Books which I'm reading.

I'm reading Terror and Wonder The Gothic Imagination published by The British Library section by section. I'm also reading Writing Historical Fiction A Writers and Artist's Companion published by Bloomsbury Academic bit by bit.

I'm also reading Bittersweet by Colleen McCullough about the lives of two pairs of twins who train to be nurses in the 1920's. The Lady (Magazine) caption is: "A novel of love, loss and betrayal - think of Scarlett O'Hara and multiply by four." I disagree, the characters are not as compelling as Margaret Mitchell's famous heroine. I'm half way through it and losing interest. Part of the back blurb reads "from the author of The Thorn Birds, one of the biggest-selling books of all time, comes this sweeping saga of love and betrayal and redemption in 1920's Australia.

'As clever and compelling as its four heroines.' Australian Woman's Weekly.

Half way through the novel my problem is that with four heroines and a cast of other characters important to the novel I am not identifying with them sufficiently to care what happens to them.

I wonder what other readers think of Bittersweet.

5 Books I Shall Read

I enjoy reading historical fiction and non-fiction, so I always study my copy of Historical Novels Review published by The Historical Novel Society, which lists novels published in the United Kingdom, The United States and elsewhere.

Unfortunately I don't have sufficient time or money to read all the books that interest me, so I don't add novels published in the U.S.A to my list because they are unlikely to be available in my part of the world in bookshops or libraries.

The books I have chosen are published in the U.K. I shall list five. It would be interesting to know what other people are reading or plan to read.

1.The Barefoot Queen by Ildefonao Falcones (trans Mara Faye Lethem), "the saga of the Spanish gypsies in 18th century Bourbon Spain, their culture and their persecution."

2.Queen of Bedlam by Laura Purcell. "When George III falls ill, Queen Charlotte, a perfectionist tries very hard to maintain the expected decorum, but her world is quickly falling apart. The man she fell in love with no longer exists and she must face life alone without her king."

3. Fools Gold  by Zana Bell "The cover is beautiful and romantic and as it says 1866 New Zealand is no place for a lady."

4.Ticket to Paradise by Elizabeth Morgan. A novel about Welsh people desperate to preserve their way of life who emigrated to Patagonia..

5.Bittersweet by Colleen McCullough. Her second big Australian saga. I hope I will enjoy it as much as I enjoyed The Thornbirds.

Tomorrow, I shall list another five novels.