Churchill and Orwell: The Fight for Freedom

Churchill and Orwell; The Fight for Freedom, by Thomas E. Ricks, 339 pages.

Thomas Franks does a credible job creating a readable, well-paced parallel biography of two
Englishmen, one celebrated as the greatest leader of his time, and the other only beginning to be noticed as a great writer during his lifetime.
We see each from the time of his childhood, through lean years wherein neither man seemed destined for greatness, and through the years of their great works. Ricks does a good job of keeping it all fresh and new.

Mothering Sunday: a Romance / Graham Swift, 177pp.

A brief and strangely powerful story shows us one important afternoon in the life of Jane Fairchild, 22-years-old in 1924 and housemaid to a wealthy family. More importantly, she is the secret lover of Paul, the scion of an even wealthier neighboring family. Their tryst on this unseasonably warm March Sunday, a holiday which was the forerunner of the modern Mother's Day, sets the course for Jane's future in unexpected ways. Deeply sensual but not gratuitous, and unlike anything I've read in recent years. Recommended.