Here's my reading matter for the next few days, and a good mixed bag it is.
I'm starting with Joan Bakewell's first novel All the Nice Girls
, which is set during the Second World War when a girls' grammar school joins the Merchant Navy's Ship Adoption Scheme. All is well until Captain Percival and his officers pay a visit to the school, then "the choices that follow will disrupt all their lives, reverberating even to the next generation, when, decades later, life and love are on the line again".
Next is non-fiction, Linda Grant's The Thoughtful Dresser
. This is "the thinking woman's guide to our relationship with what we wear: why we want to look our best and why it matters". Based on the premise that our clothes tell a story, this sounds a fascinating combination of history, anecdote and insight. I shan't be adopting the leopard skin handbag on the cover, but I shall read the book with interest.
Then a welcome return to Barbara Pym. I read several of her novels many years ago but am glad of the chance to reacquaint myself with her writing through No Fond Return of Love. Dulcie and Viola have both rather fallen for the alluring Dr. Aylwin Forbes, but he is smitten with Dulcie's pretty young niece. "Once life's little humiliations are played out, maybe love will be returned, and fondly, after all...." Maybe!
Here's a beautifully illustrated beginner's guide to becoming more self-sufficient. Written by Clarissa Dickson Wright and Johnny Scott, A Greener Life
contains heaps of information on growing and raising your own food, and as you'd expect, many tempting recipes from Clarissa to make good use of your produce, but there are also chapters on spinning, weaving and knitting, quilting, soap-making, and keeping a greener home.
Last but not least, a welcome return to the No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency with Alexander McCall Smith's Tea Time for the Traditionally Built
. Mma Ramotswe is having trouble with her tiny white van while Mma Makutsi experiences a crisis in her engagement to Phuti Radiphuti. But, "calm reflection, and frequent cups of redbush tea will be enough to solve even the most trying of problems..." A treat in store.
