Fans of Norah Lofts discussion
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Books For Potential Group Discussion Archived 2019
message 451:
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Sallie
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Jan 18, 2017 02:04AM
Haven't read Town House for a long time.....my first NL.
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If we did a common read of any or all of the books in the House trilogy, since I've already read those, I could follow the discussion and chime in if I had anything to say. I wouldn't be able to do a reread of them at this time; but although the BC library doesn't have any of the books, it shouldn't be hard for me to get the text(s) in hand by interlibrary loan, so I could skim and refresh my memory and impressions as needed.
I believe you were quoting me, Barbara, back in post 449, and yes, it really does seem like we dropped the ball on the last group read of The Town House Trilogy. I personally believe that this trilogy was NL's masterpiece, and I've seen so many comments on here that it is the favorite title of a majority of Lofties. So I vote for doing a complete group discussion of it and suggest a different leader for each title to ease the "burden." And I do have all three in LARGE PRINT! Thanks so much for your concern for old "Blindy" here. I am willing to lead a title, if needed.
Like Donna, I hope we can cover The Lute Player at some point. We have no thread for it, though incidents from it have been discussed in other threads.
Donna wrote: "I'm hoping to be able to reengage with this group on the next group read. Of the titles mentioned so far, I am partial to The Lute Player and The Town House."Hi Donna, welcome, welcome back!
So my dear fellow NL fans, where are are we up to in this this ? Are we going to do the Town House Trilogy? ( or as much of it as we can)I am willing to 'lead' for the first volume.
Fantastic! Thanks, B. I will endeavor to keep up this time!
Barbara wrote: "So my dear fellow NL fans, where are are we up to in this this ? Are we going to do the Town House Trilogy? ( or as much of it as we can)I am willing to 'lead' for the first volume."
I'm in, and ready to go!
I am ready to go, too! Thanks for taking the lead, Barbara. I will be glad to lead either book 2 or 3, if nobody else volunteers, but do want to give any other willing Lofts lover the opportunity. I think, depending on how far we continue into April, that Peggy is also still willing to lead after April 15th. I'm so excited - this is my first and favorite Lofts!
Mine, too, Syl! It lead to decades of pleasurable reading.
Let us know the start date, Barbara....or is it ready, set, go!
as I said I would in message 452, I've put in my request for a copy by interlibrary loan to refer now, since it now seems pretty definite that the discussion's going to take place. Since I'm just going to (possibly) chime in here and there, there's no need to wait for it to arrive; and in any case, I trust it will arrive soon!
Right then, we are on. I'll open it up this weekend .Edit- I just realised from older private messages that Sylvia was thinking about leading this , as it is her absolutely most favourite NL of all time. ( And I can attest that she is most knowledgeable and insightful about it too)
I will most happily secede and offer to lead the House at Old Vine instead if that suits you Syb? And I'm sorry for jumping the gun.
Tee Hee! This reminds me of a comedy routine - "Oh no, after you...Oh no, no, no, after YOU!" I remember that you, Barbara, first suggested that we need to get started on SOMETHING, and asked if anyone had a preference. Several members did make suggestions, but just about everybody agreed to the TH Trilogy. I have a theory about this. I think that many of us were at an age in 1959, when The Town House was published, to be branching out into more adult reading, and we probably saw this new book displayed on a "New Books" shelf at our local library, checked it out, and were HOOKED for life!Barbara, I am willing to lead any of the three discussions, but if you are feeling up to it, I hope you, or another volunteer, can start us out, since the first book is so much longer, and I need daylight now to do serious reading.
I'll bet we are all feeling crouched at the line, and anxious to hear the starting gun!
My interlibrary loan copy arrived today!
Yay - now we have at least nine participants ready to go, Barbara!
Ok then, revert to Plan A, I will do The Town House . It will be in day or two , as I have some catching up to do - because it is SO hot here , you would not believe and though it renders one a bit housebound and you'd think I could have got going with the group read, it somehow also renders one a bit comatose! . The power went out for FOUR hours yesterday, starting at 4 pm which is often the very hottest time of all - like 105 plus degrees - so we went down to the beach to immerse selves and dog in the (lukewarm) water , but even so, you can't stay in forever! Sorry , sorry for the complaining thread jack !
Update - I've stopped complaining and opened the discussion.
All the daffodils are coming up here...plants all confused. 65 today and snow tomorrow!Will be a great time to start TH.
Hi Chaps. Tanya said at the end of the group read of THAS 'so what shall we read next'? Good question - what are everyone's suggestions? I'll start... how long is since we did Bless This House? I always liked the Merravey saga.
Hi All. Barbara, you led the last discussion of BTH in 2014, and there are 5 threads for this book under the title. This is my second favorite book of all the NL titles, but I would like to suggest that we discuss a fiction title for which there are no threads or discussions. I would be glad to make a list of those titles if anyone else is interested in taking that direction, but I did this before with no response at all!
Sylvia wrote: "Hi All. Barbara, you led the last discussion of BTH in 2014, and there are 5 threads for this book under the title. This is my second favorite book of all the NL titles, but I would like to suggest..."I would love to see your list! Until school restarts in September, I can be an active participant. Thank you, Sylvia!
