Random Jottings

Current reading and catch up

As per madly busy with dentist, children, grandchildren et al and am off to London again tomorrow to keep Daughter 2 company while her husband goes off walking in the Brecon Beacons.  Why I ask myself and then think well he works bloody hard and perhaps a bit of peace and tranquility will do him good. So The Mother has been summoned to help and look after grandchildren. No hardship. We all love Strictly so will be sitting down on Saturday night watching that. I will be blogging about it but I usually wait until two weeks have gone by and I have a vague idea who the contestants are, some of whom I have never heard of, some I have, and some I wish I never have to see again. Hey ho.

So catching up on my reading. First up a book set in a bookshop. PERFECT.

Shaun Bythell owns The Bookshop, Wigtown - Scotland's largest second-hand bookshop. It contains 100,000 books, spread over a mile of shelving, with twisting corridors and roaring fires, and all set in a beautiful, rural town by the edge of the sea. A book-lover's paradise? Well, almost ...

In these wry and hilarious diaries, Diary of a Bookseller Shaun provides an inside look at the trials and tribulations of life in the book trade, from struggles with eccentric customers to wrangles with his own staff, who include the ski-suit-wearing, bin-foraging Nicky.

He takes us with him on buying trips to old estates and auction houses, recommends books (both lost classics and new discoveries), introduces us to the thrill of the unexpected find, and evokes the rhythms and charms of small-town life, always with a sharp and sympathetic eye.

Any novel or diary set in a bookshop always catches my eye and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. Having worked with the public for a large chunk of my adult working life I know just how totally potty, irritating and stupid some people can be. I was a librarian and one would think that readers who wanted to read, borrow and reserve books were bright and intelligent. Believe me, it ain't necessarily so.

When I read a personal diary like this I do sometimes wonder how much exaggeration is contained within. When I read My Family and Other Animals I began to doubt that every single Greek met on their island could possible be as wildly eccentric as they all appeared to be; when I read A Year in Provence I felt the same and had my doubts, but then if you only wrote about the normal, perhaps boring folk you met, the book would be a dead bore.

And this certainly isn't

Great stuff

The Chilbury Ladies Choir by Jennifer Ryan

This sounds one of those charming quirky books along the lines of Letters from Skye or the Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society. I was looking forward to reading it but the charm soon wore off as I realised the author had decided to go for whimsicality. It is in epistolary style, as are the two books I have just mentioned, and is a style I normally like very much. We are introduced to all the stock characters, wicked squire, dodgy midwife (what she gets up to stretches the bounds of credulity), two sisters one sweet the other a vamp, a downtrodden widow, a bossy lady in charge of the WI etc. They are all there.

You can tell what is going to happen to all of them as soon as you start reading. The bad punished, the downtrodden find strength and happiness, the vamp falls in love, the baddies see the light and achieve redemption and so on and so on.

I did enjoy this book, honestly, I did but I felt it had all been done before (Henrietta's War, The Provincial Lady Goes to War etc) and, for me, though enjoyable, not memorable.

Princes at War - Deborah Cadbury.   I recently reviewed her marvellous book Queen Victoria's Matchmaking, here, and when I was in the library looking at the returned shelves spotted this one. I had honestly never heard of this author before and here she was popping up again.  In the prologue we are witnessing the abdication of Edward VIII and the deep distress of his brothers.   The future King George VI is in a pitiable state, feeling scared and totally inadequate for the job ahead - he knows he will have to rely on his brothers for help and support and wonders if they are also up to the job. Henry the Duke of Gloucester and George, Duke of Kent who leads a very raffish lifestyle.

As with the book on Queen VIctoria, I found this immensely readable, well written and I was unable to put it down. Spent most of the last Sunday afternoon reading it.  We may think out Royal Family are not the sharpest tools in the box from an academic point of view and that is probably right, but this book reveals just how hard and how conscientiously these three brothers dealt with WWII. The Duke of Gloucester, travellled the length and breadth of the country, viewing preparations, visiting endless air fields, factories and meeting soldiers, airmen and sailors bolstering their patriotism, encouraging, praising - he never seemed to stop and, having thought of this particular Duke as a nonentity for years, I was left seriously impressed by him.

