Suzanne (2026) by Michael Saxton

 

🎨 First of all, many thanks to Michael Saxton, for giving me a free copy of his self-published book: Suzanne. I have first stumbled upon this book on Davida's blog (she reviewed it for #ParisinJuly2026), and I was fascinated by the story - the first French female painter of the of the Impressionism, whose works were admitted at the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. I have never heard of her, and yet I was vaguely familiar with the name Utrillo, who was Valadon's son (also a painter). Hence, I was most curious about this Suzanne Valadon, who started her career in Montmartre as model for famous artists such as Berthe Morrisot, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir; but later on became "one of them" - as Edgar Degas had said at that time - the model had become the peer of the artists she had posed for. 🎨 Suzanne Valadon was born Marie-Clémentine Valadon in 1865 from an unmarried mother who was a laundress at Montmartre - her father was unknown. From childhood, Marie loved to draw, but both her mother and the Sister at the school forbade her to pursue this hobby. After being injured following a fall as trapeze acrobat in a circus, Marie began to pose as model and muse for several painters. One of these paintings, and perhaps the most famous, is Dance at Bougival (1883) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

🎨 From those hours of posing for the painters, Marie (or Maria - her chosen "professional" name as model) observed and learned their techniques. She went home often bringing some discarded papers and charcoal, and tried and trained herself to draw. It was Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec who first "found" her hidden talent, and he brought her to Edgar Degas, who was at that time considered the highest authority in paintings. And the rest, as they say, is history. Marie, or Maria, has become Suzanne - the name she assumed - the painter. However, that was only the beginning. Suzanne had had a long way to go to be well respected among her contemporary (male) artists, and to be considered a professional. One of her biggest obstacle was Maurice Utrillo, her son, born out of wedlock. 🎨 Maurice was conceived when Suzanne was only eighteen years old. She never revealed the father - most probably because she herself was not certain. However, Miquel Utrillo signed a legal document acknowledging paternity, without being sure himself of the truth. Anyhow, Maurice was a restless boy from the beginning, and Suzanne's mother often gave him a small dose of alcohol into his diet to "calm" him. Either from this diet or hereditary alcoholism in his blood, Maurice grew up an alcoholic. And so, Suzanne's personal life was always in between poverty and alcoholism (and perhaps a hint of schizophrenia). Paul Mousis, a banker, was the only non-bohemian man who had ever really loved Suzanne. He provided respectability and establishment to Suzanne's life (they lived in a Paris apartment), staying away from Montmartre and bohemian influences that Suzanne believed was bad for Maurice. 🎨 Unfortunately, once a bohemian, one would always be one. Suzanne began an adulterous affair with a boy of the same age of Maurice - in fact he was Maurice's friend - called André Utter in 1909. He posed for her painting Adam et Eve. I was quite furious with Suzanne at this point. What kind of a mother who would prioritize passion on top of the wellbeing of his sensitive son? She admitted to herself that if she were to chose between her husband (Paul) and her son, she would have picked Maurice. That was quite understandable, considering her relationship with Paul was more of comfort rather than passion. But to "sacrifice" Maurice's feeling to passionate affair with a mere boy was too much for me - bohemian or not. Well, they say that genius artists (and writers) are usually selfish, so maybe that's one quality that Suzanne needed to be what she had later become. 🎨 All in all, this is a nice historical account of a self-made woman painter, at the time when the art world was dominated by men. Suzanne had always been persistent in both her art and her dealings with blood-sucker art dealer, and with people who was on the way between her and her son's happiness. Personally I prefer Maurice Utrillo's art of cityscapes than the bold-lined and crude Suzanne's feminine nudity. Well, I generally dislike feminists, so... But that didn't deter my enjoying this book. The first half is perhaps quite confusing; one chapter, for instance, Maurice was still a toddler, then apparently in the next he's already six. But the rest are more neatly paced. Though I was not quite immersed into the Paris of between the end of Impressionism era to the rising of Expressionism, this would be a perfect choice for #ParisinJuly, or if you are a Francophile like me.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Fortnight in September (1931) by R.C. Sherriff

