BookCrossing

A fictional version of Charles Dickens and his, almost chaste but real, love affair with Ellen Ternan. Their story takes us from London to Paris to Italy. She seems to be the anchor in his life and his inspiration. He leaves his wife, abandons his children and risks alienation of his public because of his love of her.

Their relationship is anything but easy and although he lavishes Ellen and her family with gifts and affection - it hard to know what it is that fascinates him about her. The story is never told from Dickens' view, only from Ellen's, his sister in laws (Georgina's) and the infamous author Wilkie Collins'. Because of this its hard to know how much of what happens is due to Dickens' feelings for Ellen or his manipulation by Ellen and Georgina.

All in all it was an enjoyable read and an interesting, if fictional, insight into what Dickens' life might have been like.

Some other info about Ellen Ternan:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Ternan

http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/dickens/dickensbio5.html

http://www.answers.com/topic/ellen-ternan

Happy New Year..almost. I'm watching the New York celebration on TV.

Just finished reading Rag and Bone - a fictional story about Dickens and his love affair with Ellen Ternan. I'll journal it properly tomorrow.

Happy New Year everyone!

I have updated the photo album for my birthday tea and added a few more photos.

Enjoy.

BookCrossing

I have always been fascinated by ancient Egypt so this book seemed the perfect choice for me, it blends history, fiction and throws
 in a bit of a detective story - perfect!

Mainly the tale is of Ralph Trilipush and his search for the tomb of Atum-hadu, an Egyptian King who ruled in the XIII dynasty - or so Trilipush believes. Atum-hadu is credited with writing a book of quatrains which are lasvicious to put it mildly.

Although Ralph comes from a good English family, they are "without means" and he needs backers to fund his expedition to find Atum-hadu's tomb and treasure.

In Boston, he finds backers and a fiancee, and then starts off for Egypt to begin his expedition.

Littered through the novel are tidbits of Egyptology and Howard Carter's expedition in the early 1920's. 

Entwined in Ralph's story is the story of a missing Australian man, Paul Caldwell and the search for him by Australian Detective, Ferrell.

The novel crosses continents and time and is always interesting.  It is suspenseful and thrilling at evevry turn. I think the illustrations that Trilipush makes of the tomb throughout the expedition tell the story marvellously and foreshadow the ending.  There's no real explanation of what drives Trilipush to his final conclusions but I think the author wants the novel to extrapolate and conjure up their own final thoughts.

One interesting note..when Ralph first finds the room with the twelve pillars...he wonders what they would have been used for and what they represent...[page 223, last line - Twelve tribes of Israel, twelve months in the year twelve provinces of Canada twelve days of Christmas what would Carter do faced with such a room?].  The thing that is interesting is that in 1992, when this novel is mostly set - Canada did not have 12 provinces...actually I think it only had 9 as Newfoundland didn't become a province til much later and Nunavut and the Northwest Territories only becoming provinces in the last 10 years.

So our Christmas festivities began on Christmas Eve around noon when we had a whole bunch of people show up...Lisa and Greg, Jackie and Dave, Louisa, Orlane and Cyan as well as the four of us, of course.

Needless to say, we were a little crowded in our space!

We had munchie type foods and sat around eating and talking and then opened presents. I think we all did quite well. Lisa gave me Season 6 and 7 of Columbo and a gift certificate to get my nails done and the Kyles gave us a huge griddle for making breakfast which is great as we have one, but it is very small, really only for two people. We played Family Feud (on a DVD game) and had fun with that as well.  Lisa seemed to like her digital camera and I have to give Greg credit for putting up with a room ful of people he barely knew for the entire day!

Jackie brought a ton of desserts so we feasted on those later in the evening after pizza.

Christmas morning was considerably quieter. Just us and Lou and Orlane and our turkey in the oven. I didn't get up til 9 so our turkey was off to a late start, but it was a very relaxed day for which I was grateful.  Liam loves his DVD player and Iain liked his mp3 player as well.  Lou and Orlane gave me a lovely Bulova watch which is not only practical but something I really "needed" and it fits perfectly.

Today we all slept in and just hung out around home in our pj's and ate leftovers and did some cleaning up...we are just about back to normal now.

Liam had to go back to the walk in clinic again last night and he has spent alot of time sleeping today....so I am a little worried about him but he doesn't have a fever so I hope he is just recuperating from all the excitment of the last few weeks.

I had a 1 hour bath today which is the longest I've had in ages. One thing I will not skimp on if I ever own a house, is the bathtub. It would be so wonderful to have one that was so deep that water would come up to my neck and I could just soak. I think I may have fell asleep in the tub today,but I just refilled it with more hot water and relaxed.  When I got out, I was wrinkly but felt so warm and relaxed and nothing hurt for the first time in months.  Then I did a facial and even felt better! Nothing like some TLC to make the world right again.

My tailbone has really been bothering me this last week but I've spent alot of time on my feet - shopping and cooking - so hopefully the next few weeks will see it heal faster again.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas full of love and laughter. Hugs.

Let's look forward to the New Year :)

I've posted some pics already.

Bookcrossing

Another fun light read to get me through the hectic holidays. Grace is off
looking for two missing persons and finds an odd connection between them.

Grace is a P.I. in England and has the knack of getting herself entangled with the wrong men and wrong clients (sometimes they are even the same person). What makes her so special is her sense of humour and her intuitiveness...plus her ability to cadge meals !

BookCrossing

This was a fun light read. Perfect for the hectic holidays.

Paris Minton is just one of those people that have trouble follow him around...he doesn't even have to go looking for it. In this novel, a sweet talking "helpless" female (Elana Love), bilks him and leaves him and then his precious bookstore is burned down and he's got bad guys on his tale - as well as cops.

He decides the only way out of it is to get bail for his friend Fearless Jones and have him help track down Elana Love and find out what she wants, as well as to get revenge for his store.

The next thing Paris knows, is that bodies are dropping like flies all around him and he's on the run for his life.

I liked the character of Paris and Fearless, even though they are both ex-cons, they have a rigid moral code about keeping promises and not hurting anyone who's helped them.

It is set in the sixties, and segregation and racism are very much relevant throughout the novel.

New album - Christmas 2006, bottom left of screen.

Well it will be in 17 minutes. We had a nice day with friends and family and I will write more about it in the days to come. Right now I have stockings to fill and stuffing to make.

To all my bookcrossing friends and other friends....Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight.

One photo of Christmas Eve opening presents.

Another installment in the archaelogical mystery series featuring Lara McClintock, a Toronto antiques dealer.

In this story, she goes on a once in a lifetime trip with her best friend, Moira, to Rapa Nui to see the stone monuments.

While there, she uncovers murder and ancient myths.

What I like about Hamilton is that she tells a historical story woven through the current day plot. She used to do it in tidbits at the beginning of each chapter - but in the last few novels, she has started to do it in a prologue to the novel and then wind it up through the novel by having the characters tell the story. To be honest, I enjoy the former method.

The descriptions of Rapa Nui, the people, the language, the food and the customs were amazing and made me want to put visiting there on my life to do list.

I just finished this today. It was a light, fast paced, techno thriller.
A young man is accused of rape - he's innocent but his DNA is found on the woman he is accused of raping. A young doctor who specializes in twin research and whether it is nature or nurture that forms criminals.  She is convinced that Steve Logan (the would be rapist) is not capable of murder and goes on the hunt to find his twin....what she discovers is disturbing and frightening. She is at risk to lose not only her job ... but her life.

when everyone around you is sick and its a week before Christmas!

Will update soon!

Release a book a day in 2007!

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