Things I like about Autumn

 A few things I like about Autumn...  The last flowers making the most of precious sunny days (aster novae-angliae, Hydrangea Endless Summer Pink and Clematis Rebecca), giving me colour in the garden.

 A beautiful blue Autumn sky with wispy white clouds.

The right time of year to read Persuasion, accompanied by a cup of tea and a bar of my current favourite chocolate (Lindt Extra Creamy is my top all-time favourite, but Galaxy Bubbles comes a close second).  I indulged myself last week and watched the dramatisation of Persuasion with Amanda Root as Anne Elliot - a perfect treat for this time of year.

My Life in Books

I have been watching a few episodes in the short BBC2 series 'My Life in Books', http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00z0ltv where people in the public eye have been asked to choose five books - one children's book, one 'guilty pleasure', and three others. They also have to say what their choices say about them. There have been some interesting combinations of people interviewed, such as Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen and Sister Wendy Beckett (my favourite of the programmes I saw, actually). This got me thinking, what would I choose? I must say that this was one of the most difficult choices as I have so many favourite books. If it had been top 100, or even top 50, it would have been much easier. No Dickens, no Cold Comfort Farm, no The Moonstone, no Wives and Daughters, no A Traveller in Time and only one Jane Austen - but I am reasonably pleased with my final choice. Here they are:

Children's book: The Children of Green Knowe by Lucy M Boston

I first read this when I was about eight or nine and I loved it. I still read it every year, around Christmas. It is the story of Tolly, who comes to stay with his Great Granny at Green Knowe, and discovers that the house has other occupants from previous generations. There is a curse on a large yew tree in the garden and he has a very exciting time sorting everything out!

Persuasion by Jane Austen

This is my favourite of Jane Austen's novels. It has a wonderfully autumnal feel and tells the story of Anne Elliott, an unmarried middle daughter who previously fell in love with Frederick Wentworth, only to be persuaded that he had no prospects, so she declined his proposal. Several years later, he returns, a Captain in the Navy with lots of money, and Anne (who has remained in love with him) realises that her chance of happiness may have gone forever. The story is beautifully written, with wonderful characters, and I really empathised with Anne throughout.

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

This book kept me absolutely engrossed and I often re-read it, despite knowing what happens. It is a convoluted story told by different characters and contains blackmail, mistaken identities, love, murder, and one of the most evil (but charming) villains ever to appear in print, Count Fosco. The heroine, Marian, is an amazing woman who is described as ugly which immediately grabbed my interest, as an ugly heroine is extremely unusual. She is wonderfully clever and a match for Fosco. The ending is satisfactory, with everything explained, but it is not altogether happy.

The Morville Hours by Katherine Swift

Beautiful prose, written over fourteen years and based around the forming of a garden is how this book can be described, but it is so much more. The author writes about geography, geology, astronomy, astrology, county lore, gardening, country people, the seasons, her own family history and at the heart of the book is her creation of a garden. It is a book that you need to read slowly, without distractions, to savour each bit of it. I have read it twice now and will continue to read it for the rest of my life, I think.

Guilty Pleasure: The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge

This is a children's book really, but it is one I still enjoy reading. It has a 13 year old heroine called Maria, who goes to stay with her cousin, Sir Benjamin Merryweather. Gradually she realises that she has got to sort out some very ancient history and if she doesn't, she will have to leave the valley and never return. It has magical and supernatural elements and Maria is a strong-willed and determined young lady. Does she sort everything out? You'll have to read the book!

What do my choices say about me? I think they show that I am a romantic person who likes a satisfactory ending - not always happy, because life isn't like that, but with all the ends tied up. I also love stories I can escape into and leave the world behind. There is also a bit of a supernatural element to some of the books I have chosen, which really surprised me, as I have a really vivid imagination and don't like horror films or ghost stories usually. I found this a really interesting thing to do - what are your five favourites?

An old acquaintance

As I have been reading the Jane Austen Pocket Bible, it has been taking me back to the books and I have re-acquainted myself with Miss Emma Woodhouse. I realised that there are many more clues in the book than I had discovered, and in fact, I had been almost as blind as Emma herself! In fact, it is like a detective story, where Jane Austen gives subtle clues to underlying action, so subtle that it is very easy to miss them altogether. A discussion with a fellow Jane Austen fan consolidated my thoughts that these novels are complex and well written and repay many re-readings.
As an additional thought, I would like to put in my vote for Mr George Knightley as the best hero in the whole of Jane Austen's novels. Yes, I know there will be howls of derision from all the Mr Darcy fans, but I stand by my choice. Mr Knightley is the sort of man you can depend on. He is caring, sensible, attractive but not outrageously handsome, and just the sort of man to help in any circumstance. Some readers may feel he is a little dull, but I think that is just because he is more of a quiet presence throughout the novel than Frank Churchill, or Wickham in Pride and Prejudice or Willoughby in Sense and Sensibility, and behaves as a gentleman should. He is selfless, and not afraid to offer an opinion. (Oh, and being a major landownwer with a large house and money helps too!) Captain Wentworth (Persuasion) comes a close second, but is let down by initially having his head turned by a young woman's flattery and Colonel Brandon (Sense and Sensibility) also deserves a mention although as my friend pointed out, he does wallow in his feelings a little too much. Having a sort of Mr Knightley of my own (except for the landowner bit and money, yes Chris, I do mean you!) perhaps makes me biased, but it seems to work for me.