The summer of the saga

All killer, no filler, no -ahem -aga.

I say this about almost every month (aside from February, which has little to redeem it), but I think May is my favourite. Everything is green and fresh, the sun when it shines has actual warmth, the blossom has skittered from the trees and everything is bursting forth into bloom. In the countryside (where I am now), the narrow lanes are thronged with a tangle of cow parsley and foxgloves. It makes me long for a rambling old house in the countryside (like this one by Fabienne Delacroix), with an orchard - or at the very least an ancient apple tree, an artfully tumbledown wall, long grass and bluebells, children with bare legs and scratched knees, homemade lemonade, and eyes meeting across the tea cups.

Yes, it is family saga season. A sprawling story of family entanglements, and unspoken feelings between friends and lovers. (Even better if they are friends who wish they were lovers.) For secrets which spread like ripples in emotional pools. Preferably set against a suitably scenic backdrop.

When I was a teenager, I tried my hand at writing this type of book - one with a period setting. It opened on the lawn of a country house, with girls in sprigged muslin frocks (I was very precise on sartorial details) and a young man in cricket whites. There was a benevolent matriarch who hovered with a teapot and fine china cups. One of the girls was engaged to an eligible but priggish chap, and hopelessly in love with an unsuitable boy. If this sounds vaguely familiar, that’s because I quickly realised I had inadvertently lifted the scene almost wholesale from A Room With a View, which I had recently read, then watched, and promptly become obsessed.

Now, as previously discussed on these Subshores, I am (im)patiently awaiting the next instalment of the Cazalets, as written by Elizabeth Jane Howard’s niece, Louisa Young. (I have it on excellent authority that it’s shaping up beautifully.) However, in joyous news, this year is the summer of the family sagas - I’ve got a brace of them to add to your summer reading list. They are - if I may say so - perfect for holidays.

And in date news, I’m interviewing two of the authors of two of the books discussed below in London. On 27th June, I’ll be chatting to Georgina Moore in an evening of summer cocktails and books, right by the river which inspired her new novel, River of Stars: tickets here (they include a delicious-sounding cocktail). And then on 14th July, Georgina and I will be reunited and joined by Fran Littlewood (The Favourite) at Waterstones Putney: tickets.

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