well, i can't stand it.  another death in the literary community, this time someone most of us know as a children's author, though she also wrote for adults.  Joan Aiken began her Wolves of Willoughby Chase series too late for me to enjoy it as a child, but i discovered it (as well as Susan Cooper's marvelous Dark is Rising series) when i worked as a store manager for Doubleday.  the part of my job i loved most was helping people choose gift books for children, so i had to read up on things newly published since my youth.  here, from The Guardian, is her obituary.  again, something i didn't know, that she was Conrad Aiken's daughter. 

and, i am no longer finding The Great Fire to be slow going. in fact, the writing is so exquisite that i am taking it in small bites in order to stretch it out.  i don't want it to end.