Summer Books (some more summery than others...)

Jacqui Wine did such a great post about summery books recently (you can read it here). I'd only read two of the books she chose (Bonjour Tristesse and The Go Between) so I was most interested to see the rest, especially Tessa Hadley's The Past and William Trevor 's Love and Summer (more for the tottering TBR..)

Seeing this reminded me that I had intended to do a summer-themed post myself, though I'd planned to focus on books with 'summer' in the title. So although it's already mid-July, and we've had more rain than sun of late, I decided to do it anyway. 

In the photo, the books in the middle are the ones I've read; the other two stacks are still awaiting my attention. 

So starting with the ones I actually know something about...

Anthony Powell: A Dance to the Music of Time 

Summer is the second in this series of four collections of the sequence of twelve wonderful, complicated novels narrated by Nick Jenkins. Jenkins looks back over his life, starting with his public schooldays, then Oxford, life in London, war, and middle age. Powell explores the evolution of the country's cultural and political life, but he does so by following the people Nick meets. Chief among them is the inept but ambitious - and eventually quite sinister - Widmerpool (so memorably played by Simon Russell Beale in Channel 4's 1987 adaptation.) Other important characters include the amoral Pamela Flitton, scheming Oxford don Sillery, tragic Charles Stringham and enigmatic novelist X Trapnel. I can't recommend A Dance to the Music of Time highly enough. Hilary Spurling's excellent Invitation to the Dance is an essential companion; I'd never have kept track of everything and everyone without it. 


Jenny Colgan: The Summer Seaside Kitchen

There is so much more to Jenny Colgan than some people might think. As well as her numerous (and award-winning) romantic novels, she's written science fiction and books in the Dr Who series. She's a brilliant and inspiring public speaker (the term chicklit, she says, is an attempt to belittle a genre in which life's real problems are discussed as nowhere else), she's so well read that she when she was a guest on the wonderful Backlisted podcast she put even the erudite John Mitchison and Andy Miller to shame (her favourite book was Delderfield's To Serve Them All My Days) - and she's a genuinely nice person too. The book I've enjoyed most from those of hers I've read is Class, but I also liked The Summer Seaside Kitchen, in which Flora returns with reluctance to Mure, the island on which she was born, and which she was only too keen to leave, and to her father and brothers, struggling on alone after the death of Flora's mother. Will she stay or will she go? You can no doubt guess - but as with Erica James and Catherine Alliott (see both, below), it's the writing that matters, and Colgan has few, if any equals in the art of romantic storytelling. 

Rosamunde Pilcher: The End of Summer

This short novel follows the author's well-trodden path with the story of Jane, a young woman who has lived a chaotic but reasonably happy life with her father in California, but is then invited to return to stay with her wealthy, aristocratic grandmother in Scotland. There she re-encounters her handsome, irresponsible and dangerous cousin Sinclair, on whom she had a crush when they were children. Much nicer is David, Grandmother's lawyer - but will Jane go for excitement or security? As I see I said in my review here, it's the wonderful descriptions of life on Highland estates in the 1970s that make this book; the plot itself is predictable and really almost incidental. 

Noel Streatfeild: The Growing Summer

I first encountered The Growing Summer as one of those Sunday afternoon serials that proliferated in my childhood. It's a typical Streatfeild story about a family having to cope with changed circumstances; in this one the Gareth children's scientist father goes to work in the Far East, gets ill, and requires Mummy's presence.

Alex, Penny, Robin and Naomi are packed off to stay with their 'mad' Aunt Dymphna in rural Ireland, And that's about it really; they hate it at first, they come to love it (of course), they have adventures, make friends, and are eventually returned to their parents in London. I can't remember much else about this, but I do very much remember how much I enjoyed the TV adaptation, with the fabulous Wendy Hiller as Aunt Dymphna. The production seemed to me then to have a wonderful, slightly menacing feel to it - if I saw it again now, I'd probably find it clunky and dated. 


Margaret Drabble: A Summer Bird-cage

I read this just last month, as one of my #20BooksofSummer. I enjoyed it. My review is here. 

