Finished: Henry the Sixth, Part III (Shakespeare) I seem to be making my way through the Shakespeare histories backwards at this point. :-) "Tell me if you love Warwick more than me? If it be so, then both depart to him; I rather wish you foes than hollow friends." Well, ain't that the truth in current times as well as back in the day. Edward says this in questioning two of his loyal followers when he realizes that Warwick has betrayed him and gone over to fight on King Henry's side. Of course, Warwick only went over to King Henry's side because he felt horrendously betrayed and embarrassed by Edward when Edward married Elizabeth Woodville without his knowledge AND while Warwick was on an ambassador's trip to the King of France to unite their countries by arranging a marriage between Edward and the sister of the King of France. When notice came during this meeting, which had been approved of by Edward, then Warwick became furious and changed his allegiance. So, this was yet another book of many battles and trading allegiances. First, Edward's father, Richard and his brother, Edmund, were slain in the battle to usurp King Henry from his throne. Then, Edward and his brothers, Richard and George (of Clarence) prevailed and defeated Henry, exiling him to Scotland and placing the crown on Edward's head. Then, Edward ups and marries Elizabeth, which really ticks both of his brothers off as well, since he seems to start favoring her brothers and other family members. Then, Warwick wages war on Edward, with the help of Henry's wife, Margaret, AND with the help of Edward's brother, George, who has defected to his side. This temporarily restores Henry to the crown, until brother Richard and some loyal men free Edward from his guard and restore him yet again back to the crown. In that ensuing battle, Warwick is finally killed because at the last minute, George decides that he can't go against his brother, so he helps Edward defeat Warwick. Young Edward, the son and heir of Henry and Margaret is also killed in that battle, so the wind rather goes out of Margaret's sails at that time. And then, Richard rushes off to finally kill the usurped Henry, instead of just imprisoning him. Then, at the end, Elizabeth presents King Edward with a son and heir, and Edward seems to think they'll all live happily ever after in a peaceful kingdom. The plotting Richard, though, is already showing signs of having other ideas...which we soon find out about in the book I finished before this...Richard the Third. In all, another great Shakespeare reading! I'm not sure if I'll go further back in history right now, but I will eventually. I left off coming the other way in history with the honorable Harry Hotspur, one of my favorite Shakespeare characters, being killed in his uprising against Henry IV, so I've got some middle ground to cover. :-)

Finished: Richard III (Shakespeare) Another great one by Shakespeare! O momentary grace of mortal men, which we more hunt for than the grace of God! Love that line from the character Hastings as he is about to be put to death by the evil King Richard. I really enjoyed this entire story because my hubby and I have recently been watching a different viewpoint story of the famous War of the Roses (Lancaster versus York) by watching The White Queen on television. In The White Queen, Richard is more of a pretty boy, sniveling younger brother to King Edward who never really seems as if he cares to have any power at all until he starts listening to the treacherous women around him, in particular, his wife Anne Neville. In Shakespeare's version, Richard is born disfigured, and remains ugly inside and out his entire life. He craves power and will do anything to be king from quite an early age...including killing anyone who stands in his way in line to the thrown, i.e., his own brother, George of Clarence, and his nephews, the sons of his recently deceased brother, King Edward. When King Edward dies, he leaves his brother Richard as their "protector" until his oldest son, also Edward, who is only about 12, can take over the throne. In Shakespeare's story, Richard mercilessly orders the deaths of both of his young nephews, after killing his brother George. In The White Queen, it is never clear exactly WHO orders the deaths of the boys, but it is implied to be either Anne Neville or Margaret Beaufort. Richard is specifically NOT implicated in the killing of the boys. So, what is the actual truth? In actuality, no one knows what became of the "princes in the tower". Richard did have them locked in the Tower of London after having King Edward's children by Elizabeth Woodville declared illegitimate. He then had himself crowned king. However, there came a day when no one ever saw the boys again and the mystery remains. Was Richard really so ruthless from an early age? I'm not sure that is clear either. It is very clear, however, that Richard was not a good king and was soundly defeated in battle by Margaret Beaufort's son Henry Tudor, a Lancastrian...who would go on to become King Henry VII. And, King Henry VII also ended up marrying Elizabeth, the daughter of Elizabeth Woodville and the deceased King Edward, to finally unite their families and do away with the War of the Roses once and for all. Anyway, as far as Shakespeare's version, as usual for me, no one compares to his turn of the word. :-) I liked this passage where Queen Elizabeth comes out to tell everyone that King Edward has died:

To make an act of tragic violence:
Edward, my lord, thy son, our king, is dead!
Why grow the branches when the root is gone?
Why wither not the leaves that want their sap?
If you will live, lament: if die, be brief,
That our swift-winged souls may catch the king's;
Or, like obedient subjects, follow him
To his new kingdom of ne'er-changing night.

