Irish women writers...

Just finished reading  'A Charming Man' by Marian Keyes. Lovely book, dealt with extremely serious issues like alcoholism and domestic violence without without completely bogging down or depressing the reader. Love the way she writes, she is so funny and I laughed so much, at one point husband thought have been struck by late night madness/mirth-ness.

Must says really impressed with Irish writers, specially the women. Fell in love with Maeve Binchy and finished all her books which are available in the Oxfordshire library. Really loved the way she writes...her books were my only friends in the first few lonely months in Oxford.

Now that no longer have any books left to read, though every time I visit the library, faithfully (like a ritual) go and run my eyes through her books, who knows may strike gold with a new arrival! Nor can afford to buy books in present circumstances, so was looking for replacement author. Found another Irish lady--Marian Keyes. This was her second book, the first one a book cheekily called "Further Under the Duvet".

My vocabulary has also expanded to boot. New words/slangs learnt are:

Cripes: Slang used to express surprise, annoyance, disgust, etc.

Fecking: Polite and socially acceptable profanity used by the Irish. 

And a lovely phrase : rough as badger's arse...to describe post drinking hang over. 

Isn't this cool? So get ready to hear these words from me sometime soon in future!

Am sooo over them....

Reading yet another chick lit about late 20 something New York singles. Same story-- three girls, their sex lives, shopping, bonding with other girls, promiscuity with men, night outs and never ending rounds of martinis and cocktails, vacations in the sunny south, careers or non existence of the same and hordes of similar other familiar stuff. For the first time in my reading career I am so bored reading this, that I am surprised at myself. Come on this is a chick lit, my favourite genre (ok second fav, right after the romantic genre) and here I am bored! It is not badly written, quiet witty (discovered a singsong phrase called "pity party"), but I am so bored. These characters and all those in their periphery in the book are dysfunctional people at the best, emotionally insecure, neurotic and what not and I am actually spending time reading about them. I grumbled so much that my husband finally asked me to quit reading.

I am finally over reading these. So next time I come across a brightly lit chick lit, don't think I will go for it.

Mary Anne

Just finished Daphne Du Maurier's novel 'Mary Anne'. Like all Du Maurier's novels, this one is also very well written, not a single boring paragraph, very witty and fast paced. I must say that I am impressed with Mary Anne and her history. She fought her one time lover the Duke of York and Albany in court which ultimately led to the Duke's resignation as the Commander-in-Chief of the British army. She did not stop at that but continued to wreck havoc in the British political circle with allegations of corruption against both the whigs and the torries. She even wrote a bestselling novel called The Rival Princes.

In today's mostly emancipated world, we women find the struggle so difficult. Imagine a woman, that too an ex mistress and someone labled as loose in 1807/8 fighting like a tigress with royalty and state. I am not supporting her corrupt practices, but at the same time I cannot, but be impressed by her audacity, wit and courage. The men around her-- her stepfather, her husband and her brother all were pretty ineffectual and looked upto her for idea, inspiration and money of course. She was the sole bread earner for her entire family from a very young age and I must say her surivival strategies were bold and smart. Salute to this bold, yet notorious woman who was condemed by men and their history. If you enjoy historical novels and have a penchant for notorious women, this book is a must read.

To add something completely unrelated, if you are a patriotic Bong like me, Mary Anne would bring Anjan Datta nostalgia in doses. So much so that you would ruffle through old music files to play Datta's song "Mary, Mary Anne, Marie....".