Starleigh

I like Middlemarch, it's actually one of my favorite novels, and I've read it through 3 or 4 times. That said, it's a very bloated novel and some plot strands (like the local politics) are harder to slog through. The strongest element in all of her books are her characters, and somehow she makes Dorothea sympathetic rather than priggish. And I love Mary--she's a great character. My favorite Eliot book is Daniel Deronda--it has my favorite opening line of all time, and has such such a great romantic tension between the two main characters. I dislike the ending, but the endings are usually the weakest (or maybe, sappiest) part of her books. Currently I am about to start a standalone Elly Griffiths book, Stranger Diaries. I gave up on the Ruth Galloway series awhile ago, because the relationship drama was reaching the annoying point, but I still like her writing, so I hope this one is good.

My favorite Anne Emery books are the Sally & Jean ones, but I do have Dinny Gordon on my kindle🙂

Love Betty Cavanna! I recently discovered the Connie Blair books that she wrote under a pseudonym, and have tracked down a few. I'd love to be able to read the whole set.

Ooh, I remember the excitement when I was able to fill in the gaps of my Beany Malone collection thanks to Image Cascade. It's been a few years since they've published anything new. I think the last set they did was the Ginnie & Geneva series by Catherine Woolley. I wonder if they are working on anything new?

So many of my rest favorites mentioned, so I won't repeat them. Love love love those old "malt shop" comfort reads--teen girls' books of the 1950s. So innocent, sweet, and nostalgic (way before my time, but I love them anyway).

On the topic of Mammy, she must have been getting up in years. Wasn't she "brought up" with either Ellen's mother or grandmother in the Robillard family? She had a hard life, too, so I can see how physically she might not have had the stamina or even desire to make such a radical change in her life. I think I remember her wages being mentioned once Scarlett became wealthy (or maybe Rhett paid them), and realistically I don't see that she would have pushed for major changes beyond that. She chose when to go back to Tara, and Scarlett wasn't able to change her mind--I don't think greater compensation was important to her, she felt Tara was home and the O'Haras were her family. I can see this sort of spin off working really well with one of the younger freed slaves from Tara--maybe Prissy, or Dilcey. They aren't mentioned much once Scarlett married Frank and moved back to Atlanta. I can imagine they'd have very interesting stories to tell.

It's not just Rhett's backstory that I would have wanted to read, it's seeing what Pat Conroy would have done with the story. His books are all heavy and sad, but nobody does those tragic, lush Southern epic novels in quite the way that he does. You can almost feel the humidity and sweat dripping off the pages of his books, they are so evocative. And of course, he is legendary for the dysfunctional Southern family trope, lol. I agree with you on Rhett and Scarlett not getting back together. When I was a much younger (romantically obsessed) reader, I did think so. But as an adult reader, I read the ending as totally different--not just disillusionment on Rhett's part, but total exhaustion with the drama. He just doesn't care anymore, he's completely done. Not that I felt quite as tragic about the ending this time, I actually found I didn't have that much sympathy for either of them. While I still find them to be fascinating characters, they were a lot less likeable on this reread.

I'm still disappointed that we never got a Pat Conroy spin off novel from Rhett's POV. He was in talks with Mitchell's estate and it was almost finalized, when it fell apart because he didn't like the rigid parameters of what they were going to allow him to write. It would have been a great read. Better than the insipid Alexandra Ripley sequel, that's for sure.

Didn't Rhett set up her establishment in Atlanta? As a financial backer. Makes sense if they had a child together, he must have felt a sense of responsibility to her. Re, the age difference--that was another Hmm moment for me this most recent reading, another little detail that only fully registered with me as an adult reader. Also, how icky it was that Gerald fell in love with 15 year old Ellen when he was about 40 or so.

If there are any Diana Wynne Jones fans around, I think we can all agree that the parents in her books tend to be awful but the absolute worst ones imo were Polly's parents in Fire and Hemlock. They pretty much either abandoned her or used her to manipulate the other. DWJ was very open about having had bad parents IRL. A year or so before she died, I read an absolutely scathing book review where she ripped a children's book apart for having received positive reviews for being a sweet heartwarming story of family life where actually the parents were neglectful and awful to the protagonist in the story. I don't even think it was an official book review, I think she was just so upset at the praise these fictional characters were getting in the literary world that she felt obligated to speak up. I don't remember the details, but I think it involved a child who was going to school with dirty clothes due to bedwetting because her patents were super involved in their flaky artsy lives. She was horrified that no book reviewers called the fictional parents on their bad behavior.

