Kate Forsyth's Blog, page 51
August 25, 2013
BOOK REVIEW: Pureheart by Cassandra Golds
[image error]
Title: Pureheart
Author: Cassandra Golds
Publisher: Penguin Books
Age Group & Genre: A magical fable for 8-80
Reviewer: Kate Forsyth
The Blurb:
Gal and Deirdre have forgotten something. something really, really important.
When her grandmother dies, Deirdre is left alone in a crumbling block of flats. Looking out the window one misty night, she sees a boy who seems familiar. Together, he and Deirde must discover the secret of the old building, before it collapses and the secret is lost forever . . .
What I Thought:
Cassandra Golds is one of the most extraordinary writers in the world. Her work is very hard to define, because there is no-one else writing quite like she does. Her books are beautiful, haunting, strange, and heart-rending. They are old-fashioned in the very best sense of the word, in that they seem both timeless and out-of-time. They are fables, or fairy tales, filled with truth and wisdom and a perilous kind of beauty. They remind me of writers I adored as a child – George Macdonald Fraser, Nicholas Stuart Gray, Elizabeth Goudge, or Eleanor Farjeon at her most serious and poetic.
I have read and loved all of Cassandra’s work but Pureheart took my breath away. Literally. It was like being punched in the solar plexus. I could not breathe for the lead weight of emotion on my heart. I haven’t read a book that packs such an emotional wallop since Patrick Ness’s A Monster Calls. This is a story about a bullied and emotionally abused child and those scenes are almost unbearable to read. It is much more than that, however.
Pureheart is the darkest of all fairy tales, it is the oldest of all quest tales, it is an eerie and enchanting story about the power of love and forgiveness. It is, quite simply, extraordinary.
Cassandra’s website
PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT – I LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK
August 22, 2013
INTERVIEW: Jo Baker, author of Longbourn
I'm very happy to welcome Jo Baker, author of Longbourn, to the blog today. Her novel turns the world of Pride and Prejudice upside-down and inside-out in an utterly brilliant imagining of Jane Austen's famous novel for the point of view of the hard-working and usually invisible servants.
[image error]
Jo Baker
Are you a daydreamer too?
Oh god yes. I wander around in a daze half the time, I’m afraid.
Have you always wanted to be a writer?
Yes. As a child, I wrote all the time – writing was a kind of more intense version of reading for me. I studied English at University, and though it laid down a good grounding in literature for me, which is invaluable to a writer, it also knocked all the creativity out of me for years. I felt like I’d got lost in this graveyard crowded with monuments to Great Men: there was nowhere left for me to pitch my flimsy little tent – and I was no longer sure that I even wanted to.
I started writing again when I was in my late twenties, when I lived in Belfast. There was – and still is – a vibrant literary community there, and I’d got to know some actual living writers, and it just started to become clear to me that this was something that I could actually aspire to.
Tell me a little about yourself – where were you born, where do you live, what do you like to do?
I was born in a little village in the north of Lancashire. Childhood full of nettle stings and swimming in the river, and climbing trees. I moved away when I was 18, and spent a lot of time in Ireland. In that weirdly circular way that life sometimes has, circumstances have conspired to bring me back near where I grew up. We live in Lancaster, which is a pretty little Georgian town in the north of England. I’m a writer, and a mum, and so I don’t have much free time– but I love going for long walks and bike rides, and really just getting out of doors whenever I can.
How did you get the first flash of inspiration for this book?
I’d always known my family had been in service, and this perhaps made me more alert to the servants’ presence in Austen’s novel, but the catalyst was really the line in Pride and Prejudice: ‘The very shoe roses for Netherfield were got by proxy’. I got snagged on this, couldn’t stop thinking about the reality of what it meant. I wondered who ‘proxy’ might be, and how s/he felt about having to go and fetch decorations for someone else’s dancing shoes, in the pouring rain, when none of the Bennet girls are prepared themselves to go. And that’s when the story started to fizz.
How extensively do you plan your novels?
Apart from my first, which I fumbled my way through blindfolded, I always have a sense of where they go, and often will have some scenes already in my head before I start to write. But I have never actually sat and plotted a book before starting. I’d be afraid that I’d have worn it out before I’d even written it.
Do you ever use dreams as a source of inspiration?
My dreams are often extraordinarily dull. I have a recurring one about a cafeteria where there’s no food I can eat (I’ve been a vegetarian most of my life, and a vegan for a while – I think it stems from that!) I recently had a dream about a new shop opening in town, and deciding I might go and have a look at what they stock. Really not the most thrilling material, though you could maybe make a short story out of them… I think I probably use up all the most exciting bits of the subconscious soup in my waking life, while writing. Freud described writers as ‘dreamers in broad daylight’ – so maybe that’s why my dreams are so uninspiring – it’s all drained during the daylight hours.
Did you make any astonishing serendipitous discoveries while writing this book?
There were a bundle of co-incidences around this novel, but the one that made me really feel that I was onto something was when reading Austen’s letters. I found a reference to some mantua makers she used. These were sisters who did low-paid piece work, sewing for the local ladies. The surname was Baker. Obviously, it’s a common enough name, but it did make me feel my instincts were working – it ‘placed’ me within Austen’s world.
Where do you write, and when?
I write (I am writing this now) in a little coffee shop in town. I write in the mornings – though these can often be quite long, extending to 2 or 3 in the afternoon. But once I’ve broken for lunch, I’m fit for nothing.
I used to have a proper job too – then, I had to write at night. We called it ‘the Sylvia Plath shift’ – from 3 am, when I’d wake naturally, to 7 am, when the kids got up. It was the only way I could get any work done. Couldn’t keep that up forever, though – it was like being constantly jetlagged.
What is your favourite part of writing?
The bit where you lose yourself completely in the other world.
What do you do when you get blocked?
It hasn’t happened yet… I have so little time to write, that I can’t waste a drop of it, so I don’t have time to be blocked, I just have to get on with things…
How do you keep your well of inspiration full?
I really don’t know…
I’m nosy, I suppose. Friends say I am a good listener; and I am endlessly fascinated by people, and speculate on lives and behaviour and motivation. I think that probably has something to do with it.
I read constantly if erratically, and watch films, devour box sets.
I also talk a lot with writer friends and my husband – who is also a writer. And just absorb stuff really. I’m really fascinated by the natural world too, seasonality and sensory experiences. I think you just have to be open to the world.
Do you have any rituals that help you to write?
It’s like getting into cold water. You can’t faff around dabbling in a toe and paddling. Take a run and jump, and you’re in deep before you know it. I walk into town, into the coffee shop, order the same coffee, sit at the same table, and just start work until - on a good day -I’m too hungry to keep on going.
Who are ten of your favourite writers?
Oh, crikey. Ten….Okay. In no particular order:
William Blake, Ray Davies, William Shakespeare, George Herbert, Jane Austen, George Elliot, Cormac McCarthy, Joss Whedon, William Goldman, Victor Hugo, Hilary Mantel, Susan Cooper, Daragh Carville.
(I’m not very good with numbers, did I mention?)
What do you consider to be good writing?
Mostly, good writing is happening when you don’t notice it.
What is your advice for someone dreaming of being a writer too?
Write.
(No-one else is going to do it for you)
What are you working on now?
A secret
Earlier this week Jo explained more about her inspirations for Longbourn in a guest post for me
and here is my review of Longbourn
[image error]
Jo Baker
Are you a daydreamer too?
Oh god yes. I wander around in a daze half the time, I’m afraid.
Have you always wanted to be a writer?
Yes. As a child, I wrote all the time – writing was a kind of more intense version of reading for me. I studied English at University, and though it laid down a good grounding in literature for me, which is invaluable to a writer, it also knocked all the creativity out of me for years. I felt like I’d got lost in this graveyard crowded with monuments to Great Men: there was nowhere left for me to pitch my flimsy little tent – and I was no longer sure that I even wanted to.
I started writing again when I was in my late twenties, when I lived in Belfast. There was – and still is – a vibrant literary community there, and I’d got to know some actual living writers, and it just started to become clear to me that this was something that I could actually aspire to.
Tell me a little about yourself – where were you born, where do you live, what do you like to do?
I was born in a little village in the north of Lancashire. Childhood full of nettle stings and swimming in the river, and climbing trees. I moved away when I was 18, and spent a lot of time in Ireland. In that weirdly circular way that life sometimes has, circumstances have conspired to bring me back near where I grew up. We live in Lancaster, which is a pretty little Georgian town in the north of England. I’m a writer, and a mum, and so I don’t have much free time– but I love going for long walks and bike rides, and really just getting out of doors whenever I can.
How did you get the first flash of inspiration for this book?
