The Sweet Far Thing
Libba Bray
819 p.

Delacorte Press, 2007.

Back cover blurb:

It has been a year of change since Gemma Doyle arrived at the foreboding Spence Academy. Her mother murdered, her father a laudanum addict, Gemma has relied on an unsuspected strength to turn catty schoolgirls into loyal friends, and has discovered an ability to travel to an enchanted world called the realms, where dark magic runs wild. Despite certain peril, Gemma has bound the magic to herself and forged unlikely new alliances with headstrong Felicity and timid Ann; with Kartik, an exotic young Indian man whose companionship is forbidden; and with the fearsome creatures of the realms. Now, as Gemma approaches her London debut, the time has come to test these bonds.

Rule-breaking Felicity must do as she’s told or risk losing her inheritance, and Ann’s dream of a life onstage slips away. The Order, the mysterious group Gemma’s mother was once part of, is grappling for control of the realms, as are the Rakshana. It is there that the girls meet their adored friend Pippa, who is not the same… or is she? The power to change everything - both in and out of the realms - rests in Gemma’s hands.

Extraordinary in its scope, with thrilling prose and a heroine unrivaled in contemporary historical fiction, Libba Bray’s The Sweet Far Thing concludes the trilogy that began with the bestsellers A Great and Terrible Beauty and Rebel Angels. Pulled forward by fate, the destiny Gemma faces threatens to set chaos loose, not only in the realms, but also upon the rigid Victorian society whose rules Gemma has both defied and followed. Where does Gemma belong? And will she, can she, survive?

So, this is the last instalment in the Gemma Doyle trilogy (which, in my eyes, is a pretty lame name - The Realms trilogy would be more awesome), and we get, in no specific order, lesbianism, more anguish, Gemma finally gets laid, and lots of Evil. Also, a lot of ridiculous name-dropping. Bray really tries her best to show her knowledge in late Victorian celebrities, but she rather falls through. If a character mentions a celebrity, the next sentence will say “mentioning that famous _____”. It was not awesome. Another fall was when in the first half of the book, one character says she would very much want to see The Importance Of Being Earnest. Three-hundred pages later, it becomes clear that Oscar Wilde is not a well-respected man. AWKWARD.

Another thing which was awkward, was the length of the thing. It’s 819 pages, and after 600, you can really feel it. It just never ends. This book would have done very well losing some pages. It goes on and on and on, and when there were fifty pages left, I really didn’t care what happened. There was a fight at one place, which was Pretty Awesome, because it had gargoyles and shit, but otherwise the end was pretty dreary. Plus there was lots of anguish on Gemma’s behalf and people weren’t just double-crossed, they were triple-crossed! That is so… Indiana Jones.

Additionally, it was designed in a different way. It was divided up in five acts. This rather fell through, because the fourth act was about three-hundred pages, and the fifth not even a hundred. It was still told in first-person-present, which irked me, still. But well, I shan’t complain. It was quite exciting, I must admit.

Rebel Angels
Libba Bray
548 p.

Delacorte Press, 2006.
(First published by Random House.)

Back cover blurb:

Ah, Christmas! Gemma Doyle is looking forward to a holiday from Spence Academy - spending time with her friends in the city, attending balls in fancy gowns with plunging necklines, and dallying with the handsome Simon Middleton. Yet amid these distractions, her visions intensify - visions of three girls dressed in white, to whom something horrific has happened that only the realms can explain.

The lure is strong, and soon Gemma, Felicity, and Ann are turning flowers into butterflies in the enchanted world to which Gemma takes them. To the girls’ great joy, their beloved Pippa is there as well, eager to complete their circle of friendship.

But all is not well in the realms - or out. Kartik is back, desperately insisting to Gemma that she must bind the magic, lest colossal disaster befall her. Gemma is willing to comply, for this would bring her face to face with her late mother’s greatest friend, now Gemma’s foe - Circe. Until Circe is destroyed, Gemma cannot live out her destiny. But finding Circe proves a most perilous task….

