Persephone Books discussion

Hello everyone-
I think we're ready to start! I thought I would select the books for the next 3 months, so everyone has time to locate them.
We'll start with Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, since that one should be the easiest to find. Feel free to post any discussion items whenever you like. I'd like to plan on starting a new book on the first of each month, and have discussions along the way and once we've finished it near the end of the month.
Let me know if there are specific books you'd like to read next, and I will be sure to get those on the list.
We can do Miss Pettigrew for the month of March.
For April, we can do The Shuttle by Frances Hodgson Burnett, and for May we can do William, an Englishman by Cicely Hamilton.
Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions--I'm looking forward to our discussions!

You're psychic, Gina. I just got Miss Pettigrew from the library, and the Shuttle was next on my list.

I really glad to have found this group also. I was slightly familiar with Persephone, so am glad we will be reading and discussing and getting to know more about the lit they publish.

I will start shopping now for those good books!

Will we plan for March 1 as our begin discussion date?

Odette wrote: "You're psychic, Gina. I just got Miss Pettigrew from the library, and the Shuttle was next on my list."

That is amazing!! :)

Sarah wrote: "Will we plan for March 1 as our begin discussion date?"

We can start the discussion anytime, but we will finish our discussion of Miss Pettigrew by March 1st, and move on to the next book.

Baobhan wrote: "I'm really excited about this group. I have both Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day and The Shuttle on their way to me. I'll look for a copy of William - An Englishman in a month or so.

The Persepho..."

Thanks for those ideas--you're right, I think the Persephone Classics will be the easiest to find. I just ordered "William", and it said it would take a few weeks to ship. You can also order directly from Persephone in England, but the shipping is a little more expensive.

Elizabeth wrote: "I'm so excited that you started this group. I love the Persephone books. I have Miss Pettigrew, but not The Shuttle yet. I'll have to start searching now."

Welcome to the group! I'm excited also--I was hoping I wasn't the only person interested in Persephone books. :)

I'm actually thinking of ordering some of their books direct from England, once I figure out which ones I like enough to keep. The company makes these beautiful, gray-covered editions with vintage fabric end-papers. I feel like owning one would be it's own special aesthetic experience.

If you think you might want to get one of their British editions, it's worth requesting a catalog from the company via their website. Their staff are nice & I received a catalog & newsletter within a week or two of requesting it. I expect the books would arrive as fast.

If you are finishing the first discussion next weekend, I will have to pass until the next book -- I cant find Pettigrew locally and would have to order it -- it might not even arrive until the weekend. I will plan for the Burnett novel though.

I agree with the other comments -- many of the novels sound fascinating to me!

Sarah wrote: "If you are finishing the first discussion next weekend, I will have to pass until the next book -- I cant find Pettigrew locally and would have to order it -- it might not even arrive until the wee..."

Oops, I'm sorry! I meant to say I'd like to finish the first discussion by April 1st, not March 1st. So we'll discuss Miss Pettigrew during the month of March, and The Shuttle during the month of April.

Great! even better. I will go about ordering then so I can join in. Thanks, Gina.

It's nice to see more Persephone readers here! I'm looking forward to re-reading Miss Pettigrew. I have five (I think?) Persephone books that a friend got for me a couple of years ago when she visited their shop in London. Unfortunately my books are in boxes, waiting for the day when I'll have proper bookshelves to display them on... I need to go digging through my boxes and remind myself which ones I have. I've looked through the catalogue so many times I can't remember if I own The Shuttle and William an Englishman, or if they're on my list of titles I want to read!

Gina,
Phew! I thought that was alittle ambitious. :)
March it is.

Elizabeth wrote: "I'd like to know which Persephone books group members have already read?"

Hi Elizabeth... I've only read "Miss Pettigrew" and "Lady Rose and Mrs. Memmary." I also own "Fidelity", "William, an Englishman" and "The World That Was Ours." I may actually have one or two more, but if I do they're packed away somewhere! I have the catalogue and a Persephone newsletter, and I will definitely be ordering more books!

Which ones have you read?

Hi Gina,
Since you asked for suggestions, the Persephone books I most want to read are, in order:

The Home-Maker
The Children Who Lived in a Barn
The Making of a Marchioness
Miss Buncle's Book
The runaway
Kitchen Essays
The Young Pretenders
Julian Grenfell

Odette wrote: "Hi Gina,
Since you asked for suggestions, the Persephone books I most want to read are, in order:

The Home-Maker
The Children Who Lived in a Barn
The Making of a Marchioness
Miss Buncle's Bo..."

