Rainy Day Reads

I decided to read this because it’s been in the back of my mind as one of those books that you ought to read. And I made a little challenge for myself this year to try and diversify my reading, theming the months of year and finding books to read to fit that theme and January was Jazzy January - books from the jazz age.   This book opens in the 1940s, but the majority of the story is set in the 1920s. We follow Charles Ryder, a young man beginning his studies at Oxford in 1923. His life so far has been pretty uneventful, solidly placed in the English upperclass with all the comforts belonging to that position. When he meets Sebastian at Oxford his life changes and he gets access to the world of the landed English gentry, when Sebastian introduces him to his family. Whether that was good or bad for Charles is uncertain.  Not a lot happens in this book plotwise. It’s more about the relationships between the characters and these are marked by absence, dislike and d...

This book is set in Ceylon in the 1920s and 1930s. We follow Gwen, a young English woman who has married an older man who owns a tea plantation. Before she even steps foot on Ceylon she starts coming upon secret after secret and the book oozes of an ominous and slightly creepy feeling. Basically all of the characters seem to be keeping secrets; there is the mysterious Mr. Ravasinghe whom Laurence, the husband, hates for no apparent reason, the sister-in-law who seems slightly unhinged, the plantation manager who seems dark and domineering and finally the husband himself who seems to distance himself from his young wife in-between moments of love and passion. Gwen becomes pregnant soon after her arrival and the pair are happy to be starting their family. However, when she gives birth she must make a choice and this choice will haunt her for many years to come. She joins the secret keepers with a massive secret of her own and we follow the family’s dance trying to keep their...