The Duke of Kent, who was closest to the Duke of Windsor and influenced by him, was a at first a different kettle of fish, bored with the job he was giving and missing his easy louche lifestyle, but in the end he also buckled down, worked hard, married Princess Marina and supported the King in everything. He died in a tragic plane crash which was a huge blow to the family.

And King George? Well, he stuck at it. Thought of as rather dull compared to  his charismatic elder brother, in the end the British people took him to their hearts. They may have been fascinated by Edward VIII and his charm but they recognised a good thing when they saw it and by the end of the war King George was immensely loved.  Most interesting throughout this book is the correspondence with Winston Churchill, a man who had supported the ex-King but who ended up appreciating the King and whose friendship he treasured.

And as for the Duke of Windsor, the more I read about him and Mrs Simpson, the more glad I am that he met her and abdicated. A self centered, childish egoist in total thrall to this demanding wife who, it is clear, never loved him, and doing all he could to placate her in her fury at not being give the HRH title. This is the harshest critique I have read of her for some time.

A thoroughly enjoyable and fascinating book I am going to keep an eye out for this author in the future.

I was given a couple of books by Sarah Paretsky featuring her VI Warsheski a private investigator, but though I read them I just could not get on with them at all. I remember I tried her a few years ago and abandoned them. Shame because, on paper, they are right up my strasse.   I did read U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton this week as well, another PI and these I love. I am trying to work out why I like one and not the other. Odd.

I also had a lovely weepy afternoon reading Pollyanna but will save that for another time.

Off to London tomorrow then and I will take a book with me. Why I ask myself as I never have time to read it!

Au reservoir

Queen Victoria's Matchmaking - Deborah Cadbury

Pretty sure by now that regular Random Readers know that I am a huge admirer of Queen Victoria, but I will say once again, that I think she was an indomitable, feisty woman who had the finger on the pulse of the nation and its people, and was kept firmly in her place by Albert, who I become less fond of by the year, and her true character only blossomed after his death. I always loved her letter to her daughter in Germany saying 'I am afraid I am going to do something that Dear Papa would not like'.   Good for you thought I.

This incredibly interesting and immensely readable (gosh three words beginning with i in one sentence) book  by Deborah Cadbury shows this in spades. She knew the value of dynastic marriages, tying together countries with cousins and daughters and granddaughters and at one stage a descendant of Queen Victoria was on practically every throne in Europe and beyond.

Of course not all of them ended happily. I feel that marrying Vicky off to Frederick of Prussia when she was only seventeen and sending her off burdened with her father's expectations of bringing about a unified Germany, was downright cruel not so say impracticable. She had her in-laws lined up against her and the stifling etiquette of the Berlin court mitigated against her from the start. Her life seems to have been one sorrow after another as she fought in vain to bring enlightenment to Germany. It seems she had a happy marriage and loved Frederick, which was just as well, and produced several children, one of which became the Kaiser Wilhelm. A bungling birth resulted in a withered arm which was followed by almost barbaric attempts to stretch it or make it grow, marked him for life. He hated his mother and turned his sisters against her, took no notice of anything his parents said and allied himself firmly with his grandparents. When Frederick finally became Emperor he was suffering from throat cancer and was only on the throne for a few weeks. After his death his parent's palace was surrounded by Wilhelm's guards who ransacked the place looking for letters and communications that might prove her a traitor. Queen Victoria, the only person Wilhelm had a modicum of respect for, had visited his father before he died and cannily took all the Empress's papers and letters away with her.  

Two granddaughters made Russian marriages - Ella and Alexandra, daughters of Alice of Hesse who died tragically young. Ella married a Russian grand duke, Sergei and spent years maneuvering for Alexandra to marry Nicholas, against her grandmother's wishes who was afraid of the Russian Bear and the dangers awaiting them there. She was right when we know the fate of these two sisters, well documented elsewhere, who perished in the most awful of circumstances.

Ena, daughter of the Queen's youngest child Beatrice, married King Alfonso of Spain and narrowly avoided being blown up by anarchists on her wedding day, the carriage in front of her being destroyed and her wedding dress covered in blood.

On a more pragmatic note the Queen was determined that Princess May would marry the Duke of York, later George V, after her fiance the Duke of Clarence to whom she had been engaged, died at a young age.   She was not about to waste a good princess, there were not many of them around..... On the face of it a rather boring and unemotional couple some of their letters to each other are rather touching in which he tells her that he loves her but is aware that he is not very good at expressing his feelings.

