Recent Books

I have been reading too many brutal mysteries lately. I don't know if this was affecting my better nature, but it couldn't be good. So I am in the middle of cleansing my soul with Victorian melodramas. Two were written at that time. I'm in the middle of both of them, so I can't tell you how they end. Sure. What is Wikipedia for if not to find out the end of books? They are a lot of fun, even if you know the ending. The Small House at Allington was written by Anthony Trollope in 1864. Yes, that 1864. The Civil War was just drawing to a close. It is so interesting to read what was going on in the more settled England at the same time. What was going on was that people were deciding who to marry based on what money the other had. Lily is loved by two men, one without potential (who eventually made lots of money. I'm reading on to find out how.) and one with a little more potential and a smarmy charm. This is one of the Barchester Chronicle books, so if I really find that I care about these people, there are more folks to get wrapped up in. I might just put them on my "palate cleansing" list. Imagine cleaning up with shallow people after reading too much about brutal people.

Portrait of a Lady was written in 1880. The Los Angeles Times was first published the next year in that rough and tumble town on the West Coast. Things were now much more civilized on the East Coast, but we still had many dirt roads and orange groves. This book is about an American, but takes place primarily in England and the continent. Foolish woman with money marrying the wrong man and facing sorrow and despair. Lovely. I'm in the middle of this one, too. I think it will have to wait for me to finish The Small House, because I'm starting to get these silly ladies mixed up. Oh, there are silly men, too; but, who cares?

Rounding out the trio of Victorian books is one written by Ken Follet, A Dangerous Fortune. This is one of the books I got for Eric and me to listen to on our trip to Philadelphia. Follet wrote The Eye of the Needle, at one time one of my favorite books. That one is full of spies and intrigue and the source for two good movies. This one is more like the two books mentioned above! Oh crikey, I just realized that he also wrote the insipid Words Without End and Pillars of Dearth. Or something like that. Actually, this wasn't bad, especially if you are already reading two books with almost exactly the same theme. This is more from the man's point of view; lots more fumbling for women's breasts. Can't imagine Trollope or James mentioning that. It is an interesting addition to this trilogy of marriage in the time when money and class was everything. It was written in 1993 and includes a bank failure and a good banker who tries to pay off all his creditors. Must be fiction.

So what murderous tripe was it that I was trying to escape? Well, Reacher, of course. The Hard Way wasn't as misogynist as some of this others of his that I've read recently. The bad guys are just psychopaths. Nice. Eric and I started this on our trip. I had to finish it so I could tell him all about it. Maybe I didn't have to finish it, but I did need to know how it ended and what lead up to that end.

The other silly mystery was A Letter of Mary. This is a series about a young woman who married a much older Sherlock Holmes and solves mysteries with him. Oh dear, I know; such a silly premise. And such a silly book and story. Please smack my hand if I think I might read another of these books, ok?