Bleak House by Charles Dickens

Over Christmas 2015 and New Year 2016 I watched the drama Dickensian on the television which brought together characters from a number of different Charles Dickens novels.  It wasn't until watching this that I realised just how few Dickens novels I have read (A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations and Oliver Twist - all a very long time ago) and how few of the character names I recognised.  I looked up some of the characters on the internet to find out in which books they had appeared.  The characters I was most interested in following up on were the sisters Honoria and Frances Barbary and also the Detective Mr Bucket.  As they all appear in Bleak House I decided to read this book.  

This book has 67 chapters and at least as many characters!  It begins with a lengthy explanation of the Court of Chancery and the very long running case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce. No-one alive seems to entirely understand the case which keeps on running long past the deaths of the original Jarndyces and affects the lives of the later generations in the family.  

The main character in the book, who narrates a number of the chapters, is Miss Esther Summerson.  At the beginning she is a small child who is in the not very loving care of her godmother.  She is allowed to go to school, but then must come straight home and is not allowed to mix with any of the other children.  Her godmother repeatedly tells Esther that 'Your mother, Esther, is your disgrace, and you were hers'.  She is not allowed to celebrate her birthday or to ask questions about her mother.  Upon the death of the godmother, Esther discovers that she was actually her aunt and her only living relative.  The aunt had made arrangements for Esther to be taken care of through Mr Kenge, a lawyer with Kenge and Carboys.  The funds for Esther's care were provided by Mr Jarndyce who, at this point, Esther has neither heard of nor seen.  

For six years Esther lives at Greenleaf where she learns how to become a governess and begins to teach some of the younger boarders.  One day she receives a letter advising that Mr Jarndyce is about to receive a Ward of Court into his house through the Court of Chancery and he would like Esther to become her companion.  She travels to London and meets with Miss Ada Clare and also her distant cousin Mr Richard Carstone. Both Ada and Richard are orphaned, and also until this day have never met.  Both are to become Wards of Court to Mr Jarndyce.  All three go to live at Bleak House with Mr John Jarndyce as their appointed guardian.  Esther takes on the role of companion, organiser and housekeeper.  

Sir Leicester Dedlock and Lady Dedlock spend their time between their country house, Chesney Wolds, in Lincolnshire, their house in London and travelling around to fashionable places, such as the Paris fashion houses, where Lady Dedlock acquires the most up to date and fashionable wares.  Lady Dedlock finds a lot of things very tiresome and dreary.  

Mr Tulkinghorn is Sir Leicester's attorney-at-law who regularly appears at Chesney Wolds for a night or two and then goes back to his office in London.  Mr Tulkinghorn is a senior attorney and much respected by his colleagues.  He only shares the absolute minimum amount of information and seems to know a lot about what is happening everywhere.  

As a lot of the story takes place in London and around the courts there are numerous characters within the book who work within the legal profession in one manner or another. Upon the sudden death of a gentleman, name unknown, who provides a handwriting service to the courts and attorneys, a bundle of old letters is discovered within his papers.  These are taken and hidden away.  The death of the man and the letters spark off an interest by a few of the legal parties into who the man was.  He is only really known by Joe, a young homeless boy who sweeps the crossings.  Joe has to attend a hearing about the death to give evidence.  He is then approached by a woman with a veil and asked to show her where the death, the hearing and the burial took place.  After giving him cash for his services the woman disappears.  Mr Bucket, the detective, is introduced to Joe so that he can hear the story about the veiled woman.  Mr Bucket is very tenacious in all his investigations.  

As the story progresses there are further deaths and disappearances for Mr Bucket to investigate.  Mr Guppy, one of the law clerks, becomes enamoured with Esther and begins to investigate her past.  Ada and Richard decide they would like to spend their lives together when they are older.  Richard tries out a few possibilities for his future career and at one point wonders about the law and begins to take an interest in the Jarndyce and Jarndyce case.  

This is a book with a lot of inter-woven, complicated stories.  There are so many characters involved, some of whom are known by more than one name!  The narrative is very lengthy in parts - why say in three words what can be said in 50?! 

This book has taken me three weeks to read.  This is the longest time I have ever needed to  get through a book, but I am glad I persevered and got to the end.  I read the Kindle version, but the paper version must be a large tome or have very small print!  I will read another Charles Dickens book, but a shorter one, perhaps next year.  

Down Under by Bill Bryson

This book was first published in 2000 but I have only just acquired a copy.  I have previously read a few of his other books, definitely ‘Notes for a Small Island’, ‘Notes from a Big Country’ and ‘A Walk in the Woods’.  

Bill Bryson visited Australia on a few different occasions to travel around, see the country and annotate his experience.  Sometimes he travelled alone, on other occasions he travelled with a photographer or friend.  His first journey was by the Indian Pacific Railway from Sydney to Perth which is 2720 miles! 

He has investigated towns, cities, villages and woods on foot and taken on huge car journeys on narrow two lane roads across arid desert.  Throughout the book he imparts interesting bits of information about how Australia as a country, and some of the different cities, were founded.  He tells of how it is the country in the world with the largest number of dangerous and venomous creatures - both on and off land.  