And the centre of all of this was that tiny little woman in her widow's weeks writing letter after letter after letter to crowned heads of Europe, who were all related to her and who she brought into line and dealt with on a pragmatic and wise basis. She kept the future Edward VII under control regarding his antipathy to his cousin Wilhelm and advised that he be dealt with circumspectly, she knew what was going on ALL the time, the scandals the marriages the maneuverings - one minister asked in despair 'WHO tells the Queen these things?'

This painting is a famous one used many times to show Queen Victoria's extensive family. It is on the cover of a book I have owned for years by Theo Aronson, the Grandmama of Europe and am pleased to see him listed in the bibliography here.

"Queen Victoria is sitting in the Green Drawing Room at Windsor Castle, surrounded by members of her family. On the mantelpiece is a bronze bust of Prince Albert. Queen Victoria commissioned the painting to commemorate the gathering of her family for the Golden Jubilee, celebrating 50 years of her reign. She had admired the picture Tuxen had painted of the family of the King and Queen of Denmark (RCIN 402341) and wanted a similar record of her own family. The Queen noted that the composition was ‘not to be stiff & according to Etiquette, but prettily grouped’. Tuxen encountered certain difficulties when planning the group – the Princess of Wales, who did not wish to speak German, refused to be placed next to the Crown Prince, and the Duke of Connaught said he would rather be left out altogether than put near the Battenburgs. Some of the sitters gave the artist photographs to work from, but the shapes of some of the female clients had been airbrushed – the Queen said that one such misleading print should be burnt. The finished painting was considered a great success and Queen Victoria noted: ‘The picture is beautiful, the Drawing room admirably painted & the likenesses very good …the grouping & colouring, all, charming’. Signed and dated: L Tuxen 1887"

I so enjoyed reading this book. I had been away for a few days and it was waiting me on my return and I spent the next day and read it straight through, unable to put it down. I have read pretty extensively about all that was covered in this title and yet there were snippets of information and excerpts from letters that I had not come across before and it was totally fascinating.

 Highly recommended

Childhood favourites

Today I am featuring three titles I read and loved as a child. I have also read and loved them as an adult as I take great pleasure in reading my favourites over and over again. The list of children's books I have cherished all my life is a long one, but today I am concentrating on three all in new imprints by Alma Books who are very good to me and send me delightful books.

First up is What Katy did by Susan Coolidge. I remember reading this when I was at primary school and used to haunt my library and I lost count of the number of times I borrowed this book before obtaining a copy of my own. It seems Susan Coolidge had an idyllic childhood and was part of a family of six children, as featured in her book.  She seems to have led a blameless life with no highs and lows or seeming tragedies or hardships to mar her world.

Katy is rebellious and boisterous, imaginative and is in the mold of Anne of Green Gables and Jo of Little Women, too much energy to behave as a proper young lady should. She dreams of being graceful and beautiful and doing great deeds but she is too much a tomboy until one day a dreadful accident befalls her and she becomes a bedridden invalid. She has to come to terms with this and to learn the virtues of patience and sacrifice. Now this sounds, as do most Victorian children's literature, almost too much to take but this book is packed with with and humour and, at its centre, Katie who never loses her self belief and is real and true. No sentimental slush here at all but I remember finding it on first and second and multiple reads, quite uplifting.

It was not until I was in my teens that I discovered that there were others, Katy goes to School, What Katy did Next, Clover, the High Family. I tracked them all down and they are on my shelves as I write.

Secondly, Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett. This book has really suffered from ghastly weepy film versions over the years and, in the wrong hands, has become thoroughly cringeworthy. This is a shame as it means people are put off reading it and they are missing a treat. Young Cedric Errol lives in New York with his mother in genteel poverty. By a series of misfortunes he finds that he is the heir to an Earldom and he is whisked away to England to learn to be a gentleman.  His grandfather, the Earl of Dorincourt is an embittered disappointed man disliked and feared by everyone. How he comes to love his grandson and to learn from him how to treat people with love and kindness is the story of the book and, NO, it is not too much to take. Forget the winsome versions with golden haired children in velvet suits making one feel nauseous.  Just concentrate on the relationships within the story which are at its heart.

