Random Jottings

Felixstowe Book Festival 2021

After last year when the Festival had to be hastily organised to go online, we were all hoping that 2021 might be better.   Well, it is in a way but my goodness the amount of work that has gone in to its organisation is mind boggling and I am sure is the same to all other similar events.

Many of those speakers who could not appear last year have very kindly agreed to return and it is worth mentioning here that quite a few of the authors did not take a fee for their online appearance in 2020 and we are most grateful to them.

So it was decided to be prudent and not hope that all would be back to "normal" by June of this year which was just as well in light of the announcement that Freedom Day was being postponed.  The Festival had been organised so we could hold live events but with reduced attendees and social distancing in place and also online speakers returned so there is an eclectic mix of authors.

All was going well until the Orwell Hotel, who have hosted the Festival, informed the Festival Director that they could not allow it to take place at their venue. Perfect timing as tickets had just gone on sale.   Within 24 hours another venue had been secured and thanks are due to Harvest House, a residential block of flats overlooking the sea which used to be a grand Edwardian Hotel with a ballroom and rooms which had just received a licence for public events.  Relief all round.

All going smoothly and then after the Prime Minister's announcement re the continuation of restrictions, the committee started receiving anxious queries as to whether it was going ahead and IT IS.   So I am posting here now just to let everyone know that it is taking place 25-27th June and among the speakers we have Jo Jo Moyes, Terry Waite, Esther Freud, Elly Griffiths, Anthony Horowirz and many more.   Please check out the link to the Festival for a full programme.

I know many of my readers here on Random live in the US and some abroad so may I just say that buying a ticket or two for the online events would be a huge help and support to us. They will be available to view until 2 July so you will have time to watch.   And I have to mention that one of those speakers online will be my daughter Helen McCarthy talking about her book Double Lives. 

The launch date of this book last year coincided with the lockdown and so many plans had to be abandoned, not just for her, but for all authors but it garnered wonderful reviews and was shortlisted for the Wolfson Prize. So if you are looking for an interesting hour, then do check it out.

Of course I am biaised....

I shall be in attendance at the Festival, taking photos and tweeting like mad and I am really looking forward to it.

Do come along if you can. Tickets can be bought via the website.

Recent reading

I seem to be lapsing again and not posting as much as I should but I have found it difficult over the last year to keep going. I must persevere!

I had a lovely weekend with the family at Orford and it made such a change to be away from one's four walls and we were lucky with the weather as well. Ony three days but it did me good.

I am gradually getting my reading mojo back after a disappointing few weeks, well months really, but found another book which I was looking forward to reading, disappointing.  This is happening more than it used to - perhaps I am just being grumpy.  The book in question is The Haunting of Alma Fielding by Kate Summerscale. I have read previous books by this author and enjoyed them so had no doubt of doing the same with this one, but sadly, no. This is, apparantly, a true story set in 1938 where an "ordinary young housewife has become the eye in the storm of chaos. China flies off the sheslves, eggs fly through the air, stolen jewellery appears on her fingers, white mice crawl out of her handbag........."

Nandor Fodor a chief ghost hunder for the International Institute for Pyschical research comes to investigate (I am sorry to say but when I read this I launched into a rendition of "who you're gonna call - Ghostbusters!) and the conclusion reached by the end of a somewhat tedious book was that Alma was deeply traumatised by events in her childhood which emanated from her causing these ghostly happenings.

The story was well written and well researched but it failed to arouse any great interest for me I am afraid. 

The Queen - Matthew Dennison.   In the years to come there will be biographies of the Queen and pretty sure a few on the Duke of Edinburgh are already in the pipeline. Two thirds of this book is very interesting though there was very little in it that I did not already know or had not read elsewhere. I should think that the author could find very little new to report and, as we all know, the Queen is a model of discretion and therefore, there are no anecdotes or gossip to write about.   The last third was zapped through pretty quickly and it was clear that the author was steering clear over the Susex debacle and other related matters.  

