What Sophie Said

Weekends are perfect for curling up with a new book, so here are my thoughts on the latest things I’ve been reading… History of a Pleasure Seeker, Richard Mason Piet Barol has found himself a job as a tutor in a wealthy Amsterdam mansion. The year is 1907 and he is a young man with big ambitions. The book follows his journey of self-discovery, and setting out on the path to earn his fortune. I enjoyed the ‘bildungsroman’ premise and the overall storyline, although some elements I found a little too far-fetched. There are some quite intense sexual scenes, which were slightly unexpected and maybe overplayed a little, but they don’t keep appearing throughout the whole story, so it does fit with the period of his life. Overall, it’s a pretty good book, but I wouldn’t shout about it from the rooftops; I feel like it’s something that has been told many times before. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows In 1...

These posts are normally once a week, but I’m so behind where I’m actually up to in terms of reading that I thought I’d sneak in an extra post this week. I’m still in the phase of pulling things off the downstairs bookshelf and then seeing what I think, so it’s a mixture, as ever… The Paris Wife, Paula McLain This is a fictional telling of the life of Hadley, Earnest Hemingway’s wife, and is based on biographical events. It begins in 1920, when Hadley is a young girl caught up in the flushes of first love, and tells the story of her years as a wife and mother. I didn’t know much about Hemingway’s life, certainly not as much as I do about those of some of his contemporaries, so found it fascinating for that point of view. This book was brilliantly written, and so sad at times. Hadley’s perspective is believable and one that would have remained unheard at the time. You understand the decisions she makes, but some are heartbreaking, or you will her to take action soon...