A Really Basic Bio:
Bibliovore. Botanist. Gardener. And, edited to add six months in, as I review my completed blog posts, Armchair Traveller and Vintage Book Explorer.
I live on a small riverside farm in the country in the Cariboo-Chilcotin region of British Columbia, Canada. I raise a few sheep & have a “micro-nursery” specializing in hardy perennials & heirloom tomatoes & other interesting plants that strike my fancy. I am also a working partner in a small market garden operated by my daughter.
Why the blog? (Reasons to be refined as I go – this is very much a “first thoughts” entry.)
Personal – a place to document the many books that surround me – those that I treasure as old friends & those that pass through my life more briefly. Emphasis on the ones I really like, though there are going to be a few negative thoughts shared here & there. Also a way to record memories of books I shared with my children (or that they shared with me), or that were important to me in the past.
Public – I love reading book blogs, especially when researching out-of-print books with an eye to purchasing them through Abebooks. So many times there are no mainstream reviews, but I find what I want in various personal literary blogs – what did we do before Google?! So this is my contribution to the conversation – I hope someone someday finds what they need in here.
Forgotten authors – a place to remember some stellar writers, now mostly (or completely) out of print.
This blog is very much a work in progress!
Leaves & Pages 
I’m very glad I stumbled upon! I’m all about vintage books and will dive into yours. Your farm sounds enchanting and good for you for home-schooling – wish I had the means way back, but they turned out OK!
You know, I think they turn out OK no matter what we do! It (homeschooling) was a decision that was rather forced upon us – our small rural school closed at the end of our eldest child’s Kindergarten year, and the bus ride to town was 3 hours (1.5 hours each morning & afternoon) a day, so we decided to try it “for a year or two” – and, well, here we are looking at college literature! But they have friends who have gone both routes, public school, homeschool (and a combination of the two, in some cases) and really, it’s all OK. 🙂 Pluses & minuses to anything you end up doing.
“Pluses and minuses” Isn’t that the truth with life itself 🙂
I am delighted to have read your review of Rhododendron Pie. I just came across my copy of Four Gardens (a 1936 Tauchnitz edition – “Not to be introduced into the British Empire or the U.S.A.” – which was given to me by me mother, another fan of Margery Sharp) and did some research which lead me to your site. I’m sure that I will find more treasures there.
Best regards,
Bob Ruhloff
Many thanks for the kind words, Bob. Isn’t the internet grand for discovering that others also ejoy the same books, leading to discovery of so many more things we’d never previously heard of, or only had vague inklings about?!
All the best to you as well,
Barb
Hello there,
Congratulations!
Just a quick note to let you know I’ve nominated you for a Liebster award! Check out my post here http://prettylittlethingsinabox.wordpress.com/2013/05/27/omg-liebster-award/
Keep those crafty hands and witty minds going. 😉
Angela x
Hi Barb,
This is a preface to what is, essentially, a rant: a quote from page 15 of Brunonia Barry’s The Lace Reader, which was pushed on me as a terrific book.
I cross the street. I open the gate to Eva’s house, catching a whiff of flowers, peonies, coming from her gardens. There are hundreds of them now, tree peonies on small bushes that die back every winter. Eva has done well with her gardens. She used to leave a key for me in a peony blossom when she knew I was coming in. Or she would place it in one of the daylilies if it was later in the season and the peonies were no longer blooming….
I’ve gardened for a long time, and know from personal experience that there are few fragrances that carry for any distance from the blossom. I can name some – Korean spice viburnum, some lilacs, a few roses (Lagerfeld is the only one I can think of immediately), mock orange, daphne. Peonies are not among them. Indeed, most peonies have very little scent, and while the scent may be sweet it may be mildly unpleasant. [Anais Nin found that they smell of cockchafers.] Tree peonies do NOT die back every winter; if they did, they would never bloom, as they bloom from old wood. Leaving a key in a peony blossom? Difficult, since herbaceous peony flowers tend to bend over, and tree peonies are rather open and flat. In a daylily? Perhaps, with a bit of tape and some luck.
