The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman #1970Club

Book Beginnings (hosted by Rose City Reader)

Mrs. Pollifax had attended church that Sunday morning, and her hat--a garden of pale pink roses and green leaves--still sat on her head as she ate lunch in the sunny kitchen of her apartment. She had a tendency to be absentminded lately about hats--in fact since beginning karate lessons she had become forgetful about a number of things--and since she would be going out again soon she had anticipated the problem by placing her hat where it could not possibly be left behind.

👒 If that opening lines can't intrigue you to read on, I don't know what can. Floral hats and karate lessons don't usually go together in one paragraph. But that's what Mrs. Pollifax is - if you haven't familiar yet with the series - unexpected. The first book in the series, The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax, is a strong proof.

👒 Still assuming you haven't read the series - what are you waiting for?? - Mrs. Emily Pollifax is a sexagenarian widow who loves gardening - hence her floral hat - but isn't prepared yet to lead a quite and monotonous life, alone in her apartment. So she went to CIA headquarters and unexpectedly got hired by a Mr. Carstairs to be... a spy! Well, not a proper, as she's unqualified, but she's done her first courier job perfectly in Albania, that Mr. Carstairs, her boss, was quite both surprised and amused.

👒 This time she was tasked to go as tourist to Turkey, to assist Magda Ferenci-Sabo, a defecting Russian spy and double agent to leave the country. She only have to arrive at an hotel at certain time, and be at the lobby with a battered copy of Gone with the Wind as a sign. It's sounds easy, but as usual, Mrs. Pollifax's innocent impulses and affectionate heart brought things to totally different direction; more dangerous, but also more exciting. And along the mission, Mrs. Pollifax found friendship with unlikely people and allies.

👒 Davida @ The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews has recently reviewed this book, and I agree with her comment that it is even better than the first one. I see Mrs. Pollifax is becoming more adept to her new "profession" - she's been taking Karate lessons anyway - and in more than one occasion she quickly took initiative for further plans or actions. The writer, Dorothy Gilman, also brought more colorful characters to assist Mrs. Pollifax in her mission, including some gypsies. They helped brighten the story and some hilarious moments came from their encounters. But what I loved most is Gilman's picturesque portrayal of Turkey, especially the hilltop caves at Göreme where Mrs. Pollifax and co. used for hiding place, they were gorgeous!

(abandoned) cave dwellings at present-day's Göreme
National Park, Turkey

And here I quoted one beautiful landscape at night:

Friday 56 Quote (hosted by Head Full of Books)

They were passing over the Galata Bridge now, and the lights of moving tugs and boats slashed the glistening inky water with long ribbons of gold. Even at midnight the bridge was filled with traffic: miles, trucks, and donkeys bearing fruit and vegetables to the markets and merchandise to the bazaars. Pale moonlight etched out the silhouette of the mosque at the foot of the bridge and touched each passerby with a high light of silver.

👒 Needless to say, I loved this book! It has a perfect balance of mystery, suspense, comedy, love, and friendship, with a touch of cold war and exotic place.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Read for:

The 1970 Club

hosted by Simon and Karen

The Dead Mountaineer's Inn by Arkady & Boris Strugatsky #1970Club

❄️ Published in 1970 in Russian, this book is a locked room mystery with a touch of science fiction. It follows a police inspector, Peter Glebsky, who is on vacation to the titular inn, in order to stay away from his job and family. Also staying at the remote inn and ski chalet, a bunch of eccentric people. There is a famous magician, Du Bramstoker, with his nephew Brun - an adolescent with indeterminate sex (what is it, a boy or a girl?). Then there's a physicist Simon Simone, a wealthy man Moses who's perpetually drunk, and his beautiful wife.

❄️ Then strange things start to happen. Small items are missing, but other stuffs appear mysteriously, voices are heard where no one had been. Are those only innocence though annoying pranks, or, as the inn owner indicates, a supernatural manifestation? He seems to believe that the dead mountaineer - whose legend inspired the inn's name - is still present.

❄️ Things then begin to get more serious; a murder, no less! The latest guest who has arrived right before an avalanche blocked the mountain pass, is found murdered in a locked room. Glebsky had no other choice than investigating the crime, albeit reluctantly. The deeper he investigates though, the more he's confused. There are too many strange unrelated things happening, which ones were pranks, and which were true? And who's telling the truth, who's been prankster? Was the murder a usual crime? Or was there aliens involved like what some of the guests have been incredulously insisting?

❄️ This is such an eccentric yet entertaining story. It's weird but funny at the same time. You'll keep wondering whether this is a clever and complex murder mystery, a huge joke, or a science fiction? And my advice if you want to read this book is, don't google or read any synopsis or blurb beforehand. Just read the book with open mind. It will be more fun. Knowing what it is before reading would totally ruin it! All I can say that I had fun reading it. The book was well constructed, and represented the vibes of the 1970s - that's why mystery novels of vintage era are always my favorite, when everything was still simple and, therefore, more meaningful.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2

Read for:

The 1970 Club

hosted by Simon and Karen

Thursday's Child by Noel Streatfeild #1970Club

🔶️ Margaret Thursday is an orphan, though, as she always tells people,

"I'm not properly an orphan. I was found on a Thursday on the church steps, with three of everything, all of the very best quality."

