Henry James

Im hoping to read some more American classic novels, some of which I have not looked at for years. One of the best known American authors is Henry James who was born in New York in 1843. His family were very rich on both sides, and his father was a gentleman of leisure. They were of Scottish and Irish descent. The family travelled to Europe when Henry was a child and he was educated by a tutor. They retrurned to America, but Henry had a bad back which meant he was unfit for service in the American Civil war. He studied law for a time but his chief interest was in literature and he mixed with writers and arists. His brother William studied medicine and became a psychologist. Henry went to Paris in the 1870s and stayed in Europe for most of the next 30 years. He spent time in England where he made friends and wrote his first novels. Now settled in Europe he was influenced by French writers such as Zola. His books tended to be about the conflict between the naive and innocent Americans, and the more subtle and often decadent Europeans. The Portrait of a Lady is about a naive American girl Isabel, who marries a European nobleman and finds that he does not love her. More Will Follow.

K names

K is not the most popular letter for names, though there are many names that are spelled with a C or a K. Katherine is one of them. Another is Kara/Cara. There are a few Bible names, such as Keziah. It means Cassia, the name of a tree and was the name of a daugher of Job. It was popiular in the Puritan era as it was a bible name. Two names have become very popular in the later 20th century, Kelly and Kerry. Both can be used for boys or girls but are more popular now as girls names. Kerry is a place name in Ireland. Kevin is a very popular name not just in Ireland. It means handsome or fair. M/F

V names

V is a slightly more popular letter for starting a name.. than the ones like X Y and Z. Vera used to be quite well liked, and it means truth. Verity also means truth, and was quite popular among the Puritans, who liked to give "virtue names" personifying the Christian virtues. Vanessa was a name invented by the writer Jonathan Swift, who used it for his woman friend Esther Vanhomrigh. He took the Van from her surname and Essa from Esther. It is still quite well used. Valeria is a Latinate name which means healthy and nowadays it is usually given as Valerie. It can be shortened to Val. Valentine can be used for men or women, it also means strong and healthy. It is the name of a saint. It was the name taken by the life partner of the novelist, Sylvia Townsend Warner, who wrote Lolly Willows. Her companion was born Mary Mcrory but took the name Valentine Ackland. Veronica means True Image, and is traditionally said to be the name of the woman who wiped Christ's face on his way to Calvary. Verena is a Swiss name of unclear meaning. It was used by Henry James in his novel The Bostonians. Vivian is a name which can be used for boys or girls. It means alive. It is mostly known as a girl's name nowadays. Variations are Vivien or Vivienne. Viola means violet and has been well liked since it appeared as the heroine of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Vincent means Conquering and is quite popular for boys, especially in Catholic cultures.

Willa Cather

Willa was born in 1873 in Virginia, but her parents moved out west when she was a child. She grew up in the West, in the Great Plains.. Nebraska. Her family tried farming but her father gave up after a while and moved to a nearby town, and opened an insurance business. Willa was boyish and for a time called herself William. She was keen to go to University... but originally she wanted to study science, and become a surgeon. She began to write and when she graduated (after taking an Arts degree), she spent some time teaching. She was a successful teacher, but she eventually moved to New York to pursue her writing career. She wrote about the life on the Frontier, where many Swedish and German immigrants moved out to start farming on free land. She lived with a woman friend, Edith Lewis. One of her early novels was O Pioneers, about a girl called Alexandra, who takes over her father's land when he dies, and buys up more land.. Times are hard and most of the immigrants know little about farming. So they leave and sell their land, and Alexandra shrewdly buys it up. More Will Follow.

U names

U is also a letter which isn't very popular for names. One female name that was fairly popular in bygone days, beginning with U, was Ursula. It means "she bear" and was the name of a medieval saint. Una is an Irish name, meaning lamb... and was also quite popular in the past. Another rarely used name is Unity. It means oneness, but it is not popular, especially as it was the name of the fascist supporter and society girl, Unity Mitford. Another Irish name is Ulick, which is a variant of Uilliam, the Irish form of William. A name very rarely used is Ulric, which means Wolf rule. There is a feminine version, Ulrica.

The Kitten lady

I like to mention Hannah Shaw, the Kitten Lady, now and then to let people know of the wonderful work she does. She rescues all sorts of animals, but kittens are her special focus. You can find her on social media.

Dolly Parton

Dolly died the other day, of cancer at the age of 80. She lost her husband Carl, a year or so ago. Her health has been declining but she still had projects she wanted to pursue. She was a wonderful person and a loss to country music. She was buried by her husband in a simple private ceremony.