Thank you for these heartfelt and thoughtful reviews Katie!- I have recenty finished reading Cuddy, and absolutely loved everything about it, I'm curious that you didn't like the character of Michael, I thought he was such a sensitive and likeable character.. I have a library copy of The New Life I need to get around to, and your review has made me want to read that one next. I found a first edition of The House of Doors in the charity shop, and am looking forward to reading it- I very much enjoyed reading The Painted Veil by Somerset Maugham a few years ago
Oh, I really liked Michael! It was Professor Fawcett-Black in the 19th century section who I didn't like - such a snob! But fun and interesting to read about.
Agree, agree! I hope Cuddy wins - it is a wonderful book! Experimental but full of emotion and very compelling. I also have lived in Durham, maybe that helps😊
Love Maugham. Think there is a movie with Bet Davis, The Letter, on his same named work. Recommend him as long as you do not want to put too much effort into reading . And still not waste time at all.
I m listened to this when my arm was newly broken and I couldn't readily type but I had to come back now to leave a comment as watching this was such a joy. Three of my favourite books of 2023 reviewed together 😊. I think the style of House of Doors suited me better than you but yes Cuddy is top of the pile for sure for all the reasons you give. I loved Ulverton too so obviously I should track down News of the Dead.
The House of Doors sounds interesting, I read some Maugham back in school and have been meaning to try more of his work so reading that alongside it might be something I try.
Cuddy is on my audio TBR. I’ve read and loved The New Life. I’ve only listened to the abridged version of House of Doors on BBC RADIO4. I’ve never read any Somerset Maugham
During my first semester at Uni, my history professor went on a long rant against historical fiction believing the proper discipline of history to be worthy of greater respect and admiration. Well, today I would argue with him but then, well, what did I know?
I did an interesting module at university called History and Its Audiences, where we looked at how people access history - we looked a historical fiction, museums, memorials, documentaries, etc. That was very interesting. I wrote an essay about historical fiction examinations of WWI. So my uni had decided historical fiction was a point of interest :)
@@katiejlumsden Yeah, I arrived at Uni thoroughly unprepared for disciplined study so no paper I could write then would persuade anyone that War Peace offered a window onto Napoleonic Europe. Of course this is about 15 years before the New History took over on campuses and those who criticized my opinion were summarily declared obsolete.
