Blogging Anniversary - 10 years

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A while ago I checked when I did my first blog post, in order to celebrate with an anniversary post. Well, that day came and went without any reaction from me. Better late than never, so here a reminder of my very first blog post from 24 October 2012.  The book was New Finnish Grammar  by Diego Marani. Marani is an Italian novelist, translator and newspaper columnist. While working as a translator for the European Union he invented a language ‘Europanto’ which is a mixture of languages and based on the common practice of word-borrowing usage of many EU languages. It was a suitable book to start with, being a book about letters, languages and memories. With a beautiful prose, the novel went directly to my heart.  "One night at Trieste in September 1943 a seriously wounded soldier is found on the quay. The doctor, of a newly arrived German hospital ship, Pietri Friari gives the unconscious soldier medical assistance. His new patient has no documents or anything that can ide...
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Menfreya in the Morning by Victoria Holt

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"For Harriet Delvaney, the great house of Menfreya, standing like a fortress on the Cornish coast, had always been a citadel of happiness and high spirits. Not until she herself came to Menfreya as a bride did Harriet discover the secret family legend of infidelity, jealousy and murder. And not until the legend seemed to come dangerously to life did Harriet begin to believe the old story that when the tower clock of Menfreya stopped, someone was about to die . . ."

I would say this is quite a typical Victoria Holt. We have an old house, an old family with secrets and a young girl in love the the heir. It could be a very banal story, but Victoria Holt is too good for that.

She engages us in the story of Harriet Delvaney, her life and her dreams. She is the daughter of a wealthy man, has a handicap and is not loved by her father, since her mother died giving birth to her. Her best friend and substitute mother is Fanny who has taken care of her since childhood.

She is under the spell of the Menfreya legend. Gwenna, the daughter, is one of her best friends and Bevil, the son and heir, she has  loved since early age. Life changes for all of them and Harriet is trying to adapt. It is a rather interesting story, taking place in a historical house in Cornwall, with all its legends and myths that interfere and are interpreted by the local people. The family history is a one of love, adultery and ghosts. How can Harriet navigate through it all? And can Bevil change his behaviour and love only one woman?

An easy read that kept me interested to the very end. 
 

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