Reanimated Lavender Granola Switchblade Nun rides again.

Sunday, November 3, 2024

Word Garden Word List--Absent in the Spring

 

Hello my roving rhymesters! Here I am with your weekly Word List, a day early this time! I have been mulling changing the day to post because the first few days have been a ghost town; most people seem to show up at the end of the week. Thoughts?

Anyway, our source this week is a novel by "Mary Westmacott", a pseudonym used by the famous mystery writer Agatha Christie for her non mystery novels. This one was kindly recommended to me by my friend Queen Cool Dora and is called "Absent in the Spring." I'll include now my review from Goodreads.com:

My Goodreads review of "Absent In The Spring" by Mary Westmacott (Agatha Christie writing under a pseudonym). 5/5 stars.
I know all too well the type of person that the unreliable--even, or especially, to herself--narrator of this novel is. Joan is unwilling to face reality even as it goes on relentlessly right in front of her face. She's shallow, judgy, materialistic, surface, and possesses an iron conviction that everyone else is confused, shabby, pitiable, and most of all, absolutely in need of her expert guidance. She's a prig, a meddler, a busybody, and a snob, still blundering through life as the perfect student from St. Anne's, her girlhood school. She doesn't set out to be cruel--in fact she thinks herself the soul of kindness--but somehow she leaves a trail of injured, damaged loved ones in her wake all the same. It's all a mystery to her until she finds herself stranded at a lonely desert "Rest House" waiting for a train that's been delayed by several days. There, she quickly runs out of distractions and diversions, and with no busy tasks to attend to or people to interact with (except for the three foreign workers there, and that fails utterly), she has time to do nothing but think and comes face to face with her true self, and she doesn't much like it. The scales finally fall from her eyes, as it were, but will her new and unwonted self-knowledge stay with her when she finally gets back home in familiar, comfortable surroundings? Read it and find out.

What we do here is to use at least 3 of the 20 words provided in a new, original poem of our own. Then just link up, visit others, and don't get lost in the desert afterward like Joan in the novel. This prompt remains active through Sunday.

And now, your List:

alarm
amusement
bitter
capricious
competent
dubious
far
impossible
lazy
nerves
quietly
recite
roving
satisfactory
stuffy
suffered
symbol
vision
warmhearted
watery


 


11 comments:

  1. Sunday might be a better day for you, Shay. This is a good way to find out. Smiles.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for the words and book recommendation - Sunday might draw in more people as Sherry says - but it is good to link in whenever is good - Jae

    ReplyDelete
  3. I like Sunday but what ever works best for you Shay is good with me. I am such a scattered participant anyway. LOL I started something last week, but had a lot going on and flaked out. I always find your lists inspiring whether I return or not. I hope to be back.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I usually slip in some where between doctor's appointments. Sunday sounds good to me. I am always grateful for this space. It brought me back to writing after a long, tough drought.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sunday would be good, Shay, I'll just have to re-program myself to look for it. I'm recovering from an eye infection in between keeping an eye on my prompt for dVerse but I'm glad I checked in today (as per my usual habit) to see what WGWL's offering is .... and to my "royal" delight, I see your review!! Hello?! That was a great reading of one of my faves. The sad thing is, I've looked into so many of those "Joan"-ish eyes, and they do wander heartlessly, vacuously, meddlingly, arrogantly, unseeingly, leaving desolation in their wake. Atwood's "Blind Assasin" is somewhat like that. Hope to post my offering here soon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Dora - I left a comment at yours - not sure it worked - but I loved your praise of books - Jae

      Delete
    2. Hi Dora - I tried to leave a message not sure if it saved - I loved your love of books! Jae

      Delete
    3. Thank you, Jae! It went through; I think sometimes the comment moderation message misses a beat.

      Delete
  6. Wait, wait!! Me! Me too!! Wait!

    ReplyDelete

Spirit, what do you wish to tell us?