By a sort of coincidence I have been delving into the thirties and forties, first of all with Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (one of those reissued Persephone Books) which I heard discussed on Woman’s Hour not so long ago. I wouldn’t quite compare it as a friend did to Mrs Dalloway (though it has that unity of time, place and voice) but it is entertaining.
What did strike me is how well it would transfer to stage or screen. Of course they have made a film with a decent cast but it seems to have sunk without trace. Has anyone seen it? More comments on the book for anyone who is interested on Library Thing. (And yes, there is a nasty racist edge, clearly quite acceptable at the time).
Next stop on my historical tour is 1945, for the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, something which probably every other book blogger has already read, and which I think I’ve been avoiding because of its gimicky (in my eyes) title. In fact I am totally charmed, so that’ll learn me!
Then I am going (cue ghostly voice) back in time with Tracey Chevalier’s The Lady and The Unicorn culled today from a charity shop. I am quite a Chevalier fan, and it will be interesting to see how it compares as a read with Needle in the Blood another (much longer) ‘tapestry book’ which was a big hit all over the place last year.
Ali Bacon, Author 