You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

One of the group for January is Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear.

Please discuss the book in this thread.

Peggy will be leading the discussion.

In order to receive a badge you must:
1. have completed the book before or during January 2019.
2. discussed it in this thread. Discussion must be more than "I read the book and I liked it". Discussion requires something more substantial and analytical of what you read, for example, thoughts, opinions, impact it had on you, what was your favourite part, was it what you expected it to be like etc. You may also like to review the book and post a link to the review in this thread. Please refer to our group spoiler policy for further information.
3. Report that you have read AND discussed the book in the reporting thread (include a brief summary of what you thought of the book).

General Rules:
1. Please mark your spoilers with the spoiler tags along with mentioning what stage of the book you are at so other's don't get a nasty shock. Chapter numbers/titles are generally best as they are the same across all formats and editions. See our spoiler policy
2. The book may be combined with the Year Long Challenge, Topplers, and Monthly Challenges.

Happy reading

I had this book on my tbr for ages and have scheduled it for several year long challenges, but never got to it. Until now!

I started today, but not much to report yet. I finished chapter 3. I do like Maisie, she seems confident and independent. I also liked how she (view spoiler)[ told her first client about her rules and that he couldn't divorce his wife or something like that simply based on her findings (hide spoiler)]. I do hope we get some more background information on Maisie. I like the time period the book's set in too.

I plan to read this one. I’m not sure yet when I’ll get to it, but some time during the month.

I have read it Masie is an amazing char. I am several books into the series. I am not sure if I can keep the books separate in my mind but I will try.

Good to hear you're enjoying the series Renee!

I started it now hoping to have it finished before the ylto party, but I don't think that will happen.

Depending on how much time I have over the weekend, I may read it for the party since it is first in a series.

I finished chapter 10. I'm enjoying the book but don't really have any in-depth comments. I'm in the middle of (view spoiler)[ some background on Maisie, Lady Rowan and Maurice Blanche, which is nice. I'm so glad that Maisie is given an education, I felt sad for her and her dad when due to her mom's death that wasn't possible anymore.

I thought it would take the entire book to solve the mystery with the Davenports, but that has been concluded already. I think there will be more on The Retreat though.. it doesn't seem like Maisie knows everything she wants to know.. (hide spoiler)]

I fell in love with the char. Masie. The mysteries often go in directions one does not expect. I like the mysteries but what keeps me reading is the characters.

I just got a notice from my library that the book is ready to be picked up. What? This is a series? 15 books! LOL, I only picked it to read because of the umbrella on the cover - sigh...

Hahahaha you’ll never be done your serial killing.

It fits a few tasks, Cherie.

I just got the book from the library and should be able to start it in the next few days. I am excited about the mix of mystery and historical fiction!

I have started it and love the setting and the characters, especially Maisie and her father.
It reminds me of Number 1 Ladies Dectective Agency in that the mystery is not so important but you love the characters and get some life lessons.

I had had this one for ages, so here's the kick I needed to actually take it and read! I will start it tonight!

Dinner is made and ready to put in the oven, the dog is fed, and I'm settling in to start reading.

I just started. I finished the 2nd chapter. I'm just sitting down to dinner with my granddaughter.

What are your first impressions, Marie Claude, Roz, and Cherie?

So far I'm enjoying the book. My first impression of Maisie was that she was part detective part psychologist. But I didn't know how she arrived at where she was (view spoiler)[working independently, knowing lords and ladies on a first name basis, the whole deal with Dr. Maurice Blanche. She had been a nurse, a maid and now this new career. I had so many questions about how she got there. (hide spoiler)] Now it's becoming clearer as I get into the "before" part and enjoying it even more.
Reading the parts about (view spoiler)[Vincent, were especially sad. Men went off to war, handsome and loved, and returned disfigured, changed. I read an article about soldiers returning with devastating facial injuries. How they were socially marginalized and some resorted to custom-made masks. Many killed themselves or died in suspicious accidents. Many ended up at the hospital in Sidcup Kent where facial reconstruction was being done, where there was some hope for them. Your personality shows through your face. If you no longer have one, what's left? I wonder if there really was a farm (more like a commune from the sound of it) in Kent? (hide spoiler)]
Back to reading on this rainy dreary day. Time for a cuppa.

