Libraries, lists and a whisper of a Whipple

    Nutkin, my squirrel letter rack or 'to do' list holder which has come all the way from Australia (thankyou, Kirsty), is shown here with two Persephone bookmarks for books which will be out next month - one of them is Greenbanks by Dorothy Whipple!

    I don't know whether Alan Bennett is a fan of Mrs. Whipple's - I wouldn't be surprised to hear he is - but this morning I've been reading his recent article on libraries which is very much worth a look if you have a few minutes to spare. The bit about Cecil Woodham-Smith tickled me particularly.

    From libraries to lists of books, and you may be interested to see the top 100 titles nominated for next year's World Book Night; I'm pleased that one of my absolute favourites is right up there. Nominations aren't closed, though, and if you click here you can see the interactive list and follow the link to suggest your own favourites.  

Comments

[LizF]

I have just purchased The Priory by Dorothy Whipple from Persephone and was delighted to see on their website that Greenbanks will finally be in print again!

Thanks for the link to the Alan Bennett piece, it was both very amusing and informative as I had had no idea that Cecil Woodham Smith was female despite having read The Great Hunger! All I can say in my defence is that it was an old copy and had no dust jacket with author information!

[Dark Puss]

Thank you for the Bennett link, sadly to say we are all fighting for our closing public libraries here in London and the rest of England. How are things going in Scotland on that front, is your devolved government managing to keep their funding levels up? I read some Henty when I was about 12, has anyone else?