It might sound strange, but I rarely buy books new. I prefer finding them second-hand, as if they've been on the shelf waiting for me to rescue them, so I only really buy from bookshops when I have book tokens to spend. I wanted to buy The Brontës Went To Woolworths and Miss Hargreaves, and as the latter wasn't in stock (maybe next time), I settled on Love's Shadow instead. I guess Bloomsbury must have seen how successful Persephone have been, so they've created their own series of 'forgotten' novels. I know I'm a little late to the party, but I'm looking forward to seeing what they have to offer.
Moonraker and At Mrs Lippincote's came from a FreeCyle fair. Both are ex-library copies and in rather ropey condition, but they'll do. I'm reading the latter at the moment and the former doesn't look like typical Virago fare- the blurb sounds a bit like Frenchman's Creek.
I found Spinster for a very reasonable price at Cancer Research UK (which I find to be one of the more expensive charity shops) and it looks most interesting. The Daisy Chain came from the Salvation Army, and it's easily the fattest Virago I've ever come across (673 pages). I remember Wilmet in A Glass of Blessings saying that she was named after a character in a Charlotte Yonge novel- the author biography states that Yonge was the author of about 160 novels, which were heavily edited by her father and John Keble and was a life-long believer in the inferiority of women. I somehow doubt I'll ever actually read this... Lovely cover portrait by Arthur Hughes, though.
The lettering on the spine of the one underneath has completely faded, but it's an edition of Peer Gynt, found amongst a bunch of stuff being thrown away, which might come in useful as I'm attending a rehearsed reading of the play at the Rosemary Branch on Friday, and it would be helpful to have some idea as to what's going on...
Singled Out is a non-fiction work about the women left husband-less after WW1, it's full of people I like and I was very pleased to find it at Oxfam. Rummaging in the non-fiction section really can pay off.
Gosh - I've never seen such a fat Virago! That will occupy quite a bit of time for my challenge.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed Singled Out.
You have found some really good Virago's - I always keep an eye out and recently found 4 in Blackwell's in Oxford which I was really pleased about!
ReplyDeleteWonderful haul! I'm lucky enough to have a green VMC copy of The Brontes Went to Woolworths and thoroughly enoyed it (it is very odd); I have all the other Bloomsbury Group novels lined up and read one, Henrietta's War, so far. I think that they were very aware of Persephone's success and jumped on the bandwagon, as it were.
ReplyDeleteI have been looking out for a copy of The Daisy Chain but had no idea it was so fat!
What a nice bunch of Viragos! I've actually come across references to C. Yonge's name and books in several books. She seems to have been a bestselling author in her day. I wonder if the Daisy Chain is any good.
ReplyDeleteVerity and Claire- let me know if you ever need to borrow it...
ReplyDeleteBloomsbury Bell-that makes me really want to go to Oxford and check that Blackwells out!
theliterarystew- thank you for your comment! I too wonder if The Daisy Chain is any good- it's the kind of thing I might set myself a 100 page limit on and abandon if it's painful.