I'm really enjoying it too, Peggy. I'm at page 205 in my book at the section titled Summer 1929. I am so impressed with the writing and the story. The characters are wonderful, even though some of the subject matter is painful. (view spoiler)[ the war section was sad, but well managed. The horror and hardship was all there with just enough detail to let the love story shine through. I felt the need to stop there for the night. I know something happened but I want to put it down before taking back up in the present time. (hide spoiler)] I'm looking forward to finishing tomorrow but I have so many places in my book marked to make comments.

I read the first two chapters. Before starting, I wasn't sure what to expect. On one hand, the book description reminds me of Agatha Christia - she was a nurse during the war as well. But Dawn said it reminds her of Ladies Detective Agency, which is not focused on the mystery so much. I am trying to start without any expectations. (but it's difficult :) )

I like how in the beginning we don't know anything about Maisie Dobbs and we are just thrown in her daily life. But then the author slowly introduces her past. I also liked how (view spoiler)[Maisie handled the "Mr.Dobbs" expectation of her first client. She didn't start explaining that she is a woman or defending her abilities in a man's profession at the time. She just went forward as if that never happened. (hide spoiler)]

I agree Cherie. I think this book excels in the char. development. I find my self thinking of Masie as real. I just love her.


Is anyone going on with the series when they finish?



Cherie wrote: "I'm really enjoying it too, Peggy. I'm at page 205 in my book at the section titled Summer 1929. I am so impressed with the writing and the story. The characters are wonderful, even though some of ..."

I think I'll continue. It's not a series I feel like I want to race through, but a nice one to pick up every now and then for a challenge or when I just want a comfort read. I'll keep my eye out for deals on the next books in the series.

Peggy wrote: "I think I'll continue. It's not a series I feel like I want to race through, but a nice one to pick up every now and then for a challenge or when I just want a comfort read. I'll keep my eye out fo..."

That is exactly how I feel about the series, too.

Renee wrote: "Is anyone going on with the series when they finish..."

Yes, I definitely will, Renee.

I finished the book today and will report it as read in the YLTO New Years Party thread, but I am not going to turn in the book to the library yet. I want to go back to the places I have marked to comment.

Do you have some thoughts for us, Cherie! Curious to hear what you think!

I'm 65% done. Haven't read any spoilers yet as I'm not exactly sure on which chapters they are.

Sorry, that ! should be a ?

I agree Peggy. I am making my was slowly through this series. Picking up a Masie book is very much a comfort read. I find reading a masie book to be like visiting with an old friend.

Roz wrote: "So far I'm enjoying the book. My first impression of Maisie was that she was part detective part psychologist. But I didn't know how she arrived at where she was [spoilers removed] Now it's becomin..."

I like learning about Maisie's past too. However, I think I would have preferred if it was more divided over the book and mixed up or related to her current life, like (view spoiler)[ a flashback on her early life, then later on a flashback on education/university, then a flashback on the war and being a nurse. Now it's just this huge chunk of her past in the middle of the book. (hide spoiler)]

As to your other remark: (view spoiler)[ Having your face destroyed must have been so hard! All injuries were hard, whether they were physical or psychological, but I can imagine having a disfigured face would be worse than losing an arm or a leg. Do you still have a link to that article? I'd be interested in reading it. (hide spoiler)]

Kirila wrote: "I read the first two chapters. Before starting, I wasn't sure what to expect. On one hand, the book description reminds me of Agatha Christia - she was a nurse during the war as well. But Dawn said..."

I liked that too! (view spoiler)[ Just pretending it never happened, like nobody ever needs to mention the silly mistake that client made by assuming she would be a man. (hide spoiler)]

Renee wrote: "I agree Peggy. I am making my was slowly through this series. Picking up a Masie book is very much a comfort read. I find reading a masie book to be like visiting with an old friend."

Which book are you at Renee?

I had a look but the next book in the series is quite expensive (at least for an ebook - around $10). However, the ones after that are not so bad ($2.90).

I am up to the eight bookA Lesson in Secrets Some of the books are better than others.I think that is true for all series. I have enjoyed them all. Maisie is just fun to read.

I am up to the eight bookA Lesson in Secrets Some of the books are better than others.I think that is true for all series. I have enjoyed them all. Maisie is just fun to read.

Kristie wrote: "It fits a few tasks, Cherie."

LOL, Kristie. I posted it on my yearly challenge, but I put it where I have another that I really, really want to read and it will not fit any other place. I am trying to figure out what/where/how to re-shuffle my books. Janice has not read Maisie Dobbs yet, so I cannot ask the question that I want to ask. I guess I will have to wait until a few more of you are through.

