I have just finished reading The Cupboard by Rose Tremain. I thoroughly enjoyed it and the journey it takes. The story is of the life of a young Suffolk farm girl, Erica Marsh, told when she is old and looking back. It moves through extraordinary times and economic situations, two world wars, fascinating characters - almost unbelievably, and yet like a dream it grips with its own reality. And in contrast to the experience are the extracts from Erica's novels: allegorical, magical: another deeper level of dreamland. Harsh reality is there too both in Erica's life and in the experiences of the young partly drawn journalist to whom she is telling her history.
Rose Tremain is one of those storytellers who grips me right from the beginning, and takes me on wondrous journeys through time and space. The first book of hers I read was The way I found her, set in Paris when we were on a long stay in Paris. I was immersing myself in books set in or about the city, and this novel hooked me.
Again set in France, in a part of the South that I know, the next Rose Tremain novel I read was Trespass. From there I have gone on to enjoy two collections of short stories Evangelista's Fan and The Colonel's Daughter, and the wonderful The Colour, a novel set in the New Zealand gold rush.
I've got The Road Home to try next, after reading Death and the Seaside by Alison Moore - I very much enjoyed Moore's first novel The Lighthouse - about a man who for a large part of the story is on a walking holiday in Germany. It is not just the stories both these writers tell, but the wondrous pictures they conjure, and especially the characters they present which entrance me.
Thank you for reminding me of this author for it's been a while since I've read more of her books. I particularly remember "Music and Silence". This has been my marathon reading summer and I'm always on the lookout for good reads.
ReplyDeleteI've not read Music and Silence yet. It is great to have so many different title - and new authors to look forward to discovering. Time, time, time ... that's what we need. Marathon reading sounds like bliss.
DeleteRose Tremain is a favourite author of mine too. It could be time to revisit past pleasures.
ReplyDeleteIt's always good when a favourite author has written more books than one has read.
DeleteI read The Cupboard years ago, but I think it's time I read it again. I like Tremain's work.
ReplyDeleteI never seem to have time to re-read books, as there are so many to be read for the first time. Pity, because I'm sure there is so much to be gained by a second immersion.
DeleteI have a friend who like you, never re-reads books because there are so many new ones to read. We often talk about this as I love re-reading - there are always different levels in the narrative to discover, new ways of seeing things and of course, as we change, our perceptions change too. I love coming back to old favourites.
ReplyDeleteYou are right - re-reading is like reading anew, and even more so if a long time has passed. I do re-read art books, and enjoy coming back to an artist, or movement, or collection etc. with newly acquired knowledge, perspective, experience. I suppose that with novels there are too many new shiny temptations - but I do re-read short stories, often as palate cleansers between novels.
DeleteI like the idea of short stories being palate cleansers between novels... Haha! Wonderful.
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