Random Jottings

Round up

I am sitting here wrapped in a nice heated blanket and looking out at yet another dreary day and wondering when Spring will arrive.  Daffodils are out in the garden which is always a good sign but now most of them are flattened by wind and rain and today is pretty chilly.

I have had a quiet couple of weeks, mainly doing domestic chores and baking (will be posting on cooking blog soon) and lots of comfort reading and re-reading as I lack the intellectual will at the moment to tackle anything requiring the use of the little grey cells.

I have just worked my way through the Bill Slider books by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, must be the third time I have read them all, and each time they come up fresh and interesting.  This author was discovered by me when I found a copy of one of the Morland Saga series and gave it a whirl. I then read the lot and loved them until her publishers told her they did not want them any more. Words fail but never mind.   The Slider books are produced under another imprint and I hope they do not make the same daft decision.

I have been watching the Lincoln Lawyer series on Netflix which are based on the books by Michael Connelly and thoroughly enjoyed it. I also love his Bosch books and, once again, a tv series has been made based on these, on Amazon Video this time, and well worth watching.

I have just read another in the British Library Crime Classics series by Carol Carnac, Impact of Evidence.  This author writes under the name of E R Lorac as well and is one of my favourite writers which have emerged from this marvellous series. I will be revewing soon.

And a very interesting book dropped through my letterbox today which also looks interesting. I have just started the first chapter and it is promising. This is by Rick Stroud I am Not Afraid of Looking into the Rifles and tells the story of Women of the Resistance in World War I.

And then another from, once again, the British Library, Forest Silver, a Lake District Story. I know absolutely nothing about this author but this series has a knack of turning up interesting finds so another on by pile.

"A novel rich in the period culture of the Lake District, Forest Silver unfolds a story of village life unsettled with the arrival of evacuees during the Second World War. Wing-Commander Richard Blunt, recovering from a life-changing injury, comes into the orbit of the enigmatic and headstrong Corys de Bainrigg in a tale of love, longing and facing up to reality, with the ghost of wartime trauma ever an unwelcome guest"

Will report back on this in due course as well.

So a few lined up and perhaps I need to get stuck in...

 

Charles III - Robert Hardman

In April 2022 I reviewed Robert Hardman's book Queen of Our Times and in my post I said that "Robert Hardman has written an admirable book.  It is refreshingly lacking in hyperbole and he has a journalistic style which makes for easy reading".

And now he has produced a book on Charles III and, once again, I have to use the same phrase. His lack of gush and royal obsequiousness is the main characteristic of the writing. He does not exaggerate or over egg the narrative and what emerges is a very interesting portrait, not just of the King as he is now (written and published before recent health scares) and I found it of immense interest.

I am a Royalist and supporter of the Monarchy and always have been. I find the long line of Kings and Queens all through history absolutely fascinating and the family likenesses and traits emerge over time, all of which can be intriguing or irritating depending on one's point of view.

This book covers the Queen's death in detail though it is not intrusive in any way.  One of the tabloids secured the serialisation rights thus arousing pre-publication interest and, naturally, as one has to sell papers, tended to highlight the antics of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.  However, thank goodness, they only feature in a small way in this biography and the author focusses on the events prior to her Majesty's death and the way the machine clicked into action when the news broke.

Of course, her funeral arrangements had been made years before and regularly updated under the codename London Bridge and telephone lines were busy after she passed away with those in charge receiving a call and the given code word.   Everyone then swung into action and my goodness me, did not hang about.

The details of the arrangements, not only of the funeral, but the Proclamation at St James (never filmed before) and then the Coronation are laid out in a meticulous manner and I am totally overwhelmed with admiration at the details and efficiency of all concerned. 

One example - the St Edward's Crown used in the Coronation had to be taken to pieces and expanded to fit the King's Head. "this entailed making four strips of yellow gold, each seven millimetres wide, before sawing up the crown, inserting each strip and then welding it - imperceptibly - to fill the gaps"  I would not care to be the jeweller in charge of that.