To go along with the LM Montgomery love, I think a mini series version of her Emily series would be awesome. I've lost count of how many Anne of Green Gables versions there are, at this point, most of them sadly disappointing. Why not branch out a bit?

Lol, Ma Ingalls has been hashed out enough on the LH thread, so I won't rehash, except to say that I think she was just as much a product of her times, as Scarlett was of hers, especially the racist attitudes (which was way more egregious in GWTW than any of the LH books, imo). And, Laura changed/added in/left out a lot of details in her books. IRL, she didn't object to Laura working out in the fields, Laura worked at a variety of jobs to help out starting at the age of 12, including in some sort of inn or B&B even though Laura portrayed Ma as being horrified at the idea of Laura doing that sort of job in Little Town on the Prairie.

It said that straight out in the book, that it never occurred to him to tell her so she didn't know any better about drinking while pregnant. If doctors didn't actually know that back then, I guess it's an anachronistic detail that the author slipped up on! But she did make a point of Ella only being able to have a "foolish" conversation when Scarlett finally tried to engage with her other children, that her mind was very scattered, etc that I wondered if Mitchell meant the reader to make the connection to the prenatal alcohol exposure. (I reread the book this past summer after a reading gap of at least 15 years so I picked up on all kinds of odd details that didn't register or resonate when I read it as a teen, lol.)

I agree that Rhett hardly qualified for "father of the year award" either. But, in his favor, he was kind and affectionate to his stepchildren, while Scarlett clearly played favorites with her bio kids. A bit off topic, but am I the only one who assumed the "ward" he referred to a few times in the book was his out of wedlock child? Who was probably Belle Watling's son? I figure there must have been a lot of backstory there that either got cut out of the published book or that Margaret Mitchell just didn't get a chance to delve in to.

She wasn't abusive, and she did make sure they were taken care of physically, but Wade was actually terrified of her. And doesn't the book mention her slapping him? Or threatening to. As far as Ella, last time I read the book, I wondered if MM meant to imply she was somewhat mentally challenged because of all the alcohol Scarlett consumed during her pregnancy because it never occurred to Dr. Meade to enlighten her on that score.

I did like Dracula when I read it back in the day (for a high school book report) but I tried rereading it several years later and just found it too boring to get through a second time. This may be more of an embarrassing book confession, but the most recent book I gave up on is a really old fashioned children's book, Homer Price (the one with the story of the overflowing doughnut machine). I've had a hard time concentrating on more serious reads, so for nostalgia and comfort reading, I've been reading mostly retro/vintage children's books. I read the first chapter or two, skimmed the doughnut chapter, but it was written so poorly with flat characters and was just plain boring that I gave up. I really don't get why it's a semi classic or even still in print??

Too late.... I read it years ago when it was the hot book everyone was reading. I agree completely with your assessment, haha. I'm not ever touching the movie with a ten foot pole.

I think she looks plain mostly because her hair is pulled back severely.

Agree with this. It's been years since I picked up a Julia Quinn book or similar type romance book, but as soon as I heard this had been optioned for Netflix, I had it on my mental radar.

Just to add, about my Betty Smith angst...I don't need a happily ever after story. My favorite kind of read is usually a bittersweet ending (with maybe a hint of redemption). Like, I am currently rereading one of my favorite novels, Sea Glass, by Anita Shreve. It's sad and heartbreaking to read (and it's more or less the same time period as Betty Smith's books) but it's never bleak or depressing.

I had an epiphany about Betty Smith not long ago...that I don't care for her books, because, even though they keep you glued to the page, they are just so bleak. I came to this realization after reading her book, Maggie Now. It just seemed so pointless and bleak of a story. (Maybe I should be posting this in the unpopular literary opinion thread??)

I love fractured fairy tales, too. Just put a hold on The Charmed Wife at my library. I am currently #7 on the list.

As a huge Tana French fan, YES, go back and read the books in order. There was so much left out or changed in the show, that you don't begin to get a good understanding of the detectives and their relationship. Plus, it will set you up for the rest of the Murder Squad books, because each new narrator was previously introduced as a side character in the previous book.

One of my favorite scenes in this episode was when Marine asked her how she managed to stay married so long to a man she didn't love. Her brutally honest response really made her like her, just the tiniest smidgen. Or at least, understand how she came to be such a tough person.

I loved The Ordinary Princess so much when I was a kid! Fun fact, M.M. Kaye did the illustrations. She was a talented artist and sold paintings before she started writing, as I recall.