A Tale of a Frustrated and Fickle Reader

There once was a woman who loved to read and could not wait to tuck into her assortment of books that were stacked higgledy piggledy about the house.  Books were housed in bookcases, stacked next to chairs, on table and the floor and next to the bed.  Then one sunny late summer day, this woman opened a book she was reading only to find her mind wandering aimlessly and not really engaged in the matter at hand.   What happened, you may ask?  Each one she picked up and gave a valiant start thinking to herself “oh yes, this sounds just the ticket” only to resignedly shaking her head and setting it down and picking up yet another book. 

Why did suddenly all of these wonderful stories cease to entrance the woman?  What could have caused her to be so fickle and have the attention span of a bathmat?  It was certainly no fault of the books, as they sat there with their colorful covers and entrancing artwork and synopsis’s, just begging to be opened.   They were there and as steadfast as ever to their wayward reader who had lost her way.   Each day the woman picked up another book and with hope springing eternal, that this would be the story that pulled her from the fugue that had enveloped her.

Each day that went by the woman became more frustrated that she could not harness her attention and escape into the enveloping warmth of some of her favorite authors.  Miss Marple tried to lure her with a diabolical murder at the Vicarage, Poirot asked her to join the adventure on the luxurious Orient Express, Lucinda Riley teased her with a World War II story set in the lovely Lavender fields of France, Lissa Evans tantalized with a feisty former suffragette and Rosamunde Pilcher asked her to rejoin the inhabitants of the Scottish Highlands as they prepared for a rollicking good party in September.  Even the late  Queen Mum, asked teasingly “Do Let’s Have Another Drink.”

But to no avail, the wonderful books the woman started, she could not bring her attention to stay on any one story for a length of time.  Frustrated, she began to despair that she would not be able to lose herself and escape through the pages of her books.  Frustration was mounting and the woman, what would she do?

Stay Tuned…

Agatha Christie – Murder at the Vicarage

Agatha Christie- Murder on the Orient Express

Lucina Riley- The Lavender Garden

Lissa Evans- Old Baggage

Rosamunde Pilcher – September