Howling Frog Books

 Castle Dor , by Arthur Quiller-Couch and Daphne du Maurier Yep, this is my copy You've almost certainly heard of the novelist Daphne du Maurier, writer of Rebecca and many other tales, often set in Cornwall.  As a young woman, she became friendly with Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, who lived in Cornwall when he wasn't being an eminent Cambridge professor of literature.  He was working on a novel, but had little time for writing, and then the war came, and he died in 1944.  The manuscript was unfinished and had no notes about where it was going to go, but in 1960, du Maurier completed the novel at the request of Q's daughter.  The result is Castle Dor , set in a factual Cornish landscape (you can look up most of these spots on the map, though Dor is Dore now), but playing with legend. In the early 1860s, a young and beautiful Mrs. Linnet Lewarne meets Amyot Trestane, a Breton sailor.  Somehow, their immediate attraction to each other sets in motion a long-past ...

A Civil Contract, by Georgette Heyer  When I run into a Georgette Heyer novel I haven't read, I usually grab it and put it on the shelf for when I want a light, relaxing read.  I wasn't necessarily going to write a post about this story, but it turned out to be unusual for a Heyer Regency novel, and very interesting. Captain Adam Deveril has been off fighting Napoleon in the Peninsular War, but upon the sudden death of his father, he becomes Viscount Lynton, owner of a landed estate and a truly astounding amount of debt.  His father, an optimist and big spender, has left everything neglected and heavily mortgaged too.  Adam needs to provide for his sisters and get his mother settled somewhere affordable, and it looks like he'll have to sell all of the family property to do it.  He and the enchanting Julia Oversley are madly in love, but their marriage is now out of the question.  Adam is left with a choice: he can sell everything (rendering his relatives mi...

Alberic the Wise and Other Journeys , by Norton Juster Norton Juster is most famous for The Phantom Tollbooth , which I read a lot as a kid, but I don't think I ever read anything else by him, so when I saw this little volume of three fairy tales, I put it on my TBR shelf.  They're for a middle-grade audience, but anybody else could enjoy them too.  I did.  "Alberic the Wise" is about a young farmer who hears of the wide world and goes to learn about it.  He learns many trades, but never quite becomes a master, and, now an old man, arrives in a town and starts telling stories about his journeyings.  He is acclaimed as a wise man, but soon realizes that he isn't wise at all, so what to do now? "She Cries No More" is a fascinating little story about Claude, who (like Pierre) doesn't care.  But he becomes fascinated with a little painting in the museum, and then he actually enters it and meets the sad young lady in the picture... And, "Two...

Undine at the start (Rackam, obvs.) Undine and Other Stories , by La Motte - Fouqué Well, his whole name was Friedrich Heinrich Karl de la Motte, Baron Fouqué, but that was too difficult, so even my book only says "La Motte Fouqué" on the title page and never elaborates.  He lived from 1777 - 1843 and was a German Romantic to the core; my little Oxford World Classics book (from 1932) says we "may now recognize in Fouqu é the latest and the most uncompromising of the Romanticists, the man who accepted most unflinchingly the principles of that school, and who carried them out most thoroughly."   It also calls him "somewhat stupid" and goes on to note that his output "was positively prodigious, and most of it, so far as modern readers are concerned, might very well have been left undone."   Poor Fouqué!  The introduction does allow him several stories to keep for posterity, and these four make up the majority of them. It must be admitted tha...

The Unknown Ajax, by Georgette Heyer I always enjoy a good Heyer novel, though I don't always review them here.  The last one I read was just OK, so I didn't post about it, but it wasn't bad either.  On the whole, I think we should all admit that Georgette Heyer was the best writer of Regency romance-comedies ever.  She simply cannot be beat.  Her dialogue is always great, her comedy excellent, her detail and knowledge unmatched.  And The Unknown Ajax is one of the best of the romances that I have read. The Darracotts are not a united family, and they are headed by the irritable -- nay, enraged -- Lord Darracott, who is particularly angry that his eldest son got himself killed in an accident.  Now the family must accept an estranged and unknown cousin -- from Yorkshire! who is half commoner! -- as the heir.  Major Hugo Darracott arrives, a huge and amiable man, and everybody expects him to be both stupid and vulgar. Anthea, the young lady of t...

