Bookshelf Travelling in Insane Times – 26th, October

I’m still Bookshelf Travelling in Insane Times which was originally hosted by Judith at Reader in the Wilderness, but I’m gathering any posts at the moment.

This week I’m still in my sewing/crafting/ironing room and featuring my small collection of Persephone books. That bookshelf is also home to some random books, travel and sort of autobiography.

Persephone Bookshelf

I haven’t got around to reading all of them yet but my favourites so far are Dorothy Whipple’s Someone at a Distance and Good Evening, Mrs Craven by Molly Panter-Downes. Of the non Persephones my favourite is The Oaken Heart by Margery Allingham. In it Allingham writes about the changes that the early stages of World War 2 effected on the small Essex village that she lived in. The village had just over 600 inhabitants and then 275 children for London were evacuated there – and she was responsible for them, a great read.

Other Bookshelf Travellers this week are:

A Son of the Rock

Bitter Tea and Mystery

Staircase Wit

5 thoughts on “Bookshelf Travelling in Insane Times – 26th, October

  1. When I read your review of the The Oaken Heart a couple of years ago, I said I was going to get a copy and read it soon, and then I forgot about it. Now I really have to do that.

    I have only one Persephone book, and it is The Village by Marghanita Laski. I have not read it yet. I did check out your review before buying it.

    • tracybham,
      I had to wait a while before I found a copy of The Oaken Heart at a reasonable price, when I first started looking online they were all really expensive. I sound really mean but so far I’ve only bought second-hand Persephones! They rarely crop up as I think people like to hang on to them, I just think that they are very expensine new, considering they are paperbacks, so I really hope you enjoy The Village.

  2. There must be a very old Christmas carol about oaken hearts because every library I check for it just offers me Elizabethan song books!

    I didn’t know Allingham wrote anything but Campion books and I will admit I was not very impressed with the one I read. However, I do like books about villages and I also like books about evacuation. I see there is an inexpensive Kindle version but, better yet, there is a copy at the other end of the state that should make its way to me (slowly).

    I haven’t read any Dorothy Whipple. On my last trip to London I made my way to Persephone Books but once inside I was overcome by indecision. There were too many choices and no guidance (and they were expensive). I came close to buying a Whipple but left empty-handed.

    • Constance,
      I’ve read quite a few of her Campion books and to me the series improves a lot when Campion gets married to Amanda, she makes him more human somehow. In the earlier books he’s often quite a shadowy character.
      I’m so glad that I’m not the only one who thinks that for paperbacks Persephones are overpriced. I know they have a bookmark and usually nice endpapers but even so – they’re still paperbacks. I hope that you enjoy The Oaken Heart – when it arrives.

  3. Pingback: SF Bookshelf Travelling for Insane Times (ix) – A Son of the Rock -- Jack Deighton

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