After the pomp and the pageantry a large section of the book covers the day to day working life of the King and royalty in general and, once again, incredibly interesting.

Regarding the Commonwealth Hardman posits "that while most ex-colonies opted for a republican constitution some actively chose to retain the British monarch as head of state. In part this was because the Crown was seen to confer greater stability and respectability"

Seems Fidel Castro agreed with this as in 1994, when the Antiguan Prime Minister told him that he wanted to remove the Queen as Head of state the dictator advised him not to. "Does she interfere?" he asked. She did not. "So why are you doing that, you want to be a big tourist island and she is good for showing off your stability"

Can't argue with that!

An absorbing book, well researched, impeccably written and well worth reading.

Catch up

Due to the total inefficiency and imbecility of my network provider I have been without access to the internet for over two weeks. They also took away my landline despite my telling them not to. I reckon I have been on the phone to them for a total of seven hours in the last fortnight and dealing with people of varying efficiency.

January was  D E Stevenson month. I have more to write about her and will do so soon but I just thought I would do a quick reading round up of the other books that I am currently perusing and those I have finished with.

Mick Herron -  The Secret Hours.  I am a huge fan of the Slow Horses books which are now a superb tv series. This is a stand alone novel and the blurb says the following:

"Two years ago, the Monochrome inquiry was set up to investigate the British secret service. Monochrome's mission was to ferret out misconduct, allowing the civil servants seconded to the inquiry, Griselda Fleet and Malcolm Kyle, unfettered access to confidential information in the service archives.

But with progress blocked at every turn, Monochrome is circling the drain . . . Until the OTIS file appears out of nowhere.

What classified secrets does OTIS hold that see a long-redundant spy being chased through Devon's green lanes in the dark? What happened in a newly reunified Berlin that someone is desperate to keep under wraps? And who will win the battle for the soul of the secret service - or was that decided a long time ago?"

You need to take your time with these books. They are dense with facts and events, very similar in ways to a le Carre novel and concentration is vital.  But worth it in the end and I am already sure that this will be snapped up by a tv company as it is brilliant.

A Stranger in the Family - Jane Casey. This is the latest Maeve Kerrigan book, No 11 in the series and is due to be published this Spring. I was fortunate enough to be sent an ARC and I spent one afternoon totally gripped. I am pretty sure that my neighbours heard my scream when I reached the final page as the author has given us a cliff hanger to end all cliff hangers.  When I tackled her about it her response was "expect the unexpected in a murder story Elaine!"

Totally brilliant and I can recommend pre-ordering. I am saying nothing more...

Harlan Coben - Fool me Once.  I have tried this author before but could not get on with his slightly purple prose. I only purchased this as I wanted to find out the ending to Fool me Once as it was on Netflix and everyone was raving about it.  After three episodes I gave up as it was wildly improbable and the acting of the main character was so poor I could not take it. So Kindle were offering if for 99p so I bought it and read it and, gosh it was dire.

Virgin River - Robyn Carr.   I have recently been watching Virgin River on Netflix.  I came across it by accident and am loving it. Yes, it is sentimental, cheesy and smaltzy and I have lost count of the number of times I love you and I love you too is said per episode and how many hugs and group hugs there are, but it is fun.  So I thought I would check out the books. Well, I read the first one which I thought was simply awful so I won't be reading any more. The series is so much better.

Robert Hardiman - King Charles III. I will be reviewing this soon. It is an admirable and absorbing book.

I have also read a few more D E  Stevenson of which more anon.

Such a relief to be back on line!

January - D E Stevenson month

I know I have mentioned D E Stevenson on several occasions but offer no apology for returning to her once more.  It is a bitter cold January here in the UK and I have been hunkering down and trying to keep warm (my thanks to whoever came up with the idea of an electric throw) and I have returned to a comforting warm author to help me through the days.

