It's Always More Complicated

What I read

Finished The Covent Garden Ladies: The Extraordinary Story of Harris's List (that title is really kind of misleading, because it's much more about a few specific individuals who inspired/published/were on the list, though also a lot of contextual detail on sex work and pimping in C18th London). It's v good, even though in preface to recent edition Rubenhold suggests that she would have done a few things differently if she was doing it now. I had one slight irk, which was the lazy cliche that Jane Austen was writing about a 'safe' world unlike that of Covent Garden and the other purlieux Rubenhold was describing: ahem, the precarious position of pretty well all her female characters except Emma? the likely fate of Lydia Bennett? can we not envisage Maria Bertram Rushworth ending up in 'high keeping'? But that was just one passing phrase.

I did need something a little lighter after that: I remembered recently that I had enjoyed several romances by Jeevani Charika, and this one, The Wedding Planner’s Guide to Stealing the Bride, came out last week. As with her other works what I like is that there is other stuff going on beside Ro-mance. Just one slight cavil with this that [spoiler] had no redeeming features.

Len Deighton, The IPCRESS file (1962) - a Kobo deal, I have been meaning to read some Deighton (besides his bread recipe). I was very taken by the narrative voice in the early chapters but got rather bogged down in the intricacies of the plot, and okay, maybe it was meant to reflect the muddle and confusion inherent to a secret agent's life? Amused by the awe at the magic abilities of the IBM machine.... Not convinced by the brainwashing McGuffin.

On the go

Alexis Hall, Hell's Heart (2026). This was finally a deal on Kobo - I was feeling a bit iffy about it at full price having found author's work a bit hit-and-miss, also, not having read the classic work it is riffing off, at least, only a child's version with pictorial stickers in my extreme youth. Am rather bogging down.

Since in-person book group now appears to have committed to Cold Comfort Farm, I find that Project Gutenberg has several of the works of Sheila Kaye-Smith, whose novels of rural life in deepest Sussex are said to be part of Gibbons' inspiration. Read a few of these a while ago, currently have The End of the House of Alard (1923) on the go.

Up next

Both of those are quite long and will keep me going for a while! Possibly another Kaye-Smith.

Also there is a new Literary Review