The Diamond of Drury Lane
Julia Golding
424 p.

Egmont UK Ltd., 2006.

Back cover blurb:

At the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane, Covent Garden, This present day, being 1st January, 1790,
will be presented

The Diamond of Drury Lane
(written by Miss Cat Royal)

Principal Characters
Miss Cat Royal - orphan and ward of the theatre
Mr Johnny Smith - prompt with a secret
Mr Syd Fletcher - leader of the Butcher’s boys
Mr Billy ‘Boil’ Shepherd - evil leader of rival gang
And a hidden diamond!

With a new musical interlude by Mr Pedro Hawkins, late of Africa.

To which will be added a farce, in which a hot air balloon will land on stage!

I am sorry for the blurb looking so messy - it is actually quite pretty, it’s just that I’m not sure how to present it.  It’s got lots of different fonts and boldnesses, and it is really quite a beauty. In fact, the entire cover, both front and back, is beautiful. It is smaller than most books I own, despite being in hardback. It’s 18×13.4 cm, which, compared to most normal novels, is really quite tiny. Additionally, it is a delight with its colours and its glittering diamond on the cover. Oh, I’ll admit it: I only bought this novel for its cover. I skimmed through the blurb, slightly amused. It is the kind of book I just want people to look at and awe. That is how pretty it is!

Had I been in charge of marketing this book, I would not market it in my age category; I am a bit too old, and maybe a bit too cynical. It is the sort of novels ten-fifteen-year-olds could easily fall in love with. (I ought to try and make my younger brother, approaching fourteen, but barely a reader read it - I have a feeling he might love it.) However, I enjoyed it. Admittedly, there were parts I thought that were a bit too childish, and I constantly hoped Cat to get involved with either of the friendly nobles in this book. Then I got to know that Cat is twelve years old, and then I felt like a pervert. Obviously. Genre-wise, I feel that it has a lot in common with Philip Pullman’s excellent The Ruby in the Smoke and the other novels in the Sally Lockheart-series. I am a big fan of Philip Pullman, and comparing this novel to him should be thought of as great praise.

Also, like in the Sally Lockheart-series, one of the things I love are the characters. Although some of the characters do not feel fully fleshed-out, most notedly (unfortunately!) Cat herself, most of the characters, especially minor such, feel so real. One of my favourite characters in this novel was the Lord Francis, colloquially termed Frank, a young Lord (I assumed he was seventeen-eighteen, but later I had a sneaking suspicion that he was in fact younger than that, and not older than fifteen) who takes an interest in boxing and the lower classes, albeit in a completely loveable way. Disguised as a chimney-cleaner, he finds Cat, who has been held back by the rivaling gang and says “we wondered what had happened to you! I was very perturbed to find that you had not followed us.” (148) Apart from being a quote which still, days later, brings a smile to my face, it more or less sums up Lord Francis. He is foppish and absolutely wonderful.

Another lovely aspect of the novel is the time and location setting as well as the structure of the story. Set in late eighteenth century London, it is a convincing picture of a society which really seems quite ghastly. I am complete tosh at history, but even I could navigate myself through some of the references, to my great pleasure. And, the structure! Portrayed like a play, it is divided in five acts, with act descriptions and parts of maps of London. It was so pretty.

Come Wednesday, I have some free time, and I’ll be able to go downtown, and if I’m lucky, they’ve got the next part. I don’t have a clue the next time I’ll have time to read properly, but it is never wrong to stock up!

Kärlek het som chili
(Como aqua para chocolate)
Laura Esquivel
Translated by Inger Fahlander
217 p.

Natur och Kultur, 1999.
(First published in Mexico 1989.)

Back cover blurb:

På släkten De la Garzas stora lantegendom i Mexico styr änkan Elena sin familj med järnhand. När Pedro friar till hennes yngsta dotter Tita, avvisas han eftersom Tita enligt uråldrig tradition måste förbli ogift och ta hand om sin mamma.

För att få vara i den älskades närhet gifter sig Pedro med hennes äldre syster. Och Tita finner ett sätt att ge uttryck åt sina heta känslor: hon gör sig till kökets härskare. Hennes underbara kokkonst påverkar alla i familjen, oväntat och dramatiskt.

Kärlek het som chili är en ångande het berättelse om kärlek och mat, om fantasi och passion.

This is yet another novel I’ve read for school. Most people who read this before me hated this novel with a passion, and I thought that, seeing as it seemed quite “easy”, I would hate it as well. But I didn’t. My main problem with this novel is not the fact that it is full of strange and unrealistic happenings; my main problem is that I simply did not believe in the love Tita and Pedro held for each other. Throughout the novel I hoped that Tita would get over Pedro, or Pedro would get over Tita, and Tita would get married to Doctor Brown, a lovely kind man who falls for her the first moment he sees her. Needless to say, this doesn’t happen. Pedro and Tita’s love is, apparently, the truest love ever. And I just don’t believe in that. It’s not that I don’t believe in love, what I don’t believe in is the fact that there is only ever one love for you - ever.

The book we read in class before this was Crime & Punishment. This novel is obviously less difficult to read, and I more or less flew through it. The only parts where I feel a little lost is where they start talking too much about Mexican food, which I am very bad at. I can identify enchiladas, tortillas and tacos, but that’s it. The long-winded descriptions of how to make the foods I skimmed through, even though I felt that it would be quite fun to make the food, even if it seems to be, on the most part, impossible. Where on earth would I be able to find those coffee beans you need to make the chocolate cakes which, in turn, you make hot chocolate with? I will have to investigate this further.

With this book I have realised that I have serious problems with the endings of books. The ending of this book made me groan aloud - not that! A dissatisfying ending leaves me with a bad taste in the mouth, much like sour milk. Or, more like milk which is slowly turning sour throughout the course of the novel. Kärlek het som chili is by no means a bad book. Its problem is merely that the ending isn’t very good. In fact, if you want a nice and happy openended ending, don’t read the last chapter. At least if you root for Tita and Doctor Brown, which I did. If you hope Tita and Pedro will be able to relish their love, do read the last chapter. (I kind of spoiled the ending there, didn’t I? However - there are surprises to be had!)