I've just about finished The Rector's Daughter, by F.M. Mayor. It's the early 1920s, and Mary Jocelyn is the thirty-five year old spinster daughter of an aged and widowed clergyman who is, frankly, a bit of jerk. Cold, selfish, snobbish, a bore who enjoys "baiting" younger, less erudite clergy, he does not appreciate Mary and pays her little notice, even though she cares for her disabled younger sister, keeps house, and works tirelessly in the parish. Early in the story, we are told: "Sometimes she felt the neighborhood, the village, even her father, becoming like shadows. On the whole she was happy. She did not question the destiny life brought her. People spoke pityingly of her, but she did not feel that she required pity." Mary's life is transformed when she meets a younger colleague of her father's, the vicar of a neighboring parish, although if you think you see where this is going, you are quite likely wrong. It's hard to express just how wonderful this novel is. It's beautifully written, and poignant without being "sweet" or cliched. It is, in short, a Spinster Manifesto. Highly recommended.
Regular readers may recall that I attended a wedding last weekend. It was held at a lovely country inn in upstate New York, and the ceremony was outdoors overlooking a pond, surrounded by weeping willow trees. The bride and her father processed up the aisle to the strains of Moon River, which most of you probably know comes from the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's. (BookishNYC trivia: it was released the year I was born.) So, that's a roundabout way of getting to my point . . . when I was at Barnes & Noble the day after the wedding, my attention was, coincidentally, immediately drawn to a book titled Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. by Sam Wasson. The book jacket features the famous image of Audrey Hepburn in Holly Golightly's iconic little black dress, drinking a coffee and eating a danish while staring in the windows of Tiffany's at dawn after a night on the town. I think you will agree that I of course had no choice but to buy the book, which is a behind-the-scenes account of the making of Breakfast at Tiffany's. Here's a teaser: Truman Capote originally wanted Marilyn Monroe to play the lead! (Can you imagine?)
