FD has obtained from the local library a copy of Hilary Mantell’s Wolf Hall. The reserve line was 17 people long, but they bought extra copies and so the wait was short. Now, FD just has to start reading! After all, FD is also on the reserve list for A.S. Byatt’s The Children’s Book and just yesterday decided that the new memoir by her sister Margaret Drabble — the reviews haven’t been great, but it includes a lot about jigsaw puzzles, and FD is interested in jigsaw puzzles…
FD’s favorite childhood books were Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass and then E. Nesbit’s children’s stories and Jane Eyre. FD also read a lot of British history, and was able to recite the names of the British kings long before the names of the US presidents. FD’s own heritage is Sicilian, but, alas, no Italian was FD taught, and nothing in translation seemed available in her youth, either. Instead, British fiction (but not Dickens!) was FD’s escape. To a certain extent, it is still is — FD probably reads more British fiction than US fiction in any given year.