I love that! And, there are, as usual, some famous quotes to be had from Richard III. One I had never known the context of until I just read it last night:

King Richard: A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!

Basically, Richard had been fighting the battle against Henry atop his horse, but once his horse is slain, he is forced to fight on foot, with no opportunity to retreat. Being forced to fight man to man, he is killed in battle. In the midst of the fighting, he yells the above now famous line. In every day language, I think the quote symbolizes a person needing something they usually take for granted, and being willing to give up anything for it.

And, of course, the famous opening lines spoken by Richard when he is still Duke of Gloucester and his brother, King Edward, is still alive. In history, they have been successful in overthrowing the Lancastrian King Henry VI, and King Edward has grown more apt to indulge in wine, women, and food than in going out and doing more battle. Richard's true character and intent comes out in this soliloquy as he shows how he is envious of his brother's power, looks and abilities with women, compared to his deformed figure. He declares himself a villain and in the same breath plots the murder of his brother, George of Clarence:

Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York;
And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.
Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths;
Our bruised arms hung up for monuments;
Our stern alarums changed to merry meetings;
Our dreadful marches to delightful measures.
Grim-visag'd war hath smooth'd his wrinkled front;
And now, --- instead of mounting barbed steeds, 
to fright the souls of fearful adversaries,---
He capers nimbly in a lady's chamber
To the lascivious pleasing of a lute.
but I, that am not shap'd for sportive tricks,
Nor made to court an amorous looking-glass;
I, that am rudely stamp'd, and want love's majesty
To strut before a wanton ambling nymph;
I, that am curtail'd of this fair proportion,
Cheated of feature by dissembling nature, 
Deform'd, unfinish'd, sent before my time
Into this breathing world, scarce half made up,
And that so lamely and unfashionable
That dogs bark at me, as I halt by them;
Why, I, in this weak piping time of peace, 
Have no delight to pass away the time,
Unless to see my shadow in the sun
And descant on mine own deformity:
And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover,
To entertain these fair well-spoken days,
I am determined to prove a villain,
And hate the idle pleasures of these days,
Plots have I laid, inductions dangerous,
by drunken prophecies, libels, and dreams,
To set my brother Clarence and the king
In deadly hate the one against the other:
And if King Edward be as true and just
As I am subtle, false, and treacherous,
This day should Clarence closely be mew'd up,
About a prophecy, which says that G
Of Edward's heirs the murtherer shall be.
Dive, thoughts, down to my soul: here Clarence comes. 

I could go on and on, but I'll stop there. I'm anxious to go now and read King Henry VI Part III. This one deals with the actual defeat of Henry VI by the Yorks and Edward becoming king and meeting and marrying Elizabeth Woodville. :-)

Finished: Mansfield Park (Austen) Sigh, I've now finished all the Jane Austen novels! What ever shall I do? :-) I suppose I could go and read the one she was working on when she died, which has been completed by several other authors. I just love Jane Austen. Mansfield Park is the story of poor and socially lower class Fanny Price, who goes to live with her wealthy, and upper social class aunt, uncle and cousins, the Bertrams, when she's just 10. Her aunt and uncle treat her more as if they are doing her the favor of her life, and don't really treat her as equal to her beautiful, educated cousins. Her female cousins treat her pretty much like a second class citizen. Her oldest male cousin is too self-centered to really treat her any way in particular. Her second oldest male cousin, 16 year old Edmund, however, treats her like the smart, wonderful little human being that she is. He brings her books to read and teaches her what he can. Naturally, Fanny falls for Edmund, but never lets him know. By the time she is 18 and all her cousins are in their 20's, the two girls have had various coming out balls and the two boys are coming into the expectations of their father, i.e., the oldest is expected to inherit most of the lands, title, etc., and Edmund will go into the clergy, albeit with a nice income and property himself. Fanny has remained a dedicated, unselfish, innocent family member who appreciates any kindness shown her way. When friends of friends of the family, the twenty-somethings Miss Mary Crawford and her brother Mr. Henry Crawford come to town, all manner of social and love circumstances occur. Henry Crawford is a ladies man whose main goal is usually to make women fall in love with him and then soon after dump her to move on. Mary Crawford is all about social status, wealth, and being entertained. Deep down, they both have good hearts...very, very deep down, but they only let them shine through a small bit of the time. Naturally, the two female cousins, Maria and Julia Bertram, both fall hard for Henry Crawford. Despite Maria being engaged to another man, she flirts shamelessly with Henry Crawford, which is, of course, in those days, a huge social taboo. Julia and Maria basically fight for Henry's attentions, and he leads them both on, then dumps them both to leave town for awhile. They are both heartbroken, but Maria goes on and marries, and Julia goes to town with her sister to be in the social scene there. Meanwhile, Edmund falls head over heals in love with Mary Crawford. Mary, herself counting on falling for the oldest, more titled Bertram son, Tom, instead actually falls for Edmund too. However, she is always putting down the fact that he'll be "just a clergyman" and tries to convince him at every turn to do something more "worthwhile" and socially acceptable with his life. This always hurts his feelings, mostly because he is also a very selfless person and sees his future occupation as a good and noble one where he can actually do good for people. He looks past Mary's comments, though, and convinces himself she's got a good and true heart. Edmund falling for Mary Crawford completely crushes Fanny, but less out of selfishness than out of caring for Edmund not getting his own heart crushed. One of the few things that can make Fanny happy during all this is her uncle inviting her oldest brother, William, who has joined the navy, to come and visit. Fanny is beside herself with happiness since she hasn't seen her brother in years. As a matter of fact, one of my favorite passages of writing from Jane Austen in this book is about the relationship between a brother and sister:

