Returning to an Old Friend
Some books you can read over and over. These books are like visiting an old friend. Sometimes you discover scenes you had forgotten about or pick up things you missed during the first reading.
For me one of these books is The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Written in 1848, this novel is considered to be one of the first feminist novels. Anne Brontë published under the pseudonym Acton Bell, since it was not considered proper for women, especially a vicar's daughter, to write fiction. Anne's style of writing differs from her sisters, Charlotte and Emily, whose novels are more romantic. Anne's writing is realistic and deals with issues that she saw in the world around her. This would be her second and last novel. Anne died a year later at the age of 29.
Dealing with many taboo topics of the time period, this novel raises the question of whether a wife should be able to leave an abusive husband and raise her son on her own. Fleeing her husband, Helen Graham moves into Wildfell Hall posing as a widow under an assumed name. Quickly she becomes the subject of local gossip and scandal. Helen, however, finds one confidant and friend in Gilbert Markham who begins to uncover her dark past.
Do you have any books that you have read multiple times and still find yourself returning to?
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5 thoughts on “Returning to an Old Friend”
“Middlemarch” is my BFF.
I remember loving Middlemarch when I read it many years ago. (Middlemarch can be found in our catalogue here: http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM245082&R=245082 ) Maybe I will revisit it soon! Thank you!
The More the Merrier radio show book club is reading The Vintage Caper by Peter Mayle. Maybe it will be someone’s BFF. Our discussion date is Sat. July 7th, 1-2pm on CIUT 89.5 FM. All books we select are available at the TPL:-)
Sherlock Holmes is my true love. I can’t get enough of the romanticized depiction of 19th century London and surrounding countryside from the mind of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Though Holmes and Dr. Watson are the obvious protagonists, there’s just no denying that the world in which they ply their trade is just as intimate a character as they are and that’s what keeps me coming back! My uncle got me a tome, The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes for Christmas several years ago. Thirty-seven short stories and the novel: The Hound of the Baskervilles and it is the undisputed crown jewel of my library.
I also enjoy Sherlock Holmes and the illustrated book is definitely a lovely keepsake.