The Rant: The author hasn’t a clue what she is writing about here, and is therefore not to be trusted or read. End of Rant.
These inaccuracies were so annoying, nay, infuriating, that I stopped reading then and there. The same sort of ‘fantastical’ writing happens, of course, a lot; another recent attempt at reading was P.J. Tracy’s Off the Grid, which begins on a sailboat, It’s painfully obvious that they haven’t spent much time on a boat, or didn’t pay much attention if they did.
Does this happen to you?
Regards,
Bob
Yes! And if I catch an author out on something I personally know a lot about – gardening being a prime one, as you’ve demonstrated yourself – I immediately lose trust. I have also stopped reading in similar situations. The happy flip side to that, of course, is that if an author demonstrates true knowledge of something I’m “good on” – Monica Dickens on anything to do with horses, for example – I nod in recognition and my delight in the author’s work expands exponentially.
Re: the key hidden in peonies and dayliles – I have been looking at both of these this week with this fantastical idea in mind (I have been down at the BC coast, where both are now in full bloom) – and I fully concur with you. Improbable at best!
Fragrance in peonies… some of the older herbaceous peonies do have a rather strong fragrance, especially if cut and in a small space (I know this from experience – Festiva Maxima in a vase in my tiny bathroom comes to mind) but it’s not what I would call “carrying” in the garden. I sampled some tree peonies this week as well, fragrance-wise, and the scents I discovered were faint and not particularly attractive.
Rant away! I fully agree!
~Barb
Hello:
Am reading ‘The Protected Place’ by Gilean Douglas;went looking for
some background information on her and stumbled on your blog review.
Love this perceptive and pacific author and share her distaste of the
abuse of our beautiful and fragile world. Would very much like to have
met her, but alas, she has left us. Spent several hours on your reviews
and was intrigued by, and will look for ‘Monkey Beach’ by Edna Robinson.
In thanks, I wish to recommend two books to you – ‘The Curve of Time’ by
M. Wyle Blanchet, and ‘Driftwood Valley’ by Theodora Stanwell-Fletcher.
I wish you many beautiful reads. Ingo in Smithers, B.C.
Hello Ingo,
I thought I had answered this comment, but it looks like not. Thank you for the kind words regarding the blog; I hope you found some other interesting books to read from your browsing.
I did have The Curve of Time – it is excellent – but am not familiar with Driftwood Valley, which I will keep an eye out for.
Thank you for the comment – happy reading!
Barb
Curiosity compels me to ask: What variety of sheep, please?
Suffolks are my first and most sustaining love, though for quite a few years we ran a mostly-Texel ewe flock with Suffolk rams – very nice market lambs from that cross. Just this past year we dispersed the herd and are down to 4 Texel-cross ewes, a big, mean Suffolk ram, and a small, good-natured Katahdin ram (hair sheep) whose main role is to keep the Suffolk company when we must part him from the ladies. Plans are to go back into purebred Suffolks in a small way, but we need to do some serious re-thinking of the sheep sheds & working area. Lots of predator loss recently in our area the last few years, from both coyotes and cougars – has changed how we do things – will be putting in some very tight and secure night housing for the flock. We run the sheep on pasture with portable electric net fence – rotational grazing.
Did that answer your query, or was it too much info? 😉
I am enquiring about your Elizabeth Cambridge books.Could you review the rare ones that you told STUCK IN A BOOK about in March?I believe you had 2 or 3?If i am not being rude how did you locate them and were they expensive?
Hi Tina,
I have now managed to acquire what I belive are all of Elizabeth Cambridge’s books. The last one, ‘The Two Doctors’, only arrived the other day. So I have now read ‘Hostages to Fortune’ (which I promptly reviewed with a glowing recommendation!), ‘Susan and Joanna’, and ‘The Sycamore Tree’. Waiting to be read are ‘Spring Always Comes’ and ‘The Two Doctors’.