The Artful Dickens - John Mullan.   The sub-title of this book is "the tricks and ploys of the great novelist". It is full of delightful insights. From Pickwick to Scrooge how did Dickens choose his names? what was Dickens favourite way of killing his characters? and so on. A very revealing and interesting chapter on his use of the present and past tense in his works which was a bit of an eye opener.

I love Dickens and, at last, a book I am really enjoying. I am reading a chapter a day to make it last.

I have also worked my way through the Bruno novels of Martin Walker which I shall write about at some stage having just read the latest so exhausted them all.  Then a recommendation from Amazon for books by Torquil McLeod (wonderful name) set in Malmo about a woman detective. Eight so far written and I have read the first two and really enjoyed them. Good writing, good plotting and interesting characters. I just went online and found the six I have not read available for Kindle a £1.99 each - a bargain - so have bought the lot. That will probably keep me busy for, mmmm, a week?

What shall I do after that I wonder but with Wimbledon looming on the horizon I think I shall be occupied.

And there will be a return of The Wimbledon Rant. I know you have all missed it.....

Tension: (British Library Women Writers) E M Delafield - Blog tour

A reference in a magazine to The Diary of a Provincial Lady some thirty years ago sent me off on a quest to track down this author.  The Diary is probably her most well known book but there were so many other titles which nobody seemed to have heard of and which seemed to be languishing in obscurity.   I made it a mission to track down as many as possible and spent several years haunting second hand bookshops in this quest.   I have some twenty of her titles on my shelves and amongst them is a very battered copy of Tension which I bought for the princely sum of £10 some years ago.  It is wonderful that the British Library are now republishing this so that it is easily available.

If you read E M Delafield regularly the reader will note after a while that there is a recurring character in many of her books. It is that of a meddlesome, unpleasant trouble maker with these characteristics hidden under a veneer of benevolence and charity and, quite frankly, these women, are poisonous. 

In the Provincial Lady Goes to War there is a warden in charge of a war time canteen who is unsparing of her time and expects others to do the same, but she does it because she wishes to appear as an efficient, saintly soul who would give up her time and happiness for others. It is a sham. In The War Workers, Delafield’s first novel, we find this person once more.

In Faster Faster we meet Claudia who runs an employment agency (a rarity showing a working woman at this time) who exhibits the same persona, wishing to be admired for her efficiency and her organisation.

At so it is in Tension.   Here the iron hand in the velvet glove is Lady Rossiter whose mantra is “Is it kind, is it wise, is it true” which she manages to successfully ignore while purporting to live up to its ideals.

Lady Rossiter is married to Lord Julian and though she will never admit to it their marriage is empty and sterile.   His proposal to her was one of chivalry rather than love.

“Edna disliked the memory of the scene that had led to his proposal although time and her own industry had draped the situation with much that it had lacked at the moment. She had met him on board ship where she was travelling with her mother, a vulgar woman…………”

After a quarrel with her mother who had taunted her with her unmarried state “Edna’s rare tears had shaken her and it was Sir Julian who had found her crying in a solitary corner of the deck….anger and misery together had made her give him in reply to his enquiry something that very nearly approached the raw crude truth……She had accepted him and she would not have believed it, had she not thrust the memory away henceforward that she had witnessed the truest most intimate relationship in which she and her husband were destined ever to stand towards one another…”

She had many years to forget the mortification of her pre-marriage days.    Edna reflected sometimes that they had never had a quarrel “and remained unaware that the fact admirably measured the extent of their estrangement”.

Lord and Lady Rossiter are involved in the running of a local secretarial collage and while she labours under the delusion that everyone at the college adores her and loves seeing her on the committee she is very much disliked with her constant interference and her total imperviousness to the effect she had upon the pupils and staff.

Miss Marchrose is a newly appointed administrator and Lady Rossiter recognises the name as that of somebody who broke off an engagement in what appears on the surface to be a cruel and heartless matter.  She is determined to find out the truth or what she deems to be the truth and with a subtle sweetness starts to drip feed the staff and colleagues with poison.

