Valerie Perrin

Book Report: Two Novels by Favorite Authors

/ nagneberg48 / 2 Comments

June 27, 2024

While my husband was manning his garage sale last weekend (A big success. Thanks for asking and for those of you who stopped by, thanks for shopping and for donating to Lutheran Social Service programs for youth experiencing homelessness.)–ok, back to books.

While my husband was manning his garage sale, I was engrossed in two novels: The Comfort of Ghosts by Jacqueline Winspear, the last in her 18 book Maisie Dobbs series and Forgotten on Sunday by Valerie Perrin, her first book, which has only recently been translated from French to English and published here in the US.

The Comfort of Ghosts by Jacqueline Winspear

Located right below my full shelf of Louise Penney books and right above the Willa Cather and Virginia Woolf collections, live the Maisie Dobbs books, plus the two stand-alone novels written by Winspear–The White Lady (2023) and The Care and Management of Lies (2014). I have read all of the Maisie Dobbs books, but don’t own them all. However, I anticipate correcting that situation, for I know at some point, perhaps this winter, I will decide to read them all again. (I have re-read all of Louise Penny’s books, one after another, and I imagine reading them a 3rd time.)

The Comfort of Ghosts is set in London, 1945, which means we have known Maisie Dobbs since the end of WWI when she was a nurse. Maisie, contrary to acceptable behavior, becomes a private investigator, owning her own business. We follow her through the years, including two marriages, being a widow, adopting a child, and being a good and loyal friend to many. It seems appropriate that this book is set in the reality of the UK attempting to move on after WWII, for in this book we feel Maisie moving into a new future, too. The challenges around her are many, and Maisie becomes involved with a group of four homeless children who were trained as resistant workers, young as they are. Many around her, including her dear friend Priscilla and her former mother-in-law, Lady Rowan are in the midst of change, but once again Maisie exhibits resilience and warmth and intelligence. In a conversation with one of the orphaned children she responds to what is said about keeping thoughts to oneself, “But I was once told by a very wise man to do pretty much the same because keeping the thought close gives you an opportunity to consider a bit more, like looking at all the difference facets of a diamond. When you’ve done that, turned the stone around a few times, you have more to offer by way of an observation.” p. 165

Here’s Winspear’s farewell to Maisie: https://newsletter.jacquelinewinspear.com/i6m4k3q7m7

A poignant and bittersweet book.

Forgotten on Sunday by Valerie Perrin

Fresh Water for Flowers (2018) by French writer Valerie Perrin is one of my all-time favorite books, and I have read it twice. Yes, there will be a third time at some point. I enjoyed her most recent book as well, Three (2020), and think it is worth re-reading, also. That’s a good track record, and I was thrilled to discover that Perrin’s first novel was finally being published in the US– Forgotten on Sunday (2015), but at the same time I was nervous about reading her debut. Would it measure up or would I be disappointed?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, too. For those of you who prefer to read a book in which the narrative moves chronologically from beginning to end, this book is not for you. There are several threads over a range of time periods, but Perrin is so good at developing characters that we can’t help but fall in love with them, and we readers want them to find the love they seek. Is it because she is French, but oh, she writes so tenderly, so wisely about love. It is not a romance book, but it is in many ways a romantic book.

Justine is the narrator. She and her cousin Jules were orphaned when their parents were killed in a car accident. They were raised by their fathers’ parents. Justine, now an adult, is a nursing assistant in a nursing home and more than anything she loves hearing her patients’ stories. One of her patients is Helene, the other main character in the book. The entwining of their lives and all they discover along the way–secrets revealed–is sensitively told, as is Perrin’s style. The title refers to residents of the nursing home who are rarely visited by friends and family.

My one quarrel with the book is the cover, which distorts the profile of the woman on the beach. This black and white photograph seems an odd choice for the cover and unlike what Europa Editions generally chooses. Oh well.

An Invitation

Do you have favorite authors whose new books you will read without question? I would love to know.

NOTE: Next Thursday, July 4, I will post my summary of books read in June. Stay tuned!

Book Report: July Round-Up

/ nagneberg48 / 4 Comments

August 4, 2022

I read sixteen books in July–surprising even myself.

The first half of the month I immersed myself in mysteries. See my July 14 post. https://wordpress.com/post/livingonlifeslabyrinth.com/949 During the second half of July I read three novels from my TBR list, and I recommend with pleasure each one.