My first review of the year was a political book which disgusted me so much I decided to turn once more to the aforementioned author and re-read some of her books. I have also found one, Crooked Adam, that I had never read and that was a delightful surprise.

D E Stevenson has written some fifty odd books and, as is natural in an output that vast, some are better than others.  Some are light and delightful, others deeper and more insightful. Many of them are set in her beloved Scotland and the descriptions of the countryside make me feel that I must visit.

The Mrs Tim books are very amusing and witty and when they are written in diary form, remind me forcibly of E M Delafield and Diary of a Provincial Lady (nothing wrong with that) though not all of them follow this format.  Mrs Tim is based on D E Stevenson as she was an army wife and kept a diary about her life. A friend read it and urged her to publish it. While I am fond of the Mrs Tim books they are a little bit too frothy for me at times much though I enjoy them.

Titles I have re-read and really enjoyed this month are:

The English Air - Franz von Heiden, son of a Nazi official and an English mother, comes to England early in 1938 to visit his English cousins and to study them. He is accepted and looked after by Wynne's friends but the life they lead is not what he had been told to expect. These people were not the enemy and Franz is puzzled. His reports home displease his father. He also finds that he is in love with Wynne but as his father's marriage with his English wife was so unhappy he is loathe to put her through the same sad fate.

In the end he returns home to see his dying father and he and Wynne are separated by the events of the Second World War.

This is one of D E Stevenson's deeper and more thoughtful books and it is very good indeed.

Spring Magic - Frances Field is 25 and has had no life at all. She lives in London and is expected to look after the house and her guardian's wife who is a professional invalid, selfish and demanding. Unforseen circumstances give her a chance to get away and, on a whim, she goes off on her own to a fishing village in Scotland. An army batallion is stationed nearby and she meets army men and their wives and families and sees the sometimes troubled relationships and undercurrents among the personnel. She also finds herself drawn to a young officer but sadly, he seems interested in somebody else...

Again, another deeper and thoughtful book.

Five Windows - A recent discovery. I had a copy lurking on my shelves but I did not find it until I was sorting out my books and came across it at the back. What a lovely find!

David Kirke has had a sheltered and peaceful childhood and he finds it rather difficult when he ventures into the world to make his way.  There are five windows in his life, five windows reflecting his life experiences and illustrates his path to happiness. A book to be read slowly and peacefully.

A serene book and, once again, deeper and more thoughtful than some others.

I have named these three but all of this author's books have much to recommend them. Many of them cover two or three books so when a couple end up getting married, we then find out what their life is like afterwards which is always interesting.  There are cross over mentions of people and places in her other books, mainly those set in Scotland, and it is great fun recognsiing these.

As I have stated many times in my posts, I used to work in a library as a teenager and then in my twenties, and I rather turned up my nose at the ladies who came into the libary to ask for a new D E Stevenson.   Well, as it turns out they were right and I was wrong.

Dean Street Press publish many of her titles with, I hope, more to come.   I am currently replacing my Kindle copies with hard copies as they are so beautifully produced.  Do check them out.

Unmasking our Leaders - Michael Cockerell

Well this is a fascinating book.  And fascinating for all the wrong reasons.   Probably the wrong book to read at the beginning of a New Year when one is trying to be optimstic!

I have been interested in politics since I was a teenager and I well remember what triggered this interest. I was watching a programme called World in Action and the then PM Harold Macmillan was being interviewed. In those days, early sixties, interviewers were obsequious, no Emily Maitliss or Kussenberg here. The programme was only half an hour and I watched in total fascination as the Prime Minister managed to not answer a single question put to him. He tied the interviewer up in knots and managed to avoid giving a straight answer to anything.

Over the years as I followed the governments of Macmillan, Wilson, Callaghan, Heath, Thatcher and right up to the present incumbents I formed the opinion that all politicians were a bunch of oleaginous, devious, back stabbing shits. Forgive my language.  Friends and family have often challenged me on this saying there are good Members of Parliament around and I said that I am sure there were but, unfortunately, all we saw were those had decided to climb the greasy pole and in order to do that they had to exhibit all the characteristics that I have just mentioned. Backbenchers who may toil away for their constituents receive no publicity at all and, therefore, I have always conceded this point that there are those who work hard.

