Off My Rocker

Should you be a fan of the Regency tale and, having read all of Georgette Heyer’s work, be pining for another romance yet wary of the mass of silliness that is currently published in that genre, you could do far worse than to read Fiona Hill.

Lest you think this an exaggeration, her real name is Ellen Pall. Under her own name she has written a couple literary novels and, so far, two well-received mysteries. We can hope for more of the latter as each has a subtitle of "a nine Muses mystery." With a little luck we will get seven more. So far she has done homage to Terpsichore and Erato.

For our purposes here, namely Autumn Reading, let me recommend The Autumn Rose.

Lady Caro Wythe is already 23 years of age. Perhaps still a rose, but an Autumn one at best. In fact she is an old maid and likely to remain one since she is headstrong and sharp-tongued. Nonetheless elderly Lady Beatrice prides herself on her ability to find husbands for young women (or not-so-young women) and chooses to look on Caro as a Challenge. To this end she decides it will be best for Caro to draw attention as an Eccentric complete with cigars and a refusal to wear any color but rose.

Well, you know the rest – this is a romance after all. But this one makes it such fun getting to where we all know we’re going.

QUARTET IN AUTUMN, by Barbara Pym

This is the story of four office workers as they near retirement. Norman, an angry little man disappointed by life, seems to see it as his job to take the shine off for everyone else as well; Marcia is obsessed with collecting: milk bottles which she keeps in pristine condition out in the garden shed while the garden itself grows increasingly unkempt, canned foods which she will not eat even when ordered by her adored doctor to do so, nightgowns never worn, plastic bags carefully folded and sorted into a drawer by size; Edwin roams the city in search of churches, services, and festivals, and takes upon himself tasks of do-gooding without asking himself if what he wants for people is what they want for themselves; Letty is the most likable of the four and, curiously, the least colorful. She dresses like a lady, acts like a lady and always does what is kind and right in spite of what she might think. She is also the one who continues to grow and who at the end realizes "that life still held infinite possibilities…"

More books to harvest for your Autumn reading pleasure are Autumn’s Brightness, by Daisy Newman, Autumn Encore, by Jane Peart, October Dreams, by Richard Chizmar, Guinevere: the legend in Autumn, by Persia Woolley, Night in the Lonesome October, by Roger Zelazny, November Veil, by Linda Hall.