Six Degrees of Separation: From The Lottery to Falling Creatures

The first Saturday of the month is time to play Six Degrees of Separation. This meme is hosted by Kate of Books Are My Favourite and Best. The aim is to link six books to each other from the starting point.

This month the starting point is The Lottery, a short story by Shirley Jackson. I read this yesterday, which means this is one of those rare occasions where I come into this meme better prepared.

The Lottery is a disturbing story, set in America, where a village gathers for their annual lottery, a tradition to ensure a good harvest. The winner, however, is not as happy as you would expect a lottery winner to be.

Supersition and bizarre rituals immediatley brought to mind The Wicker Man by Robin Hardy and Anthony Shaffer. This is the novelization of the script of the 1973 film, which is one of those films that having seen it once, I will never watch again. A policeman goes to a remote Scottish island to investigate the disappearance of a child. He becomes involved in the island's pagan rituals, which doesn't end well for him, although the novel has a different ending.

The film was inspired by Ritual, a novel by David Pinner set in Cornwall. Cornwall is a popular setting for novels and I'm spoiled for choice here. The writer who immediately springs to mind is, of course, Daphne du Maurier and one of my favourite reads, Jamaica Inn.

My next book, a recent discovery I'm trying to get my hands on, links to this one in many ways. It is also set in Cornwall and according to Goodreads " ... ranks with her sister's Rebecca and Jamaica Inn as a modern masterpiece of the Gothic Novel". Treveryan by Angela du Maurier was released in 1942.

Another release in 1942 was Penhallow by Georgette Heyer, one of her Country House Mysteries. The setting is Trevellin, a house on Bodmin Moor, where the detested patriach, Adam Penhallow, is murdered. I read this one ages ago and don't remember whether I liked it or not. Maybe it's time for a re-read.

Staying with historical mysteries, my final link takes me to Falling Creatures by Katherine Stansfield, a recent addition to my TBR. Based on a real crime, it follows the investigation of a murder that occurred on an isolated farm near Jamaica Inn. As I enjoy Victorian mysteries, I'm hoping this is a good one.

That's my post for this month. I've gone from pagan rituals in America, Scotland and England, to Gothic Novels, books released in 1942 and historical mysteries, all set in Cornwall.

Next month (November 6, 2021), the starting point will be What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez.