Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Teaser Tuesdays: Among the Victorians

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. And these are the rules:

Grab your current read; Let the book fall open to a random page. Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12. You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given! Please avoid spoilers!

This week, I'm sharing some teasers from The Great Victorian Collection, by Brian Moore:
Rebuked, Maloney moved out of the shed, still carrying the oil lamp. Opposite him now was one of the most peculiar rooms in the Collection, a room which experts said did not exist, a room he had read about in an obscure volume only available from the Reserved Shelf in the British Museum. [p. 122, Dutton Obelisk, 1985].
I've just started this one, so I'm not sure exactly what's going on here. But the premise of the novel is that one morning the book's protagonist Anthony Maloney wakes up to find that a dream he's had has come true: Outside his hotel window he sees a vast, magnificent collection of exquisite and rare Victorian objects. But just how real is the collection, and how will it affect his life and the lives of those around him? Well, that's what I'm itching to find out.

Brian Moore was born in Northern Ireland, but lived in Canada and the US for many years. The novel won both the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Canadian Governor General’s Award for Fiction in 1975, but is out of print now.

I'm also reading Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence, so I'll include a couple of teasers from that one, too – even though no one should need "teasing" to read this wonderful book.
All the elderly ladies whom Archer knew regarded any woman who loved imprudently as necessarily unscrupulous and designing, and mere simple-minded man as powerless in her clutches. The only thing to do was to persuade him, as early as possible, to marry a nice girl, and then trust to her to look after him. [p. 1093, Library of America edition of Wharton's novels]

18 comments:

  1. Good teasers, both! I've never read Age of Innocence. That needs to go on the list, and I bet one of my girls, a Jane Austen fan, might enjoy it also.
    Thanks for stopping by!
    Blessings.

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  2. That teaser from The Great Victorian Collection works for me - I want to read the book!

    I'm not sure about Edith Wharton - I gave up on her book The House of Mirth. Maybe I should try this one.

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  3. hmmm..I gotta say, I just recently read "The House of Mirth" by Wharton, and I would be hard pressed to try her again, any time soon...sorry (*shrugs*)...however, "The Great Victorian Collection" sounds very interesting...

    Hope you have a great week ahead, and Happy Reading!

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  4. Two great teasers. I love Edith Wharton and I liked the couple of Brian Moore's books that Ihave read so I will look out for "The Great Victorian Collection". Thank you!

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  5. Great teasers! and yet another book to keep my eyes for. My wallet doesn't like you right now. lol

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  6. Super teasers. Now I'm really interested in The Great Victorian Collection, which I haven't heard of.

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  7. I'm intriguied! Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

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  8. Two teasers in one! Thanks :)

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  9. That sounds interesting! Like those dreams you have when you discover extra rooms in your house you didn't know you had? And I love Age of Innocence, just read it last year.

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  10. i love Edith Wharton...great teasers!

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  11. Wow Joy - both teasers are great! Sadly, I haven't read Age of Innocence yet, and was amazed to see that the teaser was taken from a page beyond 1000! Must be a large book. :)

    Here's my Teaser! ~ Wendi

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  12. Great teasers! Why don't I speak like that? Lovely.

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  13. Good teasers. Typical of the Edith Wharton ladies to blame everything on the woman. GRRRR!

    My teaser is here.

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  14. Two excellent teasers. I, too, have had The Age of Innocence on my list. This is really wetting my appetite.

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  15. Good teasers. Have not heard of The Great Victorian Challenge. Read The Age of Innocence last year.

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  16. I would just like to know how large this place was that could have a room no one knew really existed.

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  17. There are some dreams I know I wouldn't like to come true.

    Good teaser

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  18. I love both of these teasers! Thanks for sharing them.

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