persephonebooks

The Sea Change | Elizabeth Jane Howard

My current reads: The Sea Change is a buddy read with the darling @shawnmooney (our third Elizabeth Jane Howard that we‘ve read together) and High Wages is the December choice of the #PersephoneClub.

#PersephoneBooks

Leftcoastzen I love that cover ! When was it published? 50s? 2mo

LeahBergen The book was published is 1959 but this edition is 1961. I like the colour! 😄 @Leftcoastzen 2mo

BarbaraBB I need to get to Howard!! 2mo

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Cathythoughts Yes a great cover , and colour 💙 2mo

LeahBergen @BarbaraBB I think you‘d like her! 2mo

LeahBergen @Cathythoughts 😘😘 2mo

66 likes6 comments

Karons1

To Bed with Grand Music | Marghanita Laski, Sarah Russell, Juliet Gardiner

#persephonebookshop beautiful bath #persephonebooks ❤️😍

LeahBergen I‘ve only been to the shop once, when it was still in London. I think I need to plan another trip to Bath! 2mo

CarolynM @LeahBergen I have a fantasy that the #PersephoneClub will meet there one day🤩 2mo

LeahBergen @CarolynM OMG. We must!! 2mo

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elkeOriginal @LeahBergen @CarolynM You paying for the groups‘ plane tickets? 😉😆 2mo

LeahBergen @elkeOriginal @CarolynM If money was no object, I SO WOULD. 🤣 2mo

elkeOriginal @LeahBergen And if money was no object, we would clear the store out buying every last book! 2mo

LeahBergen @elkeOriginal Indeed! 😆 2mo

CarolynM @elkeOriginal @LeahBergen I did say it was a fantasy😆 2mo

31 likes8 comments

LeahBergen

�The� other Day | Dorothy Whipple

Persephone book mail is some of the best book mail. 😄

The latest (and last) Dorothy Whipple to be published by #PersephoneBooks is a memoir of her childhood and, from the snippets that I‘ve read, it sounds wonderful. The bookmark and endpapers are particularly beautiful for this edition, too!

squirrelbrain Gorgeous! ❤️ 3mo

TrishB Lovely ❤️ 3mo

elkeOriginal SO pretty! And an updated catalogue - fun! 3mo

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Tamra Wow! 3mo

jlhammar That does sound wonderful! Love that bookmark/endpaper pattern. I‘m going to have to treat myself to some Persephones one of these days. I‘m sure I‘d love them. 3mo

rubyslippersreads Gorgeous! I‘m very tempted by that Dorothy Whipple. 😄 3mo

Megabooks Those are some gorgeous endpapers! 3mo

Aimeesue Sigh 🥰 3mo

BarbaraBB Such a gift, Persephone mail 😍😍 3mo

batsy The Persephone endpapers are always a treat for the eye! 😍 3mo

LeahBergen @squirrelbrain @TrishB @Tamra @Megabooks @Aimeesue Yes! 😘😘 3mo

LeahBergen @elkeOriginal My last one only went to 2017. I thought it was time! 😆 3mo

LeahBergen @jlhammar Oh, you must. I‘m sure there are some you would love. 3mo

LeahBergen @rubyslippersreads You neeeed it. 😆 3mo

LeahBergen @BarbaraBB It is! ❤️ 3mo

LeahBergen @batsy They sure are! 3mo

Bibliomania I love a Persephone book too! 3mo

LeahBergen @Bibliomania They‘re little works of art, aren‘t they? 3mo

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LeahBergen

Milton Place | Elisabeth de Waal

pick

Milton Place is the story of a house and those who love it : Mr. Barlow who is living out his last years there, his grandson Tony who will never be able to afford to keep it, and Anita, an Austrian visitor to the house whose mother was the great love of Mr. Barlow‘s life. This book took me a while to read but I ended up loving the poignancy of the post WW2 setting and what it meant for the outcome of that way of life. 👇

#PersephoneClub

rubyslippersreads, quietjenn, sisilia, CarolynM, elkeOriginal, mklong, Tamra, andrew61, Cathythoughts, Sparklemn

