Random Jottings

Autumn at Kew

I am lucky that my family live ten minutes walk away from Kew Gardens and I can visit any time I want as they are Friends and have a yearly pass. I am up here looking after grandchildren but they are at school today and so I decided to take a look at the gardens again. I have visited in all the seasons and it is perennially beauitful, but autumn takes some beating. It is my favourite season and on a day llke today when the sky is blue, it is mild and the sun is shining and an autumn nip in the air. It is unbeatable. I had a wonderful couple of hours strolling and then resting with a coffee as my knee started to play up big time, but it was worth it as you can see from these photographs.

 

Eva Ibbotson revisited

Several years ago I read Manja by Anna Gmeyer which was published by Persephone Books.

"Written in London by a young Austrian playwright in exile, Manja opens, radically, with five conception scenes one night in 1920. Set in the turbulent Germany of the Weimar Republic, it goes on, equally dramatically, to describe the lives of the children and their families until 1933 when the Nazis came to power.".

Not an easy book for me and I struggled with it but when I finally reached the last page I was glad I had read it.  One of those books that you may never read again, but are there in your subconscious and, perhaps unknowingly, have left an impression that leads you on to reading other things.

One discovery that delighted me when reading the introduction to Manja, was finding that it was written by Eva Ibbotson, who has been one of my favourite writers for some twenty+ years with her books of enchantment and wit, set in Vienna, Russia and South America.  Another discovery was that she was Anne Gmeyer's daughter and the childhood she had described in her book The Morning Gift was based on that of she and her mother when they left Austria after the Anschluss.  It made the perfect link for me.

I am revisiting my past posts on Eva Ibbotson as the author Amanda Craig, amongst others, has been discussing her on Twitter and asking why she is not better known. I have been joining in the discussion and decided to see what I had written about her in the past.

Eva Ibbotson is well known for her children's books, Which Witch?, The Secret of Platform 13, The Island of the Aunts and The Star of Kazan to name a few, but for me Eva Ibbotson is the author of books imbued with her love of music, opera and ballet that I have read so many times and which I turn to on many occasions when no other book will do.  Though I love them all, the ones that appeal to me  most are those set in Vienna.

Oh, how I want to visit this city and I am so determined to do so.  Ever since I was a little girl this city has seemed to me to be a place of enchantment, the home of Johann Strauss, the Prater, the coffee houses, Sachertorte, the Schonbrunn, the home where Elizabeth of Austria reigned, she of the magical Winterhalter painting with flowers in her hair, the annual New Year's Concert and of the course, Viennese  opera and operetta.

I have a copy of  A Glove Shop in Vienna and other stories. I came across it in a second hand bookshop some years ago and grabbed it straight away. I have just gone on line to see if there is a new edition of it as there have been of many of Eva's titles but not this one it seems. The one pictured left seems to be the only one available at the moment,

I read the opening paragraphs of the first story on the first page and knew that I had another gem in front of me:

"It was mid-December and a night of snow.  All day the thick soft flakes had fallen quietly, covering the blank faced nymphs and satyrs on Vienna's innumerable fountains; blanketing the bronze rumps of the rearing horse on which dead warriors of the Habsurg Empire rode forever; giving the trees along the Ringstrasse a spare Siberian splendour.

The gas-lamps threw rings of brightness into the squares, the smart shops along the Karner Strasse looked like stage sets.  In the big apartment houses, those grand slightly crumbling Viennese houses which look like Renaissance palaces, but house simply doctors and lawyers and other self-respecting members of the bourgeoisie, the closed shutters were pierced by rays which the snow threw back in unaccustomed brightness.

One window in one such apartment house remained unshuttered so that a square of golden light went untrammelled into the dusk.  Inside Katrina fat and warm like all the best cooks in Vienna, produced an ever growing pile of gingerbread hearts and vanilla crescents; of almond rinds and chocolate gugelhuph".

To me this conjours up an warm, cosy, magical picture that never fails to beguile me. There is a word  'gemutlich' which Queen Victoria used when she and her beloved Albert were sitting around a fire with each other and surrounded by their children, happy, together and all well.  It is not possible to translate this word into an English equivalent which gives the same impression. Each of these stories, and in all her books, the heroine is small, enchanting and feisty. (I am aware that I am using the word enchanting far too often here but really it is the only one that will do...)  Ocassionally there are times when you feel that everything is about to topple over into whimsy and it is all a tad too sweet and picturesque, but the author seems to be aware of this danger and then a shaft of irony and wit pops up, just in time to avert this happening.

In another story in this collection, A Little Disagreement, Tante Wilhemina is on her death bed.  This happens about twice a year and is taken very seriously.  The family group around her with 'the weight and dignity of a Delacroix or a Titian'.  All the hushed relative are in the room, but where are the cats?  They must be there.   The housekeeper's son is sent to find them. Wotan and Parsifal present no problem

'huge neutered tom cats, they were perfectly prepared to finish their cream at the food of the bed.  Siegfried, however, was another matter.  Siegfried's operation had not been a success and he was absent on the tiles.....'

Wonderful.  Three cats, Wotan, Parsifal and Siegfried.  When I read this, only today, I hooted with laughter delighted that somebody else had had Wagnerian pets.  We used to have a Siegfried too, but he was a guinea pig........

