Themed Read March 2022: Authors of One Virago Modern Classic

Welcome to our March 2022 Themed Read.

This thread is going up a little early to give everyone who wants to join in the chance to have their books lined up and ready to read.

Our theme this month is AUTHORS OF JUST ONE VIRAGO MODERN CLASSIC

As there is a lot of choice again this month we have interpreted this one quite strictly, excluding books collecting works that were originally published separately - The Little Ottleys by Ada Leverson and Tin Toys Trilogy by Ursula Holden, for example.

Now, here is this month's list of books.

The Beth Book by Sarah Grand (#20)
Unsocial Socialist by G. Bernard Shaw (#28)
Ann Veronica by H.G. Wells (#29)
Diana of the Crossways by George Meredith (#30)
The Odd Women by George Gissing (#31)
Spinster by Sylvia Ashton-Warner (#40)
The Love Child by Edith Olivier (#46)
Cassandra at the Wedding by Dorothy Baker (#67)
Daughter of Earth by Agnes Smedley (#72)
The Orchid House by Phyllis Shand Alfrey (#73)
Brown Girl, Brownstones by Paule Marshall (#87)
A Woman by Sibilla Aleramo (#89)
The Tortoise and the Hare by Elizabeth Jenkins (#100)
Deerbrook by Harriet Martineau (#107)
Deborah by Esther Kreitman (#108)
I’m Not Complaining by Ruth Adam (#124)
I Will Not Serve by Eveline Mahyère (#142)
Belinda by Rhoda Broughton (#154)
Marcella by Mrs Humphrey Ward (#155)
The Ha-Ha by Jennifer Dawson (#165)
Blood on the Dining Room Floor by Gertrude Stein (#166)
Smoke and other Early Stories by Djuna Barnes (#167)
Women in the Wall by Julia O'Faolain (#170)
Bobbin Up by Dorothy Hewett (#172)
The Aloe by Katherine Mansfield (#174)
Red Pottage by Mary Cholmondeley (#187)
One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes (#195)
The Gentlewomen by Laura Talbot (#196)
On the Side of the Angels by Betty Miller (#197)
Marriage by Susan Ferrier (#202)
Crossriggs by Jane and Mary Findlater (#203)
A Fine of Two Hundred Francs by Elsa Triolet (#207)
Cecilia by Fanny Burney (#213)
Millenium Hall by Sarah Scott (#214)
Cindie by Jean Devanny (#230)
Painted Clay by Capel Boake (#231)
One Way of Love by Gamel Woolsey (#239)
Love Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister by Aphra Benn (#240)
The Three Miss Kings by Ada Cambridge (#244)
Hungry Hearts and Other Stories by Anzia Yezierska (#250)
Rumour of Heaven by Beatrix Lehmann (#256)
The Fly on the Wheel by Katherine Thurston (#265)
Olivia by Dorothy Strachey (#268)
The Overlanders by Dora Birtles (#271)
Tea at Four O’Clock by Janet McNeill (#275)
She Knew She Was Right by Ivy Litvinov (#277)
The Brontës Went to Woolworths by Rachel Ferguson (#279)
At the Still Point by Mary Benson (#280)
Aleta Day by Francis Marion Beynon (#288)
Not So Quiet by Helen Zenna Smith (#305)
We That Were Young by Irene Rathbone (#306)
Clash by Ellen Wilkinson (#313)
My Friend Says It’s Bullet-proof by Penelope Mortimer (#319)
Zoe by Geraldine Jewsbury (#340)
The Rock Cried Out by Ellen Douglas (#351)
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (#358)
Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte (#359)
The Golden Spur by Dawn Powell (#372)
The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard (#405)
A Very Great Profession by Nicola Beaumann (#406)
A Suppressed Cry by Victoria Glendinning (#407)
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (#410)
The Sheik by E.M. Hull (#411)
The Way of an Eagle by Ethel M. Dell (#412)
Three Weeks by Elinor Glyn (#413)
Playing the Harlot by Patricia Avis (#418)
You Can’t Get Lost in Cape Town by Zoe Wicomb (#420)
Heartburn by Nora Ephron (#422)
The Hours Before Dawn by Celia Fremlin (#423)
Sheep’s Clothing by Celia Dale (#424)
The Rising of the Moon by Gladys Mitchell (#425)
A Death in the Life by Dorothy Salisbury Davis (#426)
Christina Rossetti by Frances Thomas (#428)
Joanna by Lisa St Aubin de Teran (#429)
Daddy Was a Number Runner by Louise Meriwether (#434)
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin (#436)
The Women’s Room by Marilyn French (#437)
Seventh Heaven by Alice Hoffman (#445)
The Bleeding Heart by Marilyn French (#446)
Dessa Rose by Sherley Anne Williams (#447)
The Spoilt Kill by Mary Kelly (#449)
How Many Years by Marguerite Yourcenar (#455)
A Woman of Independent Means by Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey (#460)
The Men’s Room by Ann Oakley (#461)
The Bread and Butter Stories by Mary Norton (#465)
A Woman’s Guide to Adultery by Carol Clewlow (#471)
Love Lessons by Joan Wyndham (#477)
Manhattan, When I Was Young by Mary Cantwell (#478)
Peyton Place by Grace Matalious (#480)
Now in November by Josephine Johnson (#481)
Provincial Daughter by R.M. Dashwood (#482)
The Bondwoman’s Narrative by Hannah Crafts (#483)
The Eye of Love by Margery Sharp (#484)
Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann (#485)
Paris Was Yesterday by Janet Flanner (#495)
All of Us There by Polly Devlin (#496)
Live Alone and Like It by Majorie Hillis (#510)
Round About a Pound a Week by Maud Pember Reeves (#511)
Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady by Florence Kinge (#521)
Christine by Madeleine Masson (#522)
Beyond These Walls by Janina Bauman (#525)
The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough (#530)
West with the Night by Beryl Markham (#532)
Nightingale Wood by Stella Gibbons (#539)
Desert of the Heart by Jane Rule (#551)
One Pair of Feet by Monica Dickens (#595)
The Seventh Cross by Anna Seghers (#709)
Chasm: A Weekend by Dorothea Tanning (#710)