Chapters 1-5.
I was impressed with the introduction to Maisie. (view spoiler)[I liked that she is just starting her own business and did not include her first name on her business sign. She is prepared NOT to have to explain nor apologize to anyone who comes to M. Dobbs for help. Like she did with Mr. Davenham, she just got right down to business. She did not give him a chance to ask who she was, nor to ask to wait for Mr. Dobbs. It is amusing that she asks the kind of questions that she does. It is as much about what kind of a job she wants to take on, as it is about what the customers want from her. Her approach is definitely not "just the facts". I do not think I have ever read a character is able to deduce what another person is feeling by emulating their posture or the way they stand or walk. She seems to have more than the normal kind of intuition. I thought - is it training or some kind of power? My first book mark came at the end of chapter 5. I believe I put it there to remember the comment " The story takes up space as a knot in a piece of wood. If the knot is removed, a hole remains. We must ask ourselves, how will this hole that we hape opened be filled? The hole, Maisie, is our responsibility." This was from the training she got from Maurice. I liked that Maisie filled the hole that she had opened up in Celia with the trip to the fabric store. (hide spoiler)]

My second book mark is at the beginning of chapter 6 (view spoiler)[where Billie was waiting for Maisie to come back to the office, and he was telling her the story of what he had heard about Vincent. I believe it was Maisie's remark about the phone ringing. "whoever wants to speak to me will find a way". I thought it was amusing considering she was just starting out in business. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 7 (view spoiler)["Maisie sat back in the wooden office chair and brought her knees up to her chest so that here heels rested on the edge of the seat". Does that remind you of someone???
"the forensic science of the whole person". This seems much more than just detective work. It is more psychology. My next book mark was in between the pages where Maisie told Mr. Davenham the results of what she had to report about his wife and they were walking in the park. I do not know exactly what I was trying to remember, except maybe the whole scene and Maisie asking him to make a commitment to her regarding his wife. Interesting that she really is done with the case for Mr. Davenham, but she cannot let the story about Vincent rest. (hide spoiler)]

I see (view spoiler)[Lily Tomlin (hide spoiler)].

Spring 1910 - Spring 1917
I really enjoyed this part of the story. At the beginning, we met a person in her present, on her own, with references to people from her past and now, we get to see her in her beginnings. (view spoiler)[ I cannot imagine how hard she worked and hours the conditions back then. I was glad to have had a picture. thanks to the TV show, Downtown Abbey?? - of how a household like this might have worked. Up at 4:30, to wash in cold water and be to work at 5am at 13yo. I did feel sorry for her father and her, after her mother died. I think she was lucky to get the job she did. My next bookmark is at the point where she is indicating that she pinched the skin on her arm three times to make sure she would awaken at 3am to go down to the library to read. I have never heard of anyone doing this. Do you think it is possible that it could really work? The Philosophical Works of David Hume 1 - it is a real book! She is not just reading - she is studying. I figured it was only a matter of time before she got caught. So - that is how she got her schooling from Maurice Blanche. My next book mark was at chapter 14. I think I wanted to remark on how her father has saved so much money in the jar. Okay, next - I loved how Mr. Dobbs was able to fool the military guys into not taking the horses. Good thing he was out working at the house in Kent then. Watching the young soldiers leave on the train was so sad. It still amazes me how, in all of the books that I have read about this time in England, that everyone thought the war would only last a few months and they would all be home by Christmas, and nothing was going to happen to the boys going away, but that they would come home as men. I definitely felt what Mrs. Lynch must have felt watching her son, Simon at the party. It is hard enough letting your children go, but to see them off to war. I felt sorry for Enid and James. It was never meant to be. (hide spoiler)]

I will continue with spoilers in this section at chapter 17 later.

Peggy wrote: "I think I'll continue. It's not a series I feel like I want to race through, but a nice one to pick up every now and then for a challenge or when I just want a comfort read. I'll keep my eye out fo..."

I agree, Peggy. It was hard to blast through this first book, over the weekend. I had so many other book choices for first in series that I could have read for the party. I will have to check out what is available from my library for this series. They are hit and miss at times. I think I will not want to rush through them.

Cherie wrote: "Kristie wrote: "It fits a few tasks, Cherie."