Frances Hodgson Burnett is the author of many books for adults though she is mainly remembered now as the author of not only Fauntleroy but The Secret Garden and the Little Princess. Many of her books feature a Cinderella theme, Little Lord Fauntleroy elevated to the peerage, The Little Princess from riches to poverty and then back again, Mary in the Secret Garden poor in the lack of love in her family, finding happiness in the garden of the title.

An adult novel, The Making of a Marchioness also has the same theme. A Cinderella type heroine, sweet and kind, at the beck and call of all and sundry is unexpectedly finds love and riches and a husband who she loves dearly. She nearly loses them through wicked machinations before all ends happily. A glorious book which I have read many times (if you every come across the tv version of it made a few years ago AVOID AT ALL COSTS. It is a travesty and appallingly bad). 

And, finally, the Wind in the Willows. What can one say about Ratty and Mole and Badger and Toad that has not been said by others? Nothing save it is the most wonderful book. For some reason which I cannot explain I did not read WITW until I was in my twenties. I have tried to work out how I missed it but always come to bewildered halt. But it does not matter. In a way I am rather glad that I had this long delayed pleasure and I can remember finally reading it and being totally and utterly enchanted by it. This enchantment has stayed with me and never left me.

What do these three titles have in common?  Along with Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, The Secret Garden et al they are timeless, they never go out of fashion, their themes of love and happiness are as old as the hills but as new as today.

I will never tire of them.

I am saving these Alma editions which are bright and new and beautifully illustrated, for my granddaughter. I do hope they come to love them as much as I do.

Off for a few days

I am off to London tomorrow to join in the celebrations for Beatrice's fifth birthday. I cannot believe that she has reached this age already. Seems like yesterday I was waiting, along with assorted members of the family and a small Florence, awaiting news of her arrival. Going to have fun and I know I will come back tres knackered but it will not matter.

Lots of reviews to come, the latest Anne Cleeves which was excellent and the British Library's 50th Classic Crime title as well. Will be writing all about this when I return

Au reservoir

 

Strictly Come Dancing - the Class of 2017

Well it is back in all its glitter ball glory. I recorded the initial show as it goes on for hours and hours and tests the stamina something awful. 

Started with the red carpet and all the professional dancers doing a great turn to Fred and GInge music. So far so good. We get to the studio proper and on come Claudia and Tess both looking as if a bottle of Cuprinol had been tipped over them. We  all know that there is plenty of fake tan but really they looked as if they had been dipped in it and left to roast for an hour.

We were introduced to the judges who came on and did a bit of a turn - the new head judge, Shirley somebody who I know nothing about, looked pretty sharpish on the dance floor and looks a bit dominatrix to me. Darcy looked a tad apprehensive. Bruno positively grovelled and Craig was charming too.  We shall see how she gets on.

As per I have not the faintest idea who half, no three quarters of these people are. They seem to have really scraped the bottom of the barrel this year - seems to happen alternate years - but in the end it does not really matter. Even if I don't know who they are, I will soon and the viewers get to know them and either love or loathe them. I have already taken an instant dislike to a couple of which more anon, after I have seen them and decided whether my first reaction was the right one or not.

Clue: his first words were I am out of my Comfort Zone.   Somebody, somewhere needs to delete that expression from the English language and anybody who uses it should be hung, drawn and quartered.

Other one I disliked gushed Oh it is SUCH a privilege etc etc.

Best thing about Strictly is the simply wonderful live blog the Guardian runs for each show. I have been on it for a few years now and the gang on there are some of the funniest, wittiest people you could hope to meet, though of course I have never met any of them.  It is like a huge party every Saturday night during the life of the show and we have all just been saying hello again and chatting.

On a quieter note, the show this week paid tribute to lovely SIr Bruce Forsyth who died recently. In all the tributes paid to him there has not been one nasty or sarky one. Even those who did not like him, and there were a few, said what a professional he was. Everyone on Strictly loved him, or if they did not they certainly did not say so.  Tess, for the first time, stopped being so robotic and ended up in genuine tears and a wobble in her voice as the introduced it all. She said how nervous she had been the first show and Sir B had told her she would be fine, just come on and 'I will give you a twirl'

So putting you all on notice that I shall be chatting about the show as per throughout the series. I shall get my glitter and sparkly pjs out to wear each Saturday and will be taking note of how the Class of 2017 are doing. I am giving you plenty of warning so you can avoid it if you have more intellectual things to do....and of course you have.