Eve Garnett: The Holiday at The Dew-Drop Inn

This is the one of three books in this list whose title doesn't actually include 'summer', but I couldn't resist including them. Eve Garnett's Family From One End Street novels were some of my very favourite childhood books, and having recently re-read one of them (Further Adventures of the Family From One End Street - review here) I can confirm that - for me at least - they're just as good all these years later.

They're about the Ruggles family - Mum, who takes in laundry, Dad, a dustman, and their seven children. In The Holiday at the Dew Drop Inn, however, Garnett focuses mostly on Kate, the second daughter, and the one I (and probably every other reader) most identified with. Kate is in many ways a 20th century Jo March. She has dreams. She writes. She wants to Be Something. Having had the measles, Kate is sent to spend two months with Mr and Mrs Wildgoose, proprietors of the inn, relatives of one of Mrs Ruggles' friends, and already great friends of Kate's too, as she has previously spent a holiday there with some of her younger siblings. The Holiday at the Dew Drop Inn simply recounts Kate's happy summer in the country, encounters with various villagers, the Flower Show, a Fair - and interludes in which we hear about what is going on back in Otford-on-the-Ouse (Ruggles Central.) 

If this all sounds like Streatfeild (both this book and The Growing Summer were published in the 1960s), I can only say that Garnett is a much better writer, her characters are so much more nuanced, and her understanding of working class life (not, for once, immediately equated with poverty - the Ruggles are poor, but they make ends meet) so strong, her empathy with children so great, that it's no wonder to me that these books are still popular today. 

Catherine Alliott: A Cornish Summer

A romantic novel set in Cornwall, in which apparently poor (hmm...I suppose everything's relative - flat off the Wandsworth Road, anyone? Child at expensive boarding school? This is an extremely middle class version of slumming it...) London-dwelling artist and single mother Flora returns to the affluent home of her former husband when she is asked to paint a portrait of the family patriarch.

As such A Cornish Summer doesn't sound like my cup of tea at all. If I met people called Hugo, Belinda, Ibby and Theo - not to mention their spaniel (of course!) called Truffle, I'd probably run screaming from the room. But despite all my prejudices and inverted snobbery, I have to say I really enjoyed this book. Alliott writes very well, the dialogue in particular flows so naturally, and although these people are annoying, I know full well that they do indeed exist in real life. My review is here. 


Enid Blyton: Summer Term at St Clare's

From the back cover:

'The best term is always the summer term. So much to do, swimming championships, country walks, tennis and lots more things to make school pleasant. In this, the third in the St Clare's series, the O'Sullivan twins have more fun and excitement than they have ever had before. There are such interesting new girls, too - Carlotta, who does fantastic acrobatics, and 'Don't Care Bobby' who is quite delightfully mad.'

I would have hated every minute of boarding school - day school was bad enough, with its stifling hierarchy, pointless rules, and general reign of terror under which I suffered for seven tedious and stressful years. I hated tennis (& still have no interest in it whatsoever), and any form of competitive sport. Swimming lessons, with their sergeant major instructors, almost put me off the only exercise I was good at for life. So why I liked these books is puzzling to say the least, but love them I did, and so did my elder daughter, reading them years later. I don't think I could reread them now. But many do.

Elizabeth David: A Taste of the Sun

Finally, Elizabeth David (and the second book whose title doesn't actually include the word 'summer' - but she did write Summer Cooking, so I'm not apologising...)

One of my daughters gave me A Taste of the Sun, which is one of Penguin's little collections of cookery writing. It briefly covers Italian, French and English dishes, all the subjects of much longer books by David, whom Penguin rightly describe as Britain's greatest twentieth century cookery writer. I'd never make most of the recipes in this book. Take Brodetto alla Ravennate, which requires a mixture of squid, eel, red mullet, sea bass, sole and cannocchie (squilla mantis), 'a flat-tailed Adriatic and Mediterranean crustacean with a delicate flavour and lilac marks on its white fish.'  As David herself says;

'it must be left to the imagination and resourcefulness of the reader to devise something as good and beautiful with North Sea fish'

And that, dear reader, is why we in northern Scotland have Cullen Skink...

