February 2020: Jane Gardam
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1sweetiegherkin
Leap year means we'll leap into reading books by Jane Gardam. What (if anything) have you read by her before? What's on your TBR pile for February?
2sweetiegherkin
Nothing jumped out at me from skimming Gardam's book titles so I'll definitely be looking forward to what you all are reading/suggesting to figure out what I should pick up!
3BookConcierge
The first two books by Gardam that I read are what prompted me to add all her works to my TBR
Old Filth and
The Man in the Wooden Hat
These are two books in series and best read together.
I recently read The Flight of the Maidens which is what prompted me to recommend Gardam.
Old Filth and
The Man in the Wooden Hat
These are two books in series and best read together.
I recently read The Flight of the Maidens which is what prompted me to recommend Gardam.
4cindydavid4
Oh my she is one of my favorite brit writers!! The Trilogy is fabulous, but read Old Filth first, then the man in the wooden hat finaly Last Friend. I love how she starts with us focus being narrow, and as her story continues she moves back to show it it all. I like her other books as well (and has some YA titles) but this trilogy really shows her range and skills as a writer.
7Yells
>6 bjellis: Right? Have you read the rest of the trilogy? I think I have the second one but I haven't started yet.
8sparemethecensor
Gardam is a new author for me! My library had a couple of her novels, but no copy of Old Filth unfortunately. I picked God on the Rocks which was a Booker nominee.
9bell7
I've only read Old Filth before, but I'm reading God on the Rocks this month as well.
10BookConcierge
I read this last August ... but here's my review:
The Flight of the Maidens – Jane Gardam
4****
From the book jacket: It is the summer of 1946. A time of clothing coupons and food rations, of postwar deprivations and social readjustment. In this precarious new era, three young women prepare themselves to head off to university and explore the world beyond Yorkshire, England.
My reactions:
I’ve read three of Gardam’s novels before this one, and I rated them all 4****. I made a note to myself immediately on finishing this one with my 4-star rating, but now, a week later, as I sit to write my review I think I may have been over-enthusiastic. I’ll leave my rating at 4 since that was my initial reaction, but perhaps it should really be 3.5***.
What I love about Gardam’s writing is the way she paints her characters and shows us who they are. Hetty (Hester or “Hes-tah”) Fallowes is somewhat bookish and saddled with an overbearing mother. She sympathizes with but doesn’t really understand her father, who suffers from the traumas he witnessed in the trenches during WWI (what we would today recognize as PTSD). Her best friend (since age five) is Una Vane. She had a somewhat privileged upbringing, until her doctor father walked out one morning, and his body was discovered days later at the base of a cliff. He, too, had suffered from his experiences in WW1. The third girl is a recent member of their tight circle of friendship.
Leiselotte Klein, is a Jewish refugee who was taken in by a Quaker family. While Hetty and Una are thin, even skinny, Leiselotte is chubby. She slouches and is always knitting. She knows nothing of what has happened to her family, and while the Quaker couple who have taken her in have provided all they can for her, they have not been warm and loving. Her “foreignness” in this small Yorkshire community sets her apart and she’s remained rather solitary. At least until the three are joined together by the news of their scholarships.
The book opens with the three girls “picnicking” and talking about their recent acceptance at university. All will be setting off for London: Hetty to London to read Literature; Una to Cambridge to study physics; and Leiselotte to Cambridge where she’ll study Modern Languages. But before they go, they’ll have the summer months to grow up a bit.
Gardam changes point of view from chapter to chapter to give each girl a chance in the spotlight. Hetty heads for the Lake District on her own, an attempt to get away from her mother and try to get a head start on the basic reading she is certain her fellow university students have already studied. Una takes a bicycle trip around the countryside in the company of a boy from the wrong side of the tracks. Leiselotte’s journey is the most wide-ranging and full of surprises. I’m not sure I ever really got to know her in this novel and felt that her story was somewhat tacked onto that of the other girls.
The Flight of the Maidens – Jane Gardam
4****
From the book jacket: It is the summer of 1946. A time of clothing coupons and food rations, of postwar deprivations and social readjustment. In this precarious new era, three young women prepare themselves to head off to university and explore the world beyond Yorkshire, England.
My reactions:
I’ve read three of Gardam’s novels before this one, and I rated them all 4****. I made a note to myself immediately on finishing this one with my 4-star rating, but now, a week later, as I sit to write my review I think I may have been over-enthusiastic. I’ll leave my rating at 4 since that was my initial reaction, but perhaps it should really be 3.5***.
What I love about Gardam’s writing is the way she paints her characters and shows us who they are. Hetty (Hester or “Hes-tah”) Fallowes is somewhat bookish and saddled with an overbearing mother. She sympathizes with but doesn’t really understand her father, who suffers from the traumas he witnessed in the trenches during WWI (what we would today recognize as PTSD). Her best friend (since age five) is Una Vane. She had a somewhat privileged upbringing, until her doctor father walked out one morning, and his body was discovered days later at the base of a cliff. He, too, had suffered from his experiences in WW1. The third girl is a recent member of their tight circle of friendship.
Leiselotte Klein, is a Jewish refugee who was taken in by a Quaker family. While Hetty and Una are thin, even skinny, Leiselotte is chubby. She slouches and is always knitting. She knows nothing of what has happened to her family, and while the Quaker couple who have taken her in have provided all they can for her, they have not been warm and loving. Her “foreignness” in this small Yorkshire community sets her apart and she’s remained rather solitary. At least until the three are joined together by the news of their scholarships.
The book opens with the three girls “picnicking” and talking about their recent acceptance at university. All will be setting off for London: Hetty to London to read Literature; Una to Cambridge to study physics; and Leiselotte to Cambridge where she’ll study Modern Languages. But before they go, they’ll have the summer months to grow up a bit.
Gardam changes point of view from chapter to chapter to give each girl a chance in the spotlight. Hetty heads for the Lake District on her own, an attempt to get away from her mother and try to get a head start on the basic reading she is certain her fellow university students have already studied. Una takes a bicycle trip around the countryside in the company of a boy from the wrong side of the tracks. Leiselotte’s journey is the most wide-ranging and full of surprises. I’m not sure I ever really got to know her in this novel and felt that her story was somewhat tacked onto that of the other girls.
11sparemethecensor
>10 BookConcierge: I loved your review. You made me want to read that one! Meanwhile I think I'm giving up on God on the Rocks. It's rather slow and the religiously fervent father subplot the book jacket promised is just so bland. I like Gardam's writing but ultimately this novel has neither sufficient plot nor sufficient character drive for me.
12annamorphic
>10 BookConcierge: I've read and loved quite a lot of Jane Gardam but this is one that I've never come across. It's moved straight into my Amazon shopping cart and I can't wait to start reading!