The Tension of the title gradually increases with each barb and malicious rumour gently dropped into the ears of the listeners.   We learn that there was a very good reason for the engagement being ended but it makes no difference to Miss Marchrose’s position and the gradual eroding of her reputation.

After the Provincial Lady EM Delafield is viewed as being witty and amusing but if you read more of her output you realise she is anything but.  She can be quite merciless in her pin point accuracy regarding the nasty side of a character but it is done so subtly that sometimes it is difficult to see.  Even in her humorous asides in Provincial Lady there is a hidden barb.

Lady Rossiter is a deeply unpleasant, unsatisfied and, quite frankly, nasty piece of work while hiding behind a persona of sweetness and light.   What she, and others similar in other Delafield titles, needs is somebody to tell her precisely what they think of her and in a way that there is no possible misunderstanding.

Unfortunately, Lord Rossiter takes refuge in irony and sarcasm fully knowing that his wife will never understand or fathom what he is trying to say.  He takes refuge in his own intellect, despising Edna but never having the bravery to stand up to her.   He is a coward.

I mentioned earlier the title Faster Faster which features  a dominant wife in similar mould to Lady Rossiter who also has a weak husband who takes refuge in the mantra anything for a quiet life.  In Provincial Lady the husband, Robert, seems to spend most of his time reading the Times and saying nothing.   One can only assume that E M Delafield was rather disappointed in the men she knew as they are mostly of this ilk.

The foreword of this edition of Tension says “if the tension in this novel doesn’t make you squirm a little, then you will certainly find plenty to amuse”

Yes the tension did make me squirm but, quite frankly, I found very little amusing in this novel. It was all rather sad and mostly with one exception, full of sad little people.

I think it is masterly.

Lovely weekend

Back home today but have had a lovely few days in Orford staying at the Crown & Castle who upgraded me to a super room with a view of the Castle.

Then a walk from Iken church to Snape, Maltings. I was a bit worried as I have recently been diagnosed with arthritis in hip and spine, but was determined to manage it. I did but I ached a bit. Cappuccino on arrival and a sit down sorted that out.

Babysat, or really should be child sat now, while daughter and son in law went out for a meal. We played Uno,  both girls invented quizzes for us all, Florence played the violin and it was simply lovely. 
Today is open garden day in Orford so we will be pottering around and then drive home later.

Orford is only an hour away from home but just so good to have a change of scenery and, of course, spent time with the family and the Other Grandparents who also stayed at the Crown and Castle.

A Full English awaits me in one hour......

Justice Done - Martin O'Brien, an Inspector Jacquot mystery

I have just read the latest Jacquot book Justice Done. A long gap betwee this one and the last Talking to the Sharks but the wait was worth it.

I will always be grateful to the lovely publisher who  sent me a copy some years ago of The Dying Minutes by Martin O'Brien with a note saying "you will love this".  I noted that this was 'A Daniel Jacquot Novel' and was all about an ex-rugby playing French detective and set in Marseilles.   Gallic shrug from moi and Qui?  I opened it and started to read and immediately found myself gripped (or should that be grippe...).  My thoughts after reading this title are below and my comments on Daniel and the glorious food described remain the same today.

I remember that after reading a few chapters of Martin O'Brien's book I had this overwhelming desire to catch a flight and fly to Marseilles immediately.   My French is of the La Plume de ma tante et sur la table de Mon Oncle variety, I know how to order a cafe au lait, can say Merde with the best of them and that is it, but I had this vision of sitting at a table on the waterfront knocking back a coffee, a Calva, eating freshly grilled fish and smoking a Galois, none of which I would dream of doing in real life.  The book reeked of France and the sea and I simply loved it.

