1. Seventh Heaven by Alice Hoffman
What a great way to start a new year's reading. Hoffman takes very familiar subject matter - the frustrations and gossip of small town suburbia in the 1950s - and, with a light sprinkling of magic (both in the subject matter in and her style) - transforms it.
Finished January 2015
2. The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue
Finished January 2015
3. The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey
Finished January 2015
4. A Life in Secrets: The Story of Vera Atkins and the Lost Agents of SOE by Sarah Helm
Finished January 2015
5. The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
Finished January 2015
6. Groupies and Other Girls, a Rolling Stone special report
A short book published by Rolling Stone in 1970 examining the phenomenon of the 'groupie' - in L.A., New York and San Fran. There are some well-known names here, such as Zappa's G.T.O. featuring Miss Pamela (who went on to write I'm With The Band) and Cynthia Plaster Caster. Finished January 2015
7. Silence by Shusaku Endo
Finished February 2015
8. Last Curtsey by Fiona MacCarthy
Finished February 2015
9. Bedsit Disco Queen by Tracey Thorn
Finished February 2015
10. Happiness by Design by Paul Dolan
Finished March 2015
11. Fashion on the Ration: Style in the Second World War by Julie Summers
Finished March 2015
12. The Confectioner's Tale by Laura Madeleine
Finished March 2015
13. Perfect Wives in Ideal Homes: The Story of Women in the 1950s by Virginia Nicholson. Read my full review here. Finished March 2015
14. Style Me Vintage 1940s by Liz Tregenza. See my review here.
Finished March 2015
15. Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier
Finished April 2015
16. Odd Girl Out by Anne Bannon
Finished April 2015
17. Life Moves Pretty Fast: The Lessons We Learned from Eighties Movies (and why we don't learn them from movies any more) by Hadley Freeman
Finished April 2015
18. The Pumpkin Eater by Penelope Mortimer
Finished May 2015
19. Red Plenty: Inside the Fifties' Soviet Dream by Francis Spufford
Finished May 2015
20. The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
Finished May 2015
21. Flying Mannequin by 'Freddy'
Finished June 2015
22. To Bed with Grand Music by Marghanita Laski
A dark, witty tale et on the British home front of the Second World War, which charts the 'fall' of a woman. There is no keeping the home fires burning, no scrimping or saving, making do and mending. We're left uncertain whether the anti-heroine, Deborah, will be given her due comeuppance. Originally published in 1946, it's obvious why this book was shocking at the time - it still is. But it is also a great novel. I wrote about it in more detail, especially Deborah's love of hats, here. Finished June 2015
23. Laughing Torso by Nina Hamnett
Finished June 2015
24. A Vicarage Family by Noel Streatfeild
I'm doing some research on Streatfeild at the moment - a pleasure when it means I get to read books like this, a fictionalised autobiography. Finished June 2015
25. The War-Workers by E.M. Delafield
Finished June 2015
26. Noel Streatfeild: A Biography by Angela Bull
More Noel! Finished June 2015.
27. Saplings by Noel Streatfeild.
Finished June 2015.
28. Peter and Paul by Susan Scarlett
Scarlett is Noel Streatfeild's pseudonym for her romance stories. This story is set within a couture house, and draws on the author's own experience of modelling in the 1920s. There's more about that here. Finished July 2015.
29. On Tour: Noel Streatfeild's Autobiographical Novel of the 20s. This also details her brief spell as a model: I wrote about Noel Streatfield and fashion modelling here. Finished July 2015.
30. Autobiography by Diana Cooper. Finished July 2015.
31. Where'd you go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple. Finished July 2015.
32. Concretopia: a journey around the building of postwar Britain by John Grindrod. Finished August 2015.
33. Shapely Ankle Preferr'd: A History of the Lonely Hearts Ad by Francesca Beauman. Finished August 2015.
34. The Friendly Young Ladies by Mary Renault. Finished September 2015.
35. Upstairs at the Party by Linda Grant. Finished September 2015.
36. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. Finished September 2015.
37. Here be Dragons by Stella Gibbons. Coming of age in 1950s bohemian London. I wrote about the bohemian fashions in this book here. Finished September 2015.
38. The Vogue Factor by Kirstie Clements. Finished September 2015.
39. Nora Webster by Colm Toibin. Finished September 2015.
40. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. Finished September 2015.
41. The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek. Finished October 2015.
42. The Crowded Street by Winifred Holtby. Finished October 2015.
43. Mommy Dressing A Love Story, After a Fashion by Lois Gould. Finished October 2015.
44. Carol by Patricia Highsmith. Finished November 2015.
45. Villa America by Liza Klaussmann. Finished November 2015.
46. After the Last Dance by Sarra Manning. Finished November 2015.
47. The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett. Finished November 2015.
48. The Button Box: Lifting the Lid on Women's Lives by Lynn Knight. Finished November 2015
49. Anything Once by Joan Wyndham. The final in the triology of books about Wyndham's own life (I read the other two last year) and no less amusing. Sad that this series - and Wyndham - couldn't continue forever. Finished December 2015.
50. Lifespan by Audrey Withers. British Vogue editor tells all in her biography. Except she doesn't - disappointingly low on juicy Vogue titbits. Finished December 2015.
51. Bridget Jones: Mad about the Boy by Helen Fielding. Finished December 2015.
52. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. Finished December 2015.
53. A Notable Woman: The Romantic Journals of Jean Lucey Pratt. Finished December 2015.
See my 2014 list of 50 books here.
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