The English book stall in the market this morning had 2 boxes of 5 books for €3. This is one of the five I picked.

This is the first book I've read by this author and it certainly brought back memories of my nursing days in Southampton and the births of my own children. An enjoyable, well written journey back to the 1960s. I shall be happy to read more books by Margaret Drabble when I come across them.

The Book Crossing UK Unconvention.
Destined for the 'Table of Temptation' and then who knows where it will go next.

Picked up from the book table at Swindon, thanks. Coming to an age now where more and more of my friends are starting families, the theme of motherhood intrigues me.

I liked this. The Millstone suffers slightly from that 1960s/70s literary feminist melancholy which drives me mad... but not too much. There is instead plenty of practical, gung ho attitude to pregnancy and motherhood which made me smile. What do you mean, a newborn baby get in the way of my finishing my thesis? Never!

Obviously, Rosamund Stacey's privileged situation as to accomodation and education means that her predicament is far less frightening than it would be to most unmarried mothers of the period. I salute Drabble (and Rosamund) for pointing this out on many occasions during the story. Rosamund's difficulties with institutionalised attitudes to healthcare were also very well documented. Overall, it was a very different, and in some ways quite inspiring account of 1960s illegitimacy.

Released at meetup

If you are new to bookcrossing - welcome and congratulations for finding a book! Please leave a journal entry to let me and any other readers know where it has gone and what you thought of it.

Caught at the meet-up. Good to be back after a rather long absence.

I found this a really interesting book, because although some aspects of the book were a little dated, others could have been written yesterday. The relationships were really interesting, and as with real humans, the people in the book often did not act as their supposed principles should have dictated. Depressingly some of the attitudes towards women shown in this book haven't changed much. I wanted to give Rosemary a big gold star for not bowing to pressure.

Set free at the Edinburgh meet up. Happy reading.

This was left behind after the meetup so I've taken it to release on my hols.

I'll take this will me to drop off on my way home from my hols.

Thanks EarthCaroleAnne - hope you enjoyed some of Aimee's baking while you were here!

Left in the foyer, this was released as part of my 2011 challenge to release 50 books during the Edinburgh Festival - if you've picked this book up I hope you enjoy it!