Living in the Past

An alternate cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.\ 'You must give up this mad idea, Frank ... there is but one course left open to you. You MUST marry money'\ Doctor Thorne, considered by Trollope to be the best of his works, is a telling examination of the relationship between money and morality. It recounts the story of the son of a bankrupt landowner, Frank Gresham, who is intent on marrying his beloved Mary Thorne despite her illegitimacy and apparent poverty. Frank's ambitious mother and haughty aunt are set against the match, however, and push him to make a good marriage to a wealthy heiress. Only Mary's loving uncle, Dr Thorne, knows of the fortune she is about to inherit - but believes she should be accepted on her own terms. The third book in the Chronicles of Barsetshire.

As boys, George, the son of a Midlands vicar, and Arthur, living in shabby genteel Edinburgh, find themselves in a vast and complex world at the heart of the British Empire. Years later—one struggling with his identity in a world hostile to his ancestry, the other creating the world’s most famous detective while in love with a woman who is not his wife–their fates become inextricably connected.In Arthur & George, Julian Barnes explores the grand tapestry of late-Victorian Britain to create his most intriguing and engrossing novel yet.

When Agatha Christie died on 12 January 1976, she was known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime, unrivalled as the best-selling novelist of all time with two billion books sold in more than 100 languages. Though she kept her private life a mystery, for some years Agatha had secretly written her autobiography, and when it was published after her death, millions of her fans agreed - this was her best story!From early childhood at the end of the 19th century, through two marriages and two World Wars, and her experiences both as a writer and on archaeological expeditions with her second husband, Max Mallowan, this book reveals the true genius of her legendary success with real passion and openness.

Dick Young is lent a house in Cornwall by his friend Professor Magnus Lane. During his stay he agrees to serve as a guinea pig for a new drug that Magnus has discovered in his scientific research. When Dick samples Magnus's potion, he finds himself doing the impossible: traveling through time while staying in place, thrown all the way back into Medieval Cornwall. The concoction wear off after several hours, but its effects are intoxicating and Dick cannot resist his newfound powers. As his journeys increase, Dick begins to resent the days he must spend in the modern world, longing ever more fervently to get back into his world of centuries before, and the home of the beautiful Lady Isolda...

The Optimist's Daughter is the story of Laurel McKelva Hand, a young woman who has left the South and returns, years later, to New Orleans, where her father is dying. After his death, she and her silly young stepmother go back still farther, to the small Mississippi town where she grew up. Alone in the old house, Laurel finally comes to an understanding of the past, herself, and her parents.

The fall brings four more antic novels from comic genius, P. G. Wodehouse. In Picadilly Jim (soon to be a major motion picture), Jimmy Crocker has a scandalous reputation on both sides of the Atlantic and must do an about-face to win back the woman of his dreams. Uneasy Money sees the hard-up Lord Dawlish off to America to make a fortune, while in Cocktail Time events turn on the fate of a filmscript. Spring Fever is a light-hearted comedy involving love and various complications.

Charles Rainier’s family feared him lost along with so many of Britain’s youth during the Great War. But two years after he was reported missing in action, he appears in a Liverpool hospital with no memory of the time that has passed. Rainier marries and embarks on a life of relative success, but he still can’t recall his time on the battlefield—until the first bombs of the Second World War begin to fall. Suddenly, his memories flood back. Now, recollections of a violent battlefield, a German prison, and a passionate affair all threaten to fracture the peaceful life he has worked so hard to create. From the bestselling author of Lost Horizon and Goodbye, Mr. Chips—who also earned an Oscar for his screenwriting during Hollywood’s Golden Age—Random Harvest is a moving account of the trauma of war, the disruption of a seemingly ordinary life, and the courage required to find redemption in the face of the most overwhelming circumstances.

