Harriet Devine's Blog

Best Reads of 2020

It was interesting going through my reviews of 2020 as the best reads turned out to be almost equally divided between reviews for Shiny New Books and reviews on this blog. But the character of what I read for each of them shows up clearly here.

Of the eight best of Shiny, six are new publications, one came out a couple of years ago, and one was a new reprint. Also, six were fiction, and the two non-fictions were both literary criticism.

Of the nine best on the blog, only one was a 2020 publication, and that was also the only non-fiction. The other eight were reprints.

What all this tells me - as if I didn't know it - is that I not only have a definite preference for fiction, but also that I'm inexorably drawn to reprints, mainly of the 20th-century, and mostly by women writers. But this is why Shiny is such a boon - because our policy on there is to review books within three months of publication, I read a lot more new books than I used to. In fairness, I would probably have read Hamnet and Jack anyway, because I love Maggie O'Farrell and Marilynne Robinson. But I almost certainly wouldn't have stumbled on two delightful reads by authors I'd never heard of, The Mystery of Henri Pick and Laura Laura. And I was so happy to get review copies of two excellent critical books, Jane Austen: Writing, Society, Politics, and the stunning Artful Dickens. 

What doesn't show up on this list, though, is the fact that I read a LOT of crime fiction, both recent and classic. I've read a lot of enjoyable books in this category, but only review them if they are outstanding. So hardly any made the final cut - two, in fact, Henri Pick and Broken Harbour. Tana French has given me lots of pleasure all year, so Broken Harbour just represents the tip of the iceberg - I've also recently been enjoying Ann Cleeves but haven't posted any reviews of hers.

In other trivia:

My first and last reviews of 2020 were both of books I first read aged about eight or nine: An Old Fashioned Girl and Hardings Luck.

I read a science fiction novel for the first time since my 20s: The Naked Sun. 

My Shiny List

The Mystery of Henri Pick by David Foenkinos

Excellent literary mystery set in the far west of Brittany - brilliant twist at the end.

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

Wonderfully convincing and immersive story of Shakespeare's wife.

Jane Austen: Women, Society, Politics by Tom Keymer

I'm a huge fan of Austen and thought there wasn't much I could learn about the novels. But this proved me wrong.

Laura Laura by Richard Francis

Funny, moving, absorbing, thought-provoking novel about marriage, lust, friendship, ageing, memory, philosophy, and quantum mechanics.

Jack by Marilynne Robinson

Eagerly awaited addition to the family story - beautiful, deeply moving.

Broken Harbour by Tana French

One of the Dublin Murder series -- all are great but I thought this the best.

The Artful Dickens by John Mullan

Wonderfully entertaining and informative study of what's great about Dickens.

Mr Fox  by Barbara Comyns

A little known novel by the superb, inimitable Comyns: a vivid, quirky account of life in WW2.

Blog

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

Magical novel which I read when it first came out 20 years ago.

Father by Elizabeth von Arnim

Comic and thought-provoking story of a woman in her thirties attempting to break away from her dominating father.

The Scapegoat by Daphne Du Maurier

Fascinating story of identity theft in 1930s France.

The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov

SF! Who'd have thought it? A book group choice, which I really enjoyed.

Mr Fortune's Maggot by Sylvia Townsend Warner

Warner never disappoints - here its with the story of a missionary's adventures on a remote Pacific island.

On Chapel Sands by Laura Cummins

Fascinating account of the author's mother slowly untangling the truth of her earliest years.

All Done by Kindness by Doris Langley Moore

I read several of DLM's novels this year, thanks to Dean Street Press. All different and all excellent but this was probably my favourite.

An Old Fashioned Girl  by Louisa May Alcott

Re-read of a delightful book I'd enjoyed aged about 8 or 9.

Harding's Luck  by E.Nesbit

And another childhood favourite - can't even remember how many times I've read it and I love it as much every time. Time travelling, history, social history, and much comedy. 