I have been holding off reviewing ‘Susan and Joanna’ because after I finished it I had such a difficult time trying to frame what I would like to say about it. It is a rather different book than ‘Hostages to Fortune’. Not at all in a bad way, I hasten to say, just…different. It concerns two young women and two young men and their love affairs and subsequent marriages. It is a very well written story, but the ending has a melodramatic development which left me rather at a loss as to whether it was a good idea to have gone there (on the author’s part) and how well it really worked for me as a reader. So I am going to re-read it and see how it strikes me the second time round. And I think, now that you have given me the nudge, that I shall do so quite soon.
‘The Sycamore Tree’ is an interesting book as well. Again, beautifully written, but hard to really pin down my responses. It is the story of a younger son who walks through his life in the shadow of his more confident, more competent, and generally more beloved older brother. Again, I finished it, comsidered writing about it, and then set it aside, feeling like I needed to read it again to catch all of its many nuances.
Elizabeth Cambridge is (was) an utterly excellent writer, and though these other two of her novels don’t have quite the instant appeal of ‘Hostages to Fortune’ they definitely are on the same wavelength, if that makes sense. As a reader I found all three deeply engaging and thought-provoking. I’m not quite sure what to expect from the last two, but I am looking forward with anticipation to discovering what she has made of these.
This doesn’t really help you, does it?!
These were very difficult to find, and I must say that luck entered into the picture. The author published under several names; Elizabeth Cambridge was her pseudonym. She was born Barbara Webber, and first published under her married name, Barbara K. Hodges, so I had been searching using all of these names in turn.
Let’s see if I can remember where I found these… ‘The Sycamore Tree’ was the easiest to find, and I purchased it from a bookseller in the USA via ABE. It was mid-range pricey, I believe around $30 Canadian, including shipping. Three copies show up this morning on ABE (I just looked) ranging in base price from $16 to $75 (in US dollars) but with shipping to Canada these would actually cost from $44 to $94. So anything under a base price of $20 would be a rather good price, if these are typical. I think if one were patient and had access to some good second hand book stores in, say, Great Britain, one might come across this one for a lot less if one were lucky.
The last three were real quests. I got into the habit of doing quick searches whenever I was on book sites for other reasons, and I eventually found all three. I acted fast on all of them; not sure what the actual demand is, but they sure don’t show up very often.
‘Susan and Joanna’ was found on eBay, from a private seller in France, and it cost a mere $15 with shipping – a real bargain, I thought, considering its rarity! Right now one copy shows up on ABE, for $80 with shipping. (Ouch.)
‘Spring Always Comes’ was found through ABE, and it cost me $60. (No copies currently on ABE – I only ever saw the one copy the one time and I grabbed it.)
‘The Two Doctors’ was found through ABE, and it cost me $44. (No copies currently on ABE – ditto above.)
Overall this was quite an expensive author to “collect”. She is not in our library system, and other than the re-issue of ‘Hostages to Fortune’ her books are exceedingly hard to find, in my experience. But as she is an author who grabbed my attention and has rewarded me with well-written novels, I justify the considerable cost by considering all the “bargains” I have found in my vintage book searches and balancing it all out. I do manage to acquire a lot of $2 and $5 books – those are the vast majority! – so I look at it on the “average cost” system, compared to, say, the purchase of a current-issue book.(At least that is my rather incoherant explanation to my husband!)
Best of luck on your own quest. I will try to write something soonish on these novels. Reviews are also exceedingly rare, aside from ‘Hostages”, aren’t they? I know that I searched and searched before deciding to just go with my instinct and order the others with no prior knowledge as to content. “Thoughtful domestic drama” could be said to be the universal theme of this writer’s modest body of work.
Many Thanks for sharing your private dealings.I felt worried asking you.
I myself only have “The Two Doctors” bought yesterday from EBAYUK.Cost was £7.99 including postage.I did not mention this at first as i did not want to brag.The only other copy was £20.00 on Amazon UK.
I am guilty because my county library has TWO DOCTORS and Hostages To Fortune–my number one rule is –only buy books not in the library stores–books cost 60pence to borrow from there.
Thanks for the reply and for your lovely blog which i enjoy reading.