Hi Odette-
Thanks for the suggestions! I have The Making of a Marchioness and Miss Buncle's Book on my list also. I'll keep all of those books in mind.

Of the Persephone books, I've only read Miss Pettigrew and The Home-Maker so far--I really enjoyed The Home-Maker! That would be a good one for discussion.

i havent read any persephone books yet, but i really love the atmosphere of early to mid 20th century, and am really interested in focusing on women's voices/womens experiences.
so i am happy that you started this group, gina, so i could be introduced to persephone which i am really excited about.

and the attention to the look and feel of the book appeals to me too...with the vintage fabric endpapers, grey binding...this is something i really love too. i love books as artistic physical objects as well as what is inside them. thank you for sharing about that, odette.
i love frances h.b's books too, elizabeth.

I am on board whenever you are ready to begin. It has been a joy to read this book!

Sarah wrote: "I am on board whenever you are ready to begin. It has been a joy to read this book!"

Yeah, this is a fun book! I'm partially through reading it again and haven't come up with any great discussion questions yet. If anyone wants to start a discussion, feel free!

Just wanted to ask an organization note before we get really started --

Were you posting separate folders for the separate book discussions? It helps to find the discussion once you have several books on the group, so that you don't have one long thread.

If you are then I will wait about adding my comments until the folder goes up.

Great comments, Jean! -- I will wait to reply until later.

Hi all - just wanted to say hi and apologize for coming into things a bit late. I'm looking forward to future discussions!
I thought of this group today when I got my copy of "The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford" from Amazon in the mail. Stafford is another "forgotten" 20th century female writer whose short stories are just breathtaking. The collection won the Pulitzer Prize, though she isn't well-known today.
Anyway, I just thought I'd share that since it seemed germane to the book choices of this group. I will be keeping up with what you are reading and will jump in when I can (hopefully for your next book).

I would love to see this on our future reading list -- it is E.M. Delafield's Consequences, which I only just read about -- but her Diary of a Provincial Lady hooked me 3 years ago --

Here is the link
http://www.persephonebooks.co.uk/page...

These women must have experienced so much with war and social change -- they must have been dizzy from all of it at times. I bet we owe them a lot and dont even realize it.

Sarah wrote: "I would love to see this on our future reading list -- it is E.M. Delafield's Consequences, which I only just read about -- but her Diary of a Provincial Lady hooked me 3 years ago --

Here is the..."

This would be a good one! I've read Diary of a Provincial Lady, and it was hilarious! :)

Does everyone generally have good luck when ordering from Persephone? I always hesitate for a second or two when ordering from overseas... given that this is the Persephone book group, that question may have come off as somewhat blasphemous - sorry about that. :D I actually love the idea of ordering a book from its own independent publisher.
Also, is there a list of what will be read/discussed over the next few months so I get those at the same time?

I have ordered from Persephone twice, and it worked well. Most of the time, it's pretty fast--I received the books within a week. One of my books took 3 weeks to arrive, but they were willing to send me another book if it hadn't arrived by the end of the 3 weeks.
I would also check Amazon--you can get new or used copies there. If you're ordering new and it isn't in stock, it would be faster to go directly through Persephone (and they're very nice at Persephone).
Another good place to check is www.abebooks.com. They sell used books, and you can find Persephone books there. Just check out the bookseller's location before you order--many of them will be in the UK.
If you check the "to-read" bookshelf for this group, you'll see the books we're reading for April and May. I just sent out a poll to everyone to vote on the book for June. I try to have the books selected a couple of months in advance so everyone will have time to get them.

Fantastic - thanks so much, Gina. I am very excited about reading these! Forgotten fiction is one of life's joys, and Persephone seems like a publisher worthy of patronizing. I'm so glad to find this group (thanks, Sarah)!

I'm in Australia and find the best deals on Persephone are from the Book Depository since they have free delivery.

Elizabeth wrote: "My copy of The Shuttle just arrived! I'm looking forward to it. Since you get the discount when you order three, I also got The Priory and House-Bound.

I'm starting M..."

Did you like Villette? I thought it was boring.

I think I'm going to love this Persephone Group. The books are the kind I like - literary gems.

I don't k now exactly - maybe I just wasn't in the mood at the time. I loved Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, though.