Very difficult to explain why I love these books the way I do.  When I first read A Glove Shop in Vienna and Madensky Square I was commuting into town each day, exhausting and frustrating.  But it all went by the board when becoming engrossed in these two titles..  I was in Vienna drinking coffee with whipped cream and eating a slice of Sachertorte while a small cafe house orchestra played the Emperor Waltz.

Nearly all of her books are available now though I disagreed with the rebranding of some of them a few years ago with ghastly covers, but there are newer editions available. Many of her titles such as The Company of Swans and and the Countess Downstairs seem to be aimed at the young adult market but really they can be enjoyed by us grown ups as well...

Do try them.

 

Kind Edward VIII - Ted Powell

In 2018 we have had the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, closely followed by the nuptials of Princess Eugenie of York and then the announcement that Meghan was expecting a baby. Then off go the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on a tour of Australia, New Zealand and Fiji and the papers are full of it. What will she wear? How will she hide her bump? And so on and so on. The interest in the Royal Family seems limitless and never ending despite the snide comments of those who think they are a waste of space.

I am old enough to remember when the Queen came to the throne and how totally glamorous she was and how devestatingly handsome was the Duke.  If you think the level of sycophancy is bad now you should have read the papers and magazines back then. The Duke has gone on record as saying that the adulation was immense and he had to make the decision to ignore it and not be seduced by it as, ultimately, it will rebound on you. Wise words that the late Princess Diana might have done well to remember.

But before the recent events there was Edward, the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VIII. The level of adoration for him was quite staggering. I have never been an admirer of the Duke of Windsor, as he later became after the abdication, viewing him as selfish, self absorbed and totally unaware of how his actions and words rebounded on his family and social circle. His obsession with Mrs Simpson is, to many people, inexplicable.  Over the years I have read many biographies about this couple and though I cannot say I warm to the Duchess, I am pretty sure that the life she led with him was stifling and boring in many ways as his adoration was overwhelming.

Prior to meeting her the Prince was sent off by his father, George V, on a series of world tours. These went on for months and were totally exhausting and draining. He was a tremendous sucess, especially with the women, but on reading the amount of people he met, the travelling from place to place he had to do, I began to feel a pang or two of sympathy for him.  At one stage he had shaken so many hands that he had to start using his left hand as his right was so painful and sore.

Edward was a superstar and a huge celebrity wherever he went, but particularly in the United States. "His status was all the more remarkable in that he was a European prince who only made two brief visits to the USA..........in Britain he was royalty, in America he was a celebrity"

He hated it and wanted to leave it all behind. He loathed the trappings of tradition, the work, the red boxes which he had to deal with when he ascended to the throne. He did not want the responsibility and viewed Mrs Simpson as the one who could save him from all this. When she realised the level of dissension in the country she tried to withdraw but he panicked and threatened to kill himself if she left him.  I do feel that Mrs Simpson who, it seems to me, just wanted to be Queen Bee of society, had bitten off more than she could chew and there was no escape,

I began to warm to him a little, just a little, and then of course after the Abdication this sympathy wanes as the reality of the life he had chosen began to impinge on his consciousness.  He did not want to be King but he still wanted and expected to be treated like one with all the pomp and luxury that entailed. When he found that he could not pop backwards and forwards to England whenever he felt like it and that his exile was permanent, the selfish side of his character came to the fore once more.

This book is sub-titled An American Life and the blurb on the dust jacket tells us that he author, Ted Powell, challenges the conventional view of Edward as a shallow pleasure seeking Nazi and seeks to reveal "a complex and vulnerable man struggling to reconcile his destiny as heir to the British throne and his love affair with the American Dream". I do not think he succeeds in this, though this is my opinion only. Edward was in love with an American not necessarily the country where he only visited a few times. He made the mistake of thinking that he could leave all his irritations and unhappiness behind but he merely took it with him.

Tommy Lascelles, his private secretary felt the Prince suffered from a form of arrested development "for some hereditary or physiological reason his normal mental development stopped dead when he reached adolescence... his only yardstick in measuring the advisability or non advisability of any particular action was "Can I get away with it?" - an attitude typical of boyhood"

I have only skimmed the surface of this book in my review.There is so much depth and interest in this aspect of the King's life but I feel it would be better if you got hold of a copy and read it for yourself as I do not think I can do it justice.  I will admit that I felt a slight softening of my feelings towards the Prince as I read it, but then by the end I began to lose patience again with his neediness, his ego and his indifference towards others. Starting with so much promise which obviously overwhelmed him and, in the end, led him to a futile and sterile life.

This book is published by OUP and, as with all their publications, beautifully produced and packed with photographs and has obviously been impeccably resarched by somebody very much interested in showing us another side of King Edward VIII.  A fascinating read - I read it straight through over three days and sat up late one night to finish it as I found it so absorbing.

And the Royal caravanserai goes on....

A Day in Cambridge

The reading block I mentioned in my last post is still holding though I have managed to read a crime novel in the last week, but I still have this reluctance to tackle my To be Read pile which has gained a few more titles in the last few days. So I went off to Cambridge for the day and to meet up with my author friend Jan Jones for lunch.  I have known Jan since my early blogging days and we meet up a few times a year for food and gossip and it is always a lovely occasion. A year ago Jan appeared at An Afternoon of Romance at the Felixstowe Book Festival, alongside Kate Hardy, a Mills & Boon writer and a great time was had by all.   Jan had also allowed me to borrow her entire library of Freeman Wills Croft books, many of which are hard to come by, and I could not be more greatful.

