forty-ninth week

I'm not doing the best health-wise at the moment – generally feeling run down and too exhausted to think for long periods –, so reading and writing will be kept to a minimum for the next few weeks. I must admit that I'm also getting rather impatient to be done with this year-long project that I've imposed on myself. I saw it as a challenge, and it certainly has been that! I'm looking forward to having more time and energy to spend on creative writing.

It took me forever to finish The Luckiest Girl in the School by Angela Brazil because I simply could not figure out the point of this novel. A reader of school stories can usually guess, in a general manner, where the author is going, but this narrative was entirely devoid of direction. In fact, I stopped taking notes after the main character, a terminally bland girl, is made Games Captain of her school, and all I can remember about later events in the book is that she learns to drive. One star.

When a woman vanishes and no trace or sign of her can be found for many years, odds are that she is no longer alive. But what happens if she turns up out of the blue one day, just as a documentary on her disappearance is being filmed? How do her own and her family's behaviours differ from what they and the rest of society thought or expected or imagined? This is the premise that Holly Jackson toys with in The Reappearance of Rachel Price, and given that I've become a devoted listener of a couple of podcasts focusing on the cases of missing women (as stated before), this is precisely why I wanted to see what treatment she would give this sensitive topic. The tension in the Price household between the newly re-emerged Rachel, her husband and Bel, the teenaged daughter who was a baby when her mother disappeared, was fantastically maintained throughout the book. I could have done without the constant mentions of the knot in Bel's gut twisting and tightening, though… The plot itself certainly involved a sufficient number of twists of its own. Although this had the potential to be a brilliant, thrilling novel, it featured enough unconvincing elements to break the spell for me, not least the baffling use of kleptomania to demonstrate how a character deals with trauma.

Many fans of English history and/or literature probably know Lucy Worsley. I've long enjoyed her work in both documentary and podcast form (her "Lady Killers" podcast series is highly recommended), but until now had never read any of her books, which include biographies of Agatha Christie and Queen Victoria. I listened to Jane Austen at Home and had a fantastic time; what an interesting way to approach such a variety of facets of "home" in Georgian society through Jane Austen's life and novels! This book was particularly eye-opening regarding the almost entire dependence of many women on the goodwill or even the simple considerateness – yes, it's a word – of men… The author also makes a point of reminding us of Cassandra's capital role in her sister's life as well as in preserving much of her memory for future generations (rather than focus solely on the papers she destroyed). A must, not just for confirmed or prospective Janeites.

J'adore Rebecca et La maison sur le rivage (The House on the Strand), les seuls de ses romans que j'ai lus jusqu'à présent, mais ma curiosité pour Daphne du Maurier a été récemment piquée par l'épisode que la série «Britain's Novel Landscapes» (présentée par Mariella Frostrup) lui a consacré. Voilà pourquoi j'ai emprunté – et dévoré en quatre jours – Manderley for ever, sa biographie par Tatiana de Rosnay. Il m'a fallu un moment pour m'habituer au traitement romancé donné au récit. J'y ai appris, outre de nombreux détails fascinants, que DDM s'était inventé un alter ego masculin et que Menabilly, la demeure qu'elle a longtemps louée, a exercé sur elle un véritable ensorcellement (ce qui explique sans doute comment elle arrive à rendre avec tant de subtilité l'emprise qu'un lieu peut avoir sur une personne). En tant que traductrice qui ne se refuse pas une bonne dose de schadenfreude à l'occasion, j'ai pris un malin plaisir à lire les passages où l'on souligne l'attitude inacceptable adoptée et la qualité douteuse du travail accompli par la collègue qui a traduit la plupart des œuvres de DDM en français… Tiens, parlant de qualité, je m'avoue à la fois surprise et déçue qu'une erreur majeure ait échappé aux relectures du manuscrit, c'est-à-dire l'attribution des Hauts de Hurlevent à la mauvaise sœur Brontë – une faute de débutant∙e!

Despite still being poorly, the lovely Emma Newman, about whom I've already written here and here  and here and here and here, is once again doing an Advent calendar on her "Tea and Sanctuary" podcast this year! Huzzah! Listen for a microdose of gentleness in this horrible, horrible world.

forty-eighth week

Je suis absolument épuisée en ce moment, possiblement à cause du changement de température, alors j'écrirai bien peu cette semaine.

