Rosamond Lehmann Reading Week 23rd to 29th July 2012

I'm banging the drum to herald an upcoming celebration of one of "our" authors.

The lovely Florence, who blogs at Miss Darcy's Diary, is the host.

I'm planning on picking up The Weather in the Streets, which has been waiting on my bedside table for ages.

I really want to join in with this I love Rosamond Lehman - have read Weather in the streets invitation to the waltz The Ballad and the source Dusty Answer and The Echoing grove so need to try and acquire one of the books I haven't read yet. I also really enjoyed Selina Hastings biography about her.

I have been trying to decide which of two I wanted to read the most.
The Weather in the Streets or The Echoing Grove. I think I have chosen to read The Echoing Grove.
Thank you FleurFisher for putting this together for us. I love when any & all of you do these special things for us Viragoites.
hugs,

Oh wonderful - I've been meaning to read/reread my pile of Rosamonds for ages (was always fond of Dusty Answer I recall) so this will be the perfect excuse!

This will be just the excuse I need to pick up The ballad and the source and A sea-grape tree, both of which have been languishing unread on my shelves for some years now.

Goody! I have acquired and not read, so I'll choose whichever appeals closer to the time. Many thanks for the heads-up, Jane!

I am finishing up The Echoing Grove and am finding myself rather at odds with it. I feel bored quite a bit of the time and yet am attempting to understand why I am almost finished with it and just began it yesterday A.M. & haven't had any reading time yet today. Normally I would have set it aside and picked up something else for a bit. IDK, but obviously there is something sucking me in.
Thank you Fleur for your plug here so we could participate as well and I want to thank you for hosting Miss Darcy.
I think when I do finish this one, I will try Dusty Answer as it is on my TBR shelf.

I didn't care for The Echoing Grove and for a long time I thought that Rosamond Lehmann wasn't going to be my king of author. But then for some reason (possibly inspired by one of this group) I picked up Invitation to the Waltz, and I was smitten.

Maybe we have here an author whose works would be best read in the order they were published?

And hello to Miss Darcy herself, who has just joined LibraryThing and this group!

The only RL I've actually read is Dusty Answer which I did like very much. I have had a few of her books on my TBR for, oh, 30 years (ooops) and the reading week has given me another excuse to visit Awesome Books (who keep sending me very tempting 20% off codes!)

I'm definitely in. I loved Invitation to the Waltz and The Weather in the Streets and found Dusty Answer flawed but enjoyable.

Shockingly, I've never read any RL - although I've had some of her titles for about ten years, I think. I'll definitely be reading at least one.

>11 Stuck-in-a-Book:: I was the same until last year, when I finally read Invitation to the waltz, The weather in the streets and Dusty answer. The first two had been on my shelves for over 10 years and moved to the USA with me and back, all the while remaining unread. Both were fantastic when I did get around to them.

Hello! And thank you, Jane, for bringing me over to LibraryThing! ! And a big thank you to everyone who has expressed an interest in Rosamond Lehmann Reading Week: I am still relatively new to blogging and it's really heart-warming to be part of this community.

Welcome to the lovliest group on the old interweb MissDarcy.

It *is* very nice here - I only joined recently and everyone was so friendly and nice - I never seem to be off the place now!!

Belva - I loved The Echoing Grove but have not loved all her books. I have a problem remembering the titles I've read of hers but it's about half her stuff. I find that I just can't read to order, which is why I don't contribute much to the ET read-a-thon. If I'm not in the mood, I am not in the mood.

Earlier this year I bought Invitation to the Waltz (Virago edition) and The ballad and the source (first edition), which I may read; if I can manage it, because July is usually a month of extensive travel.

I've just spotted this - I've been reading Lehmann this year - Invitation back in the spring and The Weather in May. I've enjoyed both and hope to read The Ballad and the Source soon too.

Count me in: I've only read two, but I absolutely loved them and have collected, but neglected, ever since. Like LizzieD, I'll choose according to reading mood, closer to the date. Thanks for spreading the word!

I'm too embarrassed to say how many RL volumes arrived in the post today courtesy of Awesome Books' Bargain Basement and 20% off voucher......

Thanks for joining in gennyt, buriedinprint, and kaggsy!! I'm delighted to have you on board!

Just a reminder to all: Rosamond Lehmann Reading Week starts next Monday! I confess I'm a little bit nervous about hosting my first event on the blogosphere, and can't help hoping that, as well as participating, you will be indulgent!

Very much looking forward to joining in! I have Dusty Answer waiting!

Thanks for the reminder! I'm actually moving house next week, and things will be hectic, so I will try to read beforehand and schedule a post to appear...

Thanks for the reminder. It has been a very slow reading month for me so far, but I hope to pick up speed by next week and pick up my copy of The Ballad and the Source.

I'm looking forward to it. I have 3 books by Rosamond Lehmann I'm hoping to get to: Invitation to the Waltz, The Weather in the Streets and The Gypsy's Baby and Other Stories.

I rather jumped the gun. I started The Weather in the Streets last night and plowed through it today. It had just the same dreamy, yet detailed, tone as Invitation to the Waltz. I really liked it.

I was going to read The Echoing Grove next, but I think I will polish off an Agatha Christie as a sort of palate-cleanser. Sometimes, if I read several books by the same author in a row, I find myself overanalysing their style, etc.

I'm reading Dusty Answer and so far it's so brilliant! What a natural writer she is. But I'm also packing and moving across Oxford, so not sure I'll finish this week.

I also started Dusty Answer last night and I agree with you Simon! I read it about 30 years ago and can't remember much at all which is nice really as the book is coming at me brand new. What beautiful, dreamy, atmospheric prose she writes! Wish I could spend all day reading, but alas - the chores are calling....