Tina from UK
Oh, you did well! If one has patience I find that this sometimes happens. 🙂
Don’t not forget PORTRAIT OF ANGELA-1939-a mere £70.00 on Amazon–GULP.
Oh my! That’s rather rich! Not going to jump on that one…
I hope i can find SUSAN AND JOANNA before very long.Been looking for years–your brief review makes me think i would like it best.
I am really happy to have found your blog . I can’t find your name though . And hey , I have got a news for you . I have nominated you for the “ONE LOVELY BLOG AWARD” And I really hop you accept my invitation. I think you deserve this award as much as any great blogger . Congrats 😀 Click here to know more http://priyankakanagaraj.wordpress.com/2014/07/22/yyyyaaayyyyy-me-ive-been-nominated-for-the-one-lovely-blog-award/
I’m glad to find your blog. It sounds like you’re in B.C. and I am too. I’m also a homeschooler. Imagine that!
Looking forward to exploring more of your excellent reviews!
Thanks, Cleo. Yup, I’m in BC, up in the Cariboo. I guess I’m not technically a homeschooler any more as my kids are now off to post-secondary education, but I still read every children’s or YA book with a long-time homeschooler’s eyes. 🙂 (“Will this make a good read-aloud, and what are the cross-curricular connections?” 😉 )
Enjoyed reading your take on McGiverns ‘”Mention My Name in Mombassa”. Maureen Daly was my aunt, and we visited them in Torremolinos one summer when I was quite young. I need to find a copy of the book and see if it jogs my memory.
Oh, how lovely! Your aunt and her family sound like wonderfully interesting people from this memoir. I do believe this book is fairly easy to acquire – I just did a quick search on ABE (Abebooks.com) and there are 14 copies, starting at about $5 US, plus shipping. It’s extremely readable, but would be twice as fascinating with the family connection. 🙂
Hello – I’m the publisher for a new largely digital imprint, Dean Street Press, which is dedicated in part to rediscovering classic golden age mystery writers (mostly concentrating on the twenties and thirties). Would love to send you info about our new releases and (hopefully) review copies. Could I possibly have an email address – mine is publisher@deanstreetpress.co.uk. Best wishes, Rupert
Hi Rupert, I’ve just emailed you. Sounds interesting!
I am having a difficult time finding the edition of The Wind in the Willows that you featured in your review. You said it was a 1954 edition. Any helpwould be ggreatly appreciated.
Love the reviews!
John
Interesting stuff!
But why is made impossible to find out the name of the person whose blog this is, or a contact email address? I have a genuine reason for asking.
Hi there, I am the publicist for the Oxford World’s Classics list and would be interested in sending you copies for review. Can you email me on katherine.stileman@oup.com? All best, Katie
Hi Katie, I emailed you back. Sounds interesting. Thanks for getting in touch.
I hope you won’t mind the contact via the comments box but just wondered if you might be interested:
Furrowed Middlebrow is an imprint of Dean Street Press, following the ‘Furrowed Middlebrow’ blog (http://furrowedmiddlebrow.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Published%20by%20Furrowed%20Middlebrow) new editions by lesser-known British women novelists and memoirists. A CHELSEA CONCERTO by Frances Faviell and A FOOTMAN FOR THE PEACOCK by Rachel Ferguson are now available as advance copies. Would you be interested in reviewing these or any of the list of associated works (see link)?
Many thanks,
Victoria Eade @DeanStPress
email: victoria.eade@rupertheath.com
Yes, please! What grand news, and what a tempting book list this is. THank you for thinking of me. I have just sent you an email.
Dear Leaves and Pages,
I am on your mailing list (thank you) and enjoy your reviews enormously (another thank you) but I am getting very worried that you are going to go through life without having read the seven Williamsburg novels by Elswyth Thane. I read these at least once a year – not so much a re-read as a family visit! I can’t bear the thought that you may never discover them. They were written in the 1950s – just exactly your cup of tea, I should think – my only criticism is that the first novel, Dawn’s Early Light, is the least captivating but the rest … are the best. Just saying.
