lissan's reviews
842 reviews

Röde Orm (The Long Ships) part I and II by Frans G. Bengtsson

These two books have been on my bookshelf for a very long time, maybe even 30 years! I can't even remember when I bought them. They are considered a classic in Sweden and tells the story about the Vikings in the 10th century. The books were written in 1941 and 1945 respectively and although written in a somewhat old fashion Swedish the books are surprisingly fresh. They are one of the most popular books in Sweden or at least it used to be.

It tells the story about Röde Orm (Red Serpent, red because his hair is red) and his adventures in the West and in the East. The first book is about his first trip (he is actually more or less kidnapped on board the ship) westwards. The aim is to find riches along the Normandy coast. Since it has already been plundered they venture further on and are finally captured by Al-Mansur in Andalusia. They work for him in his security forces and have to fight several wars before they manage to escape back home. The trip home takes them via England and Ireland before they end up in Denmark at the court of the great Viking king Harald Blåtand (Harald Bluetooth). Spending some time at the court Orm falls in love with one of the kings daughters, Ylva, and proposes. However, having no home, even if he has some riches, the king says he has to prove himself before he can earn his daughter. Furthermore, he has to be christened before he can marry her. These are the times when the first missionaries came up north to try to christen the heathens.

Orm sets out again to fight the English and to get their riches. After various adventures he comes to the king's court in England where Ylva is staying with her sister. Having won the fights the English king has to pay the Vikings and Orm marries Ylva, heads back to south of Sweden (Denmark in those days) to settle down.

The second book tells about the establishing of his home, his christening, his friendship with the priest Willibert who comes from the king's court to stay with him and try to christen as many as he can. He even builds a church on Orm's premises. Other friends from his Spanish days turns up, the neighbouring clans tries to live in peace and all is well. Then his long lost brother Are returns from his adventures in Miklagård (Constantinopel, present day Istanbul). He is blind, without tongue and one hand but manages nevertheless with the help of 'runor' (the Viking letters) to tell his story and how he managed to get his hands (before he lost one) on a golden treasure which he buried in the Dnepr river.


This is too good a temptation for the Vikings so Orm buys a ship, gathers a crew and sets of to capture the gold. Along the way they run into various fights, foreign tribes, meeting old friends and finally manage to get the gold and return home.

It is in its own way a fascinating book, telling in an understandable way the life of the Vikings and the times. You see how they were living, their homes, the violent times, the problem between the heathens and the christians etc. It is told in a charming way and the books were a much easier read than I expected. Then of course they live in the area in the south of Sweden where I grow up and some of the names are still the same. Makes it a little bit extra interesting.

More on my book blog thecontentreader.blogspot.be

John Dollar by Marianne Wiggins
This is a review also for Book beginnings on Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader.

They appeared with the sun at their backs on the rest of the hill after daybreak, black figures, threading their way towards the sea through the grey rocks and heather into the town of St. Ives.
The old Indian descended first, leading the donkey on a tether; Charlotte rode across the donkey's back. Charlotte's hair had gone from gold to white when she was rescued from the island years ago, and it fell around her now, wild and full and loose, because the Indian had thought it looked its best that way.

I grabbed this book in a haste from my TBR shelves. It seemed the perfect size, perfect size of letters (yes, I have difficult reading too small scripts these days!) and it had been with me since 1989! At least I think so, because I can remember I bought it when it came out and it is printed in 1989. 25 years and what a waste for a fascinating book! I was hooked from the first paragraph and chapter and this does not happen often.

The story in short: Charlotte Lewes is widowed during the First World War after a short marriage. She feels lonely and alienated. She does not fit in where she is in London and in desperation she applies for a post as teacher in Rangoon, Burma. She sets off on this trip with no high expectations, she feels numb from grief and loneliness. She does not like the expat community, she feels outside there as well. They live their lives far from the reality in the country. She likes her girls in school, she gets to know the country and lives quite locally and then she meets John Dollar, a sea captain, and she falls in love.

One day the community sets out in three ships to chart a small island around 100 miles off the coast. John Dollar and Charlotte are there, the school girls and some of the parents with servants. They are off for charting the island for the English king and intends to stay for three days. It starts all very quiet and pleasant but then things start to happen. One boat goes back to the city to bring back people to investigate a find they make (I will not tell what), one boat is found empty one morning by John Dollar but blood shows that something terrible has happened. At the same time there is an earthquake and a tsunami. The third boat hosts John Dollar, Charlotte and the school girls. After the earthquake is over the girls find themselves all alone and have to start organising and taking care of themselves. Maybe there are other survivors?

