I've been reading...

I seem to have had a lot of evenings to read while my husband is in hospital, so have caught up on one or two books that I have wanted to read for a while.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog

by Muriel Barbery

I wondered about this book to begin with, but once I had settled in to the beautifully written prose, I found I couldn't put it down. The story of the erudite Parisian Concierge who spends her life hiding behind a pretence of being uncultivated is fascinating. Her meetings with a twelve year old girl also living in the grand apartment block start a series of new happenings in her life, and she can at last let her real self come through.

Paloma, the young girl, sees Renee as she really is and says,

"Mme Michel has the elegance of the hedgehog; on the outside she is covered in quills, a real fortress, but on the inside she has the same simple refinement as the hedgehog, a deceptively indolent little creature, fiercely solitary--and terribly elegant".

I was not happy with the ending.

The Pattern Artist

by Nancy Moser

published by Shiloh Run Press.

I chose this book because I am very interested in fashion, patterns, structures of clothing. It's a novel set in 1911, about a girl who leaves England, as a housemaid to a wealthy lady, to live in America. She hopes that there will be new possibilities in her life and that she will not be in service for long. Indeed, she sets off on her own, finds a job in Macy's selling patterns and meets the Butterick pattern salesman. Very swiftly she rises in her career and always led by her faith in God, rises to become a fashion designer who is highly sought after visiting the fashion houses of Paris.

I did enjoy the book, but felt it all happened almost too fast. I always used Butterick patterns and it was interesting to read how Annie altered and adapted the patterns, with detailed descriptions of the fabrics and dresses . Her mercurial rise in her career , with help from various people in the fashion business, was a surprise, but I suppose it could have happened that way.

I received a copy of the book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

And one more for dipping into;

Coffee talk with Jesus

by Barbie Swihart