Oh, Helen, thank you for the kind words. And yes, I’ve had Elswyth Thane recommended to me by others, too. I do intend to search these out. I do have my mother’s old copy of one of her autobiographical books, Reluctant Farmer, which I re-read every so often with great enjoyment, plus a copy of The Light Heart which I am saving to read in proper sequence once I get started with the Williamsburg books. Thank you for the nudge; these may make some of my upcoming winter reading.
I hear what you say: “I frequently receive requests to read and review things, and I generally turn these requests down….Unless the book in question is one which looks to be something I’d be interested in buying for myself…”
OK, I completely understand that. But how about a book or two written recently but in the style of a century ago? I could send you an extract if you wish.
Keep up your fine work!
Hi Rian, thank you for this comment, and the intriguing teaser. I’ve just sent you an email. Let’s see where this goes. 🙂
Hi Rian, we met at Oak Bay library in Oct. – just reviewed your book at Amazon, having enjoyed Tangerine Tigress. https://www.amazon.com/gp/profile/AO18HC2EHMHH5
cheers, Nowick
Hi Rian, we met in Oct at Oak Bay library book event. I just post a review of your Tangerine Tigress at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/profile/AO18HC2EHMHH5
Well done! Hope you are enjoying Hunter’s Daughter.
cheers, Nowick
Many thanks, Nowick. Glad you found the reading worthwhile.
Stand by for a fuller reply.
So pleased you’re thinking about reading the Williamsburg novels and, yes, they simply must be read in order. I recently was lucky enough to find a matching set online – I already had them all but different editions, covers, sizes etc. Don’t forget – the first one gives no indication of the reading pleasure to come. I can’t think of a better way to spend a cosy winter afternoon in front of the fire – I wish I had them all to read again for the first time. Happy reading.
Hi you did a review on my store a few years ago….I wanted to thank you…very kind.
Barry
Hey, is this Barry at The Final Chapter in Prince George? Love your store. I never have enough time to spend, but even the quickest visit results in a stack of good reading. Thank you for being there, nothing like a proper walk-in used book store full of eclectic finds to keep us hardcore readers happy!
Many thanks, Nowick. Glad you found the reading worthwhile.
Stand by for a fuller reply.
Hi Barb,
I’m so pleased to come across your blog! I found you on Goodreads when I was looking for a review on ‘Jane’s Parlour’, which has recently been given to me.
My grandmother left me a number of vintage books (which I adore!) and over the years friends/family have added to my collection!
I’m new to blogging and, along with contemporary and traditional classics, I’m looking forward to re-reading and reviewing these vintage gems.
I could lose hours on your site! 🙂
Helena
Welcome to our world! It’s a good place to be, the people here are very friendly, and help each other find lots of places to spend our old-book-budget money, lol! 🙂 I will be looking forward to your reviews.
Thanks Barb. It seems a lovely community to be a part of. 🙂
Hi Rian.
Oh dear! Is this about your book file you sent me to look at? I did glance over it, and then never got back to it. It looked very interesting, and I did mean to sit down and read it properly with full attention. My only excuse for not doing this much more promptly is that I don’t much care for “pleasure” reading from a screen so I tend to push these sorts of things to the back of the attention file, as it were. I have a lot of “work” screen reading and for relaxation I like to push away and engage my eyes with print on paper.
I hope you will forgive me, if this indeed is the reason for your displeasure, and yes, you did send me a nudge which I likely didn’t respond to. No excuse for *that* except a guilty conscience!
Shall I try again?
Olive branch extended… 🙂
Sounds good. 🙂 Will do! And I will get to the reading SOON. Dipped in again the other day; I need to dedicate some time to it, enjoyed what I read.
A note to Helena – if you’re going to read more O. Douglas (such as Jane’s Parlour) make sure to read them in the right order – e.g. read The Proper Place before its sequel, The Day of Small Things; and read Penny Plain before Priorsford. As well, when reading other stand-alone books by O. Douglas, you will be delighted to come across references to characters featured in her other books. Love these old time books to bits! Happy reading, Helen. P.S. Didyou know that O. Douglas is the sister of John Buchan who wrote Thirty Nine Steps?
