Monday, September 11, 2017

A Bite of Betty

Reading Betty Neels is weird. Well, it's not her fault. But you feel me. The whole reason The Uncrushable Jersey Dress exists is because fellow Founding Betty Debbie and I didn't know one single other soul whose jam was vast Dutch doctors, socking, great Bentleys, shocking ward emergencies, swooping kisses, tiny bedsits and the loneliness of stone-cold foxes staring thirty in the face.
Annis wondered if Jake even knew what a biological clock was.

So you can imagine my delight when I was on a long road trip with a friend of many years and she said, "The Betty blog. I don't get it. I think I should get it. You need to let me read one of those."

Oh Betties. It was like someone ringing the Avon lady's doorbell and asking for three tubes of Fearless Fuchsia, extra toner and something for the eyelashes.
"I suppose I'd say my make-up routine is Elizabeth Arden blusher...liberally applied."

I decided to pick out five titles. And I'm not going to pretend that I spent a massive time weighing my options or that she is going to read them all but I figured I would offer her the equivalent of a tapas night of Betty books. A little of this, a little of that...

Here they are:

A Kiss For Julie--we have a classic Oliva, homemade clothes, an attempted burglary and a faithful family retainer. My copy is a large print and that can't hurt. I want to make this trip into BettyLand as painless as possible.

Magic in Vienna--My friend will get to enjoy the classic Betty tropes of negligent parenting, medical emergencies and handsy housemen.

The Little Dragon--I picked this because it's so different than a large number of Bettys. Lies and farce and drinks down dresses. If the others don't hook her, maybe this off-beat number will?

Discovering Daisy--My friend is interested in old things and I hoped that this book, revolving around antiques, might pique her interest. It is also a wonderful example of the Late Canon.

The Promise of Happiness (or Becky and the Baron, the hot, hot Baron)--I really went back and forth about whether or not to give my friend any of the top 10-ish novels. I don't want her to peak too early and think of the others as "Fine...but..." Nevertheless, it's a masterpiece (if that's your chocolate covered digestive biscuit) and I hope it casts a spell like a dryad sucking a sailor onto rocky schoals.

"Well, it was like this. One second Tiele was purchasing
two tickets to a chamber music concert and the next second..."

Tell me in the comments if you have some better ideas and let me know if your own stabs at Betty Evangelism have bourne fruit. I'll let you know how this goes!

20 comments:

  1. Great choices Keira but then there are so many to choose from. Hope your friend enjoys them all.

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  2. Those are great choices. I love Tulips for Augusta and Visiting Consultant. And perhaps Never Say Goodbye (From Poland with Love).

    But if truth be told, she had me at Sister Peters.

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    1. I almost lent out my Sister Peters but mine is in an omnibus. Now is no time for an omnibus.

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  3. I do understand about the top 10, but a little Florina and some Wheel House never kept anyone from being a fan. It's such a cool, sugary glass of refreshing lemonade... ;-)

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  4. My love for Betty Neels is kind of joke in my large family. They know I own them ALL, reread them and they'll joke, "Oh, Mom, did the Dutch doctor marry the English nurse in that one?" Ha Ha....That being said, I did persuade my 23 year old daughter to read Cassandra By Chance after I swooned over it. She did like it but never asked to read another.

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    1. I had the same experience, Betty Carrie. Gave one to my daughter who was 26 at the time and she read it but has never asked to read another. Her comment was, "It was fun, but I don't understand why they didn't just sit down and TALK to each other." fair enough. Spouse has read a couple--Tabitha and Henrietta-- and he was totally glued to them, but I think he is a little embarrassed to keep going.

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    2. Professor van Voorhees has never read any of them and I'm not sure I could offer them up. When we were just married, he was signed up for a required class in the college of Business and it was just to read a book together (It was like, "This is our one shot to get them to HAVE to read literature..."). Anyway, I was SO SAD the day he told me that the "Reading Pride and Prejudice" class wouldn't fit his schedule. Instead he had to read something something that was insultingly awful. (It read like hippie's drugged-out, rambling memoir of the little he could remember of the last LSD trip:"Love, man. It's, like, super important, you know?")

