“I Capture The Castle” by Dodie Smith

A very English novel, written at a time when there was no genre called “Young Adult” and books were either for children or adults, and playwright Dodie Smith wrote this, her first novel and a story of teenagers and first love told by Cassandra about her eccentric family. Living in a gradually crumbling castle, her widowed father has remarried, but is struggling with writers block, leaving the family in financially dire straits.

I’d heard lots of people talk with affection for this book, so I’d settled in for a good read when I picked up my copy for my reading group, but I actually found it quite an unsettling read. Although the narrator says how old she is on the first page, I’d actually forgotten this fairly quickly, and struggled to place her. At times she seemed to talk as a young teenager, and at other times she spoke of things as though she was bordering on adulthood and in her late teens. And I didn’t only struggle with Cassandra, I also had problems with other members of the family. Her younger brother was spoken of as a child initially, then towards the end of the book, it seems as though the author suddenly needed him to be almost an adult, and he is shoe-horned into the plot with knowledge of psychiatric principles!

I didn’t like the development of the relationships between Rose and Cassandra with Simon and Neil, it all felt too staged and predictable, but I wonder if this was more original at the time it was written, and I’ve read many other books and seen films since which have similar stories.

An uneven narrative and I didn’t find any humour in the book which others have commented on. I didn’t feel satisfied by the book, and felt a bit discomforted by some of the story, and overall, I just didn’t enjoy it.

“Catcher In The Rye” by J. D. Salinger

The ultimate teenage book of angst and disaffection, this book is a glimpse into the life of student Holden Caulfield, who after just being expelled from school, takes the opportunity to spend a few days away from home and school, and consider his life and future.

This is one of those books that I’d always meant to read, but never quite got round to it, so when it came up on the Rory Gilmore book challenge, it seemed a good opportunity to make a start on it. Written in an informal manner, it reads like an intimate conversation with the author, full of the contemporary slang of the period. Holden is a disaffected youth, still mourning the loss of his brother, and making that transition from adolescence to adulthood.

There isn’t really a plot as such, the book is more of a snapshot of a few days in Holden’s life, albeit a few days when he considers the state of his life and shares his thoughts with the reader. It means the story doesn’t have a defined beginning or conclusion, and doesn’t provide any resolution, but I felt it left me with enough insight to make my own conclusions as to where Holdens’ life would go in the future.

It’s not a bad book, and I can completely understand how this book talks to teenagers, and still continues to, but I still didn’t enjoy it. I suspect I came to it too late, and have long since put the confusion and disdain of my youth behind me, and couldn’t quite connect with Holden as a character.

“To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee

This is one of those books I’ve always meant to read but never quite got round to it, but with the 50th anniversary coverage recently and its inclusion on the Rory Gilmore Book Challenge, it seemed like now was as good a time as any to give it a go.

I have to admit, I’ve never seen the film in full yet I still somehow had managed to have some preconceived ideas about this book. I’d assumed it was entirely about the trial in which a white lawyer defends a black man accused of attacking a white girl in America’s Deep South of the 1930s. What I actually got was the tale of Scout, the young daughter of widowed attorney Atticus Finch, and her brother Jem growing up in a small town. The friendships they make, the society around them, the forward thinking father and the trial is just a small part of the story, although the build up to it and the consequences of it, have a huge impact on the lives of the Finch family.

There are many themes dealt with throughout the book, including racism, gender roles and class, but all discovered through the eyes of a child, giving an innocence to the style and an unprejudiced honesty to the narrative. Atticus Finch is perhaps the greatest father in literary history, with Scout portraying him as an easy going and almost remote parent, what he actually does is provide the children with the building blocks they need to become independent, just, fair individuals who understand the importance of standing up for what you believe in.

If you haven’t read this book, I would definitely recommend you do. Not because it’s a “classic”, but because it’s a marvellous piece of storytelling, and a wonderful read.

“Rebecca” by Daphne du Maurier

Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again … the famous first line of Rebecca gives you an enticing glimpse of what it to come in this story of a young woman who in her first job as a companion, meets Maxim de Winter, and soon finds herself married to the widower and mistress of the house – Manderley. But the house holds the secrets of Maxim’s first wife, Rebecca, and the ghost of their marriage haunts the new Mrs de Winter, never allowed to forget her husband’s past by the sinister housekeeper, Mrs Danvers.