This enduring 19th century classic (never out of print since it was first published) has been on my radar ever since I saw an old black-and-white film version of it as a kid; but my interest was really piqued by the 2000 BBC/A&E miniseries adaptation. (As it turns out, I would rate the fidelity of the latter to the book at only about 65%; but that's another discussion!) Recently, I nominated it as a common read in the classics group I belong to here on Goodreads, and it won the poll.Author Blackmore was a native of the Exmoor region where this novel is set, and well versed in its history and lore. Interestingly, his plot here isn't wholly invented; the exiled nobles-turned-outlaws, the Doones, were remembered in the area as having really lived, back in the days of Monmouth's rebellion (1685), as were Lorna Doone and John Ridd. With some liberties, the locations and buildings described in the book are real as well. The edition I read, the 1944 one from Dodd Mead's Great Illustrated Classics series, actually has black-and-white photographs of several of these, as well as of a contemporary portrait of Lorna herself (which shows her to be a genuinely beautiful young woman). Of course, by 1869, oral tradition recorded only the barest outlines of the events of those days; it provided the germ of the idea here, but all of the substance of the story is Blackmore's own.In style and substance, this tale is very much in the Romantic manner, with an appeal to the emotions, a setting that includes a lot of pure wild nature (with both its beauty and its danger --the bogs can be lethal), adventure, and passionate but pure love at its heart. Modern readers might question whether John and Lorna fall for each other too readily and quickly, since they haven't actually had much interaction by the time they fall in love (that's not a spoiler, since we know from the Goodreads description that they do!). In the historical context, however, I would say that this isn't unrealistic. Young people in that era didn't date (and didn't expect to); they took for granted that they had to size each other up seriously in what limited interaction they had, and didn't require as much time to make up their minds. (They also were socialized to be psychologically open to the idea of marriage and commitment as a natural and positive thing, not a horrible fate to be evaded and staved off as long as possible.) John's first-person narration has, at times, a strain of dry, often unconscious humor; and John is himself an interesting character: honest to the core, a cross between naivete and peasant shrewdness, slow to anger but really formidable when he's roused (he's well over six feet tall, and strong in proportion), magnanimous to a fault, much smarter than he lets people think, with plenty of virtues to admire and a few foibles that make you occasionally want to swat him. The other characters are wonderfully drawn and brought to vivid life, too, and the family relationships and other personal interactions are as real as life (and, like life, sometimes entail some painful lessons). Blackmore's well aware that even good people aren't perfect. He manages to give the reader a feel for the rhythms and routines of 17th-century farm and community life, for the role of simple Christian faith in the character's lives, and the folkways of a vanished rural culture. And he's to be commended, IMO, for daring to depict a love that crosses two of the most yawning chasms that divided 17th --and 19th-- century English society (poor commoner vs. wealthy nobility, and Protestant vs. Catholic --though he doesn't develop the latter theme as much as the former).As a rule, 19th-century diction in a novel doesn't bother me. Here, though, the author's style is SO digressive and orotund that it can at times be irritating. He's also consciously writing (because of the first-person narration) in a style that's meant to seem Jacobean, and so archaic even in Victorian times; and he reproduces West Country dialect, especially in the speech of the less-educated characters, very meticulously, and that style of speech can be quite difficult to understand in places. His narrative pace is also somewhat slow, in a plot that spans the years from November 1673 to 1685 and after (the opening chapters are, or seem, particularly slow-paced, since the reader isn't, at that point, already drawn in and used to the style); given that this is a 646-page novel, that makes it a slow read. There are places where the plotting, IMO, could benefit from being tauter. Given these considerations, a judicious editor could probably have cut the length by 100 pages, and improved the book. Concealed identity is a common plot trope in Romantic fiction from this era, but Blackmore doesn't handle it very well here. (view spoiler)[Lorna supposedly has no memory of being kidnapped at seven or eight years old, which is implausible, especially when she can still recognize her former nurse! (hide spoiler)]

Fifth century Britain is a country of chaos and division after the Roman withdrawal. This is the world of young Merlin, the illegitimate child of a South Wales princess who will not reveal to her son his father's true identity. Yet Merlin is an extraordinary child, aware at the earliest age that he possesses a great natural gift - the Sight. Against a background of invasion and imprisonment, wars and conquest, Merlin emerges into manhood, and accepts his dramatic role in the New Beginning - the coming of King Arthur.

