Young Helen

Sometimes, there are advantages to waiting in line. I had to wait in line at the library the other day - I had a couple of holds to pick up, and then had to check my books out at the checkout counter in order to take advantage of the "Food for Fines" program at my local library - donate food, get your fines waived. Well worth it! (Usually I just use the automated checkout machines because there is no one at the checkout desk or the line is too long.)

At any rate, standing in line, I had nothing else to look at but books (of course, being in a library and all). In front of me was a cart of books waiting to be put away. The top one, Nobody's Princess by Esther Friesner, with the photo of a young lady with a sword on it, caught my eye. Even though I already had enough books at home waiting for me to read, I grabbed it anyway. I am glad I did!

Nobody's Princess is the story of Helen of Troy before she came Helen of Troy: back when she was still Helen of Sparta, a young tomboy thirsting for adventure and desperate to break against the typical roles for women of her time. Helen longs to be more than just a pretty face, and so takes up sword fighting, being trained with her elder twin brothers. Her impetuous nature leads her to many adventures, including an exciting boar hunt in the woods of Calydon, and an encounter in the crowded streets of Delphi with the legendary Oracle. The book ends with Helen about to go on her greatest adventure yet - but that will have to wait for the sequel!

Overall, I quite enjoyed this book. I didn't realize until after I picked it up that it was meant for teens; that really just meant it was a quicker read than most of my usual fare. In fact, lots of teen fiction is as good as, if not better, than a lot of adult fiction. There are some really exciting and interesting stories being written for teenagers out there - beyond the slightly sappy Twilight series. (Yes, I've tried the first book. No, I did not like it. If you ask really nicely I'll try it again, maybe.) There are good books with exciting plot developments and interesting characters, such as here. Helen is a spirited and sassy heroine with relatable modern-type issues: what's my place in the world? Where do I fit in? Do people like me only for my looks? I liked Helen's friendships with some other famous Greek women: Atalanta, the famous huntress, and Eunike, the Oracle of Delphi.

Frequent readers will know that I am a harsh judge of historical fiction and the historical novelist's tendency to overly modernize characters. However, I have no such criticism here. Firstly, despite a semester's worth of Ancient History during my undergraduate degree, I don't really know that much about Ancient Greece. Secondly, Helen was vaguely mythical anyway, so I don't mind a little modernity in that grey area where myth and reality collide.

Overall, this was an enjoyable, albeit light, read. I will admit, I did have to pull out my ancient "Richard's Topical Encyclopedia" for some brushing up on my myths. My folks have a dictionary of the gods and goddesses of Ancient Greece and Rome that I will be flipping through on my next visit home! Nobody's Princess was an enjoyable escape with an engaging heroine: sometimes, that's all you want. I am interested in the character and want to read the next book, so it's a win for the author. And, please, ignore my cat's sleepiness in the photo below - this book is much more exciting than her pose would have you believe.

Botanizing

Yes, apparently "botanizing" is a verb. Who knew? You'll find that out and much more in the very interesting book Flower Hunters by Mary Gribbin and John Gribbin. This is a book for people who like plants, gardening, and adventure stories. For it is all of these in one.

I often complain about the lack of historical accuracy in novels. Little did I realize that the wary historical novelist must now beware of plants too! Many of the common garden plants we use today have been introduced into European/Western gardening within the last 200 years. These include such things as nasturtiums, azaleas, and rhododendrons. Here in North America, we are aware that many of our favourite plants are not from around here - they were brought by settlers (purposely or inadvertently) to the New World. However, many of these plants were also not native to the European world we thought they originated from. Instead they were gathered by intrepid explorers from around the globe - the Flower Hunters!

These brave men (and woman!) faced adversity, hardship, and danger to send back interesting and unusual plant specimens for the scientists of Europe to study and the gardeners of Europe to plant. Whether gathering plants in the name of science or of profit, the amateur or professional flower hunters had a difficult time botanizing. Travel was not the easy thing it is today.