So it is chilly today, raining and leaves falling. WIth the Last Night of the Proms behind us and Strictly starting, we are now on the countdown to winter and C*******s. Cannot bring myself to actually say the word.

I am off to London later in the week as it is my darling Beatrice's fifth birthday. FIVE! I cannot believe it.

Have just spent a few days with my good friend Daphne. I took her a whole pile of books Oh good that has got rid of a few thinks I.  I arrive 'Oh Elaine I have a few books for you to take back with you"

I cannot win

Au reservoir

I Know a Secret - Tess Gerritsen

Must be several years ago now I came across a book by Tess Gerritsen when checking out the books in one of my local charity shops which I do on a regular basis. I cannot remember which title it was now, only that it was one of her stand alone books, but after reading the first few pages thought Hey this sounds good so I bought it. I also purchased the other five titles by the same author on their shelves as I have made the mistake before of only buying one and then charging back later to buy the rest, having discovered an author I liked, only to find they were gone.   And let's face it, if you are lumbered with half a dozen books you do not like, just take them back to the charity shop in question and re-donate them and we are all happy.

Anyway, no such probs here because I remember a happy few days reading, as I always do when I find a new author I like, as many books by Tess Gerritsen as I could lay my hands on. And there are a lot. They are all pacy, well written and fairly zip along taking the reader with them. I then discovered the Rizzoli and Isles series and this is where I think she really hits her stride.

Jane Rizzoli is a police detective based in Boston. She comes from an Italian family with its warm familial background and lots of details about her mum's cooking. BUT, the men in her family are the worst kind of male chauvinistic pigs you could ever hope to find and regularly reduced me to speechless rage.   They don't think much of what she does and her male colleagues at work, one in particular, are also pretty sexist and unhelpful.   Jane is small, feisty with curly hair and a raging determination to prove that she is as good, if not better, than her colleagues. And of course she is.

Her partner in this series and, later, a good friend is Maura Isles the police forensic surgeon.  Tall, elegant, straight black hair and cool in her manner and speech she is a complete contrast to Jane. Her job is all she has, no family and very few friends and, as the series progresses, we learn why.

This latest title I Know a Secret is the twelfth in the RIzzoli and Isles series and, unlike other series I have read, do not seem to suffer that 'dip' in standards that I have spotted in others. It must be difficult to keep a fresh outlook and be interested in your characters but Tess Gerritsen has created two really interesting protagonists and the more you learn about them, the more you invest in them and want to find out about their lives and their feelings. Only good writing does this

So in this new title the duo are faced with a series of particularly grisly murders in which the victims die as portrayed in portraits of Catholic saints who were martyred in very nasty ways. As an ex-convent girl I can attest to seeing some illustrations of the ghastly things done to these probably innocent, people. I am pretty sure that children now would not be allowed to see these in case they scared the Bejesus out of them, I know they did me.

The deaths occur in different times and locations and it is not until Maura spots the pattern, ie the martyrs that Jane is able to track down the link between all the victims.  It is a particularly unpleasant case of child abuse in a children's home some twenty odd years earlier and all the victims were, or claimed to be, sufferers at the hands of a family who were found guilty and jailed. But the hint is given that they were innocent and that the son, now out of jail, is wreaking revenge on those he felt lied.

All simple and straightforward but of course it isn't and the story navigates its way through twists and turns until the truth is uncovered. It is also left rather ambiguously open ended and pretty sure this is because one of the main characters involved is going to return. I do hope so.

As per, a terrific read and gave me an afternoon of sofa sitting and tea drinking as I gulped it down in a couple of hours.  Jane's ghastly family are to the fore again and we learn more about Maura and her personal life, both these strands run through the books so though you can read them as stand alone I would recommend that if you are starting out on these, you read them in order.

When I first discovered the Rizzoli and Isles series I wondered why nobody had made a TV series about them and was then told that there was one in existence. It was on satellite tv which I did not then have. Later when I did I tracked it down and watched it. Utterly Dire and totally wrong. Two episodes and that was that.   Shame.

So read the books - they are great.

Random Ramble

I have not had a Ramble for a while. A Rant yes but not a Ramble and I assure you there is a difference.