 

🏖️ The Fortnight in September is a tale about holiday. No, it's not a story that takes place in a holiday resort, or about events that happen during a holiday. No, the story is about the holiday itself, like the Holiday is one of the main characters; a central one. The Stevens is a lower middle class family lives in 22 Corunna Road, Dulwich. For the last fifteen years, their annual two-weeks summer holiday was spent regularly in the seaside resort of Bognor. Not only at the same region, they have always stayed at the same boarding house called Seaview, that belongs to a Mrs. Huggett (widowed for several years). The boarding house, the Stevens found, was always satisfactory when Mr. and Mrs. Huggett ran them together. But after Mr. Huggett died, they began to see slight decrease in the service. Nonetheless, the Stevens loyally continued to stay year after year at Seaview. 🏖️ I personally find the idea of staying at the same holiday place for fifteen years is wonderful. I can see the charm of it. Our family had had that kind of place, but for only two or three years. I remember feeling comfortable in our second stay; it felt like we were returning to an old familiar place, where we knew exactly what we could expect; the quality of the room, the food, the weather, and dozens of tiny little details that make or break the enjoyment of our holidays. Doing it for fifteen years, I imagine, felt like one is owning a summer place of one's self. 🏖️ The story unfolds with details of what ordinary family do, feel, view about their annual holiday. Mr. Stevens is always meticulous at his preparation. When to book the room at Seaview (it's just a letter to confirm to Mrs. Huggett know that the Stevens will be there this summer), how many days ahead precisely is needed to start packing or procuring the necessary paraphernalia of holiday on the seaside resort, and what time precisely they should leave home to allow enough time at the station. The family knows exactly what to bring, which shoes most comfortable to wear, the bathing suit, and don't forget the ball and the kite, and so on. They have done it for fifteen years anyway, so they had been perfecting the holiday in all aspects. But just like any other holiday, there would be one, two, or more unexpected 'complication' that would either ruin the holiday, or mark it to make it memorable. 🏖️ This book, I found, made me pondering over the philosophy of a holiday, more than I expected. The most striking aspect of a holiday will be borne into our memory for the whole year. And that's why it's important to make a holiday as perfect as possible; every choices are counted, for instance, whether you should spend more money to have little luxury. If it turns out bad, you would resent the money overspent (thus ruined the whole holiday for the rest of the work year), but if it turns out satisfactory, it would top your memory of that holiday (and cheer you up for the rest of the work year). A lot is at stake for a fortnight of a holiday - something I have never imagined. 🏖️ On the whole, this was a satisfactory reading experience. I felt like spending time with the Stevens on the seaside, and I enjoyed every stages of their holiday, every details of it. And through the reading, I was reminded of what my past holidays had been like. I had expected this a light read - which it was - but somehow it made me quite sentimental and philosophical, instead. Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Much Dithering (1938) by Dorothy Lambert

🔴 Much Dithering is the name of a small, tucked-away, and peaceful village in England, where nothing has ever stirred the existence of its inhabitants. The inhabitants are mostly proud and dignified people, from its landed-gentry to the working classes. Amidst them all, the young widow Jocelyn Renshawe (our heroine) is the most unlikely to have adventure, let alone romance. She had had a loveless marriage, hence does not have any inkling about love. Her existence has been dedicated in her household, the church and charity works, and in obeying her mother-in-law (the Honorable Lady Augusta Renshawe) and her aunt. As far as Jocelyn's concern, she would grow old a penniless spinster, since the inheritance would be passed on to Lady Augusta's long lost nephew.

