My Lady Ludlow by Elizabeth Gaskell

I decided to go with My Lady Ludlow by Elizabeth Gaskell (1858) for this year's Victober category -  choose a Victorian novel where chronic illness or disability is represented.  I was nervous about this category.  What would it have been like to be disabled in the 19th century?  But I finished My Lady Ludlow in good spirits.  This is a sweet and uplifting story about the impact a good person can make in the lives of others. 

The narrator of My Lady Ludlow is Margaret Dawson and when the novel begins she is an elderly woman looking back to 1800 when at age 16 she was sent to live with a distant relative, the Countess Ludlow of Hanbury Court.  Margaret's parents with nine children to raise had no choice but to accept Lady Ludlow's offer to have Margaret stay with her. 

When Margaret arrives at  Hanbury Court n the Village of Hanbury she meets other young women of aristocratic background who have fallen on hard times.  Lady Ludlow is running a kind of boarding school where the young women learn the skills one needs to get on in the world.  

Lady Ludlow can be strict in terms of how she likes things done but she is a decent, kind person.  The girls think highly of her and for Margaret, who narrates the book, this is particularly true because a year after Margaret Dawson arrives at Hanbury Court she starts to have trouble walking.  The situation deteriorates and Margaret is left crippled. 

Lady Ludlow could have sent Margaret back home to her parents. She doesn't do that.  Instead without ever mentioning Margaret's disability Lady Ludlow invites her to the office one day, gets a comfortable chair for Margaret to sit in, and explains that she has been needing an assistant and would Margaret be willing to help her out.  

As the years go by Margaret becomes a friend to Lady Ludlow and is often the sounding board for Lady Ludlow's opinions and she has strict opiions about the class system and people knowing their place.   A new young pastor for example, Mr. Gray, arrives in Hanbury with all kinds of revolutionary new ideas as Lady Ludlow sees it and she is not amused, particularly on the subject of educating the lower classes.  As she tells Margaret: 

"It was a right word,” she continued, “that I used, when I called reading and writing ‘edge-tools.’  If our lower orders have these edge-tools given to them, we shall have the terrible scenes of the French Revolution acted over again in England ... When I was a girl, one never heard of the rights of men, one only heard of the duties" 

Lady Ludlow is not perfect but she has empathy maybe because her own life despite her wealth and privilege has not been easy.  She is a widow and she lost all her children but one, her son Rudolph who lives in London.   She is rather lonely and one senses that the town of Hanbury is her family.  She keeps abreast of the goings on in the town and if anyone needs help no matter what class she will be there to see what she can do and as the times change, Lady Ludlow changes with them, including her views on educating the working classes.

Elizabeth Gaskell's great novels are North and South, Cranford, Wives and Daughters, Mary Barton and so if you have never read her that is where you should begin.  But I found My Lady Ludlow a heartwarming novel and what I have discovered in the novels of Elizabeth Gaskell is that she bridges the gap in her books between Jane Austen where  the lower classes are firmly off stage and Charlotte Bronte where if a Lord or Lady does show up in the text it's probably not in a flattering way.   Elizabeth Gaskell was more interested in bridging the divide knowing that people are not that different no matter their classs and that the times were changing.

The Mayor of Casterbridge: A Story Of A Man Of Character by Thomas Hardy

"Happiness was but the occasional episode in a general drama of pain.” - The Mayor of Casterbridge

I have been meaning to read Thomas Hardy for some time now and I figured when I finally got around to it I would start with Tess of the Ubervilles.  But this month I am taking the Victober Challenge and the group-read is The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886) and for someone like me who had never read Hardy before this book was quite the introduction.  The writing is brilliant, the characters are so memorable and it's a gripping read as well.  But having said this I am not sure how quickly I want to jump into my next Thomas Hardy novel and I will discuss why a bit later but first the plot.

The Mayor of Casterbridge takes place in rural England in the early part of the 19th century and the novel centers around Michael Henchard who is the mayor of the fictional town of Casterbridge.  Michael is a very successful man but he harbors a dark secret.  When he was twenty-one and living in another town he sold his wife and daughter to another man at the country fair.  How this could happen is that Michael Henchard's wife Susan was fed up with her drunken husband offering to sell her and their infant daughter Elizabeth Jane and so she agrees to go with the young sailor.