Dans le cadre de mes «lectures obligatoires», j'ai terminé un volume très long, mais passionnant, La pensée féministe au Québec : anthologie (1900-1985), compilé par Micheline Dumont et Louise Toupin. Il s'agit uniquement de textes rédigés par des militantes et non par des journalistes, des universitaires ou des politiciennes. Parmi les sujets abordés que j'ai considérés les plus intéressants se trouvent les arguments déployés en appui à la contraception (j'ai photocopié ces pages pour mes dossiers, étant donné les rumeurs qui courent) et la remise en question du système hétérosexuel par les féministes radicales.

Parmi mes notes de lecture, deux citations de Marie Gérin-Lajoie datant de 1922, mais toujours d'actualité :

Développez votre esprit d'observation et pensez avec droiture et indépendance.

[…] il faut rester fidèles à vos convictions, même quand les vérités que vous soutenez sont défigurées par d'odieuses railleries.

After hearing Maureen Johnson (author of the excellent Truly Devious series) enthusiastically mention The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin on an episode of the "All About Agatha" podcast, I borrowed the ebook, since it sounded like a fantastic puzzle-based mystery novel. Our main protagonist is a bright, resourceful girl named Turtle. The narrative revolves around a wealthy industrialist who is found dead — freshly murdered — 13 years after going missing. In his will, he challenges 16 beneficiaries to discover the culprit. And then bombs start exploding. Although the story was well written, with great pacing and twists and turns that genuinely kept me guessing until the rather unsatisfactory conclusion, and while I loved that a disabled character held crucial clues, the fact that he's practically "cured" of his disability at the end of the book left a bad taste in my mouth…

forty-seventh week

Comme «lecture obligatoire» la semaine dernière, j'ai choisi Découvrir la mémoire des femmes : Une historienne face à l’histoire des femmes de Micheline Dumont. Étant donné la réélection de vous-savez-qui et la montée du «masculinisme» dans mon pays, il me semble pertinent d’étudier l’histoire des femmes, en particulièrement sur le territoire où j'habite. Dans ce volume, l'auteure — historienne renommée et respectée dont je découvre ici le travail — reprend huit de ses textes (publiés à l'origine entre 1973 et 2000) qui démontrent son parcours intellectuel ainsi que l'évolution de son regard sur les femmes et leur histoire, en faisant précéder chacun d'une brève mise en contexte quant à sa rédaction et sa publication initiale. On aurait tort en croyant que les efforts d'historiennes pour rappeler la place occupée de tout temps par les femmes dans l'histoire représentent une préoccupation récente. En effet, les ouvrages et documentaires destinés au grand public par les Britanniques Suzannah Lipscomb et Janina Ramirez (dont j'admire par ailleurs le travail) ont beau remporter un succès indéniable, les théories qui les sous-tendent datent d'une bonne cinquantaine d'années. Que l'histoire des femmes semble encore un concept novateur de nos jours s'avère fort révélateur quant à la vision étriquée et conservatrice (oserai-je dire momifiée?) de ce qui constitue l'histoire. J'ai fort apprécié que l'auteure remette si volontiers sa position en question sans tenter de justifier ses arguments ou ses opinions. Elle m'a amenée à considérer d'un œil plus critique ce qu'on nomme communément «histoire» ainsi que la façon dont on doit s'y prendre pour y montrer l'apport des femmes. Je crois que les passages suivants gagneraient à circuler parmi les personnes intéressées à étudier les femmes dans un contexte historique :

La vraie histoire, au fond, n'existe pas. Il n'existe que le pouvoir de déclarer ce qui est vrai et important parmi les milliers d'événements qui se produisent à chaque seconde depuis des milliers d'années.

***

Un préjugé tenace s'obstine […] à faire débuter l'Histoire avec la civilisation, avec le patriarcat, avec l'écriture qui impose sa force discursive. Un autre préjugé tout aussi tenace a longtemps laissé croire que ce qui était écrit était vrai.

