Random Jottings

More Madeira

2013-05-21T16:22:15+01:00

Into the second week at Madeira and one could get used to this life quite easily. Pretty sure I shall be quite happy to get home, back into routine and see grandchildren and friends and family, but there is something very alluring about imagining iiving abroad, not permanently, but for the winter months. I have managed to do this in 2013, more by accident than design and it has been good to miss the snow and the gales and the rain and the drear of it all.

I am writing this propped up in bed, post siesta and pre-dinner with a cup of tea and a custard tart to hand (Note: put all thoughts of Brit custard tarts to one side, the ones in Funchal are to die for and at the moment I am averaging two a day) and will foray down to the wifi zone when I can gather enough energy and post this for your delectation and delight.

This morning Jude and Wes took me up to the view over the Nun's Valley, so called because when the Conquistadors tried to invade Madeira the canny nuns hitched up their habits and took refuge in a valley which was hidden and unreachable. Even now the roads are pretty hairy and when two cars meet on a corner you shut your eyes and pray. Did not go by bus this time, oh no Yours Truly had had her nerves shredded enough for one hols ta very much, and we had a taxi there and back (25 Euros for the three of us which I thought was damn good value for money) and off we went.

Views at the top quite breathtaking and what is fascinating to see is how every piece of land is grabbed back from the wild and worked, little terraces of ploughed land in the most precipitous places with houses seemingly clinging onto the edges of cliffs. I would think if you lived in one of these you would have to be pretty careful if you got up in the middle of the night for a pee, one false step and that would be your last visit to the loo - ever. Lovely morning and am certainly seeing more of Madeira than I did on my last visit which you all know about.........

Major Benjy - Guy Fraser Sampson

2013-05-19T16:38:25+01:00

When I finally got round to discovering Mapp and Lucia a few years ago, I read them all through in one mad binge which is my wont and then wished there were more to come. I read the Tom Holt trio which kept me going another month and then that was that. Until Guy Fraser-Sampson came up with another - Major Benjy.

In the introduction the author says "There are in fact only two things wrong with the Mapp and Lucia books. The first is that there are only six of them....second problem is that because of this there are gaps in the narrative which are never filled in, into which holes some characters fall without explanation to be never seen again"

The particular tome is set just before Lucia arrives in Tilling for the first time and rents Elizabeth's house for the summer. We have already met the main resident characters in the earlier books and it is a joy to once more meet the Major, Quaint Irene, the Wyses and all the others, but I will freely admit that Lucy, who lives with Irene ("the precise basis upon which the two shared Taormina was something upon which polite Tilling society preferred not to speculate"), was not a character who had impinged upon my consciousness. However, I understand that she had fallen into one of these 'holes' referred to so in Major Benjy we learn more about her and just how and why she left Tilling.

No need for me to elaborate on the content of this utterly glorious book as all Lucia and Mapppites will fall upon it with cries of rapture and read and, unless you are feeling most contrary, will adore. I know I did.

May I please ask the author to seek out other 'holes' in E F Benson's narrative and write more about them? I would love to hear about the young Lucia and how she met Pepino, like to learn a bit more about Georgie and what happens after the glorious finale of the books when the Duchess of Sheffield comes to stay with Lucia and Elizabeth is utterly routed. One cannot believe that she would really not bounce back and try something else. Reference is also made to Lucia meeting Elizabeth when she visited Riseholme and took up her prase of Au Reservoir. Would love to hear more about that as well.....

Thank you Guy for this labour of love. You should be dubbed Sir Guy on the spot for outstanding service to all Mapp and Lucia lovers.

Note: this was my original review when Major Benjy was published several years ago. I am delighted that it has now been reprinted and by the publisher who recently issued Lucia on Holiday, also by Guy, which I reviewed here. Obviously they are publishers of discernment and I hope they will encourage Guy to write some more.

Guy is appearing at the forthcoming Felixstowe Book Festival and it will be my pleasure and privilege to introduce his talk on Mapp and Lucia details of which can be found on the Festival's website. Please do come along and hear what I am sure is going to be an entertaining and joyful occasion.

Au reservoir everyone.