Michael wakes up the next morning and is horrified at what he did in his drunken state.  He tries to find Susan and his daughter Elizabeth Jane but they are gone.  No trace of them.  Eighteen years go by and Michael is the respected Mayor and business owner in the rural community of Casterbridge but he has never forgotten what he did when he was young.  He has never remarried and has sworn off alcohol.  The town knows nothing about his past.  He has become a lonely man.

And then one day Susan and Elizabeth Jane arrive in Casterbridge looking for Michael.  Susan is recently widowed from her sailor husband Richard Newson and Elizabeth Jane has never been told the truth about who Michael is and what happened that night in the tavern.  She thinks Michael is simply a distant relative that her mother is seeking out for help.

Susan and Michael reunite and marry but not long after the wedding Susan dies and leaves Michael a letter which is quite a revelation and the contents of this letter greatly affects his relationship with Elizabeth Jane.  Two other characters are also featured prominently in the novel.  The first is Donald Farfrae who starts out as Michael's friend and business assistant but Michael through his jealousy and suspicion turns Donald into a rival.  There is also Lucetta Templeman who Michael thoughtlessly dumps when Susan and Elizabeth Jane walk back into his life. But now that Susan is gone Michael assumes he can pick up with Lucetta where they left off.  

As the novel progresses Michael Henchard's fortunes take a nosedive on a level that I have rarely seen in a novel. Michael is a flawed man and his pride and temper lead to his downfall.  His past continues to stalk him as well.  But he is also capable of good and so the bad luck and the humiliations that continue to befall him I found increasingly hard to take.  

And so I came away from The Mayor of Casterbridge awed by Thomas Hardy's brilliance but hoping to find a Hardy novel where the outcome for the main character is a bit more uplifting and not so incredibly bleak as it was for poor Michael Henchard in The Mayor of Casterbridge.

The Girl On the Train by Paula Hawkins

The Girl On the Train by Paula Hawkins published 2015 was a nice suprise and I say that because in the past few years I have had disappointing experiences with bestselling psychological thrillers:  Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn  The Dinner by Herman Koch, And Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell to name a few.

And so when I picked up The Girl On the Train I was cautious but I didn't need to be because though this is a book that takes twists and turns they are believable, the writing is first rate, particularly in the creation of Rachel Watson who narrates a major part of this novel.  The two other narrators are Anna Watson, who is the new wife of Rachel's ex-husband Tom and Megan Hipwell the beautiful young woman who lives with her husband Scott a few doors down from Anna and Tom.

But mainly this is Rachel's story and when we first meet Rachel her life has gone downhill.  She married her husband Tom a few years back but found out she was incapable of having children which she so wanted.    Rachel tried everything but it was not to be and she began drinking heavily, arguing with Tom and he began an affair with Anna, the woman who is now his new wife.  And so Rachel who is now a full blown alcoholic aimlessly rides the train each morning to London and rides it back home each evening because she has told her roomate Cathy that she still has a job when in reality she was fired a few months back.  

But the daily train ride for Rachel has become something she looks forward to, a source of excitement in her life because one of the train stops looks out on her old house where Tom now lives with Anna.  Rachel is obsessed not so much by Tom and Anna anymore but rather the attractive young couple who live a few doors down.  Rachel doesn't know them but she can see their patio from the train.  She has named them Jason and Jess and as Rachel tells us: : 

"Jess is often out there in the mornings, especially in the summer, drinking her coffee.  Sometimes, when I see her there, I feel as though she sees me, too.  I feel as though she looks right back at me, and I want to wave.  I'm too self-conscious. I don't see Jason quite as much, he's away alot with work. But even if they're not there, I think about what they might be up to.  Maybe this morning they've both got the day off and she's lying in bed while he makes breakfast, or may they've gone for a run together because that's the sort of thing they do".  

