I was in a local library lull for awhile (for no reason) but I recently picked up a big stack and have been working my way through them.
I just finished Margaret the First by Danielle Dutton. I highly recommend it. It is short but deep and brilliant.
Margaret the First dramatizes the life of Margaret Cavendish, the shy, gifted, and wildly unconventional 17th-century Duchess. The eccentric Margaret wrote and published volumes of poems, philosophy, feminist plays, and utopian science fiction at a time when “being a writer” was not an option open to women.
I started The Spiritualist by Megan Chance this weekend. It has been a bit uneven in the first couple of chapters but I’m going to stick with it a bit longer.
In a cold January morning in 1856, Evelyn Atherton’s husband is found murdered after attending an exclusive séance. Having “married up” into New York society, Evie herself is the immediate suspect. Ostracized and vulnerable, she knows that to clear her name she must retrace her husband’s last steps.
My copy of The Mysteries of Paris by Eugene Sue arrived. It’s enormous! I hope to dive into that one soon.
Sensational, engrossing, and heartbreaking, The Mysteries of Paris is doubtless one of the most entertaining and influential works to emerge from the nineteenth century. It was one of France’s first serial novels, and for sixteen months, Parisians rushed in droves to the newsstands each week for the latest installment. The suspenseful story of Rodolphe, a magnetic hero of noble heart and shadowy origins, was spun out over 150 issues—garnering wild popularity, influencing political change, and inspiring a raft of successors, including Les Misérables and The Count of Monte Cristo.
How was your weekend? What are you reading?
Me too! But I gave up on it last night. It was so uneven and the main character was inconsistent. I do highly recommend THE SEANCE by John Harwood, though.
It was also my first one ever! BTW, I gave up on The Spiritualist last night. Too uneven for me. :/
Your last book sounds intriguing.
The Spiritualist is so intriguing! I just added it on my Goodreads TBR. Here’s my first ever #IMWAYR post: https://arelireads.wordpress.com/2016/07/11/imwayr-no-1-07112016/
Margaret the first is on my list and now I want to read it even more! Thanks!
Oo, The Spiritualist sounds fun. I’m really interested in the way spiritualism became so popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, so that sounds right up my alley.
oooh all three of the ones you mentioned just found their way on to my TBR list, I’m especially interested in The Mysteries of Paris , it looks very good. I hope you enjoy your reads this week.
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