🔴 As usual, there should be some newcomers who would stir the peaceful existence in such a quaint village. And that roles fall on these personages; Colonel Tidmarsh - a dull retired army man; the rich family (new money) of Murchison-Bellabys whose ambition was to settled down on the village as respectable family; Ermyntrude - Jocelyn's estranged mother - who is on the lookout for a rich husband to be settled down with; and, last but not least, Gervase Blythe - a young man with unknown past, but who'd charmed everyone. Lady Augusta and Jocelyn's aunt had decided that Jocelyn should marry the dull Colonel Tidmarsh, in order to secure their darling's future. The Colonel himself is attracted by Jocelyn, who, being a typical dutiful daughter, never realizes her innocent beauty and charm, and thus, appears more attractive than women who try hard to look beautiful (heavily made-up like Ermyntrude, for instance). 🔴 The Murchison-Bellaby's son Adrian, is the second man who's instantly attracted to Jocelyn. The problem is, he's also the one for whom Ermyntrude had been 'aiming'. Then, there's Gervase Blythe, whose accidental introduction to Jocelyn left a lasting memory to the young widow. So, you see, that the central comedy of this story is how Jocelyn, believed by everyone to be the dullest woman in the village, found herself wooed by, not one, not two, but three men at the same time. And the charming job of the readers is to guest who would win her heart and how she sorted herself out from these entanglements. Oh, you would easily guess the answer, as well as to 'solve' the mystery of some jewelry theft in the hitherto very peaceful village. All in all, it was the kind of a charming, delightful, lighthearted read that I always love!  

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (1938) by Winifred Watson #SpinsterSeptember

 

❤️ It's September again, and as usual I am going to do #SpinsterSeptember. It is an annual event found, and usually hosted, by Nora @pear.jelly. I have checked her Instagram; her last post was in March, and there were no sign that she will be hosting again this year. Well, in that case, I'm going solo. It is such a good idea to read and explore books about spinsters. My first read is Winifred Watson's Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day - and what a "riot" it has been! I listened to the audiobook, and Frances McDormand did a fantastic job to enlivened this charming story, which was, as the title indicated, actually happening on the span of twenty four hours. I have learned too, that Frances McDormand herself plays Miss Pettigrew in the 2008 film.

❤️ The revolve around Guinevere Pettigrew, a spinster of almost forty years old. She was born and grew up in the 1930s of England, in a prudish family of a vicar. Her mother has brought her up as tightly as in a convent that she never had neither youthful fun nor adult love growing up. Currently she's working as governess - and not good at it either. Worst of all, Miss Pettigrew has been sacked from her last job - where she's become more of a nursemaid than governess - and if she doesn't find any new job soon, she will end up in a work house - penniless as she is now. Hence, when a position is opening, she snatched it up immediately, and with much trepidation, arrived at her destination, the home of a Miss LaFosse. ❤️ It turns out that Miss Delysia LaFosse is a glamorous nightclub singer, with apparently no children to be seen. Miss Pettigrew wonders what kind of children would be her charge, but before she has chance to inquire, Miss LaFosse tasked her to 'handle' her undesired beau. Successful at her first task, Miss Pettigrew soon gets herself entangled in the midst of London's glitzy society. Instead of handling unruly children, Miss Pettigrew finds herself being dressed, made-up, and "whirled around" from one dazzling party to another, witness of love affairs and the ensued drama, all in one day - one eventful day that will turn her life completely. ❤️ This book is a perfectly written comedy, and I love it! What I meant with perfect comedy is that it isn't the raw-slapstick one like Wodehouse's. It lays rather in the witty dialogs, particularly in Miss Pettigrew's part, and the good timing of the dialogs that created an opening for Miss Pettigrew's stage. The exhilarating adventures that Miss Pettigrew succeeded in having, out of the series of those mischances, coupled with her humble views of all that, are what I love most about this novel. In a way, there's a little of 'Cinderella touch' in the story - the poverty-crunched maiden getting a glittering moment of her life. The problem is, whether it will end with "happily-ever-after" kind of moment, or will it be a more heartwarming one? Anyhow, this is the kind of book I would cherish for a long time, and that I might want to re-read every now and then. Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cider with Rosie (1959) by Laurie Lee

 