***

Une rupture significative peut être faite quand on accepte que les femmes soient sujets de l'histoire et que l'évolution de l'humanité, vue du point de vue des femmes, soit envisagée autrement. On n'ajoute pas l'idée que la terre est ronde à l'idée que la terre est plate. Cette découverte exige que l'on retourne en arrière et qu'on repense tout différemment. L'histoire traditionnelle a été un des instruments majeurs qui ont contribué à implanter la subordination des femmes, à assurer leur invisibilité historique. Par conséquent, tout ce que nous savons sur l'histoire doit être déconstruit.

I happened upon The Manor School by L.T. Meade while searching for novels set in a girls' boarding school written by neither Enid Blyton nor Angela Brazil. Despite a frustratingly slow start and a highly preachy ending, it proved a very interesting psychological narrative that follows an imaginative 13-year-old girl who runs away with a younger friend rather than be sent to a very strict institution, encountering a variety of perilous situations and ill-intentioned individuals in circumstances far more credible and complex than The New Girl at St Chad’s by Angela Brazil. And the mind games between students were fascinating! L.T. Meade wrote quite a few other books that are available on the Project Gutenberg website, and I look forward to reading more of her work in the future.

forty-sixth week

Comme «lecture obligatoire», j’ai terminé deux livres la semaine dernière. Tout d’abord, un peu en rapport avec mon autre intérêt actuel, c.-à-d. les livres qui se déroulent dans un internat, j’ai choisi Entre femmes et jeunes filles : Le roman pour adolescentes en France et au Québec de Daniela Di Cecco. Bien que cet ouvrage analyse une période plus tardive (1985-1999) que celle qui tend à attirer mon attention, il offre un bref historique qui aide à situer le genre dans le contexte social et que j’ai trouvé fascinant. Il m’a entre autres donné envie de relire Colette! Françoise Sagan mérite bien entendu une mention, mais plutôt que de me plonger dans ses œuvres de fiction, j’ai pour le moment préféré explorer son recueil d’essais intitulé Avec mon meilleur souvenir, où elle entrecoupe les récits de ses rencontres avec des gens célèbres — Billie Holiday, Tennessee Williams, Orson Welles, Rudolf Noureev — par de courts textes sur son engouement pour le jeu, son amour de la vitesse, ses expériences de dramaturge… Elle parle d’elle-même en employant un mélange d’arrogance et d’authenticité absolument irrésistible, et peu importe le sujet dont elle traite, elle manie les mots avec une aisance magistrale. Je conclurai avec un exemple de son écriture si évocatrice et vivante; voici comment elle décrit son accident :

Et ce ne fut la faute de personne si j’allai alors faire quelques gambades dans un champ avec ma voiture décapotable, si l’on m’accorda illico l’extrême-onction et si je me retrouvai durant six mois habillée à la scène comme à la ville en toute exclusivité par les bandes Velpeau.

I’m now done with Enid Blyton’s school stories! I read all three novels in the Naughtiest Girl series (The Naughtiest Girl in the School, The Naughtiest Girl Again and The Naughtiest Girl is a Monitor), which chronicles how spoilt brat Elizabeth Allen grows in maturity while attending a small mixed boarding school. While I did enjoy the drama of the weekly meetings at which the students deal with any matters that have arisen over the past week through a form of self-government, I found the oh-so-sensible judges and jury rather unrealistic. And Elizabeth’s countless swings from badly behaved to angelic, often within a couple of paragraphs, nearly gave me whiplash!

About a year ago, I listened to Miss Morton and the English House Party Murder by Catherine Lloyd, narrated by Lucy Rayner, and was highly entertained by this story of a young aristocratic woman who, bright, resourceful, but destitute, becomes a lady's companion only to unexpectedly stumble into a murder mystery. The second instalment in this series, Miss Morton and the Spirits of the Underworld, thrilled me even more. Caroline Morton’s employer, the generous yet shrewd Mrs. Frogerton, is simply delightful! I admit to being partial to spiritualism as a trope in historical fiction (Linda Stratmann’s Mina Scarletti novels and The Dark Between by Sonia Gensler are among my favourites), so a plot in which a fake French medium asks our heroine to find her killer from beyond the grave was guaranteed to get my attention. Highly satisfying.