It was a gorgeous day, sun shining, blue sky and, as ever, Cambridge looked wonderful. Now that my daughter Helen is back there as a Fellow of St Johns I shall be visiting even more....

St John's College where Helen is a Fellow

Kings College Chapel

On the way back to pick up my bus back to the Park an Ride I passed an Oxfam bookshope and felt it would be churlish to ignore it so popped in. I find nowadays that most charity shops seem to stock the same titles, loads of Fifty Shades of Grey, Dan Brown and chicklit but you never know what you will find and it is always worth a look. As I mentioned in my post last week on Elizabeth von Arnim, I came across a whole box of her books in Cambridge, so there is always the chance of a good find.

My back was aching really badly by the time I got into the shop and my arthritic knee was ditto so did not feel like lingering long when I spotted a book cover I recognised on a shelf close to the floor. So I bent down to the accompaniment of gunshot cracking knees and came across these:

I had two of them on my shelves but they are old and battered and ex-library copies and these were in pristine condition. I get the feeling they have sat on shelves for over forty years (they were published in the sixties) and not touched. They have that musty dusty smell of books that have sat a long time and I intend to put them by an open window and let the fresh air get at them a bit.

I had recently discovered Queen Victoria around the time these were published having just read Victoria RI by Elizabeth Longford, a ground breaking biography, that had me enthralled and the publication of this selection of the Queen's letters to and from her daughter Empress Frederick of Germany were perfectly timed. Roger Fulford was the editor and how he managed to fillet the letters down to a readable selection must have been incredibly difficult to do.  The sheer volume of letters from the Queen throughout her long life and reign is simply staggering and her character, her wit, humour, trenchant views and humanity come through every line.  There would have been even more if Princess Beatrice had not burned so many of them after her mother's death. Not sure I can ever forgive her for that.

But we have plenty to be getting on with and I have already dipped into Volume I and am loving them all over again.

So a good day all round..

 

Frances Hodgson Burnett - a writer for adults as well

I am in one of those times that occur in one's reading life when I think 'I don't know what to read next'. I have about thirty books on my recently received table, dozens more on my shelves and yet I cannot settle to any of them. When this happens, and it has happened before, I tend to re-read a book I know well and have loved in the past. Quite often they will be a book originally written for children. So the other day I read The Lost Prince by Frances Hodgson Burnett which I simply adore.  Involves the lost claimant of a throne somewhere in Europe where two factions have been fighting and killing each other for centuries. There has always bee a Prince in Waiting throughout the years and when we meet our three main protagonists, a poor family consisting of a boy, a gentleman father and an aide-de-camp in the guise of an old soldier, living in hiding all round Europe and now London, we have no doubts as to their identity

It is all very Ruritanian - think Prisoner of Zenda and it is romantic and far fetched and it never fails to make me feel better.  This led me on to taking down another by this author and, once again, was totally beguiled by Little Lord Fauntleroy. 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.

When this was published thousands of school boys had reason to loathe her as it became hugely fashionable to dress your child in a velvet suit just like the Little Lord. This story was as popular and as widely read by children in its day as Harry Potter has been.  It made its author famous after a long long time of writing adult books which, though they sold well, did not feature in the best sellers of the time.

Not many people knew that before the wrote children’s fiction she was a highly successful author of dozens of adult novels and I was one of the ignorant until one day I came across an American publication in my local library of a book called The Making of a Marchioness.  I took it home with me, sat down to read it, and did not speak to anybody for about half a day until I had finished it. 

This book features an unlikely pair of lovers - a dull, prosaic Marquis bored by being pursued by society women, and Miss Emily Fox-Seton, who cannot be described in any way as young or beautiful or even interesting. She is a good hearted, good natured woman, living by her own endeavours and, unmarried at nearly 30, facing a frightening future on her own.

Just a few of my collection....

She meets her future husband, the Marquis of Walderhurst, at a weekend house party where she is paying for her keep by organising a function for her hostess.  At the same party we meet Lady Agatha Slade, a society beauty, who is in a state of high anxiety and nervousness as she feels that she is failing in her duty by not marrying well and saving the family fortunes.  With younger sisters at home she knows her time on the marriage market is limited.  Despite the disparity in their positions, Lady Agatha and Emily Fox-Seton become friends, linked together by their terror of a lonely old age.   On the surface of it, The Making of a Marchioness is a Cinderella story, but Frances Hodgson Burnett was making her own comment on the very nature of the society in which it is set, in which women were at the mercy of circumstances and were only judged by whether they made a ‘good’ marriage or not.

This book was reprinted by Persephone books a  few years ago and has been one of their best sellers. They went on to publish another by this author, The Shuttle.  This tells the story of the influx of American heiresses in English Edwardian society where their money, married to an English title, saved many a historic family from failure.  The title can be looked at it two ways:  that of a shuttle weaving the threads together between the two countries or, as a modern usage of the word which we are more used to, that of shuttling backwards and forwards across the Atlantic.

This book is writing of a high order, totally absorbing and in its own way, quite daring.  Without giving any of the plot away, there is a scene where our heroine has been abducted and FHB makes it clear that a rape is in the offing.  Heavy stuff at that time.

