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Cornish Coast Murder. John Bude. 1935. 288 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: The Reverend Dodd, Vicar of St. Micahel's-on-the-Cliff, stood at the window of his comfortable bachelor study looking out into the night.

Premise/plot: This vintage mystery stars several amateur detectives (a vicar and a doctor) and several professional detectives (police inspectors). The novel was easy to follow, but, is proving hard to remember--in terms of character names. The murder happens early in the novel. A stormy night is JUST what this murderer has been waiting for. He--or SHE--is able to fire THREE shots with hardly anyone being the wiser for it. There seem to be THOUSANDS of clues, but, contradictory, almost absurd or outlandish clues that instead of leading to a cohesive story lead to a dozen "maybe" stories. Who will be the first to solve this one?

My thoughts: I liked this one. Would I have loved it if I'd read it in two or three days instead of two or three weeks? Maybe. Maybe not. If this one has a weakness, it is that the solution isn't one that readers are ever, ever, ever going to be able to piece together on their own. I'm not sure that qualifies as a weakness. It's just that with so many suspects, so many clues, so many motives...the actual murderer seems to come out of nowhere. I personally like to be able to say, OH, I SHOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO FIGURE THAT ONE OUT.

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Little House on the Prairie. Laura Ingalls Wilder. 1935. 335 pages.

 Little House on the Prairie is such a dramatic read, especially when compared with the first in the series, Little House in the Big Woods. The first half of the novel focuses on the Ingalls family journeying to Kansas (Indian Territory). It's a trip filled with MANY dangers. (When Jack becomes lost in the river and the worst is feared, well, it's hard to handle.) Even after they settle into their new place, things stay messy. At one point, the whole family becomes horribly ill, all at the same time. If not for kind neighbors (distant neighbors) checking on them because the illness is widespread, then they might all have died.

Their new home doesn't ever quite feel like home, doesn't feel right. And as tensions between white settlers and the Native Americans increase with each chapter, it's upsetting. It's quite a relief, in a way, to see them [the Ingalls] go.

If I were to judge the entire series by this one book, I'm not sure the series would be among my favorites. While there was a happy peacefulness to the first novel, this book is anxious, dramatic, full of tension and uncertainty. There isn't the assurance that everything will always work out well. (Though that could be Laura as the narrator growing up a little.) I think the novel does a good job showing Laura's unease. Laura is thoughtful and curious--at times--always observant. That doesn't mean Laura is wise or always right. (In one instance, if Laura had done what she felt to be right, things would have gone very, very wrong.) 

Of course one of the main conflicts of the book is the tension between the white settlers and the Native Americans. The way that it is presented while historically accurate and socially acceptable for the times (both the 1870s and the 1930s) can prove problematic for modern readers. My first review covers this aspect of the novel. Little House on the Prairie is not the only problem novel from the time period. Not all books in the series are equally offensive.

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Regency Buck. Georgette Heyer. 1935. 352 pages.

Regency Buck was one of the first Georgette Heyer novels I read. It is the story of a brother and sister newly arrived in London. They are rich--or soon will be rich once they are of an age to inherit their father's money. But in the meanwhile they find themselves under the protection of a surprisingly young man, Earl Worth. Judith Tavener's first impression of Worth is something. Readers aren't exactly clear at times HOW he feels about her, but readers never question Judith's feelings regarding him. She HATES him. She does not trust him. She could easily name half a dozen men she'd rather spend time with. Not that Judith wants to rush into marriage with anyone. But to be told by a man she hates that she is forbidden to accept any suitor's proposal...well...it's frustrating. Is Worth doing it just to annoy her or does he perhaps know more of the world? Worth is also opinionated on Peregrine Tavener's love life. Though he does permit the young man to become engaged to a worthy woman. Still he would have him wait...

Regency Buck has drama and mystery. For as the novel progresses, readers learn that Peregrine's life is in danger. There are a series of attempts on his life, not that Peregrine is quick to realize his own danger or quick to judge those near him who may not be as trustworthy as he believes...

It is also RICH in historical detail. Though readers may not know just how rich it is unless they're familiar with the time period and the historical figures of the day.

I enjoyed the characterization and found the plot quite exciting!

My first review.

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Mary Poppins Comes Back. P.L. Travers. 1935. Harcourt. 315 pages.

It was one of those mornings when everything looks very neat and bright and shiny, as though the world had been tidied up overnight. 