Three Weeks, by Elinor Glyn Reading Rambo is a genius at coming up with insane readalongs, and as she said... I never thought you could actually read Elinor Glyn's books; she seemed like some distant untouchable literary figure, referenced in The Music Man , but whose works were not to be seen by contemporary eyes. Well that is nonsense. They're right there on the internet for free. This was a revelation to me.  I could read Elinor Glyn!  So I joined in the Glynalong and here I am, having finished one of Glyn's more scandalous novels, Three Weeks .  It's a romance novel of 1907 and it's no wonder it caused a fuss; this story straight-up involves an older married lady seducing a young man and having an affair with him for, you guessed it, three weeks. Paul is a 23-year-old young man who has fallen in love with the Wrong Girl -- that is, one who is of a slightly lower class and isn't very pretty.  Isabella is a tall, strapping young woman with "large...

Anachronistic 1962 cover! Beyond the Sound of Guns , by Emilie Loring My brother got me this great little paperback romance novel for Christmas (off his work book-trade table; we don't really buy gifts for adult siblings, just for the kids).  It was published in 1945, but as you see, my copy is from 1962.  The blurb on the back is irresistible: As the Second World War raged across the world, lovely, raven-haired Kit Marlowe and her brother sought peace and quiet at her brother's Double-H Ranch.  Then war came to this remote cattle country. Enemy agents were stealing the Double-H beeves needed to feed our fighting men. And Kit knew her luck was bad when she stumbled on the identity of the head of the saboteurs, for this fanatical enemy would use any means to silence her forever. Irrevocably trapped, only one man could help her - bold and charming Colonel Rex Danton, the man who had stolen her brother's fiancée - the man she had sworn to hate!  Cattle-...

Landline, by Rainbow Rowell I was not at all sure that I wanted to read this book when I heard about the premise.  But I picked it up to see, and I really liked it a lot.  So-- Georgie and Neal are your average tired and overworked parents in their late 30s.  Georgie has spent years writing for bad sit-coms in hopes of someday scoring the opportunity to write her own show (with her long-time writing partner, Seth), while Neal has taken care of the kids and put up with living in LA.  They're about to leave for a Christmas trip to Neal's home when the opportunity hits--the chance to write a show.  This week.  Georgie can't go. Georgie and Neal love each other, but their marriage may have crumbled anyway while Georgie was busy working.  In despair, she starts sleeping at her mom's house and tries calling Neal on her old phone, using his mom's landline.  Neal answers, but it's the Neal of nearly 20 years ago.  As they talk every night, Geo...

Persuasion , by Jane Austen I just love Persuasion. I've read it several times by now, and the mystery I read put me in the mood to read it again, so I did. I love how Anne Elliott is an older heroine , who has learned and matured from her trials . I think she might be the only Austen protagonist who does not go through a moment of humiliating self-discovery (is that right ? Wait, maybe Elinor Dashwood?) that leads to her change and improvement . She has already been there , and instead she 's in a phase of life where she is ready for a life of her own , but she really thinks her chance is over . All she can look forward to is long years of putting up with her father and sister and keeping her opinions to herself. She has had much of her hope and spirit squashed out of her and is now " faded and thin ." When Anne meets up with Captain Wentworth again , nearly 8 years after she...

The much nicer UK cover Attachments , by Rainbow Rowell I read a review of this by Hanna at Booking in Heels the other day and thought it sounded interesting, so I put it on hold at the library.  And I did enjoy it quite a bit--it's a fun, cute read (not too cute), and a romance, but not sloshy or overly steamy.  About the level of romance that I like, in fact. The premise is a tricky one.  It's 1999, and Lincoln gets a job at a newspaper that is finally letting all employees have email and Internet access.  It's Lincoln's job to monitor the emails and enforce rules about off-color jokes, gambling, and too much personal email.  Meanwhile, the other half of the novel is epistolary;  Jennifer and Beth are employees who email each other a lot with everyday chat about their lives, and it gets flagged for checking.  As Lincoln reviews their correspondence, he develops a crush on one of the women.  He knows perfectly well that it is creepy to r...

The Lost Wife , by Alyson Richman In Prague, in 1938, two young people fall in love and get married just as war is about to destroy everything they know.  Separated by events, they each believe that the other has died, until a wedding many years later, when they recognize each other. That's not a spoiler because it's how the novel opens.  You read the story to find out how it happened.  Lenka tells her story from the beginning, while Josef tells his backwards.  It's a gripping novel, and I quite enjoyed it, though it is a little toastier than I really prefer. Richman writes well, and she actually based her novel on a real-life incident she heard of through a family connection--two people really did meet at a wedding and recognize each other as their long-lost spouses. It's also, as you might expect, a really, really tragic novel.  As Jews, Lenka and her family are shipped out of Prague and end up in Terezin (Theresienstadt) for most of the war.  Jos...