The author of this book, Michael Cockerell has been a BBC political reporter and documentary maker for fifty years and the roll call of those he has interviewed and filmed is an impressive one. This book is an easy, gossipy read and I am not belittling it by describing it as such. Many political books can be dry and boring and this one certainly is not. Of course, it helps that I am probably of the same age as those he writes about and I remember well having lived through all the ups and downs of the governments discussed.

Sadly, this book just reinforces my opinion regarding those in Westminster. The intrigues, the feuds, the lies and disinformation fed to the public is mind boggling. Those of us who are following the current Covid enquiry know full well that it continues. Time after time I have yelled at the tv or argued with friends how we are being lied to and I am always amazed at how gullible many people are.

The book is full of fascinating quotes. Willlie Whitelaw, right hand man to Maggie and Deputy Prime Minister, was a charming “big bear of a man with a booming voice who could move with surprising guile”.  He said “I’ve always believed n politics that you have a little in reserve if you can appear slightly less intelligent all the time than you may be….If they think poor old thing you can perhaps get a great deal past them”

This was an attitude that Boris Johnston turned into an art form.

This book is packed with such insights, some of which are quite vicious.

Denis Healey on David Owen: “he was a very self centred person. He was good looking, he was intelligent, he had immense charm and all those presents were given to him by the Good Fairy and then the Bad Fairy came along and tapped him on the shoulder and said, but you’ll still be a shit”

Priceless.

The chapter on the Whips is, in my view, the worst of all because it exposes the nasty, vicious tactics to keep members in line. Files were kept on everything, extra marital affairs, financial problems etc etc all of which could be used to persuade somebody to vote a certain way.  Remember Francis Urqhart in the tv series House of Cards? Totally fascinating and charming and deeply evil. That book was written by an ex parliamentarian and pretty sure that he knew what he was writing about. Really vile.

Cockerell is not an author who wishes to show everybody in a bad light it is difficult to try and talk about anybody featured in this book in a positive way.  The one person who comes out of this as honest, sometimes brutally so, is Mrs Thatcher.  You do not have to admire all her politics to admit that she stood for something.   Out of all the characters in this book she stands out as having some integrity. I say this plainly and with no bias as there were times when she was our PM when I totally disagreed with her but I never doubted her self belief.  Of course, in the end, she was brought down by the Men in Grey Suits about whom the less said the better.

A witty informative book which I enjoyed reading, it is also rather dispiriting to see the reality of those who purport to lead this country.  As I said at the start, devious, back stabbing shits most of them.

The book stops at Boris and Covifd. Wonder what he makes of the present incumbent of No.10. I would love to know….

My Book of the Year

If you have read my previous post then you will know that I have not read any books this year of great pith and moment, nor any that the Glitterati would acknowledge.   You will also know that this worries me not a jot.

But then in Novemberf I read Shakespeare:the Man who pays the Rent. Judi Dench in conversation discussing her roles over the years and her take on the characters.   I was bowled over totally by this wonderful book and, if I was Minister of Education, I would ensure that a copy of this was on the desk of every single teacher in the land who is trying to inculcate the marvels of Shakespeare into young minds.  

It is simply glorious. Here is the link to my thoughts of just a few weeks ago.

https://randomjottings.typepad.com/random_jottings_of_an_ope/2023/11/shakespeare-the-man-who-pays-the-rent-judi-dench-1.html

Goodbye 2023

I am glad to see the back of this year.  It has not been a particularly wonderful one from my point of view. I have no intention of discussing the political situation either which has also added to the general feeling of depression that a lot of us are feeling.

