Victoria’s Discord Discussion Thread: https://discord.gg/WqQzMskvta
Goodreads Group: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_folder/436791?group_id=1140842
Zoom discussion on October 30th at 3 PM EST/12 PM PST/ 8pm BST If you want to join in, please email Kate Howe to get the Zoom link at: kate.v.howe@gmail.com
Wuthering Heights: https://amzn.to/3BGueym
Wuthering Heights FREE ebook: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/768
1939 Wuthering Heights Film: https://amzn.to/3l21ycj
The Hideaway
by Pam Smy (Author and Illustrator)
5 out of 5 stars
Billy has run away from home. He hides away in a graveyard for several days, camping out in an old brick shelter with his backpack and sleeping bag. His mother is desperate to find her missing son, and she works with the police to start a search.
This story is told from two main perspectives, Billy and his mother. The two have a very close and affectionate relationship, but all is not well in Billy’s home, prompting him to run away. The writing perfectly balances the multiple points of views from the different characters, showing their distinct voices. There is such an appealing charm in the writing style that it draws you right in to the story, and makes the characters very endearing and relatable.
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Scribbles, Sorrows, and Russet Leather Boots: The Life of Louisa May Alcott
by Liz Rosenberg (Goodreads Author), Diana Sudyka (Illustrations)
3 out of 5 stars
Louisa May Alcott is best known as the author of the popular classic Little Women. However, her life before she became a famous authoress was full of difficulty. She grew up poor and needy in an unstable though loving home. Her sisters, whom she immortalized as the March sisters, were her closest friends and companions. But it was her parents, Abbey and Bronson Alcott, who had the deepest influence on her life.
Bronson Alcott was insane. He literally had insanity running in his family tree. He told people he was “the Messiah of education”, and thought he would completely reform the American education system. However, all his attempts to start a school failed miserably once the parents found out what nonsense he was teaching their children. He was more interested in his daydreams than in providing for his family’s everyday needs, so it fell to Abby and eventually to Louisa to work and scrape to put food on the table.
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Wuthering Heights
by Emily Brontë
Catherine and Heathcliff grow up together and learn to love each other, but Heathcliff is an orphan with no family name and no future. Catherine is the only daughter of a gentleman, and knows that she cannot marry so far below her station. The two are embroiled in a tempestuous romance that breaks more than one heart and spans over generations with far-reaching revenge and hatred.
Short Review– This isn’t a romance; it’s a revenge story. Everyone is miserable. I can recognize the genius of the writing, but the subject material is too violent and evil for me to enjoy reading it.
Extensive Review-
Plot:
I love this plot structure. It really keeps you guessing, and there is always something happening and some circumstance that is changing for the characters. The relationships between the characters drive the story, and every little detail in the dialogue points to some deep emotion under the surface.
There is also a lot of violence, some of which made me nauseated to read about. There is a lot of verbal abuse, emotional abuse, and physical abuse. There is murder and revenge and illness and lies and betrayal and hatred and spite and conceit and every kind of evil! It’s exhausting.
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Manga Classics: Jane Eyre https://amzn.to/3Bv531O
Pride and Prejudice https://amzn.to/3Ai6XS4
Sense and Sensibility https://amzn.to/2ZXGc97
Secret of the Ron Mor Skerry
by Rosalie K. Fry
5 out of 5 stars
Fiona’s family left their ancient home on the Ron Mor Island, and Fiona’s little brother, Jamie, was lost. Now Fiona is staying with her grandparents on the Western Islands of Scotland. Fiona is certain that she can find her lost brother, and she befriends a tribe of seals who seem to guide her in her search. The family legends speak of a selkie woman who married into their family many generations ago, and Fiona will have to return to Ron Mor to unravel the past and bring her family together again.
Go Back for Murder
by Agatha Christie
5 out of 5 stars
Carla has just come of age, and is told of the true dark past of her family. Her mother was convicted of poisoning her father and died in prison when Carla was only five years old. But before she died, Carla’s mother wrote a letter to her daughter, to be opened on her 21st birthday, explaining that she was innocent and had not poisoned her husband. Now Carla is interviewing all the people who were present when her father was poisoned, trying to find out the truth. Who really poisoned her father, and why did her mother seem content to take the blame?
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The Courage of Sarah Noble
by Alice Dalgliesh, Leonard Weisgard (Illustrations)
5 out of 5 stars
Sarah Noble accompanies her father to the wilderness of Connecticut to build a new cabin before they are joined by the rest of the family. A Native American tribe lives nearby on the banks of the river, and Sarah befriends the native children. Through every step of their journey and as the family settles into their new home, Sarah’s courage is tested, but she curtails her fears, and remains steadfast and resilient through it all.
Verdict
by Agatha Christie
3 out of 5 stars
Professor Hendryk’s wife is an invalid. Mrs. Hendryk’s cousin, Lisa, lives with the family as a companion and nurse for her. When Mrs. Hendryk is found dead, poisoned by an overdose of her heart medicine, Lisa comes under suspicion. Professor Hendryk’s own ideals of morality and mercy will get him into trouble, since he refuses to report something he knows about the murder.
I don’t think this can really be called a mystery, since the audience knows from the beginning who the murderer is because the murder happens onstage in full view, and then the murderer confesses to another character, so most of the characters also know who the murderer is. The only people who don’t know are the police.
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