LeahBergen The Hare With Amber Eyes, written by the author‘s grandson, has many references to Elisabeth‘s life and photos of her childhood summer home which inspired Milton Place. I haven‘t read it yet but have enjoyed looking at the numerous photos! 3mo

Cathythoughts Lovely review ❤️ Poignancy is a good word to describe this book, there are so many poignant moments. I‘m hoping to finish today 🤞🏻 3mo

Cathythoughts The Hare With the Amber Eyes sounds wonderful, there must be a richness to seeing these photos having just read Milton Place ❤️ 3mo

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BarbaraBB This sounds like a true #Persephone. Wonderful review. The Hare is on the list of #1001books to read before you die but I haven‘t read it yet. I will one day… 3mo

CarolynM I was quite reluctant to read The Hare With Amber Eyes - all the hype put me right off - but once I got over myself and gave it try I liked it a lot. I found the family story much more interesting than I expected to. I would definitely recommend it to all of you @LeahBergen @Cathythoughts @BarbaraBB 3mo

AnneCecilie I loved The Hare With Amber Eyes when I read it a decade ago and it was the one that had me starting on Proust. 3mo

BarbaraBB @AnneCecilie @CarolynM Thanks for the heads up, this is very helpful. I‘ll try to get a copy! 3mo

Tamra Sounds like I need to get

The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance

3mo

mandarchy I would love to see this illustrated version. I read the Hare many years ago and you know it's a good book because I can remember so much of it. I have given books 5 stars and then not be able to remember anything about it a year later. So when details stick I'm impressed. 3mo

quietjenn Oh, what an interesting connection! I'm looking forward to finally settling in with this one - perhaps this afternoon. I am *always* down for some poignancy! 3mo

LeahBergen @Cathythoughts Thanks, Cathy. Yes, the photos of the author made me think I was looking at the character, Anita. 3mo

LeahBergen @BarbaraBB I think you might like this one. And yes, I‘ve had The Hare With Amber Eyes on my shelves for years! 😬 3mo

LeahBergen @CarolynM That‘s so good to know. I‘m always the sort who never reads a book during its hyped phase. 😆 3mo

LeahBergen @AnneCecilie That‘s interesting! I‘ve read and enjoyed one Proust book and maybe this one will get me to carry on with him. 3mo

LeahBergen @Tamra You just might! 😆 3mo

LeahBergen @mandarchy It‘s gorgeously produced with photos of lots of the netsukes on the endpapers. And I‘m the same; if a book‘s details stick years later, that‘s an amazing thing! 3mo

LeahBergen @quietjenn And Persephone usually delivers on poignancy. 😆 3mo

Sparklemn @CarolynM Your comment on getting over yourself made me laugh. A good reminder for when I need to do this, too! 3mo

LeahBergen @Sparklemn Me, too! 😆 3mo

LeahBergen #PersephoneBooks 3mo

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elkeOriginal

Milton Place | Elisabeth de Waal

Started my #PersephoneClub pick and before I knew it, it was past my bedtime 🤦🏼‍♀️
So far it is very engaging - love the writing and the characters are so well drawn. I can‘t believe she only had 2 novels published posthumously. Glad #PersephoneBooks has both available for us now. Bless them for unearthing gems written by women at risk of being forgotten!

rubyslippersreads, quietjenn, CarolynM, LeahBergen, mklong, Tamra, Cathythoughts, Sparklemn

Cathythoughts I find it very engaging too, Looking forward to getting back into it this week 👍🏻❤️ 4mo

Tamra Yes! I was immediately taken in! 😊 4mo

quietjenn Looking forward to sinking into it when I get back home! 4mo

LeahBergen I‘m just past the halfway mark. 👍 4mo

34 likes4 comments

LeahBergen

Milton Place | Elisabeth de Waal

It‘s now October so that means it‘s time for one of our #PersephoneClub reads!

