Monthly Archives: December 2020

“Lady Clementine – a novel” by Marie Benedict

Aside from my usual reservations about fictionalizing a life that is well documented, this was a great read. Perhaps the author wanted to make up for the fact that Mrs. Churchill left no diaries, journal or autobiography accessible to my brief search. (I did find a compilation of personal letters published in 1999.)

The marriage of Clementine and Winston Churchill marriage spanned 57 years, from 1908 to 1965, times of sweeping change, especially for women. I wonder if Lady Clementine deserves as much credit as Benedict gives her for the British decision to extensively utilize the strengths and talents of British women during World War II. 

This book contains many interesting details about British politics and the impacts of social class.

Advertisement

Family Gift Exchange Book List

My family has long celebrated Christmas on Black Friday. Sometimes, Thanksgiving is the only holiday when we can get together. We were sorry to cancel this year’s gathering (WAY too much travel for Covid), but decided to use Zoom for our Secret Santa gift exchange. I collected requests. Only one person took the “Surprise me” option. About half actually named a book, and the rest indicated author or genre. EVERYONE gave me their requests promptly, and only one book failed to arrive on time! Success! 

GIFT BOOKS
The 7.5 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
The Jakarta Method by Vincent Bevins
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury 
John Dies at the End, This Book is Full of Spiders & What the Hell Did I Just Read? by D Wong
Casino Royale by Ian Flemming
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini
Democracy in Exile by Daniel Bessner
Max’s Words by Kate Banks
The Crayons Christmas by Drew Daywait
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Spying on the South by Tony Horowitz 
About Face by David Hackworth
Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson  
Nothing to See Here by Keith Wilson
Serpentine by Philip Pullman,  book
The Everything Kids’ Baseball Book, 11th edition 
The Science of Hitting by Ted Williams
Houseplants and Hot Sauce by Sally Nixon
Blacktop Wasteland by S Cosby
Magdalena: River of Dreams by Wade Davis
All the Devils are Here by Louise Penny 
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
Art Quilt Collage by Deborah Boschert 
 
ALSO MENTIONED – books and authors
The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey 
Domenica de Rosa
James Baldwin
Collected poems Countee Cullen
Caliban and the Witch by Silvia Federici
Into the Wild (Warriors Book 1) by Erin Hunter 
The Bombay Prince by Sujata Massey 
Collage Quilter by Emily Taylor
Into the Silence by Wade Davis