Fanny had never known so much felicity in her life as in this unchecked, equal, fearless intercourse with the brother and friend, who was opening all his heart to her, telling her all his hopes and fears, plans and solicitudes....and with whom all the evil and good of their earliest years could be gone over again, and every former united pain and pleasure retraced with fondest recollection. An advantage this, a strengthener of love, in which even the conjugal tie is beneath the fraternal. Children of the same family, the same blood, with the same first associations and habits, have some means of enjoyment in their power which no subsequent connections can supply; and it must be by a long and unnatural estrangement, by a divorce which no subsequent connection can justify, if such precious remains of the earliest attachments are ever entirely outlived. Too often, alas, it is so. Fraternal love, sometimes almost everything, is at others worse than nothing. But with William and Fanny Price it was still a sentiment in all its prime and freshness, wounded by no opposition of interest, cooled by no separate attachment, and feeling the influence of time and absence only in its increase. 

I love that, and completely relate in how my relationship with my own brother was. So, anyway, after William leaves, Fanny is thrown back into worrying about Edmund, who she loves dearly but can't tell him, being hurt by Mary. In the meantime, Henry Crawford has come back and has decided to set his sites on the shy, innocent Fanny!! At first, he hopes to just make her fall in love with him and then dump her. However, he soon actually falls in love with her and declares that love, much to Fanny's horror. Everyone tries to convince Fanny to accept Henry's proposal of marriage, especially her aunt and uncle who feel that she may never make another "connection" so glorious. Fanny, however, had been witness to what she considered the charming Henry's "bad character" when he flirted shamelessly with Maria the betrothed woman. Henry insists that he has changed and even though rebuffed by Fanny at every turn, he swears to keep trying...and that he does. So much so that I even began to think that Fanny might warm up to him and we might get a happy ending out of them. That was not to be though. In a shocking ending, Henry shows his true colors and hooks back up with the very married Maria, convincing her to run away with him for a weekend!! Scandal ensues! Fanny is actually relieved not to have Henry pursuing her anymore, but her aunt, uncle and cousins are all devastated. Edmund is particularly so when Mary Crawford's reaction to her brother doing something so socially unacceptable is to worry more about covering it up than to have a deeper, more shocked reaction of the wrong he has done. Edmund finally sees how this speaks to the shallowness of Mary's character, and though heartbroken, he calls it off with her. As the story ends, Maria has divorced her wealthy husband, but Henry has refused to marry her, so she is left alone wafting in the wind with no family support. Mary Crawford lives with her sister for many years to come, without meeting a wealthy man to marry who can live up to the other ideals presented by Edmund. And....taaaa daaaa....Edmund realizes he has loved Fanny all along, and the cousins marry! (I guess it was ok for cousins to marry back then.) This makes the whole family happy, so in essence, we have basically a happy ending for most of the characters...the characters that we care about anyway. And, with another sigh, I finally leave off Jane Austen after reading all her books. I'm sure I'll revisit her again in Pride and Prejudice and perhaps Emma or Northanger Abbey, a few of my favorites. :-)

Finished: You Don't Want to Know (Jackson) A good, whodunit, mystery read from an author I've enjoyed before. Nothing too deep or complicated, but definitely a book that kept me turning the pages, i.e., a great book to read on the airplane, etc., while traveling, as I am doing right now. :-) Though, it does involve the possible death of a child, which I never like reading about. However, you can almost always count on the child being found alive at the end in books like this...and little Noah was found...but not before his mother, Ava, was gas lighted into thinking she was going crazy, by no less than her husband and best friend. All very predictable, but still good. :-)