🔶️ She's actually a daughter of a respectable lady who had stubbornly eloped with her lover. When Margaret was a baby, the lady left her on someone's doorstep, inside a basket with those three of everything of the very best quality, which we will be reminded over and over again throughout the book. It's not that she's boasting, as I first was inclined to think, but it's the lady's way to plant in her daughter's heart that, despite of her demise, she is a special child who deserves respect from others. And this seemingly foolish way did work out. Margaret grows as a up high spirited girl with strong self confident, always believing she can become anyone she wants, that she can be a famous person, even. And most importantly, it gives her self respect and courage to stand on her own against people who would bully and belittle her throughout her adolescence.

🔶️ Margaret Thursday got her surname from the good people who had found her on a Thursday. It follows a nursery rhyme titled Monday's Child:

Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace.
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go.
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for a living.
But the child that is born on Sabbath day,
Is bonny and blithe, good and gay.

🔶️ At first regular fund kept coming every year for her upkeep, but one day it had stopped. And the good people had no choice except sending her to an orphanage. It was supposed to be a good one - recommended even by the Archdeacon. But of course it's as bad as in Dickens' stories, with evil and greedy mistress, who starved the children, punished them severely, and all. But Margaret also found new best friends at the orphanage in Lavinia, Peter, and Horatio - siblings from a broken family.

🔶️ When things turned from bad to worse, Margaret arranged an escape from the orphanage with Peter and Horatio. Lavinia, meanwhile, had gotten a job as scullery maid at the manor house. But what could these little children do to save themselves? What would happen to them? Plenty of Interesting things, it turns out, from working as leggers in a canal boat, to performing in a theater!

Horse-drawn canal boat [pic: from Wikipedia]

🔶️ Their canal boat career is what interested me most. I didn't know that horse-drawn canal boats are mode of cargo transportation in England from mid 19th century to mid 1960s. The horse walked on the canal bank. A strong rope around its head was connected to the boat. The horse need someone to supervise and lead it along the journey, to walk beside it. This person was called a legger. Margaret and the two brothers shared many shifts to do this. And Streatfeild described the beauty but hard canal boat life with the simple but lovely people so vividly I felt like living there myself.

🔶️ On the whole, it's a beautiful and wholesome book, vividly written by Noel Streatfeild. This is my first children novel from her, but certainly not the last.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Read for:

The 1970 Club

hosted by Simon and Karen

The Upcoming #1970Club

October is here, and it means that the biannually reading club week is back! These fun weeks of reading are hosted by Simon @ Stuck in a Book and Karen @ Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings. This time they picked 1970 as the year we will be delving into! I was hoping 1971 would be picked up (it is my birth year), but 1970 is close enough. So, this post is a welcoming the upcoming #1970Club, which will be happening on 14 - 20 October 2024.

I have originally planned to read four books - had been switching off from title to title, but stuck eventually to these four. But, alas, approaching the time I need to start reading, I have only found out that only three were possible. If you haven't known yet, due to my eyesight problem, I've been limiting my reading from e-book and audiobook only. It came much cheaper option too, as I've been struggling for several years to make ends meet. Subscribing to Everand (formerly Scribd.id), therefore, is a Godsend! However, I just learned that at certain point (and I couldn't figure out the threshold), Everand would disabled our access to some titles until the next payment date. We can still access many other titles, of course, but it's still annoying when you have a certain reading plan. Hence, I am forced to abandon my plan of reading The Woods in Winter by Stella Gibbons for #1970Club, for I couldn't find any copy in Google Playbooks either.

But no worry, I still have the other three to have fun with. Actually I have read two of them - and loved them - and am now on the third. I won't reveal the titles yet - you would know only by my reviews when the time come! Meanwhile, here are some books I have read years before, if you need inspiration or encouragement to join the club...


Books published in 1970 that I have read before:

📖 Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (Dee Brown) - (non fiction) an eloquent history of the American Indian systematic destruction, beginning from Christopher Columbus’ arrival at San Salvador on 1492 to the massacre at Wounded Knee at the end of 1890.

📖 84, Charing Cross Road (Helene Hanff) - (non fiction), a beautiful but unexpected friendship between a freelance writer (Helene Hanff) and a second-hand book dealer in London. Written in correspondence style, it is short but deeply touching.

📖 The Naked Face (Sidney Sheldon) - a crime thriller by the inimitable Sidney Sheldon, read it when in high school or college. Can't remember the story, but it's fast-paced and satisfying.

📖 Passenger to Frankfurt (Agatha Christie) - a Christie I am sure I have read during high school, but as always with her less famous works, I don't remember what it's about. I would've reread it if I had time...

📖 The Second Lady (Irving Wallace) - read this before blogging era, a rather steamy, spy thriller consisting of high-level double identity - an actress substitution with American first lady.

📖 Man, Woman, and Child (Erich Segal) - again, read this before blogging era, and remember nothing of the story. Only remember I have read it because of the title.


If you wish to join the #1970Club, here's the first announcement. All that is required is just reading books published in the year, post your reviews during the week, then submit the link either in Simon's or Karen's blog. Have fun! ;)