Oh wow…Helen, I knew NONE of that! Thank you so much. I’ll try to track down copies of O. Douglas’s other books. I can’t tell you how nice it is to find others who love these books as much as I do! Thank you.
Hi Helena, have you read any other O. Douglas? I discovered them, gradually collected them all over the years and consider them part of my ‘comfort’ book collection – an escape into a more civil and mannered world where the latest technology was the telephone! I suppose it was less civil and mannered than I imagine, but it’s the way I would like my ideal world to be. What other ‘vintage’ writers have you read? Have you discovered the deliriously delicious world of Georgette Heyer? Romances, yes, but A.S. Byatt once remarked the fairy tale element in her books was always balanced by her extraordinary accuracy of detail, ‘…she is playing romantic games with the novel of manners.’ The humour is often of the laugh-out-loud variety – embarrassing in public. They are comfort books par excellence! (If you haven’t read any, a good start would be The Grand Sophy… hopefully in the process of being made into a movie). Happy reading, Helen.
Hello, I came to your website when I was looking for Taunus 17M information and photos. The web site is really a masterpiece! I also love old books, mostly about technology and especially about cars. On your site you have a picture of your mother from January 1962 when moving to Cariboo in the snow. I have been free to download the picture. Beautiful original picture with the Taunus model that I have today to. Question: do you have more pictures from the sixties where the Taunus can be seen? greetings Eric
Hello Eric, so good to hear from you. The Taunus was a wonderful car – we were all sad when my mother decided to retire it in 1972. Sadly it was sold and passed out of our lives; we heard later it was wrecked and went away to be crushed. I might have a few other pictures with the car – they will be black and white, and all with people. Let me see what I can find. Might take a few days. I would love to see a picture of your Taunus, as well. Cheers!
Barb
This has got to be my favourite book blog online. I read it everyday, often reading your reviews over and over. Wonderful place to come and explore some authors I have never heard of and delight in the appreciation I encounter for the ones that I have! You have a charming way of writing and recording your thoughtd, please keep it up 🙂
Hi! You have followed my children’s literature blog, which is really cool, but did you know about our Can Lit blog as well? https://ceww.wordpress.com/
Oh, this is fantastic! I can’t believe I haven’t found my way to this site before. Good stuff. 🙂
[…] fascinating post for me is on the Leaves and Pages blog about Alan Garner’s The Owl Service. Despite knowing no Welsh mythology, this book was […]
I found this blog while searching for information on Helen MacInnes’s book Friends and Lovers, and am so thrilled to find others who appreciate vintage books!
Welcome! We’re out here, us vintage book lovers. Reading happily away. 🙂
I found this via a Edith Wharton search. I shall return to explore further.
Hello it’s lovely to discover another Flora Klickmann admirer. I first happened upon her books in a second-hand bookshop, when living in Dunedin (New Zealand) in the 1970s. Her writings l treasure, and still dip into them again and again.
She was one of the many early conservationists, and her writings about the environment and gardening, influenced many in the post war years. I wish that the autobiography she wrote had been published. Unfortunately it was turned down for publication when she first submitted it, and in a fit of disappointment she destroyed the manuscript.
Kind regards, Priscilla, Wellington, New Zealand
I came to your blog via the Howard Spring reviews. I read most of his books decades ago. I liked “These Lovers Fled Away” best as I remember. You are the only person I have ever come across who shares my affection for the man.
Though there was always plenty of his books in secondhand bookshops – when we still had such things – so he must have sold a fair few in NZ.
The book I most regret losing was called “The Year of the Horsetails” set in the time of (I presume) Gengis Khan.
Stay safe
Ritchie.
I enjoyed your comments on D. E. Stevenson very much. I read my first book by this author in Scotland at age 10 in 1947. I was in bed with a cold and had no books to read so this one was one of my Mother’s. I don’t remember the title but did remember the author when I picked up Miss Buncle.
