Since I last posted, I have only read two books,The Little Friend by Donna Tartt and Passion by Jude Morgan.
The first, is last etc....
Passion follows the lives of four women at the start of the 19th Century, women who through their own endeavours, or those of the men they are connected, with will become famous, or infamous.
Byron, Coleridge, Keats and Shelley are the male characters , but their female counterparts, and their lives are the main focus of this novel.
Mary Shelley, Lady Caroline Lamb, are both names most have heard of, there is also Augusta Leigh...Byron's half-sister and Fanny Brawne.
I could not quite figure who Fanny Brawne was connected to..as in the male characters...but this apart the novel was very engaging
I have read better...but it does hit the point I think Jude Morgan was making..he was, I think, trying to make people aware that some of our famous writers/poets...had the backing and inspiration from some very strong minded, clever women.
As an aside, Wordsworth, and his sister are mentioned, in passing.....I would say that they don't get a terribly good "press" from this novel.
The Little Friend by Donna Tartt
I can only assume that this novel was set in the 80s at some point, maybe the late 70s If there was a bench point at some stage, I missed it.
Saying that I loved the book. Harriet has a lot to put up with. Her elder brother was murdered when she was only a baby, her father then took a job miles away...sending money for up-keep regularly, but to all intents and purposes, he left shortly after his only son was murdered. Harriet's Mum became unhinged by Robin's death, he elder sister was not old enough to understand what had happened and is at the time of the novel, a vapid sleepy teenager.
Harriet is determined to find out what happened to Robin, and who murdered him, even though she was under a year old at the time. She takes to heart comments from unreliable witnesses and becomes obsessed with finding Robin's murderer and bringing them to justice. Her loyal friend "Hely" does his best to stand by her.
The end of the novel leaves some thing open for further exploration.
I liked most of this book, but was a little put off by the ending/non-ending.....leaving the stage open for a follow up by Donna Tartt.
I seriously hope there is another novel about Harriet, as I feel The Little Friend left many things unanswered