I’d always known my family had been in service, and this perhaps made me more alert to the servants’ presence in Austen’s novel, but the catalyst was really the line in Pride and Prejudice: ‘The very shoe roses for Netherfield were got by proxy’. I got snagged on this, couldn’t stop thinking about the reality of what it meant. I wondered who ‘proxy’ might be, and how s/he felt about having to go and fetch decorations for someone else’s dancing shoes, in the pouring rain, when none of the Bennet girls are prepared themselves to go. And that’s when the story started to fizz.
How extensively do you plan your novels?
Apart from my first, which I fumbled my way through blindfolded, I always have a sense of where they go, and often will have some scenes already in my head before I start to write. But I have never actually sat and plotted a book before starting. I’d be afraid that I’d have worn it out before I’d even written it.
Do you ever use dreams as a source of inspiration?
My dreams are often extraordinarily dull. I have a recurring one about a cafeteria where there’s no food I can eat (I’ve been a vegetarian most of my life, and a vegan for a while – I think it stems from that!) I recently had a dream about a new shop opening in town, and deciding I might go and have a look at what they stock. Really not the most thrilling material, though you could maybe make a short story out of them… I think I probably use up all the most exciting bits of the subconscious soup in my waking life, while writing. Freud described writers as ‘dreamers in broad daylight’ – so maybe that’s why my dreams are so uninspiring – it’s all drained during the daylight hours.
Did you make any astonishing serendipitous discoveries while writing this book?
There were a bundle of co-incidences around this novel, but the one that made me really feel that I was onto something was when reading Austen’s letters. I found a reference to some mantua makers she used. These were sisters who did low-paid piece work, sewing for the local ladies. The surname was Baker. Obviously, it’s a common enough name, but it did make me feel my instincts were working – it ‘placed’ me within Austen’s world.
Where do you write, and when?
I write (I am writing this now) in a little coffee shop in town. I write in the mornings – though these can often be quite long, extending to 2 or 3 in the afternoon. But once I’ve broken for lunch, I’m fit for nothing.
I used to have a proper job too – then, I had to write at night. We called it ‘the Sylvia Plath shift’ – from 3 am, when I’d wake naturally, to 7 am, when the kids got up. It was the only way I could get any work done. Couldn’t keep that up forever, though – it was like being constantly jetlagged.
What is your favourite part of writing?
The bit where you lose yourself completely in the other world.
What do you do when you get blocked?
It hasn’t happened yet… I have so little time to write, that I can’t waste a drop of it, so I don’t have time to be blocked, I just have to get on with things…
How do you keep your well of inspiration full?
I really don’t know…
I’m nosy, I suppose. Friends say I am a good listener; and I am endlessly fascinated by people, and speculate on lives and behaviour and motivation. I think that probably has something to do with it.
I read constantly if erratically, and watch films, devour box sets.
I also talk a lot with writer friends and my husband – who is also a writer. And just absorb stuff really. I’m really fascinated by the natural world too, seasonality and sensory experiences. I think you just have to be open to the world.
Do you have any rituals that help you to write?
It’s like getting into cold water. You can’t faff around dabbling in a toe and paddling. Take a run and jump, and you’re in deep before you know it. I walk into town, into the coffee shop, order the same coffee, sit at the same table, and just start work until - on a good day -I’m too hungry to keep on going.
Who are ten of your favourite writers?
Oh, crikey. Ten….Okay. In no particular order:
William Blake, Ray Davies, William Shakespeare, George Herbert, Jane Austen, George Elliot, Cormac McCarthy, Joss Whedon, William Goldman, Victor Hugo, Hilary Mantel, Susan Cooper, Daragh Carville.
(I’m not very good with numbers, did I mention?)
What do you consider to be good writing?
Mostly, good writing is happening when you don’t notice it.
What is your advice for someone dreaming of being a writer too?
Write.
(No-one else is going to do it for you)
What are you working on now?
A secret
Earlier this week Jo explained more about her inspirations for Longbourn in a guest post for me
and here is my review of Longbourn
August 20, 2013
SPOTLIGHT: Jo Baker on why she wrote Longbourn
On the blog today, Jo Baker tells the story behind the writing of her brilliant novel Longbourn which reimagines Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice from the point of view of the servants of the house.
[image error]
Jo Baker
I can’t even remember when I first read Pride and Prejudice, it seems like I’ve always known that book. Jane Austen was my first experience of grown-up literature, and I have continued to return to and love her work throughout my life. I admire her books enormously, as a writer - the immaculate prose, the deft plotting. I’m also a sucker for all that buttoned-up desire and wish-fulfilment. Who isn’t?
But as I read and re-read the books, I began to become aware - I remember saying at quite a young age - that if I’d been living at the time, I wouldn’t have got to go to the ball. I would’ve been stuck at home, with the sewing. Just a few generations back, my family were in service (we still have some cutlery from this era. My great aunt maintained it was a ‘gift’ from her employer; her sisters all believed that she’d
nicked it). I am not a gentleman’s daughter, as Elizabeth so assuredly is. (No offence, Dad.)
Aware of that - of that English class thing - Pride and Prejudice begins to read a little differently. You notice a name here and there, or an unnamed figure performing a role. Footman, housemaid. You realise that things just ‘happen’ - notes arrive, carriages are brought round, meals are served - but they actually require human agency to make them occur. I noticed these little flickers of activity
below the surface, and was intrigued.
But Longbourn really began to take shape when I re-read the line ‘the very shoe-roses for Netherfield were got by proxy’. The weather is far too bad for the Bennet girls to venture forth, so they send a maid to get soaked on their behalf. But she’s as real a human being as they are - insofar as any of these fictional characters can be.
[image error]
And thinking about Pride and Prejudice in this way began to raise other questions.
The Napoleonic War, and the civil unrest of the period are implicit in the book - all those handsome officers, all those troops billeted in Meryton. And that chilling throwaway line of Lydia’s, that a private had been flogged. I found myself thinking about this man. His suffering must have been terrible.
I wanted to explore the reality of soldiering in this period, and to think about not just the dashing officers in their scarlet coats, but the ordinary footsoldiers who came back from the front lines damaged, as men are by war.
The domestic detail in Longbourn I gathered from a lot of sources; history books, contemporary domestic guides and recipes and practical research. In the village where I grew up there was an old house that had the kinds of outhouses and kitchen I’ve imagined for Longbourn - even a ‘necessary house’, made redundant by indoor plumbing, but with multiple wooden seats still in place. We used to play in the grounds as children - it’s all been redeveloped now, but I re-occupied it in my
imagination for this book.
Tea-leaves as a cleaning method were still in use when my dad was a boy; I sweep my own wooden floors with tea-leaves now - my kids thought I was mad at first, lobbing handfuls of the stuff around the house, but it really works. Tea is mildy antiseptic, the tannic acid gives a subtle shine, and it’s totally ecological - no chemicals, no waste, completely free once you’ve made your tea.
A lot of the research behind Longbourn was amassed over time, without me really being aware of it. I already knew, for example, the English law of the period in relation to slavery, and that there were quite a few former slaves in the country, often brought over as servants; in Austen’s letters she mentions
a family friend who has a black servant. And then of course the Bingleys were in Trade, in the north - and there were slave-ports in the north of England (I live in one of them, Lancaster), and
it just seemed right that they might have a black servant, like Austen’s neighbours. And he would seem just so fascinating to a girl who’s seen nothing, been nowhere. It all just seemed to fit.
In her letters, Austen mentions two sisters who worked for her as seamstresses. They were called Miss Baker. Okay, it’s a common name, but still, the co-incidence was striking. It confirmed that my first thought was right: I’d have been stuck at home with the other servants, with the cleaning and cooking and
the mending. And I wanted to explore the reality of that, to show that real human
experience.
That’s why I wrote Longbourn.
[image error]
[image error]
Jo Baker
I can’t even remember when I first read Pride and Prejudice, it seems like I’ve always known that book. Jane Austen was my first experience of grown-up literature, and I have continued to return to and love her work throughout my life. I admire her books enormously, as a writer - the immaculate prose, the deft plotting. I’m also a sucker for all that buttoned-up desire and wish-fulfilment. Who isn’t?
But as I read and re-read the books, I began to become aware - I remember saying at quite a young age - that if I’d been living at the time, I wouldn’t have got to go to the ball. I would’ve been stuck at home, with the sewing. Just a few generations back, my family were in service (we still have some cutlery from this era. My great aunt maintained it was a ‘gift’ from her employer; her sisters all believed that she’d
nicked it). I am not a gentleman’s daughter, as Elizabeth so assuredly is. (No offence, Dad.)
Aware of that - of that English class thing - Pride and Prejudice begins to read a little differently. You notice a name here and there, or an unnamed figure performing a role. Footman, housemaid. You realise that things just ‘happen’ - notes arrive, carriages are brought round, meals are served - but they actually require human agency to make them occur. I noticed these little flickers of activity
below the surface, and was intrigued.
But Longbourn really began to take shape when I re-read the line ‘the very shoe-roses for Netherfield were got by proxy’. The weather is far too bad for the Bennet girls to venture forth, so they send a maid to get soaked on their behalf. But she’s as real a human being as they are - insofar as any of these fictional characters can be.
