Friday Book Blogging

This week I read The Passages of H.M. about Herman Melville, written by Jay Parini from the perspective of Melville's poor wife, Elizabeth. I confess that, while the writing is excellent, I could not like this book. Lizzie suffers so much for the sake of her husband's genius. I know the mores of the time dictated that the long-suffering wife buck up and deal with it, and Parini evokes at times resignation and fond regret. He also seems to revel in her ordeals, as if anything endured for the eventual inception of any piece of Melville's oeuvre is worth it. Therefore, I'm recommending the third Flavia de Luce mystery, A Red Herring without Mustard by Alan Bradley. See my previous post on Flavia here.