Books read, February
Most of these I’ve reviewed already. Favourites would be two re-reads, Rilla of Ingleside and The Honour of the House.
Ne’er Duke Well, Alexandra Vasti
Biggles and the Rescue Flight, WE Johns
Honour of the House, EM Channon (re-read)
The New Boy, Doreen Tovey (re-read)
Jack of St Virgil’s, Lillian M Pyke (re-read)
From Billabong to London, Mary Grant Bruce
Jim and Wally, Mary Grant Bruce (re-read)
Captain Jim, Mary Grant Bruce
The Cub, Ethel Turner (re-read)
Captain Cub, Ethel Turner
Brigid and the Cub, Ethel Turner
Wanted an English Girl, Dorothea Moore
The Blythes are Quoted, LM Montgomery
Rilla of Ingleside, LM Montgomery (re-read)
Ne’er Duke Well, Alexandra Vasti. A new but rather radical duke turns to a very proper debutante for advice on rehabilitating his reputation; sparks fly, etc etc, but she is also concealing a secret in that she runs a circulating library of erotic literature for women. Thrusts the characters at each other without doing the work of establishing the relationship and everyone seems at least a century too modern.
Biggles and the Rescue Flight, WE Johns. I did not put this with Biggles Flies East because it’s just not very good. Written significantly later, outside pov with a couple of keen schoolboys (who are basically interchangeable cardboard) who pretend to be in the RAF (it helps that they’ve been sneaking out of school every morning at 5am to get flying lessons at the nearby airfield, although it’s never clear how this is paid for) in order to get to France to rescue one of them’s older brother, missing presumed dead. Clunks along predictably.
Honour of the House, EM Channon, (re-read). Pauline tries her best to make an impact as a new girl and member of the least well-regarded house, but has to contend with the Kipples, an astonishingly non-contributory family. Fatima Kibble is a highly unusual character for a girls’ school story (she’s fat and not comic relief for a start, but she’s also smart, talented at poetry, and capable of perspective) and this remains a very satisfying read.
The New Boy, Doreen Tovey (re-read). I really must track down Cats in May one of these days, because I’ve never read it. Sometimes I just want to read about cats.
Jack of St Virgil’s, Lillian M Pyke (re-read). This was published in 1917 and does have some WWI references but they’re pretty slight and I didn’t include it in the talk. It has a rather ridiculous bit with a school boat race that apparently old boys all round the world, even at the Front, are totally invested in, otherwise pretty obvious.
From Billabong to London, Mary Grant Bruce
Jim and Wally, Mary Grant Bruce (re-read)
Captain Jim, Mary Grant Bruce
The Cub, Ethel Turner (re-read)
Captain Cub, Ethel Turner
Brigid and the Cub, Ethel Turner
Reviewed here.
Wanted an English Girl, Dorothea Moore
Reviewed here.
The Blythes are Quoted, LM Montgomery
Rilla of Ingleside, LM Montgomery (re-read)
Reviewed here.
Ne’er Duke Well, Alexandra Vasti
Biggles and the Rescue Flight, WE Johns
Honour of the House, EM Channon (re-read)
The New Boy, Doreen Tovey (re-read)
Jack of St Virgil’s, Lillian M Pyke (re-read)
From Billabong to London, Mary Grant Bruce
Jim and Wally, Mary Grant Bruce (re-read)
Captain Jim, Mary Grant Bruce
The Cub, Ethel Turner (re-read)
Captain Cub, Ethel Turner
Brigid and the Cub, Ethel Turner
Wanted an English Girl, Dorothea Moore
The Blythes are Quoted, LM Montgomery
Rilla of Ingleside, LM Montgomery (re-read)
Ne’er Duke Well, Alexandra Vasti. A new but rather radical duke turns to a very proper debutante for advice on rehabilitating his reputation; sparks fly, etc etc, but she is also concealing a secret in that she runs a circulating library of erotic literature for women. Thrusts the characters at each other without doing the work of establishing the relationship and everyone seems at least a century too modern.
Biggles and the Rescue Flight, WE Johns. I did not put this with Biggles Flies East because it’s just not very good. Written significantly later, outside pov with a couple of keen schoolboys (who are basically interchangeable cardboard) who pretend to be in the RAF (it helps that they’ve been sneaking out of school every morning at 5am to get flying lessons at the nearby airfield, although it’s never clear how this is paid for) in order to get to France to rescue one of them’s older brother, missing presumed dead. Clunks along predictably.
Honour of the House, EM Channon, (re-read). Pauline tries her best to make an impact as a new girl and member of the least well-regarded house, but has to contend with the Kipples, an astonishingly non-contributory family. Fatima Kibble is a highly unusual character for a girls’ school story (she’s fat and not comic relief for a start, but she’s also smart, talented at poetry, and capable of perspective) and this remains a very satisfying read.
The New Boy, Doreen Tovey (re-read). I really must track down Cats in May one of these days, because I’ve never read it. Sometimes I just want to read about cats.
Jack of St Virgil’s, Lillian M Pyke (re-read). This was published in 1917 and does have some WWI references but they’re pretty slight and I didn’t include it in the talk. It has a rather ridiculous bit with a school boat race that apparently old boys all round the world, even at the Front, are totally invested in, otherwise pretty obvious.
From Billabong to London, Mary Grant Bruce
Jim and Wally, Mary Grant Bruce (re-read)
Captain Jim, Mary Grant Bruce
The Cub, Ethel Turner (re-read)
Captain Cub, Ethel Turner
Brigid and the Cub, Ethel Turner
Reviewed here.
Wanted an English Girl, Dorothea Moore
Reviewed here.
The Blythes are Quoted, LM Montgomery
Rilla of Ingleside, LM Montgomery (re-read)
Reviewed here.
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