A Pin to see the Peepshow III

Julia's relationship with Leo is not all that easy. She worries that as she's some years his senior, and not able to be with him much, he will get bored with her. She starts to make silly remarks in her letters, saying that she wishes that Herbert was dead or that she was going to kill him. Leo gets cross with her. She tries to persuade him to help her find a job abroad, and she could then be with him. But she is still married to Herbert. They pursue the affair, and it seems to be more of a pain than a pleasure to Julia. Then she becomes pregnant. Leo helps her to find an abortionist and she goes to see her. When she gets home, she finds that Herbert's sister, a difficult woman, who has been staying with them has had her dog put to sleep because he was ill. Upset, she collapses and miscarries. Herbert thinks that it is a natural miscarriage caused by grief, and he tells her that he will get rid of his sister. Julia's friend Anne who is studying to be a doctor, realises that Julia has deliberately aborted her pregnancy. She keeps quiet about it, but tells her that Herbert is not that strong, and she should be careful how she treats him.

Dennis Locorriere Dies

Just heard that Dennis has died, at the age of 76. He had lived in the UK for many years and I saw him playing in London a few years ago. He was great. He had a wonderful voice and wrote some of his own songs. He was the lead singer of Dr Hook and the Medicine show, which made it big in the 70s, with the hit, Sylvia's Mother. They also did a lot of pop ballads. They had gone bankrupt during the 1970s, because they partied a lot, and the pop songs were big hits and greatly improved their finances. Dennis was born in Union City, New Jersey in 1949. His parents split up, and he was raised by his grandmother. He joined up with Ray Sawyer, from the South and they formed a band which played in bars. Dennis' voice was beautiful and he sang lead, though Ray also sang lead on a few songs. The band sang Shel Silverstein songs, but later, when they went bankrupt, they became more commercial.

Emily Part III

The journey home was exhausting and sad. A letter had arrived before they set out to say that Aunt Branwell had now died. But the girls pressed on. Charlotte planned to remain for a short time and then return to Brussels as the Hegers wanted her back. Emily announced that she was going to stay and keep house for her father. She was not going back to the school. Charlotte however was determined to return as soon as possible. Emily took up the reins of running the house, working happily with Tabby. Mr Bronte was pleased to see her but he like her was a natural recluse. "It's so good to have you back, my dear", he said when Charlotte and Anne had left. Anne was still at the Robinsons' house and she had managed to get a job for Branwell as a tutor there. "I'm glad to be back, Papa. Brussels is a hateful city." "But you did so well, there, Emily. M Heger spoke highly of you and you've learned so much more French and German." "Oh I'll keep up my studies here, and write a little." "Of course, my dear." Patrick decided to teach Emily to shoot, as he had always kept a pistol with him after the Luddite riots years ago. She enjoyed it. She was happy now, working in the kitchen, walking on the moors, and writing at night. She enjoyed baking and studying German while her bread was in the oven. The following day, she decided to walk the 2 miles to Ponden Hall, a neighbour's house, which had a good library. She borrowed books from the Mechanics Institute as well, but she liked going to Ponden Hall. When she arrived, she was dismayed to find that the servant told her there was someone in the library. She rarely saw or spoke to the family when she visited. But after a long walk, she wanted to borrow some reading matter. So she took a deep breath and walked in. To her surprise, it was a young man, dressed in a rather shabby suit. She had never seen him before.

A Pin to see the Peepshow II

Julia and Herbert get married and he joins up, but has a safe posting. She goes on working, and is doing well at her job. She is pleased with life and delighted to have her own flat. But when Herbert comes back from the war, she begins to find him irritating. She meets a young man who is a sailor, and who has been going out with Elsa. They start an affair. Leo is away at sea a lot so they write to each other. Julia begins to long for escape from her marriage and they begin to imagine ways that they could be together. They don't have much time together. Herbert becomes aware of the relationship and begins to give his wife a hard time. She and he quarrel and Leo gets involved as well. He gets angry with Herbert for being unkind to his wife and for not having the decency to offer her a divorce.

A Pin to See the Peepshow

Jesse's novel is closely based on the story of Edith Thompson. Her chief character, Julia Almond, is a pretty girl who lives in East London. She has ambitions, but her parents are not very successful in making a living. She get a job in a ladies' clothes shop run by a couple of aristocratic women who for various reasons need to earn money. Julia is bright and good at selling and starts off doing errands and helping out. She has potential and her employers think of promoting her to be a buyer in due course. It is just before World War One, and Julia starts dating a young man who is killed in the early stages. Then her father dies and her mother has no money, so she ends up letting some relatives move into their house to share expenses. Julia does not make enough money to keep herself and her mother. She has to share a room with her cousin Elsa, whom she dislikes. She is increasingly unhappy, then Herbert Starling, a neighbour, begins to take an interest in her. He is a widower, and older than she is. He works in a gents' outfitters in the West End. He asks Julia to marry him. She is tempted because she hates living with her uncle and aunt and cousin, and would be glad to have a home of her own.

F Tennyson Jesse

Jesse was born in 1888, to a clergyman and his wife. She was related to the poet Tennyson. Her family moved around a lot, abroad, and she was educated in different places. She went to a school of art in Cornwall, when she was 18 and she did some painting. She then became a journalist and had a special interest in criminology. She wrote several books about murder trials and she also wrote novels. One of her novels is A Pin to See the Peepshow. It was based on the Edith Thompson case in the 1920s. Edith Thompson was a young woman who was in a dull marriage. She fell in love with a younger man, and they had an affair. He was a sailor, and they wrote letters to each other. Bywaters, her lover, then killed Edith's husband. She was accused of inciting him to murder her husband and was tried and executed, though she was not the one who committed the murder. M/F

That Lady

This is a Kate O'Brien novel that I haven't read for years. It is a historical novel set in the times of Philip II, about Ana De Mendoza, a noblewoman who opposed him. Philip kept her in confinement for many years. It is basically an anti Fascist novel, about fighting tyranny. O'Brien spent time in Spain as a governess in her young days, and she loved Spain, but was anti Franco. She visited the country, but was unhappy at the Falangist government, just as she disliked De Valera's narrow puritanical Ireland.