William — an Englishman by Cicely Hamilton

July 10, 2018 by Christina

Fiction — print. Persephone Books, 2014. Originally published 1919. 226 pgs. Purchased. In 1914, twenty-six year old William Tully, a Social Reformist living in England, marries Griselda the suffragette, and the two sojourn to Belgium for a month long honeymoon. Hoping to take a break from their political activism and enjoy their time together, William and Griselda instruct their friends and family not to write to them or send them English-language newspapers. Neither of them ever considered Europe would end […]

Categories: 2018 Reads, Europe, Fiction, Persephone Books, United Kingdom • Tags: Cicely Hamilton

Cheerful Weather for the Wedding by Julia Strachey

April 4, 2018 by Christina

Fiction — print. Persephone Books, 2009. Originally published 1932. 119 pgs. Purchased. On a March day in England, Dolly Thatcham prepares in her childhood home to marry her fiance, Owen, before the two of them set off for his diplomatic post in South America. The cover image for Strachey’s novel — not to mention the suggestion of “cheerful” in the title — suggests that the day should be serene and wonderful. Yet chaos reigns in the family home. Two cousins […]

Categories: 2018 Reads, Fiction, Persephone Books • Tags: Julia Strachey

Because of the Lockwoods by Dorothy Whipple

April 21, 2015 by Christina

Fiction – print. Persephone, 2014. Originally published 1949. 488 pgs. Purchased. Mr. Lockwood is rather peeved when his wife volunteers him to handle the papers of the newly deceased Mr. Hunter, who died unexpectedly leaving behind three children and wife incapable of balancing a checkbook let alone her husband’s affairs. And he is even further peeved to find that Mr. Hunter recently purchased a paddock abutting Lockwood’s property he had spent years trying to acquire with the three hundred pounds […]

Categories: 2015 Reads, Chunkster, Europe, Fiction, Persephone Books, United Kingdom • Tags: Dorothy Whipple

Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple

November 22, 2014 by Christina

Fiction — print. Persephone Books, 2008. Originally published 1953. 413 pgs. Library copy. Whipple’s novel follows an English family as they grapple with the impact a young, French woman has on their lives. Avery owns his own publishing house in London but lives outside the city with his wife, Ellen, near the home of his demanding mother, known only as Mrs. North or Madame. Their daughter, Anne, attends a boarding school away from her family and her beloved horse, Roma, […]

Categories: 2014 Reads, Classics, Europe, Fiction, France, Persephone Books, United Kingdom • Tags: Dorothy Whipple

Good Evening, Mrs. Craven by Mollie Panter-Downes

September 18, 2014 by Christina

Fiction — print. Persephone Books, 2008. 200 pgs. Library copy. Panter-Downes served as the London correspondent for The New Yorker during the Second World War writing the “Letter from London” column, book reviews, and over thirty short stories about English domestic life. This collection – the first for Panter-Downes – contains twenty-one of her short stories and spans the years 1938 to 1944. The titular story follows a young woman engaged in an affair with a Mr. Craven – the […]

Categories: 2014 Reads, Europe, Fiction, Persephone Books, United Kingdom • Tags: Mollie Panter-Downes

The Making of a Marchioness by Frances Hodgson Burnett

September 3, 2014 by Christina

Fiction — print. Persephone, 2008. Originally published 1901. 308 pgs. Library copy. Emily Fox-Seton is, unfortunately, an impoverished young women with limited opportunities and largely depends upon the kindness of friends to carve out an existence in the world. But she is well liked by friends and acquaintances, who appreciate her good nature by largely taking advantage of her, and manages to land an invitation to Lady Maria Bayne’s house party at Mallowe Court where she meets a the Marquis, […]

Categories: 2014 Reads, Classics, Europe, Fiction, Persephone Books, United Kingdom • Tags: Frances Hodgson Burnett

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson

June 7, 2011 by Christina

Fiction — print. Persephone Books, 2008. Originally published 1938. 234 pgs. Library copy. On my list of twenty-one things I’d like to accomplish before I turn twenty-one was to read a book published by Persephone Books. I selected Watson’s novel simply because this is one of only two books (and the only fictional book) published by Persephone that my public library shelves. Watson’s novel tells the story of Miss (Guinevere) Pettigrew, an older woman and governess, sent to the wrong […]

Categories: 2011 Reads, Classics, Europe, Fiction, Persephone Books, United Kingdom • Tags: Winifred Watson

Persephone Books

April 1, 2011 by Christina

I have been itching to read a Persephone for a while now, especially after Claire of Paperback Reader and Verity of cardigangirlverity hosted Persephone Reading Weekend at the end of February. I’ve had a hard time finding some of the titles from Persephone Books’ catalog in my library and I just cannot justify the cost of ordering one at this moment. It dawned on me earlier this month that I might be able to find a Persephone or two in […]

Categories: Bookish Notes, Persephone Books