Virago Modern Classics discussion

Write here which book would you like to read in June. It would be nice if you could write a few words about why you are nominating a particular book. It is not necessary, but it may help others make a decision.

The full list of VMC books you can find on our to-read shelf.

For the sake of diversity, please don't nominate books from previous poll, that is:
The Little Disturbances of Man by Grace Paley
Sunlight on a Broken Column by Attia Hosain
The Three Sisters by May Sinclair
You will be able to nominate them again after a month.

Take also a look at our buddy-reads in 2025. Please, do not nominate these books too, you can read them with us as a buddy-read.

You can nominate 1 or 2 books. The rest of the rules you can find here.

I encourage nominations by giving mine ;-)

I have checked old polls and I suggest two books:

Gone to Earth by Mary Webb (it is in the public domain; you can find it as an ebook on gutenberg.org and as an audiobook on librivox.org) --> I really like the author's "Precious Bane", so I hope I will love this one too.

The Land of Green Ginger by Winifred Holtby (it is available on archive.org) --> I would like to finally read something by the author.

I have The Land of Green Ginger in my ever expanding TBR mountain.

I nominate A Stricken Field by Martha Gellhorn.

Who nominated - The Three Sisters -? and why? If someone has already explained - sorry.

And @ Marilyn - why is a Stricken Field if interest to you? And why should others read it also?
I think these are pertinent questions - especially as I have to purchase the book to participate. It may be available on Internet Archive - I could check.

So far, we have three nominations:

Gone to Earth by Mary Webb
The Land of Green Ginger by Winifred Holtby
A Stricken Field by Martha Gellhorn.

PS This month, the time for nominations will be two days longer, until the 22nd (because I will not be able to do a poll on time).

Marilyn wrote: "I nominate A Stricken Field by Martha Gellhorn."

I've read so much about Gellhorn realise never tried anything she wrote. This one sounds oddly timely.

I would like to nominate - The Robber Bridegroom - Eudora Welty - I have a physical copy and I've only read Welty's Thirteen Tales - a writer I'd like to know more about

And also - The Ballad and the Source - Rosamund Lehmann - again I have the book - I've read several by her, just not this one.

The Robber Bridegroom - is described as an "... extraordinary, colourful fairy tale of the South..." - a young woman mistreated by her stepmother runs away with a dashing bandit. I like the gothic - fantasy element of this.

The nominations for June 2025 are as follows:

Gone to Earth by Mary Webb
The Land of Green Ginger by Winifred Holtby
A Stricken Field by Martha Gellhorn
The Robber Bridegroom by Eudora Welty
The Ballad and the Source by Rosamond Lehmann

The poll will appear soon.