Random in Madeira

2013-05-18T21:53:04+01:00

Here I am in Madeira, sun shining, light breeze, temperature in the early 70s which is just about right and sitting here in my apartment watching Die Meistersinger. And if that sounds surprising, then it is. I have discovered a channel called Mezzo which broadcasts concerts and operas. Last night I watched an old back and white film of a concert with a very young Carlo Maria Guilini, in the afternoon a production of Billy Budd and now this Meistersinger which, seems to come from Gly dbourne. Gerald Finley is Hans Sachs and we are nearly at the end of the second act when Beckmesser is singing much to the annoyance of the neighbours and all hell is about to be let loose. On Saturday night they are broadcasting Rheingold with Bryn. So an unexpected bonus.

Went into Funchal town this morning and caught the tail end of the Flower Festival which was last week. The flower displays are drooping a bit now but are still lovely and there was a small exhibition of prize winning exhibits which are all quite beautiful and a lot of photographs have been taken. Here is a collage of the stunning flowers on display,

Then after all this exertion we needed a coffee and a sit down and after that a stroll to the local market for the purchase of the largest most succulent strawberries I have ever seen, and a look at the fish section which had some scary looking fish on display.

By this time it was lunch so up the stairs to the top of the market where there was a shady restaurant with comfortable chairs just asking us to sit down. So we did.Another twelve days ahead which we intend to spend in similar fashion, Bliss.

Three days later and I am so chilled it is ridiculous so this morning I agreed to catch the No 48 bus to Monte, up on top of the hill aka mountain, as Jude and Wes said it was something I should experience. Yeh right. I am a veteran of the Amalfi Coast ride and a user of Malta's buses so I thought this would be a doddle. Blimey is all I can say. I could say more but I try not to swear on Random. Hurtling down roads which I would be crawling along at 20 mph as there are blind bends all the way, cars parked on both sides of the already narrow road, missing houses by inches and people who leapt out of the way like panicked fauns, I spent most of the trip clutching the seat in front of me and closing my eyes as I tried not to shriek F**k. By the time we got to the top and exited and my bro in law said 'Well, what did you think of that Elaine' I could not answer and could only gasp Cup of Tea please.

And here is my sis, Judith et moi

After recovery time we went to the Botanical Gardens at Monte and oh they were lovely. Winding paths, gentle streams and waterfalls, green and shady and peaceful and restful to the spirit. Beautifully designed and though not all the flowers are out yet I hope that the one or two photos I have put on here give you an idea of what they were like. An awful lot of down so we got a little buggy to take us back to the entrance of the gardens and to head for home.

We got the cable car back...............

Two Good Reads

2013-05-15T08:16:00+01:00

Am writing like fury to catch up on my reviews which have been getting madly behind since my return from the Land of Oz. By the time this is up on Random I shall be in Madeira lolling around and though I have my laptop with me I don't want to be on it all the time so am writing before I leave and scheduling them to pop up while I am covered in Factor whatever by the pool.

So here we go.

First up, Trespasser by Paul Doiron. I read the first novel by this author last year, review here, and this is the second featuring Mike Bowditch, a game warden living in Maine. One foggy evening Mike received a call for help. A woman has reportedly struck a deer on a lonely road but when he arrives there is no sign of either her or the deer though there is blood on the road. Mike feels a sense of foreboding that something is not right and he is proved correct when a day later he discovers her mutilated and brutalised corpse which modus operandi is similar to a case seven years ago. But the murderer had been found and is in jail though protesting his innocence and does this mean that a mistake has been made and the real culprit is still around? We shall see....

Very atmospheric with a real sense of place and background. The reader will feel that he or she knows the Maine woods and rivers by the time this book is finished. Characters from the first novel turn up in this one and it looks as if this is a series that is in for a long run. I hope so as I found this unputdownable with a good twist at the end which I was not expecting. Recommended.

In total contrast next up is Could it be I'm Falling in Love? by Eleonor Prescott. Again this is another author who had a debut novel last year which I read and thoroughly enoyed, Alice Brown's Lessons in the Curious Art of Dating, review here, and so I knew I was in for a treat when I read this one. Roxy Squires is famous, or at least she used to be, she is now a rather aging laddette who is no longer wanted by the TV companies she used to work for.