In the spring, I read (and loved) P.L. Travers Mary Poppins. I found it delightful and thoroughly satisfying. I also found it quote-worthy!!! I was surprised by how much I loved it.

There are a handful of sequels to the original novel, and I hope to read them all!!!

The first sequel is Mary Poppins Comes Back. Mary Poppins returns when the Banks family needs her most. Mr. Banks is losing it--a little bit--and Mrs. Banks is having putting up with her husband and all four kids. (Turns out there may be a reason! A fifth child makes an appearance halfway through this one!)  The chapters are a bit episodic as in the previous novel, but for me they are even more delightful!!! By far my favorite chapter was the second one, "Miss Andrew's Lark" in which Mr. Banks' governess arrives for a visit...

Some of my favorite quotes (from the whole book):

"I want to know how you've been behaving since I went away," remarked Mary Poppins sternly. Then she took out the Thermometer and held it up to the light.
"Careless, thoughtless, and untidy," she read out. Jane stared.
"Humph!" said Mary Poppins, and thrust the Thermometer into Michael's mouth. He kept his lips tightly pressed upon it until she plucked it out and read.
"A very noisy mischievous, troublesome little boy."
"I'm not," he said angrily.
For answer she thrust the Thermometer under his nose and he spelt out the large red letters.
"A-V-E-R-Y-N-O-I-S---"
"You see?" said Mary Poppins looking at him triumphantly. She opened John's mouth and popped in the Thermometer.
"Peevish and Excitable." That was John's temperature.And when Barbara's was taken Mary Poppins read out the two words "Thoroughly spoilt."
"Humph!" she snorted. "It's about time I came back!"
Then she popped it quickly in her own mouth, left it there for a moment, and took it out. "A very excellent and worthy person, thoroughly reliable in every particular." (22)

"She was called Miss Andrew and she was a Holy Terror!"
"Hush!" said Mrs. Banks, reproachfully.
"I mean--" Mr. Banks corrected himself, "she was--er--very strict. And always right. And she loved putting everybody else in the wrong and making them feel like a worm. That's what Miss Andrew was like!" (32)

"Well?" she said gruffly smiling a thin smile. "I don't suppose you know who I am?"
"Oh, yes we do!" said Michael. He spoke in his friendliest voice for he was very glad to meet Miss Andrew. "You're the Holy Terror!" (39)

"Doing nothing takes a great deal of time! All the time, in fact!" (156)

I would definitely recommend this one!!!

© 2011 Becky Laney of Young Readers

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A House Divided. Pearl S. Buck. 1935/2006. Moyer Bell. 348 pages.  

In this way Wang Yuan, son of Wang the Tiger, entered for the first time in his life the earthen house of his grandfather, Wang Lung.

The third book in Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth trilogy. (The first two books are The Good Earth and Sons.) Is A House Divided the best of the three? Perhaps if you prefer books where characters actually have names (and some character development).

At the end of Sons, Wang Yuan had returned home to face his father. He'd been sent away to school--to learn how to become a soldier--and now he's returned. In Sons, I didn't quite grasp why he had come home. I knew he was angry--very angry. And I knew his father was shocked--very shocked--by his son's new beliefs, new philosophies. But I didn't know at the time exactly WHAT that meant for them both.

Within a few paragraphs of A House Divided, however, it all became clear. When Yuan came home it was because if he stayed at the school, if he stayed in this new army, this new revolution, it would just be a matter of time before he'd be marching against his father and his father's way of life--against the scattered war lords that dominated the country. And so when it came down to it--he chose his father. Not because he agreed with his father. Not because he wanted to step into his father's place. No, he still rejects almost everything his father stands for. But he's choosing to remove himself from both extremes, he's choosing not to do battle or choose sides at all.

So Yuan cannot--or should I say will not--stay in his father's home. So where can Yuan go? Well, after a very brief stay in his grandfather's hut in the country--Wang Lung--he decides to go to the city to see his half-sister, Ai-lan, and his stepmother. (Is stepmother the right word? His father had two wives. One wife chosen by Wang the Merchant, one wife chosen by Wang the Landlord. I believe he calls her mother but she's not his biological mother.) He remains with them--in the city--for quite a while! In the city, he goes to school--not to learn the art of war, of soldiering--but to pursue his own interests. And he has many interests. He wants to know everything, to learn everything. He wants more, more, more. Part of him is interested in beauty and nature and poetry. And another part of him is interested in agriculture, in farming. He wants to know THE BEST way to work the land. There is a part of him that would love to return to the land and be a farmer, an educated farmer, a farmer who can read and write and philosophize, but a farmer nonetheless. But his life with his half-sister and two cousins Meng and Sheng, leads him into a little trouble. For new ideas abound in the city. And some of these ideas are a little dangerous. There comes a time when his new home is no longer safe...

