Welcome to Litsy!

Catch up review from mid year 5/5

I‘m reviewing these 2 together because they are 2 parts of a whole. The tagged book follows the early career of a young man from a small town who achieves literary success but struggles in society. In the sequel (tagged in comments) he struggles to replicate that success while travelling through Europe with his mistress. In both books he is oblivious to making a lot of people unhappy.

Read for #WhartonBuddyRead

Thank you, @TheKidUpstairs for my delightful #jolabokaflod swap. To be honest, I opened it on Monday because I am currently sitting in a hotel room before the kids and I fly to Florida tomorrow. I took the pic then so I could share tonight!
Thanks, @MaleficentBookDragon for another great swap.

Widowed Kate has married the younger, much less well off & apparently alcoholic Dermot, to general disapproval. Her young adult son is more interested in seducing girls than doing his job in his grandfather‘s business, her teenage daughter is infatuated with the local curate who is flirting with Rome, & live-in Aunt Ethel reports her slightly salacious interpretations of events in letters to a friend. A juicy slice middle class life in the 1960s.

Always in print since 1930, this novel details a year in the life of a lady who lunches and is now and then amongst ladies who lunch better. It's different than the usual English novel about class because it's set in the English countryside rather than London, and in a upper class house instead of a manor. It's a glimpse into the past about tea things but also the calm with which parents intentionally drown kittens while the kids are away.

Not sure exactly what Wharton was doing here as her artist wanders through all sorts of writing and social circumstances, and his one time muse, now lover, gets neglected, left behind, forgotten. I waited for her seek independence, but Wharton wasn‘t writing for me. I merely got a wink. Still, it‘s pleasant reading. #whartonbuddyread @Lcsmcat

Penelope sits in her role as magistrate while a man is tried for theft. At the same time, she puts her own life on trial as she reflects on her decision to leave her husband for her lover. A taut, well-written account of how we show up in relationships and what it means to be a 'good' person. Maude would approve. 😆
Published in 1976, it means I've completed my first decade for the #192025 challenge! @Librarybelle

Searching for analysis of our novel, this poem popped up. If you can‘t read it here it‘s available online here https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/50464/give-all-to-love
Wow. Once again Wharton expects us to be well read, as well as well travelled, and it all makes so much more sense. I still don‘t like V and think Halo deserves better, but we all make stupid choices sometimes. 😂 #whartonbuddyread

#bookspinbingo 4
#bookspin Sidetracked
#doublespin The Thinking Reed
#october2024

Methinks Bea Arthurs as Maude inspired the cover art for this 1970s novel.

Wow. This was a brutal section for me. Vance has sacrificed any sympathy I ever had for him. He‘s not young and impulsive anymore. He‘s selfish and cruel. I wish Halo had better options, but she needs to be shed of V.! Thoughts about either V or H‘s behavior? #whartonbuddyread