November has not been the best month for a happy reading frame of mind. Budgets and hassles and events to put on at work. French exchange student to host and ferry around. Court case stress, a settlement that leaves me teetering on the edge of poverty and a growing realisation that a financial settlement does not mean an end to bullying by the ex. So I might be excused for finishing just five books this month, of which only one was a #GermanLitMonth (or Germans in November) read, and abandoning a couple of others.
I needed a change from my usual rather dark reading fare and escaped in the pages of two ‘feel-good’ reads: The Star of Lancaster from Jean Plaidy’s series on the Plantagenets (featuring mostly Henry IV and V) and the sly irony of The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao by Martha Batalha (review to follow imminently).
For German Lit Month, I read the moving blend of History and herstory which is Julia Franck’s Mittagsfrau. I then got a chance to see the author in a lively event at the British Library celebrating the launch of the Riveting Germans magazine and 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The remaining two books were by the same author; I read them with a professional editorial eye, to see which might be most suitable for translating and publishing in the UK and the US. Two very different books by the talented and versatile author Bogdan Teodorescu: a domestic noir entitled Liberty and a political thriller about the sudden death of an investigative journalist Nearly Good Lads (English titles to be confirmed).
There was one further literary event this month, which filled me with a rosy glow of contentment for at least a few days, namely the charity Write-A-Thon in Windsor, which allowed me to spend a whole day reminding myself just why I love writing so much, in the company of other passionate writers.
Finally, in the last two days of the month, I managed to squeeze in two plays. Stray Dogs at the Park Theatre is a drama about the choices faced by Anna Akhmatova during Stalinist times – will she collaborate with the ruthless autocrat in order to save her son? Sadly, Akhmatova’s son never forgave her, believing that she cared more about her poetry than for him and that she had not worked hard enough for his release.
The second play is another not so cheery but reliable stalwart from my Viennese life: Tales from the Vienna Woods by Horvath, performed by this year’s final year students at RADA. The jaunty background music and farcical moments contrast with the rather stark messages around women trying to survive in a patriarchal, Catholic world.
It does sound as though you’ve had quite a month, Marina Sofia! I don’t blame you one bit for not reading as much or as quickly as you normally do. Here’s hoping December is easier for you.
Sorry life has been hassle-ful Marina and I hope things improve. Sometimes it’s hard to get past r/l and into a book. Stray Dogs sounds appealing – I do love Akhmatova!
Oh Jean Plaidy, I loved her books in my teens, brilliant. You make me want to read one again. Hope life settles down a bit now.
Sorry to hear that those settlement issues haven’t in fact settled very much for you. Hope 2020 sees you emerge from under this dark cloud.
I thought I knew all of Jean Plaidy’s work having gobbled up them up when I was in my early teens but that one is a new one for me
I’m sorry to hear that your settlement hasn’t settled things down with your ex. I really hope that you get a break from all the stress soon. Sending you a hug! x
Thank you for your kind thoughts and hugs, Hayley! I can do with some. It’s funny how we both feel hard done by regarding the settlement, so he tries to make sure that I feel punished enough… Ah, well, soon the boys will have left home and then I never have to talk to him again!