Little Bites — Old Book Edition

A Girl in Winter written by Philip Larkin (Originally published in 1947)

Katherine Lind is a European woman in England during the war. She works in a library, lives in a bed-sit, and has no friends. The action takes place on a single day as Katherine helps take a co-worker home in the mid-morning she reflects on the summer she spent at the home of her pen-pal. The cold winter and the deprivations of the war provide bookends to warm summer days Katherine spent with Robin and his sister. Although Katherine feels isolated in both parts of the novel, the isolation, the reasons for it, and its effects on Katherine do differ. This book reminds the reader that we can never truly know what motivates and moves another person.

Little Boy Lost by Margharita Lashki (Originally published in 1947)

Hilary Wainwright, an Englishman,  left his French wife and infant son behind in France when the war starts. He later learns from a member of the French resistance that his wife  died at the hands of the Gestapo and his toddler son disappeared. The Frenchman tells Hilary that he will look for the child. Three years later, after the war has ended, Hilary travels to France to see if one possibility is, in fact, his son. Lashki uses post-war France to echo what is in Hilary’s heart – will he ever know for sure, can he stand to open his heart once again – balanced by bombed out buildings, corruption, and grayness.  I found parts of the book drab but loved the ending.

The Shuttle by Francis Hodgson Burnett (Originally published in 1907)

Better known for her children’s novels, Burnett tackles a subject that is getting a lot of play right, in light of the recent publication of The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin. In this novel, the shuttle is the back and forth commerce and exchange of ideas with England and America, especially the importing of American money to England’s impoverished upper-class. Rosy Vanderpool, a sweet, non-thinking American girl marries Sir Nigel Anstruthers who turns out to be a deplorable, despicable man who isolates and estranges his wife from her family. The heroine of the novel is Rosy’s much younger sister, Betty Vanderpool. When Betty is all grown she travels to visit her sister and tries to set things right. This puts Betty in the direct path of the evil husband with various nefarious doings and game play happening – each person making moves like a chess game with  Although I found the writing to be repetitive, I did enjoy this novel. It isn’t the Secret Garden but it was a fun read

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