So Yuan goes to the United States. What will he learn there? Will he be happy? Will he be miserable? Will he hate himself for loving it? Or love himself for hating it? When he returns--how will he see his country? Will he be able to find a place to really belong in China? Will Yuan ever stop over-thinking everything in his life?  

Wang Yuan is SO different from his father, Wang the Tiger. And it was nice to see that change, that contrast. But Yuan's periods of self-doubt and self-loathing--which we see cover to cover--became tiresome. I'm not saying that he wasn't believable as a character, that he wasn't developed enough. It's just that it kept me from liking him as much as I'd hoped at the start. The first third o

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The A.B.C. Murders. (Hercule Poirot). Agatha Christie. 1935/2006. Black Dog & Leventhal. 256 pages.

It was in June of 1935 that I came home from my ranch in South America for a stay of about six months. 

I liked The A.B.C. Murders. But I didn't love it. I'm not sure why. It had Hastings, the same narrator found in The Mysterious Affair at Styles; and, of course, it had Hercule Poirot. (My favorite of the three Poirot mysteries that I've read this year would probably be Murder on the Orient Express.) It had four murders instead of one, which is perhaps, why it wasn't love--for me. Instead of following the clues for one murder, instead of narrowing in on the motives for wanting one person dead, instead of figuring out who had the most to gain from the death, and all the 'good stuff' revealed along the way, Poirot is trying to outwit a serial killer. The crimes appear to be randomly connected--by the alphabet--as you can imagine. But are these murders random?

Poirot is taking this case personally because the killer has been sending him notes--warnings--about the crimes before they're committed. He's challenging Poirot, daring him to be clever enough to solve the crimes and identify him. He's an arrogant man, a seemingly insane man, who hides behind the initials ABC.

As I said, I liked this one. I don't regret reading it. And at the time I was reading I certainly found it entertaining enough. (I just had to read until I found out who the killer was.)

"Who are you? You don't belong to the police?"
"I am better than the police," said Poirot. He said it without conscious arrogance. It was, to him, a simple statement of fact. (90)

The spoken word and the written--there is an astonishing gulf between them. there is a way of turning sentences that completely reverses the original meaning. (122)

"Words, mademoiselle, are only the outer clothing of ideas." (132)

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Mules and Men by Zora Neale Hurston. 1935. HarperCollins. 336 pages.

As I crossed the Maitland-Eatonville township line I could see a group on the store porch. I was delighted. The town had not changed. Same love of talk and song.

I'm happy to be a part of the Classics Circuit Tour this month for The Harlem Renaissance. Be sure to visit other stops on the tour! I chose to read Mules and Men by Zora Neale Hurston. A book that has probably been on my bookshelf a decade. A book that needed this tour as a little extra push to get read.

Soon after reading Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, I went out and bought all the ZNH I could find. (Well, that I could find used.) I just loved it so much. But while I've reread Their Eyes several times I haven't ever gotten around to reading her other books.

What can readers find in Mules and Men? It's a collection of folklore. Stories loosely woven together with the author as a character. Zora Neale Hurston has gone back to her home state, her hometown, to "collect" some good stories, some good folklore for her new project. So it "shows" her doing just that. Talking and interacting with men and women, finding the best stories, and sharing them. It's interesting getting this insider perspective. You'll find tales and stories about anything and everything. From the ordinary to the extraordinary. Stories about God, stories about the Devil, stories about men and women working, loving, fighting, playing, etc. You'll find stories about animals and nature. You'll find trickster tales as well. Men and women getting the best of each other. It is in dialect, so some readers may find this takes some getting used to.

The book is actually in two parts. The first part covers folklore and takes place in Florida. The second part covers Hoodoo and takes place in New Orleans.

I found some of the folklore, the stories, to be interesting. Some I definitely enjoyed more than others. But because they are just stories, just little stories, the book as a whole wasn't the most compelling. The good news is that the contents of each chapter is clearly identified. So readers can find specific stories. "How the Snake Got Poison" and "How Brer Dog Lost His Beautiful Voice" and "How Jack Beat the Devil" and "Why Women Always Take Advantage of Men."


© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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