Not to spoil anything I will leave the story there. It is said that Marianne Wiggins was inspired by Golding's Lord of the Flies and was interested in what would happen it there were girls that were ship wrecked rather than boys. I also thought about this book while reading this one, but must say I like this one better. I can't say exactly why, but I simply loved this book. It just took me over and it is told in a way that makes you feel you are there and you are really part of the story. The girls who are used to each other, form groups of their liking. Two take over the charge, others go for themselves and a half Indian, half English girl is called Monkey and is always an outsider. However, as the story evolves and times get harder the girls are changing as well.

This is a book where you get the overall of the story already from the beginning but it is only until the very end you get to know what really happens. If you look at Goodreads' reviews you will find that people either love or hate the book. It is cruel and violent at times but somehow still represents how the world is and how people can act. I think this book will go down as one of my favourite ones.

As a fan of the Brontë sisters I take every opportunity to read something about their lives. It does not
matter that you already know most things, each writer always has something to add to the whole story.

This book is a biographical or historical fiction of the four Brontë siblings. I love historical fiction so looked forward reading this. However, it is difficult to write biographical fiction about such loved characters as the Brontës. All the fans have their own view on how they were and how they lived. Lynne Reid Banks book is a master piece in this sense. I must admit that I had some difficulties getting into the book and the first part, the very start of the story, did not appeal to me. I found the writing a mixture between non-fiction and fiction. However, that changed rather quickly.

The more I got into the book, the more I was amazed how well she describes the siblings, as well as other characters connected to them. She has created their characters from what is known of them and from their writings, and at least for me, this is really spot on as I imagined them to be. She makes them so real, they just come into life in front of your eyes. Telling the stories from each of the siblings' point of view, you find out that they are all four very different characters.

Branwell’s story is always sad. A probably talented person who did not have the strength and character to go through with his projects. His overestimation of his own talent, his use of drugs and alcohol took him from a promising youth to a miserable adult. Maybe the hopes for him, as the man in the family, and thus, the person who should support his sisters, were to much for him to bear.

Charlotte, the eldest sister, always took care of the others. She had her happiness for a short time in her life, and managed with her will and her love for writing to fulfil her life. Her love for M. Heger is delicately described, and her longing for him, once she is back in England, is so well written that I think we can all feel what she felt.

Emily, the loner, loving her dog and the moors. She was a tough, but still vulnerable figure, with a lot of wild passion inside her. She held it under tight reins but she could let it show when she walked her beloved moors and in her masterpiece Wuthering Heights. She could not bear to be away from Haworth and suffered incredibly the three times she ventured out into the world.

Anne, the youngest sister was very gentle. She seemed fragile, but was maybe the strongest of them all, in her religious beliefs and her stubbornness to finish what she had started. For several years she worked as a governess to help earn money for the family. Branwell got his job as a tutor to the son at Green Thorpe through her, but it ended in disastrous results when he fell in love with the wife.

The brother and sisters are beautifully and lovingly portrayed in this book. The description of the scenery and the people surrounding the siblings, is very well done, and makes it very real. Their lives are told from the angle of each one of them, which makes it even more fascinating. The same situations are interpreted from different sides and different persons.


Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, have been read by generations ever
since they were written. Here you enter into passionate stories of strong characters, feelings and passions, and in the background is always the moors. The sense of desolation in their books seems to have come from their daily lives. I found that Lynne Reid Banks have managed to keep this special atmosphere in her telling of their story. The book brought me back to the times of the Brontës, and it was as exciting and passionate, as to read one of their books. It really took some time to come back to the 21st century once I finished it. If you love the Brontës, and if you love biographical fiction, this is a book for you.

This book was given to me for free from Endeavour Press. The views put forward are my own personal views.

Jane Austen never gave much detail to food and eating in her novels. Still, food is a very important part of her writing, since all references to food and eating, although indirect, suggests something about the character who refers to it. Maggie Lane, an English author of several books about Jane Austen and her time, has examined the books to find out Jane Austen’s attitude to food and how it affects the social sphere and customs of her characters. Maggie Lane starts:

“One of the characteristics of Jane Austen’s style is how sparing it is of physical detail. She never pauses in her narrative to give a lengthy description, whether of faces, clothes, rooms, meals or any other facet of material life. … Jane Austen pays us the compliment of letting us imagine for ourselves. …”

Jane Austen grew up in the countryside as one of eight children. Her father was a reverend, but also a gentleman farmer, so the household was more or less self sufficient during her early life. Her mother catered for this big family, and we can imagine the logistic of preparing things to eat every day, which must have been full time work. Although Jane Austen did not herself care to much about this duty (it was taken over by her sister Cassandra when her mother died) she nevertheless had an idea of how the food issue worked.