But it is David's writing, her descriptions of when and where she first ate these dishes, like this pre-war picnic outside Marseille with;

'olives, anchovies, salame (sic) sausages, pates, yards of bread, smoked fish, fruit and cheese. With a provision of cheap red wine we bundled the food into the car, and set off, stopping now and again for a drink, so that we arrived at our rendezvous well disposed to appreciate the sun...'

that make this such an enjoyable read. Last year I read Artemis Cooper's excellent biography of David (review here.) I felt I understood her much better after that. She really did dedicate herself to the promotion and cultivation of good food (though whether most people in 1960s England really took any notice is indeed a question.) She did not have a happy life; I wonder if she thought her writing would be as revered as it is today. 

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And now just a brief mention of the books I haven't (yet) read:

Maeve Binchy: Firefly Summer

I enjoy a Maeve Binchy novel every so often; she's another writer with a great ear for dialogue (it amazes me how many published writers haven't one) This book is about the 'sleepy' village of Mountfern, and what happens when Patrick O'Neill turns up on a mission to turn the Big House (razed to the ground in The Troubles) into a smart hotel. 

Rosamunde Pilcher: Voices in Summer.

If Pilcher didn't set her novels in Scotland, she usually set them in Cornwall. In this one 'Laura, newly married and ever conscious she may be living in the shadow of her husband Alec's first wife, decides to take a holiday with his family in Cornwall.' Sound familiar? Though somehow I doubt we're quite in Rebecca territory here. 

Rosamunde Pilcher's Four Seasons: Summer, Autumn ,Winter, Spring.

I've included this one DVD -  I expect I picked it up in a charity shop.

The drama focuses on 'the Combe family and their magnificent country estate Endellion.' Bet you weren't expecting that. I haven't watched this yet, but I have seen other adaptations of Pilcher novels, and they all seem to have been made in conjunction with a German television company. The dubbing of English into German and sometimes back again is not exactly skilful. But fingers crossed for this one, as I do like the idea of wallowing in something where;

'Scandal, vengeance, jealousy and desire rage as furiously as the sea'

 And here we also have youthful versions of Michael York and Tom Conti, whom I'll probably enjoy no matter how predictable their characters are or indeed which language they end up speaking.

Laurie Lee: As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning

This is one of those books I've always meant to read but somehow haven't. It is of course about Laurie Lee walking through Spain as the Civil War threatens. I've just been flipping through it, expecting Lee to wax lyrical about the unspoilt beauty of peasant villages, so I was surprised - and to be honest also a little relieved - to read this;

From its name, I expected Malaga to be a kind of turreted stronghold, half Saracen, half Corsair-pirate. Instead I found an untidy city on the banks of a dried-up river, facing a modern commercial harbour, the streets full of cafes and slummy bars...

I think I need to read this soon.

Erica James: Summer at the Lake and Swallowtail Summer

I've not read one of Erica James's novels for a while, but I do enjoy them. Summer at the Lake is set on Lake Como (where James has a house). In classic James style, three characters, each with different issues, are about to meet up. Swallowtail Summer, meanwhile, centres on Linston End;

'the summer holiday home for three families for many years...but this year the friends are rocked by unexpected news, and it seems that Linston End will never be the same again...'

The difference between James and so many other romance writers is that she can write, very well, and as a reader I engage with her characters. A note at the beginning of Summer at the Lake says;

'With an insatiable appetite for other people's business, Erica James will readily strike up conversation with strangers in the hope of unearthing a useful gem for her writing.. She finds it the best way to write authentic characters for her novels, although her two grown-up sons claim they will never recover from a childhood spent in a perpetual state of embarrassment at their mother's compulsion.'

I completely identify with this, and my son and daughters (also grown up) would recognise this traumatic childhood experience and no doubt claim it for their own. So I like James before I even read the first sentence. Looking forward to this one.