Flower Hunters is a tremendously interesting book about the men and woman who introduced many plants to Europe whether through science or commerce. Until I read it, I had not realized how many common plants that we have today did not originate in the gardens of Europe, but elsewhere. I was truly fascinated - as will other readers be, I am sure.

The book contains 11 short sketches of each profiled flower hunter, but each story contains so much more information about the whole culture of gardening and science at the time. I almost wished that each sketch was a Wikipedia entry so I could click onto an interesting name as the story unfolded. The writers begin in England and Sweden with two men whose primary interest in plants involved their categorization into neat groups: John Ray and Carl Linnaeus. The remaining botanizers are men (and one woman) who traveled the globe searching for new specimens to send elsewhere, mostly to Europe. Some of these men went in the name of science, such as Joseph Banks, who traveled the world with Captain Cook in the Endeavour, discovering many new plants along the way. Some went in the name of profit, such as William Lobb who introduced the "monkey-puzzle" tree to England. (His brother Thomas brought back orchids.) Gardening was a passion in the Victorian era, and new plants could be sold for high prices. Others moved plants around within the British Empire: Richard Spruce brought quinine to India from South America, and Robert Fortune smuggled tea plants into India from China.

Many women did not participate in botanizing, due to various sociological factors that I won't get into here. One woman who did was Marianne North. She traveled the world looking for new and interesting plants for her paintings. While she did not take physical specimens of the plants, she captured them for posterity and her paintings can still be seen today in the Kew Gardens in England.

At the end of each sketch, the authors have noted gardening ideas to honour each explorer as well as discussing the plants named for the flower hunter. I thought that added a charming and personal touch for any gardener interested in knowing the provenance of their plants and who may want to honour a special botanist for their service to science, and gardeners, everywhere.

This is a lovely book to read in the dead of winter, as it involves a lot of long travel on boats to warm places. You will wish to be in those warm places, but be very happy that you no longer have to travel by sailboat eating sauerkraut for months (to avoid scurvy) to do so!

This is a very interesting read for gardeners and non-gardeners alike. It is not too technical or academic and is a fun and, dare I say, swashbuckling read. A good time was had by all!

The Imaginary Life of Marie Antoinette

It is no secret that I love historical fiction. However, I can and should qualify that statement: I love good historical fiction. Bad historical fiction just leaves me annoyed and ranting. Unfortunately it seems that there is little good historical fiction out there. But I'm always willing to try new authors - even if I end up annoyed and ranting.

My most recent historical fiction read was The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette: A Novel by Carolly Erickson. How was it? Well, dear readers, prepare for a rant.

The book started off innocently enough. It purports to be a diary kept by Marie Antoinette up until her execution during the French Revolution in 1793. We begin with the 13 year old Maria Antonia, Austrian Archduchess, daughter of the famed Empress Maria Theresa, and future betrothed of the Dauphin of France. At first, I enjoyed it. The voice of Antonia was fresh, vivacious, and natural, much as I would have imagined the actual princess to be like. I had a few qualms when at one point, Antonia was kissed by her stablehand, Eric, but kept going. Well, then Antonia managed to find herself on a ride all alone with her adoring stablehand. Nothing happened other than more kissing, but I had my doubts. It's not the kissing I mind so much, it's the prospect that an Archduchess was preparing to ride out alone when Eric was sent along. I just don't think that 18th century princesses were able to spend that much, if any time alone. Maybe that was a possibility at the relaxed Austrian court, but definitely not at the exceedingly formal French court, where every moment was regimented by etiquette.

I did enjoy the depiction of the relationship between Antoinette and her husband, the future Louis XVI. It seemed like they had an amicable and natural relationship, even if they weren't in love. Nor did I mind the depiction of Axel Fersen - he was the Queen's great love, apparently. Erickson chooses to have them consummate the relationship, and that's fine. Marie Antoinette deserves some love from someone.