The Letters of RB and EBB This time I read letters from November 1845--March 1846.  When last we checked in, Robert and Elizabeth had just begun their romantic relationship; Elizabeth had finally admitted her feelings to Robert and they were on the same page, though Robert had to keep assuring her that she was perfectly fine the way she was and that he hadn't planned to marry anyway (which, maybe he hadn't, but he sure wanted to marry Elizabeth--he was just too smart to tell her that just yet). From November through March, they really solidify their relationship.  Elizabeth becomes more demonstrative and manages to say more of how she feels about Robert, until she is quite eloquent on the matter.  She tells him her family nickname -- Ba -- and allows him to use it, which he does quite a lot.  Her given name of Elizabeth has disappeared by now. The sheer volume of letters has increased enormously.  They are now writing long letters to each other almost ...

Black Sheep , by Georgette Heyer Goodness, you read one of those things and you can't stop!  I had this Heyer novel on my TBR pile and had been ignoring it for at least a year, but it wasn't very appealing.  My copy is an ancient paperback with a truly hideous cover.  It was a lot of fun to read. Miss Abigail Wendover is a single lady, no longer young (in Regency terms, that means she's 28), attractive and wealthy.  She is very worried about her niece Fanny, who is 17 and madly in love with a charming, calculating fortune-hunter.  As Abby tries to out-maneuver young Mr. Calverleigh , she meets his uncle--just back from India and the black sheep of his family.  Can she resist his charm and save Fanny as well? Very fun and fluffy, just like Heyer, though the plot was certainly more serious than the Reluctant Widow story from last week.  Fanny is on the brink of elopement!

Time for another chapter of the letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett!  Ooh, this was interesting.  In our story so far, Robert has started a correspondence with Elizabeth, and he's clearly interested in her.  After they meet in person, Robert sends a Confession of True Feelings letter, and Elizabeth reacts poorly.  She has never thought of herself as eligible for romance, and she doesn't know what to do, nor does she want to encourage Robert to waste his life on her (as she sees it).  I have now read the next 5 months of letters, from May to October... RB's first letter to EBB The two are still writing, but Elizabeth is clearly trying to discourage Robert from romance.  She just wants to talk about Poetry and Life.  Robert keeps dropping anguished hints about his feelings, and she replies with a stubborn reluctance to hear it. ...I see by the law of my own star, my own particular star, the star I was born under, the star Wormwood ,...

The Reluctant Widow , by Georgette Heyer It's long time since I read a Heyer novel; I haven't been in the mood for one for quite a while.  I found this on the sale rack at the library, though, and the description grabbed me.  I have to say, this is one of the best and most fun Heyer novels I have ever read.  It is just great.  Elinor Rochdale, a governess down on her luck, is dropped off by the mail coach and expects to be met by her new employer's servant, so she hops up into the waiting gig that seems to be expecting her.  Imagine her surprise when she is taken, not to a spoiled little boy, but to a lord who matter-of-factly asks her to marry his dissolute cousin, who is sure to die soon.  Elinor is quickly drawn into a strange situation involving secret staircases, French spies, mischievous young brothers, and all manner of mad goings-on. Heyer's Regency dialogue is always pretty good, but here I really felt like she surpassed herself with Elinor's...

The Middle Window , by Elizabeth Goudge Judy has talked her parents and fianc é into a holiday in Scotland.  Somehow she just knows she's supposed to go to Scotland, though she's never been there, and that her life is going to change completely.  But how is it that she knows exactly where to find the house they've rented?  Why is Judy suddenly assailed with someone else's memories, and why does the owner, Ian, seem so familiar? I'm not even sure what to call this book.  It's a romance, but it's different--plus the lovers are hardly ever together.  It's part historical fiction, part ghost (?) story, and nearly all tragedy.  The first third is in 1934 and features Judy and Ian.  Most of the rest concerns Judith and Ranald as they are caught up in the 1745 Scottish Rebellion.* It's a bit like those Gothic thriller romances by Barbara Michaels (aka Elizabeth Peters/Barbara Mertz), but better written and without a trace of Michaels' sardonic hu...