William Trevor: Death in Summer

I loved Trevor's The News From Ireland (review here) so I don't quite know why I haven't yet got round to reading this novel, in which;

'The sudden death of Thaddeus Davenant's (what a name!) wife leaves him with the problem of childcare for baby Georgina. When none of the nannies interviewed is deemed suitable, Mrs Iveson, Thaddeus's mother-in-law, fulfils the position herself. But in rejecting one of the applicants, they have overlooked the beginnings of a fixed and unnatural obsession.'

In reviewing the book, Ruth Padel said;

'Trevor can describe the most appalling things so evenly you only realise afterwards what's been said. Brilliant.'

So true. Another treat in store.

Jenny Colgan: The Endless Beach

The third of my books without 'summer' in the title is a sequel to The Summer Seaside Kitchen (above) - so that's my excuse for including it here. Flora is now re-established on Mure (surprise! Hands up everyone who thought she'd be back in London by now....) and running the Seaside Kitchen. She and her best friend Lorna are each 'in turmoil' about their romantic relationships. Colgan will sort them out, and I'll enjoy seeing how she does it. 

Danielle Ganer: The Summer We Read Gatsby

I probably bought this on someone's recommendation, or perhaps I was just attracted by the mention of Gatsby. Reviews seem a bit mixed. Great title though! If anyone has read it, please let me know your thoughts. 

Katie Fforde: A Rose Petal Summer

Katie Fforde's novels are a bit of a habit with me, and I'm not always sure they're a good one. I often get annoyed with her characters, but I'm regularly drawn in by her titles and synopses. Here's the gen on this one:

'He was the one who got away; the young man with whom Caro had spent one magical evening in Greece, and whom she'd never forgotten (shades of Mama Mia? Possibly not.) 

Now, years later, they've met once more in a beautiful old house in Scotland. Soon Caro is falling for him, all over again. But will this be the summer he falls in love with her?'

Thoughts, anyone? I'm going with Caro turning out to be a psychopathic axe-murderer myself.

Fforde is not Colgan, nor is she James. But she's hugely popular and successful, this book has lots of five star reviews - and as one rightly says re another person's less enthusiastic comments;

'Hey, this is all about escapism so who cares.'

I know I'll read this. 

Tilly Culme-Seymour: Island Summers - Memories of a Norwegian Childhood

I picked this up in from our library sale table. The back says;

'The enchanting true story of three generations of women and the tiny Norwegian island that became part of their lives.'

The author's grandmother apparently bought the island in 1947, and her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren have all spent summers there. The author has stayed there most years since 1982, with her siblings and later with her lover. Looks interesting.

Cathy Bramley: A Vintage Summer

I must have found this in a charity shop - see what a sucker I am for a nice cover? It has 70% five star reviews on Amazon, if that can be trusted. 

'London has not been kind to Lottie Albright (perhaps she should have a chat with Flora of The Summer Seaside Kitchen?)

'Realising it's time to cut and run, she packs up and moves back home - but finds her family in disarray. In need of a new place to stay, Lottie takes up the offer of a live-in job managing a local vineyard....Widowed Betsy is trying to keep the place afloat...meanwhile her handsome but interfering grandson, Jensen (Jensen?!), is trying to convince her to sell up and move into a home...Lottie's determined to save Butterworth Wines, but with all this and an unpredictable English summer to deal with, it'll be a challenge. And that's before she discovers something that will turn her summer - and her world - upside down...'

I've not read any Cathy Bramley books before. As with all these things, it'll depend on the writing - the plot I could probably tell you right now. But I do really admire romantic novelists - the best of them write excellent stories and still get treated as second class citizens (Jenny Colgan has a lot to say about this, and all of it's true.) They outsell most authors of 'literary fiction' hands down, so good for them. I wish I could do it. 

Tove Jansson: The Summer Book

This is the fictional story of a grandmother and granddaughter spending a summer together on a tiny island in the Gulf of Finland. It's largely based on the author's own experience of  her childhood summers in a rented cottage on an island near Porvoo, 31 miles east of the family's home in Helsinki. I thought I'd read this book, but reading the synopsis now, I don't think I have (I've read Jansson's Winter Book, which is a collection of her short stories, chosen by Ali Smith.)

