I am trying not to buy books this year, but by the time I’d made that resolution I’d already organised to stay near Hay on Wye for a week. Five friends and I stayed in the beautiful Landmark Trust property Shelwick Court, which is about 40 minutes from the town of secondhand bookshops. Every time I go, there are sadly slightly fewer bookshops – two had closed down since I was there last year – but there are still lots of wonderful places to visit and books to buy. And here’s what I got!
Down the Kitchen Sink by Beverley Nichols
The Moonflower by Beverley Nichols
Every trip seems to mean more Beverley! I hadn’t heard of the second of these, but apparently it’s one of his detective novels. I’m excited to see what he’s like in that mode – my assumption is: fab.
The Passionate Elopement by Compton Mackenzie
The Darkening Green by Compton Mackenzie
Reaped and Bound by Compton Mackenzie
I went to Hay with the intention of stocking up on some more Compton. And I did! I even left quite a few behind – I’m starting to think that I might have been lucky before at picking novels from his funny-novel-period, and he might have been a bit more melodramatic before that. But let’s find out! And the third of these is a collection of essays, even though I have no space on my essays shelves…
The Glory and the Dream by Viola Larkins
I’ve realised that, on book buying trips, I often only buy books by authors I know about – either because I’ve read them before, or by reputation. So I decided to mix it up with at least one book, and was drawn to this one. It seems that I picked somebody truly unknown – this book isn’t mentioned anywhere online, that I can discover, and I have had no luck tracking down info about the author. Here’s hoping it’s a lost gem!
A Cure of Souls by May Sinclair
Always happy to find another Sinclair novel to add to my Sinclair shelves! She was so prolific, and so interesting.
It Gives Me Great Pleasure by Emily Kimbrough
I hadn’t realised that Kimbrough had written so many books, and was pleased to find one of them. I don’t love her solo work as much as I love Cornelia Otis Skinner’s, but it’s still good fun.
Woman of Letters by Phyllis Rose
Some might argue that I don’t need another biography of Virginia Woolf, but to those people I say – did you know that Phyllis Rose wrote one?? I love Rose’s writing, and was really pleased to find this.
Parallel Lives by Phyllis Rose
I LIKE PHYLLIS ROSE.
Old Soldiers by Paul Bailey
I’ve only read one Bailey novel, and I see quite a lot of his around in secondhand bookshops. Having looked at quite a few in Hay, this is the one I came home with.
The Ponder Heart by Eudora Welty
This was the first Welty novel I read, many years ago, but it was a borrowed copy. It seemed about time that I had my own, right?
The Great Victorian Collection by Brian Moore
I still haven’t actually read The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne, but I’m banking so much on liking it that I bought another. This is about a man who dreams a Victorian market and then can’t tell dream from reality – which seems super up my street.
The Best We Can Do by Sybille Bedford
I didn’t expect to find Bedford in a green crime Penguin – this is an account of the trial of John Bodkin Adams, a serial killer. Not the sort of book I’d pick up if Bedford hadn’t written it, but hopefully I’ll be brave enough to read it at some point.
Julian Probert by Susan Ertz
I have two Ertz novels I haven’t read, so fingers crossed I like them and want to read this third! And, I’ll be honest, part of me bought it because I thought the cover was rather lovely in its simple design. (And wasn’t it nice when covers weren’t plastered with generic quotes from people you don’t care about?)
Thanks for all these book explorations! I enjoyed reading The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne, and also think the film with Maggie Smith and Bob Hoskins worth. Conveys well a sense of the claustrophobia of the Ireland of the time.
That’s definitely high up my list of books for 2019! And Maggie can do no wrong, so I’ll have to watch the film afterwards.
I am a big Phyllis Rose fan and love Parallel Lives. I persuaded my book group to read it years ago and my copy is autographed. She is married to the son of the author of Babar, which always strikes me as amusing. I met him at a reading once and he was very pleasant.
I visited Hay on Wye the day Diana died. I had been looking forward to it for years and went despite having been let down by the friend supposed to be traveling with me. It was fun but not as awesome as I had hoped. I did not know that August is not considered a good time to go (due to inventory being low) but still managed to pick up 6-8 books although I got tired of carrying them before the bus took me back to Hereford where I was spending the night. I do recall that I found “better” or at least more delightful books at the charity shops in Hereford, and also visited the home of Elinor Brent-Dyer, known for the Chalet boarding school books. By the time I took the train back to London, I could barely walk but, as I like to say, you only regret the books you leave behind…
How lovely, Constance, to have a signed copy! I loved The Shelf so much and it has set me off as a fan.
