Weekly Reading Round-Up

Happy Friday, all!

I’ve been deep in the research cave this week (so much Hamilton and Burr!), but I did pop my head out of the 18th century to visit with the Mitford sisters in Marie Benedict’s upcoming The Mitford Affair, which explores Diana’s and Unity’s plunge into fascism and its reverberations across their family, especially for the brilliant but brittle Nancy.

As those of you here know, I’ve long been a huge Mitford fan (I remember the thrill of getting my hands on a photocopied contraband copy of Wigs on the Green back before it was back in print!), and so it is particularly fascinating getting to see their personal and political dramas play out on the page in the fraught atmosphere of the 1930s, when the British aristocracy was dabbling in fascism and Winston Churchill’s was a voice in the wilderness warning about the Nazis.

In other news, The Lost Summers of Newport tour dates are (mostly) up!  You can find the list over on my Events page.  We’ll be visiting Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Indiana, Missouri, Georgia, South Carolina, and Arizona– and there are still more events in the works!

What have you been reading this week?

6 Comments

  1. Rachel Adrianna on April 8, 2022 at 10:20 am

    I’ve been (lamentably slowly) making my way through the fascinating Dress Codes: How the Laws of Fashion Made History by Richard Thompson Ford… a new(ish) doorstop nonfiction that is both well written and thoroughly entertaining.

    I also read To Have and To Hoax from beginning to end last night (Lauren wrote a cover blurb, which was what convinced me to try this first book in Martha Waters’ Regency Vows series) and it was a wonderful readalike of the Pink books!

    And I’m VERY excited to road trip down to Indiana for that Triple W event! What’s an 8 hour round trip to a dedicated fan? 🙂

    • Lauren Willig on April 11, 2022 at 9:44 am

      Yay!! Looking forward to seeing you in Indiana! And I agree on the Waters books– they make excellent Pink readalikes!

  2. Holly Cassidy on April 8, 2022 at 2:07 pm

    “A Well Behaved Woman” by Therese Anne Fowler is the story of Alva Vanderbilt. It begins with her life just before she marries into the Vanderbilt family and follows until she passes away. A very good that is well written too!

    • Lori on April 11, 2022 at 2:30 am

      I read The Gilded Age (HBO MAX) writer Julian Fellowes based his character Bertha Russell on Alva Vanderbilt. The series was very good and has
      Sparked my interest in AV’s history. Must check it out!

  3. Elizabeth (AKA Miss Eliza) on April 8, 2022 at 10:59 pm

    You shelfie there looks very similar to mine, ever with the Stella Gibbons! This week has been sheer chaos with my Dad in hospital, he’s home now, but that meant no time to read. I FINALLY got to start ‘Truly Devious’ and am hoping to spend all weekend at Ellingham Academy.

    • Lauren Willig on April 11, 2022 at 9:45 am

      I’m so sorry about your dad, Miss Eliza. I hope Ellingham has been a good escape….

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