This is where I became very angry with the book. Erickson sends Marie Antoinette off to Sweden with Axel on some sort of diplomatic trade mission. Really? The Queen of France, mother of no male heirs, is sent off for months to Sweden? And the inconsistencies kept on piling up: Marie Antoinette and Axel spend a lot of time alone together - without servants even! Inconceivable for the time. Sweden is described as a land where snow will linger to July, yet a poor peasant's cottage is depicted as having cockroaches. If it's that cold, there would be no cockroaches because it would be too cold to support them! But I read on, wondering vaguely if I'd missed some trip to Sweden in my previous non-fiction reading of Marie Antoinette.

To refresh my memory, I turned to Marie Antoinette: The Journey, the best recent non-fiction biography of her life, by Antonia Fraser. No mention of any trip to Sweden. I quickly turned to the Note To The Reader at the end of Erickson's novel and read this little gem: "So far as is known, Antoinette never went to Sweden;...." NO! She NEVER went to Sweden - just pick up a book and look it up! It's not like this is the 11th or 12th centuries and the facts are hard to come by and are confused. Marie Antoinette was a celebrated and reviled public figure. She lived in the late 1700's. We have lots of sources about her and we know where she was and what she was doing for a good part of her life. And we know she didn't go to Sweden!

This is what I hate about historical fiction: authors who don't follow the story and make stuff up. If you want to make stuff up, write non-historical fiction. Then your characters can do whatever they want. Writing historical fiction is like writing a sonnet: you are constrained by the form, but you can express your creativity and imagination within that form. An excellent historical fiction writer doesn't make stuff up: he or she takes the facts that we know and clothes them with thoughts and feelings. That is the stuff we don't know - why did Marie Antoinette act as she did? What did she think about when she was married to the Dauphin? Did she love her children? Was she scared on her way to the guillotine? Her outside life as she lived it is known: it is her inside life I want to know more about, not some imaginary trips to Sweden with her lover.

I might have been a little more forgiving if the trip was depicted more realistically for the times. Marie Antoinette and Axel would never have been allowed to go off to his estate alone with no servants. Marie Antoinette would have never been sent off on any kind of diplomatic mission if she had not yet given birth to a male heir - probably even if she had borne a male heir! For all her ability in advising her husband, her role was to bear a male heir. End of sentence. And for the Queen to go off to Sweden alone with her lover - what a scandal! It was just so unrealistic that it really spoiled the rest of the book for me.

I did finish the book, but just barely. I thought Marie Antoinette seemed a little more flighty as the book went along. She was probably not the most serious of women, but she seemed a little stupid in this book. Further, I also did not like how people just appeared in her diary with no mention of who they were or what they did. I suppose that is a little more realistic as to how diaries are actually kept: one does not explain who people are, unless one is keeping the diary for posterity. And the villain character of Amelie was really preposterous and one-note.

After I finished the book, I turned to Antonia Fraser's non-fiction to clarify a few of the actual facts about Marie Antoinette and have ended up re-reading most of the book. Now that book is an excellent read. It is non-fiction that reads like fiction.

For those who want to read about Marie Antoinette, I recommend Antonia Fraser's book. I do not recommend Carolly Erickson's book. Read it at your own risk.

Shades of Grey

While happily perambulating through the history section of the library one day, I came across The Sisters Who Would be Queen: Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Tragedy by Leandra de Lisle. Given that my hands and bag were already filled with books, I reluctantly passed it by, but made a note of the book for future reference. The future is now, my friends, and I was fortunate enough to find this book the next time I was at the library. (Although I'm not sure that anyone else but me reads historical non-fiction - at least at my library branch. The section is always empty, but, sadly, not quiet given its proximity to the children's book and play area.)

The Sisters Who Would be Queen is about a little known branch of the Tudor family; Jane, Katherine and Mary Grey, the grand-nieces of Henry VIII and purported heirs to the throne. This unfortunate blood relationship led to imprisonment and even death for one of the sisters. Lady Jane Grey is probably best known as the Nine-Days Queen shortly after Edward VI and prior to Mary I, but her sisters Katherine and Mary also occupied important spots in the Tudor succession plan. This book tells the story of all of them.