‘I’ve not always been what I am now’In a fit of drunken anger, Michael Henchard sells his wife and baby daughter for five guineas at a country fair. Over the course of the following years, he manages to establish himself as a respected and prosperous pillar of the community of Casterbridge, but behind his success there always lurk the shameful secret of his past and a personality prone to self-destructive pride and temper. Subtitled ‘A Story of a Man of Character’, Hardy’s powerful and sympathetic study of the heroic but deeply flawed Henchard is also an intensely dramatic work, tragically played out against the vivid backdrop of a close-knit Dorsetshire town.This edition includes an introduction, chronology of Hardy’s life and works, the illustrations for the original Serial Issue, place names, maps, glossary, full explanatory notes as well as Hardy’s prefaces to the 1895 and 1912 editions.

Flora Thompson's immortal trilogy, containing "Lark Rise", "Over To Candleford" and "Candleford Green", is a heartwarming portrayal of country life at the close of the 19th century. This story of three closely related Oxfordshire communities - a hamlet, the nearby village and a small market town - is based on the author's experiences during childhood and youth. It chronicles May Day celebrations and forgotten children's games, the daily lives of farmworkers and craftsmen, friends and relations - all painted with a gaiety and freshness of observation that make this trilogy an evocative and sensitive memorial to Victorian rural England.With a new introduction by Richard Mabey

Alice Vavasor cannot decide whether to marry her ambitious but violent cousin George or the upright and gentlemanly John Grey - and finds herself accepting and rejecting each of them in turn. Increasingly confused about her own feelings and unable to forgive herself for such vacillation, her situation is contrasted with that of her friend Lady Glencora - forced to marry the rising politician Plantagenet Palliser in order to prevent the worthless Burgo Fitzgerald from wasting her vast fortune.In asking his readers to pardon Alice for her transgression of the Victorian moral code, Trollope created a telling and wide-ranging account of the social world of his day.

At Deverill Hall, an idyllic Tudor manor in the picture-perfect village of King's Deverill, impostors are in the air. The prime example is man-about-town Bertie Wooster, doing a good turn to Gussie Fink-Nottle by impersonating him while he enjoys fourteen days away from society after being caught taking an unscheduled dip in the fountains of Trafalgar Square. Bertie is of course one of nature's gentlemen, but the stakes are high: if all is revealed, there's a danger that Gussie's simpering fiancée Madeline may turn her wide eyes on Bertie instead. It's a brilliant plan - until Gussie himself turns up, imitating Bertram Wooster. After that, only the massive brain of Jeeves (himself in disguise) can set things right.

Martyrs to hypochondria and general seediness, J. and his friends George and Harris decide that a jaunt up the Thames would suit them to a 'T'. But when they set off, they can hardly predict the troubles that lie ahead with tow-ropes, unreliable weather-forecasts and tins of pineapple chunks - not to mention the devastation left in the wake of J.'s small fox-terrier Montmorency. Three Men in a Boat was an instant success when it appeared in 1889, and proved so popular that Jerome reunited his now older - but not necessarily wiser - heroes in Three Men on the Bummel, for a picaresque bicycle tour of Germany. With their benign escapism, authorial discursions and wonderful evocation of the late-Victorian 'clerking classes', both novels hilariously capture the spirit of their age.

