Our next meeting...

Our next meeting will be on Thursday 6th Jan @ 6 p.m. and we'll be discussing 'The Big Sleep' by Raymond Chandler. Chandler was the creator of the original Private Eye, and ’The Big Sleep’ is his first novel. It was published in 1939, and introduces Philip Marlowe, Private Investigator. Marlowe becomes known for helping damsels in distress, and for his deadpan humour. ’The Big Sleep’  starts out as a fairly straightforward blackmail case for Marlowe, but develops into a labyrinth of murder and sleaze in downtown Los Angeles. 

Library Events - Cookies with Chris

Food for Thought at Onchan Library
Cookies with Chris
Meet Crime Writer Chris Ewan at Onchan Library @ Tues 18th Jan @ 7 p.m
Talk, Refreshments, & Book Signing. Free Admission, but ticket only.
Tickets available from Onchan Library:
Tel: 621228 or e-mail: onchan.library@onchan.org.im

Mary Barton by Mrs Gaskell

Elizabeth Gaskell’s first  novel  is set in industrial Manchester and vividly depicts the lives and conditions of the working class poor during the time of the industrial revolution. Mary is subject to the affections of both hard-working Jem Wilson and Harry Carson, son of a mill-owner. Mary initially rebuffs Jem’s proposal of marriage in the hope of marrying Harry, and securing a more comfortable life for herself and her father. However, she soon realises that she has made a mistake and really loves Jem. 

Soon afterwards, Harry is shot and suspicion immediately falls on Jem, who is subsequently arrested. Mary discovers that the murderer is actually her father and, determined to prove Jem’s innocence, travels to Liverpool to find a witness to provide an alibi. During the trial , Jem learns of Mary’s love for him and the witness arrives in the nick of time for him to be found not guilty. Her father, racked with guilt, begs the forgiveness of the murdered man’s father and dies knowing he is forgiven. Jem and Mary subsequently marry and emigrate to Canada where they have a child and lead a happy and contented life.

I found this a powerful and moving novel, with strong characters and a densely written plot. The subject matter reflected the conditions of the period and it is obvious that the author felt very strongly about the terrible and unjust conditions endured by the factory workers and their families.

Cath

Mrs Gaskell

Mrs Elizabeth Gaskell was born in 1810, so we decided to read some of her novels to celebrate her bi-centenary. Not everyone was enthusiastic about trying Mrs Gaskell, but most of us were converted, and awarded her novels  4 -5 stars. 

 

Mrs Gaskell had a great deal of tragedy in her life, but remained gregarious and sociable . Her mother died when she was a baby, and although she had a happy childhood with her aunt in Knutsford, Cheshire,  she felt rejected by her father  and was not accepted by her step mother.

She was only 18 when her only sibling, a brother, died at sea. She nursed her  father following a stroke, but he died within 6 months of his son.

Although happily married to a minister, she lost 3 children, and her husband encouraged her to write as a way of coping with her grief. Her first novel, 'Mary Barton' drew upon her experience of social and charitable works as a minister's wife. It drew the admiration of Charles Dickens, who encouraged her to write Gothic tales, and published 'Cranford' in his Household Words Journal.
popular and socialble, she was also a close friend of Charlotte Bronte, and went on to write her biography.

Mrs Gaskell died while she was working on 'Wives and Daughters' in a house she had secretly bought as a surprise for her husband and family.