Here are my recent reads:
- The King's War by Mark Logue
This is kind of written as a sequel to the King’s Speech by Peter Logue, the grandson of Lionel Logue who was George VI’s speech therapist. This non-fiction account is how their relationship fared during the WWII and is an interesting narrative on life for the Logue family and their three adult sons as WWII progressed.
It was a fairly easy read, not really telling me anything new that I had not read before, but a couple of interesting anecdotes that I hadn’t heard before, for example, George VI and Churchill planned to watch the D-Day landings from a British wartime in the English channel. Apparently they were like a pair of boys planning an adventure and were confident nothing bad could happen and it didn’t even count as leaving England. It was private secretary Tommy Lascelles who told them that before they went, they had to brief the 18 year old Princess Elizabeth on choosing a Prime Minister, in the event that the King and the Prime Minister went down on the same ship. This brought them back down to earth and the plan was aborted.
A pleasant enough read.
- The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson
This is a recent update to the Notes from a Small Island which he wrote many years ago when he was reasonably new to the UK.
Now on the verge of getting his long awaited British passport, this time, traveling the “Bryson line”- the imaginary longest straight line that can be drawn from south to north on the UK map, starting with Bognor Regis on the South Coast and the bleak sounding Cape Wrath on the north coast of Scotland.
It was a fairly typical Bryson book, a mix of travel observations, characters he meets along the way and anecdotes from past adventures. Very enjoyable, comfort reading.
- Tombland by C.J. Sansom
I love the Shardlake series, sadly it looks like this will be the last one.
After the death of Henry VIII, Tudor lawyer Matthew Shardlake finds himself working for the Princess Elizabeth, now second in line to the throne. He is called to Hatfield house, and told that a relative of Elizabeth’s executed mother, Ann Boleyn, is being tried for murder in Norwich. Elizabeth wants Matthew to make discreet enquiries, to ensure that John Boleyn gets a fair trial and that his disgraced name is not prejudicial against him. John has been charged with the murder of his wife Edith, who had reappeared after a mysterious absence of nine years. Elizabeth wants it kept secret that Edith came to Hatfield to ask for assistance, shortly before she returned to Norwich, but she was turned away by the palace staff.
Matthew travels to Norwich and soon realises it is a complex case, with many potential motives and suspects. He becomes embroiled in local politics and disputes, while trying to untangle the complex relationships between the Boleyn family, their neighbours and relations.
There is a growing feeling of unease between tenants and landowners in Norwich and this culminates in a great revolt, the historically accurate Kett’s rebellion. Inevitably Matthew gets embroiled in this, torn between doing the right thing and trying to stay alive, he ends up advising the Kett brothers on matters of law.
I really enjoyed this, as I have all the Shardlake books. I enjoy the complexity and even though they are fictional, the historical background is true along with several historical figures appearing in them – in this case, the Princess Elizabeth, the Kett brothers and various others, including the Duke of Warwick. At over 800 pages, it was a hefty read, but the pace was good, even though there was a danger of it beginning to drag a bit around half way through, it picked up again and I’d say I probably enjoyed it most of all the Shardlake books.
I’ll be sad if it really is the last one.
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The Girl with the Pearl Earring by Tracey Chevalier
A fictional story based around the well-known Dutch painting of the girl with a pearl earring. 16 year old Griet is sent to work as a maid in the house of an artist and his large family. The story follows Greit as she settles into her domestic role.
There are lots of descriptions of her interactions with the family and her missing her own family, especially when her younger sister passes away. She becomes particularly skilled at cleaning the artist’s room without disturbing anything, and as the story progresses, she becomes his assistant, mixing colours for him and modelling.
The story plods on slowly, Griet misses her family, has a developing friendship with one of the traders from the market she visits daily as part of her job. She also learns how to navigate the complex relationships between the servants and family within the household in which she works. There is also a religious element, Greit is a protestant, the family she serves are Catholic.
Griet is innocent, but the reader can see that her artist master has a growing interest in her which may not be entirely honourable, foreshadowed by the gossip that a previous maid has left in disgrace.
A short quick, but enjoyable read, which honestly could have been longer.
- The Lovesong of Miss Queenie Hennessey by Rachel Joyce
This is the sequel to the Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, which I read earlier this year. It was the story of Harold Fry who walked the length of England after receiving a letter that his old friend Queenie Hennessey was dying. This book, told the same story from the point of view of Queenie. The timeline goes back and forth a bit and tells the story of what prompted her to leave her job where she knew Harold, what prompted her to write the letter to him, and life in the hospice while she waits for him to arrive, along with all her thoughts about dying and different characters in the hospice.
It is well written and touching in places, a decent read.