💛 Published in 1959, Cider with Rosie is Laurie Lee's childhood memoir in the remote Costwold village called Slad, Gloucestershire, in England. In this first book of a trilogy, Laurie told us memories of his childhood to adolescence right after First World War. The memoir opens with Laurie, his mother and the rest of the family (of nine) at a cottage in Slad. Laurie is the penultimate child, ranked from age, of seven. He and three others are the biological children of his mother. The other four are children of his father and his first wife. Laurie's father was a soldier who had lost his first wife, and then married his housekeeper (Laurie's mother, Annie Emily Light). However after the war, during which Mrs. Lee had been taking care of the family for him, he abandoned the family and never came back. 💛 The memoir is divided into several thematic chapters, rather than following chronological order. For example, the chapter titled The Kitchen told us about their domestic life, which Laurie felt centered in the kitchen. He brought us to their day-to-day life; the bigger sisters to their works; Laurie and the younger boys plays around the village after school; and how in the evening the family always gathered around the big kitchen table - the latter is, indeed, a heartwarming glimpse of the bygone era. We also came to know about Laurie's mother's personalities - bright spirit who had never been crushed by hardship, and who has a Bohemian touch. She had had worked at manors, serving the gentry, and adopted some of their views and tastes along the way, which she always carried in her wretched life. She's a gentlewoman who was forced, by poverty and by her selfish husband, to hardship. I loved her instantly, I admired her great courage and resilience. Mrs. Lee was the core of the family, and the only reason why the children lived such a happy life. 💛 Laurie Lee doesn't always talk about the family, there's a chapter, Grannies in the Wainscot, dedicated to their neighbors - the two eccentric elderly women who perpetually despised each other. It's rather a hilarious one, and becomes one of my favorite chapters, together with Mother, which Laurie dedicated to his amazing mother; and Outings and Festivals, which told us the fun of living in the village (at that time) with all the outings and events, usually sponsored by their squire. I can imagine how gloriously fun and memorable those are, which had been imprinted in Laurie Lee's memory ever since. 💛 On the whole, it's a memoir of a bygone era worth reading. It emphasizes on the charming lives the family had had during the era when industrialism's hand hadn't yet touched them. But, without realizing it at that moment, Laurie Lee grew up on the brink of the massive change that was about to come. I am lucky to have read this glorious memoir about that era, and am always grateful of Laurie's eloquent and incisive way of describing the tiny little details that marked his life! Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Mr. Katō Plays Family (2018) by Milena Michiko Flašar #WITMonth2026 #20BOS26

 

👴🏼 Milena Michiko Flašar, who wrote of Mr. Katō Plays Family, is a Japanese-Austrian author who currently lives in Vienna. She was born from A Japanese mother and an Austrian father. This book is originally written in Germany, and is translated to English by Caroline Froh. This would be my second and last book for #WITMonth2026. Mr. Katō Plays Family tells the story of a recently retired Japanese man in his sixties, who lives with his wife in a suburban town of Japan. The story opens with our protagonist on the way back from hospital after his routine checkup for his heart - the report is good - but nevertheless, he wished there's something wrong with his heart, so that there's something to talk about with his wife. From then on, we learn how Mr. Kato's marriage has been going sour for sometime. He's been turning a bit curmudgeonly of late; his wife wants him out of the house; and there are Mr. Kato's unfulfilled dreams, like having a dog - a Pomeranian whom he would have called Shiro - which idea disliked and dismissed by his wife. We learn that there are so many regrets on things unsaid and undone, and Mr. Kato is at lost how to repair it or begin anew. 👴🏼 On that fateful morning, when Mr. Kato took a rest at a cemetery, during his walk, he met an extraordinary girl. She is called Mie, and she appreciates Mr. Kato's ingenuity and improvisation skill which he inadvertently shows when he thinks nobody's looking. Mie turns out to be owning a business called Happy Family, which specializing in providing people whom you can hire to act and play roles in real families. Intrigued, Mr. Kato was hired by Mie, and his first assignment is to be a grandfather to a little boy who misses his own who never shows up. Apparently Mr. Kato did very well in his role-playing - a natural, you might say. However fluent he communicates with families who hired him, still, he fails to communicate either important or mundane things he wishes to say to his own family. 👴🏼 The idea to describe the RHS (Retired Husband Syndrome) that affected either the wife or Mr. Kato - the retiree himself - through the contradictory condition between real and acting lives, is a clever idea. Add that with the writing structure of alternating real dialogues with stream of consciousness, makes this story feels more poignant. In the end, although the idea of people wanting 'stand-in' people to act as their relatives is both rather implausible (someone is bound to realize that they were not the real person, isn't it?) and disturbing (are human beings have become that pathetic that we need actors to play our roles?) I really-really wish this phenomenon is just the actor's imagination, and not the real condition. Because if it is, the human race is nearly doomed! As a reading experience, this book is neither wonderful nor bad; it provides, at least, some funny scenes and quite heartwarming in regard of the family-and-love theme. Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2

