The Head of the House of Coombe by Frances Hodgson Burnett

This is the only image I could find anywhere for this book and I did so wish I could have found a prettier one. The book which is very sad in parts is also a happy, uplifting one and this cover is morose!

Written in 1922 it is historically very descriptive, romantic, a family story as well. How well it combines three disparate genres so well is the cleverness of this author.

Robin is a baby in this story and our chief character but her mother Feather is a major part of the story. Today Feather would be accused of child abuse and punished accordingly. Although not criticized in the story, it is a matter of fact statement of events and how she treats this only child of hers. I only hope it was not the pattern for mothers of this era. Other than giving birth to the child she felt so detached from her, that it was almost alien to Feather to even look upon the child. Robin's father's very early demise and the arrival of the man known as Head of the House of Coombe was a godsend for young Robin and her salvation. What would have been Robin's plight if not for this man could not even be imagined.

We follow Robin from the time of her birth, through her babyhood and childhood to growing up to be a well balanced young lady. We follow the same path of her mother Feather from being a young widow without a thought in her head other than her own survival, to being a dependent and still continuing to be the same. A vacuous, vicious young woman. 

Very informative about the period pre WWI also a social commentary of the times (like the upstair downstairs workings which was fascinating) this was a find from Open Library.

For someone without access to books (freely) I am doing very well with Open Library.  All the genres I like are available and though you do have a waiting list for some of the books the choice is so varied that you can always find a book you want. 

Believing the Lie by Elizabeth George

The last Elizabeth George I read disappointed me. I felt sort of let down. Came to this one with a bit of trepidation and was hoping against hope that I'd love it. So glad I got over the initial hesitation and picked this up.

As someone said in a review this author likes dysfunctional families. They are definitely not what they seem though on the surface everything seems fine. I thought that was a bit harsh because I think all families have their eccentricities and quirks which everyone has got used to - to the point that they are not quirks or eccentricities to them!

We have an accident - a boating accident on the wharf itself and the head of the family somehow feels that it is not quite an accident despite very competent coroners ruling it as one. Inspector Lynley is called in but going over the head of his superintendent leaving her with no idea of what he is upto. Does not make him very popular with his boss this one. Lynley's hands are tied as the orders come right from the top, to go in sort of incognito as it were, no Havers at hand no no one to help out with the plodding work of detection. Lynley is not comfortable with the situation but he ropes in his friends Simon and Deborah to help.

In Cumbria each detective seems to be going on a separate path. Deborah is having to deal with particular demons of her own and this blinds her to the facts in front of her and sends her not only haring off in different directions but also causes in turn the death of someone which could have been easily avoided. Lynley himself seems perturbed by the turn of events as the family that called him in to investigate has not been truthful with him from the start (they never are). Everyone is covering up family secrets and no one wants to be the one to unravel family skeletons. 

The plot is twisty and complicated. The characters are all interesting because they are so varied and unexpected.  The detectives are still the suave Lynley, the bumbling but efficient (paradox if ever there was one) Havers and the interfering but good intention ed Deborah. I personally wanted to wring Deborah's neck but it is not to be. She will be there in the next book I know!

I have been reading a fair amount of books set in the English countryside of different periods and this was a change from that. True its still England but being a murder/mystery added to the change. 

Today is a public holiday and we are being lazy. For me it is more reading!

The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey

I have had this author on my TBR list for years. Never found a book upto now. I now have this site called Open Library and they have all the books I have been looking for!!! I just download and away I go. I tried to read this on audio but I found the sameness of tone throughout the reading monotonous and switched it off. 

A detective story with historical fiction in full overload. I've not come across the mix of genres before and I doubt anyone could do it more justice than this author. 

Alan Grant of Scotland Yard is laid up after an accident (after ignominiously falling down a hole in pursuit of a robber). He is laid up. He is not a good patient either. To assuage the boredom that is heavy on him, he takes on the very cold case of Richard III. The wicked uncle who did away with his two innocent nephews. 

From a hospital bed with nothing other than voluminous books on history (from different angles of course) he pieces together the story of the much maligned Richard III. You (definitely myself) are convinced that Richard was innocent of many of the heinous crimes attributed to him. By a series of deductions and methodology of timing of events Allan is able to put together a totally different picture which would send all history books into a tailspin.

How much is historically accurate I wouldn't know but the book kept me so engrossed that I had to finish it in one sitting. All the work scheduled for this morning has gone by the way!