forty-fifth week

J’ai poursuivi ma lecture de la série commencée la semaine passée : Le Malicieux journal des sœurs Mouche au collège de Castelroc de Nathalie Somers. La deuxième moitié de cette tétralogie qui se déroule sur toute une année scolaire se compose des titres Tout Schuss! et L’incendie. Entre classe de neige et préparation du spectacle de fin d’année, l’auteure fait traverser à ses jeunes personnages des expériences difficiles qui les amèneront à grandir et renforcera les liens qui les unissent. J’ai apprécié l’intégration dans le récit de situations réalistes, mais sans clichés menant à l’apprentissage de leçons individuelles, et j’ai bien aimé l'évolution de mon personnage préféré, Yasmina, la timide passionnée d’animaux. Recommandé!

Partie sur cette lancée, j’ai entamé une autre série, L'Internat de l'île aux Cigales de Julie Bonnie, en lisant le premier volume éponyme. L’auteure est musicienne et son écriture s’inspire clairement de sa propre expérience pour décrire comment cinq élèves de 6e d’un collège particulier se lient d’amitié et forment un groupe musical. Bien que ce ne soit pas son premier livre, il souffre regrettablement du «syndrome du premier roman», qui incite une écrivaine à bourrer un récit du plus grand nombre de bonnes idées possible. L’histoire comporte de béants trous de logique et saute constamment d’un point à l’autre; les choses arrivent sans raison et sont racontées sans développement ni approfondissement. Cette superficialité nuit à un roman qui avait pourtant le potentiel d’être très touchant. Dommage.

Dans le cadre de mon nouveau programme de «lecture obligatoire», principalement constitué de biographies et d’essais, je me suis attaquée à une grosse brique, Carson McCullers : Un cœur de jeune fille de Josyane Savigneau. J’avoue que je ne connaissais jusqu’alors que le nom de cette auteure américaine et que je n’ai jamais lu quoi que ce soit d’elle — et que ce livre ne m’a pas du tout donné envie de modifier cet état de choses! Il s’agit en réalité d’un ouvrage mi-biographie, mi-critique d’une précédente biographie du même sujet écrite par Virginia Spencer Carr, qu’elle mentionne à tout moment. De plus, sans ses incessantes références aux habitudes éthyliques de Carson et de son mari, Reeves, Savigneau aurait sans doute pu réduire de moitié le volume de son manuscrit, puisqu’elle y raconte bien peu d’autre à part les souffrances physiques de l’auteure… Je suggérerais de changer le sous-titre pour Portrait d’une épave ou Histoire d’un naufrage annoncé. (Soi dit en passant, je trouve surprenant que dans cet ouvrage publié en 1995, elle désigne McCullers comme «un écrivain» alors qu’elle n’ignore manifestement pas la féminisation des titres, ainsi que le prouve son emploi du mot «enquêtrice».) Bref, je me suis ennuyée ferme.

As was the case recently with Enid Blyton’s Malory Towers, I’d read the first three volumes of St Clare’s and decided it was time to finish the series. To be perfectly honest, Second Form at St Clare’s, Claudine at St Clare’s and Fifth Formers at St Clare’s only served to deepen my perplexity… With settings, characters and situations bearing such a close resemblance, what was the point of writing two supposedly distinct series? I know, this isn’t an original thought, and there’s much debate as to which is better. My emphatic preference goes to Malory Towers, probably in large part because I read it before St Clare’s...

forty-fourth week

Par curiosité, j’ai recherché dans le catalogue de ma bibliothèque locale l’équivalent français des «school stories» que j’ai envie de lire ces jours-ci. Je n’y ai pas trouvé grand-chose… Ce genre de fiction ne semble pas occuper dans la culture littéraire francophone la même importance qu’elle ne le fait dans le monde anglophone. C’est un phénomène très intéressant! Je suis tout de même parvenue à dénicher deux séries, et j’ai lu les deux premiers volumes de l’une d’entre elles.