It would lovely to know what you are going to read - and why you think that the author has just one book on the list.

Wow - thanks for preparing this list, Jane. It's very impressive and must have taken you ages. Such interesting titles on there too - I have read a number but there are plenty I haven't. I shall dig in the shelves but I'm quite drawn to West with the Night!

ETA I'm also drawn to Playing the Harlot!

>2 kaggsy: Probably not as long as you think. I took the master list and applied a little Excel to take it to the format needed to post on LT. So most months I just need to eliminate the books that don't fit the theme and sort it a little.

Talking of master lists, someone needs to update the collection tracker. I can't because I can only look and not edit.

>1 BeyondEdenRock: We are spoilt for choice! Thank you Jane. I went through the list yesterday to see which ones I owned that are still unread (a lot). My current plan is to read both Marcella and The Tortoise and the Hare.

>3 BeyondEdenRock: I created the spreadsheet, which means I can tinker with access rights. At the time, Trish (mrspenny) was diligent about keeping the spreadsheet up-to-date as new books were published. I'll PM you to see how you'd like to handle going forward.

I've ordered The Seventh Cross from Amazon. Wanted to read it for years. I had no idea it was a Virago now. Thx for the list!

I have three of these unread on my shelves - Fly on the Wheel, Tea at Four o' Clock, and The Seventh Cross. I will read at least one of them in March.

I'm really enjoying these challenges - thank you so much for putting them together!

Delurking.
I'm not really a collector of Viragos, as they are hard to find in Germany, but I find this themed read fascinating and have read My Ántonia in February (from a different publisher, admittedly). I'm happy to see so many interesting choices for this month, I may read I capture the castle.

Miss Watson - Everyone loves I Capture the Castle!

>7 MissWatson: Yes, I Capture the Castle is a delightful book.

>5 lippincote: >6 japaul22: I read The Seventh Cross back in August (NYRB edition) and had no idea Virago had picked it up. It is excellent.

>10 SassyLassy: I own it as an nyrb publication so hadn't thought of it as a Virago either, but I'm happy to see it on the list this month! I really liked the author's book Transit.

Sassy/Japaul - The copy I got from Amazon was NYRB. It arrived yesterday and I began it in bed last night.

>11 japaul22: Transit was my introduction to Seghers, probably via rebeccanyc, and I thought it was excellent.