Rebel Angels teems with Victorian thrills and chills that play out against the backdrop of 1895 London, a place of shadows and light… where inside great beauty can lie a rebel angel.

These books are so much fun. I really feel for Gemma, despite maybe not being all that intrigued by the plot. Actually, the plot is pretty predictable. I said this to my sister, who is a big fan of this book series. She told me that I should just wait and be surprised. Unfortunately, the next thing I said was, like most things I predicted about the novel, correct. The only thing which I thought would happen which didn’t was actually me believing that Gemma would finally get to have some sex. She kissed two different people, and still she was unsuccessful. If she doesn’t get laid in the third book, I’ll be Very disappointed. (I shall start it later today, so it’s possible I’ll be able to report soon enough.) Apart from that? Some interesting stuff happened. I liked the fact that some people changed a little and there was character development, which is always nice. It’s also given me an itch for genuine nineteenth-century literature, which is nice, I suppose.

The Uncommon Reader
Alan Bennett
121 p.

Faber & Faber Ltd., 2008
(First published by Faber & Faber, 2007.)

Back cover blurb:

Led by her yapping corgis to the Westminster travelling library outside Buckingham Palace, the Queen finds herself taking out a novel by Ivy Compton-Burnett. Duff read though it is, the following week her choice proves more enjoyable and awakens in Her Majesty a passion for reading so great that her public duties begin to suffer. And so, as she devours works by everyone from Hardy to Brookner to Proust to Beckett, her equerries conspire to bring the Queen’s literary odyssey to a close.

I love Alan Bennett. I spent a great part of the summer re-reading The History Boys probably a half-dozen times, without ever getting bored of it. And all the time, I heard buzz about this novella about the queen. When summer was drawing to a close, I bought and I read it. And it examplifies exactly why I love Bennett so. There’s much literature, so much name-dropping - culture exists as much as in reality, if not more, in Bennett’s stories. And everyone, everyone, is so witty. Bennett describes the world the way I want it too be; a bit more dashing, a bit more clever.

This story is why monarchy still exists.

Jane Eyre
Charlotte Brontë
576 p.

Penguin Classics, 2006.
(First published 1847 by Smith Elder & Co.)

Back cover blurb:

Orphaned Jane Eyre grows up in the home of her heartless aunt, where she endures loneliness and cruelty, and at a charity school with a harsh regime. This troubled childhood strengthens Jane’s natural independence and spirit - which will prove necessary when she takes a position as governess at Thornfield Hall. But when she finds love with her sardonic employer, Rochester, the discovery of his terrible secret forces her to make a choice. Should she stay with him and live with the consequences, or follow her convictions, even if it meeans leaving the man she loves? A novel of intense power and intrigue, Jane Eyre (1847) dazzled and shocked readers with its passionate depiction of a woman’s search for equality and freedom.

In her introduction, Stevie Davies discusses the novel’s language and politics, its treatment of women’s lives and its literary influences. This edition also includes a chronology, further reading, and appendix and notes.

Okay, so I’ll admit it: I have never before read Jane Eyre.The Eyre Affair (which is very inspired by Jane Eyre) is one of my favourite novels, and until now, I hadn’t. Now I did, and… it’s a good book. Jane is maybe a little annoying at times, being so pure in thought and mind and deed, but Rochester was a sweetheart and he made me swoon more than a little at times. And it’s so well-written! It’s all charm and graces! The book made me feel so at ease, it was a joy to read. (okay, so, I read until they got engaged, then a person said the book was really boring after that, so I was a little hesitant and put off reading, but then I kept on, and it was good fun.)

There’s only one thing I can’t really get my head around. There’s all this buzz about Rochester being a racist keeping his black wife up in the attic, but when the wife’s brother comes to visit, there’s no mention of him being black. And I don’t understand it! But nevermind. I rarely understand these things.