Finished: Nostromo (Conrad) Well, it was a pretty good book, but not deserving, in my mind, to be ranked in the top 50 on nearly every book list I found. Maybe I'm missing something? I liked this book much more than Conrad's Heart of Darkness, and some of the writing was very nice, but it just isn't top 50 worthy to me...not really even top 100 worthy. The story of a small coastal town in South America that is rife with revolutions, there are several rich characters, and lots of action, but the story as a whole was a little disappointing. Nostromo is one of the main characters...an Italian transplant to the small town. He goes from being the right hand man of the town's ship's captain, to being the go-to guy about town for everything. Everyone counts on him to save the day, time after time....and he does. More than once he is the hero during the various revolutions. His character and morals are stellar, and most of the women fall in love with him. Two other main characters are the Goulds, Charles and Emily. They are English, but Charles being born in South America, has inherited the immense silver mine in the town from his father. Though the silver mine ruined his father, Charles has turned it into the economic mainstay for the town, for the whole area really. He procures a rich American backer and becomes immensely rich himself. He's fair to the local workers, but the silver mine becomes his life....even ranking over his lovely wife. The politics come and go, and different dictators come dangerously close to taking over the mine and even killing Charles at times. When a truly evil dictator is about to take over the town, the Goulds and other town bigwigs trust Nostromo with the job of transporting the current huge store of silver out of the town, out into the bay, and secretly onto a transport ship soon to come. This gives one of the other main characters, Martin Decaud, an idealist who hopes to go and rustle up some military strength to come back and liberate their town from the hold of the dictator, the opportunity to go with Nostromo and hopefully catch a ship for help. However, as Nostromo and Decaud row the silver out into the bay into the black of night, the transport ship approaches, but has been overtaken by yet another dictator whose sole purpose is to get to the town and steal the silver!! Nearly run over by the transport ship, whose captain doesn't realize he just passed the boat with the silver, Nostromo and Decaud have no choice but to make it to a small island, where Nostromo buries the silver and leaves Decaud with it. Telling Decaud he will be back for him in a few days, he swims back to shore. Why? Because he is Nostromo and he can do anything. Meanwhile, Decaud becomes distraught being alone, and also missing the beautiful Antonia, who he left behind and hopes to get back to with his idealistic "save the day". Nostromo arrives back so exhausted that he sleeps for 12 hours straight. When he awakens, he realizes that everyone thinks that he and Decaud have drowned and the silver is lost at the bottom of the bay. Nostromo becomes infuriated that he was used for such a task and that now everyone is going back about their business, and especially when Gould says, oh well, it's just silver. Nostromo had thought he'd been hired for the most important feat of their lives, yet it didn't seem so important anymore. The dictator who arrived in town for the silver starts torturing people to find out where the silver is. When Dr. Monygham, another main character, finds that Nostromo is alive, he convinces him to stay hidden until he can arrange for him to take a freight train out, go and get the General who Decaud was going after, and bring him back to fight the dictators and save the day. And, so he does. Nostromo is once again successful and a hero. Meanwhile, no one ever questions him that the silver may not actually be at the bottom of the bay. And, back on the island, Decaud becomes so unable to cope with his solitude when Nostromo hasn't returned in so long that he takes a few bars of silver to weigh down his clothing, goes out into the bay and shoots himself and sinks. :-(  As for our hero, jaded by how he feels used by all the bigwigs of the town, Nostromo, who was previously completely devoid of deception, decides to keep the silver for himself, digging it up a little bit at a time, until he slowly and patiently becomes rich. Unfortunately, Nostromo falls for the beautiful Gisele, who now lives on the little island with her father, Viola, an immense father-figure to Nostromo, and her sister Linda. He tells her of the silver, but says they cannot be together yet because he needs to get more of it into their hands before they can run off together. Viola doesn't realize that Nostromo sneaks back to the island every night to take a little bit of silver at a time. One night, thinking another town man has sneaked onto the island to kidnap his beautiful daughter, Viola accidentally shoots Nostromo and he dies. So, both Gould and Nostromo are lost due to their obsession with the silver....Gould just lost to the mine as his "mistress" and Nostromo, lost to this physical world. There is much more detail, and there are many tangents of story that I have missed, of course, but that is the gist of the book. That, and the fact that the "big bad European foreigners" came to town and basically used the locals for their own gain in wealth, even backing the right revolutionists at the right time, whether right or wrong, to keep the mine and the profits going. Anyway...as I said, it was a pretty good book, but not among my favorite that I have read in this journey. I like the name Nostromo though. :-)

