Another mystery set against Newmarket and the racing set. There is always a secondary background in Dick Francis novels & this time it is restaurants, food and music. The story is slow to gain pace & is not classic Francis but there is enough intrigue to keep one reading to the end. TP
Singled out: how two million women survived without a man after the First World War
By Virginia Nicholson
This well researched book tells the stories of those women left unmarried after the First World War. For most, it was not their choice, but purely the fact that there were not enough men to go around. Some had lost their fiancées or husbands, but there was also a whole generation of women who were coming up to the marriageable age at the beginning of the war, who had to resign themselves to be “spinsters” for the rest of their lives. This was the era where women were expected to become wives and mothers and it was frowned upon for women to have a career.
The book is filled with anecdotes from many women who succeeded in life in spite of the war and some (in the lower socio-economic group) that lived life in semi-poverty sometimes shunted by society for their inability to find a “man”.
Although this book discusses the British situation, it would equally apply to other countries that sent their young men to World War One never to come back. This book is a very readable look at a significant period of our history. CV
Let me sing you gentle songs
by Linda Olsson
An old woman & a young woman whose lives are riven with sorrow meet & embark on a tender & unusual friendship. Their emotions are mirrored with beautiful descriptions of the Swedish countryside. A subtle, poignant novel that lingers in the memory long after reading. TP
