It's my favorite day of the week— Furrowed Middlebrow Friday! Woo-hoo!
Today, I'm celebrating this awesome spring-time day with my Furrowed Middlebrow Molly Clavering book collection from Dean Street Press! Yay!
The only reason I have this gorgeous collection of books is because my awesome husband, Ian, bought me all of the books the very day that they were published by Dean Street Press! (I'm so lucky!) 😍
I first heard of Molly Clavering through Emma's YouTube Channel, The Bookish Princess, where she mentioned Near Neighbors. At that time, you couldn't easily find a copy of this book (which was very sad). But, in July 2023, I found a used, hardcover copy of Mrs. Lorimer's Quiet Summer on eBay, read it and really liked it.
Then, thank goodness, the amazing team at DSP republished EIGHT of her novels under the Furrowed Middlebrow collection. Yippee!
Besides reading the interesting and helpful introduction in the DSP Molly Clavering books, I also found tons of great information about this fabulous author in Scott's blog post. I highly encourage you to check it out!
So, without further ado, here are my book ratings! Click on each title to read my full review on Goodreads 😁
MY BOOK RATINGS:
5🌟 Because of Sam
5🌟 Susan Settles Down
5🌟 Near Neighbors
4.5🌟 Dear Hugo
4🌟 Touch Not the Nettle
4🌟 Love Comes Home
4🌟 Mrs. Lorimer’s Quiet Summer
3.5🌟 Yoked with a Lamb
These three books are on my to-be-read/wish list—I hope to find more of her stories in the future!
MY TBR:
- From the Border Hills (own, see pic below)
- Result of the Finals
- Dr. Glasgow's Family
As you know, I love making lists of my thoughts instead of writing long, detailed descriptions for my reviews. So, I'm going to stick with my usual pattern 😂
WHY I LOVE MOLLY CLAVERING'S BOOKS:
💛 Beautiful, cozy settings in Scotland (usually in small villages)
💛 Female protagonists with common sense, intelligence and kindness
💛 Likable characters that have deep inner strength and help others generously
Keeping that in mind, here are some aspects that I struggled with while reading this author's novels:
❊ A level of written Scottish dialect that was unfamiliar to me and, sometimes, lasted for a whole page or more. I've never been to Scotland, so it took me a bit longer to try and understand what the character was trying to say. In the end, I understood it all...but those parts were not quick for me to read.
❊ Nature descriptions that I could picture in my head. Again, I'm absolutely sure this is because I have never visited this country and some terms are just unknown to me. Although Molly Clavering's words are wonderfully written, I did find that reading these sections to be slow going (especially if they were longer in length).
MOLLY CLAVERING vs. D.E. STEVENSON:
These talented (and favorite) authors were not only neighbors in Moffat, Scotland for a time, but they were also close friends. I know that some readers prefer one writer over the other, but I find that most usually love both! While I definitely could not choose which author's work I like best, here are my general thoughts:
💙 Joy - DES' books bring me more joy overall than MC.
💙 Lovely Prose - MC's novels take the win for beautiful and thoughtful writing.
💙 Laughter - DES makes me laugh often and giggle uncontrollably.
💙 Safety - For some reason, MC's writing gives me a sense of safety, protection and stability.
💙 Ratings - Overall (for me), MC writes books that are predictably steady and solidly VERY GOOD. While, DES writes stories that seem to be all over the place—either 5🌟 favorites or 1🌟 duds. There's a huge range of value in her finished writing.
NOTE:
Keep in mind that DES has published at least 50 novels, while MC has around 38 (most of which were published in serialized/pocket novels and lost in the abyss somewhere 😭) .
Now that I have read these 8 Furrowed Middlebrow titles, I'm hoping that more will crop up in the future! Until then, I have her non-fiction book, From the Border Hills, and I can re-read the books I own as many times as I like (which is very cheering)!
YOUR ASSIGNMENT:
Please comment below with your favorite Molly Clavering titles and any thoughts you have about her books vs. D.E. Stevenson's books! 😄
Some of my Dean Street Press Furrowed Middlebrow Collection!
So many thanks to my dear friend Caro (@carosbookcase) for buddy reading three of these books with me (including Touch Not the Nettle, Susan Settles Down and Yoked by a Lamb) and to the lovely Chelcy (@cbstutzman) for reading and discussing Love Comes Home last year!
By the way, if you love the lace shawl in the background of some of these photos, it's my own knitwear design—the Maitri Shawl! It's available for purchase here on Ravelry and I used the most beautiful Albireo organic cotton/bamboo yarn from VeganYarn.com 🥰❤️🧶