First published in 1896, The Country of the Pointed Firs was considered by Willa Cather to be one of the three novels most likely to achieve a permanent place in the canon of American literature: “I can think of no others that confront time and change so serenely… The young student of American literature in far distant years to come will take up this book and say ‘a masterpiece!'” Long neglected and even ignored by criticism, this enduring classic by Sarah Orne Jewett now appears in a format worthy of its contents.Set in the fictional small coastal town of Dunnet Landing, Maine, this is as much a series of small, intimate sketches as a sustained narrative. As Fiction. O. Matthiessen pointed out, “in these loosely connected sketches, she has acquired a structure independent of plot. Her scaffolding is simply the unity of her vision.” Her vision was of a gentle and generous people on a rugged and dangerous coast, of New England character and “characters” limned in colors of high summer and blue skies. Here, too, you will meet the people of Dunnet Landing; the women, who are probably the most unforgettable characters of her book; and Elijah Tilley (among the very few men in Jewett’s cast) who, after the death of his wife, learns the skills of husband and wife, of farm and sea. The black-and-white pencil drawings by Douglas Alvord are nothing short of spectacular. Closely observed and carefully rendered, they possess all of the haunting serenity of Jewett’s landscapes. Faithfully reproduced and printed to the highest standards, this is destined to become a standard gift and reading book for everyone fascinated by New England, the rich history of its rockbound coast, and this magical author.

I have a theory that early in 1881 God looked down upon the earth and had mercy. He saw the 20th century nearing its dawn and knew, of course, what calamities and cruelties awaited mankind: world wars, genocide, tyrannies unbound. He knew we were to be a people desperately in need of laughter. And so, that October, God gave us P.G. Wodehouse. What a gift!He just makes me happy, this Wodehouse fellow. To return again to Blandings is to take a deep breath of something wholly comforting, yet also to plunge headfirst into something deliciously bracing. These books are similar enough not to withstand much in the way of binge-reading; however, spaced delicately apart, they become oases of reassuringly madcap hilarity, aye, and certain they are to heal the weary soul and lift a troubled heart.Galahad Threepwood, denizen of Blandings Castle, younger son, wastrel, and rogue is the driving force behind most of the plot in this one. He juggles the many trials and deceptions of the many young couples under his spell with elegance and ease, and it is no spoiler to say that everything comes out just right in the end. For any fan of Wodehouse, it is a no-brainer to say that this is one of his reliable diversions and an excellent choice to while away a few hours. For those who do not yet know the magic of the 20th century's greatest comic writer, pick up this volume or any of the other ninety-odd and you cannot go wrong. Just get on with it already. The 21st century has its own woes to drown in Wodehouse.

“What are the chances of a cobra biting Harold, Jeeves?""Slight, I should imagine, sir. And in such an event, knowing the boy as intimately as I do, my anxiety would be entirely for the snake.” Once again I start my review of a book of the series with a quote. Any book is highly quotable. This installment consists of interconnecting stories mostly dealing with Bertie's pal Bingo Little. The guy's hobby is to fall in love with a girl on regular basis - a different one every time, exactly like Pepé Le Pew. Every time he thinks she is the one, he keeps involving poor Bertie to help him and every time it is Bertie who ends up having to deal with the consequences. Sufficient to say he almost got marries twice instead of Bingo - it is complicated. Luckily he had Jeeves to get him out of sticky situations (in other words, Jeeves had to help him practically every minute). Add to this no-nonsense Aunt Agatha who considers Bertie to be something similar to a village idiot and you can imagine that out hero did not have time to get bored - either his aunt, or his friend were always handy to make his already complicated and life even more complicated. “How does he look, Jeeves?""Sir?""What does Mr Bassington-Bassington look like?""It is hardly my place, sir, to criticize the facial peculiarities of your friends.” This is book 2 of the series. It also happened to be the first book containing Jeeves and Wooster stories exclusively. The characters still lack polish of the later books, the relationship between them are slightly different from what they will be later. Jeeves feels a little off. Bertie Wooster however is his usual self. I found the book very amusing. I smiled a lot reading it, however I did not laugh out loud like I did reading books 6 and 7. 4 firm stars is the final rating. If you want a humorous book you can do so much worse than this.

Frederick, Earl of Ickenham, remains young at heart. So it is for him the act of a moment to lean out of the Drones Club window with a catapult and ping the silk top hat off his grumpy in-law, the distinguished barrister Sir Raymand Bastable.Unfortunately things don’t end there.The sprightly earl finds that his action has inspired a scandalous bestseller and a film script—but this is as nothing compared with the entangled fates of the couples that surround him and which only his fabled sweetness and light can unravel.