It’s the first Saturday of the month – and of 2024 – which means it’s time for another Six Degrees of Separation, hosted by Kate of Books are my Favourite and Best. The idea is that Kate chooses a book to use as a starting point and then we have to link it to six other books of our choice to form a chain. A book doesn’t have to be connected to all of the others on the list – only to the one next to it in the chain.
This month we’re starting with Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. I haven’t read it, but here’s what it’s about:
When Sam catches sight of Sadie at a crowded train station one morning he is catapulted straight back to childhood, and the hours they spent immersed in playing games.
Their spark is instantly reignited and sets off a creative collaboration that will make them superstars. It is the 90s, and anything is possible.
What comes next is a decades-long tale of friendship and rivalry, fame and art, betrayal and tragedy, perfect worlds and imperfect ones. And, above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love.
The title of the Zevin novel is a line from one of the most famous soliloquies in Shakespeare’s Macbeth: “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time.” In Elizabeth Bailey’s For One More Tomorrow (1), Sadie Grey is directing a production of Macbeth when she discovers that she has somehow conjured up the ghost of Macbeth himself…and he is not at all happy with the way he is being portrayed.
I didn’t immediately notice that as well as the Macbeth and ‘Tomorrow’ connections, both the Zevin and Bailey novels feature a character whose name is Sadie! So does At the Edge of the Orchard by Tracy Chevalier (2), although this is a completely different kind of novel, set in the 1830s and following the story of a family who are trying to establish an orchard in the Black Swamp region of Ohio.
I learned a lot about trees and apples from the Chevalier book – more than I knew I needed to know! Another book that features apples, but in a very different way, is For the Most Beautiful by Emily Hauser (3). This novel, the first in a trilogy inspired by the ‘golden apples’ from Greek mythology, is a retelling of the Trojan War from the perspectives of two female characters, Krisayis and Briseis. The other two books in the trilogy focus on Atalanta (For the Winner) and Hippolyta (For the Immortal).
The word ‘beautiful’ also appears in the title of Your Beautiful Lies by Louise Douglas (4), a novel set in a small mining town in Yorkshire during the miners’ strike of 1984. A crime takes place – a woman is murdered on the moors – but although the book does have a strong mystery element, I described it in my review as “difficult to classify as belonging to a particular genre, being a mixture of crime, romance, suspense and domestic drama”.
Mining also features heavily in the plot of Ross Poldark (5), the first book in Winston Graham’s Poldark series. Set in 18th century Cornwall, it begins with Ross returning home after a long absence to find that his father has died and the woman he loves is marrying his cousin. The rest of the book follows Ross as he tries to restore the family estate and open a new copper mine. I read this book in 2015 when a new adaptation was being shown on the BBC, but although I enjoyed it and intended to continue with the rest of the series, I still haven’t picked up the second book.
An author who is closely associated with Cornwall is Daphne du Maurier. Many of her novels are set there, but the one I’ve chosen to finish my chain is The Loving Spirit (6). Published in 1931 when she was just twenty-four years old, this was du Maurier’s first novel and tells the story of four generations of the Coombe family, who live in a fictional shipbuilding town on the Cornish coast. Although it’s not as strong as her later novels, I still enjoyed it. The title is taken from an Emily Brontë poem, Self-Interrogation, which provides a link back to the beginning of this chain – books with titles inspired by another author’s work.
~
And that’s my chain for this month! My links have included: The word ‘tomorrow’, Macbeth, the name Sadie, apples, the word ‘beautiful’, mining and Cornwall.
In February we’ll be starting with the book we finished with this month – which for me is The Loving Spirit.
She Reads Novels 
Apart from the Tracy Chevalier and the Daphne du Maurier I haven’t read anything from your – as ever interesting – chain. Lots to enjoy here!
Yes, I enjoyed every book in my chain this month!
Excellent!
That’s a great chain Davida. I’ve read the Tracy Chevalier book and I think the Poldark book too. Haven’t read that du Maurier so that will be an interesting starting point for next month! Love your connection back to the first one, so clever.
And apologies – I know you’re not Davida! Please feel free to edit that out. 😳
No problem! It’s easy to get mixed up when everyone is posting their chains on the same day. I’m looking forward to starting with the du Maurier book next month – I can already think of a few different directions I could go in.
Finding an additional Sadie connection is inspired! Well done! And I loved the Poldark series (on TV and the books).
Yes, I was pleased with the Sadie link, particularly as it was accidental! I’m not sure why I’ve never continued with Poldark as I did really enjoy the first book. Maybe this year!
I went with the Macbeth reference as well! Great chain
Thanks! The Macbeth link came to mind straight away!
This is quite a dark chain, but well done!
I didn’t notice how dark it was, but yes, you’re right!
Thank you for the jog to my memory about Poldark. I love Cornwall, having spent the happiest years of my childhood there. My parents read the series when they first came out. I have been meaning to read them for years. So this year is the year! I have Ross Poldark on hold at the library so will get started soon. I haven’t read any of the books in your chain but they sound interesting. It is so lovely to have so many books out there just waiting to be read.
I hope you enjoy Ross Poldark! I don’t know why I still haven’t continued with the series, but now that I’ve reminded myself about it I think I’ll try to read the second book soon.
I remember watching the original Poldark TV series as a child – my mum loved it. Despite having studied Macbeth, that Tomorrow link completely passed me by!
I’m glad I thought of the Macbeth link as I think I might have struggled to get started otherwise!
Love your Macbeth link too Helen. And any chain getting Poldark in gets my vote. 😀
I’ll have to continue with the Poldark series soon! I had forgotten about it until I started putting this chain together and I did really enjoy that first book.
That’s a Tracy Chevalier I haven’t read. Like Annabel I love the Macbeth link and that the first book was doubly linked. Always pleased to see DDM in a chain as well!
I was pleased with the double link, particularly as it happened accidentally!
I did not know about this book by Daphne du Maurier. There’s another addition to the ever-growing TBR list. Very clever list.
Thank you. I love Daphne du Maurier and The Loving Spirit is a great example of her early work.