At a number of different stopping points he has found museums of great interest telling the history of local activities and also some areas where nothing can be found at all about momentous events which have taken place and shaped the communities to what they are today. 

Overall I enjoyed the book and feel I now know a lot more about the history of Australia.  There were occasions where I didn’t like Mr Bryson very much.  He seemed to be over critical about some things and has even quoted himself as being quite rude to people at some of the hotels he stayed at during his travels.  

I have a copy of ‘A Short History of Nearly Everything’ which comes to me highly recommended and I am looking forward to reading. 

The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes

This is the first book by Jojo Moyes that I have read.  In fact I only came across her as an author earlier this year when people started to rave about the book, and then the film 'Me before You'.  I have been given a copy of that book but haven't read it yet. 

The first part of this book tells the story of Sophie Lefevre.  In the early 1900s in France the artist Edouard Lefevre paints a portrait of his wife Sophie.  The story begins in October 1916 when Sophie has returned to her home town of St Peronne to help her sister Helene to run their family hotel Le Coq Rouge as their two husbands have gone off to fight in the war.  The Germans take control of St Peronne, regularly requisition items from homes and impose curfews. Undeterred, Sophie hangs the portrait in the bar for all to see as it reminds her of Edouard.  The new Kommandant is often seen to openly admire the portrait and, as an art lover, he tries to engage Sophie in conversation about the picture, her husband's life at the Academie Matisse, and the other artists who also studied there. Sophie does not want to collaborate with the Germans but she needs to obey orders given and not upset the Kommandant in order to keep her family safe. 

The story then jumps to 2006 to Liv Halston who has the portrait hanging on the wall of her London glass house, which was built by her Architect husband David before his sudden death.  The portrait was given to Liv by David as a wedding present.  Liv is struggling to come to terms with David's death and to move on with her life.  

Upon undertaking an audit of the paintings by Edouard, the Lefevre family discover that there are some paintings missing and, due to the lack of paperwork available to prove a sale of the work, 'The girl you left behind' becomes the subject of a restitution request.  The story then goes backwards and forwards in time to investigate what had happened to Sophie from 1917 onwards.  Was the painting stolen?  Can Liv hold on to it as she so desperately wants?  There are a few twists and turns along the way as new information emerges to help or thwart both sides of the case! 

I really enjoyed the story and felt a lot of compassion for both Sophie and Liv.  They have both struggled to hold on to the life they love and they certainly have shared a great love for their husbands and for the painting.  They are both prepared to fight for what they love the most regardless of the emotional and/or financial costs. 

I am an avid reader

I have always really enjoyed reading and have to admit to sometimes having more than one book on the go at any one time.  I think my limit is three or four!  

Over the last few years I have been keeping a record of the books I have read, I usually manage between 55 - 60 a year.  

So far this year (from 1 January) I have read the following books in this order: 

1  The Hanging Garden - Ian Rankin (a Rebus novel)
2  Don't Shoot! I'm Just the Avon Lady - Birdie Jaworski
3  Dead Souls - Ian Rankin (a Rebus Novel) 
4  The Light Between Oceans - M L Stedman
5  I, Alex Cross - James Patterson 
6  Maggie's Tree - Julie Walters 
7  Cross - James Patterson (an Alex Cross novel)
8  The Faithless - Martina Cole 
9  Labyrinth - Kate Moss
10 Career of Evil - Robert Galbraith 
11 While My Eyes Were Closed - Linda Green 
12 The Lies That Save Us - J L Redington 
13 Ladies Who Launch - Milly Johnson 
14 The Girl in Between - Laekan Zea Kemp
15 Gingerbread Man - Maggie Shayne 
16 A Body in the Backyard - Elizabeth Spann Craig (a Myrtle Clover Mystery)
17 Bloodbath - Stephen Leather and others 
18 The Rowan Tree - Robert W Fuller
19 Sight Unseen - Robert Goddard
20 The Secret Life of Evie Hamilton - Catherine Alliott
21 You're Coming with Me Lad - Mike Pannett
22 Not on my Patch, Lad - Mike Pannett
23 Just the Job, Lad - Mike Pannett 
24 Up Beat and Down Dale - Mike Pannett
25 My Husband Next Door - Catherine Alliott
26 Deadly Arrangements - Annie Adams 
27 Freaks - Tess Gerritsen (a Rizzoli and Isles short story)
28 Claiming Victory - Beverley Watts
29 Gardens of Delight - Erica James 
30 The Hard Way - Lee Childs (a Jack Reacher novel)
31 The Girl on the Train - Paula Hawkins 
32 Falling for You - Jill Mansell
33 Don't Tell - Karen Rose
34 Hammered - Belle Knudson 
35 School's Out - Jack Sheffield 
36 Silent Night - Jack Sheffield 
37 The Decision - Penny Vincenzi 

I am currently reading two books: 
The Girl You Left Behind - Jojo Moyes and 
Down Under - Bill Bryson 

When I finish these books I will put reviews of them on this blog.  My plan is to write a short review of all the future books I read. 

I am happy reading all styles of books.  I acquire a number of books through swapping them with friends.  I often end up with ones I perhaps would not have selected, but as I have them I give them a go, and am often quite surprised at how much I do enjoy them.  This is certainly a good way to try out different authors. 

I read a combination of both paper and electronic books.