Through One Administration is set in Washington. At the time of writing Franches was married to a politician and they were involved in the heart of political life. This book is absorbing. I will agree when reading her that sometimes you can hit a purple passage but they are less in this book and I found it positively Edith Wharton like in its construction and narrative. High praise.

Then there is T Tembarom which I have written about here and which I note I read when I was in the middle of a busy time and could not concentrate or read. Seems I turn to FHB a lot in these moments.

Nearly all the out of print books are now available in hardback, paperback and of course, Kindle versions. At the moment you can buy the complete works of this author for your Kindle for the princely sum of 99p. Got to be the bargain of the year.

Only problem with turning to this author for comfort reading is that I need to know when to stop. I have started a new biography of WInston Churchill, which is clearly going to be excellent, three volumes on the life of L M Montgomery which include an examination of all that she read, half a dozen Gold Age mysteries are clammering for attention and so many more.

What to do? What to do?

 

I am in one of those times that occur in one's reading life when I think 'I don't know what to read next'. I have about thirty books on my recently received table, dozens more on my shelves and yet I cannot settle to any of them. When this happens, and it has happened before, I tend to re-read a book I know well and have loved in the past. Quite often they will be a book originally written for children. So the other day I read The Lost Prince by Frances Hodgson Burnett which I simply adore.  Involves the lost claimant of a throne somewhere in Europe where two factions have been fighting and killing each other for centuries. There has always bee a Prince in Waiting throughout the years and when we meet our three main protagonists, a poor family consisting of a boy, a gentleman father and an aide-de-camp in the guise of an old soldier, living in hiding all round Europe and now London, we have no doubts as to their identity

It is all very Ruritanian - think Prisoner of Zenda and it is romantic and far fetched and it never fails to make me feel better.  This led me on to taking down another by this author and, once again, was totally beguiled by Little Lord Fauntleroy. 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.

When this was published thousands of school boys had reason to loathe her as it became hugely fashionable to dress your child in a velvet suit just like the Little Lord. This story was as popular and as widely read by children in its day as Harry Potter has been.  It made its author famous after a long long time of writing adult books which, though they sold well, did not feature in the best sellers of the time.

Not many people knew that before the wrote children’s fiction she was a highly successful author of dozens of adult novels and I was one of the ignorant until one day I came across an American publication in my local library of a book called The Making of a Marchioness.  I took it home with me, sat down to read it, and did not speak to anybody for about half a day until I had finished it. 

This book features an unlikely pair of lovers - a dull, prosaic Marquis bored by being pursued by society women, and Miss Emily Fox-Seton, who cannot be described in any way as young or beautiful or even interesting. She is a good hearted, good natured woman, living by her own endeavours and, unmarried at nearly 30, facing a frightening future on her own.

Just a few of my collection....

She meets her future husband, the Marquis of Walderhurst, at a weekend house party where she is paying for her keep by organising a function for her hostess.  At the same party we meet Lady Agatha Slade, a society beauty, who is in a state of high anxiety and nervousness as she feels that she is failing in her duty by not marrying well and saving the family fortunes.  With younger sisters at home she knows her time on the marriage market is limited.  Despite the disparity in their positions, Lady Agatha and Emily Fox-Seton become friends, linked together by their terror of a lonely old age.   On the surface of it, The Making of a Marchioness is a Cinderella story, but Frances Hodgson Burnett was making her own comment on the very nature of the society in which it is set, in which women were at the mercy of circumstances and were only judged by whether they made a ‘good’ marriage or not.

This book was reprinted by Persephone books a  few years ago and has been one of their best sellers. They went on to publish another by this author, The Shuttle.  This tells the story of the influx of American heiresses in English Edwardian society where their money, married to an English title, saved many a historic family from failure.  The title can be looked at it two ways:  that of a shuttle weaving the threads together between the two countries or, as a modern usage of the word which we are more used to, that of shuttling backwards and forwards across the Atlantic.

This book is writing of a high order, totally absorbing and in its own way, quite daring.  Without giving any of the plot away, there is a scene where our heroine has been abducted and FHB makes it clear that a rape is in the offing.  Heavy stuff at that time.

Through One Administration is set in Washington. At the time of writing Franches was married to a politician and they were involved in the heart of political life. This book is absorbing. I will agree when reading her that sometimes you can hit a purple passage but they are less in this book and I found it positively Edith Wharton like in its construction and narrative. High praise.

Then there is T Tembarom which I have written about here and which I note I read when I was in the middle of a busy time and could not concentrate or read. Seems I turn to FHB a lot in these moments.

Nearly all the out of print books are now available in hardback, paperback and of course, Kindle versions. At the moment you can buy the complete works of this author for your Kindle for the princely sum of 99p. Got to be the bargain of the year.

Only problem with turning to this author for comfort reading is that I need to know when to stop. I have started a new biography of WInston Churchill, which is clearly going to be excellent, three volumes on the life of L M Montgomery which include an examination of all that she read, half a dozen Gold Age mysteries are clammering for attention and so many more.

What to do? What to do?

Strictly Come Dancing - a sticky week

A rather unedifying week all round which I think impacted on the show and robbed it of its enjoyment. I found that I felt most apprehensive watching on Saturday night and know that others felt the same. Of course the elephant in the room was the uproar over Katya and Sean caught in a passionate embrace down a dark alley.

