Just a couple of quickies: After the shocking news of David Bowie’s death which was swiftly followed by Alan Rickman’s, I was in need of something a bit cheery to read. Luckily I had got Jeeves in the Offing by Wodehouse from the library a few days before. It was published in 1960 and sometimes it’s titled – How Right You Are, Jeeves.
Bertie Wooster is amazed to read in The Times that he has become engaged to Roberta Wickham. She is a young lady with bright red hair whom he had previously had a dalliance with, but she was too much for him to handle. Jeeves had cautioned him: Miss Wickham lacks seriousness. She is volatile and frivolous. I would always hesitate to recommend as a life partner a young lady with quite such a vivid shade of red hair. (Jack might well agree with him on that!!) Bertie is perplexed, but worse than that – Jeeves is on holiday in Herne Bay, so Bertie is going to have to sort it out himself. This was the usual Wodehouse fare and went some way to lightening my mood, but not much.
When you were wee, did you read the Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm books by Kate Douglas Wiggin? I certainly did, but more recently I’ve read her Penelope’s Experience books.
My edition of A Cathedral Courtship is from 1893 and it’s in astonishingly good condition, has very thick pages which are completely pristine, it looks like nobody has ever read it. Katharine Schuyler is a young American girl and she goes on a tour of English cathedral cities with her Aunt Celia. It’s quite entertaining and amusing, my copy also contains Penelope’s Experiences in England, an enjoyable read. You can obtain a lot of Kate Douglas Wiggin’s books from Project Gutenberg here if you’re interested.
I’ve only read Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. I used to have a copy of it, I think – I know I read it several times. I’ve never heard of the Penelope Experience books, but I will be looking for a copy of A Cathedral Courtship right away.
Lisa,
I think the Penelope Experience books are better than A Cathedral Courtship. You can get them from Project Gutenberg if you want to read them. But if you are looking for actual books there are some lovely old ones out there, have a look at this old post of mine to see my copy of one of the ‘Penelope’ books. It’s right at the bottom of the post. http://piningforthewest.co.uk/2010/07/27/some-bookshelves/
I do enjoy Jeeves and Wooster books, they always bring a smile or two.
How I loved (actually I still do) Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. My 1903 copy is sadly tattered but still sits on my bookshelf. I’ve never read anything else by Kate Douglas Wiggin – at all the book fairs and secondhand bookshops I’ve visited over the years I’ve never come across any other titles – but thanks to your link that will soon be rectified.
Karen White,
There are some lovely editions of her books around, see the link on the reply to Lisa, I think I might have just been lucky to stumble over them as I didn’t get them from the internet, just charity shops or secondhand bookshops. Good luck finding some!
I’m guessing that Jack likes the challenge of a woman with red hair. He’s still there, isn’t her?!
Thanks for the tip on a Kate Douglas Wiggin book that I hadn’t heard of. It sounds great, so I’ll have a look at Gutenberg. I think I need to dig out some of my Jeeves books to cheer me up, too.
Joan,
And as we know – some women like the challenge of a red-headed man!! Or should we say strawberry blond(e) for us both?!
I just read a Kate Douglas Wiggins novella over the holidays called The Old Peabody Pew. It was pleasant but very slight so I’ll likely not review it. I hadn’t heard of the Penelope’s Experience books though.
Christy,
She seems to have written a lot of books, so I suppose it’s to be expected that they are going to be a bit hit and miss at times. I just bought a lovely old copy of her Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. I haven’t read it since I was a wee girl so I wonder what I’ll think of it now.