[image error]
And thinking about Pride and Prejudice in this way began to raise other questions.
The Napoleonic War, and the civil unrest of the period are implicit in the book - all those handsome officers, all those troops billeted in Meryton. And that chilling throwaway line of Lydia’s, that a private had been flogged. I found myself thinking about this man. His suffering must have been terrible.
I wanted to explore the reality of soldiering in this period, and to think about not just the dashing officers in their scarlet coats, but the ordinary footsoldiers who came back from the front lines damaged, as men are by war.
The domestic detail in Longbourn I gathered from a lot of sources; history books, contemporary domestic guides and recipes and practical research. In the village where I grew up there was an old house that had the kinds of outhouses and kitchen I’ve imagined for Longbourn - even a ‘necessary house’, made redundant by indoor plumbing, but with multiple wooden seats still in place. We used to play in the grounds as children - it’s all been redeveloped now, but I re-occupied it in my
imagination for this book.
Tea-leaves as a cleaning method were still in use when my dad was a boy; I sweep my own wooden floors with tea-leaves now - my kids thought I was mad at first, lobbing handfuls of the stuff around the house, but it really works. Tea is mildy antiseptic, the tannic acid gives a subtle shine, and it’s totally ecological - no chemicals, no waste, completely free once you’ve made your tea.
A lot of the research behind Longbourn was amassed over time, without me really being aware of it. I already knew, for example, the English law of the period in relation to slavery, and that there were quite a few former slaves in the country, often brought over as servants; in Austen’s letters she mentions
a family friend who has a black servant. And then of course the Bingleys were in Trade, in the north - and there were slave-ports in the north of England (I live in one of them, Lancaster), and
it just seemed right that they might have a black servant, like Austen’s neighbours. And he would seem just so fascinating to a girl who’s seen nothing, been nowhere. It all just seemed to fit.
In her letters, Austen mentions two sisters who worked for her as seamstresses. They were called Miss Baker. Okay, it’s a common name, but still, the co-incidence was striking. It confirmed that my first thought was right: I’d have been stuck at home with the other servants, with the cleaning and cooking and
the mending. And I wanted to explore the reality of that, to show that real human
experience.
That’s why I wrote Longbourn.
[image error]
August 18, 2013
BOOK REVIEW: Longbourn by Jo Baker
[image error]
Title: Longbourn
Author: Jo Baker
Publisher: Knopf
Age Group & Genre: Historical novel for adults
Reviewer: Kate Forsyth
The Blurb:
If Elizabeth Bennet had the washing of her own petticoats, Sarah often thought, she’d most likely be a sight more careful with them.
In this irresistibly imagined belowstairs answer to Pride and Prejudice,the servants take center stage. Sarah, the orphaned housemaid, spends her days scrubbing the laundry, polishing the floors, and emptying the chamber pots for the Bennet household. But there is just as much romance, heartbreak, and intrigue downstairs at Longbourn as there is upstairs. When a mysterious new footman arrives, the orderly realm of the servants’ hall threatens to be completely, perhaps irrevocably, upended.
Jo Baker dares to take us beyond the drawing rooms of Jane Austen’s classic—into the often overlooked domain of the stern housekeeper and the starry-eyed kitchen maid, into the gritty daily particulars faced by the lower classes in Regency England during the Napoleonic Wars—and, in doing so, creates a vivid, fascinating, fully realized world that is wholly her own.
What I Thought:
What a brilliant premise this book has! Did you ever wonder – when reading Pride & Prejudice - about the lives of the servants toiling away quietly downstairs?
No, me either.
Jo Baker did wonder, however, and from that imagining has spun a beautiful, intense, heart-wrenching tale. Do not expect the wit and charm of Jane Austen; do not expect the well-beloved characters to be lauded. In fact, most of the cast of Pride & Prejudice come off badly – some are selfish and narcissistic, others merely oblivious.
Do expect to have your understanding of the world of Jane Austen turned upside down and inside out, and made richer and truer as a result. Longbourne is driven by a strong sense of social justice, and we see just how hard life in Regency times could be for the poor and the weak. Much as I love Jane Austen, I always wondered why we heard nothing of the political turmoil of her times, nothing about the impassioned debate over slavery, nothing about the Napoleonic wars, nothing about the Luddites and the costs of the Industrial Revolution.
Jo Baker has attempted to engage with many of these gaping holes in Jane Austen’s world, and has achieved a work of great beauty and serious intent. Longbourne caused an international bidding war and has already sold film rights, and I can certainly see why.
Jo Baker's website
Jo Baker's blog
PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT – I LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK
August 17, 2013
SPOTLIGHT: Liz Shipe on Reconstructing Grimm
I'm very happy to welcome Liz Shipe to the blog. Liz has been involved in a fascinating photographic venture called Reconstructing Grimm, in which she and her colleagues recreate key scenes from the Grimm fairy tale canon. Here is Liz's story:
I’ve found that the best stories start with the phrase, “Once upon a time...” so I can’t think of any better way to start my story than with the same phrase that took me into every land that was long ago and far away.
Once upon a time I was a struggling actor. I had roles in local productions, but none of them really paid anything. So while I called myself and actor, the truth is I was working as a phone sales representative (... ok... fine telemarketer) for a prestigious local theater. The hours were long, the pay was bad, and I was bored. Boredom is a powerful thing for me. If I have more than four hours to myself I will sit for an hour, try to relax, give up, and then go bake a pie or sew a dress.
One spectacularly long shift my mind started to drift and I decided to browse the local audition notices. One caught my eye; a photographer was looking for an artistic director to put together a narrative photo series. I had always wanted to try modeling, even though I’m only 5’4” and not remotely a classic model type. I had a pretty good eye for hair, makeup, and costumes; working in small theater companies with no budget had trained me well. I had been enthralled with the idea of doing fairy tale based photo shoots, I just didn’t have access to a proper camera or someone who knew anything about photography, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity.
The work wasn’t paid, but that didn’t bother me. It was a challenge and being twenty-two at the time, the term “artist director” would look impressive on a resume for someone my age. I immediately contacted the photographer to get more information.
Perry Heideman had been doing photography as a hobby and to this point had been working on mainly landscapes. I pitched him my fairytale idea and he loved it. We decided that we would do a shoot just four days later and the subject would be Snow White.
While I was excited, I soon realized I had only four days to put this together. I was jumping head first into a completely new medium, and that was terrifying. I decided to just focus on the small things and piece by piece the shoot came together. I sewed my dress out of curtain panels from Goodwill, found an actor friend to play the prince, and raided my apartment for props.
The morning of the shoot came fast and it was a sweltering summer day. We spent about two hours climbing through a scenic bike trail near my place. When we parted ways that day, I had no idea if the shots were good or if they would do anything for my career. I just knew I had a lot of fun, and no matter what I was bettered for having done it.
In the next few weeks when we posted the pictures online, people went crazy for them. I was getting emails with people volunteering to do shoots, asking when the next one was coming, and so on. Perry and I talked about it and decided to keep going. Within the first six months we got a full article in the local paper about our collaboration. Then we started to book gallery shows in the city and soon around the state. That was when we had to give the project a title so that people would know what to call it, that winter we officially became Reconstructing Grimm: The Urban Fairy Tale Series.
After a year or so of working we got published in Faerie Magazine, a national publication in America. They did an eight page spread on our Wizard of Oz shoot. Things were shifting for me as an actor as well, I was now recognizable. I would do the promotional photos for shows that I was cast in under the Reconstructing Grimm banner.
After two years we expanded and Reconstructing Grimm did it’s first full scale theatrical production. An interactive mystery that I wrote based off the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The show, entitled Sherlock Holmes and A Most Irregular Tea Party sold out most of it's first run and due to its popularity two sequels were written and hastened into production: Sherlock Holmes and A Regrettable Engagement which premiered this past spring, and Sherlock Holmes and the Final Vow which will hit the stage this fall.
Finally a few weeks ago I was contacted by one of my favorite authors (that's me!) and given the opportunity to write a piece on my work for her blog.
Reconstructing Grimm has gone from a big gamble to being one of the best things I have ever done. Due to the nature of the photo series I’m frequently asked what my favorite fairy tale is. Truthfully I love them all, but after three years of getting to ride in magic pumpkins, fly away on fairy dust, and climb through many a looking glass, my favorite story has to be my own.
Reconstructing Grimm's website
I’ve found that the best stories start with the phrase, “Once upon a time...” so I can’t think of any better way to start my story than with the same phrase that took me into every land that was long ago and far away.
Once upon a time I was a struggling actor. I had roles in local productions, but none of them really paid anything. So while I called myself and actor, the truth is I was working as a phone sales representative (... ok... fine telemarketer) for a prestigious local theater. The hours were long, the pay was bad, and I was bored. Boredom is a powerful thing for me. If I have more than four hours to myself I will sit for an hour, try to relax, give up, and then go bake a pie or sew a dress.