Le Malicieux journal des sœurs Mouche au collège de Castelroc de Nathalie Somers relate les aventures de Nina et de Lucille (les sœurs du titre) et de leur frère Clément — des triplés — dans leur nouvel internat. Perte de confiance, antipathie, jalousie, découragement, apprivoisement de tempéraments difficiles, on y retrouve toutes les expériences du début de l’adolescence racontées avec beaucoup d’humour. Bien que physiquement indifférenciables, les filles possèdent des personnalités bien définies et des façons distinctes de s’exprimer (on peut facilement identifier chaque narratrice même sans lire l’en-tête du chapitre); l’auteure fait un travail formidable en ce sens. En dépit des trous de logique, qui atteignent dans certains cas des dimensions considérables, mais dont je ne me formalise pas trop puisque j'ai depuis fort longtemps dépassé l'âge du public ciblé, j’ai passé un bon moment avec L’Arrivée et Tous pour Mouche!

Less enjoyable was my experience with the last novel in Holly Jackson’s A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series. Not long ago I raved of my love for these books… but As Good as Dead broke my heart. I don’t understand, and I don’t want to talk about it. DNF.

forty-third week

After weeks and weeks spent obsessively learning about Emily Dickinson, I've now entered my "school stories" era! It began innocuously enough when I re-listened to old episodes of the wonderful "Slightly Foxed" podcast and happened on the one featuring Picnic at Hanging Rock and other boarding school narratives. It reminded me that I'd meant to explore this type of literature, so in I dove! (Thanks to Project Gutenberg and Faded Page, many of these novels are freely available; I've lost count of how many I've downloaded onto my trusty e-reader…)

Part of my interest stems from the fact that I spent the first two years of my secondary education as a day student at a small local girl's private school. Although operating very differently from what seems to be typical in English institutions of this sort — there were no "houses" and no head girl, for example — it had a profound impact of my intellectual future and left an indelible mark on my memory.

Since I'd heard about Angela Brazil (in a P.D. James novel, of all places), but had never read her work, I started with The New Girl at St Chad's. I can't say it has aged well at all… Its casual racism and xenophobia are truly shocking, and the segment where our young female protagonist, having run away, encounters not the slightest unsavoury attention from the men with whom she interacts, appears unconvincing to the modern reader. I'll most probably return to Brazil at a later date, but don't have very high expectations.

As I'd already read the first three Enid Blyton Malory Towers books, it seemed natural to move on to the last three: Upper Fourth at Malory Towers, In the Fifth at Malory Towers and Last Term at Malory Towers. I do like the series as a whole despite its repetitiveness and heavy-handed preachiness… but I really cannot stand Alicia and June and Gwendolyn Mary!

This may come across as strange, but I'm a big fan of silence. As I possess quite sensitive ears (my father jokes that I have "bionic hearing"), I often perceive sounds that occur in my environment as negative elements. My perspective was profoundly shaken by Catherine Clearwater memoirs, Cloistered: My Years as a Nun. I'd always felt a deep attraction towards silence and its nourishing, soothing aspects, without ever considering its potential for concealment and destruction. Reading about the suppression of natural, normal thoughts and reactions she describes as an integral part of her training, the bullying she personally experienced as well as the serious mental deteriorations she witnessed in some of her fellow sisters during her dozen years in a Carmelite monastery gave me chills. Thankfully, she was able to eventually leave this repressive environment, to build a quiet yet wholesome life out in the world. I wouldn't recommend this book to those triggered by mistreatment, but I certainly found it most enlightening. (And I've removed twenty-odd convent-related videos from my YouTube "watch later" list…)

forty-second week

Although I did have plenty of time for reading this week, I have very little for writing about it! So here is a list, accompanied by very brief of comments on each book.

La part de l'océan / Dominique Fortier

J'ai été franchement déçue par ce livre. Je pense que c'est en partie parce que les personnages principaux sont masculins. L'auteure emploie toutefois magistralement le courant de conscience pour donner à Lizzie Melville (née Shaw) une existence qui tient autant de la présence que de l'absence.

Good Girl, Bad Blood / Holly Jackson

I read this sequel to A Good Girl's Guide to Murder in less than two days! The clever yet credible use of digital resources to both create and reveal clues was even more deftly featured in this instalment. I loved seeing how Pip's self-understanding as a "good girl" continued to evolve and how she learned to channel her anger. Also, her relationship with Ravi is so wholesome! I'm really looking forward to the third volume in this series.