The grandmother of Jane, Katherine, and Mary was the famous Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII. Ravishingly lovely, the beautiful and spoilt young princess was married to Louis XII, the old French King. Mary was willing enough to trade happiness for a crown, but reportedly exhorted a promise from her brother that she could chose her next marriage for love alone. The marriage lasted three months; the aged French King supposedly driven to his death from the exertions in the marriage bed. Mary was now a widow, and free to choose her own husband, as she thought. Her choice was the handsome and virile Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk and Henry's close friend. He knew he shouldn't marry the lovely widow - especially since there was a chance that she could be pregnant with the heir to France. But he succumbed to Mary's tears, and married her in secret in France. Henry VIII was furious when he found out, but eventually came around.

(It is interesting to note that all of Henry VII's adult children had multiple marriages except for his eldest son Arthur, who married only once - Catherine of Aragon. Mary Tudor married twice, and Margaret Tudor married three times. And, of course we all know about Henry VIII's six wives! However, multiple marriages were common in those days - whether through divorce or death. Charles Brandon too had a very chequered marital career - marrying for inheritance and having marriages set aside while keeping the inheritance. I believe that Mary was his third wife, and he would marry once more before he was done.)

At any rate, this marriage was a happy one, and Mary and Charles had three children; Henry, Frances, and Eleanor. Both Frances and Eleanor made good marriages into the English nobility. Frances married Henry Grey, Marquess of Dorset, and had three daughters: Jane, Katherine, and Mary. This is where de Lisle's story begins.

Who were the Grey sisters? Why were three noble's daughters with a dash of royal blood so important? When Henry VIII lay dying, he made a will. And in this will, he left the crown to the heirs of his sister Mary, after the extinction of his own heirs: Edward, Mary and Elizabeth. He ignored the usual rules of primogeniture which would see the crown pass to the Scottish descendants of his sister Margaret and picked the line of his younger sister Mary instead - meaning that Frances Brandon Grey was now the heiress to the throne after Elizabeth.

Edward came to the throne as Edward VI and began a very Protestant reign. The next heir was the Catholic Mary, and this did not suit the Protestant nobles at all. The Protestant faction instead focused on young Lady Jane Grey and her devoutly Protestant upbringing. Edward was forced to make a change to his father's will - the crown now going to Frances' heirs instead of Mary or Elizabeth. After Edward, all the heirs were female. After his two sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, there were his cousins, the Grey sisters and their mother Frances, and Frances' sister Eleanor Clifford and her daughter Margaret. And if one looks to the line of Margaret Tudor, there was also an heiress in place in the person of Mary, Queen of Scots!

When Edward died young, the nobles seized their chance and placed the Protestant Jane on the throne. Given her dash of Royal blood, and position close to the throne, Jane had been given an excellent education. She also seems to have been a very scholarly and intelligent woman as well, surpassing even Elizabeth I, whom she lived and studied with for awhile in the house of Henry VIII's last Queen, Catherine Parr. Jane matched her intellectual brilliance with a very strong will as well. She was devoutly Protestant and determined to uphold the new religion. Although thrust onto the throne by the machinations of her father and other nobles, she did not hesitate. Her upbringing gave her the training to be Queen and she would exercise the royal power.

Unfortunately for Jane, Mary I was backed by the people and the rebellion failed. Jane was imprisoned and eventually executed. Mary I took the throne and tried to revert England back to Catholicism. Katherine and Mary Grey did not want to suffer the fate of their sister, and kept quiet. Protestantism came back with the reign of Elizabeth I. Her nearest Protestant heirs were the Grey sisters - Katherine and Mary. Elizabeth refused to name a successor, and was fearful that she may be cast from the throne in favour of Katherine or Mary. She did not want them to marry and beget more Protestant heirs who would be a threat to her position.