Rachel is not jealous of Jason and Jess.  Quite the contrary.  She is kind of in love with them and likes to think about the wonderful life they have planned.  But then one morning from her train window Rachel spots Jess on the patio in a romantic embrace with another man.  Rachel is devastated and hurt. How could Jess cheat on Jason ike this and she feels a kinship with Jason since she knows what being cheated on feels like.  And so Rachel decides to go to Jason and Jess' house on a Saturday evening when Jess is out and inform Jason about his wife's infidelity. 

It's a very bad idea of course and the next morning Rachel wakes up with an injury to her head, some blood on her clothes, and no memory of the Saturday night before since she was in an alcoholic blackout.  A day later Rachel is readiing the paper and learns the real name of Jess and Jason.  They are Scott and Megan Hipwell and the newspapers are reporting that Megan went missing the night Rachel went to Scott's house to warn him.  The police find Megan's body a few days later and it's now a homicide.  

So what happened?  Who killed Megan?  And will Rachel's memory of that night return to provide answers?   There is more than one suspect and I was kept guessing throughout the book and most important for me the ending was satisfying, even hopeful.   

I would say that how you feel about The Girl On the Train will hinge on how you feel about Rachel.  Some will be exasperated but I was drawn to her.  People suffer disappointments in life and sometimes they can't pull themselves together.  And in the case of Rachel to give herself something to look forward to she imagined an ideal life for a beautiful young couple only to discover she didn't know them at all.   I highly recommend The Girl On the Train 

The Journey by Mary Oliver

Normally I don't read poetry but I have been thinking about taking the Ray Bradbury Challenge where you read a short story, a poem and an essay each day.  And so in searching for a poem to read I found The Journey by the award winning poet Mary Oliver and  I wanted to share: 

The Journey

by Mary Oliver

One day you finally knew

what you had to do, and began,

though the voices around you

kept shouting

their bad advice –

though the whole house

began to tremble

and you felt the old tug

at your ankles.

“Mend my life!”

each voice cried.

But you didn’t stop.

You knew what you had to do,

though the wind pried

with its stiff fingers

at the very foundations,

though their melancholy

was terrible.

It was already late

enough, and a wild night,

and the road full of fallen

branches and stones.

But little by little,

as you left their voices behind,

the stars began to burn

through the sheets of clouds,

and there was a new voice

which you slowly

recognized as your own,

that kept you company

as you strode deeper and deeper

into the world,

determined to do

the only thing you could do –

determined to save

the only life you could save.

-Mary Oliver, 

The 2022 Victober Challenge

October is a great month for book challenges but as a reader I feel torn about which challenge to take.  It's the month of Halloween and so should I read novels in the horror, gothic and paranormal genre?  But as anyone who follows some of the excellent and fun booktubers out there knows, October is also Victober where fans of all things Victorian devote the month to reading 19th century British literature.  

I love both genres, Victorian and Gothic horror, but for this October I have decided to go with Victorian literature.  Don't know how far I'll get and according to the five booktubers hosting Victober this year there is no pressure.  You only have to commit to reading one Victorian novel during the month of October.   But if you want to take the full challenge the booktubers have come up with five interesting categories to complete by October 31, 2022: 

1.  Choose a Victorian novel where chronic illness or disability is represented - I have decided to go with My Lady Ludlow by Elizabeth Gaskell 

2.  Choose a Victorian Coming of Age Story - My choice will be Love and Mr. Lewisham by H. G. Wells

3.  Choose a Victorian Short Story - A Terribly Strange Bed by Wilkie Collins

4.  Read a Victorian book and then watch a film adaptation - Washington Square by Henry James.  He became a British Citizen in 1915 so he qualifies for the Challenge.

5.  Choose to read a Victorian poem. - I am going with a poem by Ann Bronte

Also for Victober the read-a-long is the Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy where the goal is to read two chapters a night starting October 1st and since I have never read Hardy this is a good way to finally do so.

Alot of the fun of Victober is discovering how many really excellent booktubers are out there.  The five hosts running this year's challenge for example have very fine video blogs:  They are: 

Katie, Books and Things

Kate Howe

Marissa, Blatantly Bookish

Petra U

Ros, Scallydandling about the Books

If you type their names into the search engine their videoblogs will pop up and when it comes to Victorian literature Katie at Books and Things knows everything there is to know. 

