A Reading List for HRH Prince of Cambridge

The Little Prince

Welcome to the world HRH Prince of Cambridge! While we all wait to see what your royal name will be - James and George seem to lead the guesses - I thought I'd take a look at some 'princely' books for your first bookshelf:


The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain

The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli (probably not a happy choice)

The Prince and Betty by P.G. Wodehouse

The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde

There are many princes in literature - Prince Charming comes to mind, as does The Beast in Beauty and, along with that royal fellow with the magic kiss in Sleeping Beauty.  

I am sure we can all put our non-princely heads together and come up with more titles about fictional princes for the wee one's reading list. Any suggestions?

The Last Detective by Peter Lovesey

Normally, I read my mystery stories at bedtime. I sometimes lose track of the characters and the action - I tend to nod off - but that doesn't spoil my enjoyment each evening. I can usually quickly catch up on what is happening.

I was so enthralled with The Last Detective (1991) by Peter Lovesey, though, that I kept reading it during the day so I could keep up with the clues. 

Mr. Lovesey is an award-winning British author who has written quite a few mystery series - Sergeant Cribb (made into a TV series); Victorian mysteries featuring the Prince of Wales; and, some stand alone puzzlers as well. This is the first of his books that I've read.

The Last Detective introduces Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond. When a woman's body is found floating in a lake, the only identifying characteristic is her long red hair. Eventually
her identity comes to light and all sorts of characters become suspects in the eyes of DS Diamond and his new partner, John Wigfull, whom he doesn't really trust.

The action takes place in the early 1990s in Bath. DS Diamond, is in his forties, is a bit pudgy, and doesn't trust the computers and scientists that have taken over honest-to-goodness detective work that he so believes in. "There's a danger in surrendering to technology," he tells his chief.

One of the suspects, the dead woman's husband, is a professor of English at Bath University. He was in charge of assembling an exhibition of Jane Austen, to celebrate her time in Bath, that opened the same weekend that his wife was killed. Part of the mystery revolves around the disappearance of two letters supposedly written by Jane to her aunt. 

All this was so in keeping with my Jane Austen Festival weekend.

I liked Mr. Lovesey's writing style. Nothing too graphic, the location in Bath (which I have visited), and the Jane Austen references, not to mention a great puzzle, made for a pleasant read. I am glad to have made DS Peter Diamond's acquaintance and look forward to seeing what he is up to in the second book, Diamond Solitaire.

Jane Austen Festival: Part 2

The fans were aflutter yesterday at the Jane Austen Festival held on the grounds of Locust Grove Historic Home. It was a lovely setting - hot but with plenty of shade and an occasional cool breeze. 

I arrived just after the gates opened at 10 a.m. - the gates being four women on either side of the entrance collecting the $12 fee and giving directions to parking. It all went very smoothly and within minutes I was surrounded by women and men dressed in Regency fashions. Bonnets and reticules and Empire-waisted frocks abounded. It was really quite delightful.

Two friends showing off parasol and bonnet

This handsome couple was visiting from Canada

Cute Nora Sweeney

Isn't she perfect?

I was hoping to snatch a seat at one of the five teas that were being held but they were all sold out. 

On the grounds women and men paraded about among the trees and sauntered in and out of the tents set up as shops selling all sorts of period jewelry, parasols, floor cloths, bonnets and hats, and chatelaines. Some folks rested at picnic tables. I found a nice long bench in the shade of the house and just people-watched for a while. 

The large main tent was set up with chairs and hosted a play, a Regency fashion show, and a entertaining presentation called "Dressing Mr. Darcy" in which a handsome young man, Brian Cushing, deconstructed what men wore in Ms. Austen's time: the hat, the cravat, the waistcoat, the braces (suspenders), the undershirt, the pants, socks, and boots. 

Mr. Darcy Before...

...and Mr. Darcy after.

From the style show:

Love the feathered hat!

The jacket comes off ...

That blur is her fan

A gentlemen farmer

I saw a bare-knuckle boxing match and a duel between gentlemen. A fellow with a sedan chair was giving short rides. 

Bare-knuckle fight

The loser in the duel between gentlemen

One mode of transportation - the sedan chair

My favorite booth was the paper marbling demonstration by artisan John Bielik from Missouri.  It is always fascinating to watch an artist at work and John certainly kept his audience engaged. Of course I had to purchase a sample of his work in the form of a small notebook with a marbled paper cover. 

Artisan John Bielik works his paper marbling magic

Using a comb, John marbles the paint

A finished product

I chatted with some of the Janeites and discovered they were from as far away as Ontario, Canada and Dallas, Texas. Others were from closer to home, Columbus, Ohio and Frankfort, Kentucky. Most of the ones I spoke with had previously attended this festival, now in its sixth year.