But Katherine was lovely, romantic, and impetuous. She secretly married a Seymour descendant, Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford. When Elizabeth found out, she was furious and cast the pregnant Katherine and her husband Edward in the Tower. Katherine's son, another Edward, was born in the Tower. At last, there was a Protestant male heir! Elizabeth refused to release the couple. However, Katherine and Edward had a sympathetic jailer who allowed them to meet. Sure enough, Katherine was pregnant again. Elizabeth's fury knew no bounds. The family was separated and Katherine never saw her husband or eldest son again. She eventually died in captivity.

And what of Mary Grey? She too made a secret marriage with a trusted palace servant, Thomas Keyes. While he was not at the same station in life she was at, this seems to have been a love match. Mary was also not as physically robust as her sisters, and may have been a hunchback or had some sort of other deformity. She may have also thought that such an unimportant marriage dynastically would be beneath Elizabeth's notice. Sadly, she was wrong. Mary and Thomas were immediately separated and jailed apart until Thomas died. Mary was then released, to live out the rest of her days as a widow.

De Lisle really focuses on the life and times of the three sisters and discusses in detail their upbringing and the events that surrounded their tumultuous lives. I really got the sense of the family dynamics involved in Jane's elevation to the throne and the various factions and how they tried to seize power. The enmity and jockeying for position between the Catholics and Protestants is very clearly outlined also. But de Lisle does not forget her main subjects and you empathize with the brilliant Jane, beautiful Katherine, and strong-willed Mary. De Lisle overturns many of the common myths about Jane and her sisters, and the book is an excellent marriage of good scholarship with superior storytelling skills.

The reader really gets drawn into the lives of the sisters, especially Jane. De Lisle explodes many of the common myths about Jane and looks past the Victorian victim archetype she had become to show the intelligent and strong-willed woman underneath. She was not a purely unwilling victim of the plots of her family. When the throne was given to her, she took it intending to rule and not be a mere figurehead for her family and the Protestant faction. She was a victim in the sense that she was not the mastermind behind the plots, but she was still willing to make the most of her chance to exercise royal power. When Jane is eventually executed on the Tower block where so many other traitors came to die, it will an extremely hard-hearted reader that will not shed a tear or two for this brave young woman. She was only 17 at the time of her death.

I know much less about Katherine and Mary and this book really helped bring them out from under Jane's shadow. While Katherine was not the equal of Jane scholastically, she was just as strong-willed in matters of the heart, and her story with her love Edward Seymour would make a lovely novel - except for the sad ending. Again, Mary seemed to be overshadowed by both Jane and Katherine, and while the author tries her best, Mary still remains something of an enigma. And that, however, seems to be the way she was regarded by the people of the day - certainly not as important as Jane or even Katherine, she was somewhat relegated to a supporting position. But, sadly, it was not enough for Mary to escape the wrath of Elizabeth for Mary's own secret marriage.

This is an excellent book for anyone who wants to know more about the Tudor time period and is tired of reading about the usual subjects: Henry and his numerous wives, or the glorious reign of Elizabeth. There were other Tudors who were just as interesting as Henry and Elizabeth. These Tudors are Jane, Katherine, and Mary Grey, and you will be moved and drawn into their sad and tragic lives in The Sisters Who Would be Queen. It is that most lovely of books - a non-fiction that reads like a novel. A truly excellent read.

Status Update

The movie The Social Network came out this year, and the previews made a movie about computer nerds look fun and exciting. Since I usually don't get around to seeing the movie (and, indeed, haven't yet) I thought I would try my hand at the book the movie was based upon instead. It took a long time to come into the library (seems like everyone else had the same idea!) but I finally picked up The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal, by Ben Mezrich.

This book tells the story of Mark Zuckerberg, the Harvard student who founded Facebook; his friend and business partner Eduardo Saverin; campus rivals the Winklevoss twins; and the Silicon Valley player Sean Parker. It is a classic rags-to-riches story for the computer age (although, considering it started at Harvard, not too rags to riches.): young nerd comes up with an amazing and revolutionary computer program, drops out of school, and makes a lot of money. Sprinkle in a few lawsuits, some deception, broken friendships and a Victoria's Secret model or two, and you've got a story!