Woo hoo! I'm in my 22nd month of reading, and I'm on book 250! Currently reading Nostromo. I've been keeping a list of MY Top 100 books, and it is no easy task. Each time I read a book, I read down the ongoing list and see if I like it, or regard it, more than each other book in the list. If so, I insert it in, and everything else moves down one. For me, my top list is a combination of books I have liked, and even books I haven't been crazy about, but that are so well written...so sometimes my list doesn't coincide with how I might have blogged about a book after I read it. Some books that people consider to be in the top 100 I just felt were over-rated, so are not near the top of my list, or aren't on it at all :::cough::: Ulysses, :::cough::: Wuthering Heights, etc. Anyway, the list is up on the blog (to the right, beneath the Pooh reading picture) and subject to daily change as I keep on reading. :-)

Finished: Clarissa (Richardson) So sad, so tragic, so horribly unnecessary how kind, virtuous Clarissa was treated by her family, and then defiled by the despicable Robert Lovelace. Good Lord, why was it so rare for writers to create loving relationships back in the early days? Touted as one of the longest books in the English language at 2000 pages, I read the 786 page version, which the author long ago encouraged editors to create. I don't think I could have handled the 2000 page version. The entire book is written in letters from one character to another, and these letters give accounts of all the action and conversations. I'm not going to go into a long explanation of the book. I actually had to step away from it for a couple of days before completing it, and I just don't feel like recounting the entire book in great detail. Clarissa Harlowe is 18 and the beloved youngest daughter of the wealthy Harlowe family. She has an older brother, James, and an older sister, Arabella. The Harlowes are always looking at future potential husbands for their daughters that will make good matches, i.e., gentlemen with impeccable reputations who will increase their status in society, as well as their "family" wealth. Enter the libertine, Robert Lovelace. By all accounts, he has come to make an offer for the hand of Arabella, but he doesn't spend any time talking to her. He, instead, spends all his time talking to her father. Arabella is offended, and declares she wouldn't have him anyway. Lovelace leaves the estate without making any offers. Meanwhile, brother James has discovered what an unsavory reputation the wealthy gentleman has in terms of being a seducer of young women, loving them and leaving them. The two end up in a duel, where Lovelace injures James, who recovers. These two events create a hatred and animosity towards Lovelace from the entire family...even though Robert Lovelace's own family is of high regard and would have made a wonderful match. The only one in the family with no hatred in her, because she doesn't have a hateful bone in her body, is the kind, beautiful, smart, virtuous Clarissa. When Clarissa receives a letter from Lovelace, asking if she can intercede on his behalf with her family to forgive him...especially since he was very remorseful of hurting James, and attentive to him after doing so, the family goes completely ape-bleep. I have never seen such a quick reversal in the personalities of characters who had just been laid out before me in a book. They become convinced that Lovelace's one true mission is to have Clarissa, and what is worse, they convince themselves that Clarissa loves him back. Nothing could be further from the truth, but they will not believe the honest words of Clarissa when she says she wants nothing to do with him, so they set off to marry her off to someone else right away. Her brother and sister become cruel and judgemental throughout this process, and her father unbending and dismissive. Her mother bows to her father, and so will not even speak to Clarissa and keeps her locked in her room when she refuses to marry or even give an "interview" to the boring, unintelligent, foppish gentleman they have selected for her to marry. The more Clarissa digs her heels in not to marry, the more the entire extended family is certain it is because she really loves Lovelace. Lovelace, meanwhile, sneaks a letter to Clarissa in the secret tree where she corresponds with her best friend and tells her he's heard "about town" that her parents have already got the wedding license and will be moving to have her married within days. He tells her he would be happy to be her protector and take her to his wealthy uncle's or aunt's house where she can ask for protection while her parents come to their senses. He also declares his love for her and tells her that HE wants to marry her. Her goodness is known so far throughout England, that Lovelace's family revels in this idea. They know their nephew is a handful, and caddish, and think Clarissa would turn him around into a loving man. Anyway....Clarissa writes to Lovelace, thanks but no thanks, she couldn't possibly go against her family in that way...and while she can't accept his marriage proposal, she will also never marry that other man. With the day coming closer, Clarissa gets more and more frantic. She agrees to meet Lovelace in the garden to talk. She is going to tell him that no matter what, she will stay and face the consequences. However, Lovelace is a rotten scoundrel. He has already arranged a coach, and he has arranged for a servant on the inside to make a ruckus and act like the family is coming out to catch her in the act and to begin a duel with him all over. He grabs her by the arm and forces her to run away. He convinces her that is better than staying there and someone being hurt. Clarissa truly is always thinking of others before herself, and so she'd rather run away and ruin her reputation than risk someone in her family dueling. All of Lovelace's words to her at this point have seemed honorable and above board. He tells her he's taking her directly to his aunt's for protection. She weeps the entire way, knowing her family will never forgive her. Meanwhile, Lovelace's entire side of the story is always told in letters to his good friend, John Belford, while Clarissa's is always told to dearest friend (and the only person who never abandons her) Anna Howe. From here, I don't have the heart to go into much more detail. Needless to say, Lovelace's letters to Belford show what a complete narcissistic, manipulative, horrible man he is. Rather than take Clarissa to his aunt's, where she would have been happily accepted and a marriage made to justify all the actions, and most likely repair her reputation....Lovelace, who has never had ANY intention of marrying, takes Clarissa to a whorehouse. Oh, he doesn't let her know what the place is, lying to her over and over again that his relatives are ill and they'll be going soon. He ends up holding her prisoner, and when she rebuffs his every advance and declaration of love, and turns down his every pleading marriage proposal, Lovelace determines that he simply must win. He holds her against her will at the house, drugs her one night into a haziness, and rapes her. Clarissa awakens in despair that her virtue has been stolen. Her life is over, as she knows it. Her family will never forgiver her, and what's more...will God even accept her into heaven when she has been sullied this way? She totally blames herself. And, of course, though Lovelace acts like he's remorseful, he never truly accepts blame or responsibility for his actions. If she'd only loved him or given into him, then he wouldn't have had to resort to his deceitful, libertine ways. It's just horrible, horrible. Lovelace continues to hold Clarissa captive, but doesn't rape her again. When he is called to his uncle's estate on emergency, he leaves Clarissa under lock and key with the madame of the house. Clarissa, however, weak in mind and spirit, manages to escape to London. She finds a kindly couple who take her in and she immediately collapses in precarious health. Meanwhile, Lovelace's friend Belford, who is actually a true gentleman, arrives in town, and finds Clarissa, at Lovelace's bequest. He is appalled at what Lovelace has done to Clarissa and becomes her true friend and admirer. He makes sure she gets the best medical care, but it soon becomes clear that Clarissa is dying. :-( Sadly, all Clarissa wants now is the blessings of her beloved Papa and Mama to take with her before she dies. She writes them letters, and is still denied and shunned by the family who thinks she's lying and just trying to get back into their good graces. Clarissa's family comes to understand that Clarissa truly is about to die when it's all too late. She has last letters for each of them, and they all, of course, react in despair when she dies without them ever making amends and make it all about themselves, as usual. Lovelace makes the entire death of "his beloved Clarissa" all about himself as well. Honestly, there were times I just wanted to get up and wash my mouth out with mouthwash he was so self-centered and horrible. At least Clarissa has the love and friendship of both Belford and Anna Howe as she dies...and at the very end, her cousin, Colonel Mordin, who she had hoped would come to town early on in the book to convince her parents not to make her marry. Arriving in town too late for that, he was the only one in the family who denounced all the others, rode out to see Clarissa, and was able to be there with her as she died. Before she dies, Clarissa names John Belford to be her the executor of her will, and pleads with her cousin not to take revenge on Lovelace after she dies. She doesn't want any more bloodshed, and wants her family to be able to pick up the pieces. She asks Belford to tell Lovelace that she forgives him and hopes he will change his ways. She dies peacefully knowing that she is going to God. After her death, her cousin Mordin sticks to his word about Lovelace, until Lovelace writes him one day saying "he heard" Mordin was out to avenge his cousin's death. Mordin decides to take that as divine intervention and in a very gentlemanly way, calls Lovelace out for a duel, setting up time, place, and weapon. Thankfully, Mordin is far more skilled with the rapier than the very adept Lovelace is, and Lovelace is killed. Yay!! He dies a slow, painful death. It sure made me feel better in the end, but didn't make up AT ALL for the tragic loss of such a beautiful, pure young soul. Gosh, I really need to read a happy book next! No idea where I'll fine one though. Sigh.