I love Daniel Jacquot, he is very sexy..'then she saw him, younger, slimmer than she remembered. Leaning against a pillar, hands in pockets, one foot crossed over the other. A deep tan against a white T-shirt, an old cream jacket, faded blue jeans and espadrilles......A big warm smile as he drew closer, the gleam of his teeth making his tan even deeper....she felt herself caught up in his embrace, his arms about her, hugging her to him, a strange salty smell, mixed with a soapy pine scent...'

See what I mean?

OK and the the food, OMG the food.  The descriptions just make you drool. Here is a sample:

"the broth was a creamy yellow, puddled with darker globs of oil, broken with thick flakes of fish, like icebergs, and the more treacherous blackened tips of mussels. He took the broth first, a spoonful of the liquor, blew on it and then tipped it into his mouth.  The ocean, that's what it tasted like. Fresh and hot and sweet, the flavour filling his cheeks"

I have now read all of the Jaquot books and loved them all.   So when Justice Done arrived I pounced upon it and read it straight through.  This story is set in the nineties and goes back to those days when Daniel had just been promoted and before the later stories.   I was quite glad of this as later on if you read them all (and you should) he meets Claudine who is one of those women who drives you MAD. She is gorgeous, she is sexy, she is witty, intelligent and a great cook who can knock up a five course meal in half an hour.   I freely admit I found her rather irritating after reading about all her perfections book after book.    The Brunetti books of Donna Leon also had one of these women and not only could she cook and was gorgeous she read Henry James for fun. I say no more....

At the start of Justice Done a mother is driving frantically to deliver a ransom for her kidnapped son.   She loses her way and comes off the main road and, unfortunatly, is stopped and robbed and in the fight to hold onto her briefcase full of the money, she is shot.

The robber makes off with the ransome and is, naturally, delighted at his windfall.   Then he is found dead.   A chain reaction of murders follow all linked with the money.  So who is getting rid of them so systematically?   Throw into the mix the step-father of the kidnapped child, a cold and chilly individual who does not seem at all bothered by the kidnapping or the death of his wife, and you have an intriguing mix.

Daniel is an ex-Rugby player who is famous for a well recorded try in an interational Rugby match. In the last few weeks I have been reading books by Martin Walker, about Bruno a local policeman and set in the Dordogne. Bruno plays in the rugby team and in one of the later books a certain Jacquot is playing in a local game.   So I wonder if Martin Walker has read these books too....

Love Jacquot and hope lots more to come.

Reading Round up - Part Two

First up I have to thank one of my regular visitors for recommending the Bruno books by Martin Walker.  I had posted about Montebalno and the books by Camilleri and rejoiced in the food descriptions contained therein which are totally mouthwatering and asked for recommendations as most British and US Crime books seem to feature bacon sandwiches and hamburgers.  I was delighted to see that this author had written sixteen and thought Oh goodie that will keep me busy for a while.

Well, not really as I have now read the lot and am reduced to waiting for the next one.  I will be writing about them further at a later date as I LOVED them. 

A couple of disappointing reads I am sorry to say.   Not ghastly or awful in any way, just somewhat lacking.

The first title is Only Happiness Here by Gabrielle Carey.   It is a "biography" of Elizabeth von Arnim, one of my favourite writers and there has not been a story of her life for some time so I was keen to read it. I had to order it from Australia though it is now on Amazon.  On the back of the paperback is written "intrigued by von Arnim's extraordinary life, Gabrielle Carey sets off on a literary and philosophical journey to learn about this bold and witty author. More than a biography, Only Happiness Here is also a personal investigation into our perennial obsession with finding joy"

My heart sank and did not rise for some time.

The biographical details in this publication are easily looked up and found elsewhere, there is very little real insight into EVA but there is an awful lot of confessional type writing by Gabrielle Carey linking her failed relationships, her depression and her ups and downs with Elizabeth. I found these links tenuous and rather contrived and while I do not doubt that the author admires EVA immensely this all got rather tedious in the end.   I found myself skipping through these passages as I was really not interested in her innermost thoughts which added little to the narrative.