I thought this book was okay - it did not seem nearly as exciting as the movie came across as being. It was still an interesting story, but ultimately similar to other self-made-man stories. Mezrich has a very interesting writing style in which he sets his characters in scenes and recreates conversations. It's sort of like reading a novel, without all the extra insight that a novel writer can provide. This is, I think, a non-fiction book, so Mezrich is stuck with the facts and can't embroider the feelings and motivations of the characters like a fiction writer is able to do. That said, Mezrich is a good writer and I am interested in checking out some of his other works.

Mezrich talked to all the major players in this story except for Zuckerberg himself. While Zuckerberg has a perfect right to refuse to contribute, it does hamper the book slightly in that you never really get inside Zuckerberg's head and figure out what his motivations are. He remains a cipher throughout the book, so you don't really know what's going on with him and why he made the decisions he made, some of which are central to the narrative. Again, this may have been better served by fictionalizing the book, where the author can then impart motivations on to the fictional character of Zuckerberg and provide a rationale for his actions.

I think part of my problem with the book is its outright dismissal of women. Women are either portrayed as sexy objects, looking only to sleep with powerful men, or jealous psychopaths who burn down houses. Did we really need to know that Eduardo's girlfriend tried to burn down her dorm room in a jealous rage? It doesn't really add anything to the story about Facebook and merely serves to slander this girl's reputation. Her name has probably been changed in the book, but we have no way of knowing is Mezrich actually spoke to her or tried to get her side of the story - the story is mainly told from the point of view of her ex, after all (Eduardo). And it adds nothing to the story - Facebook was not created because she allegedly tried to burn down her dorm room. I suppose it's meant to show the "craziness" surrounding the creators of Facebook.

Also, the first website Zuckerberg creates is called Facemash, where Harvard students could vote on the attractiveness of campus women. Zuckerberg created the website in a rage after being dumped by some unnamed girl. He was so furious that he was going to put up photos of farm animals and have the students compare photos of cows, sheep, and pigs with the female residents on campus. This was really insulting to read about and nearly made me want to quit using Facebook. Zuckerberg is mad because he's always been rejected by women. Well, maybe try not wearing around a stupid hoody and flip-flops all the time (as the book implies that he does). Yes, there is more to life than appearance, but come on! A woman is not going to date some guy who looks like a schlub. If he doesn't put any effort into his appearance, how much effort is he going to put into the relationship? Come on, nerds, take a little ownership here and work on your appearance a little bit. You have to look like you care about yourself before someone will want to care about you. Anyway, back to the book: of course Zuckerberg is "redeemed" later on in the book when he allegedly goes to bed with a Victoria's Secret model. Again, the two archetypes of women in this book are represented: the whore and the bitch.

Further, all the characters seemed to be pretty dismissive of Harvard. I always thought of Harvard as a prestigious and elite school, filled with students of an educational mind-set. And I am sure there are some like that - just not in this book! There is a lot more emphasis on campus status than there was on education. Maybe that's a product of elite schools, or just American schools in general: I don't think that's a factor in Canadian schools. Or maybe there were the same power games for status when I went to university and I just was so out of the loop that I didn't realize it! I actually went to school to learn.

At any rate, now that I've read the book I still want to see the movie, to at least see how much it draws from the book and if it's improved by fictionalization. And I will check out some other books from Ben Mezrich, because he is a good author. But I can't say as I highly recommend this book. Of course, you are always welcome to read it and make up your own mind. Let me know in the comments if you read the book and what you thought, or if you saw the movie and what you thought. Maybe I'll even add an update when I've seen the movie.

XOXO

Somehow, somewhere, I became sucked into the cultural vortex that is Gossip Girl. Nevermind that I'm far too old to either be in high school or be the target demographic that this show is aimed at, I somehow was sucked in all the same. Although I suppose that high-schoolers are not really the target demographic for this show either, given what the characters get up to in the way of drinking (and in the States too, where the legal age is much higher than here in Canada) and fornicating. Although I haven't been in high school for a while, so things may have changed. (And there has probably always been drinking and fornicating in high school anyway; just not to this extreme!)

