Well, we have got ahead of ourselves. But ‘we’ I mean ‘I’. Because the calendar is saying it’s late August, and my Project 24 tally says that September has already ended – I’m up to book 18 in my Project 24 restrictions. But hopefully you’ll see why I couldn’t resist these two beauties.
Last weekend, I went to Stratford-upon-Avon with my brother and some friends to do a treasure hunt. I knew there might also be treasure in Chaucer Head Bookshop, which I hadn’t been to for the best part of a decade and was delighted to discover still existed. They’ve got a nice range of very reasonably priced books – and I came away with these two.
Theresa’s Choice by Rachel Cecil (daughter of David Cecil) seems to be about some sort of love triangle – but, let’s be honest with ourselves, I bought it because I loved the cover. And I’m always willing and ready to try a mid-century woman writer that I don’t know anything about.
Nina by Susan Ertz is the black blob underneath the colourful dustjacket – less captivating on the eye, but more exciting to me since it is SIGNED by her! I’ve only read a couple of Ertz novels, and they’ve been very different from each other, but I’m interested to read more by her – and I think there might be something special among her output. Fingers crossed it’s this one!
Haha — the ‘royal we’ are we?!!
I think I would have been seduced by that gorgeous yellow cover with that evocative and enigmatic street scene too.
I’ve just discovered there are some Susan Ertz books hidden away in my local library stacks (not Woman Alive nor this one though) which I feel I might need to request for me to dust off soon. I am feeling drawn to a reread of The Diary of a Provincial Lady and a Ertz might be the perfect follow up read.
Oh lovely – which Ertz is it? She was prolific – I’d love to know what you think of whichever one it is.
The library have The galaxy, Madame Claire, The proselyte, and Anger in the sky. Have you read any of those? Which one to choose?
I’ve only read Madame Claire and I liked it (but didn’t quite love). So selfishly I would suggest a different one so you can tell me if it is good or not!
Well I was going to go for Madame Claire as the reviews I sneakily skimmed were quite enticing but, seeing as you asked so nicely, I will see if they have The Galaxy instead; then again I might be greedy and ask for two books to come up from the stacks for a dusting!!
Nice! I haven’t been to Stratford for a while, but then I’m getting weirdly addicted to the end of my TBR shelves slowly slowly slowly receding so I might do a Project 24 type thing next year …
I think I’m going to keep doing it every other year, at least until I move house (if I do) and get some more room!
Thank you, Simon. I shall look out for the bookshop in Stratford-upon-Avon next May when on our (currently) annual holiday in Bredon.
Oh yes, lovely! And if you haven’t been before, there’s a lovely bookshop around the corner (ish) in Tewkesbury.
Wonderful finds, Simon, and I would have been smitten by that cover too!!!
Hard not to, for sure!
Novels like these that used to look so old-fashioned and dull when I was a child perusing library bookshelves are now the books I am reading most often. I am eager to hear what you think of these two, but I know that you have many other books ahead of them in your TBR pile. And I want to thank you for reminding me of My Cousin Rachel. My best “book friend” and I are reading it together, and it is brilliant! DuMaurier was so good at evoking atmosphere. It’s like reading a 19th century novel.
Haha! Yes, and to think of the gems that were on the shelves then. And how fun to be reading My Cousin Rachel in tandem – such a clever, thrilling book. DduM is variable, but at her best she is extraordinary.