Spring Reading

Have been reading again, after failing to finish those three books listed in my last post and failing also to start anything new for about two-and-a-half months. The past two weeks, however, have been remarkably productive, and included the following books, along with three Chekhov plays. Not bad!

1. The Spinster and the Prophet: H.G. Wells, Florence Deeks, and the Case of the Plagiarized Text - A.B. McKillop

This book actually made me quite angry. McKillop presents the story of a Canadian woman, Florence Deeks, who spent the WWI years researching and writing a history of the world from a feminist perspective. Her book was rejected for publication. Just two years later, H.G. Wells published his own world history, which bore a peculiar resemblance to Deeks' work -- though Wells removed the feminist elements and, in a few cases, replaced them with derogatory statements. Deeks opted to sue, and what followed was intriguing and highly maddening. McKillop provides convincing evidence for Deeks's claims, refuting earlier writers (who have generally done considerably less research into the matter) who have taken Wells's side over that of the amateur (female) historian.

2. The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family - Mary S. Lovell

The sisters chronicled in this biography -- Nancy, Pam, Diana, Unity, Jessica ('Decca'), and Deborah ('Debo') Mitford -- were insane, and I mean that in the greatest way possible. Nancy became a novelist, Diana married the founder of England's Fascist movement, Unity fell head over heels for Hitler, Decca became a Communist and successful American journalist, and...well, Pam farmed and Debo became Duchess of Devonshire, so two sisters, at least, managed to avoid controversy. Fascinating book and fascinating -- and deeply flawed -- women. The chapters on the 1930s and 1940s alone would make for an astonishing miniseries.

3. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh

I'm in very much a '1920s/1930s England' mood at the moment, and I adore literary works that contain a theological bent, so this was a necessary read. And it really is stunning, and, having just read The Sisters -- in which Waugh appears, as he was a close friend of Nancy Mitford's -- I can better appreciate the society being depicted. There's really not much more of depth I can say, as I'm still emotionally processing it all. I will add, however, that I've heard rumors that the new film adaptation has done away with the religious aspects of the story. To which I say: ....the heck? And, also, is there even a point to the thing, then?