Give Me Your Heart / Joyce Carol Oates

This collection of short stories was my first encounter with this author, so I had no idea what I was getting into… While I appreciated the ingenuity of the narratives as well as their truly unnerving and disturbing qualities, I couldn't help feeling disappointed by all stories except the one called "Strip Poker"… I simply don't enjoy not having an answer.

How to Survive Your Murder / Danielle Valentine

This proved a very absorbing and seasonable story that combines an ingenious twist on horror movie tropes (particularly that of the "Final Girl") with a critique of the exploitative aspects of true crime podcasts. While I figured out the solution about three quarters of the way through the novel, I still had a good time reading it.

The Inheritance Games / Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Less enjoyable was this book, the first in a series. Part of the problem may reside in the fact that I listened to the audio version, as the narrator — who is supposed to be a 17-year-old girl — sounds like a woman well into her thirties… I couldn't for the life of me tell the four brothers apart, and despite (or perhaps because of?) the multiplicity of puzzles involved in arriving at the solution, the overall plot bored me. Alas, it had none of the entertainment value of a Rube Goldberg machine.

forty-first week

"Phase 3" of the large translation project on which I've been working is DONE! I'll finally have time and brain space to read (more)!

The only book I finished this week was the excellent Bluestockings: A History of the First Women's Movement by Susannah Gibson, which charts the movement that led women to their present position in Western society by demonstrating, through the lives of some of its most well-known members, just how much dedication, determination and courage was required to even begin to resist the multitude of factors that prevented women from engaging in any kind of intellectual work in 18th century England. Not only have they proved that female brains and bodies can indeed withstand serious thought, but they made invaluable — though still largely ill recognized — contributions to the fields of literature, poetry, history, science and philosophy by means of their own writing or their translations.

Women's relationships with men — be it a father or a husband — demanded a woman's time, a woman's duty, a woman's obedience. Friendships with other women did not make demands; rather they gave inspiration, comfort, support and joy.

It may be tempting to imagine a universal sisterhood amongst smart ladies that provided unconditional, nonjudgemental mutual support, but the author doesn't shy away from demonstrating the contrary; even the most enlightened female thinkers of the time could not entirely free themselves from the taint of religious, moral and class expectations and prejudices that had prevailed over thousands of years. Although we have come far in casting off these shackles, we, as the great-granddaughters of these remarkable women, must continue to do better.

This book is very much in line with the job I've just completed, so it was interesting to come across Sarah Robinson Scott and to learn more about her Utopian projects. I've also made a long list of all the ladies whose publications I want to explore in the near future.

To my very great surprise, I've fallen under the spell of "Stranger Things" on Netflix; sci-fi/horror isn't my cup of tea, but there's something so… wholesome (is that the right word?) about it that it's crept its way into my heart. The setting, the characters, the relationships, the dialogues, the music, the acting — holy crap those kids are talented! I think what hooked me was the strong bonds between the people who are thrust into thoroughly inexplicable situations, their drive to protect each other no matter what... I'm halfway through the series now, and am carefully rationing myself: no more than 2 episodes in a row!

fortieth week

I've literally just completed "phase 2" of the large project that has been keeping me busy for the past few months, and I believe that part of my brain may have melted… I'm so exhausted that putting together a coherent post is far beyond me, so I'll simply mention the books I finished this week and my very general impressions.

The Dark Wives by Ann Cleeves is the latest novel starring Vera Stanhope. I've really begun to enjoy this series since The Darkest Evening, and especially Vera's character development. The suspenseful dénouement during the moonlit Witch Hunt and the symbolism of the legend surrounding the Three Dark Wives (crones turned to stone by a giant who thought they talked too much) were extremely well done.

Being very much a house mouse myself, I found the idea of Emily Dickinson and the Image of Home by Jean McClure Mudge intriguing. Unfortunately, its dated views on women and home (it was published in 1975), added to its author's insistence on psychoanalysis (Freud, forsooth!) and heavy speculation ("perhaps" and "possibly" frequently recur) have well and truly emilydickinsoned me out…