Initially, it took me a while to get used to, as it’s quite dense prose in a style that was contemporary to the period when it was written, but after a few chapters I got used to it and was not only finding it easier to read, but I was completely gripped. The story is riveting and I was sure I could see what was happening and where it was going, but there was a revelation at the end of chapter 19 that left me reeling and the story suddenly took off in a whole new direction I was not expecting.

A compelling read. I will definitely be looking to read more du Maurier in the future.

“Bonjour Tristesse” and “A Certain Smile” by Françoise Sagan

Every once in a while, a book or author comes along that blows everything or everyone else out of the water. Françoise Sagan is one of those authors.

I’ve just finished Bonjour Tristesse and A Certain Smile by this author, and I’m completely stunned by how staggeringly good these two books are. From the very first paragraph I was in awe of the writing; it was the best opening of any book I have ever written. I’m not exaggerating, I honestly feel the writing is just sublime.

Bonjour Tristesse is the story of a summer on the French Riviera for Cécile, a seventeen year old, who is living a carefree life with her widowed father and his latest girlfriend. When her father decides to remarry, it turns Cécile’s world upside down. The main theme of the book is morality and whether it is possible to be without moral sense or if it is something inherent within all of us.

A Certain Smile follows the love affair between law student Dominique and an older married man, Luc, the uncle of her boyfriend. It is an honest look at the emotional journey of a young woman embarking on an affair, and considers the truth of what love is.

The translations by Irene Ash are superb, and while I’ve already mentioned that Bonjour Tristesse has the best opening of a book I’ve ever read, the final paragraph of A Certain Smile, while deceptively simple, is profound yet real, and brought a complete sense of closure to the narrative. All of this seems all the more incredible when you realise that Sagan wrote Bonjour Tristesse, her first novel, when she was just eighteen, with A Certain Smile following just two years later.

These books have made such an impact on me, I won’t be picking up another book for a couple of days, as I want to ponder and savour them before starting something new.

“Wide Sargasso Sea” by Jean Rhys

Inspired by Jane Eyre, this novel tells the story of Rochester’s first wife, Antoinette, the white daughter of former slave owners who grows up in the Coulibri Estate, a down at heel plantation in Jamaica. In Part One, told by Antoinette, the family finances are in ruins following the Emancipation Act freeing the slaves, and her widowed mother struggles to keep the estate and family going, as the family are resented and tormented by the black community. Her mother remarries, but tragedy is not far away, as the family are driven from their estate, Antoinette is rejected by her mother and sent away to school.

In Part Two, an Englishman tells the story of his wedding and the start of his marriage to Antoinette, followed by his account of the rumours and tales that surround her heritage, while Antoinette sinks deeper and deeper into her memories, thoughts and fears, culminating in a trip to Christophine, a servant from Antointette’s childhood whom she always had a connection with and who is known to practice obeah (a local religious belief, including healing beliefs viewed by Europeans as witchcraft).

Finally, Part Three is told in Antoinette’s voice, and is based back in England, where she is cared for by Grace Poole, and concludes with a familiar story from Jane Eyre.

I’ve not read many “classics”, so I’ve been catching up on the odd one, here and there, and last year I read Jane Eyre before I watched the BBC1 adaptation, and it was only subsequently when I heard about the BBC4 dramatisation of this novel that I even knew it existed. And I am so glad I found out about it. Completely different in tone, whereas Jane Eyre is the story of a naive young woman falling in love, Wide Sargasso Sea is an illuminating insight into the mind of a mentally disturbed young woman. Whilst always in the first person narratives, it is a contemplation on the factors that may have been involved in driving someone to insanity, and perhaps even questioning whether she is even insane, or merely reacting to the environmental and emotional factors that have shaped her from a young child, or possibly suffering from an illness she has inherited from her mothers genes, who also displayed the same characteristics.

The first person narrative forces us into Antoinette’s thoughts initially, and when the narrative changes to her husband (he is never actually named), we have the mirrored point of view, and look at her from the outside again. But, whoever the narrator is, we are firmly in the centre of their world, and it is a genuinely thought provoking story.

Although this is a short novel – only 125 pages – it is rich and dense in language, and enthralling throughout. I loved this book, and especially if you’ve read Jane Eyre, but even if you haven’t, I would recommend it as a great read.