@elkeOriginal ‘s pick for us this month is Milton Place by Elisabeth de Waal. This is a casual buddy read; read and comment on each other‘s posts and reviews as you see them. We usually aim to finish by the middle of the month but that‘s not written in stone. 😉 And anyone is welcome to read along with us, of course!

rubyslippersreads, quietjenn, sisilia, CarolynM, mklong, Tamra, andrew61, Cathythoughts, Sparklemn

elkeOriginal It is already on my bedside stack for this month! (edited) 4mo

elkeOriginal @Jess_Read_This FYI! 4mo

Liz_M @LitsyEvents 4mo

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quietjenn I was just thinking it was time to get it off of the Persephone shelf! 4mo

Tamra I‘m in! Thank you for including me! 🥰 (I just ordered, so hoping for speedy delivery. 🤞🏾) (edited) 4mo

sisilia Thanks for tagging me @LeahBergen I finished it yesterday, and I loved it! It‘s a gem! 4mo

LeahBergen @elkeOriginal Yay! 👏 4mo

LeahBergen @Liz_M Thanks, Liz! 4mo

LeahBergen @quietjenn And I need to get it off my Persephone shelf, too. 😊 4mo

LeahBergen @Tamra I hope it doesn‘t take too long to arrive. 🤞 4mo

LeahBergen @sisilia Oh, good! Now I‘m looking forward to it even more. 😊 4mo

Cathythoughts Thanks Leah ! I have my copy here beside me… I hope to start soon 👍🏻♥️ 4mo

LeahBergen @Cathythoughts I have a few others to finish off first, too. 😄 4mo

elkeOriginal @LeahBergen needs to FIND it on her overflowing Persephone shelf! 😉 4mo

LeahBergen @elkeOriginal 😆😆 4mo

CarolynM I‘ve been away from home and hardly had any reading time😞 I‘m going to finish the new Kate Atkinson (it‘s so good🥰) then get started, hopefully very soon. 4mo

LeahBergen @CarolynM I hope you‘ve been away enjoying yourself somewhere! I haven‘t started yet, either. I have a few others on the go that I want to finish up first. 😬 4mo

CarolynM I was visiting my parents in Adelaide for the first time since Christmas 2020, so good, but not exactly party time😂 We came home via an indirect route and stayed overnight at Lake Tyrrell which made for some more interesting scenery than the usual way. I‘ve never seen the country between Melbourne and Adelaide so green! We wondered whether we‘d taken a wrong turn somewhere😆 4mo

LeahBergen @CarolynM 😆 Well, that does sound lovely! 4mo

Jess_Read_This @elkeOriginal Thanks for tagging me! I‘m embarrassingly catching up on Litsy after a multi week hiatus 😬 I don‘t have this one otherwise I‘d have joined in! Next one maybe! 3mo

LeahBergen #PersephoneBooks 3mo

54 likes21 comments

LeahBergen

Princes in the Land | Joanna Cannan

pick

This was a moving portrait of a woman‘s life, from her Edwardian childhood to middle age. She marries for love and has three perfect children but as she ages (and her family‘s imperfections show), she wonders if it was all worth it. I won‘t say much more, as I know the rest of the #PersephoneClub is still reading, but I thoroughly enjoyed the slow unfolding of Pat‘s life and the (at times) really witty writing.

rubyslippersreads, quietjenn, CarolynM, elkeOriginal, Cathythoughts, Sparklemn

Cathythoughts Great review Leah. I still havnt started, but it sounds really good. Your review will get me motivated now to start 👍🏻♥️ 6mo

Cathythoughts Lovely picture too. That‘s a lot of Persephones 😍 6mo

TrishB @Cathythoughts I was just thinking that! How fab are those shelves. 6mo

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BarbaraBB Those shelves… 🥰 6mo

LeahBergen @Cathythoughts I‘m heading out of town on Friday for a couple of weeks so I wanted to have it done before I left! 😄 6mo

LeahBergen @TrishB @BarbaraBB Thanks, you two! 😆 6mo

CarolynM Great review. I got the book out yesterday, will start reading soon. Love your Persephone shelf😍 (edited) 6mo

