The Seaside Library

Author: PG Wodehouse Acquired in: April 2019 Amazon adventurer William Oakshott hiding from a reception committee while Uncle Fred looks out. The dread of his nephew, the terror of his classmates and the man who changes tranquillity into calamity, behold, Uncle Fred! The readers' favourite but the characters' plague, Lord Ickenham or Uncle Fred sets off on his latest escapade at the idyllic Ashendon Manor to help his bungling nephew, Pongo Twistleton on his mission to woo his lady-love and placate her Grinch of a father. And that's all there is to the plot! With such a simple storyline, Wodehouse takes us for a ride; a foiled jewel smuggling attempt, a shy explorer, a clash of identities, an honest policeman's misadventures and a generous dollop of matchmaking. Or to put it in Wodehouse fashion, "the joining of sundered hearts".  Wodehouse’s books are very provincial; all of the ones I’ve read so far are set in remote peerages far from the bustle of London. Re...

Author: Agatha Christie Acquired in: August 2019 The ABC Murders is the second Agatha Christie book I've read after A Caribbean Mystery. Drawn by Miss Marple's marvellous sleuthing, I sampled some Poirot, having heard much about him.  Three s trangely connected murders come to Belgian detective Hercule Poirot's notice; the victims have names in alphabetical order, even the localities' names correlate to this pattern. Furthermore, beside each victim lay an ABC railway guide and Poirot begins to receive taunting letters signed 'ABC'. As the search for the elusive assassin spreads nationwide, Poirot alone realises that the murders are simply a part of a more devious design.  Cleverly fashioned to make the reader jump to conclusions, this book is certainly one I wouldn't mind reading again. Agatha Christie's novel about a serial killer makes for a riveting read, one that makes you feel as if you have solved the mystery when actually, more lurk within. I enj...

Author: Harriet Beecher Stowe Acquired in: April 2019 "I feel now that the time is come when even a woman or a child who can speak a word for freedom and humanity is bound to speak... I hope every woman who can write will not be silent.", said Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of a book that outraged as well as reformed America. Pouring her experiences of witnessing slavery, racist riots and heckles by non-Abolitionists onto paper, she produced a book that broke sales records in the US and UK at the height of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.    It's a moving tale about a man being torn away from his family as if it was natural to do so, and other stories about how he brings about a sea change in whoever he meets along his journey. In the end, we may feel like we owe something to this meek but faithful man- a feeling of regret and shame. Tom is a faithful slave; his master trusts him, his fellow workers respect him, the master's little boy adores him. As always, what...