The Persephone Books Thread

[SkaterGrrrrl]

Forgotten inter-war classics by female writers, now reprinted.

www.persephonebooks.co.uk

Which have you read? What's your favourite? Any recommendations?

Like all good dealers, get people hooked by starting them off with the good stuff! I usually recommend 'Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day' to kick-start a Persephone addiction.

I've loved the Dorothy Whipples too, especially 'They were Sisters' and 'Someone At a Distance'.

Mmmmmmm

Little Boy Lost, by Marghanita Laski. I absolutely love this book although it makes me bawl buckets every time. It deserves to be much mmore widely known.

I shall be off for a nosey round that site. Also love Girls Gone By, for some fabbo nostalgic reads.

Thanks for the suggestions lanky! I have been given a voucher for 2 Persephones for my birthday and need to sit down with the catalogue and choose my next reads.

I love that the Persephone catalogue explains how and why the unique inside cover design was selected for each book.

I love these books. I have Richmal Crompton's Family Roundabout, Consequences by E M Delafield and The Runwaway by Elizabeth Anna Hart - all really excellent books. I think the first is my favourite.

I love these books too and am in the process of getting them from the library. I've read Mariana, Good Evening Mrs Craven, Miss Pettigrew lives for a day and the Priory. I've just started Someone at a Distance.

I think Mariana was my favourite so far, but thoroughly enjoyed them all.. Little Boy Lost is going to be my next order!

Mariana is so funny and human ... does all the silly things girls do (like messing around at stage school) before finally growing up and meeting that lovely man.

I'd recommend:

'Fidelity' - a damning account of how judgemental suburbia ruins lives (echoes the same themes as Revolutionary Road)

'Greenery Street' - the story of a happy marriage

'Family Roundabout' - by the author of the Just William books

'Saplings' - a book about the impact of war on ordinary families by Noel Streatfield who wrote Ballet Shoes

'The Home-Maker', which manages to be incredibly feminist long before debates about which spouse would go out to work entered our consciousness.

I've heard of them before but really want to buy and read everything now, except those I already own in older Virago Modern Classics editions, which I just need to find and read or reread.

I've read some children's books and some other memoirs by Monica Dickens.

The Lambs Conduit shop is within walking distance of work, I may have to investigate...

They have discussion groups, readings and screenings of films based on the books at the Lamb Conduit shop!

www.persephonebooks.co.uk/events.asp

I just bought 'Cheerful Weather for the Wedding' and 'Miss Ranskill Comes Home'... going away for the weekend and plan to devour both!

Ooh, I love Family Roundabout, Mariana and Saplings too... although the last one is quite sad.

Agree that Miss Pettigrew is a good place to start - such a funny book!

And they look so pretty on the shelf, too... I want all of them

Thanks for pointing out the events, SkaterGrrrl - I'll have to check them out, they sound fab.

And I've just noticed that they have The Making of a Marchioness by Frances Hodgson Burnett - another favourite of mine and well worth looking into. It's got a bit more edge than her children's books but is still very sweet.

Ooh, I love Persephone Books (most of them, anyway)

My favourites are all the Dorothy Whipples. Family Roundabout was fabulous too. A London Girl of the 1870s is a classic memoir. Miss Pettigrew didn't do it for me. Must try Consequences and the Runaway. You can have the entire collection biked round for some vast sum - that's what I'll do when my ship comes in [dreamy emoticon]

ooh great thread. Only read miss pettigrew butalways wondered about others.

Imagine getting all of them at once and having shelves and shelves of silver loveliness!

My library has quite a few now too.

I could buy one a month and own all 80 odd in.... 7 years or so.

Persephone books are fab - a MASSIVE recommendation for Dorothy Whipple and Susan Glaspell. I envy you if you haven't read them yet!

Right, I need to order a Persephone for my mum for Xmas, which one do you recommend?

Someone at a Distance and Fidelity, while superb, are no good as infidelity is a painful subject for mum.

Thank you!