I seldom have time to read fiction, and when I do, it is Mary Stewart -
except after some years of taking recreational reading moments from
here and there, I've read nearly all her titles I can find.
Who is another author similar to Stewart - not necessarily subject matter,
but their style and use of the English language. That's what I really
like about Stewart - she offers a good 'read' even if you can guess the
outcome - and, importantly, her writing is *real* not contrived.
I hardly ever take time off to read *anything other than* fiction... :) But I, too, like Mary Stewart very much, and have most of her books on my shelves ("the easier to re-read ya, m'dear"; there have to be advantaages to the loss of memory <g>) But, *only* the "earlier stuff" -- the Merlin series didn't "grab me at all"...
There was *a lot* of *well written* "fluff" in the period between late-fifties to early-seventies. One of the Aiken ladies (must be Joan; Jane Aiken Hodge seems to be more historical, though also very literate) was good. Susan Howatch was good. Madeleine Brent was good (though, again, somewhat "historical" -- early 20th c)... There were others, but I can't remember all the names to save my life.
By mid 70ties, they all seemed to get the idea they had to get "weighty" to be published, or else they quit altogether (same thing happened to mysteries; Ruth Rendell used to be *terrific*, but then "went intellectual", after the PD James hoopla, and I now avoid her like a plague, even when she goes back to her pre-psychological stuff featuring Inspector Wexford). The only *current* writer I know of who delivers a well-rounded, literate, "cozy with a twist" "read" is Nancy Atherton, with her "Aunt Dimity" series. And, even those are getting watered down with every new one (so I no longer buy them)...
When I was at a 2ndhand bookstore, there were a lot of Ann(e) Rule books,
but I didn't think they were a safe bet - ditto John Grisho/am (whose
books seem to be made into movies).
Don't know Rule, never having read any. Grisham stinks as a writer; he never got beyond a primer as far as his vocabulary and grammar are concerned (his plots are clever, if somewhat "stretched").
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Look at the dates; in the pre-feminist era, a woman had to be twice as good as a man to get published. Look at the bio-blurbs; the Brit writers were more literate than the US ones even then. Look at the blurbs; if the first two requirements are met and the plot grabs you, get it... :)
----- Tamara P Duvall Lexington, Virginia, USA Formerly of Warsaw, Poland http://lorien.emufarm.org/~tpd/
To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
