I have heard much on the blogs about Persephone and since I had some birthday money left (from January, I'm very frugal!) I decided to choose a couple for myself. I sent off for the catalogue (I much prefer reading a paper catalogue than browsing a website), and settled down to choose two books. This was very difficult. The problem was exacerbated by the Persephone reading weekend when I was tempted by lots of wonderful reviews for interesting books. But a choice had to be made and I chose The Wise Virgins by Leonard Woolf and Cheerful Weather for the Wedding by Julia Strachey.
I chose The Wise Virgins because I fell slightly in love with Leonard Woolf after reading Victoria Glendinning's biography of him. This may seem a slight reason for choosing a book, but as I said, the choice was so great, and I'm not slightly in love with any of the other authors. I chose Cheerful Weather for the Wedding to continue the Bloomsbury theme.
I am very impressed by the speedy response at Persephone. I ordered the books on Wednesday afternoon and they arrived Thursday morning. And, unexpected bonus, free bookmarks!
So, now I'm all set for Persephone reading weekend 2012.
The bookmarks are stunning, aren't they? I mean the books are absolutely fine as well, but those bookmarks....
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy your selections.
Will you be able to resist to the next Persephone Weekend.
ReplyDeleteThe bookmarks do make them very special.
The Persephone books are so elegantly presented aren't they? I was very fond of The Making of a Marchioness. Couldn't get on with Cheerful Weather for the Wedding, but lots of my fellow bloggers loved it.
ReplyDeleteI have been wondering about the Leonard Woolf biography and I am so pleased that it left a positive response. I had a similar reponse to a memoir by a former employee of the Hogarth Press - I forget the name - who Leonard Woolf took an interest in and encouraged. The Wise Virgins is still on my wishlist, and i liked Nice weather very much - a quiet gem.
ReplyDeleteAnnie - I do love a freebie!
ReplyDeleteJo - I fully intend to join in next time, maybe I'll have added to my collection by then.
Nicola - yes they are. It will take me years to build up a decent collection but I'm already imagining how they'll look.
Jane - I can thoroughly recommend the Leonard Woolf biography, I loved it and lent it to a couple of people who also loved it.
Good choices! I love the Strachey so much, although it does divide Persephone fans - and I read The Wise Virgins about six or seven years ago, and remember nothing at all about it. Must revisit...
ReplyDeleteSimon - there were plenty of other Persephones I could've happily chosen, and I fully intend to explore further in the future! But I'm very pleased with my first choices.
ReplyDeleteI hope you don't wait a whole year before reading them. I actually just read The Wise Virgins and I thought the writing was wonderful. Cheerful Weather was also good, a very quick read.
ReplyDeleteAnd how lucky you are to get your Persephones so quickly! I usually order from The Book Depository to save on shipping (since I want SO MANY Persephones). I ordered some in January which took about 2 weeks -- some Christmas Persephones took almost 5 weeks to arrive, though the weather was terrible. I sometimes think I should splurge on ordering directly and getting the lovely bookmarks.
Karen - no, I intend to get to them sooner than that! I'm glad you enjoyed The Wise Virgins, I'm looking forward to it.
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