Finished: The Secret Keeper (Morton). Book Club Book #1. Great book with a huge surprise twist ending that I didn't actually see coming. :-) I read this book for a book club that I may join, and I really enjoyed it! I've been reading so many classics the last year and a half, that it's nice to also read some books that are current best sellers or current popular books. In 1961, sixteen year old Laurel secretly witnesses as her mother horrifically stabs a man who wanders up their driveway to speak to her. In 2011, as Laurel's mother deteriorates in ill health, Laurel finally decides to figure out why her mother stabbed the man all those years ago. The story takes us back to the World War II bombings and air raids in England, and the 17 to 20 year old Dorothy, Laurel's mother. We become very acquainted with Dorothy's personality and her thoughts and hopes. We also meet the love of her life, Jimmy...and we meet Dorothy's good friend (or so she thinks) Vivienne. We get to know Vivienne and Jimmy as well as we do Dorothy as the story flashes between the 1940's and 2011. The twists and turns just kept coming as I actually grew to like Jimmy and Vivienne more than I did Dorothy. I was really happy with the twist at the end and I can't wait to go to my first book club meeting and discuss. :-)

Finished: David Copperfield (Dickens) Oh my, what a good book! Of course, with an opening line like..."Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show", I couldn't have expected any less! In this journey of reading books, I can always count on Dickens to give me beautiful writing that draws me into the joy mixed with heartbreak, terrible reality mixed with hopeful dreams, and such vivid characters, descriptions and conversations, that it is like I'm always there viewing the action from a little corner of the horse cart. As I approach having read 250 books in the past 19 months, I am pretty sure I can count on ONE hand the number of books that have had a happy ending, and David Copperfield turns out to be one of them. Oh, poor David goes through so many horrific, abusive experiences to get there, but he does in fact get a happy ending. :-) It was so difficult to read about the early years of his life, though. I just wanted to snatch him right out of the pages! David's father having died before he was born, David's mother and nurse, and David become a tight, inseparable, loving trio until David is about 8 years old. Then, David's mother is courted by a horrific man named Mr. Murdstone. Just the name brings shudders! Of course, Murdstone pulls the wool over the eyes of Mrs. Copperfield, and pretends to be a pal to David, but the minute she marries him, he becomes the domineering, evil man that he is and bullies her into submission to the point where she's not even allowed to hug or kiss her own son, or show any emotion towards him whatsoever. Then, he arranges for David to be sent to an awful school for boys where the headmaster, a former prison warden, is mercilessly, physically abusive to the boys. When David goes home for the Christmas break, he is made to feel like an unloved stranger in his own house. And...he's just a little boy. :-( We are privy to all his thoughts and emotions, and it's just heartbreaking. Mr. Murdstone's evil sister, Miss Murdstone, has also moved in with the family at this point and between the two of them, they keep David's mother browbeaten into submission. The loyal nurse and friend, Pegotty, can't defy them or they'll fire her and she wants to stay close to David's mother to help her as much as she can. When David arrives home, he sees that he has a new baby brother, who he instantly loves! His mother is thrilled to let him hold him. David's mother, Pegotty, David and the new baby have a wonderful evening like old times, because the Murdstones are out on a social call. When they arrive back home, though, the horror continues. David's not allowed to go anywhere near the baby, and his mother must refrain from showing any emotion towards him. His mother is also a bit sickly and weak after the birth. There is one moving page of dialogue where David sums up his feelings of not being wanted around the house, and of him actually looking forward to going back to the abusive school for boys, since he has made a couple of good friends there. One snippet of the lament stayed with me...."What meals I had in silence and embarrassment, always feeling that there were a knife and fork too many, and that mine; an appetite too many, and that mine; a plate and chair too many, and those mine; a somebody too many, and that I! - what a blank space I seemed, which everybody overlooked, and yet was in everybody's way". David hasn't been back at school long when his 9th birthday arrives. He's called to the headmaster's office, hopefully wondering if maybe they do something nice for a boy on his birthday, only to be told of a letter from home that his mother and baby brother have both died. His mother had been sicker than anyone knew after the birth, and the baby brother didn't live much longer after she died. Poor David is devastated. He goes home for the funeral, not realizing that it is also the last time he'll see his good friends he has made. With his mother dead, Mr. Murdstone doesn't send David back to school. He sends him to work with the lowest of the low in his run down, rat infested wine factory. David's one hope for the future before that was that he was at least being somewhat educated and surrounded by other boys being somewhat educated. Now, he is thrust into the life of the lowest socioeconomic status, made to live by himself in a rundown "let", made to fare for himself in terms of food, comfort, etc. Again, he's only 9 years old. :-( David finally makes up his mind to run away and find the