I did hesitate before deciding to write this review as I dislike being negative but if you like EVA I do not think this will add any extra enjoyment to the reading of her books.

The second slight disappointment is Princess Mary by Elisabeth Beresford, a biography of the only daughter of George V and Queen Mary.  Well researched and well written it enjoyed it in a rather tepid kind of way and as this is a period of history that I am always interested in, I was trying to work out why I felt the lack.  

In the end I came to the conclusion that Princess Mary, a thoroughly nice woman, who worked hard and was popular with everyone, led a perfectly ordinary life.   Now, there is nothing wrong with this. Gosh wouldn't it be nice sometimes if things were ordinary?  But, sadly, this does not make for an interesting biography which is a shame. I remember reading a biography of the author Richmal Crompton and my reaction was the same. She had led a quite unexciting life. OK she wrote all the William books and a lot of excellent adult titles too, but seemed to lack any kind of personality - or at least there was none in this particular work.

But I ended the week on a brilliant note as I read the latest book by Jane Casey The killing Kind.  Jane is the creator of the Maeve Kerrigan books which I love. This is a stand alone title and had me pinned to the sofa all yesterday morning. It is simply excellent and enthralling and exciting and I was fortunate enough to get an advance copy. The Killing Kind is due to be published on 27 May so not long to wait. 

Reading Round up - Part One

Time for a reading round up as I have got through quite a few in the last week or two.  Here goes:

Liz Trenow – The Secrets of the Lake.   Liz Trenow live in Colchester, as do I, and years ago our children attended the same school and playgroup and played together.   When I received a copy of her first book The Last Telegram reviewed here one day I remember thinking gosh I used to know a Liz Trenow and then realised it was the same person and flew into a panic thinking OMG what if I do not like the book she has written?  Well it was a needless panic as I loved it and have read all of hers over the last few years and not been disappointed.

Many of her books have a local setting which I really appreciate as I recognise places and it all helps to place the narrative and the characters and this one is no different. The basic story is that of a mysterious disappearance of Jimmy, a ten year old with learning disabilities, brother of Molly, his big sister who, after the death of her mother, has the responsibility of looking after him.   This is just after the end of the war and the help and assistance that would be available to day is non-existent.

Molly’s father, the vicar, is accused over missing church funds and though we, the reader, can guess straight away who is really behind the fraud, the whispering continues.   Then one night, Jimmy disappears never to be seen again.

Years later, as an old woman, Molly is visited by the police as a lake has been drained and bones are found. Could it be Jimmy and will she finally know what has happened?

This is very much a broad outline of the story and, of course, there are much more nuances to be explored, ditto characters. As with all the books by Liz, it is immensely readable and I sat and read it through in one session. 

Liz Trenow will be talking about The Secrets of the Lake at the Felixstowe Book Festival which takes place 25-27 June.

The Swiss Summer – Stella Gibbons.   I recently reviewed Woods in Winter by this author which I absolutely loved.   These reprints are published by Dean Street Press, who is one of my favourite publishing houses and whose every book is yearned for by me.   The blurb tells us “worn down by postwar London life, forty-something Lucy Cottrell finds herself accepting a surprise invitation to spend the summer at a Swiss Chalet, accompanied by the very practical  and undemonstrative Freda Blandish, who she hardly knows”

Visitors come and go who are viewed with suspicion and disdain by Utta, the housekeeper, who looks after the chalet the year round and has a possessive pride in it.

This is not such a focussed story as the Woods in Winter, it meanders a great deal and really has no particular narrative drive, save wondering who will inherit the chalet when its owner, an elderly lady living in London, dies.  But it is such a pleasure to read.   We view the characters and surroundings through the eyes of the narrator, Lucy, who is a gentle soul if rather lacking in backbone and, while not exactly gripping, the reader is gradually drawn in.   The descriptions of the lush scenery are quite lovely and instilled in me a longing to climb a Swiss Alp – a longing unlikely to be fulfilled as we cannot go anywhere at the moment and my dodgy knee would not get me up a gentle slope let alone an Alp. Ah well………..

