I’ve forgotten to do Spell the Month in Books a few times this year. I might have overlooked it again this month but for Davida from The Chocolate Lady’s Book Review Blog who is on the ball and has already posted her list.

Our host Jana ,from  Reviews from the Stacks , hasn’t set a specific theme for this month’s link up. Which is fortunate because if I had to find book titles matching all the letters of November AND make them all connect thematically, I’d still be working on my list come November next year!

I’m going to “borrow” Davida’s idea of using short fiction titles for my list in honour of one of my favourite reading events — Novellas in November month.

All the books I’m listing are ones I’ve read

N

The Newspaper of Claremont Street by Elizabeth Jolley

First up is a clever little tale by an Australian author I discovered through Lisa’s blog at ANZlitlovers. It’s a wonderful character study of a cleaning woman—known as “Weekly” or “The Newspaper” to the residents of Claremont Street —who dreams of escape.

O

Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald

This tale about some offbeat characters who live in houseboats in a less than desirable stretch of the River Thames, was one of the first books I read as part of my Booker Prize project. I kept feeling there was something abut the book that I just didn’t understand. Review is here.

V

Vertigo by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac

This is a dark and stylish tale about a man in torment. A man who is destroyed by his infatuation for a woman and his search for the truth. Elements of the plot of this novella may sound familiar. That’s because it was used by Alfred Hitchcock as the basis of his film Vertigo. He made significant changes — switching the original setting in Marseilles to San Francisco for example. Review is here.

E

The Good Earth by Pearl S Buck

Pearl Buck’s book is drawn from her experience of living as a child in China. It’s a tale about about the rising/falling fortunes of two families: one a peasant farmer and the other a rich, wealthy dynasty. It gives a fascinating insight into the culture of China in the years spanning the end of the nineteenth century and the outbreak of World War 1. Review is here.

M

A Meal in Winter  by Hubert Mingarelli

This was one of my outstanding reads of 2020. Mingarelli focuses on three German soldiers sent on a mission to hunt down Jews hiding in the Polish countryside. Questions about practical matters — should they eat their salami ration separately or add it to their soup — give way to a pressing moral issue. What should they do with the boy they capture – take him back to camp to face execution or let him go with consequences for their own futures. Here’s my review

B

The Blue Room by Hanne Orstavik 

From Poland we move to Norway for a novella about a naive young girl and her troubling relationship with her mother. The girl wants to be a good daughter and receive her mother’s approval but at the same time resents how her mother dominates her life. My review is here.

E

Everyman for Himself  by Beryl Bainbridge

Beryl Bainbridge made her first foray into historical fiction with Everyman for Himself, a novella which re-imagines life on board the RMS Titanic as it makes its fatal voyage across the Atlantic in 1912. My review is here.

R

A Room Above a Shop  by Anthony Shapland

If none of the books so far in this post have tickled your fancy, I hope my final choice will change that. Anthony Shapland is a poet from my home town in Wales and this is his first venture into prose. it’s a tender tale of a love that has to be kept secret for fear of reprisals in an insular community that simply wouldn’t understand. My review is here

If you fancy having a go at Spell the Month, you’ll find all the info you need on the website of the host, Reviews From the Stacks.