It’s time for this month’s chain of reading, set off by Kate’s Six Degrees of Separation, in which we are invited to build a chain of 6 books where each one bears some form of connection to the one before – be it author, theme, style, location, title, era, language, ….. – all starting from a book suggested by Kate.

This month, our starter book is Wifedom: Mrs Orwell’s invisible life by Anna Funder. In this fascinating book, Funder uses the letters that Orwell’s wife, Eileen O’Shaughnessy, wrote to a friend to build the story of her life and her role in Orwell’s writing and career. A tantalising theme by an author I admire.

Encouraged by the themes of Wifedom, my chain of books will feature married women who are named in the title of the book.

Let’s start with one of my all-time favourite books, The time traveler’s wife by Audrey Niffenegger. This fascinating story shows a relationship that is challenged by the husband’s uncontrollable travelling back and forward in time. I wouldn’t describe it as science fiction as it seems so realistic. It is a tale of strong love, everyday life and practical decisions. Niffenegger’s skilled storytelling kept me turning the pages, and more than once. I love this book and highly recommend to all.

Now for a spot of more regular travel, let’s turn to Flowers for Mrs Harris by Paul Gallico, and hop across to Paris. This delightful book is set in 1950s Paris and London, and one of a series starring hard-working and kind-hearted Mrs Harris. For a more lengthy review that I wrote a while ago click here.

Next we’ll move onto a novel that fits well with the floral aspect of Mrs Harris. This novel opens with the words “Mrs Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself”. Mrs Dalloway is Virginia Woolf’s second novel, written in 1925 and depicts a single day in June 2023. We join Clarissa Dalloway as she prepares for a party she is hosting that evening, and her thoughts and memories introduce us to people who we finally meet at the party that evening. The simple plot is full of commentary on social life of the times, including the impact of World War One.

Now, we’ll move on from Mrs Dalloway to Mrs Bird.

This book had been sitting on my shelves for some time before I got around it. How did I leave it so long to discover this charming, amusing and poignant novel? Set mainly in London, during World War 2, it portrays the devastation of war in a very personal way. The Mrs in the title is not the hero, but other women are strong and inspiring characters, and the stresses imposed on women during the war are clearly depicted. An easy to read book that moved me deeply.

Bye bye Mrs Bird and hello Mrs Bridge.

This is the debut novel by American author Evan S. Connell, published in 1959. It tells the story of an upper middle-class, bourgeois family in Kansas City in the period between the First and Second World War, with focus on the changing way of life and the associated issues of civil rights and gender inequality. The book was followed in 1969 by Mr. Bridge. The two books were adapted for the screen and the resulting film was released as Mr. and Mrs. Bridge 

I had considered including a husband story in my chain, with Alexander McCall Smith’s “The good husband of zebra drive” calling out to me. But in the end I decided to go with another of his books, The girl who married a lion, a collection of African folk tales. Mma Ramotswe reads the foreword she has written to these tales, then goes on to narrate them all herself, passing them on to us verbally as did her father’s aunt to her. Great stories wonderfully told by McCall Smith and his feisty female detective.

Note: Most of my links this week are to Hive, an online bookseller that gives part of the income to local booksellers, and you get to choose the bookshop you’d like to receive the benefit. I’m delighted that my local bookshop, Books on the Hill, is on the list, and have been happily supporting them in this way.

Copyright Debbie Smyth, 18 September 2023

Posted as part of Six Degrees

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