Is anyone apart from me a fan of Rosamund Lehmann?

[TheCountessOlenska]

I'm just watching The Heart of Me which is the film of The Echoing Grove. Helen Bonham Carter and Paul Bettany are great in it - Ricky is being an absolute spineless knob at the moment, I can't remember from the book if he redeems himself later on!

I also love Elizabeth Jane Howard but I never seem to find anyone else (apart from my mum) who loves these authors. I especially love ones set around World War II - anyone got any suggestions of others I might enjoy?

I love the Elizabeth Jane Howard as well, although not read any Rosamund Lehmann. I am reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society at the moment, which is based on the Nazi occupation of Guernsey. Its quite enjoyable so far. Have you tried The Post Mistress? also second world war based.

Others I can think of at the moment which I have enjoyed are The Night Watch by Sarah Waters and Resistance by Anita Shreve.

Yes, yes to both... Love Invitation to the Waltz, and The Weather in the Streets bu Rosamund Lehmann - Olivia is a character who it's very easy to empathise with.

And, the Cazalet Chronicles are always worth a re-read. Elizabeth Jane Howard's autobiography suggests that some of the events are based on her life, makes them a bit more uncomfortable to read...

Oh hooray! I never find people who share my taste in RL.

ninjanurse - if you like Elizabeth Jane Howard then I really recommend you try Rosamund Lehmann's Invitation to the Waltz and The Weather in the Streets! Thanks for the suggestions I will look on Amazon

LordEmsworth - the Cazalet Chronicles are my absolute favourites, I read them all about once a year! Yes, I always think that Louise Cazalet is basically EJH - "not pretty but striking" and I think the relationship with her father was based on reality, and also her difficult relationship with her child . Have you read her autobiography Slipstream - it's fascinating but she's a difficult woman to get on side with, always pinching other people's husbands etc.!

I loved the Ballad and the Source by Lehmann. Have you tried Elizabeth Taylor (not the film star)? Angel and Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont are excellent. Plus, of course, Barbara Pym.

I'm afraid I have to confess that The Echoing Grove is one of the most boring books I've ever read. Sorry. However, I've read a couple of Elizabeth Jane Howard's books - didn't much like The Cazalet books but very much enjoyed Falling. Also, she has written a highly readable autobiography - she seems to have had an extraordinary life, consisting mostly of affairs with or marriages to very famous men.

Oh, and I adore Elizabeth Taylor. Would second that recommendation.

Love Rosamund Lehmann - Invitation to the Waltz and Weather in the Streets are just wonderful and I really like Dusty Answer and a Note in Music too but can't be doing with the Cazalet books I'm afraid. I was given them once by a really close friend so I felt I had to read them and sound bright and happy afterwards but they quickly departed to the charity shop without (m)any tears shed.

Elizabeth Taylor is definitely worth a go if you like Rosamund Lehmann but if you want books about the war then I'd really recommend Olivia Manning's Balkan and Levant Trilogies, That Summer by Andrew Greig, Island Madness by Tim Binding and Echos of War by William Reviere (out of print now but some second hand copies available on Amazon).

Thanks for suggestions guys!.

For some reason I have only got one book by Elizabeth Taylor - A Game of Hide and Seek. I did really like it though - what others are good by her?

Angel and In a Summer Season are good.

Second Angel and In A Summer Season. This month's Radio 4 book club with James Naughtie is to mark the 100th anniversary of Elizabeth Taylor's birth and they are doing Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont - goes out this Sunday afternoon, 3.30ish, can't remember the exact time.

Angel is v. good, as is Mrs Palfrey

Oh yes. I love Rosamund Lehmann, Elizabeth Taylor and Barbara Pym. I have lots of RL and ET as those lovely bottle-green Virago paperbacks.

I'm trying to convince DH to read some Elizabeth Taylor, as he was very interested in the trailer for Jim Naughtie's book club.

Yes, I love Lehmann too, especially Dusty Answer, though I read all of her a few years back. If you like her, you might like Violet Trefusis - slightly unfairly remembered mainly as Vita Sackville-West's true love.

James Naughtie has a book club? My reading is so asocial...

There is a Virago Modern Classics group on www.librarything.com and you will find other people to talk about anyone they publish including Rosamond Lehmann and Elizabeth Taylor. Virago Modern Classics publish quite a few mid and early 20th century women writers, and most of Persephone Books' output is in that period of before during and after WWII.

The Bookclub programme can be downloaded any time as a podcast from the BBC website or via Itunes. My computer came home from having its faulty hard drive replaced on Friday and I downloaded hundreds of Radio 4 book programmes (hey, lots more reading ideas I so don't need!)