One spectacularly long shift my mind started to drift and I decided to browse the local audition notices. One caught my eye; a photographer was looking for an artistic director to put together a narrative photo series. I had always wanted to try modeling, even though I’m only 5’4” and not remotely a classic model type. I had a pretty good eye for hair, makeup, and costumes; working in small theater companies with no budget had trained me well. I had been enthralled with the idea of doing fairy tale based photo shoots, I just didn’t have access to a proper camera or someone who knew anything about photography, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity.
The work wasn’t paid, but that didn’t bother me. It was a challenge and being twenty-two at the time, the term “artist director” would look impressive on a resume for someone my age. I immediately contacted the photographer to get more information.
Perry Heideman had been doing photography as a hobby and to this point had been working on mainly landscapes. I pitched him my fairytale idea and he loved it. We decided that we would do a shoot just four days later and the subject would be Snow White.
While I was excited, I soon realized I had only four days to put this together. I was jumping head first into a completely new medium, and that was terrifying. I decided to just focus on the small things and piece by piece the shoot came together. I sewed my dress out of curtain panels from Goodwill, found an actor friend to play the prince, and raided my apartment for props.
The morning of the shoot came fast and it was a sweltering summer day. We spent about two hours climbing through a scenic bike trail near my place. When we parted ways that day, I had no idea if the shots were good or if they would do anything for my career. I just knew I had a lot of fun, and no matter what I was bettered for having done it.
In the next few weeks when we posted the pictures online, people went crazy for them. I was getting emails with people volunteering to do shoots, asking when the next one was coming, and so on. Perry and I talked about it and decided to keep going. Within the first six months we got a full article in the local paper about our collaboration. Then we started to book gallery shows in the city and soon around the state. That was when we had to give the project a title so that people would know what to call it, that winter we officially became Reconstructing Grimm: The Urban Fairy Tale Series.
After a year or so of working we got published in Faerie Magazine, a national publication in America. They did an eight page spread on our Wizard of Oz shoot. Things were shifting for me as an actor as well, I was now recognizable. I would do the promotional photos for shows that I was cast in under the Reconstructing Grimm banner.
After two years we expanded and Reconstructing Grimm did it’s first full scale theatrical production. An interactive mystery that I wrote based off the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The show, entitled Sherlock Holmes and A Most Irregular Tea Party sold out most of it's first run and due to its popularity two sequels were written and hastened into production: Sherlock Holmes and A Regrettable Engagement which premiered this past spring, and Sherlock Holmes and the Final Vow which will hit the stage this fall.
Finally a few weeks ago I was contacted by one of my favorite authors (that's me!) and given the opportunity to write a piece on my work for her blog.
Reconstructing Grimm has gone from a big gamble to being one of the best things I have ever done. Due to the nature of the photo series I’m frequently asked what my favorite fairy tale is. Truthfully I love them all, but after three years of getting to ride in magic pumpkins, fly away on fairy dust, and climb through many a looking glass, my favorite story has to be my own.
Reconstructing Grimm's website
August 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW: Barkbelly by Cat Weatherill
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Title: Barkbelly
Author: Cat Weatherill
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Age Group & Genre: Children’s fantasy
Reviewer: Kate Forsyth
The Blurb: One silver-starry night, a shiny, wooden egg falls from a flying machine high in the air . . . down, down, down through the midnight sky . . . down to the small village of Pumbleditch, where Barkbelly is born. Where he’s the only wooden boy. And where he’s the cause of a tragic accident.
Suddenly, Barkbelly’s only choice is to flee for his life—to run. As he tries to escape his haunting past, he faces extraordinary adventures and dangers. Every wooden step leads Barkbelly toward the dark and startling truth about where he comes from and the burning question of where he really belongs. With deliciously imaginative storytelling, Cat Weatherill creates an utterly magical world—and one wooden boy who’s sure to melt readers’ hearts
What I Thought:
This is a story of a wooden boy and his adventures in searching for his birth family and his true self. Although there are dark and troubling aspects to the story – in particular the references to slave trading of wooden people like Barkbelly and the awful realisation that his birth family is not what he had hoped – the overall tone is playful, funny, adventurous, and filled with subtle lessons about kindness, love and friendship. Episodic in nature, Barkbelly's adventures include meeting circus folk, sailing on a ship and being attacked by pirates, and working in a factory, all of which is related with zest and verve.
Most of all, I love the use of language. Cat Weatherill is one of the UK’s most celebrated oral storytellers, and Barkbelly is full of the most delightful playful use of poetic devices such as alliteration, onomatopoeia, and repetition, just like a story told aloud
I had loved Cat Weatherill's earlier book Wild Magic which retells the Pied Piper of Hamelin fairy tale (you can read about it here), and so I was really glad to read her newest venture.
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Cat's storytelling website
Cat's author website
PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT – I LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK
August 13, 2013
SPOTLIGHT: Cat Weatherill, author of Barkbelly, talks about storytelling
I'm very excited to be welcoming Cat Weatherill, author and storyteller extraordinaire, to the blog today.
Cat Weatherill is one of Europe’s leading performance storytellers. She has been creating and telling stories to adults and children for twelve years. She is also a best selling children’s author, with books translated into ten languages.
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This is what Cat has to say:
When it comes to writing novels, being a storyteller has its advantages and its disadvantages. In this blog, I will focus purely on the positive! The benefits. How I think it has helped me. And in talking about my writing, I hope to show how you might lift your text from the page and set it dancing in your readers’ ears.
The main advantage to being a storyteller, I think, is having a very distinctive ‘voice.’ It has been formed organically, through hours and hours of live performance. It is this voice that people hear when they read my books and, because it is a storyteller’s voice, it means the books read aloud extremely well. I also have a cinematic imagination – I use words to paint pin sharp images - and I evoke atmosphere in a multi-sensory way.
I am sometimes asked whether I tell the story out loud then write it down. No, I don’t do that, but I do think visually. This is what storytelling is about – creating a string of visual images. You have an image in your head, and you send that image to your listener’s head via spoken words. The image will reform in a different way – it comes through the listener’s personal filters before it reassembles – but that is the joy of it. The uniqueness. I use the same approach to the written word. I imagine a narrative as a necklace: there are beads linked by a thread. I spend time polishing the beads so they shimmer and captivate the reader. And I bring in sounds and smells to evoke the atmosphere fully. Here is an example of a ‘bead’ from Barkbelly:
[image error]
By evening, the circus was ready to open. Barkbelly left the cottage at dusk and cut through the orchard toward Farmer Gubbin’s land. A low mist was rising. The air was still and curiously charged. He walked on, his heart drumming with excitement. And when he emerged from the shadow of the trees and saw the massive Stardust Palace rising from the mist, he caught his breath and bit his lip. It was too wonderful for words. As he walked through the long grass, his legs grew damp and sticky with seeds, but he didn’t notice. He was looking at the lanterns, bright as beads, strung between the wagons. He could hear the hum of the crowd, the roar of a lion, the crack of a whip.
As he drew closer, he could smell cotton candy and hot honeyed nuts. Sausages. Soap. Woodsmoke. Tobacco smoke. Sharp, sulphurous gun smoke!
Barkbelly was lost in a joyous, bewildering chaos of colour and sensation. His fingers closed around the money in his pocket. Three precious coins that would buy a ticket into the heart of this paradise.
I also love playing with language, and think rhythmically. Sometimes I put these rhythms directly onto the page. When they are read aloud, they add vibrancy to the text and feel delightful on the tongue. It saddens me when these lovingly crafted rhythms are lost in translation, along with my alliteration. And my character names! In the Danish version of Barkbelly, he is called Traeskind, which means ‘wooden child.’ That’s just not the same! The warm, cosy humour of the word ‘belly,’ the alliteration, the image of the bark-textured belly – all lost in one translated word. Hmm! Sometimes you just have to let these things go, but it’s a shame. These are my characteristic ‘flourishes’ as a writer. My style.
Here is an example of rhythmic writing, again from Barkbelly, when pirates suddenly attack the ship he is on:
Chaos and confusion! A bell ring, foot stomp, Flynn fly, do-or-die, panic-stricken sailor cry, chaos and confusion!
And polished alliterative language from Snowbone, when the character Blackeye is flying across the ocean by night:
Over the waves, under the moon, into the east he went. Over sailing ships that snailed across the ocean, leaving their trails behind them, silver as starlight. Over islands, secret-sleeping, scattered like cushions on the wakeful waves. Over sage whales, barnacle blue, singing sea songs older than time.