From domestic economy to mealtimes, menus and manners we enter a world of the better gentry in the 18th century. A world that seemed to consist of a leisurely life, with visits, walks, dinners and teas. Maggie Lane gives a general idea of the overall social customs of England and the different class traditions at the time, and compare it to Jane Austen’s writing. This shows us that Jane Austen really knew what she was writing about, and a lot of the references to food as based on real life scenarios.

“It now occurs to her that Mr Bingley might be the unexpected visitor, and she bursts out, 'But - good lord! how unlucky! there is not a bit of fish to be got today. Lydia, my love, ring the bell. I must speak to Hill, this moment.' We know from the text that this is Monday, when fish cannot be bought because there has been no catch the previous day. In such minor domestic detail the world of Pride and Prejudice is anchored in the real world. At the same time, and in such brief and apparently insignificant sentences, Jane Austen manages to convey a great deal of information about character. Mrs Bennet is so ill-judging that she imagines Mr Bingley's love for Jane will be affected by the presence or absence of fish on the table.”

You could tell where on the social ladder people were, just by knowing when they had their breakfast, dinner and tea. The higher up in society you were, the later you ate the various meals. Since there was no work to go to, the day started much later and thus the meals were shifted for later in the day. They idled through their days with visits, walks or other leisurely occupations.

The hospitality seems to have been great and there was a constant flow of visits, not always with prior notice. Any household with self-respect had to be prepared to offer something to satisfy the stomach of uninvited guest, whether it was dinner time or tea time. A man who could not afford a housekeeper had to look for a wife who could cook and be able to care for the household. It was expected that the women should be able to take up this duty, but as we see in this passage, it might not always be the case. The passage shows, once again, how Jane Austen’s writing always has its base in a realistic world.

“There are three things in which, as a housekeeper, Mrs Bennet prides herself, and which she is anxious that everybody should acknowledge. First, that her daughters have no household work to do. When Mr Collins comes to Longbourn, he admires the dinner and begs to know 'to which of his fair cousins, the excellence of its cookery was owing. But here he was set right by Mrs Bennet, who assured him with some asperity that they were very well able to keep a good cook, and that her daughters had nothing to do in the kitchen.' (P&P, 65) Perhaps at this stage it has not crossed Mrs Bennet's mind that Mr Collins might be looking for a wife, and it would not be unreasonable for him to want one who can cook.”

It seems that in Jane Austen's world people did not overindulge in eating “with the exception of a few comfortable middle-aged women like Mrs Musgrave and Mrs Jennings, whose size does indeed reflect their usual ‘good cheer and good humour’, all the fatness and certainly all the epicurism and gluttony in the novels belong to men.” Most of the young girls seem to have little or no interest in food.

Jane Austen and Food is an original and very well-researched book. It is rather academic in its structure, and it has to be a must read for anyone studying English literature or Jane Austen specifically. Maggie Lane has managed to cover all references to food there are in the books, and for someone who does not indulge in food and eating, there are a lot. It is not only Jane Austen’s own experience and writing we meet here, but it is compared with the social customs at the time, which makes it a very rich book. If you are interested in food and its traditions, Jane Austen, social history, and customs during this era, this is a book for you.

Being a fan of Jane Austen, I must nevertheless admit that I have only read Pride and Prejudice (my absolute favourite) and Persuasion. I have tried two times with Emma, but cannot really stand this character, so it is laid aside for the moment. I think it is an advantage to have read all Jane Austen’s books before reading this book. Mainly because there are a lot of references to places and people and without knowing the books there might be some lost connections. However, after having read Maggie Lane’s book, I will approach Jane Austen’s books in the future in a totally different manner, which will be an interesting outcome of this book.

Jane Austen and Food
Maggie Lane
Endeavour Press Ltd. (2013)
This book was given to me by Endeavour Press for reviewing. The views put forward are my own, personal ones.

After finishing Jane Austen and Food it was time to get on with Maggie Lane’s Jane Austen and Names. Names have a special meaning to most of us, and mostly names mean more than just the name itself. In this study, Maggie Lane has looked at an area which has not been given much attention. She looks at the history of English names up to Jane Austen’s time and the pattern of giving names in society, and the way Jane Austen uses names that fits the personality of her characters, as well as their place in society. Unlike most novelists of her period, Jane Austen used names found in everyday life.

Sometimes she uses a name to explain the characteristics; “Her Charlottes are usually clear-eyed pragmatists and her Henrys are rarely without charm. More often, characters given the same name have nothing in common at all. In one novel Fanny might be a despicable, mercenary snob, and in another the timid, tender-hearted heroine. George Wickham and George Knightley are morally worlds apart. No fewer than three of Jane Austen’s most vulgar characters are named Anne; but so too is the possessor of the most refined mind she created.”