A lot of comments on the Guardian live blog which, again, has been spoiled by new visitors joining in and a lot of Gosh you are a bunch of hyporcrites, it is only a kiss, give over type of comments. I have had to respond to some of them regarding my attitude. What they get up to is up to them and if it wasn't for a sneaky Sun journalist (though I am sorry to offend other journalists by grouping you all together) we would have known nothing about it.

Unfortunately, we DO know about it and it has overshadowed the show and made their behaviour the Main Story. I am not being judgemental, I worked in the City for over 20 years and am a veteran of too many drunken office parties to take the moral high ground, but I feel they should have left Strictly straight away.

Strictly always attracks the tabloids and gossip and in these days of Twitter all those taking part need to be careful. Difficult to realise that when Strictly first started there was very little internet and no social media and so contestants and the professionals were not exposed to so much publicity. However, it has always been there. I remember watching the first series and Lesley Garrett the so called Diva from Doncaster and Anton du Becke were accused of having an affair. Yes, hard to believe I know. I would have thought that her perennial over excitement and screeching would be enough to put anybody off, but that is purely my opinion.

The point I am trying to make, in a round about way as per, is that they should have been More Careful.  Their behaviour was not only hurful and sleazy but plain stupid. As I mentioned above I have attended many office parties in my working life and there have been occasions when I have woken up the next morning and thought Oh My God and dived back under the duvet. So we have all been there.

I feel those accusing people of being narrow minded should remember that there are many reading and watching this unfold who may have strong feelings about your husband/partner snogging somebody else. Those feelings should be respected and not dismissed by the Twitterati.

Their Charleston was poor and did not deserve an 8 from Shirley. I can only think she was overcompensating or, what is more likely, a score to keep them out of the bottom two and the dance off so the judges could avoid making a judgement for which they would receive flack whichever way it went.  And their dance WAS poor and should be judged accordingly which it was not. So unfair on the other contestants and I expect whoever ends up in the dance off will feeling disgruntled and rightly so.

One of the comments on the live blog was spot on and I am copying it in here:

I couldn't give two hoots about their private lives...but their actions have definitely spoiled the atmosphere on the show. I go to Strictly for a bit of light-hearted fun. I do NOT want to see half the cast shuffling awkwardly, staring at their shoes and forcing smiles. And I certainly don't want to see that thing Zoe did with the two of them ever again.Call me selfish, but I want them to take their personal dramas somewhere else and let me get back to worrying about whether Tess's dress is flattering or not and stoutly defending Dave Arch against accusations of crimes against pop music.

The show was mixed this week and because of all the above I felt it was below par.  Kate Silverton did a really poor sambe and looked so uncomfortable. She got through because she is a Good Egg and is partnered with Alijaz who is not a Good Egg but simply Divine.

Giovanni and Fay did not have a particularly spectacular eveninge either. The judges were much less generous in their marking this week, even Bruno reined back a bit and, for the reaons given above, were obviously aiming at a certain result. We are told it all depends on the public vote. Rubbish.

I gather from the papers that Sean was shaking like a leaf and was petrified before he went on to do his routine. Well, Sean perhaps you should think about katie Piper. A woman who had her life shattered by an acid attack from an ex-lover and who has fought back with a bravery that leaves me speechless, has had to have extra security on the set and at home because the culprit has just been let out of prison.

She has reason to be afraid Sean, not you...

 

Evelyn Anthony 1928-2018

One of my all time favourite authors died this week aged 92.  Evelyn Anthony was one of those authors on my list of Must Read when New Novel comes out. I first discovered them when I was working in Camden libraries many years ago and have read every single one of her titles. I posted about her a few years ago and am now revisiting this post in the light of her recent death and reminding everyone of just what a good writer she was.  Her obituary in the Telegraph makes interesting reading

Before turning to spy and thriller writing, Evelyn Anthony wrote historical novels and it was these that initially caught my attention.  Set in France, England, Scotland and Russia and all page turners, the one that really fascinated me was Victoria.  This was published late 1950s and well before the biography of  this Queeen by Elizabeth Longford which was a seminal work on this monarch and revealed the true love story between Victoria and Albert.  Since then much has been written about them and though it appears they had the most spectacular rows and arguments (haven't we all,) but they also had a pretty good sex life and truly adored each other.   In Evelyn Anthony's Victoria we find an Albert pretty well bludgeoned into marriage and unhappy all his life, always longing to return to his childhood home in Rosenau.  This take on V&A was so unlike anything I had read before that the memory of this book is as vivid today as it was when I first read it. The recent television series about Victoria has aroused so much interest in this marvellous monarch and this book is worth reading because of its viewpoint which was plausible when it was written but not so much now.

Then she turned to her spy/thriller novels and, good though the historical novels were, this is where she really hit her stride.  All of them best sellers, she tapped into the Cold War atmosphere beautifully and cannily took advantage of the Burgess, Maclean, Philby scandals and the worry of whether  there was a fourth or a fifth man (now we know there was). 

Stella Rimington  was head of MI6 or was it MI5? I can never tell the difference, sorry, has written several entertaining spy thrillers since her retirement about a female head of the service, Liz Caryle. Long gone are the days it seems when you had to keep quiet about your work in the intelligence service and you had to remain anonymous all your life.   Judi Dench portrayed M in the Bond movies and there has been speculation about who she based her character on.