One day she discovers that the local window cleaner is Woody, one time famous pop star and that he runs a self help group for others who have been famous and whose careers, for one reason or another, have stalled and who are now lonely and miserable and frustrated. Roxy is amazed to find she is living with this motley crew of former start and decides that they need somebody to propel them back into the big time. But do they want it? and is Roxy only doing this for herself? And why does she go all week at the knees when Woody is around?

Not sure when I started this book that I was going to like it as much as the first as Roxy grated on me a bit to begin with, but I soon warmed to her and then, as with Trespasser, found this story unputdownable (is there such a word I wonder?) and read it through in one sitting.

It is funny, touching, warm and human and I loved every word of it. Roll on the third.

The President's Hat - Antoine Laurain

2013-05-14T07:52:00+01:00

When I returned from Australia my sofa was covered in parcels and packets and I had thirty eight books awaiting my attention. Well, obviously I cannot read them all so had a sift through and formed a To Be Read pile which I am now working through. I took some books with me to London this week though I had little hope that I would actually read any as I was looking after grandchildren but one morning Florence fell asleep on the sofa, totally worn out with coping with her chickenpox and while she slumbered I read this delightful little book.

It is simply wonderful when you pick up something like The President's Hat, with no preconceptions, no previous knowledge of the author or its setting, open up the first page and realise straight away that you are going to love reading it. And I did.

The next day Daniel has a meeting at work in which with fluency and efficiency and much to everyone's astonishment he demolishes their new manager's ideas to split the department. He is as amazed as everyone else and this brings him to the attention of the Head of Finance who offers him a promotion. He and his family leave Paris and on the way to their destination Daniel leaves the hat behind on the train.

It is then picked up by a young woman on her way to meet her lover, she is trapped in this affair and knows she should finish it but lacks the courage. But the hat fits her, makes her look cool and edgy and without a qualm she sends her lover packing.

After her fortunes have changed she decides to leave the hat on a park bench and see who picks it up and along comes a bearded man in a sheepskin coat who pops it on his head and off he goes. She wonders how it will transform his life. She will not know but we, the readers, will.

This is one of the most delightful, enchanting and irrestible books I have read in years. It is a Cinderella story as the hat seems to possess a magic quality which changes the fortunes of everyone who possesses it. And there is a brilliant twist at the end which made me laugh out loud.

This book is translated and published by the Gallic Press and I can only plead with you to purchase a copy as soon as you can log onto Amazon or hotfoot it down to your local bookshop. It is a little gem or, if you will forgive the lapse into Franglais, a petiet jewel...

Magnifique!

Felixstowe Book Festival - 15/16 June 2013

2013-05-13T06:51:00+01:00

This is a very exciting venture in which I have become involved over the last year. A good friend of mine Meg Reid, who is a Life Coach and a woman of huge capability decided, after moving to Felixstowe about eighteen months ago, that delightful though the town was it lacked something. A Book Festival. So she decided to organise one. And she did and here we are.

Meg used to run a theatre company so she is no slouch when it comes to applying for grants, organising events, publicity, printers etc and so I am not surprised at her dynamism but am taking the opporunity on this blog and in this post to express my admiration for all her hard work. And because of this hard work, I would like this inaugural Festival to be a success, not only for the town of Felixstowe, but because Meg deserves it to be one.

So here I go. We have a marvellous line up of authors including Rosy Thornton, Linda Gillard (who will be giving a talk about how she became the Queen of the Kindle), Adela Geras talking about her life as a writer, a trio of lady detective writers, including Sophie Hannah and Ruth Dugdale talking about women thriller writers (this talk is called Deadlier than the Male which is very appropriate), Guy Fraser-Sampson talking about his two Mapp and Lucia books and EF Benson and so much more. There are events for children and a writing competition. Here is the link to the website so do nip over and have a look and come along and see us and have fun.Click here for link to ticket booking

And of course, I should mention that I will be giving a chat about blogging. It is my very first venture into Book Festivaldom and I am already getting butterflies in my tummy and waking up in the middle of the night thinking What shall I say? and What if Nobody Turns up? and Oh My God I Must be Mad. And these worries are soothed by the comforting thought that I had the brilliant idea of asking Simon of Stuck in a Book if he would do a joint presentation with me as I knew if Dear Simon was there I would be less nervous, we could support each other and calm each other's nerves. Of course he might not have any...