>12 lippincote: Hope you enjoy it. Like Viragos, NYRB editions are always a treat
_______________

There is a 2018 German film based on Transit, but set in the present. Right now fleeing European countries doesn't seem so far fetched. The film is also call Transit and is directed by Christian Petzold. It was an excellent film.
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/transit-2019

This review quotes a line I love: "Ports are places where stories are told". Having lived in ports all my life except for three years, I love this line. All my vacations seem to involve ports of one size or another as well.

>113 I was lucky enough to finish reading Transit when the movie you speak of showed up at a local theater so I wasted not one second going to see it. What a way to conclude that Seghers reading experience. Both book and movie were wonderful.

I have so many of these on my TBR pile! I'm choosing between
The Beth book
Daughter of earth
A woman
Belinda
Red pottage
My friend says it's bullet-proof
The golden spur

I will pick 2 or 3 of these.

>15 Sakerfalcon: I hope you will read Red Pottage - it is one of my all-time favourite VMCs.

I got ahead of myself and read The Tortoise and the Hare over the weekend - a portrait of the end of a marriage, with the dawning realisation beautifully handled.

The cover of my copy described it as Elizabeth Jenkins' greatest work and that might explain why Virago only published this book. And I recall reading that Elizabeth Jenkins was still around when this book was reissued by Virago and wasn't entirely happy about being labelled a 'modern classic'.

>17 BeyondEdenRock: I'm looking forward to reading this one, Jane, especially after reading your comments.

>17 BeyondEdenRock: I adored The tortoise and the hare when I read it some years ago.

>16 BeyondEdenRock: Well, how can I resist that recommendation!

I started a day early and it was short, so I've finished Tea at Four o'clock by Janet McNeill. I absolutely loved it. It reminded me of Barbara Pym, with its focus on a middle-aged woman trying to come into her own when her life circumstances change. Highly recommended!

>17 BeyondEdenRock: >19 Sakerfalcon:

I also liked The Tortoise and the Hare. I read it twice and enjoyed it both times.

>17 BeyondEdenRock:, >19 Sakerfalcon:, >21 kayclifton: I'm reading The Tortoise and the Hare now, inspired by the recommendations here. I am loving it!

One of my faves, too.

I am half-way through the Findlaters' Crossriggs and am absolutely loving it! I'm only sorry that I had to request it via inter-library loan; I hope some day to get my own copy--it's a keeper.

I've chosen to read My friend says it's bullet-proof, which is a good read so far. As I'm also reading The perpetual curate for Lyzard's group read I wanted something that would be a contrast in style and period, and that was short!

Claire - I read Bulletproof in serialized form in a 60s women's magazine. At the time it horrified me. Nowadays, talking about mastectomies is commonplace but back then it was totally taboo.

>26 lippincote: Thanks for your comment, that adds an extra dimension to the book and to what Muriel is going through in the aftermath of the operation.

>24 kac522: I read Crossrigs a few years ago and loved it. I also was able to get it through Inter Library loan. A few years ago I read Ladder to the Stars a book by Jane Findlater not in collaboration with her sister.

>28 kayclifton: I finished Crossriggs and very much enjoyed it. As well as having elements of Jane Austen's Emma, it also reminded me of Margaret Oliphant's The Doctor's Family.

I also plan to read Rumour of Heaven by Beatrix Lehmann for this month's challenge.

I finished The Seventh Cross at 1.30 in the morning. I only had 40 pages to go and could not get to it earlier. I don't have time to write a review, but this book was fantastic. OMG! Cannot speak highly enough of it. Thank you for bringing it to my attention!!!!! Transit is available as a movie in my library. I may watch that this weekend.

I really, really enjoyed The Tortoise and the Hare. Thanks to all who recommended it so heartily here. My review is posted on the book page.

I also pulled out Marcella to read this month, but I'm not sure I'll get to it. Library holds and the garden are calling to me. But it looks like Marcella will fit our April theme as well, so if I don't get to it soon I'll definitely read it next month.

>31 lauralkeet: When I read Marcella it felt very much to me like a smaller-scale Middlemarch - which IMO is a good thing!

