Indian Summer by William Dean Howells -- BOOK REVIEW

 

BOOK REVIEW

Indian Summer by William Dean Howells

In Indian Summer, American author William Dean Howells explores lost love, middle age, friendship, and ex-patriot life in late 19th Century Italy.

Published in 1886, the novel follows 41-year-old Theodore Colville from Des Vaches, Indiana to Florence, Italy. It was in Florence 17 years earlier that Colville fell in love with a young woman who jilted him, leaving him to nurse a broken heart ever since. By a coincidence best glossed over, back in Florence, he meets up with Lina Bowen, the mutual friend of Colville and his former lover. Bowen, widowed and with a young daughter, is living in Florence and watching out for Imogene Graham, a 20-year-old American beauty.

What follows is part an Austen-like comedy of manners, part a Henry James parlor drama. Howells is often compared (rather unfavorably) with his American contemporary. Like James, Howells can talk around a subject without getting to the heart of it. But while James goes on endlessly, with little relief, Howells breaks up the navel gazing with more action and a lot of humor. It took me a while to adapt to the slow rhythm of his writing, but once I did, the book flowed right along. Colville is a quick wit, both clown and charmer, sometimes to his own detriment as he looks for the clever thing to say instead of what should be said.

As can be imagined, the triangle of Colville, Bowen, and Graham is at the center of the story as we watch the unsurprising fallout of Coville’s desire to have his cake and eat it too. The leitmotif running through the story is age and aging. Howells subtly compares the youth and inexperience of Graham with the maturity of Bowen, both played off Colville’s mid-life crises antics. An elderly, retired minister, Mr. Waters, often drifts in to offer a more dispassionate view that comes with the wisdom of age.

Like an Indian summer, Howell’s novel is a warm spot in what can be the grey and chilly literary season of late 19th Century novels. Nothing too grim. Minimum melodrama. And no tragic ending. All in all, a pleasant holiday in Florence.

      

NOTES

I read this because I am trying to read more of my pretty NYRB editions and the title fit the season. Also, while I can't count it as a book for Victober because Howells is an American author, not technically a Victorian, I think of it as Victober-adjacent. 

London Holiday by Richard Peck -- BOOK BEGINNINGS

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

London Holiday by Richard Peck

Thank you for joining me for Book Beginnings on Fridays. Please share the opening sentence (or so) of the book you are reading this week. You can also share from a book that caught your fancy, even if you are not reading it right now.

MY BOOK BEGINNING

Mrs. Smith-Porter stood at the front window of her best bedroom fingering a strand of artificial pearls.

-- from London Holiday by Richard Peck.

London Holiday was published in 1998 and tells the story of three women, friends since childhood, who travel to London to rekindle their friendship and reimagine their lives. Sounds like just my cup of tea! I love a good coming-of-certain-age novel. 

I found a used copy when I stopped by one of my favorite friends of the library shops this week. I admit I waivered on buying it because Peck is a male author. Hen lit is usually written by women. Sexist of me, but there you have it. 

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please add the link to your Book Beginnings post in the box below. If you share on social media, please use the #bookbeginnings hashtag.

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THE FRIDAY 56

The Friday 56 is a natural tie-in with Book Beginnings. The idea is to share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of your featured book. If you are reading an ebook or audiobook, find your teaser from the 56% mark.

Freda at Freda's Voice started and hosted The Friday 56 for a long, long time. She is taking a break and Anne at My Head is Full of Books has taken on hosting duties in her absence. Please visit Anne's blog and link to your Friday 56 post.

MY FRIDAY 56

-- from London Holiday:

Horrified, Julia saw there was a tent with folding chairs for family. Her heel dug spongy earth.

FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION

Lesley Hockaday is a St. Louis society woman, Margo Mayhew a Chicago schoolteacher and the mother of a teenage daughter, and Julia Steadman a single, successful Manhattan interior designer. Best friends during their Missouri childhood, the passage of time, the thousands of miles between them, and the demands of family and careers have taken a toll on their friendship. When a shocking act of violence reminds them how precious life really is, the three friends decide it’s time for a reunion and embark on a long-awaited trip to London.

From the cozy confines of Mrs. Smith-Porter’s bed-and-breakfast, Lesley, Margo, and Julia enter a gracious world of high tea in the garden, antique markets, picture-perfect countryside, and unexpected romance. The London holiday presents them with more than a few surprises, becomes a journey of self-discovery and a chance to renew the bonds of friendship, and holds the promise of three new lives awaiting them.