But before Stella, before M, there was Davina Graham.   Evelyn Anthony's creation, the head of the Secret Service in the UK.  There are four titles featuring Davina  Graham  and these titles chart Davina's work and home life over a period of some ten years and are amongst her best as we become involved with her and her family and her joys and sorrows, and also get annoyed with her selfish, self centred sister, Charley. In order they are The Defector, Avenue of the Dead, Albatross and The Company of Saints. They are very very good indeed full of double agents and defectors and moles in the service and when I first read them and was totally unaware of the twists and turns and betrayals I was left totally bamboozled by them. I can highly recommend them BUT these are books that MUST be read in order. Please do not be tempted to do otherwise.

 I am sure that Stella Rimington must have read these books.There are strong similarities between Davina and Liz Carlyle...

Then there are the titles which have a Second World War link and these are impeccably researched and written.  The Poellenberg Inheritance, Voices on the Wind, the Rendezvous are amongst those I enjoyed, but the other day I was curled up in bed all morning as I read The Occupying Power for  the umpteenth time. The story opens with the Comtesse de Barnard, living in grace and luxury in Paris, being visited by the wife of an enemy of the past and the story is then told in flashback by the Comtesse to her family.  Gripping from start to finish.  The village of St Blaize in rural France is home to a family who has lived there for generations, the current Count is married to an American, Louise, from whom he is estranged as his wife is shocked at his collaboration with the Germans who have set up a headquarters at a nearby Chateau.  He wishes to keep the village safe until after the war, she despises him for his attitude.  Into this setting comes an undercover agent who is there to carry out a mission which is vital to the outcome of the war.   The previous agent had been betrayed by the village and handed over to the Germans, will the same happen now?

The blurb on the old paperback in my possession says 'The village of St Blaize was known for its willingness to co-operate its the Nazi conquerors.  But in May 1944 the events of a few days changed the inhabitants from cowards to patriot and brought the full fury of the Death' Head Battalion of the SS onto St Blaize. Years later a woman appears, her heart set on revenge.  The horror and anguish of the past must be lived again, the shameful secrets, the hidden loves and forbidden lusts long buried  must be brought to light....."

OK that is a bit lurid and over the top and does the book a disservice, but if you can grab a copy of this you will not be disappointed.

I also sat and was enthralled all over again by The Tamarind Seed which I found still pretty tense and nail biting even though I knew the ending. When I first read it my initial reaction was what a great film it would make. Well, it was made into a film starring Julie Andrews and Omar Shariff. I will say no more.....just read the book.

Those set outside the Intelligence Service or the Second World War are not as gripping though I will make an exception for the House of Vandekar, the story of an American Heiress who came to the UK and married a member of the aristocracy and lived in a wonderful house where she gave parties and was a great social hostess and political figure. At the beginning of this year I read all about Cliveden and Nancy Astor and realised on my re-read that the main protagonist in this particular Anthony title was based on Lady Astor. In this book she has a daughter called Nancy which is a hint and also an alcoholic son as did Lady Astor.   Gave me a different slant on this book after all these years.

One of her other stand alone novels Exposure features a character which was obviously based on Robert Maxwell and for those of us who remember this monstrous man and his untimely end, the parrallels are obvious.

Evelyn Anthony's historical novels, including a Russian trilogy which I read when I was about sixteen, have always been favourites but it is her spy novels which stand out.   As I said, before Liz Carlyle and before M we had Davina Graham and she is a fantastic character.

To emphasise just how much I love her books and how they are still exciting and readable, I re-read every single one of them while on my cruise earlier this year and enjoyed them all over again.

It is a joy to me that so many of the authors I used to read and love as a teenager and in my twenties are nearly all available on Kindle. So if you have not read Evelyn Anthony you have a treat in store.

Elizabeth von Arnim - time to read them again

I first came across Elizabeth von Arnim when I picked up a copy of The Enchanted April in Waterstones some 20 years ago and thought 'this looks interesting'.  I purchased it, went home, read it in two hours and came straight back into town and Waterstones and bought the other three on the shelves.  Since then I have never looked back and have managed to track down the out of print, old, unknown titles over the years.  On one never to be forgotten day in Cambridge, some years ago, I found a treasure trove of E von A in a box outside a bookshop, lovely blue bound editions at the princely sum of 50p each.  I swooped, I grabbed, I practically fainted and they all came home with me.

One of hers eluded me for ages. The last title I needed to complete my collection - In the Mountains.  I had been searching for some time and  found a copy, but at £150+ I decided that I would give this a miss.  Did another search and noticed that  Virago were going to reprint it. so I pre-ordered it and waited and nothing happened. It vanished from my Amazon basket and when I contacted Virago they said it was not going to be published after all. I was furious.

Some years later I was in London with my daughter Kathryn and we were strolling along the South Bank and, as many of you will know, there are loads of books for sale there spread out on long tables. I have found the odd treasure there and was pottering about when I spotted In the Mountains and with a cry of joy grabbed it.  It was priced at £40 but I haggled and got it down to £25 and went home totally delighted with my find.   I wrote about this on Face Book and lo and behold a friend of mine commented that she was really really sorry but she had just picked up a copy of this for 50p.   I will draw a veil over proceedings.....