>32 Sakerfalcon: Ooh, nice. I loved Middlemarch.
Fun fact: I am still plugging away at Hermione Lee's Edith Wharton biography, and recently learned that Wharton rented Mrs Humphry Ward's house, Stocks, for a time during early WW I. It didn't last long though, and Wharton returned to France, her adopted country.

>33 lauralkeet: That's an interesting connection! You are making me think I should have another go at the Wharton bio. At the time I read it I got about 1/3 of the way through and felt that Lee was stuffing in so many details about things surrounding Wharton but not getting inside her head. I found that frustrating. But it seems you are getting on a lot better with it than I did!

>34 Sakerfalcon: That's a fair point, Claire, about the things surrounding Wharton. I can see what you mean. I think there was less of that after she married Teddy, and moved to Paris. Her marriage to Teddy was disastrous and she had relationships with other men -- Lee gets inside her head more from that point forward.

That said, it's taking me a long time to read the book. At this point I have less than 200 pages to read so I feel the end is in sight. But I started it back in January. Sometimes it's just bedtime reading, and then I'll get the urge to read only Wharton for a few days. But sometimes the book also sits unread for a while, usually because I have other things going on and don't want to juggle two different books.

I have Marcella and The Three Miss Kings on my reread list.

I read Rumour of Heaven by Beatrix Lehmann (1934). Beatrix, a sister of Rosamond Lehmann, was mostly known as an actress, but she also wrote 2 novels. This novel was a bit like a fairy tale and a bit strange. As a wife slowly slips into madness, the husband moves his family to a remote farm in southern England. Eventually the wife dies; her husband goes into seclusion; and her 3 children have free reign over Prince's Acre, their property.

The main story begins about 1920, when the 3 children (2 are disabled, but in different ways) are teenagers who have not dealt with people from the outside world. Three strangers come into their lives, their worlds collide, and the story goes on from there. In part it is about a post-WWI world, trying to make sense (or escape) from that horror. I didn't love it, but didn't hate it.

My response exactly Kathy. I was like - meh...

>38 lippincote: And I was particularly disappointed because I'm a redhead and I love the cover:

I have been distracted for the last few weeks, but I have managed to read One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes. It was a joy, viewing post-war England through the eyes of one woman over the course of one day. I feel a little foolish for not reading it sooner.

Since then, I have dipped into The Other Woman, a collection by Colette, and read the first chapters of Marcella by Mrs Humphrey Ward, though I don't expect to finish it until we are well into 'names in titles' month.

>40 BeyondEdenRock: I absolutely loved One Fine Day. And I'm glad to see I'll have a reading buddy next month!

I have begun a rereading of The Three Miss Kings by Ada Cambridge. My attention span as grown much shorter since the pandemic and I now have trouble reading anything that has more than 200 pages.

>40 BeyondEdenRock: One Fine Day is marvellous, isn't it! I only read it last year, I think.

>42 kayclifton: I did enjoy that one, too, an absorbing read.

>41 lauralkeet: totally agree that it's a wonderful book - so atmospheric!!!

I have struggled a little with this month's choice, perhaps as there are so many options! Started and abandoned a couple of titles but have finally settled for one - The Rising of the Moon, which I read ages ago and absolutely loved, and am loving it all over again. Alas, I don't even have the Virago edition, just an old Hogarth Press Crime reprint from the 1980s - but it's really hitting the spot, just what I needed at the moment!

>44 kaggsy: I love the Mrs Bradley mysteries! She is such a wonderful character and the plots are always quirky. I did guess whodunnit very early on in this particular one, but I still enjoyed it.

I just realised I'm reading another book that qualifies for this month - it's a Virago although not a VMC. Regiment of women by Clemence Dane.

>45 Sakerfalcon: I love them too! It's a while since I read one, and decades since I picked up this particular title, but it's so brilliant. I can't remember whodunnit, but I do have a bit of an inkling. We shall see if I'm right!!

I have readI capture the castle. Quite enjoyable, but a bit hard to believe.

I finished and loved The Tortoise and the Hare by Elizabeth Jenkins and thought it was absolutely brilliant. I reviewed it on the book page for anyone who is interested.

Finally got my review of the Gladys Mitchell up on the blog - such a briliant read and so glad this monthly read pushed me into reading it!

https://kaggsysbookishramblings.wordpress.com/2022/04/04/a-dark-tale-of-dastardy...