The Picky Girl Reads, Creates, Blogs

*I received this book from the publisher Harper through TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.

Morning rooms, walks in the gardens, and pearl-handled butter knives are the trappings of the Torrington family on the Sterne estate – an estate the now-deceased Mr. Torrington wanted for his family. Unfortunately, the grandeur of Sterne is a facade, as the family can no longer sustain their “lord of the manor” lifestyle, and the book opens with Charlotte Torrington’s new husband Edward Swift departing for London to repair the family’s financial situation. Emerald and Clovis, Charlotte’s adult children, are neither impressed nor appreciative, but it’s Emerald’s birthday, and they are expecting guests. When a local train is derailed in the vicinity, however, Sterne is called into service, forcing the Torringtons and their guests to amend their plans and make the best of the intrusion. The train passengers, initially about 10 of them, are put into the morning room, only to multiply each time someone opens the door. A strange, unsettling man, Charlie Traversham-Beechers, alights at Sterne and claims to know Charlotte. But Traversham-Beechers becomes increasingly sinister until his purpose is unmistakeable to the small, conflicted party.

I couldn’t quite get my head around The Uninvited Guests. At first, it’s such a polite novel with undertones of class and financial struggles. However, the longer I read this book, the more I enjoyed it and saw it as an allegory for the fall of the Edwardian era and the changes Britain would soon see with the start of World War I:

Sterne itself has two wings: the Old House and the New House. Both are in disrepair, but the Old House is never inhabited. Life is already changing for these types of families, and the Torringtons are concerned with preserving the appearance of upper class, though there are only two servants, and the cook’s relationship with Charlotte is quite familiar.

When the uninvited guests – the passengers from the derailed train – arrive, no one is particularly concerned about them, other than to worry about the extra work they will cause, and the longer the passengers are denied attention, the more restless they become, and their numbers grow.

Meanwhile, Smudge, the youngest Torrington, is working on a Great Undertaking, and as she gears up for it, the weather changes:

…there was a smell of thunder on the air. Smudge couldn’t have said what thunder smelled like exactly – something like lively coal-dust, perhaps – but knew that she had always known the thick scent of it, as well as that of lightning, which was sharper and apparent to everybody, like gunpowder and lemons. Yes, there was a storm coming, and…she could smell the air charging.

It’s 1912. Storm clouds are indeed gathering, and as they do, the situation in Britain and in the Sterne household becomes more serious. The small party feeds the mass of people, but their attitudes toward them do not change, particularly Charlotte, who refuses even to help with that chore, saying, “She had built her life so that she might avoid third-class carriages and she wasn’t going to wring her hands over those who made use of them now.”

In fact, it isn’t until Traversham-Beechers introduces a game that debases them all that the Torringtons or their party begin to understand their duty. They open up the Old House, taking linens from their own beds to create pallets and comfortable resting places for the passengers, when they are interrupted by Smudge’s Great Undertaking, which must be resolved before the passengers can find rest and the Sterne household finds peace.

I’m not one to typically try to read into a book as much as I have done here, but bear with me: The typical English estate is failing. The family within (who, it is important to note, are not high born) desperately hold onto it, but the desperation is showing in the furniture without cushions and the diminishing staff. The lower classes are slowly invading these spaces, but it isn’t until a Great Undertaking occurs amid stormy skies (World War I) that change is wrought and the lower classes are welcomed into the Old House, tying both new and old together and decreasing the gap between upper and lower classes.

Could I be completely off base? Of course. Was I looking for a way to explain this oddity of a novel? Yes. However, in my experience when you have something that goes into a rather outlandish place, very often there is some sort of extended metaphor. But what you want to really know is: does it work? I’d have to say yes. The novel goes into dark places, much darker than the opening chapters signify, but in the end, its wickedness makes this stand out as a much more interesting novel.

Buy this book from Indiebound or for your Nook.

Also, check out the other stops on the book tour for other opinions.

So this weekend, I get to play interior designer. A friend of mine just bought a condo and asked for my help picking out paint colors and carpet. I’m so excited! He is single, and he’ll be living in downtown Houston, so I want it to be swank and masculine.

Here are my inspiration photos:

I’ve got paint swatches but am going to check out the space before making any definite decisions, so I can see what kind of light the space gets and also get a better idea of what he’s looking for. He’s already expressed interest in the 2nd and 7th photos, so I think we’ll likely do a darker gray in the bedroom and a lighter blue-gray in the living room. However, I might there and realize we need something totally different.

Either way, I’ll keep you guys updated. Hope you all have a fantastic weekend! Is anyone planning any sprucing up or projects for the house this weekend?

For more Wordless Wednesday posts, visit this site.

* I received an egalley of this book from the publisher Bloomsbury USA via NetGalley.

I really love when the cover of a book fits it so perfectly, and I’d have to say that James Runcie’s Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death does just that. It’s so idyllic and peaceful – blue skies with puffy clouds, green grass, and the beautiful church in the background…but with a dark shadow encroaching.

Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death is a series of five longer stories, about 100 pages each, set in the late 40s and early 50s. Sidney Chambers is a veteran of the second world war, and often the people he meets assume he did not serve until he quietly corrects them. Sidney is unassuming and introspective, yet he still manages to surprise the town of Grantchester: though he is a priest, he enjoys jazz and has a pint every Thursday with his friend Inspector Keating during which they play backgammon.

Because of his position as clergyman, the town has very particular expectations of him, so when he is approached after a man’s funeral by the man’s mistress, he is taken aback but willing to help. The woman believes her lover has been murdered but does not want to destroy her own reputation or that of her dead lover, so she comes to Sidney because he is in a perfect position to converse with those in the man’s life without coming under question himself. The other investigations come to him in similar ways: Sidney is a priest; therefore, he’s ideal for unbiased judgment and confession. Though at times, he resents this unwanted duty, he also desires to see the truth and help those he can. Along the way, Sidney explores his own psyche and faith as he investigates the various crimes, and with one exception, the crimes are solved relatively quickly and without much additional violence.

The recurring cast of characters includes his sister Jennifer who dates Johnny Johnson, the son of a former cat thief; Inspector Keating who reminds Sidney who the investigator is but still listens and encourages his friend; and Amanda Killen, friend and possible enamorada, as Sidney cares for Amanda but also thinks she wants more than a life as the wife of a priest.

Though this book is obviously part of a series, The Grantchester Mysteries, this is more a pastoral collection of tales with the added element of mystery. Quaint and charming, Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death is reminiscent of James Herriot. Herriot’s tales, though deemed “animal stories,” illuminate much more than pastoral life in Yorkshire as do the tales James Runcie sets forth in Grantchester, exposing the reader to a way of life that is most certainly foreign but appealing to many of us.

Buy your copy from Indiebound or for your Nook.

Author Website: James Runcie

*I received a copy of One Pink Line from the author, Dina Silver in exchange for an honest review.

It’s finals week of her senior year, and Sydney’s in the middle of the hardest test – Spanish – when she realizes she hasn’t had her period. She gets to Wal-Mart before closing and buys a pregnancy test, hoping for one pink line that will tell her she’s not pregnant. Instead, Sydney sees two fuschia lines – one reminding her of her drunken one-night stand with one of her best friends and the other shaming her and reminding her of her loyal boyfriend Ethan.

Grace, on the other hand, is just a teenager, a taller-than-average teenager, but a hormonal, growing, moody teen all the same. At nine, after a lecture on sex education, she realizes her dad, who married her mom when Grace was two, can’t be her real dad. Devastated, she is angry at her mom, the man who calls himself her dad, and her real dad – the man who wanted nothing to do with her, and her anger and confusion follow her for years.

One Pink Line by Dina Silver is a story of mother and daughter – Sydney and Grace – who they are and how they become the women they are now. But One Pink Line is also the story of Sydney and her mother – a mom who is exacting and unforgiving of Sydney, Sydney and her older sister Kendra who acts as a surrogate mother to her and a go-between for Sydney and their mother, Grace and her paternal grandmother and aunts. It’s a story of being a woman with all its implicit joys and pains and about the men we allow to be a part of that.

Because at its heart, One Pink Line is a love story. Ethan is good and kind and handsome, loving Sydney when she isn’t even sure who she is, but patiently biding his time. There’s no question of “if” for Sydney and Ethan, it’s a “when,” but that certainly doesn’t detract from the romance of One Pink Line. The absence of the will-she-or-won’t-she storyline allows it to be much more than just about romantic love. Family is central to the book, as is the question of who and what makes up family.

Plus, it’s funny, and funny always helps. When Sydney realizes her period is late, she tries to think back:

I remembered the last time I’d had it though, because I was trapped in an English Lit lecture hall with no panty liner, no tampon, and no break for an hour. As soon as the bell rang I sprinted to the bathroom, only to discover the tampon dispenser hadn’t been refilled since the turn of the century. It was a long, slow walk home with a wad of parchment-like toilet paper shifting around in my panties.

I laughed so hard at this. Industrial toilet paper. Gotta love it. Or when Grace realizes her dad can’t be her biological father:

I took her through everything I’d just learned, as though she didn’t know. “So how could he have come along two years after I was born?”

I’ll never forget the look on Nurse Goode’s face. I’d stumped the panel, I’d taken that lovely, unassuming woman who could dispense Neosporin faster than the speed of light, and rendered her speechless. She was frozen, instant-read thermometer in hand, but frozen nonetheless. “Maybe we should call your mom?”

One Pink Line is funny and sweet, and it’s perfect for the start of summer. Plus, it’s a great example of self publishing done right.

Go here to read the first chapter. Buy this from Indiebound or for your Nook. (Pssst – it’s only $2.99 if you buy it on your Nook.)