 

 

 

 

 

Cat Playing the Violin in a Field of Flowers

A book illustration by the Japanese author/illustrator Komako Sakai (b. 1966). I don't know which of her popular books this is from, but I put it here with the hope that better days are coming.

The House of Arden and Hardings Luck by Edith Nesbit

I've just finished re-reading these two childhood favourites, and they are as good as ever. If you've never read them, it's really time you did. It was only 2015 when I read them last, and I wrote about them on here then, so here's what I said:

As I've said before, I have loved the novels of Edith Nesbit since I was a very young child. I've re-read most of them over the years, but The House of Arden and its companion novel Harding's Luck were my absolute favourites at the time and I never get tired of them however many times I re-read them. I'm not sure why I decided to pick them up recently for the umpteenth time, but I did, and the experience was an interesting one. 

 The House of Arden was probably my favourite of the two when I was a child. It's the story of two children, Edred and Elfrida Arden, who live in straightened circumstances with their aunt in her seaside boarding house. Their mother is long dead and their father has disappeared on an expedition to South America. Then something amazing happens -- Edred turns out to be the heir to a title -- he is now Lord Arden -- and to a ruined castle by the sea.

The children move to the house that belongs to the castle, and it is here that the magic starts happening. They find an attic room containing a row of large trunks, each one of which proves to contain clothes from past periods in history. If they put on any of these clothes, they find themselves at once back in that time. So, with this great ability, they visit Napoleonic times, the eighteenth century, the England of James I, and finally the time of Henry VIII. On each visit, they have extraordinary and sometimes frightening adventures, but they also gather a little more information that may help them to find the hiding place of the Arden treasure, which they know exists somewhere but has never been found. Whether they find it or not I shall not tell you, as, even though you are grown up, you really should read this story.

Perhaps you can already imagine how intensely exciting all this was to a small child with a fascination for history. I longed and longed so much to find those trunks and to put on those clothes! The House of Arden  came out in 1908, and the following year Nesbit published the sequel, Harding's Luck. In fact to call it a sequel is not really accurate, because the events of the second book run concurrently with those of the first. On their trips back to the past, Edred and Elfrida have encountered a boy of their own age, a cousin, who they discoverer to their astonishment has some knowledge of their own time. Harding's Luck is his story.

Born into poverty in a miserably poor area of London, crippled by an accident shortly after his birth, Dickie Harding has been brought up by a woman who is cruel and uncaring. But, like Edred and Elfrida, he discovers a kind of magic that transports him back to the time of James I, where he has a loving family, a wonderful old nurse, people around who love and support him and, most amazing of all, he is no longer crippled. Life in the past is so different, and so much better in every way, that he is tempted to stay there forever.

But Dickie is a boy with a strong sense of what is right, and in his present day life he has been befriended by a man called Beale, who is a bit -- quite a bit -- of a crook. In fact Beale took up with Dickie in order to use him to get into a house where he and his cronies wanted to commit a burglary.   But though at first Dickie goes along with all this quite innocently, the more time he spends in his alternative life, the more he sees how wrong all this is. Most people would just opt out and leave Beale to his own devices, but Dickie, who has never had a father, has become more and more attached to the man, who in his turn has come to love and respect the boy. So Dickie keeps coming back, having each time acquired some knowledge that will help the two of them to survive without committing any more crimes.

Events at last bring him back to a relationship with Edred and Elfrida, and together they achieve some wonderful things. Dickie -- now Richard -- is all set for a future that would exceed his wildest dreams, but at the end of the novel he makes the ultimate sacrifice in order to benefit his friends and their father. I don't think I've ever read this novel without crying at the end, and this time was no exception.

I know this was Nesbit's favourite of all her children's books, and I can really see why. Nesbit was a socialist, and cared deeply about the plight of the poor and the terrible living conditions they had to endure, something she explores in this novel. She also seems to have believed that people, though they were often misled by selfishness and greed, were naturally good if they only had a chance to discover it. I think the reason her novels have stayed so enduringly popular is not only that the children in them are so delightfully ordinary and human, but also because she addresses serious things that appeal as much, or more, to adults as to children. Harding's Luck is perhaps the most serious of her children's books but it has enough magic, excitement and adventures to satisfy the most demanding child. Wonderful. 

