I’m in a mood where I want to read something like The Blue Castle or Gertrude Haviland’s Divorce or A Woman Named Smith, but with less nature imagery and more domesticity and no mummies. Something with a spinster defying her horrible family somehow, and making friends with a cranky guy with a secret insane wife. I would like them to get along really well as friends before they fall in love, and for there to be a happy ending without the secret insane wife having to die. Actually, I’d like for the heroine to make friends with the secret insane wife.
Or, wait. This would be super cool: The heroine is the secret insane wife, but she’s not all that insane, and she runs off and takes a job somewhere and slowly learns to be awesome at it. That is the book I would like to read. If there could also be a lot of detail about exactly how much money she’s making, and what she does with it, as well as a lot of descriptions of really excellent clothing, that would be great. Wherever the heroine lands there would be a lot of museum-quality furniture and a library for me to be jealous of, and sympathetic people for her to make friends with, and eventually her awful family and/or husband would have their noses rubbed in her excellent new life. There doesn’t even have to be romance, although it would be a plus.
If you could concoct an late 19th or early 20th century novel to suit your tastes, what would it be about? And does anyone have a spinster-remaking-herself story to recommend?
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I’m looking for someone to edit the occasional blog post. Not just for for typos and things, but for general coherency and structure. Most of the time I’m happy to read something over a couple of times, knowing that I’ll catch my errors somewhere down the line, bot every once in a while I produce something that I know is an incoherent mess. Would any of you be interested in helping me out with that kind of thing every once in a while? I’m hoping for someone who knows and likes the blog and has some kind of experience with editing.
If you’re interested, you can find the Redeeming Qualities email address in the sidebar.
Thanks in advance,
Melody
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I am looking for books in which people get murdered on trains. Also books in which people have to survive in the wilderness. Preferably published before, say, World War II.
Also children’s timeslip novels, any period. Those are the ones where kids sort of unintentionally go back in time. Like, a character gets into the elevator in her apartment building, only instead of it bringing her to her floor, it brings her to the 1880s. Or sometimes, when a character gets up in the middle of the night, there are Native Americans wandering down a trail where the laundry room should be. If anyone can identify either of those, by the way, I’d really appreciate it, because I can’t remember the titles or authors.
I'm meeting with Colin Thompson (and some folks from Fox Studios) so if there are any questions I can ask him from his fans, pass them my way. He's thrilled to publish his picture book, The Little Book of Happy Sadness (coming in September, 2008) and even more from him in seasons following, including Norman and Brenda, a sequel to The Short & Incredibly Happy Life of Riley.
Norman and Brenda
(coming soon from Kane/Miller Book Publishers, Inc.)
Excellent start of a plot—it’s up to you to write it. WRITE
what you would love to read . . .start tonight. Good luck!
Maybe it’s time YOU wrote a book, with all these elements! I think you’d do a great job.
Meanwhile, I just finished reading E. Nesbit’s The Lark, her last novel (1922). It’s about two young women thrown upon their own resources to make a living. It is available through Amazon in a book titled “Delphi Complete Novels of E. Nesbit” and it’s only $2.51 for the ebook version. I would love to read your review of it.
No, I’m not an aspiring novelist by any means :) I hope to write a book some day, but it will be non-fiction.
I’m really not a fiction writer. I try, occasionally, but I’m much happier with non-fiction. The Lark sounds cool, and if I hadn’t apparently left my kindle at home today, I’d download it now. Thanks for the recommendation!
Now that’s a book I want to read! But as it doesn’t exist – I don’t think – I’d like to recommend Up the Hill and Over by Isabel Ecclestone Mackay. The elements don’t quite match, but something in your description makes me think you’ll like it. Published in 1917, you’ll find it gratis at the Internet Archive.
If you want to read it, you should write it. :)
I think my ideal early 20th century novel involves a spy, a mystery, a grumpy old lady, cocktails, romance, and a woman who wants to be a journalist.
Grace Livingston Hill’s “Emancipation of Aunt Crete” and “Cloudy Jewel” are pretty close-ish. Actually, a lot of her books (and her aunt’s, Isabella Alden, focus on characters remaking themselves– but they also tend to end up with marriage, and are centered around finding Jesus.
Looks like it’s on Gutenberg, too. I’ll check it out. Thanks!
I feel like your ideal early 20th century novel definitely ought to have been written by Mary Roberts Rinehart.
People keep saying I should just write it, but I really don’t do that kind of writing. If I ever write fiction, it’s fanfic of no more than 4000 or so words.
I’ve actually only read one of her books, and it wasn’t a super religious one, but I have a copy of Cloudy Jewel somewhere and I’ve been meaning to read it for a while.