Oh, the beauty of this book!! I loved it SO much! π❤️
Rating: 5000π!
I bookmarked at least 20 wonderfully cozy passages as I read—and it's a small book! This is hands-down my favorite O.Douglas book so far. I only wish I had read Penny Plain right before reading Pink Sugar...some of the characters from the first book in this trilogy were not quite fresh in my mind. But, even with that forgetfulness on my part, I absolutely fell in love with this wee Scottish novel about Kirsty Gilmour as she settles into her little cottage, named Little Phantasy, in the town of Muirburn (near Tweedside.)
A quote from Merren Strang (a character in Pink Sugar who is a writer): "I read a review the other day which began, 'This is a book about good, gentle, scrupulous people who live on the bright side of life.'"
This is exactly how I feel about Pink Sugar. It's chock full of cozy descriptions (about food, clothing, nature, etc.), charming people (both good and bad) and simple, everyday life in a small village in Scotland.
WHAT I LOVED MOST:
π Kirsty herself (so thoughtful, motherly, sweet, kind and interesting)
π Endless cozy descriptions
π The warmth and loveliness of Little Phantasy
π Bright, light, family-oriented tone (with a subtle romance)
π Supportive little village community
π Blanche Cunningham (Kirsty's fabulous friend, though she isn't in the story very much)
FAVORITE SECTIONS/QUOTES: (Be prepared...so many!)
"...had first met Kirsty and her stepmother ten years before at an hotel in Mentone where she was recruiting after an illness in India. She had been interested at once in both of them, the pretty fragile mother and the young daughter with a cloud of pale gold hair and grave green eyes. They made a charming picture, she thought..." - thoughts of Blanche Cunningham
'Miss Fanny had now been a week in her haven, and sitting this afternoon by a bright fire (the April wind was cold), knitting one fleecy white shawl and wrapped in several others, she smiled happily to herself. She was really a very contented woman. Given a comfortable chair well out of draughts, a bright fire, good regular meals, plenty of light but pure literature for week-days and the life of a missionary or philanthropist for the Sabbath, she asked little more of life. All these she found at Little Phantasy.'
'First, Aunt Fanny. Blanche, she's a dear. If I could have my pick of a world of elderly aunts I am sure I would have chosen her. She might be described as a perfect specimen in the Aunt World. I am remembering how we were once buying rugs the man said as he fondly stroked a choice one, "I assure you, madam, in the Rug World we consider this an almost perfect piece." What a delicious place a Rug World must be, so soft and warm and cosy!) But to continue, Aunt Fanny is the sort of person that makes a room look comfortable...by the mere fact of their presence make the place look home-like...' - Kirsty to Blanche Cunningham
She sat by her window, and saw the world all shining with dew, and watched when the sun first struck the ripples of Tweed as it flowed to the old grey bridge. She heard the first stirrings of life in the village—the tinka tinka tink from the smiddy, the lowing of the cows going to be milked, the clatter of cans as they were brought to the back door...all the cheerful morning sounds. She smelt the wood-smoke from the newly kindled fires, and the incomparable freshness of a May morning. The day seemed a long time begun when she went down to the nine o'clock breakfast.
'And he tells how every now and again he would rise from this book and pull aside the blind, and see the snow and the glittering hollies in the garden, and the moonlight on the white hills, then he would turn back to the crowded field of life on the page of his book.—Somehow that gives me a most happy feeling. It's so lovely to think of all the sunshine and laughter that can lie between two boards of a book.' - Kirsty to Robert Brand, the minister
'I don't know what it is, but even a book which I didn't think much of by the light of day, when read in bed reveals all sorts of excellences. I read in bed every night for half an hour by the clock, and every book I read seems a masterpiece.' - Kirsty to Merren Strang
'Few people have such a gift for living as Barbara. She just seems to fling herself headlong into the sunshine and joy of these summer days.' - Kirsty in letter to Blanche Cunningham
'Surely we want every crumb of pink sugar that we can get in this world. I do hate people who sneer at sentiment. What is sentiment after all? It's only a word for all that is decent and kind and loving in these warped little lives of ours...' - Kirsty to Colonel Home
She tossed about and thought of the blue and white room at home, with its wide windows letting in the hill air, the garden so gay with autumn flowers, the woods of Phantasy, still green but touched here and there with flame, the sound of running water which put her to sleep at night and welcomed her waking in the morning.
September over, October burnt itself out in blazing trees and golden bracken, misty mornings, and still, star-filled nights...Every day as Kirsty wandered by Tweed and saw the trees shadowed orange and red in the blue depths she thoughts, "This must be the last: to-morrow the winter storms will break;" but day followed day in beauty...Every hour, from early morning until she wakened and watched the mist drift before the sun from the scarred face of Ratchell, to the drawing in of chairs in the lamplight and the scented blaze of the wood fire, seemed to bear something precious, precious and unforgettable.
"He describes a child wakening from a frightening dream, to find a mother's hand drawing aside the curtains and letting in the sunshine of a spring morning, and he goes on to say that death is like that, a morningwhen God's hand shall draw aside the curtains and we shall see the Sun of Righteousness. That is all it is, just sleeping to wake where everything that frightened us and vexed us will be finished with..." - Kirsty to Aunt Fanny
Kirsty was all sweetness and grace; she was like a flower garden, something fair and pleasant to delight all comers—something fragrant to be remembered. - thoughts of Rebecca Brand
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| My O. Douglas Collection - I love it so much! π❤️ |
All I can say is that, the more O.Douglas books I read, the more I adore her writing and stories. Bundled with the fact that my pocket Nelson editions are extremely adorable and the perfect size to read from, I cannot be happy without an O.Douglas book by my bedside. Again, many, many thanks to Arpita (@bagfullofbooks) for recommending this author to me! She is always the best vintage book inspiration!
Although I chose this book for my Bookstagram Besties Facebook group for August (please join our group!), I was late starting the book and read most of it in early September. So, luckily, it also fit in with Nora's (@pear.jelly) Spinster September read-a-long. Yay!
I only wish I had an easier time reading the Scottish dialect sections (usually conversations between local servants/villages), but I hope that these will become effortless as time goes by. Otherwise, her novels are a JOY to snuggle down with at any time of day.
Many thanks to Gina (@gina.stanyer.books), Michael (@michaelmccarty62) and Penny (@veganpen) for buddy reading this book with me!
Highly, Highly Recommended!! ☺️πππΈ