I am very fond of sound effects in my books. As a storyteller, I use them all the time because they bring a story to life. When I write a book, I add the sounds I would make as a teller, spelled out phonetically. Not only do they bring the text to life, but anyone reading the book out loud will find themselves spontaneously making the sounds too. Children love to hear grown ups making sound effects, but adults often lack the confidence to do it, thinking they will look silly. By adding them to the text, I gently overcome resistance. Here’s an example from Wild Magic:
Finn reached for an arrow, set it into his bow and let if fly: ffoooooo!
But ENOUGH about my writing! Let’s look at how you might bring a storyteller’s sparkle to your work.
[image error]
1 Make more magic
I have a comments book. At the end of every adult show, I encourage people to write in it. And the same words appear time and time again: magical... spellbinding... enchanting... captivating. This is not coincidence. I believe the job of a storyteller is to conjure magic: to create a world from a single breath and transport the listeners there, captivating them so fully, they won’t notice the time that’s passing. They will be lost; entangled in the tale.
And that is how we want our readers to be, isn’t it? Gripped! Enthralled. Fervently page turning. And yes, strong characters and great plotting play essential parts in achieving this, but I think a vividly imagined world is vitally important too. As a writer, you journey through a created world and you invite your readers to walk with you. The more ‘alive’ this landscape is to you, the more alive it will be to them. This is where magic comes in.
Set aside some time to explore your world. I find this easiest in a darkened room lit only with fairy lights. I sit in a comfortable chair, close my eyes and start picturing the world of my story. In India, storytelling is sometimes referred to as the Cinema of the Imagination, and this is what you are doing here: running a private movie of your novel’s landscape. Step into it... explore it... experience it. Allow yourself to be surprised by it.
This technique can be used for looking at a specific scene in your book. Picture the setting then bring your characters into it. Note how they move, the expressions on their faces, the power dynamics at work – how they are relating to the space and each other.
This can be an extraordinarily revealing exercise – and very powerful. Some months ago, I worked on an oral story about a very sick girl who was given a pretty dress for her birthday. I had imagined her as frail and wasted, but it wasn’t until I did this exercise that I saw she had no hair. I was shocked. How could I have overlooked something like that? As I watched the scene unfold before me, the girl’s mother tenderly slipped the red woollen dress over the thin body, and I clearly heard her whisper: ‘You’re beautiful.’ I started to cry. In that moment, it had become so real.
2 Get physical
This is taking the above one stage further – getting out of the chair and joining in. I am a very physical performer and have an acting background, so it’s often impossible for me to stay sitting down! I am driven to explore the scene physically.
Again, this can be very revealing – sometimes in a very practical sense. You might find, for example, that it is physically impossible for your hero to do what you had him doing.
Charles Dickens frequently acted out scenes from his books. His daughters would hear him hotly arguing with someone in the next room and rush in, only to find him alone. I seem to recall reading that he threw himself into his dramatics with such vigour, his rehearsals of the death of Nancy scene from Oliver Twist (in readiness for a live speaking tour) so badly affected his own health, he died before the tour began.
3 Read your work aloud
If you want a book to read well aloud, you must read it aloud! Better still, get someone else to read it aloud for you. Make a note of any words or phrases they stumble over, and then change them. With children’s books, ask a child to read and listen to how they pronounce the character’s names – if they can read them at all. With Barkbelly, I was shocked to find my eight year old test reader couldn’t pronounce the name of the very first character named in the book. Page one! What a terrible impression to give: this book will be hard to read. I changed the name instantly.
4 Be playful
... with language and images. A sense of moderation must prevail, of course, or the book will become over-written and florid. A good editor will help judge if you’ve gone too far. But certainly in the first draft, which should be written for yourself (‘with the door closed’ as Stephen King wonderfully puts it) I think you should have fun. It’s easier to cut later than add later.
Well – that’s it! It’s time for me to make yet another cup of tea. I cannot write without it!
Happy writing,
Cat
Cat's storytelling website
Cat's author website
I love Cat's writing - please go on and read my reviews on Barkbelly and Wild Magic . I also totally agree with her in regards to the importance of playfulness in writing - I wrote a blog for BOOKTOPIA about that very subject - you can read it here.
Cat Weatherill is one of Europe’s leading performance storytellers. She has been creating and telling stories to adults and children for twelve years. She is also a best selling children’s author, with books translated into ten languages.
[image error]
This is what Cat has to say:
When it comes to writing novels, being a storyteller has its advantages and its disadvantages. In this blog, I will focus purely on the positive! The benefits. How I think it has helped me. And in talking about my writing, I hope to show how you might lift your text from the page and set it dancing in your readers’ ears.
The main advantage to being a storyteller, I think, is having a very distinctive ‘voice.’ It has been formed organically, through hours and hours of live performance. It is this voice that people hear when they read my books and, because it is a storyteller’s voice, it means the books read aloud extremely well. I also have a cinematic imagination – I use words to paint pin sharp images - and I evoke atmosphere in a multi-sensory way.
I am sometimes asked whether I tell the story out loud then write it down. No, I don’t do that, but I do think visually. This is what storytelling is about – creating a string of visual images. You have an image in your head, and you send that image to your listener’s head via spoken words. The image will reform in a different way – it comes through the listener’s personal filters before it reassembles – but that is the joy of it. The uniqueness. I use the same approach to the written word. I imagine a narrative as a necklace: there are beads linked by a thread. I spend time polishing the beads so they shimmer and captivate the reader. And I bring in sounds and smells to evoke the atmosphere fully. Here is an example of a ‘bead’ from Barkbelly:
[image error]
By evening, the circus was ready to open. Barkbelly left the cottage at dusk and cut through the orchard toward Farmer Gubbin’s land. A low mist was rising. The air was still and curiously charged. He walked on, his heart drumming with excitement. And when he emerged from the shadow of the trees and saw the massive Stardust Palace rising from the mist, he caught his breath and bit his lip. It was too wonderful for words. As he walked through the long grass, his legs grew damp and sticky with seeds, but he didn’t notice. He was looking at the lanterns, bright as beads, strung between the wagons. He could hear the hum of the crowd, the roar of a lion, the crack of a whip.
As he drew closer, he could smell cotton candy and hot honeyed nuts. Sausages. Soap. Woodsmoke. Tobacco smoke. Sharp, sulphurous gun smoke!
Barkbelly was lost in a joyous, bewildering chaos of colour and sensation. His fingers closed around the money in his pocket. Three precious coins that would buy a ticket into the heart of this paradise.
I also love playing with language, and think rhythmically. Sometimes I put these rhythms directly onto the page. When they are read aloud, they add vibrancy to the text and feel delightful on the tongue. It saddens me when these lovingly crafted rhythms are lost in translation, along with my alliteration. And my character names! In the Danish version of Barkbelly, he is called Traeskind, which means ‘wooden child.’ That’s just not the same! The warm, cosy humour of the word ‘belly,’ the alliteration, the image of the bark-textured belly – all lost in one translated word. Hmm! Sometimes you just have to let these things go, but it’s a shame. These are my characteristic ‘flourishes’ as a writer. My style.
Here is an example of rhythmic writing, again from Barkbelly, when pirates suddenly attack the ship he is on:
Chaos and confusion! A bell ring, foot stomp, Flynn fly, do-or-die, panic-stricken sailor cry, chaos and confusion!
And polished alliterative language from Snowbone, when the character Blackeye is flying across the ocean by night:
Over the waves, under the moon, into the east he went. Over sailing ships that snailed across the ocean, leaving their trails behind them, silver as starlight. Over islands, secret-sleeping, scattered like cushions on the wakeful waves. Over sage whales, barnacle blue, singing sea songs older than time.
I am very fond of sound effects in my books. As a storyteller, I use them all the time because they bring a story to life. When I write a book, I add the sounds I would make as a teller, spelled out phonetically. Not only do they bring the text to life, but anyone reading the book out loud will find themselves spontaneously making the sounds too. Children love to hear grown ups making sound effects, but adults often lack the confidence to do it, thinking they will look silly. By adding them to the text, I gently overcome resistance. Here’s an example from Wild Magic:
Finn reached for an arrow, set it into his bow and let if fly: ffoooooo!
But ENOUGH about my writing! Let’s look at how you might bring a storyteller’s sparkle to your work.
[image error]
1 Make more magic
I have a comments book. At the end of every adult show, I encourage people to write in it. And the same words appear time and time again: magical... spellbinding... enchanting... captivating. This is not coincidence. I believe the job of a storyteller is to conjure magic: to create a world from a single breath and transport the listeners there, captivating them so fully, they won’t notice the time that’s passing. They will be lost; entangled in the tale.
And that is how we want our readers to be, isn’t it? Gripped! Enthralled. Fervently page turning. And yes, strong characters and great plotting play essential parts in achieving this, but I think a vividly imagined world is vitally important too. As a writer, you journey through a created world and you invite your readers to walk with you. The more ‘alive’ this landscape is to you, the more alive it will be to them. This is where magic comes in.