Wobble to Death – Peter Lovesey.   This is, unbelievably, a 50 year special edition of this title. I remember reading this when I worked at Highgate Library when I was a teenager and I am absolutely delighted to say that the author, who forgave me when I posted about him thinking he was dead, told me he was alive and kicking and is the author of the Inspector Peter Diamond books set in Bath which I love.

Wobble to Death is set in London 1879 and features a six day, 500 mile speedwalking contest.  One of the favourite contenders meets a mysterious death and enter Sergeant Cribb who we meet for the first time.   The Cribb novels are now on my list of re-reads as I also remember a wonderful television series yonks ago with Alan Dobie, who had the most wonderful speaking voice and was a great actor.

Highly recommended and you are in for a treat.

Rudolf Nureyev The Life – Julie Kavanagh.  This Penguin edition has the ubiquitous phrase on the front cover “now a major film”.   One of these days I would love to see now a “minor film” but we know that ain’t gonna happen.   I loathe this kind of repackaging and the photo on the front is of the dancer who portrayed Nureyev in the film The White Crow, and not Nureyev himself which also irritates.

I read this biography when it was first published and remember feeling at the time that Nureyev, yes and we know he was a genius, yadda yadda yadda, was a deeply nasty piece of work. And yes, I know he had an impoverished childhood, suffered for his art and had to leave his homeland behind, but I am not sure that even if he had had a pampered existence, he would have been any different. 

I saw him dance, with Fonteyn and others, many times and his stage presence and magnetic personality were undeniable. He thrilled and moved you when you watched him but after this re-read, I once again came to the conclusion that he was deeply unpleasant and though he had devoted friends I cannot help but feel that these lifelong friendships were used by Nureyev because they could help and give him what he needed. He seemed to drain them dry.   Fascinating book but left an unpleasant taste in the mouth.

I had one brief encounter with Nureyev back in the sixties.  I was attending a Rodin exhibition at the Hayward Gallery in London, it was pretty crowded and I was aware that a group of people were behind me. I stepped backwards and trod on somebody’s foot, turned round to apologise and it was Nureyev.  When I got my breath back and said Gosh I am sorry or words to that effect, he just waved his hand, dismissed my words, smiled and walked on surrounded by his acolytes.   I remember standing there thinking how slender and small he appeared and then when he walked through the crowds who parted to let him through like the parting of the Red Sea, it suddenly struck me that I had stood on his foot…his foot! I could have wrecked his career.

Well, obviously I didn’t but there you go.

OK this is turning into a long post and I still have about five books to go so I think I am going to leave this for today and return with the rest as soon as possible.   I am away this weekend with grandchildren, which is lovely, so it may be a few days.

Oh and this week I realised when I checked the date that Random Jottings has been going for Fifteen Years. I can hardly believe it and my thanks to all of you who have visited and followed and commented on all this time.   It is such an integral part of my life that I cannot imagine how I could cope without it and in the last year it has been a lifeline.

So thank you!

Random catch up

Well it is May and it is freezing cold, pouring with rain and I am sitting here with a jumper on, wooly socks and the heating going full blast. Honestly, when oh when are we going to get some sunshine and decent weather?

I have had a rather busy week and another coming up so thought I would drop in to say hello to you all and thank you, as always, for reading the blog and leaving comments. They really keep me going.

Yesterday I had a facial - the first in 15 months and oh it was lovely. My skin had got really dry and horrid but after an hour of having it cleaned, exfoliated, polished, hot towels, slathered with gallons of moisturiser I came out like a new woman.  Well, hardly new but certainly restored.  I felt totally relaxed and came home and fell asleep on the sofa.

