Expectations

I've been amusing (bemusing?) myself lately by comparing all the blurbs and quotes on the books I'm reading with my sense of the book, or what I hope it will be like.

This is the quote from Jenny Uglow, the author of the wonderful biographer of Elizabeth Gaskell that I just finished reading {and whose perceptions I would trust} on my copy of Wives and Daughters:

'Wonderfully funny...profound ideas and strong values sleep beneath everyday details of bonnets and cakes'

And so far, it's that, exactly. Perfect. Exactly what I wanted.

{James McNeil Whistler, Siesta, found here}