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning by Alan Sillitoe

For the 2022 Back to the Classics category - Choose a Wild Card Classic I decided to go with Saturday Night and Sunday Morning by Alan Sillitoe published 1958. I had heard about the novel and since it was published the year I was born I decided to give it a read.

The author, Alan Sillitoe, was part of the Angry Young Men literary movement that formed in the UK in the 1950’s. They were working class young men who had come of age during the post World War II era.  They were in rebellion against society and the British class system and they wrote gritty, sexually frank novels and plays featuring men like themselves. 

Such is the case with Arthur Seaton the main character in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. Arthur is a young man who lives in Nottingham, England and works as a machinist in a bicycle factory.  Arthur works hard, spends his Saturday nights at the pub getting drunk and he is quite the ladies man.  When the novel begins Arthur is having an affair with Brenda the wife of one of his coworkers at the factory but Arthur doesn’t seem worried about the risk he is taking or even feels much guilt:

"Arthur classified husbands into two main categories: those that looked after their wives, and those that were slow.  Jack fell into the latter class, one that Arthur, from experience, knew to be more extensive than the first. Having realised this quickly he had been lucky in love, and had his fun accordingly, making hay while the sun shone, growing up from the age of seventeen with the idea that married women were certainly the best women to know. He had no pity for a “slow” husband“.

In reality Arthur is taking enormous risks not only by having an affair with a married woman but also with his drinking.  When the novel begins for example Arthur is at the pub having gotten wasted and fallen down a flight of stairs. He’s okay but it ‘s a metaphor for where Arthur’s life is headed if he doesn’t turn things around.  

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning is a novel way ahead of its time in dealing with issues that weren't discussed in the 1950's.  There are parts of this novel that are shocking and disturbing.  I can't say I liked Arthur and the author is not romanticising the life he is leading.   But Arthur and the other characters in the novel are drawn from real life, not having enough money, hanging out at the bars, having affairs with other men's wives and no thought to the future.   The dialogue between the characters can be a little difficult to decipher at times but it gives the novel a realistic tone and this is a very well written book.

Regarding the author, Allan Sillitoe, he grew up poor in Nottingham and his home was a violent one.  He would go on to write novels, plays, children's literature, a memoir but he is best known for Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and his collection of short stories The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner.  Sillitoe though his childhood was tough went on to have a good life, married for fifty years to the accomplished poet and translater Ruth Fainlight. They had two children.  Alan Sillitoe passed away in 2010 but today he is considered one of the most important British writers of the post World War II era.  Not bad for a young boy who had to quit school at 14.

The TBR File - Mrs Wiggs of The Cabbage Patch by Alice Hegan

Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch by Alice Hegan Rice published 1901 was a big bestseller in it’s day and that always interests me.  So many authors and novels from the early 20th century have been forgotten but thanks to kindle people are beginning to read these books again.

Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch is a sweet novel which gives us important advise about life. The main character is Mrs. Wiggs, a widow living with her children in a very poor part of Louisville, Kentucky called the Cabbage Patch. The people who live there have very little and yet despite this Mrs. Wiggs has an optimistic spirit. She tries to see the best in life, never gives up and she loves her children dearly. It’s not great literature but I enjoyed it. Here is Mrs Wiggs giving her philosophy of life:

“Lots of folks is walkin’ ’round jes’ as dead as they’ll ever be. I believe in gittin’ as much good outen life as you kin—not that I ever set out to look fer happiness; seems like the folks that does that never finds it. I jes’ do the best I kin where the good Lord put me at, an’ it looks like I got a happy feelin’ in me ‘most all the time.”

Who was the author Alice Hegan Rice? She was a prolific novelist born in 1870 in Shelbyville, Kentucky and she came from a privileged background. When she was a young woman she worked at a mission in a very poor part of Louisville, Kentucky. It was a life changing experience and she wrote Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch based on her work at the mission.  Alice Hagen Rice would later help found the Cabbage Patch Settlement House which exists to this day.