Anyway, Gossip Girl is a series about some bright young people living on New York's fabulous Upper East Side (and one humble family in Brooklyn), and their societal problems. All of the young cast are good looking and extremely photogenic, wear clothes well, and seem to have all dated each other. At any rate, I am now firmly established in watching the show Monday nights on Much Music, reading the recap the next day on Entertainment Weekly, and reading the full recap of the show (and older shows) on Television Without Pity at some point during the week. (And, if you do nothing else, do check out the recaps of Gossip Girl on Television Without Pity. Excellent writing and so fun to read!)

The one possibly redeeming feature of this show is that it is based off a hit teen novel series. Now, just because I've left the teens behind doesn't mean I have to stop reading books meant for teens. I still read books meant for kids, for goodness' sake! And there is some excellent writing out there for teens that I don't think the teens should keep selfishly all to themselves. So, I ordered the first book in the series, Gossip Girl: A Novel by Cecily von Ziegesar.

And, well, what can I say? This book is not included in the excellent writing for teens that is out there. Would I have liked it when I was 15? Probably. Do I like it now? No. Will I read any more books in the series? No. Am I going to stop watching the show? No. And even when I was 15 this would still fall into the category of those disposable/junk food books that take barely an afternoon to read, entertain you briefly, and then are entirely forgettable once you are finished.

Who are the characters in Gossip Girl? Blair Waldorf is the new Queen Bee at her high school on the Upper East Side. She is dating perfect prepster Nate Archibald. However, Blair's frenemy Serena van der Woodsen has returned from boarding school. She was kicked out of boarding school and rumours abound as to why. Serena has always been prettier, taller, and more popular than Blair, so Blair enjoyed her friend's disappearance because it put Blair on top of the social scene at school. Now that Serena is back, Blair is loathe to give up her title. Add to the mix the smarmy and wealthy Chuck Bass; the noble yet poor (for the Upper East Side) Dan Humphrey; his little sister, the well-endowed and desperate to move up the social scale Jenny; and the crunchy-granola, anarchist, anti-establishment Vanessa Adams. And, looming over them all like some omniscient Big Brother is Gossip Girl, purveyor of gossip, knowledge, and inside information about our characters. In the book, there are pages which represent Gossip Girl's website showing the latest gossip on all our characters. Further, there are snarky comments throughout the book which purport to be from Gossip Girl, as we are reading the book through her eyes, sort of. On the show, Gossip Girl is the anonymous narrator of the show, voiced to bitchy perfection by Kristen Bell.

From what I can tell, the plot seems to follow the first few episodes (which I haven't seen but I have read on the terrific Television Without Pity recaps). But the plot is really irrelevant - the point of the story is the characters and the fabulous clothes they wear and how they look! That is a little hard to pull off in a book and works out much better on the TV show. I won't be reading the rest of the series, so it's hard to tell if the later plots of the books follow the deliciously soapy plots of the TV series at all.

While the TV show may be better than the book (at least this once!) the TV series has done an excellent job of maintaining the personalities of the characters from the book to the show. Serena is portrayed as sort of happy-go-lucky girl, someone who just goes along with life, has everything handed to her, takes risks, and knows she will always come out on top. While he's not around much in the first book, the book has Chuck Bass' character down; smarmy, cold, and always after the ladies. I was a little surprised at the Blair Waldorf character: she seems a lot less secure of herself in the books than on the TV show. In the book, it is clear that she is the second banana to Serena. On the show, it is less clear and it looks like Blair could certainly hold her own with or without Serena. However, the book and show both capture the dramatic side of Blair's personality: she is starring in a movie about her own life - all of her schemes and daydreams are just scenes in her fantastical movie. The characters of Dan and Vanessa also mesh perfectly between TV and book: Dan is uptight, honest, and good-natured; Vanessa is smart and anti-establishment. The book establishes Jenny's desire to climb up the social ladder and be Queen Bee; the desire that will lead to such a tragic events for Jenny in the series. However, the Jenny of the book has a massive chest and harps on it constantly; a big difference from the series and the waifish actress who plays Jenny Humphrey.