I have been suffering from problems with my right hip for some time and over the last eighteen months it got worse and in 2023 restricted my movements and my life considerably. On checking my diary I see I cancelled three concerts in London, two holidays and other invitations as I was just not sure I could deal with it all.

A visit to my GP who referred me to a consultant and then told me merrily "Oh you will have a wait of at least two years" put the tin hat on it. I decided to raid my bank account and savings and arrange for a private operation.  I am still angry at this. I have paid into the NHS my entire life, not used it very often for which I am grateful, but when I really needed care, it failed me. I was lucky to have the money to pay but it has left a gaping hole in my savings and if I need another such operation in the next few years, then it will all go.

I, therefore, made the decision that I would budget carefully and take out private medical insurance. I never thought I would have to do it but now that i have made the decision and sorted it out, I feel peace of mind. It means I do not have to rely on the NHS again which, hopefully, means that one more person can get care. At least, I hope so.

So I am starting 2024 off in a feeling, not of optimism, but a determination that it will be better.  I have a cruise booked in July for a week exploring the Norwegian fjords which I have always wanted to do. I had to cancel a cruise I had planned this year but the company said I could use my deposit against another cruise and this is what I have done.

I also hope to be attending Queen's tennis again, another event I had to cancel in 2023, and I have a few other places lined up I wish to revisit. I am not going to overdo it but see how I get on.

My reading has been of the relaxing variety throughout the year. I am pretty sure that if the judges of the Booker Prize checked my reading list their literary noses would be turned up but I have reached the stage in my reading life when I do not care about keeping up with the trends or the latest Rushdie, Smith, Amis etc etc.  When I first started Random Jottings I made a huge effort to keep up with the latest in modern literature and novels and, though I read some excellent stuff, it never warmed the heart.  While admiring authors such as Margaret Atwood, who I think is a superb writer, I never feel that I wish to re-read any of such writing. It leaves me cold though intellectually I can sit back in appreciation.

So this year has been murder, romance, Golden Age crime, D E Stevenson, Miss Read, Molly Clavering, P G Wodehouse and my beloved Victorian writers. I recently re-read North and South by Mrs Gaskell and had forgotten how much I liked it.  Over Christmas I picked up Persuasion which is my favourite Jane Austen and I am looking at my shelves and contemplating Trollope again.   I shall continue with the odd post on From my Shelves which I did in 2023 as there are so many books there I have loved and reviewed and I think it is a good idea to revisit them.

My Book of the Year will be up tomorrow but in the meantime thank you all once again for sticking with me through 2023 when my posts have not been as numerous as before, and your kind comments and remarks. They have meant a great deal to me and will continue to do so.

Here is to 2024!

Merry Christmas

May I wish you all a Merry and Blessed Christmas.  I shall be back in a few days and will be reviewing my 2023 reading and I want to thank all of you who have stayed with me over so many years and left comments and shared thoughts with me. It means a great deal.

The Outsider - Jane Casey

I have long been an admirer of the Maeve Kerrigan books by Jane Casey and have read them all, one by one, as they were published. While I thoroughly enjoyed the first three or four in the series, I think they gained impetus with the introduction of DI Josh Derwent who immediately created a chemistry with Maeve which made the books even better than they were.

On the surface Josh is the very epitome of a Male Chauvenistic Pig with his attitude and sneering but dig underneath and you will find there lurks a softer, caring person who covers up his feedlings with a tough exterior.  

This book, The Outsider, takes place in the time between The Cutting Place and The Close and tells the story of Rob, an ex-lover of Maeve who left her with no reason, leaving her bereft. He manages to let her know some time later that he has had to go undercover, but the hurt of his betrayal had cut deep.  The Outsider is his story.

Rob comes upon a car crash and rushe to help the victim, administering first aid and saving his life. It is then we discover that the person who he is following is a powerful criminal whose family he is trying to infiltrate and this accident gives him the perfect opportunity to do so.