This morning I had to go to the hospital to have an x-ray. I have been having trouble with my right hip and wanted to get it checked out as I have an arthritic knee and wanted to see if it was rearing its ugly head elsewhere.  I got there early and was whisked in straight away as three, yes three, people had not bothered to turn up for their appointments. I simply cannot understand why they do this. Wasting everyone's time.  The upshot was that I had my x-ray, was done and dusted and out of the department in 20 minutes. The bonus of this was that I came under the free half hour parking so did not have to pay a fee which cheered me up no end.

So now I am in the warm and here I stay.

I shall be writing about recent reading in the next post. Some good stuff and some disappointing stuff as well.

In the meantime I hope everyone is keeping well and, fingers crossed, we are now emerging the other side of a dark period and life will get better.   I have a hairdresser's appointment on Tuesday which I am looking forward to as the grey roots are showing and my hair has grown and I am fed up with it. I am going to go for broke and have it cut short so a new me will emerge.

Oh and I have also got a dental appointment the day after.   Not sure I can stand the excitement of all this giddy activity...

Au reservoir.

The Woods in Winter - Stella Gibbons

Stella Gibbons most famous book is Cold Comfort Farm which I had no desire to read at all and only did so after being urged to by fellow bloggers. So I read it, thought it was very good indeed but did not enjoy it at all and disliked nearly all the characters in it.   And then I more or less abandoned this author and never thought of reading any more written by her.   This was easy to do as most of the titles seemed to be unobtainable and/or out of print.

A few years ago I read Nightingale Wood which was reissued by Virago and enjoyed, but again, not bowled over.   But now along comes Dean Street Press and as I am a huge fan of theirs and love their list, I thought I would try Stella again and read The Woods in Winter.

And how glad I am that I did. I absolutely loved this book.  It is just perfect.

"... for the first time in her life she was living as she had always unknowingly wanted to live; in freedom and soliltude with an animal for a close companion"

Ivy Gower, widowed three times and a rather gypsy looking woman with a talent for drawing animals to her, lives in a dingy room in the city where, to the annoyance of her neighbour below her, she befriends a pigeon who comes to her each day for food.   One day she receives a letter from a solicitor and discovers that she has inherited a cottage in Buckinghamshire in a tiny village of Little Warby. She goes to see Mr Gardner to check that this is really true and the property is hers. Her forthright attitude rather takes him aback:

"...he hoped she would not ask about buses; Greddle had infored him two hours ago that the bus had stopped running.."I must make my way homeward". Ivy too had risen. "That your car outside sir?" she enquired...........My cottage is on your way 'ome...so you could give me a lift"

So Ivy moves in to the dilapidated property with a dog she rescued from being locked up in a hut all day in London, and who becomes devoted to her.  One day she is inspecting the hole in the roof and contemplating tackling the landlord to have it fixed when "something fluttered into the area of brightness and perched there, undulating its head and cooing while studying her with a bright eye  "Come to Ivy then" and at that low call he came sailing straight down to her..............."Well I never, all that way" she muttered'

Despite being told that her landlord Lord Gowerville will not expend money on the cottage she earns his gratitude and devotion by healing his old beloved dog who was in danger of being put down.  She is an object of curiousity by all her new neighbours but goes her own way perfectly self sufficient and happy with her lot until one day a runaway 12 year old boy turns up on her doorstep.

Ivy takes him in and looks after him but is adamant that he must return to his father who she manages to trace. For the first time in her life her defences are breached  and her motherly instincts come to the fore as she takes care of Mike and comes to love him.  The day comes when his father comes to collect him and Mike has to leave. He does not want to go and is angry thinking Ivy does not want him.  She asks him to send her a card and work hard at school

"his lids lifted slowly and the glowing blue eyes, dark with fury and suffering, met her own. "I won't send you a card. Your'e making me go you are. I don't ever want to see you again"

"All right" said Ivy with a smile that was all love. "please yourself"

Then Mike broke away and came racing back...she saw that his face was ugly in the grimaces of crying and when he flung himself against her and her face came down to his, she felt the hot tears"

What I loved about this book is the almost Austen like atmosphere - no similarity in the way it is written - but the feel of a small village and the feelings and day to day small happenings which are described so beautifully.  

