Welcome to Litsy!

I loved re-reading this classic on my own September vacation this year. Though mine wasn't a fortnight (hooray for the USA 🙃) it was such a needed getaway. I was again struck by the small, beautifully rendered details of the book, and how, along with the general break in routine and surroundings, it was the time and space to be on their own that was the true means by which each family member was able to refresh and refill their mental energy.

I really enjoyed this. At first it seemed like the story of a young girl growing up on a ranch, with an almost idyllic life, but the detail about Ernestine‘s future revealed that the story was going to get darker. This is my first Ethel Wilson, but won‘t be my last.

Does anyone else think that Hetty would be able to get herself out of trouble in Austria, no matter how ominous the last lines? 😏

#PersephoneClub

I read 10 pretty great books this summer thanks to the #14books14weeks challenge. Thanks @Liz_M ! My favorite was the tagged book, but I really liked them all.

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#charactercharm
An author's memoir of another author's dog
@eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

#PersephoneClub
I have a lot of thoughts about this one. Firstly, the ostracism. No one quite seemed to know exactly why, but Hetty was a “menace” & to be shunned. I wonder how often this happened (& still happens) to someone innocent? Then the “femme fatale”. Of course it‘s the woman‘s fault, no man can resist a beautiful woman who appears available & interested🤬 I was kind of disappointed that it turned out Hetty conformed to the stereotype.

I‘m late to review our latest #PersephoneClub read as I‘ve been travelling around the interior of British Columbia (and very close to the setting of this novel).

I loved it! And who was surprised by the “reveal”?? I felt like I could have continued on with Frankie‘s story just a little bit longer.

@quietjenn @Tamra @CarolynM @sisilia @Caryl @daena @elkeOriginal @Gissy @Aimeesue @Bookbuyingaddict @julieclair @willaful @LeahBergen #persephoneclub
Another great read with (reminded me of a lost lady by WC) a central character who is the hypnotic femme fatale who attracts everyone except the sceptical narrator ,here Frankie burnaby who as a child loves the stranger + her parents forbid her to contact but as adult sees the spider like risk.

So much packed into this slight novel! Such layered, complex characters in a story that did not go all the places I expected it to. A great #persephoneclub pick!

A coming of age story in which young Frankie's life in beautiful British Columbia, and later in Europe, is disrupted several times by the fascinating, enigmatic -- evil? -- Hetty Dorval. I've read books with similar themes before but I'm not sure I've ever read one in which the narrator comes so satisfactorily into their own by the end; no matter who Hetty really is, Frankie will be the person she needs to be.

#PersephoneClub

I adored this book. Watching Frankie as a young girl and then as she matures , and how she sees Hetty at different times in her life. Beautiful writing , I loved this story. #PersephoneClub And what do we think of Hetty !