And, as you will see, I have a collection of battered and old second hand copies of her works that I have tracked down over the years. Many of them are available now in newer editions but I treasure these copies and will never get rid of them.

Many of Elizabeth von Arnim's output are very very funny.  Elizabeth's Adventures in Rugen, Christoper and Columbus and Fraulein Schmidt and Mr Anstruther come to mind, and a rather neglected title, An Introduction to Sally which chronicles the fatal effect a simply stunningly beautiful girl has on all around her, reduced me to hoots when I first found it in a second hand bookshop, but many of them are thoughtful and with hidden depths.  I am thinking of Love, the story of an older woman married to a much younger man, Mr Skeffington and, of course, her masterpiece, Vera, which portrays the story of a mentally abusive marriage to a possessive and controlling husband quite chillingly.

The most delightful of all her books though is, of course, The Enchanted April which I have now read numberless times and I treasure the copy I have which is the original Virago edition which I found in a second hand bookshop. How I love exploring these places where you never know what you will find.

From the pictures you will see that I have two copies of The Adventures of Elizabeth in Rugen - one the faithful Green Virago edition and another I picked up in Hay on Wye and simply could not leave on the shelf, purely for the illustration at the beginning.

Christine was an early book written by Elizabeth von Arnim, but hidden behind her maiden name of Alice Cholmondeley. It is a series of letters from her daughter who was working as a nurse at the front in the first World War.  This book was not popular in Germany as it was seen as 'anti-German' by the government. Elizabeth at this time was married to Count von Arnim so the publication of these letters would not have gone down well.  Hence, the pseudonym.

This edition was published in 1917 by the Macmillan Company, New York with a lovely cover and printing and inside a greetings card to Nelly from a Mr Russell O Snyder from Wilkinsbury, Pennsylvania. I wonderws just who Mr Snyder was and why he gave this to Nelly - was she his sweetheart, his wife, his daughter?  A slightly odd and unusual book to give as a Christmas present considering its content.

Shortly after I wrote about this book I received an email from a reader in Australia. She lived in the outback in a fairly isolated area and had difficulty receiving a connection so she rarely left comments on the blog but she sent me an email and this is what she said:

"I thought I would just mention this coincidence regarding the dedication in your copy of Christine. My husband's great grandmother was Ellen Shillam who emigrated to the USA and married a Mr A R Snyder. Her youngest daughter, she was a widow, accompanied her, her name was Nell. Perhaps Nell was a little young to be reading Christine if she was given it in 1917 when it was hot off the press. It is probably stretching coincidence too far to suppose she was the actual recipient but the two names struck me when reading the post and it would be nice to think you identified a previous owner of the book"

To say I was gobsmacked when I read this was putting it mildly. How simply wonderful that I have in my possession a book given as a present to a long gone relative and that somebody in the middle of Australia read my post and wrote to me.   I have the email tucked into the book and will treasure it along with the card inside.

On reading Christine you will find a poignant foreword from Elizabeth:

"We share our griefs; and anything there is of love and happiness, any smallest expression of it, should be shared too.  That is why I am leaving out nothing in the letters.  The war killed Christine, just as surely as if she had been a soldier in the trenches................I never saw her again.  I had a telegram saying she was dead. I tried to go to Stuttgart, but was turned back at the frontier.  Her last two letters reached me after I knew that she was dead".

Reading Christine's letters is like reading anything written by Elizabeth von Arnim.  The wit and style of her mother is there and also the eagle eye spotting hypocrisy and cant and mercilessly exposing it.  It is very sad reading these pages knowing that she died so young.  She was not killed by a bomb or any act of war, but pneumonia probably brought on by tiredness and overwork.

"Goodnight my own mother.  I've had a happy week.  I put my arms around you and kiss you with all that I have of love.  Christine".

Unbearably sad.

I have been wanting to re-read Arnim for some time and, as I enjoy a winter project when the nights are cold and the curtains are drawn, I have decided to take them down from my shelf and visit them once more. I shall keep you posted.

After all it is not as if my To be Read pile is very big and calling for my attention....

Strictly - Movie Week

Preamble - tooth is out, pain free and no trouble at all.  Sitting with a gin and tonic while watching Strictly helped. I had been told to avoid hot drinks you understand...

Movie week this week on SCD and it was excellent. Sometimes these themed weeks can be a bit overdone and get a bit messy but not this time. We had a Harry Potter opening dance, most of which was fimed at Harry Potter World and was thrilled to see it again, and ended up with a Quidditch match in the studio with AJ chasing the Snitch on wires and the lighting making it look like a Quiddith pitch. totally brilliant. I know that Florence, my granddaughter, who loves HP was watching so hope she enjoyed it.

Right here goes:

Charles Venn - from Casualty and has illusions of grandeur. Has been described on the blog in the Guardian as a cut price Asda Idris Elba and it suts him perfectly. He has a habit of talking about himself in the third person as Charles Venn thinks etc and he is so up himsellf. I get the feeling that his partner Karen is not too keen.  Of course he adored doing his routine to the music from An Officer and a Gentleman so he could ponce about in a white uniform. Sorry Charles, you ain't no Richard Gere. My least favourite Sleb this year.

Graeme Swann - awful American Smooth last week, this week he had a Charleston to the Spiderman music and came dressed in head to toe Spiderman body suit. Turned in a great performance and I loved it. I am surprising myself by finding that I am warming to him. Up until now I have always found him an annoying prat.

