Six Degrees of Separation - From Atonement to Bluebird, Bluebird

I'm here with Six Degrees of Separation, a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. She chooses a book as a starting point and then links to six other books to form a chain. A book doesn’t need to be connected to all the other books on the list, only to the one next to it in the chain.

The starting book in this month's chain is one I've meant to read, but so far have not.  I know many others have read it and probably watched the film adaptation - Atonement by Ian McEwan.

This is a tale, set in the 1930's, of young Briony who witnesses a scene that she doesn't understand and misinterprets.  Lives are changed.  Some really liked this book and some did not.  It was nominated for the Booker Prize.

Connecting to the name of the protagonist, Briony, I thought of another book, Touch Not the Cat by Mary Stewart.  One of my favorite books by a favorite author - another Bryony is 'called' home by her cousin through the 'telepathic' connection that they've never spoken of.  In fact, she's not sure which of her cousins is the one.  Bryony's father has died and there's something strange about it.  Gothic suspense - love it!

The next connection is to another book by Mary Stewart.  As I said, she's been a favorite author of mine since my teens.  This Rough Magic is set on Corfu.  In it, Lucy comes to visit her sister and, of course, a body washes up on the beach.  There's a dolphin and the handsome son of a famous actor - you get the picture.  Mary Stewart set many of her books in interesting locations.  This book is on my 'Classics Club' list to reread at some point in the next months.  It was written in 1965.

Another book on my 'Classic Club' list is Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier.  I love this book.  It's definitely a classic of Gothic suspense.  Written in 1938, this book begins with the sentence - 'Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.'  Who is it that dreamed?  Well, it's the second Mrs. de Winter, though we never find out her first name.  Rebecca was the first Mrs. de Winter and she and scary Mrs. Danvers, the housekeeper, dominate the whole story.  If you haven't read this book, you should.  October is a nice month for it.

A recently published book that also has a very Gothic feel and a scary and creepy old housekeeper, The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware.  I read this one a few weeks ago and can say that it's a good one.  The book begins with a rhyme about magpies and the sentence 'The magpies are back.'  What is it about those black squawking birds?  Have you noticed that the covers I've shown are all fairly sinister looking?  Yes, that was on purpose.

The connection to the next book is 'Magpies' and I can also highly recommend Anthony Horowitz's Magpie Murders.  Our mystery group read and discussed this one a few months ago and it was a favorite.  A tale within a tale - an author that delivers his manuscript and then dies - an editor reading it and realizing that the last chapter is missing - a novel within a novel.  As I said - a good one.  This book has been nominated for a 2018 Anthony Award for Best Mystery Novel.

Our last connection is to another 2018 Anthony Award nominated book - Bluebird Bluebird by Attica Locke.  This book has already won a 2018 Edgar Award for Best Mystery Novel.  Attica Locke sets her book in East Texas with a protagonist that is a black Texas Ranger.  There's a crime to solve and there are certainly racial tensions.  I'm looking forward to reading this one soon. 

I do enjoy creating these chains - going from book to book.  This month, I've read 5 of the 7 books.  We started in 1930's England and ended up in present day East Texas.  The connections were a character named 'Briony/Bryony', author Mary Stewart, my 'Classics Club' list, a scary and creepy housekeeper, magpies, and 2018 Anthony Award nominees.  As usual, mystery novels are supreme.  I'll not be participating in the September 1st event as I'll be on a blogging break, but I'll try to be back in October with another 'Six Degrees of Separation'.