Peyton Place by Grace Metalious (1956)

Absolutely fascinating reading.

 First published in 1956 and still shocking, this book has it all: incest, murder, thinly veiled homosexuality, overbearing mothers, illegal abortions, people getting their arms ripped off in a funhouse. (Yeah, you heard me.)

The writing is actually much better than I expected and dang if she doesn't get small towns and the gossip so right. I love how the narrative just goes from door to door, from character to character. 

The book is also pretty fascinating as a piece of racial history. There's a lot of the casual use of the n-word, and there's a very strange scene where the doctor, a curmudgeon but still sort of a hero, tells a pretty foul racist joke, and it made me wonder--what would it be like if that section was excised altogether? What is more important, the integrity of the original narrative, or making a novel palatable to modern sensibilities?

I think this would be a fabulous book for book clubs to discuss--particularly as it's coming up on its 60th anniversary.

The Blue Castle by Lucy Maud Montgomery (1926)

As a longtime lover of the Anne of Green Gables stories, I can't believe I had never heard of this novel.  I finally read about it in the lovely booklovers' catalog Bas Bleu and immediately requested it from the library (sorry, lovely catalog--I promise to buy it soon!).

Montgomery's only novel for adults (though at my library, it's cataloged as YA), The Blue Castle is about Valancy, a 29-year-old mousy spinster living with her overbearing, unkind family and dreaming of life in her beautiful, imaginary Blue Castle.  When Valancy learns that she has a fatal illness, she decides to stand up for herself with her family and do what she wants to do--including getting a job, asking a man to marry her and finding her Blue Castle in real life.  

I utterly loved this novel, and would put it right up there with my favorite romances of the early 20th century, such as Daddy Long-Legs and I Capture the Castle.

I always love a quote about houses: 

"Would you like a house like that, Moonight?" Barney asked … "No," said Valency, who had once dreamed of a mountain castle ten times the size of the rich man's 'cottage' and now pitied the poor inhabitants of palaces.  "No.  It's too elegant.  I would have to carry it with me everywhere I went.  On my back like a snail.  It would own me -- possess me, body and soul.  I like a house I can love and cuddle and boss."

Me too!

My Antonia by Willa Cather (1918)

Okay, so explain to me why we make eighth graders read this book? What on earth do we think they're going to get out of it except a loathing for literature and literature analysis?   I read this for a book club, and it was much more enjoyable than I thought it would be.  Essentially, I've hated it for years based on my experience reading it in Ms. AnderSEN's English class.  (I bear grudges enthusiastically.)  The novel is actually rather beautifully told--after all, it's a classic.  The elements that spoke to me most--the midwestern setting, the lives of children and their relationship to nature--I could not have possibly appreciated them when I was in my early teens.  A couple of my favorite quotes:

"The pale, cold light of the winter sunset did not beautify--it was like the light of truth itself.  When the smoky clouds hung low in the west and the red sun when down behind them, leaving a pink flush on the snowy roofs and the blue drifts, then the wind sprang up afresh, with a kind of bitter song, as if it said:  'This is reality, whether you like it or not.  All those frivolities of summer, the light and shadow, the living mask of green that trembled over everything, they were lies, and this is what was underneath.  This is the truth.'  It was as if we were being punished for loving the loveliness of summer." 

And from Jim's irrepressible friend Lena:

 "Well, it's mainly because I don't want a husband.  Men are all right for friends, but as soon as you marry them they turn into cranky old fathers, even the wild ones.  They begin to tell you what's sensible and what's foolish, and want you to stick at home all the time.  I prefer to be foolish when I feel like it, and be accountable to nobody."

Yeah!