LeahBergen @CarolynM Thanks! It‘s getting a bit crowded. 😆 6mo

rubyslippersreads Glad you liked it. 😊 6mo

quietjenn Nice! Will try to start soon. Those shelves are something else! If you need to cull, I‘m sure we could help you out 😂 6mo

Sparklemn So jealous of the shelves! I haven't started the book yet but look forward to it based on your review. 😊 6mo

Ruthiella Sounds like one I‘d really enjoy! 6mo

LeahBergen @rubyslippersreads I really did! Thanks again for such a lovely prezzie. 😊 6mo

LeahBergen @quietjenn Haha! Right? I get rid of a lot of books but I seem to hang on to my Persephones. 6mo

LeahBergen @Sparklemn I hope you like it, too! 🤞 6mo

LeahBergen @Ruthiella I think it might be right up your street. 👍 6mo

batsy Persephones and green Viragos! I drool 😆 6mo

LeahBergen @batsy The “certified good read” colours. 😆 6mo

catebutler I‘m about half way through, and truly enjoying it. I wish Persephone would publish more of her works, they seem hard to find! Great review, Leah! 6mo

LeahBergen @catebutler Thanks! And I wish they would, too. 6mo

rubyslippersreads @catebutler @LeahBergen Lots of her mysteries available, as well as her pony books, thanks to Jane Badger Books. 😊🐴 6mo

LeahBergen #PersephoneBooks 3mo

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LeahBergen

Operation Heartbreak | Max Arthur, Duff Cooper

pick

Oh, this short novel (based on true events) hit me right in the “feels”!

It‘s the story of a career soldier, Willie Maryngton, who is devastated to be too young to fight in WW1 and too old for WW2. I shan‘t say anymore as it‘s best to go into this one completely blind but tell me what you thought of it, #PersephoneClub? I loved it!

PS: My Grandad‘s war medals. The 4th one is the Italy Star … and after reading the afterword? 😭

rubyslippersreads, quietjenn, CarolynM, elkeOriginal, Cathythoughts

vivastory That's neat that you have your granddad's war medals. I have the flag that was raised over the capitol several years ago for my grandfather, a pow. 8mo

LeahBergen @vivastory Oh, how amazing is that? ❤️❤️ 8mo

andrew61 Lovely photo Leah, thanks or sharing the medals ,something to be very proud of. 8mo

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Cathythoughts Heartfelt review Leah X and your granddad ♥️♥️♥️. I must put up my review when I get home this evening. I loved it too 💔 8mo

EvieBee 😘 Thank you for sharing. ❤️❤️ 8mo

LeahBergen @andrew61 Thanks, Andrew! 😘 8mo

LeahBergen @Cathythoughts Thanks, Cathy! 😘 Off to read your review now… 8mo

LeahBergen @EvieBee 😘😘 8mo

elkeOriginal I love the medals - SO cool you have those! 8mo

quietjenn Really cool that you have those medals. Thanks for sharing! Y'all are making me very excited for this one, so I'm hoping to read it this weekend. 8mo

CarolynM I enjoyed it very much. I‘m also glad I didn‘t know what to expect 😮🤫 8mo

LeahBergen @elkeOriginal Thanks! 😘 8mo

LeahBergen @quietjenn Thanks! 😘😘 8mo

LeahBergen @CarolynM Exactly! It made it so much more powerful. 8mo

Sparklemn Great pick for #persephoneclub. So glad I could join you for the read! I‘ll post my review shortly. 8mo

BiblioLitten 💕 7mo

LeahBergen #PersephoneBooks 3mo

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LeahBergen

The Crowded Street | Winifred Holtby

pick

This is the lovely and heartbreaking Bildungsroman of Muriel, who we watch grow from an awkward child to a struggling adult in the confines of Edwardian era, middle class Yorkshire. There were two options available to a woman of her class and time: snapping up the first remotely acceptable husband or tending to your aging parents for the rest of your life as an unpaid and unappreciated spinster.

