While the blog was on hiatus a couple of months ago, I finally found a copy of House of the Glimmering Light and have read it twice. It was a particular favourite of Jane Shaw herself, although it is quite different from anything else she wrote. Here are some notes on the book:
1. Unlike Sara & Caroline, Dizzy & Alison and Susan & Midge, the heroines are not cousins; nor are they sisters like Penny & Jill, or even best friends like Ricky, Julie & Fay. Angela and Noël are not related at all and don't even meet each other until well into Chapter 2;
2. Noël plays imaginary musical instruments when she's thinking. At various points in the story, she plays an imaginary violin, flute and piano;
3. The story is in every respect a war story, with references to Hitler, Ribbentrop, evacuations and a Fifth Column;
4. The story is set entirely in Scotland, beginning with Angela's train approaching Dalmally and the rest of the story taking place at Tighanleys on Loch Etive, the village of Connel Ferry and Oban.