September 2025 Reading Wrap Up -- BOOK THOUGHTS

BOOK THOUGHTS

September 2025 Monthly Wrap Up 

I read a lot in September because I was stressed out about work. When I get really busy with work, I don't read much. But when I have time to finish all my work but am stressed out about it, I read a lot to take my mind off my jitters. Do you know what I mean?

Here is the list of the 21 books I read in September, in the order they appear in the stack in the picture. Have you read any of these?

PICTURED  

French Country Cooking by Elizabeth David. David is like an English Julia Child and this book is probably her most famous. It's a classic, but took me forever to read because it is so dense. 500 pages with only a handful of pen and ink illustrations, mostly for chapter headings, and the ingredients incorporated into the text instead of listed at the beginning. I'm glad I read it but don't think I'll cook much from it. This was the last book in my TBR 25 in '25 stack. Woo hoo!

Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis. I remember the movie playing on tv when I was a kid so I've had it in my head to read for decades and the book has been on my shelf for years. It was an exuberant, bittersweet story and I'm glad I read it, but it isn't a favorite. It counts as my Greece book for the 2025 European Reading Challenge. 

Miss Mole by E.H. Young. I read this one for Spinster September and loved it. The title character has a subversive sense of humor and it was a lot more fun than I anticipated. I'd like to find and read more "Furrowed Middlebrow" books from Dean Street Press. 

No Fond Return of Love by Barbara Pym, another spinster book. Her books have such a Jane Austen vibe. I love them.

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk. This one is really popular and the author won the Nobel Prize for literature, but it was not for me. I didn't like the idea of a crime spree with no consequences. I read it the week after Charlie Kirk was killed so a story about killing people you don’t agree with didn’t feel good. Even if you throw in the John Wick-like motive. Still, it counts as a Poland book for the ERC. 

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. I had to read something by the ur-spinster for Spinster September! Alos, I'm rereading her six main novels to celebrate the semiquincentennial of her birth. Only one left!

Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner. I loved this book when I read it in 1992, right after I finished law school. The story of two couples who become best friends shortly after grad school hit me hard as I was starting down that same path. I reread it last month, this time as an audiobook. This time around, the story hit me from the other side, now that I am about the same age as the two couples at the end of their time as friends. It's such a wonderful novel.

The Fortnight in September by R.C. Sherriff. I read this because of the title and am glad I did. It was a wonderful, bittersweet family story about so much more than their annual vacation at the beach.

A Guilty Thing Surprised, Murder Being Once Done, and No More Dying Then by Ruth Rendell are books 5, 6, and 7 in her Inspector Wexford series. I am really enjoying my tear through this series. Wexford is such an interesting character!

Something Old, Something New: Classic Recipes Revisited by Tamar Adler. Adler wrote The Everlasting Meal, one of my favorite food books. This cookbook interprets older recipes for contemporary home cooks. It is excellent and the perfect antidote to Elizabeth David. Unlike the David book, I will cook with this one.

The Elements by John Boyne is labeled a novel but is really an omnibus edition of four previously published novellas (with far superior covers), Water, Earth, Fire, and Air. All are quick reads and they kept me entertained, but such unlikeable characters! I had the same problem with the one other Boyne book I read, A Ladder to the Sky. It's the same problem I had with Drive Your Plow. I like the bad guys to get their just desserts.

English Country House Style: Traditions, Secrets, and Unwritten Rules by Milo and Katy Campbell. I am trying to get back to reading my coffee table books and have a whole collection of books about English country houses and decorating. This one was fabulous.

NOT PICTURED

The Country Girls by Edna O’Brien is a gem, even if I forgot to put it in the picture. The Country Girls is the first novel in the trilogy of the same name. I look forward to reading the other two.

Art, Love, and Other Miracles by Kiki Astor was a fun romance book set in Mexico City. I added it to the kindle app on my phone, which I rarely use, but like to have in case of emergency. I was traveling a lot in September, so had many opportunities to read a few pages here and there while waiting around.

A Horse Walks into a Bar by David Grossman won the International Booker Prize in 2017. I read this one with my ears. An Israeli friend recommended it and it is very good.

