The Shadow in the North, Philip Pullman
So, Forrest was right - this was better than the first Sally Lockhart book (The Ruby in the Smoke) - or i just wasn't in the right mood when i read the first one. A challenging novel - set in Victorian England, about a young unmarried woman who is running her own business - but not without the troubles you would expect. Recommended, especially for the 14 year old romance/Victoriana reader in your family.
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The Hours, Michael Cunningham
Short and sweet - i read this book in about four or five hours. It cunningly weaves the stories of three women - Virginia Woolf, a young bookworm mother in the fifties in SoCal, and an aging lesbian in New York. Well written, with threads and imagery moving fluidly from tale to tale. Recommended
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The Mistress of Spices, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
A sweet fairy tale of a book, set in Indian spice shop in Oakland. Nice Indian mythology and writing; a pleasant read.
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FingerSmith, Sarah Waters
Beca loaned me Tipping the Velvet a while back, and i quite enjoyed it. I was prompted to pick this up recently, and tore through it quickly. Somehow about halfway in, i was as bit disappointed - Sarah blew her wad about a third of the way in, and never managed to pick back up again to full engagement. I waited for more that i never found through the second half of the book. Still, a fun and easy read.
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The Book Borrower, Alice Mattison
A slightly disconcerting story of a friendship, uneasily struck but deeply felt, between two women, and subsequently their families. Worth a borrow.
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