Books Read in April 2014
I spent another month at home in Nova Scotia, recovering from the work thus far going through my mother’s house and belongings. I guess I was busy socializing because my magazines were caught up and still managed to read only four books.
BRAT FARRAR by Josephine Tey 
The three best known and lauded books by author Josephine Tey appear to be Daughter of Time, The Franchise Affair (both in the Alan Grant series), and Brat Farrar. The last of these, a stand-alone novel, was my favourite book in April 2014.
Brat Farrar poses as Patrick Ashby, the heir to his family’s fortune, who disappeared when he was 12 and was thought to have drowned himself. Brat had been coached in Patrick’s mannerisms and childhood by a school friend who had grown up with the Ashbys.
Although you will probably figure out the fly in the ointment early on, as I did, you will not be prevented from feeling the suspense build as the story works its way toward its climax. 4 stars
HARVEST by Jim Crace
Harvest focuses on the inhabitants of a remote English village at an undetermined time in what is likely the past.
The village is well-established and the routine of the people remains fixed year after year. But two changes occur that unsettle the village: a group of strangers sets up camp at the edge of the village land; and a surveyor sent by the master is taking notes and measurements about the land and village, setting off rumours that their fields of grain will be converted to meadows for grazing sheep.
This book will take you by surprise: while nothing seems to happen, an entire civilization (in miniature) will unravel within a week. It was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize. 4 stars
VITTORIA COTTAGE by D.E. Stevenson 
The work of D.E. Stevenson was recommended to me by our head librarian on one of my brief visits to our beautiful relatively new village library. We found on the shelf Vittoria Cottage, published in 1949 and the first of a trilogy.
I did enjoy the mid-twentieth century English village setting, but the plot was a little too much of a romance for me to be crazy about this book. 3 stars
RETURN TO OAKPINE by Ron Carlson
This is the story of four middle-aged friends who once played in a band while growing up together in small-town Wyoming. Two eventually moved away and two stayed in Oakpine. But when the friend who became a famous musician comes back home to die, the friends get together to play again.
Return to Oakpine was a little too commercial for me, but if you like a story that follows comfortable and predictable lines, then you might quite enjoy this. 3 stars
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So that’s it for April 2014. Are you interested in any of these?
P.S. The links are affiliate links so I will receive a small percentage of any purchase you make after clicking through from this blog.
I re-read Vittoria Cottage this year, and the two sequels Music in the Hills and Shoulder the Sky. They aren’t actual sequels but some of the characters reappear. Kindle is offering a lot more of her work. I know what you mean about romancy, and some of DES’ books are more that way than others. I mostly like the solid good stories and characters and descriptions in her work.
I did enjoy those aspects of Stevenson’s work, Nan, but I was tired and overworked and still grieving in April 2014 so I was just a tad cranky. ;-(
I’ve been busy catching up on reading mysteries, my weakness, so the magazines are taking over my library. I have stacks to deliver to various sites that use old magazines. I’ve looked at them all but not read them carefully. I’ve also been reading books from my shelves about the Middle East, trying to gain some perspective about the troubling problems there.
Teresa, mysteries are my weakness as well – which is why they often require a separate post for a month. 😉
I’ve dumped so many magazines in the recycle bin over the years – I never thought to donate them! Where do you take them?
I’ve read some things about the Middle East in the past, but nothing recently. It’s a great idea.
I enjoyed Harvest and am looking forward to Brat Farrar after reading another of Josephine Tey’s books recently. I also have a copy of Vittoria Cottage but haven’t read it yet – I didn’t know it was part of a trilogy so if I like it I’ll have to look for the other two.
Harvest is just one of those books that sneaks up on you, isn’t it, Helen?
I have always meant to read Jim Crace. I am currently reading a mystery/thriller set in Detroit during prohibition: Whiskey River by Loren D Estleman. I lived outside Detroit for many years. The book is a hot mess, as they say.
Here is a link to my favorite books read in 2014: http://keepthewisdom.blogspot.com/2015/01/top-25-books-read-in-2014.html
Judy, I’ve always meant to read Estleman, because https://www.exurbanis.com/archives/9601#detroit But I find his books a little hard to find.
I can’t believe that I’ve read only three of your fave books from 2014! (And one as in high school 45 years ago.) I have some catching up to do. 😉
I don’t think I’ve read any of these books you read in April, but I can speak to the restorative power of books after your difficult task. I read Joan Didion’s book The Year of Magical Thinking while I was cleaning out Mother’s house. I’m not quite sure how I came to be reading that book at the time, but it wasn’t depressing to me. Usually my Go To Escape Reading is a mystery.
I read The Year of Magical Thinking a few years ago and was blown away. That would have been a perfect book to read while I was doing this work. Thanks for the reminder, Teresa.
A light romance at the wrong time can’t help but be annoying; I think, at another time, you’d like DE Stevenson, especially Mrs. Buncle’s Book (which has follow-ups apparently, but I’ve only read the first so far)!
Yes, I really should retry Stevenson. I’ve heard many good things about the Miss Buncle series.