long lost aunt he had always heard about, Miss Betsey Trotwood. He does this, and shows up on her doorstep as a dusty, starving urchin. Having only heard stories of how rigid and unloving she had been to his own father for years and years, David is desperate to beg her for her help. Moved beyond words, and not nearly the old bitty that he had come to expect, Aunt Betsey Trotwood takes David into her home and her heart. His turnaround is immediate! :-) David is sent to a wonderful school, he is fed, and clothed, and most of all nurtured by his aunt and her friends. I can't possibly recap the entire book here, or I'd be typing forever. I'll just smile in the knowledge that even though there are many more hardships to come, David does end up happy in the end, and with the one true love he didn't realize was his one true love until he grew wise enough from his experiences to realize it! Yes, there were some of the most evil characters that David has to face: Mr. Murdstone & Miss Murdstone, making appearances throughout his life; the slimy, duplicitous Uriah Heep; Mr. Creakle, the evil headmaster with the zealous whip. And, there are some of the kindest characters who help develop every good and strong aspect of David: Pegotty, the faithful and beloved nurse from the time he is born; Aunt Betsey, his benefactor in heart, strength, advice, and means; Mr. Dick, the "simple" friend of Aunt Betsey's who teaches David that there is always honesty and honor to be found in that simplicity; Mr. Pegotty, Pegotty's brother, who teaches David about compassion, fierce love, determination; Tommy Traddles, who teaches David the true meaning of friendship; Dr. Strong, David's second, schoolmaster, the antithesis of Creakle, and a lifelong mentor and friend; even David's mother, Clara, who at least starts him off in life with kindness and love, even though she is tortured into not demonstrating those feelings; and last, but not least, Agnes...the true love of David's life, and his guide, his angel, his conscience, who teaches him, without him even knowing it, about true unconditional love. Of course, there are also the "characters" of the book, and I mean true "characters", who David meets along the way who have great influences on his life: James Steerforth, his charismatic, charming, too-good-to-be-true friend who David adores and worships, who ends up selfishly performing an act that devastates many characters, including David; Mr. Micawber, with his verbose letters of woe and conundrum and his wife, Mrs. Micawber, who float in and out of David's life in their poverty, and unconventional means of surviving in London, but who also become the saviors of the day against the evil Uriah Heep; and Dora...sweet, beautiful, silly, "childbride", Dora. Though David's age, they are only about 18 when they meet and fall in love. Married when they are about 20, David has continued to grow, mature and have deep feelings about the world and issues and their future, while Dora, who grew up rather wealthy, is thrown off by the merest of household duties. She is content to just be happy with David and her dog, Jip, but doesn't really provide David an equal partner that he truly needs. After about a year of marriage, David comes to realize this, and decides to just be happy with his sweet young bride and not try to mold her into something she isn't. She is his first true love, and he doesn't really realize that he rushed into that marriage unwisely until he hears Dr. Strong's wife reassuring Dr. Strong that she loves him and not her first love of her youth. The following words stick with David for long after: "There can be no disparity in marriage like unsuitability of mind and purpose. If I were thankful to my husband for no more, instead of for so much, I should be thankful to him for having saved me from the first mistaken impulse of my undisciplined heart." David repeats the first line over and over to himself and realizes that there will always be unsuitability of mind and purpose between himself and Dora, because she will never "grow up" with him. He adores her, though, and is determined to make the best of their marriage. Sadly, Dora has a miscarriage and grows weaker and weaker afterwards until it is clear she is on her deathbed. :-(  David is devastated by Dora's death, and comforted by Agnes, who has loved him all these years, but also been a true friend to Dora, comforting her in her time of death. Aunt Betsey and Agnes both encourage David to travel abroad for awhile to overcome his grief. David, who is by this time working his way to being a pretty successful writer, travels to Switzerland, where he stays for three years, writing. He realizes in this time, what he never allowed himself to realize during his life with Dora....that he has also truly loved Agnes all his life! At the old and ripe age of about 25, lol, David travels back home, and it takes him awhile to admit his feelings for Agnes, since he's the only person in all their circle of family and friends who has never realized that Agnes has loved him forever. When they do both finally make their admissions, they are married, surrounded by loved ones, and are shown ten years later, happily, in their little home, surrounded by a passel of children. :-) Oh, and Uriah Heep has been locked in prison for the rest of his life! Getting into the why's of that, is a whole other story. I only wished that the book had wrapped up with Murdstone in prison somewhere as well...but that would be my only disappointment in the book! A wonderful, deep, story full of all the highs and lows of life, and full of all manner of characters, and most importantly, full of David Copperfield, who indeed, did become the hero of his own life, with a little help from others along the way. :-)