In her six published novels Jane Austen uses 26 boy’s names and 55 girls’ names. They are repeated through her novels for the naming of 114 male characters and 127 female characters. For some characters she just uses only surnames; Mr and Mrs Allen, Mr and Mrs Bennet, Colonel and Mrs Wallis etc.

Between 1750 and 1799, 20% of boys in England were called William, 19% John and 16% Thomas. Most of the others were named Edward, Richard, Robert, Charles, Henry or James. 24% of girls were called Mary, 19% Elizabeth and 14% Anne. We do recognise many of those names from her books. Marriage, seniority and social status also played a part when calling a person by his/her Christian name or by the surname. Servants were mostly called by their Christian name and Jane Austen often uses the names of Thomas, John, Stephen, Willian and Robert. “Edmund was a name that represented heroism and chivalry, Maria signified heartlessness and Richard was a joke. She had a weakness for Emma and a passion for Frederick which endured from her earliest years until she bestowed it on her last, and most romantic, hero.”

The purpose of this study, says Maggie Lane:

"…is to show that in nomenclature as in every other aspect of the novelist’s art, Jane Austen had as much imagination and interest in the subject as her sister-novelists, but her sensitivity to the social nuances of names drew her in the opposite direction from most of them. For her, “Nature and Probability” were all-important, and she chose the names of her characters accordingly. As a result, her world is peopled with characters whose names rarely draw attention to themselves, but which add subtly to the depth and truthfulness of her portraits. The more we know about these names, the more fully we can enter into this world."

As for Jane Austen and Food, this book is very well researched, and also quite academic. I find it fascinating to see how important the names can be in a book, and it seems that Jane Austen was one who gave it quite a thought. Especially with lovers; can we even imaging other names for some of the lovers in history or books, like Tristan and Isolde, Cleopatra and Marcus Antonius, Elizabeth and Darcy, Catherine and Heathcliff, Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester, Scarlett and Rhett, Claire and Jamie and many others.

Maggie Lane’s research into the naming world of Jane Austen, also gives you “food for thought”, on how important a name is. A person is characterised by a name and often when we hear a name we know, we associate it with a person in our surroundings. I will think more now, on how writers name their characters after having read this book.

These two books give you an insight into the world of Jane Austen and how she managed to include real life experience into her fiction. That makes them even more interesting, and maybe that is why they are still popular 300 years after they were written. We can still see something there today, that we recognise. Both books make an interesting addition to the studies of Jane Austen and her world.

This book was given to me to review by Endeavour Press. The views put forward are my personal ones.

Jane Austen and Names, by Maggie Lane
Endeavour Press Ltd. (2014)

The English title is my own, direct translation of the Swedish title. This is a historical fiction about a witch hunt which took place in Sweden in the 17th century. It is somewhat a scary book on how these kind of matters were dealt with in the old days.

The book starts in the 1970s when Veronicas grandmother is dying. She tells her stories of older generations and that among their family, there was Malin who was accused of witch craft. Veronica and her father starts looking into the family tree and discover new things about their past. Veronica is not like other girls of her generation and she thinks that there must be something in the past that can give an explanation.

Here we leave Veronica to get the story of what happened in the 17th century. It is a miserable story of poverty, the way priests acted in those days, rules to follow and not being able to take control of your life. Sometimes the story was so miserable I could hardly read on. Just imaging the life that these people were living, it was a matter of life and death every season, every day. On top of this two young boys starts going around in the village, saying they can look at people, or women in this case, if they are witches or not. They somehow manage to collaborate with the priest and the next thing you know, around thirty women are accused of being witches and are locked in. Their own children are persuaded to testify against them and in the end most of them are burned.

Back to our days, but thirty years later and a disillusioned Veronica is coming home for a holiday, to take care of her sister's children while she is away. She starts looking into her family past again and finds out new information. Even what is written in the books might not be true.

The book ends with a testimony from a 90 year old man, whose mother was burned as a witch. He looks back on the events now almost 80 years earlier and from him we get the last bit of the puzzle to what really happened during these two years of the witch hunt and how it affected people and the coming generations.

Although a little bit slow in the beginning, the book really grabbed me when the story started evolving. Although the two stories are connected they are told separately. It gives us the impression that we know what happened, but Veronica does not, even if she knows there was a witch in the family. Therése Söderlind, is from the area in the northeast of Sweden where Bålberget ('berget' means a hill or small mountain) is situated. It was during a visit to Bålberget, she learned about the events that took place there 300 years ago. After some research she decided to write a book about it. And good that she did. It is a well written account on the lives of people in those days and the circumstances for living.