Set aside some time to explore your world. I find this easiest in a darkened room lit only with fairy lights. I sit in a comfortable chair, close my eyes and start picturing the world of my story. In India, storytelling is sometimes referred to as the Cinema of the Imagination, and this is what you are doing here: running a private movie of your novel’s landscape. Step into it... explore it... experience it. Allow yourself to be surprised by it.
This technique can be used for looking at a specific scene in your book. Picture the setting then bring your characters into it. Note how they move, the expressions on their faces, the power dynamics at work – how they are relating to the space and each other.
This can be an extraordinarily revealing exercise – and very powerful. Some months ago, I worked on an oral story about a very sick girl who was given a pretty dress for her birthday. I had imagined her as frail and wasted, but it wasn’t until I did this exercise that I saw she had no hair. I was shocked. How could I have overlooked something like that? As I watched the scene unfold before me, the girl’s mother tenderly slipped the red woollen dress over the thin body, and I clearly heard her whisper: ‘You’re beautiful.’ I started to cry. In that moment, it had become so real.
2 Get physical
This is taking the above one stage further – getting out of the chair and joining in. I am a very physical performer and have an acting background, so it’s often impossible for me to stay sitting down! I am driven to explore the scene physically.
Again, this can be very revealing – sometimes in a very practical sense. You might find, for example, that it is physically impossible for your hero to do what you had him doing.
Charles Dickens frequently acted out scenes from his books. His daughters would hear him hotly arguing with someone in the next room and rush in, only to find him alone. I seem to recall reading that he threw himself into his dramatics with such vigour, his rehearsals of the death of Nancy scene from Oliver Twist (in readiness for a live speaking tour) so badly affected his own health, he died before the tour began.
3 Read your work aloud
If you want a book to read well aloud, you must read it aloud! Better still, get someone else to read it aloud for you. Make a note of any words or phrases they stumble over, and then change them. With children’s books, ask a child to read and listen to how they pronounce the character’s names – if they can read them at all. With Barkbelly, I was shocked to find my eight year old test reader couldn’t pronounce the name of the very first character named in the book. Page one! What a terrible impression to give: this book will be hard to read. I changed the name instantly.
4 Be playful
... with language and images. A sense of moderation must prevail, of course, or the book will become over-written and florid. A good editor will help judge if you’ve gone too far. But certainly in the first draft, which should be written for yourself (‘with the door closed’ as Stephen King wonderfully puts it) I think you should have fun. It’s easier to cut later than add later.
Well – that’s it! It’s time for me to make yet another cup of tea. I cannot write without it!
Happy writing,
Cat
Cat's storytelling website
Cat's author website
I love Cat's writing - please go on and read my reviews on Barkbelly and Wild Magic . I also totally agree with her in regards to the importance of playfulness in writing - I wrote a blog for BOOKTOPIA about that very subject - you can read it here.
August 11, 2013
INTERVIEW: Cat Weatherill, author of Barkbelly
Cat Weatherill makes her living travelling the world and telling stories, something I too would love to do. She also writes magical books for children, including Wild Magic, an utterly beautiful retelling of the Pied Piper fairy tale, and Barkbelly, an action-packed fantasy adventure about a boy made of wood.
Cat stole some moments from her incredibly busy schedule to answer a few questions:
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What is your latest novel all about?
It's a comedy called THE HAIRY MARYS, and it's about a group of ten year old girls who grow beards! So it brings in gender and dreams and the Suffragettes.
How did you get the first idea for it?
Like BARKBELLY and WILD MAGIC, it was inspired by a folk tale - this time from the Igbo people in Africa
What do you love most about writing?
I love the fact that books travel... That people all around the world can hear my stories, even if I'm not there to tell them in person.
What are the best 3 books you've read recently?
Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.
The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale.
The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox.
[image error]
I love The Shadow of the Wind too!
What lies ahead of you in the next year?
Lots of exotic storytelling festivals! I will be performing in India, Switzerland, Kenya, Denmark, Austria and Crete. I have also started writing my first adult novel!
Cat's storytelling website
Cat's author website
Cat stole some moments from her incredibly busy schedule to answer a few questions:
[image error]
What is your latest novel all about?
It's a comedy called THE HAIRY MARYS, and it's about a group of ten year old girls who grow beards! So it brings in gender and dreams and the Suffragettes.
How did you get the first idea for it?
Like BARKBELLY and WILD MAGIC, it was inspired by a folk tale - this time from the Igbo people in Africa
What do you love most about writing?
I love the fact that books travel... That people all around the world can hear my stories, even if I'm not there to tell them in person.
What are the best 3 books you've read recently?
Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.
The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale.
The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox.
[image error]
I love The Shadow of the Wind too!
What lies ahead of you in the next year?
Lots of exotic storytelling festivals! I will be performing in India, Switzerland, Kenya, Denmark, Austria and Crete. I have also started writing my first adult novel!
Cat's storytelling website
Cat's author website
August 8, 2013
INTERVIEW: Deanna Raybourn, author of A Spear of Summer grass
I've long been a fan of Deanna Raybourn's Lady Julia Victorian murder mystery series (you can read my review of them here), and so I was all excited to find out she had written a new book that looked set to be completely different.
A Spear of Summer Grass is set in the 1920s and moves from Paris to Kenya, making it one of a new wave of novels set in Kenya after the First World War. (Two other such books I've recently read are Lauren Willig's The Ashford Affair and Frances Osbourne's The Bolter, both of which were fabulous too).
I adored A Spear of Summer Grass - its sexy, funny, romantic and poignant, and I love the African setting. I'm very happy to welcome Deanna to the blog today to talk about her inspirations and aspirations:
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Are you a daydreamer too?
Yes, and not just about my work! I lead a very Walter Mitty existence. I love to make up stories about people I see and odd scraps of conversation I overhear. And I’m always imagining things are more intriguing than they actually are. For example, my neighbor has a really odd, high fence portioning off part of his backyard. It could be where he keeps the compost, but it’s more interesting to think it’s a body farm.
Have you always wanted to be a writer?
Always. I remember being thrilled when I learned how to print so I could finally get the stories out of my head and onto paper. I decided to double-major in English and history because I knew I would write historical fiction. I wrote my first novel when I was 23, but it took me fourteen years to get published. In that time I wrote probably six or seven novels that are still living in a box in my attic. Thanks to a superb bit of advice from my agent, I finally got lucky with SILENT IN THE GRAVE, the first book in the Lady Julia Grey series.
Tell me a little about yourself – where were you born, where do you live, what do you like to do?
I’m a sixth-generation native Texan on my mother’s side, but my father’s a first-generation American. His mother is English, so I come by my Anglophilia honestly. I live in Virginia now, and it’s been an interesting change for us. I really, really love what I do, so when I’m not writing, I’m usually thinking about writing or reading. I am always happy to travel or hit a museum, and I knit but badly—only flat things and it takes me ages. I keep thinking I ought to develop a proper hobby for questions like this, perhaps beekeeping or origami or breeding Bedlingtons, but I’m far too lazy. I’m a dabbler. There are loads of things like gardening or crafting or astronomy or languages that I pick up and put down depending on my mood.
How did you get the first flash of inspiration for A Spear of Summer Grass?
My publisher told me to write anything I wanted—and it was almost too much freedom! I spent a few days figuratively bumping into walls because it was a little dizzying to be told to write what I liked. Then I got practical. I sat down and made a list of some of my favorite nonfiction topics, things I read about for pure pleasure. When I jotted down about thirty, I circled a few items that didn’t immediately seem to go together: Africa, 1920s, roses, scandalous society beauties. And then I realized they DID go together. For roughly the period between the world wars, the English colony in British East Africa—later Kenya—was home to a group of extremely decadent people with larger than life personalities and tremendous stories. This was the Happy Valley set, and I had done a little reading about them, but researching A SPEAR OF SUMMER GRASS was my chance to immerse myself in their world. It was absolutely enthralling, and the more I read about them, the easier it was to write the novel because they did such incredibly dramatic things. (If you’re looking for roses in SPEAR, they didn’t make the cut. I decided to make Fairlight a pyrethrum farm instead. Rose farming is huge in Kenya, but the industry is tremendously controversial, and I didn’t have the space to do it justice within the scope of the book.)
[image error]
How extensively do you plan your novels?
I’m an organized pantser. If you think of a novel as a journey, I know where I’m starting and where I’m ending, and I know the major turning points, but I don’t know the tiny twists in the road. I love having those moments of spontaneity in a book, those little flashes of surprise where I suddenly weave something into the story I hadn’t planned. Often those will come about from research I do while I’m writing, and it’s always thrilling to feel it coming together.
Do you ever use dreams as a source of inspiration?
I do! Sometimes I will imagine an entire novel, and the odd thing is that I know I’m conjuring a book and not just having a dream. I wake up and jot down notes on the plot, but only one of those has been the source of a novel and that was my Gothic, THE DEAD TRAVEL FAST. Usually I will just take bits and pieces of dreams and find a way to tweak details of a book with them.