Bless him, yes he said so we will both be there on Saturday afternoon and looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible.

I cannot end this post about the Festival without saying thank you to all of those taking part who have been overwhelmingly supportive. All the authors, as one, have all agreed to attend even when we could not guarantee them any expenses or payment at all and said they would come anyway. I cannot thank them enough and the only and the best way I can think of doing so is to try and make sure we have a good turnout and that they know how much we enjoy their presence at this inaugural festival.

Thank you all -you are wonderful

Random Weekly Ramble

2013-05-10T22:50:33+01:00

Well another week has gone by and it has certainly been a hectic one. Last Sunday James and Helen were holding a welcome party for Beatrice (they had a similar one for Florence) and I was doing some cooking for it on Saturday preparatory to driving up in the evening, when I had a call from Helen to tell me that Florence had come down with chickenpox. This entailed rapid calling round of projected guests, many of whom had small children and/or babies to warn them. Guest list somewhat curtailed but still plenty of attendees. Florence simply adores her cousins and the two elder girls Eleonor and Rosanna adore her too and they just took her in hand and looked after her all day. She was not too spotty and seemed fine until the afternoon when she suddenly tired and became very weepy.

It was wonderful to see everyone and as it was a good sunny day we spent a lot of time in the little paved garden quaffing champagne and chatting. I had to watch my intake as I was driving home that evening in order to sleep in my own bed and be back the next night as Helen had asked for my help in looking after Florence who could not go to nursery and panic stations all round.

So I spent Monday night to Thursday night helping out and looking after Florence and babysitting and watching Toy Story 1-3 over and over again but as I love them and think they are beautifully done, that was no hardship. Florence veered between being terribly busy and running about and then keeling over and sleeping on the sofa and poor little thing found it all most bewildering. Much better by the time I left and I am sure you will all understand when I say that though I simply adore both my grandchildren, I was very glad to get into my own bed and relax. I feel totally shattered at the moment. Due to drive up to Leicester today to my sister's as I am going on holiday with her and my bro in law next week, but decided to put the drive off until tomorrow and very glad I did as I am still feeling tres knackered.

I have still managed to read three books this week, mainly because I retired to bed each night at about 9 pm knowing I would be up at the crack of dawn and one, The President's Hat, was so enchanting and delightful that I am saving a post all about it for next week. I shall take my laptop with me to Madeira and will be reviewing and writing from Funchal. I also need to keep in touch as I am organising various matters to do with the Felixstowe Book Festival and will be writing about that as well. A blogger's work is never done...'sigh'

And now that I have ended this simply frightfully boring post I am off to seek my couch and hope that my aching back will unkink by tomorrow for my drive.

Au reservoir

Capturing the Light by Roger Watson and Helen Rappaport

2013-05-07T21:15:53+01:00

Now a book about photography and its discovery might not strike you as being frightfully interesting or exciting and in the hands of another author or authors, you might be right. However, when one of the co-writers of Capturing the Light is Helen Rappaport, one of my favourite historians and a writer who has the knack of drawing the reader into the world of which she is writing, then you are on pretty safe ground.

When I started reading Capturing the Light I knew it would be interesting and was confident that I would have no problem engaging with the story but I did not expect to find it so fascinating that I sat up late in bed one night to finish it. The subtitle of the book is 'A true story of genius, rivalry and the birth of photography' and the two main protagonists in this narrative, Henry Fox Talbot and Louis Daguerre are so totally opposite of each other in style and temperament that it is impossible not to want to read on.

Both men spent years experimenting on the different methods of photography, struggling to find the key to creating and fixing an image and both in ignorance of each other's researches. Henry Fox Talbot, an English gentleman running his country estate, carrying out scientific experiments in his own lab and keeping meticulous records of all his experiments and results, everything noted and nothing left to chance; Louis Daguerre a flamboyant French showman, a scenery painter, showman and Barnum type figure out for fame and fortune. No two men could be more different. Daguerre kept no notes and we have no detailed workings of his own experimentation, disaster and failures before he managed to produce what we know as the Daguerretype and beat Fox Talbot to the finishing line. My impression is that he was a bit of a chancer and, though interested in science and with a working knowledge, he tended to team up with others more professional and efficient than he and ride on their coat tails. Talbot, on the other hand, quietly beavered away and was not so interested in the transient glory and fame which such a discovery could have brought him.