I freely admit to having a lump in my throat at the final page and was so regretful that I had finished reading it and was sad that it had come to an end.

Dean Street Press were kind enough to send me a copy of the Woods in WInter (ok I admit I emailed them and shamelessly cadged this title and also The Swiss Summer which I have just started and is already shaping up to be delightful).  I promised them faithfully that I would purchase the other titles by Stella Gibbons which they have just published as I did not wish them to think I was always on the cadge..........

They are on their way.

A simply lovely lovely book. Do read.

Inspector Montalbano - Andrea Camilleri

I have just received the latest Inspector Montelbano mystery by Camilleri. The Cook of the Halycon. I buy them, in hardback, as they are published as I love them so much. There are very few authors who I would purchase in this way. (The other being the Sunday Philosophy Club series by McCall Smith and anything by Jane Thynne).  I have yet to read it so cannot review and the reason for my non reading is that I am saving it up for a treat. And if that sounds daft, ah well, I know Dear Readers that you will understand.

Camilleri said several years ago that he had about ten books written for future publication in case "I become senile or die".   Sadly, he is no longer with us and so I am very grateful for his foresight.

When I discovered Montalbano I was not sure I liked him very much but because I am a sucker for a series of books, the knowledge that there were several of them for me to find and would keep me going - simple as that.  I read them in a haphazard kind of way, totally out of order and then after half a dozen found I was hooked and that Montalbano had a dry wit and a caustic sense of humour that appealed to me and I found I was enjoying them. I then did my usual binge, read the lot and was then reduced to waiting for each new title to appear.

I just love the wit and humour of these books. I remember reading one late at night which had me howling with laughter and wondering if my neighbours would wonder what was going on, though I daresay they are used to me by now.  This particular hilarious episode featured the hapless and helpless Catarella who is so endearing and who worships the ground the inspector walks on.

Montalbano loves his food.   One of the joys of reading these books is the description of the meals which his housekeeper, a cook of great skill and taste, cooks for him for him.  He never knows what he is going to get and is always thrilled and delighted to see what is there.  He is also a well known figure in all the local restaurants and trattorias and seems to take incredibly long lunch breaks and then has to fight off sleep all afternoon.

"Back in the house he opened his refrigerator.  Adelina must have come down with a acute form of vegetarianism. Caponata and a sublime pasticcio of articholes and spinach.  He set the table on the  verandah and wolfed the caponata as the pasticcio heated up"

and later he receives a gift of food from the alluring Ingrid, an old "friend":

"He opened it and realised it was insulated.  Inside there were five round, transparent plastic containers in which he could see large fillets of pickled herring swimming in multicoloured sauces, there was also a whole smoked salmon........first thing he did when he got home was attack the salmon. A hefty slice dressed with fresh lemon juice and a special oliver oil given him by the person who had made it  ..the virginity of this olive oil has been certified by a gynaecologist said the little ticket that had come with it"

I adore italy, always have done, history, music, food, wine - the lot.  When I read these books I cannot help but laughing and contrasting them with English detective fiction and the place of food within.  In the Bill Slider stories by Cynthia Harrod Eagles, Slider has a friend who loves to cook, there are mentions of fine food in the Ngaio Marsh stories but these are few and far between, though we are sure that Alleyn must be a lover of cuisine, and Lord Peter of course has a good palate, but on the whole the over riding memory of food and its place in your average detetive fiction seems to consist of rushed meals, Macdonalds, hamburgers and other ghastly food.  In the case of Inspector Frost, a much darker and more unpleasant character than the one we know and love from the TV series, his entire eating habits seem to be centred around fry ups in the police canteen or grabbing chicken tikka masala sandwiches from filling stations.

No contest really but if I have it wrong and anybody can come up with examples of food in Uk and US detective fiction which is worthy of a mention please let me know.  And yes, I know Hercule Porot loves his food so no need to tell me that one....