Did you make any astonishing serendipitous discoveries while writing this book?
When I was researching the book I did a fair bit of reading about Denys Finch Hatton, Karen Blixen’s lover who was played by Robert Redford in “Out of Africa”. I was amazed to discover he was a distant cousin of mine! His mother was a Codrington, as was my grandfather’s family, and it was so intriguing to me to find an actual connection to one of the people who made that time and place—1920s Kenya—so legendary. He was a man of many talents, including flying, and that’s why I gave Ryder White, my hero, a pilot’s license. It was a little tip of the hat to my own family connection to that setting.
Where do you write, and when?
I write in the morning in my tiny study. We think it must have been the sewing room when the house was first built in 1940. It’s got lovely morning light, but it’s very small—about eight by nine feet. I painted it pink with a pale turquoise ceiling and my husband put up open shelves for my books and hung a little chandelier I inherited from a great aunt. It’s very girlie and very restful. For each book I write, I create a collage and that hangs opposite my desk while I work. It’s right at my eye line, so whenever I look up I can see it and get a little inspiration. There’s also a window right at my desk, but I try not to look out too often. We have some beautiful big oak trees right outside, so there’s usually a bird or two hanging around as well.
What is your favourite part of writing?
I love putting the pieces together. I read an article that correlated writing a novel with writing a symphony—which is absolutely true, except that a writer gets to decide how the instruments sound as well! I get such a thrill out of assembling the various pieces and deciding what will work and what won’t. The actual getting words on paper part can be painful, but the rest makes it all worthwhile.
What do you do when you get blocked?
I never miss deadlines, so I don’t stop, ever. I keep reading; I keep writing. Even if I know what I’m writing is wrong, it is helping me get where I need to be. I had that issue with CITY OF JASMINE simply because I couldn’t get the opening scene right. Conventional wisdom says you’re supposed to just write the rest of the book, but I kept after that scene because I had a gut feeling that once I cracked it, the rest would fall into place. I was right. Once I had that scene—after five or six major attempts—I knew exactly who these characters were and how to handle them. I never would have gotten that if I’d simply forged onto the end. And it wasn’t a dead loss because I kept the scenes and one of them is the perfect opener to my next novel!
How do you keep your well of inspiration full?
I read a lot; I watch documentaries and films set in the periods I like to write about. I also try not to take on too much outside of my actual writing. I work hard at only saying yes to things I am enthusiastic about for two reasons: first, it saves energy because I’m not spending myself on projects I don’t really care about. Second, it means I get more excited about everything because I’m always working on things that interest and fulfill me. I also try to push myself into projects that scare me in a good way. If I want to write a book but I’m not sure how I’m going to pull it off, that’s the book I need to write. I do my best work when I’m slightly terrified.
Do you have any rituals that help you to write?
I start a new novel on the first day of a month, and I always light a fresh candle and wear a necklace that has a Virgen de Guadalupe charm hanging from it. I try to have my collage finished and hanging up, and I make sure to clean out all traces of the previous book. Manuscripts and notes are banished to the attic; research books are reshelved, and the sheets of newsprint I tack up for revision notes are pulled down. I also create a playlist for my ipod and always have music that suits the book I’m writing. Sometimes I will bring in scents that conjure a mood as well—for instance, with SPEAR, my heroine spent a good deal of time in New Orleans and her grandfather always smelled of vetiver. So I bought a little bundle of dried vetiver in the French Quarter and kept it on the desk to sniff from time to time. My husband also bought me a reproduction of a lion’s tooth, and I kept that on my desk as well for a little extra inspiration.
Who are ten of your favourite writers?
Jane Austen, Elizabeth Peters, Victoria Holt, Mary Stewart, Stella Gibbons, Baroness Orczy, Charlotte Bronte, Anya Seton, Bettany Hughes, Lucy Worsley. I just realized I only named women, but it’s fine—ask me tomorrow and I’d probably give you a different ten.
Mary Stewart is one of my favourite writers too!
What do you consider to be good writing?
Good writing is the stuff that will put me into the same state of flow I achieve when I write—I lose all sense of time and space and am completely immersed in a world someone else created. I love that feeling of everything else falling away and the characters coming so utterly to life I wouldn’t be surprised if they actually spoke to me. With good writing, I’m not mentally rewriting the scenes as I go. If the writing is lacking, I find I’m changing it as I read, and that takes me out of the story. I like to be taken for a magic carpet ride.
What is your advice for someone dreaming of being a writer too?
Don’t listen to advice on how to be a writer—or at least, take it all with a hefty pinch of salt. There are as many methods and processes and ways of working as there are writers, and they are all valid. Whatever works for you is what works, regardless of what anyone else says. And absolutely ignore the old adage of “write what you know.” It’s rubbish. Write what you want to read.
What are you working on now? I
am finishing up a Lady Julia digital novella, writing the prequel novella to my next novel, CITY OF JASMINE (March 2014), and preparing to start my next novel on August 1. It’s demanding but so exciting—and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Deanna's website
Deanna's blog
PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT – I LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK
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A Spear of Summer Grass is set in the 1920s and moves from Paris to Kenya, making it one of a new wave of novels set in Kenya after the First World War. (Two other such books I've recently read are Lauren Willig's The Ashford Affair and Frances Osbourne's The Bolter, both of which were fabulous too).
I adored A Spear of Summer Grass - its sexy, funny, romantic and poignant, and I love the African setting. I'm very happy to welcome Deanna to the blog today to talk about her inspirations and aspirations:
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Are you a daydreamer too?
Yes, and not just about my work! I lead a very Walter Mitty existence. I love to make up stories about people I see and odd scraps of conversation I overhear. And I’m always imagining things are more intriguing than they actually are. For example, my neighbor has a really odd, high fence portioning off part of his backyard. It could be where he keeps the compost, but it’s more interesting to think it’s a body farm.
Have you always wanted to be a writer?
Always. I remember being thrilled when I learned how to print so I could finally get the stories out of my head and onto paper. I decided to double-major in English and history because I knew I would write historical fiction. I wrote my first novel when I was 23, but it took me fourteen years to get published. In that time I wrote probably six or seven novels that are still living in a box in my attic. Thanks to a superb bit of advice from my agent, I finally got lucky with SILENT IN THE GRAVE, the first book in the Lady Julia Grey series.
Tell me a little about yourself – where were you born, where do you live, what do you like to do?
I’m a sixth-generation native Texan on my mother’s side, but my father’s a first-generation American. His mother is English, so I come by my Anglophilia honestly. I live in Virginia now, and it’s been an interesting change for us. I really, really love what I do, so when I’m not writing, I’m usually thinking about writing or reading. I am always happy to travel or hit a museum, and I knit but badly—only flat things and it takes me ages. I keep thinking I ought to develop a proper hobby for questions like this, perhaps beekeeping or origami or breeding Bedlingtons, but I’m far too lazy. I’m a dabbler. There are loads of things like gardening or crafting or astronomy or languages that I pick up and put down depending on my mood.
How did you get the first flash of inspiration for A Spear of Summer Grass?
My publisher told me to write anything I wanted—and it was almost too much freedom! I spent a few days figuratively bumping into walls because it was a little dizzying to be told to write what I liked. Then I got practical. I sat down and made a list of some of my favorite nonfiction topics, things I read about for pure pleasure. When I jotted down about thirty, I circled a few items that didn’t immediately seem to go together: Africa, 1920s, roses, scandalous society beauties. And then I realized they DID go together. For roughly the period between the world wars, the English colony in British East Africa—later Kenya—was home to a group of extremely decadent people with larger than life personalities and tremendous stories. This was the Happy Valley set, and I had done a little reading about them, but researching A SPEAR OF SUMMER GRASS was my chance to immerse myself in their world. It was absolutely enthralling, and the more I read about them, the easier it was to write the novel because they did such incredibly dramatic things. (If you’re looking for roses in SPEAR, they didn’t make the cut. I decided to make Fairlight a pyrethrum farm instead. Rose farming is huge in Kenya, but the industry is tremendously controversial, and I didn’t have the space to do it justice within the scope of the book.)
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How extensively do you plan your novels?
I’m an organized pantser. If you think of a novel as a journey, I know where I’m starting and where I’m ending, and I know the major turning points, but I don’t know the tiny twists in the road. I love having those moments of spontaneity in a book, those little flashes of surprise where I suddenly weave something into the story I hadn’t planned. Often those will come about from research I do while I’m writing, and it’s always thrilling to feel it coming together.
Do you ever use dreams as a source of inspiration?
I do! Sometimes I will imagine an entire novel, and the odd thing is that I know I’m conjuring a book and not just having a dream. I wake up and jot down notes on the plot, but only one of those has been the source of a novel and that was my Gothic, THE DEAD TRAVEL FAST. Usually I will just take bits and pieces of dreams and find a way to tweak details of a book with them.