Being undercover and watching every single move, every word said and every action taken, with the sure knowledge that he is being watched for signs that will make him distrusted, is nerve wracking and dangerous.  The family is dysfunctional, cruel and unfeeling and Rob has to witness an abused wife who he is unable to help and to also be careful not to respond to the overtures being made to him by the daughter of the house.

Without giving too much of the plot away, Rob ends up being interrogated in a police station by Maeve and Josh and has a chance to see her again.  They seem to reignite their relationship for one brief night but it is clear that Maeve no longer trusts or loves him and is still recovering from the trauma she endured in The Cutting Room.

As with all Jane Casey's books I have to sit down and devote an afternoon to reading straight through as they are gripping and exciting and so well written with a never flagging narrative drive.   This one plugs gaps in the story of Maeve and Josh and also gives an understanding of where Maeve is mentally in The Close.

If you have yet to read this series, and I strongly recommend that you do, I think it best if they are read in order as over time the relationship between Maeve and Josh grows and changes and, quite frankly, if they do not get together soon I am going to scream with frustration...

Another winner from Jane Casey. Simply terrifix

PS Please note this is an ebook only. The next Maeve/Josh book is out in March 2024.

Shakespeare: The man who Pays the Rent - Judi Dench

I have just finished reading this book and it is wonderful. It is a series of conversations between Dame Judi and Brendon O'Hea, an actor and director and associate artist at the Globe. If I had my way every single teacher in the land who is attempting to teach Shakespeare should have a copy of this to hand as, in my opinion, it is better than any text book.

I love Shakespeare, though sometimes I have found it a struggle, and thought I knew a fair bit about certain favourite plays, but oh my goodness having Dame Judi chat and talk and dissect her roles, how she played them, how she approached them, their motivation etc is a real eye opener.

As well as being insightful she is also very funny and has lovely tales to tell about the producers and actors she has worked with. She holds very strong opinions and is not afraid to tell Brendon that he is talking rubbish or gets cross with him at times about his slightly more off the wall motivations attributed to various characters. in fact, in the acknowlegements at the end of the book he thanks Sam Williams (Dame Judi's grandson) for 'defusing tension between myself and his grandmother and for making us laugh'.  He also thanks his editor who 'had her work cut out excising Dame Judi's swear words from the audiobook'. Both these made me laugh.

It seems that Dame Judi is prone to falling over and running about and in one production of Midsummer Night's Dream, the director called the rehearsal to a halt "Miss Dench, please don't run in flapping your arms around like two Finnan haddocks'.   Apparently in her eagerness to get onstage she 'had unwittingly knocked over a few fairies. They went down like ninepins'.

Such a joy to read this book. I did not plunge in and read it all in one go. I took it a play at a time, first of all the ones I knew best, and then the ones with which I am less familiar and then a couple I do not know at all and have never seen. All totally fascinating.

One day Dame Judi, after a performance of the Dream at Compton Verney which had no showers, was travelling back to her cottage in all her make up. She wore her own clothes but she still had green hands and a green face "On one occasion a man caught sight of me walking up the lane and fell off his ladder"

The love and joy expressed in this book is palpable and I cannot recommend it enough. It will stay on my shelf and when I next read Shakespeare, which I am now inspired to after this reading, I will make sure to check the chapter on a particular play before I start.   Once I decided to do this I went to my bookshelves and discovered that my copy of the complete plays has disappeared. WHERE has it gone? I know not.  Oh well I shall just have to get another copy but before I do I shall rummage in a second hand book shop I know and see if I can find one. I always prefer old and battered books.

So a wonderful glorious book and I have to end with another anecdote as I love this one so much.  Dame Judi was playing Lady Macbeth in a production which toured West Africa.  They had a wonderful reception but it was very taxing playing outside in the heat. "I remember seeing vultures sitting in the trees and I said to the actors 'for god's sake twitch when you are playing dead, they're waiting to eat us"

Glorious.

Oh and the illustrations are by Dame Judi all taken from doodles in her scripts and they are enchanting.