Simon and Karen are hosting the 1944 club this week and, while I’m not actively reading anything for it, I still wanted to participate. So, as my small contribution, I thought I’d share some of my past reviews of books from that year. This includes some of my all-time favourite novels – 1944 was certainly a wonderful year for books!
Earth and High Heaven by Gwethalyn Graham – if my immense enthusiasm for this novel about love and anti-semitism in 1940s Montreal hasn’t already set you reading it, start now. It’s extraordinarily thoughtful and readily available since Persephone recently reissued it.
The Headmistress by Angela Thirkell – my favourite of Thirkell’s many Barsetshire novels, I love this book for many things but especially its portrait of Mrs Belton. All her hopes and dreams for her children have been upset by the war and her life is a whirl of anxiety, love, and exhaustion. Happily, this book has also come back into print since I first wrote about it thanks to Virago.
Listening Valley by D.E. Stevenson – aside from a needless and rather bizarre sub-plot involving a spy, this is a lovely novel of a shy young woman growing in confidence after being widowed and moving to a small Scottish town.
Cluny Brown by Margery Sharp – my first encounter with Margery Sharp had slightly mixed results but I certainly loved her straightforward and exceedingly funny style of writing.
Pastoral by Nevil Shute – a novel of Bomber Command and urgent romance, this is one of Shute’s best.
Yeoman’s Hospital by Helen Ashton – my least favourite of the bunch, this hospital-set novel is slow moving but interesting for how it reflects some of the social changes brought about by the war.
Happy Friday everyone! What are you reading for the 1944 club?
The Captive Reader 
Pastoral is one of my favourite books of all times. Nobody captured the emotions of war like Nevil Shute.
He’s certainly in top form here!
I have The Headmistress, although I’m not sure that I will get to it before the end of the week! I read two mysteries – Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie and The Clock Strikes Twelve by Patricia Wentworth. Both were terrific!
Wonderful! It’s impossible to go wrong with Christie.
Oh—speaking of hospitals and 1944, have you ever read Green For Danger by Christianna Brand? Now that’s a mystery you just might like.
I’ve not read it or even heard of it before. Thanks for the recommendation!
Green For Danger—also a film with Alastair Sim.