He had a fiercely ambitious mother Lady Elisabeth Feilding who was angry when her son would not push or further his claims to be the discoverer of the photographic process and was jealous of the slurs cast on his reputation and the accusations of copying Daguerre. Though disappointed at the lack of credit given to him in the wake of the announcement of the breakthrough by Daguerre it seems to this reader that it was more his reputation as a scientist in the community of his peers that he wanted to secure and to be appreciated. I find his modesty rather refreshing and found myself getting rather fond of Henry as the book progressed. He found little fame and fortune but lived his quiet and retired life, publishing scientific papers and continuing with his work while the flamboyant Daguerre enjoyed his time in the limelight and his fame. Once he had hit the big time it seemed to me that he enjoyed it, had a wonderful few years and then retired to the country to enjoy his wealth and comfort and did nothing else to further the advance of photography. This did make me wonder, as I have mentioned above, just how much of his discovery was due to him and not to those he worked with. Surely if he had been that brilliant and inventive more would have been heard from him?

There are plenty of scientific facts and figures and details of the photographic processes given in Capturing the Light and they are not boring, nor do they pall. Roger Watson, who obviously produced all this information for the book, is a world authority on the early history of photography and knows what he is talking about. Obviously hugely knowledgeable and enthused by his subject he manages to make the discussion of which chemical works better than another wildly interesting. The collaboration between Roger and Helen was an inspired one and has resulted in a rattling yarn, a good read and unputdownable. Roger is currently the curator of the Fox Talbot Museum at Lacock Abbey which I have visited some years ago. A beautiful place.

My father used to be an amateur photographer and I remember as a child sitting in his dark room, bathed in red light and watching him put his prints in chemical trays and the sense of wonderment when I saw a picture emerge on the paper has never left me. Photography has always been a hobby of mine and I have progressed through a Kodak box camera, a Halina 35 mm which I used for over twenty years, then a panoramic camera then through to digital and have loved them all. I also once had a brother in law who was a professional photographer, he was from the USA and worked for a while for Kodak at Rochester in New York State. I went on a tour of the plant and visited the museum of Photography in that city so photography is very much in my blood. I am forever grateful to him for teaching me tricks of the trade and also about 'framing' a picture, keeping something of interest in the front of a land or sea scape and oh the hours we spent arguing the individual merits of Kodachrome or Ekatchrome. I preferred Ektachrome as it was a film that gave you better exposure for indoor shots but the colour quality was not so good. Of course now we have digital and photoshop so no worries at all.

A really interesting and engaging book and left me feeling full of admiration for these pioneers of photography who have given us the chance to use a process that we now take for granted. We never should as I think it is a miracle.

Random Weekly Ramble

2013-05-06T07:12:31+01:00

Have had a busy week and another one ahead of me so thought I had better post something before I get bogged down. As I have mentioned before I now have wifi so am writing this in bed propped up on pillows. Have been awake for ages, in the summer months where the mornings are light I seem incapable of sleeping beyond 5.30 am which is a tad annoying as it means by the early afternoon I am keeling over.

I was in London yesterday for a family get together to celebrate the arrival of Beatrice who gets cuter and cuter each time I see her. I had done some cooking to help with the lunch but most of it came courtesy of Waitrose and it certainly looked impressive - an entire salmon, wonderful raised pies etc. Other guests arrived with salads and desserts etc. It was a good day weatherwise and we were able to sit out in the garden for most of the event and it was really delightful sitting around chatting, talking, laughing and quaffing champagne. I was driving home in the evening so had to be careful but even so managed a glass or two.

Poor Florence came out in chickenpox the day before so there was frantic ringing around to friends who were coming with small children and babies to warn them which led to a diminution in numbers, but we still had a good turnout. Florence did really well but by the afternoon her energy levels were totally depleted and all she could do was cuddle her dad and weep. I felt so sorry for her. In the end she curled up on the sofa to watch Winnie the Pooh as she loves her DVD but within five minutes was fast asleep. She cannot go to nursery so I am stepping into the breach and driving back up this evening and staying for three days to look after her. I know I shall be tired myself by the end of the week but as I am off to Madeira for a fortnight next weekend I am not feeling too worried about that.

