Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

Do you think there is a modern day heir to Jane Austen? It's an idea I've seen thrown around a little bit, but most often it seems to be used as blurby praise on jackets of chick-lit novels that directly borrow Austen's plots. Although there's nothing wrong with those books (I've certainly enjoyed some of them myself), I think the true heir to Austen's throne--as much as there can ever be one--would be someone who captures something of the spirit of Austen's works but takes it in a new, original direction. Maybe Nora Ephron deserved the title, with her stories about people surmounting romantic inconveniences and misunderstandings that also said a lot about the time and society she was writing for. Another candidate I might put forward is Helen Simonson, for her debut novel Major Pettigrew's Last Stand.

The title character of Ernest Pettigrew is a retired Army major nearing his seventies. A widower, he lives in a quintessential English village. The Major is a true English gentleman, active and respected in his town, with high standards of politeness and decency that result in frequently repressed feelings of frustration at what he views to be the crass conduct of his friends, his twenty-something son, and his future American daughter-in-law. As the novel opens, the Major is shaken by the news of the sudden death of his younger brother. A chance encounter during the height of the Major's shock throws him together with Mrs. Ali, the Pakistani proprietor of the local village convenience store. The comfort she offers him causes the Major to view Mrs. Ali in a new light. A subdued romance develops between them, which of course brings with it a clash of cultures involving Mrs. Ali's disapproving relatives and Major Pettigrew's disbelieving friends.

The novel is Austen-like in its focus on manners, its distinctive cast of characters inhabiting a close-knit world, and its nearly bungled romantic entanglements. Simonson does a good job of modernizing these elements by focusing them around a kind of romance that we don't often read about--one between two older people. The obstacles the Major faces as he tries to find the right way to court Mrs. Ali are fun to read about, but can also be seen as a statement about where old fashioned values fit into modern culture. In this way, Simonson uses her characters to explore societal issues, but with a very light, unobtrusive touch. The climactic scene at the end of the book veers further into action movie territory than seems necessary, but aside from that, this is a charming and delightful read.

DIY Watercolor

I don't post many DIY craft projects around here, largely because I don't actually do too many of them. My mom has always been very crafty, though, and recently created a sweet watercolor portrait of Millie.

The process she used to make it began with a photo of Millie (her all-time favorite):

Then she used the Sketch Me! iphone app to turn the photo into a drawing:

After printing it out on watercolor paper and painting over it in a bold color scheme, it was ready to frame:

The simple process would be fun to try on other types of pictures, like a house or an interesting landscape. This one, though, will have a special place in a future wall grouping in my apartment.

The Lost Garden

It's been over a week since I finished The Lost Garden by Helen Humphreys and I'm still not sure what to say about it. On one hand, I feel like I should be writing something beautiful and poetic to do justice to such a wonderful novel. On the other, I want to give away as few details of the story as possible so that anyone else who decides to read it can fully experience it for themselves. 

I've decided to give my second concern precedence, so all I'll reveal about the story is that it centers around Gwen Davis, a lonely, thirty-something horticulture expert who flees WWII London for the English countryside where she takes up a post in the Land Army, leading a group of girls who plant and harvest crops on the grounds of an old estate. One recurring theme that Gwen returns to throughout the book is her affinity for Virginia Woolf's writing. At one point, remembering her reaction to one of Woolf's novels, Gwen thinks, "I kept expecting the story to drop me, but it held me up, kept me buoyant". This quote perfectly describes how I felt about The Lost Garden. It's a small novel (under 200 pages) that I could have polished off in a couple of hours, but I kept setting it aside, consciously wanting to savor every moment of the story and extend the experience of reading it for as long as possible. The writing is word-perfect, using deliberate and gorgeous prose to explore the ways in which relationships that are fleeting, ephemeral, or even largely internalized, still have the power to add love and meaning to a life. I truly can't recommend this book highly enough, even though I can't seem to find a more eloquent way of describing it.

Friday Fancies

Today I'm doing a guest post for my friend Sadie, who is one half of the blog Frosting and Filigree. You can find me over here, talking about some summer reading ideas. (And consider yourself warned: while you're there you just might see some recipes that will put you in the mood to bake something.)

(image via here)

Here are some other noteworthy finds from the week:

Some cool floral arrangements by artist Diana Scherer, who sculpts plants' roots into the shapes of vases.

Speaking of vases, I'd love to put big hydrangea blossoms in these.

The Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge lists every book that Rory mentioned or read during the course of the show.

These texts from Jane Eyre made me chuckle.

And I've been loving the photography on this blog lately (including a group of engagement photos that were shot around Hoboken!).

Apollo's Angels

Apollo's Angels by Jennifer Homans is a massive, meticulous book that chronicles the history of ballet. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for everyone (hudrends of pages dissecting the origins of ballet within 18th century royal courts might be best left for ardent ballet fans), but I found it to be an interesting and enjoyable read that has given me a new level of appreciation for an art form that I've always loved.

Having studied ballet for many years growing up, and having continued to go to ballet performances as an adult, I felt that I came to this book with a little more knowledge than the average person on the street. Once I got into it, though, I discovered how superficial much of my prior understanding of ballet had been. After covering the aforementioned court dances of European royalty, Homans breaks down the history of ballet on a regional basis-- Italy, Denmark, pre- and post-Revolutionary Russia, England, and America. This structure allows her to delve into the cultural nuances and historical developments of each location and how they resulted in very specific technical and artistic styles of dance.

The author's writing is smart and engaging throughout the book, but becomes truly poetic in the chapter about the American ballet tradition that grew up around George Balanchine during the 20th century. Homans herself studied at the School of American Ballet and danced professionally in several companies that subscribe to Balanchine's style. It's clear from her writing that this piece of ballet history holds a special place in her heart. Because of this, it's all the more poignant when she reaches the conclusion of her epilogue- that ballet is, indeed, a dying art form. Homans states that, in writing this book, she had hoped to use history to find the seeds of the future of ballet. What she found instead was a bleak outlook for dance. She argues that the fact that most major ballet companies are simply reviving the works of the major choreographers of the past and not taking dance in any new directions that will truly advance the tradition (she dismisses most of the avant garde works being created) means that ballet will continue to become less and less relevant to popular culture (as opposed to the momentum it found at other points throughout history, when crowds would line up for tickets to performances in New York, London, and St. Petersburg).

As I said, this isn't a book for everyone, but if you have an existing interest in ballet, I'd highly recommend reading it as a way of deepening your ballet knowledge...before it (perhaps?) becomes extinct.