None will break ranks, though nations trek from progress

Today is the 110th anniversary of the birth of Wilfred Owen.

( Wilfred Owen )

( The Next War )

( Insensibility )

Persephone Books

As my treat to me for being Jolly Clever Indeed, I bought myself some more books from Persephone. As their blurb says, Persephone reprints "forgotten classics by twentieth-century women writers". The service is fantastic - personal, interested; the staff chat on the phone to you about the books you're buying.

The books themselves are beautifully produced, an absolute joy to hold, read, and own. One of their most distinctive - and charming - features is the choice of endpaper for each book, picked from a fabric that would have been fashionable at the time the book was first published, and reflecting on the story in some way.

My favourites so far have been:

William: An Englishman by Cicely Hamilton, which tells the story of a very ordinary couple caught up in the outbreak of war in France in 1914.

Saplings by Noel Streatfeild, which is a story about children during the Second World War, but written for adults.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson, which is one of the funniest books I've read; as funny as Waugh but compassionate.

I've ordered three new ones today; I'm particularly looking forward to Lettice Delmer by Susan Miles, which is a novel in verse.