Behind a Mask

Louisa May Alcott is well known as the writer of Little Women, but she is far more prolific than was previously known. Over 35 years ago literature scholars have discovered that Ms. Alcott wrote under a pseudonym, A. M. Barnard. This information was found in one letter that Alcott wrote where she mentions the pseudonym. Scholars have long suspected she did write under a pseudonym but could never prove it until Madeleine Stern found the telling letter in the 1970s. Because Alcott's father could not hold down a job and squandered her mother's inheritance, Louisa took up writing to pay the bills. Her stories were gothic thrillers and romances with murder and intrigue. You could call it pulp fiction, in a way. Alcott wrote these stories to support her family and herself, but did not want to be connected to them in any other way.

I recently borrowed Behind a Mask, a collection of thrillers by Louisa May Alcott. The book contains 4 short stories, of which I only read 3. My favorite of the stories is The Mysterious Key and What it Opened. This story was the most developed and had interesting characters. It also had a somewhat happy ending, even with tragedy. There are moments of darkness that is rather puzzling and I was left guessing true motives until the end. Behind a Mask and Pauline's Punishment both were very dark stories with dark endings. I tried to read the Abbot's Ghost but just couldn't follow any of it.

I rarely read short story collections but I am glad I did in this case. I learned a lot about Louisa May Alcott and I can appreciate her writing skill even more. I imagine more stories will be discovered in time by literary scholars and we will be able to discover again a talented writer.

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase is a quick and easy young adult story by Joan Aiken. Sylvia is an orphan living with an elderly aunt. She is sent to live with her well-off cousin, Bonnie Green, in the English countryside. The Greens have hired a governess, Miss Slighcarp, to take care of the Sylvia and Bonnie while they travel. Things quickly go wrong once the Greens leave and Miss Slighcarp takes over the estate with her own greedy plans.

Adventure ensues as the girls escape in search of help. They have the aid of some of the servants and friends along the way. In the mean time, there are actual wolves that pose a danger in the winter months. The story has a lot of suspense and moves quickly. I read it in a few hours.

I was a bit confused about the wolves. While they may be symbolic of the wolves in Willoughby Chase, some aspects of the wolves did not seem real. I suppose I would need to read up on wolves in the English countryside to see what kind of danger they posed. I also had a hard time placing the book historically. But these are minor criticisms to an otherwise good story.

Book Rating: 3 stars

Watership Down

I was surprised by this book. I have heard various things over the years and I wasn't sure if I really wanted to read it. This book is known as "the bunny book" by the local high school kids who are required to read it for English class. Since the kids have to read it, I decided I better too.

Watership Down by Richard Adams is a story about rabbits. Hazel, Bigwig, Fiver and a few others escape their warren, or group, to find a new place to live. They do this just in time to escape their warren being destroyed and killed by construction workers. Their journeyings take them to a hilltop location with plenty of space and food for all. Once settled, they are left with the problem of finding doe rabbits. The rabbits bravely face farmers and another warren run by a dictator rabbit called Woundwort.

I had heard this story was an environmentalist and political statement. I think those messages are there, but not in a bad way. Most things are viewed from the perspective of rabbits. How would a rabbit view his environment? women? farmers? government? The answers are not so straight forward for humans, but for rabbits it's rather simple and maybe surprising. For example, farmers are not the enemies of rabbits because they produce food the rabbits enjoy stealing. And yet the farmers do pose a danger to the rabbits because they may kill them.

Adams does a good job helping the reader learn the rabbit vocabulary and mind. You see the rabbits as true rabbits because that is mostly how they behave. The heroes in the story could be considered super-rabbits because they do some things that rabbits don't ordinarily do. Even so, those human like tendencies help the reader relate to the story.

Book Rating: 4 stars

Emma by Jane Austen

I loved, loved the newest BBC version of Emma. I admit I fell asleep watching it twice, but it was very late at night. The costumes and acting was top notch. A true Austen-fest. So I decided to read the book to catch up on the parts that I had missed.

I tried. I really tried to read Emma. But I found it boring and tedious. Maybe because I had seen the movie, and various incarnations of it, that I already knew the story. I admit I had a hard time following the relationships of the characters. After all, there are two Mr. Knightly's and Mr. Churchill is really a Weston. At least I think Mr. Churchill is really a Weston, that had been adopted. I guess I am still a little lost.

Anyway, the story is about Emma, a middle-class young woman, that attempts in her young naivete to meddle in matchmaking. She quickly learns that her meddling causes some broken hearts and delayed romances, including her own. As I said again, I loved the lavish BBC production. The book was tedious. The characters spend pages talking about someone's complexion and whether they should go out or not. There are some true literary gems within the text, but I had a hard time focusing and had to finally give it up. I know this is one of Austen's most popular stories, but I think I will stick with the screen versions.

The Reformed Vampire Support Group

If you are looking for a vampire story that is a little different, The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks just might fit the bill. The story is told from the perspective of a teen vampire, reformed vampire actually. Nina was infected in 1973 and has lived the last 51 years hating her life.

Nina attends a Reformed Vampire Support Group run by a local priest. The group is dedicated to non-violence and dealing with life as vampires. The group has an odd assortment of vampire characters of various ages and conditions. Things change when one of their members is murdered by a slayer. In order to protect themselves, they must solve the murder and find the slayer. A series of complications and vampire related mishaps follow.

Catherine Jinks creates an entirely different view of vampires that contrasts with other more popular vampire stories. Her vampires are weak and vulnerable and dependent on a handful of humans that protect them. If you are not a Twilight fan and you want a different vampire story, this might be the one for you.

Just a side note, the story is a young adult novel. The back cover recommends it is for age 12 and up. IMO, I would say it is for older teens. The story has violence and some foul language.

Book Rating: 3 stars