Patrick Dennis - Adored Author

Of course, I completely adore Patrick Dennis's Auntie Mame.  It's witty and gay (no other word fits so well) tale featuring one of the most memorable and endearing characters of all time.  Of course, an amazing film starring Rosalind Russell.  But I think if I had to pick a desert island book out of his work, I might pick The Joyous Season.  In this novel, Dennis tells a vivid, comic tale of precocious children, wacky families, Christmas and divorce.  Why did no one make this into a movie yet?   So many beautifully cinematic, and completely hilarious scenes. I also love Tony, but at this point, Dennis's sharpness gets a little tough to take at times.  Still, there are so many scenes that stay with me for always.  Also, he's a fascinating character himself--check out Uncle Mame by Eric Myers for the full, weird story.

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (1948)

Coming of age tale narrated by the 17-year-old daughter of an eccentric family living in a castle in England. Almost unbearably charming.  Dodie Smith was also the author of One Hundred and One Dalmatians, another very charming novel.

A Room With a View by E. M. Forster (1908)

How can you not love a book with a chapter titled "The Reverend Arthur Beebe, the Reverend Cuthbert Eager, Mr. Emerson, Miss Eleanor Lavish, Miss Charlotte Bartlett, and Miss Lucy Honeychurch Drive Out in Carriages to See a View; Italians Drive Them."  In this 1908 novel, a young British woman is transformed by Italy. Lovely and witty and romantic.  Sigh. Made into a perfectly marvelous Merchant-Ivory movie, which I completely credit with introducing me to opera.

Jane Austen - Adored Author

There's a reason that about every other book coming out is based on Jane Austen's work.  Love Austen.  Pride and Prejudice:  The gold standard for all romantic comedy novels. Much more fun than you may remember!  Filmed a number of times--the best with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle.  Also love Persuasion,  which is angsty and poignant and delicious.  Also a great film with Ciaran Hinds and Amanda Root.  And of course, Emma, basis of my senior thesis.  Mr. Knightley is a close second to Mr. Darcy in the Great Romantic Hero competition.  Love!

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (1908)

I love the Anne of Green Gables series, but I kind of really only love the first two and a half books.  I love orphan Anne and, of course, Marilla and Matthew, and all of her adventures with her bosom friend Diana.  And her flirtation with adorable Gilbert Blythe.  But once she married Gilbert (spoiler!), the series gets deadly dull for me.  Wonderfully filmed for Canadian television in the 80s.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson (1938)

Adorable old British book about a governess who ends up being befriended by a young and beautiful starlet/singer. And happens to have some very exciting adventures along the way.  Sparkly, witty and so charming.  Also made into a charming movie starring Frances McDormand.

Shirley Jackson - Adored Author

I love pretty much everything Jackson has written.  I adore her short stories, and one of the best is Just an Ordinary Day, which varies between chilling horror tales and regular, domestic fiction.  You don't know which the story is until the end so a hint of menace clouds the whole book in a delicious way. Also love her novels like The Haunting of Hill House, which is probably the best haunted house story ever; and We Have Always Lived in the Castle about Merricat, her sister and her uncle who live in fairly cheerful isolation far from suspicious neighbors and townsfolk. Why? Read it and find out. Deliciously creepy.  One more great story collection is Come Along With Me, which includes a few excellent essays on writing and a fascinating essay on the public's response to her short story The Lottery.

A Time to Be Born by Dawn Powell (1942)

Witty, atmospheric novel set in New York City just before the U.S. entered WWII. Powell reminds me somewhat of Dorothy Parker, though she's more subtle and less acerbic.  Her work is filled with really beautiful, poetic passages.

East of Eden by John Steinbeck (1952)

CRACKING good read. Forced to read it for book club, but once I started it, I couldn't put it down. The characters are amazing and complex and realistic, and there was a real battle between good and evil. Amazingly written. Held on to the last chapter for a few days because I didn't want it to be over.  Also, a strangely incomplete film that I've been unable to watch.

The Bad Seed by William March (1954)

Mrs. Penmark, left alone while her husband is away on business, begins to notice that her daughter Rhoda is not like other girls. Best know for its campy (but still chilling) movie adaptation, this well-crafted psychological horror novel is a worthy companion to Shirley Jackson's The House on Haunted Hill.