doctor. Then two armed raiders looking for drugs take the nurses, doctors, and Olive hostage and also Henry who has wandered into A&E looking for her. Olive and Henry then start a petty bickering which almost sends the guy who has tied them up over the edge.

The writing is great and the humour is black. One thing puzzling me about Olive Kitteridge - perhaps American readers can translate - what on earth are doughnut holes?!

More Anne Tyler

I always thought I would save literary festivals for when I retire but when I read that Anne Tyler will be attending the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival at Christchurch in April to receive an Outstanding Literary Achievement prize I couldn't resist ordering a ticket. If anyone else is planning to visit the festival do let me know and maybe we can meet for a latte!

Breathing Lessons is probably my favourite Tyler because of lovely Ira who is married to the infuriating Maggie. From the opening chapter where Maggie pulls out into the path of a Pepsi truck to the near-farcical scene at the races where Ira's obsessive sister lines up marshmallows along the seats of the bleachers, Breathing Lessons is a perfectly pitched comic novel and like the best comic novels it is sad, too. Tyler never intervenes to judge or comment on the actions of her characters she just lets the story unfold and the characters find their own solutions or compromises.

I also liked Noah's Compass. At the age of 60, Liam Pennywell is made redundant from his job as a high school lecturer. He moves to a smaller flat in a less desirable area of town and while asleep in bed is attacked and robbed. Waking in hospital he is infuriated that he remembers nothing of the crime or his assailant. He then meets and falls in love with a younger woman who works as a 'professional rememberer' for an elderly wealthy business man, remembering names and events on his behalf. What I particularly enjoyed about this novel was the character of his younger daughter, Kitty, who drifts in and out of his flat wearing a mirror 'the size of a dime' in her pierced naval and talking into a mobile phone so tiny he 'wonders how it can stretch between mouth and ear.'

I finished Back When We Were Grownups last night and now I really will make a start on Olive Kitteridge ...

Elizabeth Strout

Oh Elizabeth Strout is a good writer. I bought Amy and Isabelle after reading an on-line interview with Anne Tyler who said that she admired it.

Fifteen-year old Amy and her mother live at Oyster Point, the posh end of Shirley Falls, Maine. Single mother Isabelle doesn't have the confidence or means to mix with the well-heeled wives of the neighbourhood. Lonely Amy embarks on a relationship with her charismatic maths teacher who seduces her by quoting the poetry of Edna St Vincent Millay. Meanwhile the soapy, sudsy river which divides Shirley Falls churns around the mill where Isabelle works as a secretary and the women in the office bicker and gossip.

There are many wonderful moments in this novel - Isabelle and Amy sharing doughnuts in the steamy coffee shop and Amy's fleeting moment of happiness, Isabelle trying to improve her mind by reading Madame Bovary which the women in the mill nickname 'Madame Ovary', kind Fat Bev's battles with her digestion and the way the river reflects the events of the novel. There is also the recurring motif of a missing 12-year-old girl which turns the novel almost into a thriller at the end.

Strout is an earthier writer than Tyler (her characters say f**k!) but has the same gift for dialogue and humour. I've ordered her novel Abide With Me and Olive Kitteridge a collection of short stories, both set in Maine. Do let me know if you've read Elizabeth Strout, I'm sure I've seen reviews of Olive Kitteridge around the blogosphere but can't remember where. I'd like to re-read them.