A Chateau Under Siege by Martin Walker is book 16 in his Bruno, Chief of Police series. I love the series but the stories are starting to blur in my mind. Martin has created a huge cast of supporting characters and getting them all crammed into every story means the stories are going to be similar. It's not like Bruno goes off by himself and solves a mystery in Thailand or something. He's there in his French village, with his two ex-lovers, assorted friends, the same co-workers, and a gaggle of neighbors. Only two more books to go, at least before he writes another one.

What were your September favorites?

Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz -- BOOK BEGINNINGS

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz

Thank you for joining me this week for Book Beginnings on Fridays where participants share the opening sentence (or two) from the book they are reading. You can also share from a book you want to feature, even if you are not reading it at the moment. 

MY BOOK BEGINNING

Is there really such a thing as a happy ending?

-- from Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz.

Marble Hall Murders is the third book in the Susan Ryeland series, preceeded by Magpie Murders and Moonflower Murders. I love this series because Ryeland is a woman of a certain age who works in publishing. My idea of a perfect amatuer slueth! 

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING

Please add the link to your book beginning post in the linky box below. If you participate or share on social media, please use the hashtag #bookbeginnings so other people can find your post.

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THE FRIDAY 56

The Friday 56 asks participants to share a two-sentence teaser from their book of the week. If your book is an ebook or audiobook, pick a teaser from the 56% point. 

Anna at My Head is Full of Books hosts The Friday 56, a natural tie-in with Book Beginnings on Fridays. Please visit My Head is Full of Books to leave the link to your post. 

MY FRIDAY 56

-- from Marble Hall Murders:

He usually wore a jacket and tie, but for all I knew he could have been naked below the waist when we spoke online. I didn't even know if he had legs. 

FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION

Editor Susan Ryeland has left her Greek island, her hotel and her Greek boyfriend, Andreas, in search of a new life back in England.

Freelancing for a London publisher, she's given the last job she wants: working on an Atticus Pünd continuation novel called Pünd’s Last Case. Worse still, she knows the new writer. Eliot Crace is the troubled grandson of legendary children’s author Miriam Crace who died twenty years ago. Eliot is convinced she was murdered—by poison.

To her surprise, Susan enjoys reading the manuscript which is set in the South of France and revolves around the mysterious death of Lady Margaret Chalfont, days before she was about to change her will. But when it is revealed that Lady Margaret was also poisoned, alarm bells begin to ring.

Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis -- BOOK BEGINNINGS

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis

Thank you for joining me for Book Beginnings on Fridays. Please share the opening sentence (or so) of the book you are reading this week. You can also share from a book that caught your fancy, even if you are not reading it right now.

MY BOOK BEGINNING

I first met him in Piraeus. I wanted to take the boat for Crete and had gone down to the port.

-- from Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis.

Zorba is an earthy and boisterous Greek man from Crete with a huge appetite for life. Sometimes, his energy is so fierce he can only express himself through spontaneous dancing and music making. He befriends the unnamed narrator, a bookworm who prefers studying Buddhism over engaging in the rough and tumble of life. The two, for reasons too vague for me to catch, travel together to Crete to open a lignite mine. 

The movie version with Anthony Quinn came out in 1964 and was often played on tv when I was a kid in the 1970s. So the notion of Zorba the Greek has been in the back of my mind for as long as I can remember. The book has been sitting on my TBR shelf for about as long. I was in Crete this summer and it reminded me to finally read this modern classic.   

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please add the link to your Book Beginnings post in the box below. If you share on social media, please use the #bookbeginnings hashtag.

Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Thumb-Linky widget will appear right here!
This preview will disappear when the widget is displayed on your site.
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THE FRIDAY 56

The Friday 56 is a natural tie-in with Book Beginnings. The idea is to share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of your featured book. If you are reading an ebook or audiobook, find your teaser from the 56% mark.

Freda at Freda's Voice started and hosted The Friday 56 for a long, long time. She is taking a break and Anne at My Head is Full of Books has taken on hosting duties in her absence. Please visit Anne's blog and link to your Friday 56 post.

MY FRIDAY 56

-- from Zorba the Greek:

"Would you believe it, boss! That day was the first time I knew what a woman was."

FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION

First published in 1946, Zorba the Greek, is, on one hand, the story of a Greek working man named Zorba, a passionate lover of life, the unnamed narrator who he accompanies to Crete to work in a lignite mine, and the men and women of the town where they settle. On the other hand it is the story of God and man, The Devil and the Saints; the struggle of men to find their souls and purpose in life and it is about love, courage and faith.