Bookmark - E. F. Benson

E. F. Benson
Age 26

Yes, My Darling Daughter - by Margaret Leroy

Waiting for me at the library today was a book I had put on reserve after reading about it somewhere - I don't remember where now: Yes, My Darling Daughter by Margaret Leroy. What a compelling read! Any woman who has been a single mother with a "difficult" child will identify with Grace Reynolds, struggling to raise three-year-old Sylvie on her own, living on what must surely be a meager salary from her job in a flower shop. Apparently she does get some support from Sylvie's father, but life is a bare bones existence. Adding to Grace's life struggles is Sylvie's odd behavior. She calls Grace by her Christian name, rather than Mum; she goes into frantic fits when water touches her face; she says she has lived in a house by the sea; she tells a friend that she is not the real Lennie.

Sylvie's behavior becomes more and more difficult, leading to her being expelled from her nursery school and asked not to return to Lennie's home. Not knowing how she is going to cope, how to find a new nursery school for Sylvie when all those that she calls are booked up years in advance, Grace learns of a psychologist at a London university who conducts paranormal research with children who seem to remember previous lives.

I have not been able to put this book down. See if your library has a copy or order it.

Bookmark - Stained Glass Window

Stained glass window at
St. John's Church
Richmond, Virginia

Where Patrick Henry said:
Give me liberty or give me death."

Meaning of symbol:
IHS - In His Service

Bookmark - A Richmond Portal

A Richmond VA Portal
On Monument Avenue

The Third Person by Henry James

I am reading another Henry James ghost story, The Third Person, available as a free down load in the collection called The Soft Side, published in 1900. I haven't finished reading it, but at this point I'm wondering if it's a bit tongue-in-cheek. Two second cousins, Miss Susan and Miss Amy Frush, jointly inherit a house which they decide to occupy rather than sell and divide the proceeds. A ghost presents itself, and the two cousins enter into a sort of competition over the ghost. I'm curious to see how it all turns out, which should tell me whether the whole story was meant to be a farce.