What do you think of her choice, #PersephoneClub?

rubyslippersreads, quietjenn, CarolynM, elkeOriginal, andrew61, Cathythoughts

CarolynM Still reading🙂 10mo

Cathythoughts Great review👍🏻❤️ I‘ve finished too and loved it. 10mo

Cathythoughts I was happy for Muriel and her choice. I think she loved Clare when she was young , and then she loved the idea of Godfrey. Connie‘s tragedy changed her. I was so glad to see her step away from her mother ! ‘ It‘s Muriel at last ‘ .. she says. The thing that matters is ‘ to take your life into your hands and live it ..‘ Id love to know how she got on in the rest of her life. 10mo

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andrew61 Just into part 2 and muriel has taken tea at Delia's with deia's new fiancee. I really enjoyed the clare section and looking forward to reading some more this evening. 10mo

batsy Lovely review! I've been meaning to read more Holtby after South Riding. 10mo

quietjenn I've been reading this one slowly, so no opinion on that yet. But her world is feeling very small and I feel for her. 10mo

elkeOriginal I am distracted by ALL of the books on your shelves! 🤯🥰 10mo

LeahBergen @CarolynM @quietjenn Yes, sorry, I posted this a little early but I had to jot my thoughts down while they were still fresh. 😆 10mo

LeahBergen @Cathythoughts I was happy, too, and dreaded the thought of her accepting a life back in that village under her mother‘s eye. And I somehow feel that her future turned out to be a happy one! And wasn‘t Godfrey a lame and ineffectual man in the end? 🙄 10mo

LeahBergen @andrew61 I‘m glad you‘re enjoying it, too! 10mo

LeahBergen @batsy I think you‘ll like this one as it definitely falls right into the #SpinsterLit wheelhouse! And I‘m happy to have South Riding waiting on my shelves for me. 👏 10mo

LeahBergen @elkeOriginal 🤣🤣 10mo

quietjenn @LeahBergen no apologies necessary! It's a good motivator 😉 10mo

BarbaraBB So I‘d probably like it too? 10mo

LeahBergen @quietjenn 😆😆 10mo

LeahBergen @BarbaraBB I think you might! 🤞 10mo

andrew61 @Cathythoughts @LeahBergen Just punched the air that muriel popped pompous Godfrey's arrogance albeit he immediately focuses on Phyllis's pink dress. I was on tenterhooks in final pages dreading her answer, and would have loved to see Mrs Hammond's reaction. Great introduction as well which I of course read afterwards. Thanks Leah for the suggestion of this fascinating book. 10mo

LeahBergen @andrew61 I was so anxious that she would accept him in the end! And yes, Mrs Hammond is going to be livid. 🤣🤣 I‘m glad that I always save the introductions to read later, too, as that one certainly gave it all away. Yikes. 10mo

CarolynM The romantic in me had a little hope that love might conquer all but the way Muriel described her feelings at the end made the whole thing a lot more satisfying than a romance happy ending would have been. 10mo

LeahBergen @CarolynM I was hoping (a wee bit) for that happy ending, too, when it seemed as if Godfrey had changed. His bland reaction to her refusal of him, though! Let Phyllis have him. 😆 10mo

rubyslippersreads I think Muriel, Godfrey, and Phyllis will all be happier. (Although not Mrs. Hammond. 🤣) 9mo

LeahBergen #PersephoneBooks 3mo

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Andrea313

The Persephone Catalogue, 1999-2016: Persephone Books | Persephone Books

The last title in my post-holiday Persephone order finally arrived today, and I'm seriously loving all those gray spines lined up on the shelf! Persephone below, Jane Austen up above... why can't I read everything at once?! #PersephoneBooks #Shelfie #BookshelfLove

LeahBergen What a beautiful sight! There‘s nothing like a row of Persephones. 🥰 11mo

Caroline2 Absolutely stunning 😍 11mo

catebutler Love that stack of grey!! 🥰 11mo

elkeOriginal Love the strategically placed vase in front of those illustrated non-grey Persephone covers 😆 2mo

36 likes4 comments

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