Other than that, there are a number of changes to the siblings of the characters from the book to the TV show, and the book has all the main characters smoking a lot! That is definitely not the case on the show. Apparently it is perfectly alright to show underage people drinking, a lot, but not to show teenagers smoking. Heaven forbid!

Anyway, I've read it and I never have to read it again. It was mildly amusing for one afternoon, and I'm glad I didn't spend any money on it. But I will continue to enjoy the brain candy of the show and the pretty people in their pretty outfits.

As Gossip Girl herself would say, "You know you love me. XOXO!"

Mini-Marsh

Agatha Christie will always be my Queen of Crime. However, the runner-up (Princess of Crime, maybe?) surely has to be Ngaio Marsh. This New Zealander out-Christies Christie with her elegant murders set in typical British settings such as drawing rooms of grand country mansions and the theatre. Her detective protagonist, Alleyn, is a gentleman detective in the truest sense of the word, and is young and attractive to boot! (At least, that's the impression I get from Marsh.)

I have not read a Marsh mystery in some time as I was caught up with Christies in the fall. Imagine my surprise when, strolling aimlessly through the mystery section at my local library, I spotted Death on the Air: And Other Short Stories by the Princess of Crime herself, Ngaio Marsh! I had no idea that Marsh did short stories - I had thought that the sole provenance of Christie. I grabbed the book immediately.

Death on the Air is more than just short story mysteries. And they are not all about Chief-Inspector Alleyn either. In fact, not all of them are even mysteries! It is an excellent collection for the devoted Marsh fan, or for newcomers to this great mystery writer.

I very much enjoyed the opening biographies of Alleyn, and, sniff, his wife Troy. Sadly, I had thought him to remain single forever in the grand tradition of Holmes, Poirot, and Marple. I was a little annoyed that Alleyn's future had been spoiled for me in this manner - I wish I could have found out about his wife by reading the novels, rather than finding out in a collection of short stories. That said, it was really interesting to read how Marsh came up with Alleyn and the genesis of the first Alleyn mystery.

As much as I enjoyed learning about Alleyn's antecedents, and reading the short stories in which he was featured, this book is much more than an Alleyn-fest. Marsh's first love was the theatre, and included in the book is the sad play "Evil Liver", written for a BBC Television drama that had the audience, as members of the jury, decide the case. In that respect, it is somewhat unsatisfying to read, because there is no ending - the reader decides. And while there was enough evidence for the case to go either way, I made my decision fairly early on who the guilty party was. I would, however, have appreciated some commentary from the author as to her choice for the guilty party. I call it a sad play because of the nature of the crime(s) which involve the death of animals - always a sad moment for me in fiction, and usually something which I don't like to read about.

While the majority of Alleyn's novels are set in England, and Marsh herself spent a lot of time in England, New Zealand was her home. This comes out beautifully in two stories: "Morepork" and "Moonshine". "Morepork" is a mystery story, not featuring Alleyn, but is worth reading for its beautiful opening paragraphs alone. I felt like I was there, in the forests of New Zealand, with its exotic bird and tree species. Beautiful. "Moonshine" is a lovely little short story about Christmas in New Zealand, which always seems so exotic to someone for whom Christmas is synonymous with ice and snow.

And finally, Marsh closes with a humourous and thoughtful letter to a budding young writer. Her advice is good for all aspiring writers and I hope it helped the young (unnamed) author. She very carefully helps the young man along and lets him down gently when needed, while giving good advice for all writers throughout the letter. A very useful piece for any aspiring writers.

This book was an excellent little read. It is a good introduction to Alleyn and Marsh for those of us new to Marsh's world, but is also a must have for any Marsh completist out there. A good read for all who love mysteries.