Six Degrees of Separation - From Vanity Fair to Detective Inspector Huss

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 not one I've read and I'm not really likely to read it (being honest here) - Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray.

I found that Vanity Fair was published in 1848 and it tells the exploits of Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley - one is scheming and one is the pampered child of a rich man who falls into poverty.  Lots of shenanigans and drama.

Connecting to Becky Sharp, I remembered that the protagonist of Witch, written by a favorite author of mine, Barbara Michaels, was reading Vanity Fair in this tale.  Ellen March (that protagonist) mentions getting back to Becky Sharp's adventures.  I have read Witch more than once and enjoyed it each and every time.  It's typical early Michaels - very Gothic romantic suspense.

The next connection is to the name March and Geraldine Brooks' novel by that same name.  This book tells the story of the absent father in Louisa May Alcott's Little Women.  And it won a Pulitzer Prize.  I liked it well enough, but Mr. March doesn't come across as very agreeable.  It was interesting to think about what might have been going on 'off the page' in the Alcott book.

 Another book by Geraldine Brooks is People of the Book.  I like this one much better than March.  This is the tale of the Sarajevo Haggadah, a very rare and precious Jewish illuminated volume and the journey of this book over the centuries.  It is based on a true story and is very interesting.

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent is also based on a true story, a very tragic one.   Agnes Magnúsdóttir was the last person executed for murder in the country of Iceland.  Her tale is bleak, but somehow beautiful in ways I have a hard time describing.  A debut novel, this author tells of this maid who is accused and convicted of killing her master in the early 1800's.  Our mystery group recently read and discussed this book.

The next connection is Iceland, the country, and the first book in the Sergeant Gunnhildur Gisladottir crime series.  It's entitled Frozen Assets and written by Quentin Bates.  'Gunna the Cop', as she is known,  is a widow and mother of two teenagers.  In other words, she's busy, mostly dealing with speeding drivers and drunks, but in this book she has to investigate a death.  I've only read this first book in the series, but I want to read more.

Our last connection today is about another woman police officer and mother, Detective Inspector Huss.  This book, written by Helene Tursten, features Irene Huss of the Violent Crime Unit in Göteborg, Sweden.  Dealing with family life and also a police force that is still not comfortable with women officers, DI Huss has her hands full.  First book in a series that now includes eight books.  I haven't read this yet, but definitely plan to make time for it soon.

We come to the end of this month's chain of books.  I've read 5 of the 7, which is not a bad average.  We began in early 19th century England and ended up in 21st century Sweden.  The connections were 'Becky Sharp', the last name 'March', books written by 'Geraldine Brooks', books 'based on a true story', books set in the country of 'Iceland', books with a protagonist that is 'a woman, a mother, and a police officer'.  I'm glad to be back with a 'Six Degrees...' chain and hope to be here in December when the starting book will be appropriately holiday-ish, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.