Sue Fairhead's Blog, page 2

Theodora and the Chalet School (by Elinor M Brent-Dyer)

(Amazon UK link) In my slow re-reading of the Chalet School series by Elinor M Brent-Dyer, I reached the one numbered 42 in the original series. It follows straight on from ‘Trials for the Chalet School’, which I reread last month; unfortunately I still haven’t been able to find a reasonably priced full edition of that, but it was still enjoyable in the abridged Armada.
However, I managed to buy a full ‘Girls gone by’ paperback of ‘Theodora and the Chalet School’ about six years ago. I must have r...

Maulever Hall (by Jane Aiken Hodge)

(Amazon UK link) I decided it was time to re-read my books by Jane Aiken Hodge. I first read some of her historical novels as a teenager, and have gradually acquired others, over the decades. Sadly most of her books are now long out of print, but some of them are lurking in charity shops, and can sometimes be found second-hand online.
It’s over twenty years since I read ‘Maulever Hall’, and I had entirely forgotten everything about it. It’s set in the early 1830s; part of the focus of one of the c...

Redhead by the side of the road (by Anne Tyler)

(Amazon UK link) On the whole I have enjoyed Anne Tyler’s novels, and re-read several of them a few years ago. I hadn’t planned to acquire any more. But this month’s reading group choice was ‘Redhead by the side of the road’, one of Tyler’s more recent book. It was first published in 2020. I was able to buy it used earlier in the year, and looked forward to reading it.
I was surprised at how short the book is - less than 200 pages - and I finished it in just a couple of days. The main protagonist ...

A friend of the family (by Titia Sutherland)

(Amazon UK link) I do like Titia Sutherland’s novels, and am very pleased that I decided to reread them after over two decades. I last read ‘A friend of the family’ in 2003, so did not remember anything about it - not even the final outcome.
Kate is the main character. I don’t think her age is mentioned anywhere; it isn’t really relevant, but I suppose she must be in her early thirties. We learn quickly that she is having a trial separation from her husband Matt. She misses him, but quite apprecia...

Cabbages for the King (by Adrian Plass)

(Amazon UK link) I have liked everything I’ve read by Adrian Plass, and reread his books regularly. I decided to delve into ‘Cabbages for the King’ in the past few days.  I last read it in 2015, so had forgotten most of the contents.
The overall theme of the book is that God uses inadequate people, and yet there are many wonderful things happening in Christian homes and gatherings. Unfortunately, most of us see what is wrong or boring rather than what is right and pointing people towards Jesus. 
Th...

The silver chair (by CS Lewis)

(Amazon UK link) As a child and then as a teenager, I read the Narnia series by CS Lewis fairly often. I then read it aloud to my sons when they were young, and enjoyed it all over again. I’ve dipped into one or other of the books from time to time in the decades since then, but it took until this year for me to decide to read the whole series, in chronological order. 
It’s over twenty years since I last read ‘The silver chair’, which - as an adult - is one of my favourites of the series. I found ...

Doing what comes supernaturally (by Peter H Lawrence)

(Amazon UK link) I thought I had re-read Peter Lawrence’s book ‘The hot line’ relatively recently. Apparently it was over four years ago. I had put another of his books,’Doing what comes supernaturally’ on my to-read shelf of Christian books, but had not picked it up until earlier in the month. I last read it in May 2010.
Some of this book covers the same principles as in ‘The hot line’, and has similar anecdotes. But whereas the earlier book was a generic account of how Peter discovered the minis...

Coming home to Island House (by Erica James)

(Amazon UK link) It’s only about six and a half years since I read Erica James’ novel ‘Coming home to Island House’. But I’ve been re-reading her novels over the past couple of years and decided I would continue even with the ones I acquired more recently. I had entirely forgotten the details of the story, though I had a vague memory of the overall plot.
Romily is the main character; she’s a vivacious, intelligent crime writer who fell in love with the much older Jack. They lived together for a wh...

Trials for the Chalet School (by Elinor M Brent-Dyer)

(Amazon UK link) In my gradual re-reading of Elinor M Brent-Dyer’s lengthy ‘Chalet School’ series, I finally reached ‘Trials for the Chalet School’.  According to the unofficial lists, it has been quite extensively abridged in the Armada version, which is what I have. I actually have a ‘two-in-one’ Armada, which also contains its immediate sequel, ‘Theodora and the Chalet School’. But I have been able to acquire that in a ‘Girls Gone By’ unabridged edition, so I have just read ‘Trials’. I last re...

Cousin Kate (by Georgette Heyer)

(Amazon UK link) I have a large collection of Georgette Heyer books, and read most of them regularly. I’m not so keen on the overtly historical ones that involve a lot of war talk. And I much prefer the Regency romances to the detective stories. But one of the Regency novels which I haven’t read nearly as often as the others is ‘Cousin Kate’. 
The reason for this is that when I first read it - and as far as I know, my first reading was in 1986 - I found it very disturbing, and quite shocking. I no...