Posts tagged Donwell Abbey

Chicklit Capers

Nov 26th

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I discovered Lauren Willig while browsing through a bargain bin and unearthing a hardcover copy of The Masque of the Black Tulip. The story summary appealed to me, so I bought it and looked it up online, only to find that it was the sequel to The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, which meant compulsive old me could not get started with Black Tulip, as I wanted to read Pink Carnation first.

After months of unsuccessful mooching, I found a trade paperback copy of Pink Carnation in another bargain bin and thus moved both books up the TBR pile (#172-173 for 2009).

These two novels by Lauren Willig make up an interesting set of genre-bending books, combining chick lit, historical mystery, and adventure. The Pink Carnation series runs on two storylines, one featuring present-day London, where Harvard grad student Eloise Kelly is doing research on English spies in the Napoleonic wars. This leads her to uncover the second storyline in each novel: tales revolving around these swashbuckling heroes.

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Amy Balcourt, Aunt Arabella, Aunt Prudence, Baron Jerard, Belliston Square, Black Tulip, Chic Girl, chick lit, Colin Selwick, Curly-haired Chap, Donwell Abbey, Dowager Duchess, Edouard de Balcourt, First Consul, Fred Tholmondelay, Georges Marston, historical fiction, historical romance, Hotel de Balcourt, Jane Wooliston, Lady Henrietta, Lady Jersey, Lady Uppington, Lauren Willig, Lord Richard, Lord Uppington, Lord Vaughn, Loring House, Madame Fiorila, Mary Alsworthy, Minister of Police, Ministry of Police, Miss Balcourt, Miss Grey, Miss Gwen, Mme Bonaparte, Mme Fiorila, Mme Leclerc, Mme Rochefort, Napoleonic wars, Pauline Leclerc, Personal Codebook of the Pink Carnation, Pink Carnation, Purple Gentian, Regency, Rosetta Stone, Selwick Hall, Signor Marconi, Sir Percy, Ton, Turnip Fitzhugh, Uncle Bertrand, Uppington House, War Office

Pride and Prejudice and Flippers

Nov 22nd

Posted by Sumthinblue in Uncategorized

12 comments

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Towards the end of the year I get so bogged down with events that I end up missing a book discussion! Last year it was the Halloween discussion, and this year, it was the Pride and Prejudice discussion, which, incidentally, was also originally scheduled in October (moved to November, due to the storms).

The task was to read Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and read an offshoot book based on the classic for the discussion that our resident Austen fan, Honey, was moderating at the Raul Roco garden and library in Antipolo.

I made sure to finish the books (Pride and Prejudice, Darcy’s Story by Janet Aylmer and Lost in Austen, a create your own Jane Austen adventure, by Emma Campbell Webster — books 167-169 for 2009) for the discussion, and was all set to go when plans went awry. Sigh. So there, that photo on the cover (taken by Jeeves de Veyra) is from the discussion slash tea party, which looked mighty fun (waah!). I hope they post a recap soon, as I’m dying to hear about what happened.

I’m posting a review of the books I read for the discussion here, anyway, to make up for missing it (waah again!).

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