Have had a quiet week or so which suits me as I have a lot coming up over the next few months. The last few days has been spent glued to the tv watching the second Test Match against the W. Indies.  Simply dire in the first of the series the England team won easily and it was so one sided it was not worth watching. Watching James Anderson bowl is not one of my favourite occupations as I think he is a truculent surly bugger (though I understand off the field he is sheer delight and is kind to dogs and old ladies) and to see him mowing down these poor unfortunates was not for me.

However, the W.Indian team obviously feeling totally humiliated, bounced back and won the second Test much to the total astonishment of all and to my utter glee. I will not rabbit on about how I still find it difficult to support the English team, you have heard it all before, but even staunch supporters were delighted at this win. We have had a lot of Test Matches which are done and dusted in three/four days and it is clear from the start who were going to be the victors, but not here. One of the commentators on a cricket blog I follow, said that his wife who does not care for cricket asked him half way through the final afternoon session who was winning. His response was I have no idea. And that was why it was so wonderful. I loved every minute of it.

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Being taking delivery of a load of clothes recently for my upcoming cruise to Australia in the New Year. As I will be sailing into hot climes I have had to buy now as by the time I get round to it the shops are full of winter clothes and boots etc. I loathe shopping and going into town and struggling around and trying on clothes in changing rooms and instead prefer to order from a catalogue. I order a huge amount of all shapes and colours and sizes and then have a good hour or so trying them all on and keeping and discarding. In this way I have got my wardrobe together and, as I spend most of my time, slobbing around in leggings and woolly sox, have spent more on new garments, both inner and outer, in the last few months than I have in years. My purchases will keep me going for yonks. I may need to go on another cruise to get the most out of them....

I did do some actual shopping last week though. I wanted a particular pair of shoes from Hotter whose products I love and are so comfortable as well as being stylish. I have found their customer service to be excellent in the past so was rather surprised to discover when I tracked down the pair I wanted in a store in Cambridge (they had run out online) and ringing them up, that they would not post them to me and when I queried why got all vague and said it was to do with 'data protection'. Well I was annoyed but as I am always happy to go to Cambridge went and picked them up. Not sure the staff knew what data protection had to do with it either to be honest.

So I then popped into East, one of my favourite shops. Mainly because their clothes are very forgiving and flowing and lovely and hide a multitude of sins as well as being gorgeous.  Was trying some garments on when I heard a lady in the next changing cubicle say she wanted this particular outfit as she was going on a cruise to Australia. Me too I caroled and nipped out to make sure we were not on the same ship. Well we weren't but we ended up having a good chat and looking at each other's outfits and making recommendations. One of the assistants said 'oh your friend likes that too'. Was quite surprised when I told her I had only known her ten minutes.

Exited the store with some great stuff and the staff in the Cambridge East made shopping there a pleasure as they always do. So should you happen to read this THANKYOU

**************

So as you can see nothing earth shattering but a nice week apart from the fact I had some sort of tummy upset yesterday and lay around all day 'alone and palely loitering'. Not sure what it was but gone now thank goodness and I am fit enough to watch the tennis from the US Open (Mem to self: check which court Shriekerova is on, yes she is back, and Avoid at All Costs).

 

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Sister looking at the state of my sink

Sister came round for tea last week as well and took me to task at the 'state of my kitchen'. The following conversation ensued:

Sister: It is a bit of a mess

Me: I know we have only just had tea and scones and I have not cleared up yet

Sister: but all those dishes piled up in the drainer. Don't you ever put them away?

Me: Of course I do, every night before I go to bed (this is a bit of a fib as I do not always do this, as I am going to use the same plate for breakfast what is the point of putting it in a cupboard?)

Sister who has given me a new apron: Now don't forget to put that awful old dirty pinny in the wash

Me: Yes I promise (and this I have done)

Sister: When I come to look after you after you have had your operation (possible knee replacement but not for some years yet) I will come to look after you and I will bring my wire wool with me

Me (blenching) Oh ok

I tell you that woman is addicted to her wire wool. If I let her have free reign in my kitchen I know she will have the paint off the walls while trying to get rid of a mark...

*************

Ok off to watch tennis now. It seems the match on court at the moment is a ladies match Svitolina v Siniakova. I have not the faintest idea who they are or the difference between them ...

Au reservoir.