This past weekend I was visiting a friend and noticed that one of my favourite authors was being republished: Mary Stewart. I picked up the copy and rather quickly read through The Moonspinners, revisiting not just Greece, but the memories of the first time I read that book. Gothic suspense was the genre in those days (not too far from the first printing!) Her Merlin/King Arthur trilogy was sublime. I have been delighted by a number of other authors that have been republished, generally not widely read anymore. Gene Stratton Porter is a case in point. A few years ago Wisconsin started re-issuing her novels, much to my delight. All of my copies are in tatters, much loved and well read. There are many that I have never been able to find. I have mentioned how delighted I have been with Sandor Marai, Embers and Cassanova in Bolanzo, now being translated from Hungarian or German into English, 70 years after their original publications.
Which is making a new book CITY SECRETS: Books a gem for me. There are essays, about many authors, noted for one book or one genre, in which unfamiliar and perhaps 'best' work is then described. I am familiar with 30 of the books (and do indeed think them masterpieces) so have at least 50 more to find. This was a great library book, and will continue my borrowing for some time to come. Unless I find it in the Friends' Bookstore!
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