The Mitford Girls: A Biography of an Extraordinary Family by Mary S. Lovell

Having thoroughly enjoyed The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate I was keen to learn about Nancy Mitford and her famous sisters. There were six daughters (and a comparatively unremarkable son) born between 1904 and 1920 into an aristocratic English family. It was a remarkable time to be young and the six girls all led such fascinating and different lives. Nancy became a famous novelist, Diana the most beautiful woman of her time, Unity knew and loved Hitler while Decca was a communist, Debo became the Duchess of Devonshire and lived at Chatsworth and even Pam, the most domestic sister, Pam had the Mitford wit.
Mary S Lovell has done a great job letting us into the lives and loves, trials and tribulations of a most fascinating family living through turbulant times. The book is available from the biography section of Wagga City Library with the call number B940 MIT. There are several other books about the Mitfords in the library as well, just put Mitford into the catalogue.

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

The murders on which In Cold Blood was based were committed in 1959 but the book wasn't published until 1966 as Capote had to wait to find out what ultimately happened to the murderers. A film version of In Cold Blood was made in 1967 and in 1996 a mini-series was made. In more recent years two films were made about Capote's experiences researching and writing the book - Capote and Infamous. His childhood friend Harper Lee (author of To Kill a Mockingbird, pictured) came with him to Kansas. The case certainly consumed Capote for those years and he considered the book the first non-fiction novel.

The Clutters were a wealthy faming family in Kansas. They were murdered by two criminals who met in jail and the book looks at their lives up until the murders and their relationship than enabled them to commit such a crime. It is a fascinating look into a small town in 1950s America, the criminal mind and powerful relationships. This book is an RRL Book Club book and you can also find it in the non-fiction section of Wagga City Library with the call number 364.1523 CAPO. Truman Capote also wrote Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Love in a Cold Climate and other novels by Nancy Mitford

The Pursuit of Love, Love in a Cold Climate and The Blessing are brought together in one brilliant, hilarious volume. Nancy Mitford was born in 1904, a member of the British artistocracy and a family of famous sisters. She was a novelist and biographer who lived in England and France, dying in 1973 in Versailles.
She writes about upper-class life in Britain and France and how the two cultures compliment and clash with each other. She wrote at a time of great change and it is fascinating to see how her characters adapt. The first two books are companions, with the same narrator. Love in a Cold Climate tells the story of Polly, the beautiful, aloof aristocrat who falls in love with her lecherous, married uncle, who also happens to be her mother's lover. All three books show the deliciously absurd side of the life of the British upper classes.

Love in a Cold Climate and Other Novels is available in the fiction section of Wagga City Library. A biography of the Mitford sisters as well as others books by and about the Mitford family are available in the non-fiction section.

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

Originally published in 1932, Cold Comfort Farm is a very amusing parody of the rather doom-laden novels of rural life in England, such as those by D.H. Lawrence, Thomas Hardy or the Brontë sisters.

Flora Poste is nineteen years old and has just been orphaned. Rather than find a way to make a living she decides to live with relatives in Sussex - the bizarre Starkadders. She is a very sensible young woman and sets about sorting out all their problems in a thoroughly modern way.

You can borrow this book from Wagga City Library.

Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome

I have seen this book on lots of top ten or top one hundred lists so was very keen to read it. It was published in 1930 and is, therefore, a story about the type of childhood that isn't possible now. Obviously we would never call a little girl "Titty" these days but what really struck me was the freedom given these children. Our children seem to be watched every minute and don't spend hours unsupervised, let alone days.

Swallows and Amazons is set in the Lake District in England, in 1929. Four siblings sail a little boat called Swallow and two sisters sail Amazon and together they have wild adventures. It is a delightful, fanciful story, somehow nostalgic even though my own childhood was very different.

You can find this book in the Junior Fiction section of Wagga City Library but it can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Lily has grown up believing she accidentally killed her mother when she was four. She not only has her own memory of holding the gun, but her father's account of the event. Now fourteen, she yearns for her mother, and for forgiveness. Living on a peach farm in South Carolina with her father, she has only one friend: Rosaleen, a black servant whose sharp exterior hides a tender heart. South Carolina in the sixties is a place where segregation is still considered a cause worth fighting for. When racial tension explodes one summer afternoon, and Rosaleen is arrested and beaten, Lily is compelled to act. Fugitives from justice and from Lily's harsh and unyielding father, they follow a trail left by the woman who died ten years before. Finding sanctuary in the home of three beekeeping sisters, Lily starts a journey as much about her understanding of the world, as about the mystery surrounding her mother. (Fantastic fiction)

This is a delightful and heart-warming book that would be great to read in a book club. You can find it at Wagga City Library or reserve it here.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Great Expectations is a classic novel by Charles Dickens and is an RRL Book Club book. You don't have to be a fan of classics to enjoy this story as it follows the delightful Pip as his fortunes rise and fall, Miss Havisham, the jilted bride who nevers sees sunlight nor has changed out of her wedding dress in all the years that have passed, the beautiful but cold Estella, brought up by Miss Havisham to get her revenge on men and the scary and surprising Magwitch.

This book is great to read before or after Mr Pip by Lloyd Jones, which is also an RRL Book Club book.