Lacey, that was so nice of her! I know you will treasure those books. I have several items given to me by my first real boss, who was a huge influence on my life. I love them all because they remind me of him and bring back memories of working for him and learning from him.

Donna

Laceyvail - Books truly are wonderful, meaningful mementos of the people who have passed through our lives. The fact that your friend asked his wife to let you select some books attests to the fact that you brought a special kind of joy to his life. Your story gives us readers something to think about and perhaps "pass forward" in our own lives. Thank you for telling us about it. I look forward to hearing your comments about the books as you read them.

Lacey, this has given me a long-range (well, maybe not so long) plan to find out what my nearest and dearest especially like to read, thus giving my daughter some light at the end of the book tunnel in disposing of what the little children call my "liberry."

Vee, I haven't started any of the books yet, but re Nancy Astor. Didn't she and (I think) Winston Churchill have an interchange that went something like this:

Lady Astor: If you were my husband, I'd kill you.

Churchill: Madam, if I were your husband I'd kill myself.

I don't think I have it quite right, but perhaps you remember. Apparently they were not fond of one another:)

lacey, you are right. Lady Astor was very outspoken, especially as she got older and I think the quote was "If you were my husband I would poison you." To which Winston replied "Madam, if you were my wife I would take it." I'm pretty sure this 'exchange' took place in the House of Commons!

Yes, Vee, that's it!! So much cleverer than my version.

Books can indeed be a wonderful memorial. Your friend must have prized those conversations.

I myself have several gardening and horticultural books that my father gave me, and I think if them every time I see them on the garden bookcase.

Being originally from Atlanta, I still have my father's original copy of Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind" from the 1930's. And I also have my mother's copy of Lindbergh's "Gift from the Sea." Each is inscribed with my parents' names.

I have a very battered copy of an old novel (one of the first written in Icelandic - that is if you don't consider the Sagas to be novels) that used to belong to a man who was my grandmother's friend and was very good to me when I was a child. The book is over 100 years old, and was probably originally a soft-cover book meant to be rebound to the buyer's specifications. These kinds of books were common in Iceland in 'ye olden times' and had very flimsy covers because they were expected to end up being hard-bound. Someone had done a DIY-binding job on it and stuck it directly into a cover made of just leather. It looks like it got wet on more than one occasion, and was clearly kept in a pocket (or a succession of pockets) for a long time. I found it among gran's books after she died and I treasure it as a memento. It is worthless in terms of collectibility, because of its condition, and being a second edition and having a couple of missing pages, but worth a lot in terms of memories.

As for granny herself, I have all of her Icelandic folk tale books and a number of other books that belonged to her, but sadly she left so many books behind that no-one wants that there are several bookcases full, some in my parents' home and other at the farmhouse we use as a summer house, that are free for any family member to take and read or own as they wish.

I have an old book of my mother's called The Child's Treasury that she kept in her old travel trunk and wouldn't allow us to read for ourselves. She would occasionally read to us from it. It has various sections such as Mother Goose, Nursery Songs and Lullabies, Animal Stories, Myths and Legends, Heroes and Patriots, etc. It is copyrighted in 1923, and I never knew why it was so special. She was an education major, very much enjoyed her children's literature courses, and taught elementary school beginning in the 30s. I now suspect that she paid what would have been to her a lot of money for it and didn't want us to mess it up. It is in dreadful condition, coming loose from the cover and with pages crumbling at the edges, but it is back in her trunk which my brother had redone and gave to me one year for Christmas.

I have a copy of my long-gone father's favorite book, "Wind in the Willows" (and it actually has his name written in it from when he was a kid). For my mum (who's still alive and well), I have a copy of her fav book, "In Search of England" by H. V. Morton. I probably should read that one day....

Vee, I just finished Five Sisters and what sticks with me most is what dreadful, dreadful parents Phyllis and Nancy were. Criminally bad. Totally self-centered, wholly uncaring of the emotional/psychological needs of their children. And Nancy's deliberate mocking of them. Just awful.

I do realize that some of it was acceptable in the times and social class (re the cruelty of some of the British public schools, half starved children, freezing rooms, dreadful hazing), but still... they ruined, just ruined their children. And interesting that the emotional and unstable Nora was adored by all the children in the entire clan.

Talk about dysfunctional families!

lacevail. It is some time since I read Five Sisters but it seems that the whole Langhorne family were very much 'on the make' even before they left VA USA (didn't the father do very well out of the Civil War and a sister become the original 'Gibson Girl? ) that treading on toes and the feelings of others, even one's own children was of little account; and Nancy seems to have been a terrible bully.

The piece below might be of interest.

Nancy Astor

It seems hard to say that the Langhorne women were 'on the make,' since finding a wealthy husband was the goal of every woman of her class. Certainly, every effort was made by mothers to introduce their daughters to highly eligible men, and summers at Old White, in White Sulphur Springs, WV (now The Greenbrier, and only a few miles from where I live) revolved entirely around that pursuit. And perhaps most of those of that class turned out to be pretty terrible parents. But Nancy seems exceptionally dreadful.