I have often wondered about who in her life was the recurring character who appears as Helen,”‘Anna and her Daughters” as Lottie ” Sarah Morris Remembers” and as Kitty “Young Clementina”. Was it someone real or …….
Obviously D. E. Stevenson had a strong faith but I did not mind it. I am a Christian but I find the so called Christian books don’t do much for me. The authors seem, for the most part miss the Christian faith of the Bible and bring in a man made magic which does no service to God.
Your appreciations and celebrations of writing and writers are delights. Thank you.
Ever read anything by Margaret Halsey?
Yes, indeed I have. With Malice Towards Some and Color Blind. It’s been years, though, and I just remember that the first one was really quite funny in slightly mean-spirited way, and the second one (Halsey’s assessment of racism in her time and setting) very interesting in a “one person’s opinion” sort of way. She seemed to have had strong opinions! Both are books I mean to re-read at some point.
Barb, I would like to send you an email re a book of stories that I would like you to review a few and make comment to feature at front of book. I have been a reader of your reviews and believe you will like the stories and provide comment
Thanks
Tony
Tonywparr@yahoo.com
425 444 1656
Hi Tony,
I would be very pleased to read and comment on your stories. I will send you a message from the best email to get in touch.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Barb
Hi Barb,
Maybe I missed your email… I certainly would like to send you a few short stories for review from my about to be published book The World is a Handkerchief TRAVEL NATURE ART and Life! Thirty stories from people around the world with wonderful tales to tell… Anthony W, Parr 425 444 1656
tonywparr@yahoo.com
or I can call you.
Thank you!
Hello! Interesting blog! I am Chiara, writing from Kazabo Publishing, where we publish international best-selling authors who’ve never been translated into English before, with a special emphasis on mystery. I would like to send you digital copies of our books, if you are interested in reviewing them. My email address is chiarag@kazabo.com. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Hello — found you via your January re-view entry about Sally Watson’s Jade. I would love to email you about her. She had her 98th birthday only a couple of weeks after you published your entry, and passed away peacefully on March 11.
Dear Barb,
Your blog is a testament to professional, exquisite exegeses of innumerable works of fiction: thank you so much for it.
Sorry to be the umpteenth person to request a review, but I couldn’t find your contact details here.
I’m writing to you to introduce The Crooked Little Pieces: Volume 1: the first instalment of a 20th-century literary fiction saga.
The Crooked Little Pieces centres on twin sisters Anneliese and Isabel: passion-pursuant heroines perturbed by pains, obsessions, (obviously each other) and themselves.
Here is the book’s blurb:
Lost are the creatures destined never to be understood.
1926. Professor Josef van der Holt obtains a post at an all women’s college overseas. Stuffy London suddenly becomes the site for the unseemly exploits of his half-Dutch and half-German daughters Anneliese and Isabel. When tragedy carves out a hollow in their lives, a severed soul sends the sororal twins along a jagged path: while Isabel takes flight in sensual hedonism Anneliese skirts danger in her role as sleuth. Elusive are the sentiments they seek: swift stopovers of fleeting feeling. Lopsided loves and passions scarcely probable veer each away from the predictable.
And when the obvious appears unstoppable the opposite may achingly be true.
Spanning the twentieth century’s five most volatile decades, The Crooked Little Pieces is a series about inextricable entanglements. Perverse relationships pervade a glossary of scenes. Plots criss-cross over a rich tapestry of twists and tension-fuelling characters: some relatable, others opaque and many “crooked”.
It is television drama. Novelised.
The work – which is released 25 May 2022 – is now available for Pre-Order on Amazon, Apple and Kobo. More information can also be found on The Crepuscular Press’s website and its Goodreads page.
I would be happy to send you an ARC as a, MOBI, EPUB or PDF file or, alternatively, as a hardcover or paperback once these proofs become available. The book is additionally available for pre-review on Edelweiss and will soon likewise be posted to NetGalley.
There is no deadline for review.
I hope this piques your interest.
Kind regards,
Sophia Lambton
http://www.thecrepuscularpress.com