Footprints

More holiday reading reports... One Pair of Feet by Monica Dickens was my second read from Dickens' canon, and a guaranteed success before I turned the first page. One Pair of Hands is one of my favourite reads of the year so far, and I had little doubt that the sequel would prove enjoyable.

The general consensus is that Feet is better than Hands - so JB Priestley announces on the blurb of my edition; so Elaine mentioned in comments on this blog a while ago. Sorry guys, going to have to disagree. I loved Feet, but just not as much as Hands - and this is almost entirely because I find the world of domestic service more interesting than that of nursing. Not more worthy or impressive - few people impress me more than nurses, not least because it's right up there on the lists of jobs I couldn't last a day at if my life depended on it - just even more fascinating. And, in Hands, Dickens went through lots of households, giving variety in character and situation; in Feet she could only change wards. Whichever of them is better, though, they are both excellent and laugh-out-loud funny. Oh dear, I'm becoming the worst sort of reviewer here... soon I'll be proclaiming "I laughed til I cried!" or "If you read one book this fall, make sure it's this one!" Will have to start counting - and limiting - the number of exclamation marks... but this quotation warrants one. ! There you go. It's a little mean on Dickens' part, but also rather funny:

"She looked like one of those potatoes that people photograph and send to the papers because it bears a curious resemblance to a human face."

You're a better person than I if you didn't laugh a little bit...