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    3. My youngest son gives dramatic readings off the backs of the books to tease me... :0)

      Betty Susan

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  5. A nice, eclectic choice of what TGB has to offer. I've never offered any of my Betties to friends or family, because I don't want to be disappointed if they hate them - you know? It's like not wanting to introduce your slightly offbeat, but just-right-for-you boyfriend to your friends.

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  6. My dds have each read ONE Betty Neels book, but for some reason they are not big romance readers. I have no idea why....

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  7. My mother owns every Betty Neels books, with multiple copies of several books. I have three sisters, and all of us grew up reading Betty Neels. My daughter started reading them as a teen. She lives in England now, and when I was packing to visit her, she asked me to bring any duplicate copies of my collection "because they're so comforting".

    When she moved into her apartment in Ireland during her study abroad, everything was brown and rather depressing. When I went over for a visit, we bought her a colorful rug and pillows, a cheerful lamp, and made sure she had her own electric kettle and a biscuit tin.

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    1. Thank you for sharing! I find them so comforting too. I hardly have any extra space in my house but it wouldn't feel complete without the Betty collection. I'm waiting for Pledge Two to ask if she can read some. I hope that day comes!

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  8. Betty Barbara here--A good mix of titles. I might have thrown in Roses Have Thorns and left out Little Dragon, but that's just me. I have one close friend who, along with me, read a lot of Betty in our salad days, but she didn't keep up with the great Betty after that. I have never offered a Betty book to my sister, for the fear that she wouldn't like it.(Our reading tastes are similar but not identical!)



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  9. Betty Marita here.

    I would offer A Gentle Awakening and Hannah. A Gentle Awakening was both my sister's and my first Betty- one of us grabbed it -appropriately!- at the hospital while our mother was in there and never looked back.

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  10. This is a wonderfully rounded-out TGB selection. I might go with Cassandra By Chance, as a charming mix of Betty tropes plus being a bit of an outlier, and Tabitha In Moonlight, for when TGB can bring the heat with the oil-stained shorts *fans self*.

    I have a close group of friends I travel with every year, and recently we toured some of England. So much of what we did was reminiscent of Betty I ended up explaining her even more thoroughly (they were aware of my appreciation for Betty but never the depths-of-bettyness when you're a devotee). We wound up hatching a Bettyesque book of my own, *and* they each read a few Bettys from curiosity; all enjoyed, but no new devotees drafted, alas.

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  11. Dear Keira, new here & haven't quite figured out the what and whys. Wasn't there another Neels blog--admittedly, I am confused but hopeful. Found your twitter account & wanted to thank you for the blurb on Sato Elementary School. In this new age I never thought it could happen. Or maybe it's a secretly charmed name; there is a Sam Sato on the neighbor islands that specialized in mochi. Something I would be proud to be remember for! Not a lover of social media--wouldn't a personal website allow for more data and expression! Sorry, if that is rude but the more I ready about the Betty(s), the more interested I become. Aloha

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    1. I just saw this comment! How wonderful to have you here! Sato Elementary is something so dear to my heart and I felt so privileged to discover so much about that wonderful family and their amazing sacrifices! Welcome!

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  12. My mom, sister and I started reading BN in 1969 when mom started ordering Harlequin books. We all love her but I am the only one still reading her books. I have all her books, with multiple copies of some. I don't know anyone else who reads her books but don't know if I would share since I would be afraid I might not get them back. That has happened to me before. I cannot believe everyone doesn't love TGB. She has given me so many many hours of enjoyment.

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  13. I just gave three books to a friend because I mentioned Betty's writing style (re: clean) to her off hand and she responded with curiosity due to the fact that she has to skip through large portions of books written by other authors. It's only been about weeks since I gave them to her so I'm still waiting to hear back from her about them.

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