Jansson was an interesting woman, now known mainly for her authorship of the Moomins books - but she was also a novelist, artist, illustrator and comic strip author. I've also been meaning to read her authorised biography, Tove Jansson: Life, Art, Words by Boel Westin (although reviews of that are a bit mixed too.)

Marcia Willett: The Summer House (not in the main picture because I forgot it)

To the great sadness of her legions of fans, Marcia Willett died last year at the age of 76. I've never read any of her books, but so many people wrote of their love for her work that I decided to try them. The Summer House is about Matt, who wonders if his mother's version of his childhood is actually true, and Matt's sister Imogen, who wants to buy the Summer House, a building in the grounds of an ancient pile on Exmoor;

'this cherished building must stay in the family, for it is within the Summer House that tragic secrets are finally unlocked - secrets that have affected Matt's whole life...'

I think I can probably have a good guess at what those secrets are, but I think I'll enjoy finding out if I'm right.

John Mortimer: The Summer of a Dormouse

Although I've neither read nor seen any of the immensely successful Rumpole books and TV adaptations, I enjoyed John Mortimer's Summer's Lease (a comedy about the chattering classes spending the summer in Tuscany) and his political Paradise Postponed series. The Summer of a Dormouse is autobiography, covering the author's early 70s, during which he is sometimes obliged by illness and infirmity to use a wheelchair, but it still quite able to chair the committee deciding what should go onto Trafalgar Square's vacant plinth, raise lottery money to rebuild the Royal Court theatre, and lunch everywhere from El Vino's to Wormwood Scrubs. 

Mortimer was a very good writer, and I'm sure this will be an enjoyable, informative and easy read. I have, however, recently read his ex-wife Penelope's brilliant, excoriating, The Pumpkin Eater, and I must admit I now see John M in a new light. I imagine neither of them was very good at marriage (though he went on to have a second, happier one) but my goodness, Penelope writes from the heart, and I think her writing would strike a chord with many women of a certain generation.

Midsummer Nights: Jeanette Winterson (editor)

This is a collection of short stories by authors including Andrew O'Hagan, Colm Toibin, Kate Atkinson, Jackie Kay and Ali Smith. It was specially commissioned to celebrate the 75th birthday of Glyndebourne. In her introduction, Winterson says;

'Why not take an opera and shift it? All the stories in this collection have done exactly that; found a piece of music and worked it into a new shape...The brief to each writer was simple: choose an opera, and from its music or characters, its plot or its libretto, or even a mood evoked, write a story.'

Inside the covers, front and back, are illustrations by the inestimably talented and witty Posy Simmonds, whom I have loved faithfully ever since finding her Wendy Weber collections on the bookshelves of my mother-in-law's Guardian-reading house in Manchester.  What a revelation they were - so clever, so funny, so absolutely bang on in their satire of the English middle classes (and especially the left wing intelligentsia personified by Wendy and her polytechnic lecturer husband George.)

I was in heaven, and in heaven I have remained; all of my mother-in-law's collection is now on my own shelves. (And my elder daughter loves Wendy and co as much as I do. We are so nerdy that we can and often do converse by way of Weber-based jokes...)

I may very well have bought Midsummer Nights just for Posy's drawings (I can't in fact remember where or when I bought it) but it does sound an interesting premise, I do like opera, and I will try to read this collection very soon. 

I know that it now looks as though I spend almost all of my time reading romantic novels. In fact I read very few (though I buy more - it's those covers...), but I think that books in this genre are just much more likely to have 'summer' (along with 'cake', 'corner shop', 'seaside', 'village' 'Cornish', 'patchwork'. 'skylark/swallow' and 'beach') in the title.  I might try to do this again with 'winter' - I wonder if that will unearth a very different collection? (But then there's 'Christmas', 'candy', 'snow'.....)

Have you read any of these, or can you think of any more to add to the list?