2020 in First Lines

I just spotted this meme on someone else's blog and thought I'd have a go. My book reviews on here are relatively few and far between these days, but it was fun to go through them and remember what a lot of excellent books I've read in this interesting, challenging year. The first post in January reminded me how different Christmas was last year, but I've been in great contact with the family through various forms of social media and this will continue through the Christmas break - looking forward to a Christmas Eve Zoom with family and close friends. 

I was rather struck by how boring most of my first lines were. I should maybe try to jazz them us a bit next year.

January

Somerset Maugham and Others by Selena Hastings

For probably the first time since I started this blog way back in (I think) 2008, I haven't done a summary post of my 2019 reading. I've been away from home for a good chunk of my Christmas, having a brilliant time with all my nearest and dearest relations in London, Tonbridge and Wales...

February

Death In White Pyjamas by John Bude

Back in 2014 I was part of a team that launched Shiny New Books. It's hard to believe it was actually that long ago! 

March

All Done by Kindness by Doris Langley Moore

It was on the 10th of February 1946 that Dr George Sandilands all innocently did the deed which was to result, a few years later, in one of the most vigorous controversies and gravest scandals that ever shook the art world of Europe and America'.

April

Death of a Ghost by Margery Allingham

I've got a review book on the go - I usually do have at least one I am more or less committed to review for Shiny - but though this one is good, it's not setting me on fire.

May

A Game of Snakes and Ladders by Doris Langley Moore

Earlier this year I had the immense pleasure of reading a couple of Doris Langley Moore's delightful novels, All Done with Kindness and My Carravaggio Style, both of course published by the wonderful Dean Street Press.

June

The Scapegoat by Daphne DuMaurier

Well, this is going to be one of my best reads of the year - it's unforgettable.

July

Mr Fortune's Maggot by Sylvia Townsend Warner

It's Sylvia Townsend Warner Week at a gallimaufry. 

August

Cover by Peter Mandelsund

Six years ago (goodness, how time flies) I reviewed the hardcover copy of this book by the celebrated American cover designer Peter Mandelsund.

September

Playing Nice by J.P. Delaney

Back in 2017 I reviewed JP Delaney's brilliant psychological thriller The Girl Before on Shiny New Books (here).

October

An Episode of Sparrows by Rumer Godden

For some reason I completely failed to realise how soon Simon and Kaggsy's 1956 Club was approaching, and I've totally failed to do any new reading for it. 

November

The Artful Dickens by John Mullan

My review of this brilliant book has just appeared on Shiny New Books - here's the link. 

December

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

Bel Canto means beautiful singing. And beautiful singing is at the heart of this mesmerising, moving novel.

I'm definitely doing a 'Best of 2020' before too long. Some of these may well appear on there.

Girl Reading by a Window

A photo for a change and a very lovely one. No idea of the source - google images threw up a Russian phrase which I thought might be helpful, but it turns out to mean 'Girl Reading by a Window'.

 

The Fragments of my Father by Sam Mills (Shiny review)

I've known Sam Mills for many years - we used to live in the same village in Lancashire - but I hadn't seen her for a few years, though we'd been in touch about Dodo Ink, the publishing company she set up a few years ago. So I had no idea about the difficulties she's been facing in her life since 2016, when her beloved father was diagnosed with a rare form of schizophrenia, causing terrifying catatonic episodes. This moving, inspiring book is an account of how she came to terms with the fact that she'd become his carer.

There are dark periods, when her nerves are strung to breaking point, and she suffers from chronic insomnia, while she tries to do her best for him while keeping up the writing and editing work which is her only source of income. One of her support mechanisms is to read accounts of people who have faced similar situations, especially Leonard Woolf, who she admires tremendously for his loving care for Virginia despite its many challenges.