I will be taking my laptop with me to London so I can post when I can as I have a review or two to do and also wish to alert you all to the programme for the Felixstowe Book Festival at which I am speaking and with which I am involved. All is now in place, great prog and now we need lots of lovely people to attend so our wonderful speakers are not talking to empty rooms. I will be writing about it further this week but do check out the website.

Quiet reading week, I have finished the wonderful Capturing the LIght and will be writing about that more fully in a day or two, re-read the Blue Castle which I have already posted about ( I Simply Adore that book) and the rest of the time I have been chilling and reading more titles by Erica James who I enjoy very much. Well written, full of human interest and very relaxing to read.

And to close, last night when I arrived home I was in time to see the broadcast on Sky Arts of Rheingold, the first part of the Ring Cycle from the Met, all of which they are showing over the next few weeks. There have been some criticism of the production and I can see why, I found some of it a bit lacking, but the entrance to Valhalla at the end was terrific and of course, Bryn singing Wotan means that I would love it anyway. His Wotan gets better and better and I am so looking forward to the rest of the Marathon. Then this week I am going to attempt to purchase a ticket for Die Walkure at the Proms this summer as, once again, Bryn is singing and I would not miss that for the world. Fingers crossed.

Back soon, chickenpox allowing....

The Blue Castle - L M Montgomery

2013-05-02T08:17:03+01:00

A new edition of my favourite L M Montgomery book, The Blue Castle, arrived the other day. Goes without saying I have a battered old edition which I will never part with as well, but could not resist this simply delightful copy published by Hesperus.

I have read the Anne books, the Emily books, the Story Girl books and every single piece of writing I can lay my hands on by this author, and this one is top of my list. I read it every single year without fail and love every word of it. I know I have raved about it before on Random but make no apologies for doing so again.

Valancy Stirling is 29 years old. She is part of a large, solid, middle class family where appearances and standards are all and which rule their lives. Plain, depressed and despised by her family by her lack of a husband and prospects, her life is dreary and dull. At night, however, when she goes to bed her imagination runs riot as she dreams of her Blue Castle:

"Valancy, so cowed and subdued and overriden and snubbed in real life, was apt to let herself to rather splendidly in her daydreams...........she had lived in the Blue Castle every since she could remember....she could see it plainly with its turrets and banners on the pine clad mountain height, wrapped in its faint blue loveliness, against the sunset skies of a fair and unknown land. Everything wonderful and beautiful was in that castle"

And then one day, her life changes. She hears some news which makes her decide that she is going to defy her family and do what she wants to do. She finds that once you start speaking your mind and saying what you have thought for years, it gets easier and easier to carry on doing so. The reaction of the clan to her newly discovered outspokeness makes for very amusing reading. To the utter horror of the Stirling clan Valancy leaves her home and takes up a post as a housekeeper to Roaring Abel, who spends most of his time drunk but in a rather fine booming sort of way, nothing mean or nasty about him at all. He has a daughter, Cissie, who the entire town regards as a fallen woman, having had an illegitimate baby. The baby died and she herself is not long for the world. Valancy, who was an old school friend many years ago, ups sticks to look after her and keep house. Here she finds herself, a purpose in her life and she meets Barney Snaith.....

Valancy's life is transformed and there then follows the most delicious story about her finding of happiness and the simple joy of being free, of doing just what she wants with no time restraints, time to be herself. She blossoms and the Stirlings decide to wash their hands of her and tell everyone that she has had a breakdown and is quite quite mad.

This is a Cinderella story and, as such, pure magic and the ending will make you smile and feel happy. This is why I read this book over and over again and will continue to do so in the future. L M Montgomery is one of my all time favourite authors and, having read her journals and knowing what a hard and difficult life she led, makes me sympathise with Valancy even more.

Simply gorgeous book and, like all the Hesperus titles, a beautiful little edition. Do buy, read and love and don't forget to let me know what you think of it.