27: I know what you mean about palate cleanser - I find the same thing and I think you need to vary reading. The Elizabeth Taylor read along is working well because it's a book a month and so there's room for other authors as well!

I will be starting Invitation to the Waltz later after an evening out with my mum and her friends at a pub quiz - what am I letting myself in for? Then I shall lay aside my month of re-reading to read The Gypsy's baby which I naughtily bought today.

I'm going to try to get in a chapter or two of Invitation to the Waltz tonight.

I read the first chapter of The Echoing Grove but had to swap out for someting more gym-friendly ( Michael Innes, btw). m having a hard time bringing myself back to it.

I hope to start A Note in Music later today. I have just finished an enjoyably creepy thriller (Awakening) so my palate has been suitably cleansed!

I have two unread books - both Viragos - and have gone for A note in music. I'm reading the introduction first.

The other option was The Ballad and the Source.

I finished my re-reading of Invitation to the Waltz and have updated my review here - and on my blog.

http://heavenali.wordpress.com/2012/07/25/invitation-to-the-waltz-rosamond-lehma...

Now I am having a little rest from my re-reads (having read all the ones I had originally set myself) so will start The Gypsy's baby later

Finally was able to begin Invitation to the Waltz last evening which I am quite enjoying. Am hoping to get to the sequel before week's end.

I started Invitation to the Waltz yesterday and I'm really enjoying it - a big thank you to Ali for my copy!

#38 hope you enjoy it : )

#27 I definitely understand the need for a palate cleanser! Too much of a good thing, and all that... And The Echoing Grove can be a bit heavy-going, so I do recommend something fun first!

#28-29 Simon and Kaggsy, I also love Dusty Answer! If I'd started with any other Rosamond Lehmann I might never have read her other works, but DA is so wonderful you can't help wanting more. I love the Cambridge chapters, especially the descriptions of all those night-time discussions! But the whole book is lovely...

#34 I blogged about A Note in Music tow days ago - it's not a traditional review, as I wanted to focus exclusively on Lehmann's treatment of colour, design, and painting: http://missdarcyslibrary.wordpress.com/2012/07/24/rlrw-day-2-a-note-in-music-by-...

#35 The Ballad and the Source is my second favourite Lehmann novel - the main character, Sybil Jardine, is fantastic, and the story has all the sensational twists and turns of a Verdi opera!

Don't hesitate to pop over to Miss Darcy's Library and tell me what you think!

I am nearing the end of Dusty Answer, and hoping to have a post up tomorrow morning. Oddly, I liked the Cambridge section least, by a long way, but I loved the rest so much that it doesn't matter!

I finished Dusty Answer all in a rush last night and loved it all, even the Cambridge bits - review here:

http://kaggsysbookishramblings.wordpress.com/2012/07/26/rosamond-lehmann-reading...

42: Lovely review, Karen.

I'm still only at part two of A Note in Music but enjoying it so far. I'm now going away for a week so will bring it with me and report back when I return.

I've finished The Gipsy's baby now and reviewed it. So back to my month of re-reading now : )

I enjoyed your review Alison. I've sometimes wondered about Lehmann's short stories.

Thanks Dee! Have a nice week away.

You're reading up a storm this week Ali - all these Lehmanns puts the rest of us to shame!

And my post on Dusty Answer is now up! http://stuck-in-a-book.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/dusty-answer-rosamund-lehmann.html

Lovely review Simon - I too am glad I started with this one!

I've read The ballad and the source and A sea-grape tree, as I'd planned. Both were excellent reads, in terms of plot, characters and prose. I liked how both books were propelled by dialogue, so we have to try and work out the truth from behind the veil of others' perceptions and biases. Sibyl Jardine is both magnificent and monstrous, a truly fascinating character. These books were heavier-going than the Olivia books, which were my introduction to Lehmann, but once the layers began to be revealed, I couldn't put them down.

Liz, I've just seen your review of A sea-grape tree, in which you mention an afterword by the author. My edition (an original green Virago) doesn't have it! Which edition did you read? I will have to try and find a copy at the library to find out her plans for the sequel!

Have just realised that in the last year I've gone from not having read any of Lehmann's books, to finishing all 5 that were on my tbr pile! I'll have to read Rumour of Heaven next, by her sister (?) Beatrix.

#50 Yes, Beatrix was her younger sister, a theatre actress by profession who also wrote two novels. Rumour of Heaven is also on my TBR list!

Simon and Karen, I loved both your reviews of Dusty Answer! I'm planning to post on DA myself, if I ever get a chance to finish my post on Debussy first - it seems everything is conspiring this week to prevent me from focusing properly on RLRW. Family friends over from Holland, moving house, my dad getting stung badly by a hornet and getting an allergic reaction, and thunderstorms making the internet go haywire just when I'm trying to post! Sigh.

Sounds like you've had a frantic time, Florence! Hope all is ok with your dad now and you've done some lovely posts - thanks for setting up and hosting this week!

Karen

Thank you, Karen, my dad is feeling a bit better now, thank goodness. I don't know if there are Asian hornets in England too, but if there are, do be careful: they're nasty creatures!
I'm glad you're enjoying RLRW - I'm having so much fun planning new posts! The only thing I regret is that I haven't had many comments so far...

Finished Invitation to the Waltz this evening. I liked it - gorgeous writing, as usual, but I think I actually liked A Note in Music a bit better. Invitation seemed to move at a slower pace up until the last 75 pages or so.

Finishing up the very lovely The Weather in the Streets. Love her writing.