Fortunately, by the end of the book, she has come to an acceptance of her new life, helped by the fact that a medication has been found which seems to work for her father. Relationships and travel, both very important to her, have had to be put on the back burner, but all this is offset by the days:

 when I treasure the experience of looking after my father, feel a bliss in my heart when I cook him a meal and see the joy in his face when he tucks in, or when I call him and I hear the affection in his voice.

This is an important book for anyone in a similar situation, and for everyone who needs a fuller understanding of this underrated and underpaid role. You can read my full review on Shiny New Books here.

 

Girl with Book and Cat

Something for everyone today on this charming painting by the American artist Linda Lee Nelson. She was born in 1963 and you can find lots more of her paintings on Pinterest and elsewhere.

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

Bel Canto means beautiful singing. And beautiful singing is at the heart of this mesmerising, moving novel. I've read three novels by Ann Patchett in recent years: State of Wonder, Commonwealth, and The Dutch House. I enjoyed them all enormously, but lodged in the back of my mind was this one, the first I encountered. I remember thinking at the time that it was one of the best novels I'd ever read. But this was well before I started this blog - it was published nearly 20 years ago, and I suspect I read it soon after it came out. I'm not sure what it was that made me suddenly long to re-read it, but something did. Would I love it as much the second time round? A resounding yes.

At the house of the Vice-President of an unnamed South American country, a grand party is taking place. Roxana Coss, a famous American soprano, has been flown in specially to entertain the guests: it's all in celebration of the President's birthday, but ironically he has opted not to attend - important business is his excuse, but actually he can't bear to miss an episode of his favourite soap opera. Among the many guests is a Japanese businessman, Katsumi Hokosawa, a long-time admirer of Roxana's singing, who has cooked up a spurious business plan in order to attend: the very thought of actually being in the same room with her is almost too much to handle. He speaks no Spanish or English, so he's brought with him a young translator, Gen Watanabe, who turns out to speak the languages of almost all the guests, something which will soon prove invaluable.

The recital is almost over when a group of armed men break into the house and hold the guests hostage. They have a number of demands, but the government refuse to meet them. The Generals in charge of the terrorists agree to let all the female hostages go - all, that is, apart from Roxana, who they see as a valuable negotiating tool. One woman among around forty men, or so it seems. But with the Generals are a group of teenage boy soldiers - at least that's what they appear to be. But over the coming weeks, as things begin to relax a bit, two of the teenagers turn out to be girls: Beatriz and Carmen.

For a long time, the hostages are subdued, anxious and depressed. Then one day, Roxana starts to sing. One of the Japanese group turns out to be a skilled accompanist, and soon the whole atmosphere changes and softens as both the hostages and the hostage-takers start to rely more on more on Roxana's daily recitals. And as this happens, people change. Mr Hokosawa and Roxana - neither of whom speak each others' language - become increasingly close, and soon find they are in love. One of the boy soldiers starts helping the Vice President with tending the garden (something the man has never done before and finds he loves) and the two become increasingly close, so the Vice President dreams of adopting him. Another boy proves to have an astonishing singing voice, and Roxana starts making plans to take him with her to Rome and get him properly trained. Gen agrees to teach Carmen to speak English, and their secret nighttime meetings in the china cupboard soon develop into a passionate love affair.

This is one of those books where you desperately hope everything is going to turn out well, while being pretty certain that it won't. Nevertheless Patchett manages a happy ending of sorts, even if it's not what the protagonists initially dreamed of. She is always a marvellous writer, but this seems to me to be her magnum opus. The transformations that take place are done with such delicacy and subtlety: those of the teenagers are particularly moving - young lives with so much potential, making you desperately hope they can fulfil their dreams. But even the Generals start to show their more human side, and many of the hostages learn things about themselves too. So despite the dramatic beginning, this is not a thriller (though the drama resurfaces towards the end), nor even a political novel in any real sense. It is a beautiful, thought-provoking novel, full of humanity. Bel canto could well be applied to the book itself as well as its subject. It won the 2002 PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction in the same year, both well deserved.