A Far Cry From Kensington by Muriel Spark

There just isn't enough time in the day to read as much as I would like to so generally I steer clear of reading challenges and just go where the pages take me.  But when the bloggers who have given me so much host a challenge there is no question - I'm in. 

As many of you are aware, Simon from StuckInABook is hosting a Muriel Spark Reading Week from April 23 - 29.  I am also excited that Harriet is co-hosting as her blog has become another favourite place for me to drop by and discover new book titles or lovely art.  Last but far from least, Thomas designed the gorgeous button everyone has been posting in support of what is surely to be an informative and entertaining reading event.

The reason I chose A Far Cry From Kensington is two fold.  First, it was the only title by this author on the shelf at the library branch where I work.  Second, when Virago issued their clothbound 30th anniversary editions in 2008, I had no idea who Muriel Spark was so I passed this title by.  Shocking, but still, I can't be picking up every book with a pretty cover on the off chance I'll be totally enamoured with the writing at some later date now can I?  Better late than never though, it must be said.  So without further ado...

It's 1954 and Mrs Hawkins is a widow, her husband killed during World War II.  Despite being only in her mid-twenties she exudes an aura of someone older with her comforting advice and generous waistline.  Her fellow residents in the rooming house located in South Kensington are much like an extended family with a varied cast of interesting characters (but aren't we all?).  Mrs Hawkins spends her working day in a converted Queen Anne house which is the office of Ullswater Press, a small publishing company.  Her travels throughout various neighbourhoods of London made me want to do something silly and click 'Book Now' on the British Airways website.  I digress.

One day while strolling in Green Park, Mrs Hawkins is approached by the annoying Hector Bartlett who is a tad over-confident about his writing skills.  Knowing that Mrs Hawkins works at Ullswater Press he strikes up a conversation with her but is quickly struck down with the cutting moniker of 'Pisseur de copie', the translation being something like 'urinates frightful prose'.  A statement which became more hilarious every time I knew it was about to be handed out since Mrs Hawkins is nothing if not faithful to her assessment of this pest in a suit.

Back at home, the tenants of the rooming house are faced with a mystery when Wanda, the Polish dressmaker, receives an anonymous letter.  She is threatened with exposure to the authorities for not disclosing her business details and income.  As everyone speculates about who this mysterious person(s) could be, Wanda's paranoia grows.  As horrifying and sad an image as this could be, Spark has employed clever humour and made the storylines one of the most delightful combinations of mystery/whimsy/comedy I've ever had the pleasure to read.  Perfect stuff for chasing away rainy day blahs or cuddling up with during dratted flu episodes so don't pass up an opportunity to add it to your bedside table.

Thanks to Simon for bringing yet another wonderful author to my attention.  I've read that Loitering with Intent is another popular choice in Sparks' oeuvre but if you have another particular favourite, please share with the rest of us.  The more the merrier!

Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth

There is something about the experience of birth that never grows tiresome and it's all the better if someone else is going through it!  Knowing this series is airing over in Britain at the moment with an audience even larger than the first few episodes of Downton Abbey my interest was piqued.  My husband was given strict orders to return from his trip to London with a copy of the book.  My life (and his come to think of it) would be so much simpler if I lived on the OTHER side, don't you think?  I digress. 

Jennifer Worth died less than one year ago but left behind a legacy of stories about her time as a midwife during the 1950s.  Her language is plain but through evocative storytelling she turned some of the most dire living conditions and unsavoury behaviour into a page-turner.  Not all of her stories are such though and despite abject poverty some families basked in strong values with plenty of love.  Wearing her starched nurses uniform and the stiletto heels so much in fashion while making her rounds on a bicycle, Nurse Worth attended women in the east end as they progressed through their pregnancy.  Called upon to perform an antenatal visit at one home, Jennifer was sure the notes were recorded incorrectly as it said the pregnancy was the woman's twenty-fourth.  Surely the nun from St Nonnatus meant to write fourteen but no, upon arrival the basement laundry was chock full of happy offspring helping Mum with the wash.  And not a scuffle, argument or brawl amongst them!

Young girls ending up pregnant as a result of prostitution, women fearful that the moment of birth will reveal their relationship with one of the recent black immigrants and stories of the workhouse are heartbreaking.  These were the days when social assistance meant a bowl of hot soup or some clothes donated by the church.  One character in particular though never failed to make me laugh out loud.  Chummy was born into an aristocratic family and christened Camilla Fortescue-Cholmeley-Browne but at six-foot-two with size eleven shoes she carried off her nickname brilliantly.  The poor woman was a bull in a china shop but her positive spirit and upper class cheers of "what-ho" and "good show" were so endearing that I beamed at each of her appearances.  In the series Chummy is played by the fabulous Miranda Hart and once the book was finished I had a peek at her in action on youtube, she's brilliant!

Social history fans will absolutely gobble up this book.  A lack of interest in the blood and guts of labour and delivery may weed out the odd reader but if the other novels by Worth are half as riveting then you're spoiled for choice.