My Cornish Reading List

I adore reading, but since I have been on my own, have done very little. I have been stockpiling books for quite some time now, and wonder whether I will ever make inroads into the ever growing pile.

Every January the husband and I used to go away for a three-week holiday, to sunnier climes, and I used to take a large pile of books with me. We were lucky to fly business class, so I could take almost a whole suitcase of reading matter. This was a real treat, as coming so close to Christmas, I usually had a lovely pile of gifts to read. My family knew my weakness, and kept me well supplied. I missed the January break this year, and know now that I will be unlikely to ever repeat it in the same way.

So - what shall I choose? I mostly like biographies, my taste is not modern. My elder daughter has a voracious and eclectic taste in books, and makes me feel slightly old-fashioned. I admire her wide-ranging selection - but am not tempted to read many of them.

On the table in front of me are the following:

Elizabeth David by Artemis Cooper
Sashenka by Simon Montefiore
So I have Thought of You - The Letters of Penelope Fitzgerald
Venus of Empire, The Life of Pauline Bonaparte by Flora Fraser
The Music Room by William Fiennes
Dsvid Golder by Irene Nemirovsky
All Our Wordly Goods by Irene Nemirovsky
The Lover's Watch by Aphra Benn

Common sense dictates that I will probably only read two or three of these or possibly four. The eternal problem, piles of wonderful books, hardbacks in wonderful covers, and destined to be returned once more to the shelf. Not the only things on the shelf at this moment in time. What a terrible pun.

I do have a secret plan - when I am finally divorced, and master of my own destiny once more, I intend to slope off somewhere warm, and inexpensive, to sit under a shady tree, and read to my heart's content. The very thought is giving me the strength I need to get through the next few months.

Suddenly I am not at all worried about being on my own - the thought is so seductive - so many selfish pleasures in the offing.