New Books

I was lucky to get some money for my birthday last month, so I bought two books which have been on my wishlist for ages.  I am a huge fan of the Pre-Raphaelites (as anyone who reads my blog/knows me in person will know) and Jan Marsh is an expert on the subject, with many books to her credit.   I do wish that the women involved in the Pre-Raphaelites movement had left us more letters and diaries though, as it is them, whether muses or artists themselves, that I am most interested in.  

As I get older, I find I am more drawn to the pencil /chalk drawings  or the preliminary sketches, rather than the final completed works, even though they are usually full of luscious colour. I remember visiting the Pre-Raphaelite exhibition in London in 1984 (and will forever be grateful to my Mum for going with me and enabling me to see it) and my abiding memory was the colour everywhere.  

I particularly like Rossetti's chalk drawings.   I do have quite a lot of books on the Pre-Raphaelites already, but there is room for one more...

The other one is about Jane Austen.  I enjoyed Lucy Worsley's TV programme about the places Jane Austen had lived and the effect these may have had on her writing (available on iplayer for 14 days here), so this book was added to my wish list too.  I really enjoy re-reading the novels as I find something different every time I read them. She was a very subtle writer and created many fascinating characters.  My favourite novel is Persuasion, closely followed by Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, Emma, Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park (although my views of the seemingly weak and wimpy Fanny Price have changed through re-reading).  If you were to ask my favourite hero and heroine, I would say Mr Knightly from Emma and Anne Elliot from Persuasion (although I also like Elinor Dashwood from Sense and Sensibility).  (I am not a Mr Darcy fan - controversial, I know).  

I am really looking forward to sitting and enjoying both of these books.