Read for:

#WITMonth2026 hosted by Meytal @ Biblibio

20 Books of Summer 2026 hosted by Annabel @ AnnaBookBel

Murder Takes a Vacation (2025) by Laura Lippman

 

💙 Mrs. Muriel Blossom is an American widow of 60-something, with insecurity problem, because she is a natural plump, and therefore has a knack of blending into the background. That, and with her sharp intelligent, Mrs. Blossom had worked as private investigator's assistant in the past. That she is currently involved in a murder and theft case, is pure coincidental. You see, the moment Mrs. Blossom had found a winning lottery ticket in a parking lot, 'her faith has been sealed', so to speak. She immediately booked a luxurious cruise to France on MS Solitaire, for herself and her bestfriend Eleanor. However, she indulged herself a trip to London, alone, before the cruise. On the flight, she was 'upgraded' to business class (her first time experience), and it was then that she met a gallant and charming middle aged man called Allan. It's been a long time that Mrs. Blossoms felt like a woman - attended to, flirted to - even kissed to - by a handsome man, and she was flattered and enamoured with this Allan. However, before anything could follow, she heard the news that Allan was dead - fallen from  the balcony of his hotel in Paris (while he said he was on the way to somewhere else).

💙 After that, mysterious incidents keep happening to Mrs. Blossom. Someone has been searching through her belongings at the hotel; then a theft attempted to snatch her purse at a cafe - what is really going on? A stylish called Danny is suddenly so helpful to Mrs. Blossoms, but who later on confesses he's actually an FBI agent and/or insurance agency investigator. He is always around Mrs. Blossom, even when she's on board the MS Solitaire - why is he following her? Then his story about Allan embroiling in stolen antiques - an invaluable statue with sapphire eyes - were any of this true? And if Allan did try to smuggle the statue through customs, and had been using her, Mrs. Blossoms, inadvertently, where is this statue now? Mrs. Blossoms has been searching through her belongings, nothing's there. 💙 I was surprised that a person such as Mrs. Blossom, who has worked as investigator's assistant, could not think or has a tiny suspicion about how Allan had been using her. It was clear as light, and I had been thinking from the beginning that that little 'incident' would prove to be how part of the crime would be commit. But no, Mrs. Blossoms is as oblivion and unsuspecting as any layman can be, even after learning that the man she thought loved her was proved to be a crooked one. Moreover, as a cozy mystery, this one is way much too cozy to be a mystery at all. Mrs. Blossom is NOT an amateur sleuth; she has never intended to investigate. She's just trying to enjoy her holiday - which she doesn't really deserve anyway, as it was paid by sheer luck (finding a winning lottery at a parking lot), despite of mysterious things that's happening around her - though she did sometimes wonder (why? how?) It only gets spiced up a little on the last two or three chapters, and Mrs. Blossom realized the truth only on a whim, not by intelligence. 💙 While the river cruise along the Seine is pretty promising, I didn't feel like being on a cruise at all. What I liked most is perhaps the character development in Muriel Blossom. The rest is just okay, though Kimberly Farr as the narrator of the audiobook did a nice job here, it's quite enjoyable as a light read. Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Read for: Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge 2026 hosted by Carol @ Carol's Notebook