LOL, Kristie. I posted it on my yearly challenge, but I put it where I have another that I really, really want to read and it will not fit any other p..."

I don't remember the exact tasks, but I remember seeing it on a couple of the lists that Janice attached saying using this link as a guideline. I didn't add it to all of the tasks it fit. I just plugged it in as historical mystery and umbrella options. I can take a look again and get back to you.

Not necessary, Kristie.

I have re-shuffled my books and posted it, not that I still couldn't re-post it. In case you need to juggle. It is the author's debut novel, so will fit book 33, task - author as well as first in series, and umbrella. It could be used on book 14, task Genre: Historical Mystrey too. It is on the list for Best Historical Mystrey series, under her link. I decided not to use it where I originally had it.

I am thinking Janice gave us too many options this year!

I didn't realize it was a debut. I think I read a lot of those, as well as first in series. It definitely fit for historical mystery. I'm either using it there or for umbrella...probably.

I finished! I really enjoyed it, gave it 4 stars and will go on with the series.

I'll read and reply to your spoilers tomorrow when I'm on my laptop Cherie.

I'm 2 hours into the audio book and so far I really like Maisie! I'll be back later to comment, after I organize my thoughts.

I read (listened to) this book in November. It was a loan from the library, so I don’t have a copy to refer back to. Hopefully I can recall enough to be accurate in my comments.

I hate to be the contrary voice, but I didn’t love this book. (view spoiler)[ I found it annoying when the story was abruptly interrupted for Maisie’s long back story, instead of intermittently learning details of her early life. Her struggles as a young girl and her years in service were interesting, but by the time we got back to the first story line, I had almost forgotten what was happening. The “mystery” itself was underwhelming, and I’d be hard pressed to even categorize this as a mystery.

Maisie was too flawless a character to be believable. Beautiful, extremely intelligent, compassionate, loved by literally everyone, sneaking nightly in the wee hours to read before work, teaching herself Latin, having the ability to assess a person by mimicking their body language - I don’t remember all of her wonderful character traits, but they were unending. I did like that she was a strong and independent woman at a time when that was not as easy as it might be today.

I was looking forward to the sections focusing on World War I, but they were brief and didn’t form as much of the story as I had hoped. The war sections did introduce a few characters, and I expect some of them will appear as the series progresses. (hide spoiler)]

This was a three star read for me, and I don’t expect I will read any more of the series.

I think you remembered quite a lot, TrudyAn!
I think audiobooks make it hard catch time changes comfortably, unlike in a print novel, where the "time" change is clearly indicated. (view spoiler)[ yes, some of Maisies "wonderfulness" was a little hard to swallow. I think I questioned a few. I have read quite a few books about the warfare and conditions in the trenches in France, so I really did not miss any specific details. Which part of the mystery did you find underwhelming - the first part regarding the Davenhams or what was going on at The Retreat? (hide spoiler)]

Peggy wrote: "Roz wrote: "So far I'm enjoying the book. My first impression of Maisie was that she was part detective part psychologist. But I didn't know how she arrived at where she was [spoilers removed] Now ..."

This is the article I read:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/pos...

Cherie wrote: "Chapters 1-5.
I was impressed with the introduction to Maisie. [spoilers removed]"

Don't read this until you finish the book:

(view spoiler)[ I found the way she could deduce emotions from posture interesting too. We can all see when someone stands in a specific way that they might feel sad or happy or whatever, but she seems to be able to do something extra by assuming the same posture. There were some hints that she does have some kind of 'power' that others don't have. Like she also never said yes to Simon's proposal because she was sure something bad was going to happen. (hide spoiler)]

Cherie, I have no idea who you're referring to in your spoiler for chapter 6, nor have any idea who the person Roz mentions is.

Cherie wrote: "Spring 1910 - Spring 1917
I really enjoyed this part of the story. At the beginning, we met a person in her present, on her own, with references to people from her past and now, we get to see her ..."

I also liked the part about her past, but some things were not really believable. (view spoiler)[ The pinching to wake up for one thing. But also the fact that she was reading each night from 3am until she had to start her work. I can imagine maids sneaking of to the library to read a bit, but how can you keep up a job as a maid with this level of studying and little sleep? (hide spoiler)]

About the end: (view spoiler)[ I was glad Maisie decided to visit Simon in the end. I thought he had died. Such a shame, they seemed like a really nice couple. (hide spoiler)]