Reading Reflections
Re-Reads and Rebellions
Welcome to A Narrative of their Own, a weekly publication exploring the lives and literature of women.
Occasionally, I take a brief break from essays exploring the themes of women’s literature and lives and reflect on my own recent reading.
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‘Heat and rebellion and extravagance served her appearance well. An altogether different creature sat down at her writing table and uncapped her pen.’
Edith Hope in Anita Brookner’s Hotel du Lac
Reflections
I’m not sure if I’ve been craving familiarity these past couple of months, but I suddenly realised that my recent reading list has included several re-reads.
Last month saw me returning to the first of Jean Rhys’s published novels, Quartet, whilst March has seen me (re-) devour both Anna Quindlen’s slow-burn novel Alternate Side and Anita Brookner’s 1984 Booker winner, Hotel du Lac. A new addition to my reading list has been Audition by Katie Kitamura, which I delve into below.
I did try to read The Fell by Sarah Moss, which came recommended by many readers, and whilst I love Moss’s voice and writing style (I previously enjoyed Summerwater), I found that I didn’t want to continue reading it because it was set during the pandemic. The claustrophobic, enforced isolation just bothered me too much, so I sadly had to put it down.
Despite the near-constant reminders that we are all addicted to our screens and that we can’t focus for long enough to read the back of a cigarette packet these days, I have been excited and bemused to see so many students in my local area reading paperbacks whilst walking in the most welcome spring sunshine.
Whilst I do worry for their safety when negotiating the busy roads around university, it makes a welcome change to being barged into by somebody looking at their phone. (And I am just as guilty of doing this to other people, by the way).
This brings me to a recent, most-pleasurable habit I’ve been implementing in my own reading life.
I was always a night reader, loving nothing better than picking up my book before bed. But I’ve been finding myself falling asleep lately and so not reading as much as I’d like to. My teenager recently advised me to try reading first thing in the mornings, before getting out of bed. It sounds like such a simple solution, but I hadn’t thought of that before! I sometimes journal, try to do a short breathing exercise and body stretch in the mornings, (all after drinking a cup of coffee, because I’m not a sadist), and yet the idea of picking up my book hadn’t occurred to me before.
Reader: I am a changed woman.
Since setting myself a goal of reading one page of a book in the mornings for one week, just to see if it had any impact on my reading life, I have been amazed at the difference it has made.
Quite apart from the fact that it has helped me to get through books quicker - I inevitably end up reading more than just the one page - I pretty quickly realised that this one small daily habit has encouraged me to pick up my book much more throughout the day.
Finding interstitial reading moments, such as whilst waiting for dinner to cook or arriving early for an appointment, I have been much more intent on picking up my book as I remember where I left off at a good place in the morning. I realised that picking up my book at random times before felt more intimidating when I only had a few minutes to spare, whereas now, because I have left off halfway through a chapter in the morning, it feels less tempting to reach for short-form content and more tempting to reach for my physical book. I think this is where Petya’s book scrolling idea comes in!!
Not only that, but I’m finding that I have been more creative over all. I’m not sure if this is a direct correlation, but I find myself noting down ideas in the mornings much more, or sending myself voice notes. I think it must be due to the creativity sparked by the reading. Either way, I am calling it a win!
Reading
Alternate Side by Anna Quindlen
I came to Pulitzer Prize winning author Anna Quindlen’s writing during the pandemic. Firstly Alternate Side, which remains my favourite of her books so far, which was thick enough to keep my mind distracted from the depressing news cycle in 2020. I then read her slimmer paperback, Still Life With Breadcrumbs, which I also enjoyed. I find her writing based in the real-world, though often separated enough from my own.
Alternate Side tells the story of a marriage, essentially, but it is shrouded in the differences of class and position within New York City.
Nora is married to Charlie and they have raised a twin boy and girl who are now in college. They live on a bourgeois block of houses in New York City, where Nora enjoys running along the river and walking to her job as a museum curator. Charlie, we are told through Nora’s narrative, often finds himself dissatisfied by his job, where he had hoped to progress more than he has. The couple have a nanny/housekeeper, who still comes daily to run their household, despite their children being grown and away at college.
Despite Nora’s enviable job and status, she feels very real and grounded. Her wry observations on the life of the block she inhabits show an empathy for the differences of class and opportunities.
When a violent occurrence happens within their small community involving the local handyman Enrique, Nora finds herself on the opposing side of her husband Charlie around who is to blame. The marriage begins to unfold, as an increasingly disillusioned Charlie tries to pressure Nora, a life-long New York devotee, into selling up and moving away from the city.
This is a slow-burn of a novel about the interior life of Nora and her observances of life. I loved the themes of class, matrimony, the ways that relationships change over time, and the whole essence of New York in which this novel is situated.
Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner
I read this book years ago, but when I bought it for my daughter for Christmas, I of course had my eye on a re-read, (surely the best reason for nurturing a love of reading in your kids - you get to steal their books ; ).
I remembered loving the novel and re-reading only cemented my appreciation for it.
Brookner’s book explores the quiet life of Edith Hope, a romance novelist in her late thirties, who spends an interlude at an out of season hotel in Geneva. We understand that she has been exiled there by well-meaning friends, but we don’t get to find out the reason until around halfway through the book.
What unfolds is a “quiet” story of a woman who is seen as mousy, uninteresting and opaque. As she gets to know the other disparate women at the hotel - the rich and glamorous Mrs Pusey and her daughter Jennifer; the elderly, lonely Madame de Bonneuil, and the enigmatic Monica - we get a perfect lesson in the observance of tiny details which a novelist undoubtedly will find fascinating!
We as readers understand that Edith is far from the reclusive wallflower these exiled holidaymakers see her as.
I love the character of Edith Hope as she embodies the idea of a hardworking writer and a woman who chooses to keep her emotions to herself. She is a romantic at heart, in a world of disappointments and thwarted desires. Her ironic observations kept me amused, and her descriptions (such as the one at the opening of this post) made me want to be a novelist!
In fact, some of the passages are so amusing, my daughter took the photo below when she caught me indulging in a quick ten minute read in the university coffee shop whilst waiting to meet her for a coffee and writing catch-up last week.
And this was the lines I was smiling at when she snapped the photo:
‘And then she saw Geoffrey. And then she saw in a flash, but for all time, the totality of his mouse-like seemliness.’
Pure genius writing.
Audition by Katie Kitamura
*This section contains a brief mention of miscarriage - skip to the end if you might find this triggering*
This is a book I’ve had on my library hold list forever…and it finally arrived. I wasn’t disappointed.
The book starts out with a meeting in a New York restaurant between an accomplished actress and a younger man. We don’t know what they are meeting for or what their relationship is. The other diners are watching them, wondering if they are mother and son or lovers.
The story is revealed through the actress’s narrative, leading us in one direction in Part One, where we see her rehearsing for a play that she cannot get to grips with, and the issue with the young man who has come to seek her out.
The book then diverges in Part Two, where we find ourselves as readers confused by the change in storyline. The world of the actress is tilted, causing a re-shuffle of our understanding of the story. This parallel narrative is still told through the actress, but the relationship between herself, her husband Tomas, and the young man Xavier, has changed.
I don’t want to ruin the book for you here, so I’m not going to say anything more, just read it for yourself (if you haven’t already) and tell me what you make of it! Any readers who have already read the book, please let me know your thoughts!
I raced through the book in about three days and found the pace hypnotic. Another Substacker commented that they found it anxiety-inducing (Hi, Plain Jane!) and I can totally get where she’s coming from. It is one of those novels where you feel like you’re hardly breathing, whilst simultaneously unable to put the book down - for me, anyway.
It also had some beautiful lines, such as the paragraph below, which discusses an unexpected pregnancy and miscarriage:
‘Still, it was only two weeks after the positive test that he secretly downloaded the app onto his phone, the one that would tell him what size the embryo was, vis-à-vis various species of fruit—blueberry, kumquat, eventually pineapple, although we never reached the pineapple stage, not even the lemon stage, the project folded at fig.’
I found that startlingly poignant. Read the book. Tell me your thoughts.
As always, I love to hear your thoughts on both the books I’m reading and the books you’re reading. I make a note of all recommendations, and my TBR lists are often full of titles I have gleaned from readers!
Update!
Also, as I discussed last month, despite my best efforts, I have found it difficult to keep a handwritten list of the books I’ve read. Something about the orderliness of this seems to send me off-kilter. I found a compromise this past month however when I purchased a new notebook and planner for my writing life (don’t judge). What I’m experimenting with now is just noting the book I’m currently reading or have just finished in the “Don’t forget” box at the bottom of each monthly planner page. This is helping me to create these monthly reflections. I shall monitor how it goes!
Don’t forget: My extra Short Story Salon post for paying subscribers lands in inboxes this coming Wednesday!
Until next time - happy reading folks!
Reading in the morning is essential for me, it’s the way I begin my day. Once you try it, you'll never give up this habit! 😊
I am a huge proponent of reading in the morning! It is actually what got me out of my reading slump back in 2021 and I have never looked back! I don't do it before getting up, though, because I am the type of person who wakes up ravenous on most days, so it's breakfast, then brewing a cup of coffee, *then* sitting with my book to read for at least half an hour.
I also love that picture of you reading! <3