12.28.2006

a book recommendation

Please excuse my lack of posting the past few days. Whether it's after Christmas jet-lag or the weather, I'm not sure, but I just haven't felt that great for a few days. And I've spent most of that time curled up on the couch with my cats. Who are loving the extra attention.

And I'm reading a fat book that I highly recommend if you like historical fiction—Abundance by Sena Jeter Naslund. She wrote Ahab's Wife, too, and I think someone recommended it to me but I haven't read it yet. Anyway, this book is a fictionalized account of Marie Antoinette from the time she arrived in France to her untimely death. And it has all the historical details but written like a juicy novel so you'll find yourself just flying through the pages.

Interesting that she never said "Let them eat cake." But she did talk about her embroidery in letters to her mother. It seems she was quite accomplished at it and made lovely needlework items for her husband and friends.

"I truly love my embroidery, as it puts me in a kind of trance. I am not transported into another world as I am at the theater or even when I read an engaging book, but I enter a deep, still place within myself as I create flowers in thread. I feel calm and happy, which is a good balance for the thrill of the gaming table, though I gamble much less now and only in my own apartment; instead I often play billiards."

Oh, yes, she had a bit of a gambling problem, too!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'll have to check out Abundance. I liked Ahab's Wife, and can't remember if it was me that recommended it, but it's on my list of recommendations!

I recently read another book about Marie Ant., can't remember the name, but it was in diary form. Pretty good, but the movie, to me, was a disappointment.

Jennicakes said...

ooh, looks like a must-read!

charlotte said...

thanks for the book rec ...and happy holidays to you. always feel better after a visit your way. xoC

Junie Moon said...

Thank you for the book recommendation--I've been reading/crafting so many craft books lately that I've forgotton to just read a book for fun. I'll use one of my bookstore gift cards and purchase Abundance. I think that taking some quiet time to relax and read as you have done might be exactly what is necessary for a bit--I think you're very wise to have listened to your body and taken the time to care for yourself.

Anonymous said...

Janet dear, thank you for the lovely surprise! I LOVE it!!

Will have to pick up this book. Winter is my favorite time to read a thick novel. Especially when up to my chin in bubble bath...such a luxury! ;o)

Wishing you Peace& Plenty in 2007!