Finished: The Girls From Ames (Zaslow) A great book and true story about the fortitude of the lifelong friendship of women! Thank you to my friend, Nancy Shearer, for lending it to me to read! The women, from Ames, Iowa, all grew up together in Ames. They remained friends...continuing to find time for regular reunions, even after reaching their 40's, moving to different cities and states, having children, jobs, etc. Through several heartbreaking events, they were there for each other...and through happy times too. They were typical teenagers in the late 70's, though, and also had their share of spats with each other, talking about each other, liking each other's boyfriends, etc. Through it all, though, nothing could weaken their friendship. I verbally lamented "noooooooo", when they lost Sheila, one of the group, at 22. So tragic, and so young. :-(  And, I was especially moved by the story of the death of one of their 13 year old daughters from leukemia. It was so difficult to read about, especially since one of the dear friends that Nancy and I are a "group" with lost her own daughter almost two years ago to "pre-leukemia". You want to always think that miracle bone marrow transplant will work...but they just don't always work. Bless the hearts of mothers and daughters everywhere! Anyway...reading this book made me doubly thankful for all my girlfriends, in and out of the "group". :-) The author says that women stay friends for far longer than guys, and I kinda tend to agree! Thanks for passing the book along, Nancy, and for your friendship these past....hmm....22ish years!