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Hello and welcome back to Desert Island Books on the blog. It is my absolute pleasure to have Genevieve Jenner joining us this month.
You may remember that I reviewed Genevieve's book of short stories last month. If you would like to read my review of this lovely anthology, Chocolate Cake for Imaginary Lives, you can do so by clicking here. It's a fabulously quirky collection which foodies will enjoy. This is her debut publication, and she is one to watch.
Q How do you think you would cope on a desert island, Genevieve?
If I am to be on an island through extraordinary circumstances, I would try and make the best of things. But I am sure of a few things. I would be able to eat and I would have a tantrum or breakdown at least once a week about the whole situation. It would be made easier by having some friends about. Even if they reside on the pages of these books.
I was given this book by my Grandma when I was 12 and it was the first book I had read that captured so many things that felt familiar to my own place in the world. Francie may have existed a century prior to me, but we were both the oldest girl in Catholic families with a charming but disappointing father, and a hard-working mother. To see before me the familiar constant battle to hold tight to one’s dignity amid poverty was revolutionary. The rituals in a poor house-hold to find pleasure, and how books and literacy are a significant path to interior freedom made me feel more at ease in a world that often felt lonely. The vivid descriptions of ordinary life remain something I aspire to in my own writing.
Not only does it have one of the best opening lines for a novel, even the last few lines of the book are beautiful. It is such a love letter to England (as the author was in America during the war at the time she wrote it) that Smith so dearly missed. England is my adopted home, and I understand so well the visceral love one can have for the countryside. It is a magical romantic book where people don’t always get what they want, nor do they understand what they desire. It is a book that shows how denial of our feelings can only go so far before the truth will light everything on fire.
Provocative, mischievous, sophisticated, sharp in its view around bigots and snobs, and so terribly funny. It was written in the very conservative 1950s, and proved to be a hit, because I suspect we all desire chaos and reinvention. Dennis doesn’t allow anyone to be perfect or pure, for everyone has their prejudices but the important thing is Mame is interested in other people and taking up new and fascinating things. American curiosity is a gift, even if it can get a person into trouble now and then. This has been one of my favourites since I was eight years old (our bookshelves were very free growing up) and it taught me how to get up every single day, and make every moment yours. One needs that on a desert island.
I fell in love with this book immediately. The most English book with the most ordinary main character. She isn’t perfect. She isn’t beautiful. She isn’t terribly talented at anything. At times she is truly bad at things she tries her hands at, but she is still interesting and has opinions. You watch as she grows up and begins to know pieces of herself better and better. This is a book many girls should read because it provides the perfect example of someone realising that someone isn’t right for them and being brave enough to say, “No thank you.” Just because someone is dazzling, charismatic, or available, doesn’t mean they are the one to love.
When I miss the Pacific Northwest, where I grew up, I read this book. It reminds me of places that stay deep within my heart, and of my family. This series of essays about life in Seattle during the Great Depression, shows so much heart. A million different jobs, no money, questionable dates, a lot of creativity, and the constant worry could be subdued a bit by having such an entertaining extended family. This book taught me a lot about telling stories.
Can a book help to raise you? This certainly did. Parker’s poems were acuminous regarding fragile hearts that broke so easily but making sure no one saw how much it hurt. Always be clever because love is painful. Her short stories are filled with tension of the most domestic nature and disenchantment that appears and disappears like a rabbit in a hat with people’s magical thinking. Everyone remembers how clever and witty she was (especially in her reviews), but there was so much tenderness and vulnerability in her work.
Orlando by Virginia Woolf
If one is going to be on a desert island for a while, one should have someone who knows what it is to be somewhere for a very long time and have unusual adventures. Orlando sees many ages, and finds themselves with different identities across the centuries, but some things remain constant: poetry, an instinctive tie to home, and an awareness of oneself. This book allows for the impossible to do more than exist. It flourishes.
I suppose I must let the men say a few things (there are a few women poets in this collection but they are like comets). I love poetry. My heart has been awakened and turned upside down by poets. When I need a bit of different scenery I will turn to this great gift of many voices across the centuries. I will let a few romance me when I feel lonely, and maybe let them go to bed with me. The rest must amuse me, or inspire meditation. When I feel low, I can find a few lines to make me find hope once again.
Thank you so much, Genevieve, for telling us about the eight books that you would take to a desert island. There are some very interesting titles there.
If you are an author and would be interested in taking part, then please get in touch by emailing me at leftontheshelf1@gmail.com.
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