For anyone with a love of English history coupled with detective skills this is the book for you. Now that I have Open Library at my beck and call every book seems a possibility. 

The Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden

I have been fascinated by this author. The books I have read upto now are based in British India just at the time the British were planning to leave India. They are so full of detail and so descriptive of a way of  life which is now gone forever.

This had a different setting. The narrator here is just thirteen and a very simple innocent thirteen. The setting is post WWII. The place Champagne in France.  We have a family of Mother and several children intending to holiday in this hotel in Champagne. See the sites and particularly the cemeteries as the Mother wants her children to know of the sacrifices made by thousands so that they could live. The whole plan turns on its head because from the moment of arrival Mother falls seriously ill, has to be hospitalized and she is more or less out of the story altogether.

We now have Joss our eldest - who comes into her own as a young woman new to the knowledge that she can seduce and bewitch. We have Hester and Cecil the next two girls who are bewildered by the change in Joss and then the littles who are far too small to be aware of anything. We also have the only boy Willmouse who is definitely not what the average boy of the age is.  The discovering of sensuality is not totally sexual. The children brought from a stodgy English background to the earthiness of rural France. From the manner of dress for the ladies - they could not understand bare arms and necks to their first taste of Champagne, everything was an eye opener for this lot. Though the book is about children it is not a children's story. 

Apart from the Grey family we also have a mystery. The French police have been on the lookout for a swindler. The English children have provided the perfect camouflage.  With the only adult in hospital, the only available Englishman around becomes their guardian. What could be more natural? What a perfect cover up. The story also is about the maturing of the elder children - when they came to France they were very innocent and childlike. They are now aware that life is not that simple. That responsibilities have to be taken on, shared and that they must not burden their mother with everything the way they did before.

The story so descriptive of everything in daily French life, from the food to the light, from the description of the surrounding areas to even the description of the characters which make up this story, this was a good book.

Mailbox Monday/It's Monday! What are you reading?

My Mailbox has nothing very much to report. Just a few Amazon downloads.

Reading a couple of books on the go








The first is a murder mystery and the second is military/warfare genre. Very interesting so far.

Granddaughter left today with her parents. There is a distinct void! On another non book note the rains have started. Rather too little now. I do wish we could have heavy rains for two or three days!

Next of Kin by Joanna Trollope

I wanted a book that I could read online while watching the cricket!!! I found another free e book site and since I've always loved Joanna Trollope once I found this one, I had to read it.

Like all her stories, this deals with human relationships of the closest kind. Mother, father, children, siblings. The most basic one because it is one we are born with and so with adulthood these relationships can disintegrate, dissolve or simply disappear. Sometimes the bonds formed by birth strengthen sometimes they do not. Trollope always makes me think of these relationships long after I've put the book away. This was no exception.

Set in a farming family we have Harry and Dilys and their two sons Robin and Joe. Each with their own farm, each very much loving the land and everything it involves. Events unravel with the death of Caro Robin's wife of cancer. Further unraveled with the totally unexpected suicide of Joe - random and seemingly without meaning so soon after Caro's death. The disintegration of the businesses along with the breakdown of the strength of the remaining family members complicated by small town gossip and attitudes adds to the story.

How families and individuals cope with the heartbreak of loss is part of this story and of course the final survival of all which is the very human part of the story.

Trollope at her entertaining best.

The Burning Air by Erin Kelly

Like most of other reviewers I do not know where to start. The book starts in the present, goes back and then ends in the present itself. When reading it it is not confusing it is the review that is a bit difficult to start!

The MacBrides are the normal family. They have always got together and gone for Bonfire Night to Devon. That has been a family tradition. This time there are several things going awry. Lydia the mother and someone who kept everyone glued together is dead after a trying bout with cancer. Sophie is trying to repair her marriage and Felix for the first time has brought a girlfriend to what is family time and things are a bit awkward.

From the beginning you do know that Kerry is not going to fit in. You really cant put your finger on it but you know that something is off. The entire smokescreen of course is elsewhere. 

Along with the MacBride family we have a parallel story of Darcy and his mother. Their long running feud with a prestigious school The Cath is acrimonious and bitter. They have focused their hatred on its Principal now retired. They will not let go. It is almost a jihad with them. 

How the two stories mesh and blend and when you begin to see the light of how the stories are evolving it is almost at the end of the tale. A book that will keep you turning the pages as you have to know what happened to the baby, what happened to everyone. And most importantly the reasoning or the madness behind it all.

My first read of this author. Not my last! Thank you Jackie for sending me this one.