Kate Silverton is a Goddess. She is my favourite person this year. Only ever having seen her on serious news programmes she has embraced Strictly totally and looks stunning. Six feet tall, and already having lost a stone, she was dancing as Jessica Rabbit last night and did a wonderful sllow foxtrot with Alijaz.  Fantastic.  Have to mention that Aljaz is the only man who could look sexy in a rabbit costume. Mind you Giovanni might run him close.

Ashley and Pasha - dance to Dirty Dancing. Yes it was good but how many times are we going to see this on Strictly? Everyone knows they will go for That Lift and it will be a crowd pleaser and so it was but a little more originality in the choreography would be good to see. She is a totally professional dancer and the judges are going potty but She Will Not Win. We Brits do not like uppity dancers and though she may get through to the semi final or to Blackpool she willl then be given her marching orders.

Still too many couples for me to comment on each but I simply have to mention Giovanni and Fay Tozer. Now it seems she has had dance experiences as well but somehow i do not find her as irritating as Ashley, And yes I know it is contradictory  no need to tell me. She and Gio did a routine to Your are the one that I love from Grease. Yes, Giovanni was Danny Zuko and I was waiting for this all evening with beating heart. He is just soooooo sexy.(He is also quite amusing and funny and does not take his sexiness too seriously thank the Lord).  On they came and did a quickstep that was incredibly fast and stunning and full of fun and I and the studio audience went totally potty. Simply terrific and Craig’s reaction was FabULOUS darlling.

Katie Piper is slowly growing in confidence and everyone wants her to do well and is willing her on. She is a total inspiration and we all know that she would not want special treatment, but the judges are being kind and undertanding (they should do it more often) and it is a joy to see her opening up more. She is blind in one eye and cannot move her neck very well because of scar tissue I gather, but she does not make a big deal of it.  She is partnered with Gorka who is a total sweetie and is looking after her so well I hope she makes it to Blackpool.

Judges - I am trying hard to warm to Shirley but admit to finding it difficult. Not sure why.

Darcy - always looks stunning. She was wearing the most amazing earrings tonight and I was wracking my brain trying to think what they reminded me off when some kind person on the Guardian blog said they llooked just like boiled sweets you melt to make windows in a gingerbread house. YES!

Craig - always the best judge. His approval and marks are the most sought after by the couples. I do wish the audience would not boo him every time he starts critting. He always says the things that need attending to first and then gives them something positive.

Bruno - he really is getting worse. Fell off his chair again. I have a feeling it may be written into his contract to do this but it is beginning to get wearing. When he is quiet and talks properly he is an insightful, amusing and kind judge but this Gosh I must be the Life and Soul of the Party persona is overdone and boring. Time to change the meds methinks

Costumes, make up and sets were great. And I know the singers and the orchestra get a lot of flack but I think they are marvellous and having live music on this kind of show makes it special. Strictly has been going for yonks now but the production standards are stil incredibly high. It is Saturday night viewing at its best and I love it.

As always I know the result but will not tell

Back in a few days

Sorry folks I have had quite a week and cannot see my way to posting anything on here until the weekend at least. I have been up in London helping out with my grandchildren. My daughter Helen has started her new post this week in Cambridge. In case I have not already raved about it on Random, gawd knows I have everywhere else, she is taking up a Fellowship with St Johns and is a senior lecturer in modern British History. I could not be more proud but it involves a lot of organisation. She will have to be in Cambridge two days a week and grandparents are now at the forefront of childcare and help.

I have a diary which already has dates in up to January 2019 with more to come. Other grandparents ditto. We are fast friends which is lovely and liase with each other and organise what to do and have, on occasion, presented The Parents with a list of what We have Decided. They are always delighted to see this and, really, it works because both sets of Grandparents get on so well and makes life so much easier. I have known cases of rivarly between the grandparents each vying for attention and to see who get more time with the children. I have no time for this. I made it clear at the start that this was not going to happen. It was realistic because James' parents live so much nearer and, inevitably, will see more of the children than I who live further away. I freely admit that if we were not such good friends I might struggle, but it is not the case and I pay tribute to Grandparents No 2 for being such great people. Both Florence and Beatrice know that we get on well and they love their Two Grandma Days. So a win win situation all the way round.

OK so I am wittering as per.  I got back from London yesterday having stayed on an extra day as matters got a bit convoluted with work and collecting children and so I volunteered to sort it out which offer was gratefully received. I more or less had sole charge of my two for two days, taking and collecting from school, feeding them, giving them their bath, getting them to bed, listening to them read (Both brilliant!!) and then clearing up the kitchen etc etc.  I am now home and just a tad tired as you can imagine.

So no mental strength at the moment to review a few books which I want to do but cannot face. And, in case you think I am being a wuss, let me tell you that this afternoon, after weeks of toothache, I am having a tooth out. Yep so that is more than enough to be getting on with...

I am hoping to get down to the Review Pile in a few days but in the meantime Dear Readers, bear with me.

I shall, of course, be watching Strictly Come Dancing and will blog on that but that usually takes me about fifteen minutes and not much mental acuity needed.

I was thinking of the title of a Huxley novel Eyeless in Gaza. Think it was him. Cannot be bothered to check. Well, I shall soon be Toothless in Colchester. Not totally I know. I am exaggerating...