Melissa from Frankfort sporting a Regency turban

By 1:30 I was worn out from the heat and the activity. I can't imagine how warm some of the women were and especially the men in their heavy coats. I left before the panel discussion with authors of books of sequels and alternative endings to Austen's works. That wasn't happening until 3:30 and I would have melted into just a little damp puddle on the ground by then. 

There was to be a Grand Ball last evening and tickets to that were sold out. I am sure it was a success.

The event organizers are to be applauded. The festival was well-attended and today, Sunday, is another day for people to enjoy - more teas and the same activities and events. It was a very civilized and elegant affair.

Jane Austen Festival Photos

Here are some random photos taken today at the Jane Austen Festival at Locust Grove. Tomorrow I will write about what went on and share some more photos, but now I am going to take a proper nap.

The Duel

Mr. Darcy Strips

Mr. Darcy in full dress

An Officer and a Gentleman

The Sedan Chair

Ann Sweeney in her Best Bonnet

The (Oh So Dead) Lady in the Lake

Photograph:VisitBritain/Rod Edwards/Getty Images

I hope I have found a new mystery writer to follow. I downloaded from the library the first in the DS Peter Diamond series written by Peter Lovesey.

The Last Detective (1991) opens with the discovery of the dead body of a woman floating in a lake near Bristol. At first, no one can identify her and she becomes known as The Lady in the Lake. 

The blurb on Amazon states that in order to solve the mystery, Detective Superintendent Diamond must find two missing letters attributed to Jane Austen.

Really!? Another Austen connection? I didn't know about that until after I had downloaded this mystery. Now it seems as if Our Jane is following me everywhere...

Anyway, I have barely begun DS Diamond's adventure but I love   an old-fashioned British police procedural. I am sure we will get   along just fine. 

Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit by P.G. Wodehouse

Oh, that Bertie Wooster. 

I just finished Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit (1954) by P.G. Wodehouse. I do believe it is one of the only full-length novels that I have read starring the feckless Wooster and his man, the shimmering Jeeves. Mostly I have made their

acquaintance through short stories. 

I recently wrote about watching all four seasons of Jeeves and Wooster with Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry, and of course I could only see and hear them in my mind's eye as I read this comic tale. That only added to my enjoyment.

The trouble, and there is always trouble when Bertie is about, begins with Bertie growing a moustache to the disappointment and disgust of Jeeves. The action moves from London to Aunt Dahlia's stately home, Brinkley Court, and involves pearl necklaces, side whiskers, disappearing ladders, a restorative concoction invented by Jeeves, a cosh, a bout of dyspepsia, engagements made and broken, and more cliff-hangers than can be counted. 

Just as Bertie gets out of one jam, another presents itself which is where the fun is. How will B.W. work his way out of this corner!

Odd as it may sound, a book with the unlikely title The Mystery of the Pink Crayfish and its author play a part in this romp. Of course, Jeeves is on hand to smooth Bertie's bumpy way. Bertie eventually sees the light regarding said moustache to which Jeeves, with just the tiniest raising of an eyebrow, can only reply:

"Thank you very much, sir."

In Which I Attempt Once Again to Befriend Jane Austen

Our Jane

I am not really sure why, but I just don't 'get' Jane Austen. It took me forever to read Pride and Prejudice all the way through. Actually I had to watch the movie before I could try for the third of fourth time to read it. Somehow hearing her words spoken aloud helped me wade through her sentences.

I have lovely hardcover editions of all her books and yet...they sit on the shelf unopened. Well, I did start to read Persuasion. I gave up and rented the TV adaption with Sally Hawkins and Rupert Penry-Jones. I didn't much like the heroine, Anne Elliot. 

I rented the movie The Jane Austen Book Club hoping for some insight but none was forthcoming. Because I hadn't read the books, I couldn't nod in agreement with the women's comments and I had no clue as to how the modern day relationships 
paralleled the ones in Ms. Austen's books. 

And yet, I have not given up in my pursuit of Ms. Austen. Yesterday I checked out A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me About Love, Friendship, and the Things That Really Matter. The author, William Deresiewicz, takes a look at how his life was affected by reading Emma and what lessons he learned from that book and the five other novels written by Ms. Austen. 

So you can see that I am trying!

All this has come to the fore because this weekend a Jane Austen Festival is happening at Locust Grove historic home not 10 minutes from my house. It is the sixth festival put on by the local Jane Austen Society.

There will be tea and scones, Regency fashions, a panel discussion with Pride and Prejudice sequel authors, a duel between gentlemen, and a cricket match. What, ho?

It looks to be great fun and if the temperature is not in the 100s I just might attend if for no other reason than to participate in the P&P reading marathon that will take place on the veranda. I hope they will be serving (iced) tea.