Perks of Being Unwell

I've been struck down with that cold that's doing the rounds, though it had the decency to hold off until my final, final Downton Abbey essay edits had been completed. I think submitting that gave me permission to collapse and my body took the invitation without much hesitation. So here we are.

Fortunately, I have found some upsides to this being ill malarkey. Most of you know I don't exactly slow down but I've been forced to do just that and I'm actually relaxing for a change. I was already rereading Aurora Floyd slowly as part of my thesis work but I've finished that pretty speedily, thanks to waking up at half four this morning and having a three hour reading session. I'm going to indulge in some 'fun' rereading until I recover. I don't much have time to reread these days and there are some books on my shelves I really want to revisit such as Sing You Home (Jodi Picoult), Carol (Patricia Highsmith) and All Passion Spent (Vita Sackville West). I'm hoping to get through those three at least by the weekend.

I'm not entirely resting though - I'm incapable of it. I'm still working on some novel edits but the pressure's not there because I'm just doing as much as I feel like. And the rest of my free time is being spent with these lovely ladies because that's what I do when I'm unwell...

My Favourite Books of 2011

I've read some fantastic books this year. The full list can be found in this post. However, I just thought I'd highlight some of my favourites in a special post. They're in no particular order because these are the cream of the crop - in my eyes there's no picking between them for quality. I found them to be pleasurable reads, though vastly different in content.

Carol by Patricia Highsmith 

This tells the story of Therese and her attraction to a woman she meets in a department store, the Carol of the title. It's a fairly short novel but the prose is wonderfully evocative. You can read my review here.

Girl Reading by Katie Ward

Ward takes seven portraits of women reading as her starting point and weaves seven marvellous little stories out of them. Each individual story is digestible in one gulp but, if you're like me, you'll want to read them all in one go. You can read my review here.

Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult

After splitting from her husband, Zoe Baxter falls in love with Vanessa. Although she's suffered miscarriages which pushed her marriage to the limit, Zoe and her new partner are keen to use the eggs she has in storage. However, her ex has become involved with a conservative religion group and she needs his permission. A very modern novel, and a heartfelt one too. You can read my review here.

Westwood by Stella Gibbons

Gibbons' work is now being reissued and this book absolutely delighted me. Set against the backdrop of WWII, the novel tells of Margaret Steggles and her connection with a richer family she comes across quite by accident. Funny and well-written. You can read my review here.

Uncle Silas by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

Adding a sensation novel to my list was, I suppose, a given. This book is gripping and still possessed the ability to scare me out of my wits. Not bad for a book that's around 150 years old! You can read my review here.

Have you read any excellent books this year I should add to my own for next?

Book Review: Carol by Patricia Highsmith

This was originally published under a pseudonym in 1952 as The Price of Salt. Highsmith's mainstream publishers didn't want a lesbian novel and so it was finally published by a small press. When it came out in paperback a year later it sold almost one million copies in America. The edition I have includes a foreword by Val McDermid and an afterword by Highsmith herself, added in 1989.

I loved this novel. Although it's almost sixty years old the emotions are still the same. Those are universal and Highsmith touches on them with such a deft hand that you can be forgiven for wishing the book was double or even ten times the length it actually is. I certainly didn't want it to end. The book deals with a sales assistant, Therese, who is working at a department store to earn a little money before Christmas. A woman comes in to buy a doll for her daughter and suddenly Therese's life changes. The woman, Carol, is in the midst of a divorce battle but much of the action hinges on how far her estranged husband will go to get full custody of Rindy.

It's easy in a modern, more accepting (though in some cases not accepting enough) world to be distanced from the struggles faced by previous generations who just wanted the opportunity to love each other. If you've read too many books around this theme then Carol may not appeal to you but it's not just a story about unacceptable love: it's also a joy to read. Highsmith's prose is lusciously fluid, bringing out the right level of detail without over-describing anything. Some of the most memorable scenes actually don't involve the two lovers. During the first chapter Therese encounters Mrs Robichek, a woman struggling to live day to day. I found this portrait so poignant (and she's referred to later in the novel as well) that it stuck with me for days afterwards.

Perhaps the novel doesn't develop the character of Carol as well as it could have but this is primarily Therese's story, Therese's reaction to Carol. We know what frustrates Therese about Carol, what attracts her to her, why she's willing to believe bad of her on occasion. And, in that respect, Highsmith created quite a novel. I do love it and I went into it thinking I was going to love it. That might have biased my opinion in its favour but I will certainly be reading it again in the future.

I read this book for the LGBT Reading Challenge 2011 - see sidebar for details.