5 Books Whose Covers Have Not Yet Fallen Off

Books I revisited in 2021

You will see from the state of the covers that these books are not new. They are all books I first read years ago, and they are amongst those that I happened to pluck from the shelves for rereading in 2021.

The Ship Who Sang by Anne McCaffrey

The Ship Who Sang is one of the first of McCaffrey’s I ever read. It remains a favourite but although I’ve enjoyed most of what she’s written, it’s this series I tend to revisit. I searched the bookshelves for this one after being reminded of it when reading the latest from fantasy and sci-fi writer, Drew Wagar. His Shadeward series, though very different, has the stamp of McCaffrey’s Dragons of Pern books.

Women Beyond the Wire by Lavinia Warner and John Sandilands

Women Beyond the Wire is the story of women POWs in the Far East in WWII. Warner created the successful TV series, Tenko, which dramatised the story in the early 1980s, shining a light on events that were often scarcely acknowledged in the years after the war. On hearing that the TV series is to be reshown, I searched out this book for a reread.

Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell

Although I’ve enjoyed Elizabeth Gaskell’s work — especially her biography of Charlotte Bronte with whom she was friends, I’d never had a yen to read Wives and Daughters until I watched the TV adaptation some years ago. I mentioned this to my family and asked them to keep an eye out for a copy in 2nd hand bookstores.

Over the next few months, my family displayed its talent for inattention to detail by presenting me with copies of Sons and Lovers, Daughters and Sons, Sons and Daughters, several Mother and Daughter variations, and My Husband’s Wife. In the end, I found a copy for myself.

The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton

The Great Train Robbery is fascinating for its meticulous research and the way Michael Crichton dramatises 19th-century court records into a fast-moving thriller. For all that he fictionalises some aspects of the story, he paints a memorable picture of the contrasts of life in 1850s London.

This was a book I first read in the early 1990s. I never meant to read it, didn’t anticipate enjoying it, and would never have expected to find myself rereading it for the nth time in 2021. Here’s how that happened:

Hovel in the Hills by Elizabeth West

Hovel in the Hills was first published in 1977 and took its author by surprise by becoming a runaway bestseller. It tells the story of Elizabeth West and her husband, Alan, moving to their dream home — a run-down cottage in Wales with no mains services. I remember the book captivating our whole family.

Years later, I met Elizabeth West at a writing conference and stayed in touch with her for some years. I was delighted to learn that a group of especially colourful characters in the book are drawn from life, despite a disclaimer that they and the events surrounding them are fictional — the disclaimer was there at her publisher’s insistence to avoid libel claims.

In summary

I recommend all the above. It’s quite likely that I’ll read at least one of them again in 2022, and I expect to go on rereading them until the covers have fallen off completely.

Written in response to Ellie Jacobson’s excellent 5 books post:

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