  • French Braid by Anne Tyler. I’ve read most of her long list of books, enjoying some more than others. This one is especially good. Few people write dialogue as well as Tyler does, for one thing, and few people create a window into family relationships as she does. True, the characters are often quirky, but still, recognizable. In this story the family members maintain distance from one another, not out of dislike or fear, but simply this is the way it is. The title is referenced towards the end of the book describing a French braid when it is undone, “ripples, little leftover squiggles…that’s how families work, too. You think you’re free of them, but you’re never really free; the ripples are crimped in forever.” (p. 234) Later, Tyler writes, “This is what families do for each other–hide a few uncomfortable truths, allow a few deceptions. Little kindnesses…and little cruelties. (p. 342) Classic Tyler
  • Three by Valerie Perrin. Her earlier novel, Fresh Water for Flowers, was the first book I read in 2021 and was one of my favorite books that year. It remains a favorite. I loved Three, as well. The title refers to Etienne, Adrien, and Nina who grew up together, forming their own kind of family. The story moves between their growing up years and years much later. Sometimes a scene is repeated, but the second time we, the readers, know much more than we did the first time we read it. Much of the story is told by Virginie, but we don’t know who she is till much later in the book. “Intriguing” is the word that occurred to me as I read this book. Flawed characters, for sure, but characters who want to live as their better selves. One line that stays with me, “How many people do we miss out on in a lifetime?” (p. 261)
  • Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead. After reading her most recent novel Great Circle in June https://livingonlifeslabyrinth.com/2022/06/09/book-report-great-circle-by-maggie-shipstead/, I knew I wanted to read her backlist. Seating Arrangements is her first novel, published in 2012, and it is worth reading. The story takes place the weekend of a wedding–Winn and Biddy’s oldest daughter, Daphne is getting married to Greyson. Daphne is seven months pregnant, which doesn’t seem to be an issue for anyone. The wedding party gathers at the family’s island home, and the story could have focused on any one of the characters, but this is really the father’s story. “His wedding had been a wedding, not a family reunion and missile launch and state dinner all rolled into one.” (p. 93). Winn is attracted to one of the bridesmaids, and his younger daughter Livia is recovering from an abortion and being dumped by her boyfriend, and there is the matter of the beached whale. Shipstead not only tells a story well, but I love her rich descriptions and her often ironic tone. Now I am ready to read the next novel on her backlist, Astonish Me.

I feel I should mention another novel I read in July, Bewilderment by Richard Powers. I’m not sure I loved this book, but it felt like an honor to read it, and at times the story of a widowed father, Theo, and his unusual nine year-old son, Robin, moved me to tears. Theo doesn’t accept the encouragement from Robin’s teachers to start him on medication, but instead homeschools him and enrolls him in an experimental kind of therapy. Theo is an astrobiologist and often tells Robin stories of imagined planets. All this is in the context of a world that seems to be destroying itself and Trumpian anti-science politics. I’ve not yet read Powers’ The Overstory–I know I should. I know I will, but not yet.

As part of my morning meditation time, I am reading, slowly, very slowly, Unbinding, The Grace Beyond Self by Kathleen Dowling Singh, which has been on my shelf for several years, and it is worth the wait and the intentional slow pace. Other than that, I am not reading much nonfiction right now. I do recommend, however, a writing book, Getting to the Truth, The Craft and Practice of Nonfiction by the editors of Hippocampus Magazine. Excellent essays.

Reading Is…

it’s going somewhere without ever taking a train or a ship, an unveiling of new, incredible worlds. It’s living without having to face consequences of failures, and how best to succeed…I think within all of us, there is a void, a gap waiting to be filled by something. For me, that something is books and all their proffered experiences. p.73

The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin

An Invitation

What did you read in July? Anything you recommend? I would love to know.

Note #1:

One of my favorite online sites for books and reading is Modern Mrs Darcy. Yesterday her post was a list of mystery series to read while waiting for the new Louise Penny! https://modernmrsdarcy.com/what-to-read-next-louise-penny-readalikes/

Note #2:

One of my favorite blogs about writing is Brevity. On Monday, August 8 you can read an essay I wrote called “Writing in a Garret.” I hope you will read it and would love to know your response. https://brevity.wordpress.com