Great, Marie and Judy! I have a partial list for now. I will try to fine tune it later, and please, if anyone finds a discussion thread on any of these, let us know, but please actually look at the thread because some have been started but somehow never became a discussion.Hauntings: Is There Anybody There (short story collection)
Heaven In Your Hand (short story collection)
Her Own Special Island (aka Uneasy Paradise)
Here Was a Man (NL's second pub. book - 1936)
Lady Living Alone
Letty (aka A Calf For Venus)
The Little Wax Doll [thread but no discussion] (aka The Devil's
Own, aka The Witches [brief thread])
The Lost Queen (aka The Lost Ones)
The Lute Player
Pargeters
Walk Into My Parlor
Some of these books have been brought up in other discussions, but I don't believe any of these have been completely discussed. Also, I didn't include NL's non-fictions that have not been covered. Any suggestions?
Either of the short story collections would be a nicely structured choice.For novels, my vote goes to Letty, or to The Lute Player.
I would be happy with any of those as well.
I'm pretty sure we haven't done:Nethergate
Lovers All untrue
Gad's Hall/Haunting of Gad's Hall
Lady Living Alone
A Rose for Virtue
Nethergate has a good tie-in to Jassy and A Rose for Virtue take us to France during the time of Bonaparte.
Good lists everyone . Some have been extensively discussed , haven't they - even if not as formal group read ( like the Gads Hall ones and The Lute Player, and Nethergate)It would be good if we could choose one that has been hardly touched - if there is such a one! and people have got copies.
I'd be very happy with A Calf For Venus (aka Letty) or The Lost Queen .
Or any really....
Pegs, I checked your list against the two Topics and General Lists, and all but Lady Living Alone do have threads, so I am adding that title to the list in post 475 as well as Pargeters, NL's last published book. None in this list have had thorough discussions, and also Peg's listings of Nethergate and A Rose For Virtue do have threads but very incomplete discussions.Barbara, like you, I would love to discuss a title "that has been hardly touched"! It would also be great fun to be led by one of our newer or "lurking" members (hint, hint)!
The House books that we just finished covers such an incredible time span, so choosing a stand-alone book from a portion of the time period would be my choice. Lovers all Untrue is one of my favorite NL books, but I'm open to any book discussion from this incredible writer.
Hi Beth. Most of the books listed as not yet discussed are not, as I remember, from the Town House/Layer Wood area (which is probably why we have not chosen to cover them!), but I would say that "Letty" and "Pargeters" are more in line from that time span and region.
I've only read two of the books on Peggy's lists (the Gad's Hall duo --IMO, if the group does the first one of those, it would be a good idea to do the sequel also, back-to-back, because they form a more complete whole when read that way), and none of the ones on Sylvia's. Some of them are intriguing; but we're coming up on a season of the year when annual common reads are scheduled in some of my other groups (I belong to 16 groups, which keeps me busy). From August through November, all four months have a group read scheduled already. So I'll be pretty much tied up then.
The first Gad's Hall discussion is listed under "Haunting of Gad's Hall" covering about five sub-topics, all discussed over a 3 year period, so if we want to do a re-do of Gad's Hall, I agree with Werner that we should cover both books.If anyone is still considering the unlisted titles, may I suggest that we save either Hauntings or The Little Wax Doll for October?
I agree with Beth that Lovers All Untrue is one of my favorite books. And I'm not sure why, but I always used to re-read that one and Out of the Dark (a.k.a. Charlotte) on summer vacations. Yep, nothing says the beach like a nice Victorian murder.I love Gad's Hall but re-read those really recently. But yes, we would definitely need to do both, because those two books really make one complete story.
I haven't read Letty or A Calf for Venus in a long time.
Sorry I didn't make it for The House at Sunset read. Just too many family emergencies during this time period. I'm hoping for things to be calmer for the next read!
My vote goes to Lovers All Untrue. Like Werner, my schedule will get suddenly hectic in the latter half of August, so choosing a single book would fit that time frame.I will take a turn as (novice) discussion leader.
Looking forward to hearing from others!
There are 48 comments (under 4 topics) for LAU, but checking both titles: Letty and A Calf for Venus, I found no threads at all.It might be more interesting to long-standing members to explore the " untouched" Letty.
I'm fine with Letty or Lovers All Untrue. Haven't read either of them in a long time, so I'm looking forward to it.
Letty or Lovers All Untrue are both fine with me, as well.
Any title you all choose is fine with me, but I just want to say how great it is to hear Marie say she is willing to lead a discussion! Thanks so much, Marie, and we will all be in there participating and helping out - right beside you!
I have none of the books you're considering (except for the two on Gads Hall, neither of which I liked very much) so will need to order once a selection is made.
Can find used ones on Amazon or ebay, Donna.
I just read the review of the two Gads Hall volumes I wrote about three years ago. Although I gave the set only three stars, my written comments were positive, so my memory failed me when I said I didn't like them. Nevertheless, I'm not interested in rereading either.
Marie wrote: "My vote goes to Lovers All Untrue. Like Werner, my schedule will get suddenly hectic in the latter half of August, so choosing a single book would fit that time frame.I will take a turn as (novice..."
Well my thought is, Marie, that as you are willing to lead ( yay!), I will cast a vote for your choice, LAU, despite my personal preference for A Calf For Venus ( aka Letty )
How noble is that !!
Since it could take a week or two for a book ordered online to reach me, I ordered "Lovers All Untrue." If another book is chosen, I can read this one later.
Nobility duly noted, Barbara! ;)Let's go ahead with Lovers All Untrue!
I'll plan out some page goals with dates, allowing a week or so of lead time for books to arrive. Once I set up a discussion thread for LAU, I will post our targets.
Since LAU has been chosen, I have locked the four threads from the former discussion ending in 2014, so that we won't mistakenly comment on the old read.
Haven't read this one in ages....it will be almost like a new NL for me. I already hate the father after one page! I will try to be more than a lurker this time around.
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Fans of Norah Lofts
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