What I've been reading

The Well of Loneliness
by Radclyffe Hall

narrated by Cecilia Fage

"Stephen Gordon (named by a father desperate for a son) is not like other girls: she hunts, she fences, she reads books, wears trousers, and longs to cut her hair. As she grows up amidst the stifling grandeur of Morton Hall, the locals begin to draw away from her, aware of some indefinable thing that sets her apart."

A story that revolves around the lives of  gay people, named 'Inverts' in the text, just over a hundred years ago. They were treated very badly in society but managed a bit better by banding together, and yet the final act of the story is that Stephen has to force her lover Mary to leave her so that Mary has a chance of a happy life. It's all a bit depressing, but interesting, and well written and narrated.

The Nightingale
by Kristin Hannah

"France, 1939. In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. Vianne's sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old girl, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth."

It was a good book but very graphic in its recounting of the conditions of occupation and resistance in Second World War France. I wouldn't read it again, so it is the first on the shelf at Maternal Manor of books to be given away.

Ten Things I Love About You
by Julia Quinn

"Annabel Winslow, a country girl through and through, has received an offer to go to London for the season. The eldest of a family of eight, she knows that a good marriage might be the only thing that will save her family from ruin."

I picked this up as something easy to read while all the house removal was going on, and it was a perfect choice. Regency romance with straightforward characters having a lovely time, enter the villain who gets his comeuppance in an unpredictable way and all ends delightfully. It's now second on the shelf of books to be given away.

Kitchen Confidential
by Anthony Bourdain

"From his first oyster in the Gironde to his lowly position as a dishwasher in a honky-tonk fish restaurant in Provincetown; from the kitchen of the Rainbow Room atop the Rockefeller Center to drug dealers in the East Village, from Tokyo to Paris and back to New York again, Bourdain's tales of the kitchen are as passionate as they are unpredictable, as shocking as they are funny. "

After I went to the recent screening of a film about his early career, I thought I'd re-read his first memoir which covers that time and much more. He writes well, and I first read it at a time when there weren't wall-to-wall TV programmes about chefs and restaurants and the catering trade, so a glimpse into this strange world was relatively new. Now I just hope that kitchens are no longer run in the way that he describes them back then: a crucible of bullying, drug abuse, overwork, misogyny and racism. I am also continuing to fulfil my obsessive need to get rid of everything I own because it too has been consigned to the shelf of books that will be given away.

Black Tag
by Simon Mayo

"When the West End Gallery in London's fashionable Coal Drops Yard is set alight, the fire service must use the list of paintings lodged with it - a grab list - to snatch the key pieces of art from the flames."

I picked this up from the library on impulse because I'm a big fan of Simon May as a broadcaster ever since I was a teenager and he was on Capital Radio, and wondered what sort of author he is. Luckily he's a good one and it's a thrilling and suspenseful read, to the extent that I stayed up much, much too late to get to the end. That said, it's not without its flaws - it's about 10% too complicated, but that may be because I know nothing about art, journalism, far right politics and its opponents.

John and Paul: A Love Story in Songs
by Ian Leslie

"At the centre of The Beatles was the volatile, madly creative chemistry between John Lennon and Paul McCartney. This is the story of how two young men merged their souls and multiplied their talents to produce one of the greatest bodies of music in history."

I was slightly hesitant about reading this. On one hand I've wanted to read it ever since it came out; on the other hand the last time I immersed myself in the world of the Beatles I came a bit unstuck - somewhat overemotional and tearful. This time I've been fine, and it was a particularly wonderful experience because he writes their story using the songs they wrote, both together and separately, and I could listen to the music as it was being described. The author picked out meaningful lyrics and included information about how, where and when the songs were written and recorded, as well what was going on at the time. I'm just in awe of their talent and creativity.