I’d like to read a Beverley Nichols. Which one should I start with?
I started with Merry Hall and it certainly made me love him :)
I went to Hay on Wye some years ago and couldn’t find anything I wanted to buy, the few that I would have bought were crazy expensive. I haven’t read any of your Compton Mackenzie books, the ones I have read have been funny. I have The Moonflower and enjoyed it. I’m envious of your Down the Kitchen Sink. I read Brian Moore years ago and really liked his books. I dodged the Sybille Bedford not long ago – maybe I shouldn’t have.
Oh, that’s a shame, Katrina – it does take some hunting to find the gems. I had to leave something I really wanted behind because it was £50 and I couldn’t afford that. And glad about Moonflower, thanks :)
I hope you read The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne before you read The Great Victorian Collection because the latter is pretty disappointing and might discourage you from reading the former. That would be a loss because Judith Hearne is such a wonderful book.
Well, fingers crossed I’ll enjoy both of them!
What a spectacularly fantastic haul I recen bought my first Compton Mackenzie – because of you. After a false start with Eudora Welty a few years ago, in 2018 I read Delta Wedding which I really enjoyed. Not heard of that Sybille Bedford either. Enjoy your lovely books.
Thanks so much, Ali! And I hope you love the Mackenzie :)
What assortment. These sound great. Very curious about the Viola Larkins
I was in Hay last summer and it wasn’t just the further decline in the number of bookshops that I noticed but also that prices seem to have risen. I wasn’t looking for rock bottom prices at all, just reasonable ones but came away empty handed….
I certainly didn’t get any super cheap, but some judicious hunting meant the ones I got were affordable. Sadly I did have to leave some that weren’t…
Wonderful finds, Simon, and I of course heartily approve of the Beverleys – lovely! There is a copy of the Bedford in the house somewhere too, as Mr. Kaggsy is a retired solicitor and we tended to amass books about real life crimes (not in the nasty ‘true crime’ type of genre though). But I can’t tell you what it’s like, I’m afraid! :D
I should now actually read some of the Beverleys! And I am slightly worried that the Bedford will be too much for me, but at least I have the option now…
I’ve only read one Compton MacKenzie and that was Whisky Galore, which was delightful. Sadly I’ve never been able to get my hands on either of the adaptations. I’ve wanted to read Parallel Lives and checked it out of the library more than once, but never got round to reading it! I shall have to move it up the TBR list once I’ve made some headway with my own books (including Judith Hearne).
Hi! I’ve nominated you for the Sunshine Blogger Award! You’ll find the rules and questions at the end of this blog post of mine, if you should feel so inclined 🙂 https://callarosearose.wordpress.com/2019/01/26/ive-been-nominated-for-the-sunshine-blogger-award/
Many thanks! That’s very lovely of you, Mahathi :)
Ahahahaha, I am giggling so much. I was just talking to someone about Hay on Wye and how I really must never go there because I would surely buy so many books I wouldn’t be able to haul them home in my luggage.
YOU MUST COME AND YOU MUST DISCARD ALL NON-BOOK ITEMS FROM YOUR LUGGAGE
Hay on Wye sounds irresistable! The next time I cross The Pond, I think I will dare to go there. I was curious about Viola Larkins. I did find a listing at WorldCat for 4 books by her, but no other information. They are only held at 5 or 6 libraries, all in the UK. https://www.worldcat.org/wcidentities/np-larkins,%20viola. I can’t wait to see your review. I love these unknown mysterious books!
After trolling through Google Books, I found this snippet: “THE GLORY AND THE DREAM VIOLA LARKINS. (Can a really devout Clergyman marry a wealthy woman of ‘ butterfly ‘ tastes and, retain his happiness ? This is the problem dealt with.)
Oh, well done, excellent detective work! That could either be really interesting or really terrible… I guess I’ll find out!
So glad that your ban did not deter you from supporting the shops which remain. We can’t go complaining about how the bookshops do not stay in business while we are not doing our part to support their trade. (And, I know, I know, excess and all that. It’s so very hard to find a balance. But you are doing such a fine job of reading from your own shelves lately!) Enjoy all your new purchases/friends.