Did you make any astonishing serendipitous discoveries while writing this book?
When I was researching the book I did a fair bit of reading about Denys Finch Hatton, Karen Blixen’s lover who was played by Robert Redford in “Out of Africa”. I was amazed to discover he was a distant cousin of mine! His mother was a Codrington, as was my grandfather’s family, and it was so intriguing to me to find an actual connection to one of the people who made that time and place—1920s Kenya—so legendary. He was a man of many talents, including flying, and that’s why I gave Ryder White, my hero, a pilot’s license. It was a little tip of the hat to my own family connection to that setting.
Where do you write, and when?
I write in the morning in my tiny study. We think it must have been the sewing room when the house was first built in 1940. It’s got lovely morning light, but it’s very small—about eight by nine feet. I painted it pink with a pale turquoise ceiling and my husband put up open shelves for my books and hung a little chandelier I inherited from a great aunt. It’s very girlie and very restful. For each book I write, I create a collage and that hangs opposite my desk while I work. It’s right at my eye line, so whenever I look up I can see it and get a little inspiration. There’s also a window right at my desk, but I try not to look out too often. We have some beautiful big oak trees right outside, so there’s usually a bird or two hanging around as well.
What is your favourite part of writing?
I love putting the pieces together. I read an article that correlated writing a novel with writing a symphony—which is absolutely true, except that a writer gets to decide how the instruments sound as well! I get such a thrill out of assembling the various pieces and deciding what will work and what won’t. The actual getting words on paper part can be painful, but the rest makes it all worthwhile.
What do you do when you get blocked?
I never miss deadlines, so I don’t stop, ever. I keep reading; I keep writing. Even if I know what I’m writing is wrong, it is helping me get where I need to be. I had that issue with CITY OF JASMINE simply because I couldn’t get the opening scene right. Conventional wisdom says you’re supposed to just write the rest of the book, but I kept after that scene because I had a gut feeling that once I cracked it, the rest would fall into place. I was right. Once I had that scene—after five or six major attempts—I knew exactly who these characters were and how to handle them. I never would have gotten that if I’d simply forged onto the end. And it wasn’t a dead loss because I kept the scenes and one of them is the perfect opener to my next novel!
How do you keep your well of inspiration full?
I read a lot; I watch documentaries and films set in the periods I like to write about. I also try not to take on too much outside of my actual writing. I work hard at only saying yes to things I am enthusiastic about for two reasons: first, it saves energy because I’m not spending myself on projects I don’t really care about. Second, it means I get more excited about everything because I’m always working on things that interest and fulfill me. I also try to push myself into projects that scare me in a good way. If I want to write a book but I’m not sure how I’m going to pull it off, that’s the book I need to write. I do my best work when I’m slightly terrified.
Do you have any rituals that help you to write?
I start a new novel on the first day of a month, and I always light a fresh candle and wear a necklace that has a Virgen de Guadalupe charm hanging from it. I try to have my collage finished and hanging up, and I make sure to clean out all traces of the previous book. Manuscripts and notes are banished to the attic; research books are reshelved, and the sheets of newsprint I tack up for revision notes are pulled down. I also create a playlist for my ipod and always have music that suits the book I’m writing. Sometimes I will bring in scents that conjure a mood as well—for instance, with SPEAR, my heroine spent a good deal of time in New Orleans and her grandfather always smelled of vetiver. So I bought a little bundle of dried vetiver in the French Quarter and kept it on the desk to sniff from time to time. My husband also bought me a reproduction of a lion’s tooth, and I kept that on my desk as well for a little extra inspiration.
Who are ten of your favourite writers?
Jane Austen, Elizabeth Peters, Victoria Holt, Mary Stewart, Stella Gibbons, Baroness Orczy, Charlotte Bronte, Anya Seton, Bettany Hughes, Lucy Worsley. I just realized I only named women, but it’s fine—ask me tomorrow and I’d probably give you a different ten.
Mary Stewart is one of my favourite writers too!
What do you consider to be good writing?
Good writing is the stuff that will put me into the same state of flow I achieve when I write—I lose all sense of time and space and am completely immersed in a world someone else created. I love that feeling of everything else falling away and the characters coming so utterly to life I wouldn’t be surprised if they actually spoke to me. With good writing, I’m not mentally rewriting the scenes as I go. If the writing is lacking, I find I’m changing it as I read, and that takes me out of the story. I like to be taken for a magic carpet ride.
What is your advice for someone dreaming of being a writer too?
Don’t listen to advice on how to be a writer—or at least, take it all with a hefty pinch of salt. There are as many methods and processes and ways of working as there are writers, and they are all valid. Whatever works for you is what works, regardless of what anyone else says. And absolutely ignore the old adage of “write what you know.” It’s rubbish. Write what you want to read.
What are you working on now? I
am finishing up a Lady Julia digital novella, writing the prequel novella to my next novel, CITY OF JASMINE (March 2014), and preparing to start my next novel on August 1. It’s demanding but so exciting—and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Deanna's website
Deanna's blog
PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT – I LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK
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[image error]August 7, 2013
BOOK LIST - Books Read in July 2013
Thanks to a lot of time spent in planes and airports, and a weekend sick in bed, I read 14 books this month, with an eclectic mix of fiction, non-fiction, children’s and adults, historical and contemporary.
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1. Stay: The Last Dog in Antarctica – Jesse Blackadder
This is Jesse Blackadder’s first book for children, and was inspired by her trip to the icy south after she won the Australian Antarctic Arts Fellowship in 2011/2012. Jesse was travelling there to research her wonderful historical novel for adults Chasing the Light, and was most surprised to see one of those life-sized fibreglass seeing eye dogs used to collect donations for the Royal Blind Society. It had been dognapped from a Hobart shopping centre in 1991 by some Antarctic expeditioners who were earth-broken at the impeding loss of huskies from the South Pole. In the decades since, the fibreglass dog had become a sort of mascot and had even ended up going to the North Pole. Jesse has turned the story of these adventures into a heart-warming book for 8+ .
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2. Heretic – S.J. Parris
I love a good historical murder mystery, particularly one set in one of my favourite eras of history. Heretic is set during Elizabethan times, quite possibly the most popular of periods. The novel features a true life heretic monk as its amateur detective, this being Giordano Bruno who was sought by the Roman Inquisition for his belief that the Earth orbits the sun and that the universe is infinite. He travels to Oxford in 1576 to take part in a religious debate, but gets caught up in a series of grisly murders. The novel is described by its publishers as a ‘blockbuster historical thriller’ (think Dan Brown in tights), but it is a little slow to truly be called a thriller. It is, however, a clever and sophisticated murder mystery, with an unusual and charismatic hero. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
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3. Hitler’s Daughter – Jackie French
My son is reading Hitler’s Daughter for English and so I thought I’d read it too so we could discuss it together. The story begins with a group of school children who tell stories as a way to pass the time while they wait for their bus. One girl begins to tell a story about Hitler’s daughter, Heidi. The other children object that Hitler never had a daughter, and Anna tells them that no-one ever knew about her. She was kept secret. The story of Heidi’s life goes on, told in interludes that describes the ordinary life of Mark, the narrator. Anna’s story stirs Mark up and he begins to ask questions – why did so many people support Hitler? What would we do today if we were in the same situation. But no-one has any answers for him. It’s a very simple tale, told in very simple language, and references to what life in Germany must have been like are touched on very lightly. I can see that it may be a good book for reluctant readers, or for younger readers who may be frightened by a more dramatic and intense reading experience. My son read it in an hour and shrugged when I asked him what he thought. However, we have talked quite a bit about Hitler and the Second World War since, so I think the book has been working away in his mind ever since he read it.
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4. Anne Sexton: A Biography – Diane Wood Middlebrook
Anne Sexton is an American poet most famous for her intense, shocking and autobiographical poems and for having committed suicide, much like her friend Sylvia Plath. She had spent most of her 20s fighting depression and suicidal thoughts, and her therapist suggested she begin to write poetry to help her express her feelings. The suggestion was like a match to paper. Anne Sexton took fire, and wrote obsessively. Within a remarkably short time, she was one of America’s best known poets and had won the Pulitzer Prize. She killed herself in 1974, at the height of her career. Published in 1991, Middlebrook’s biography of the poet caused great controversy, primarily because of the use of tapes from Sexton’s sessions with her psychiatrist, and because of details of incest and infidelities contained within those tapes. The inclusion of these tapes, however controversial, makes this an utterly fascinating read. You must check out Youtube videos of Sexton reading her own work – she is utterly compelling:
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5. Beauty’s Sister – James Bradley
Beauty’s Sister is an exquisite retelling of the Rapunzel fairy tale, published as a Penguin Special. Too short to be a novel, too long to be a story, I’d call this a novelette. Penguin Specials are designed to be read in half an hour or so, perfect for a commute or a quick bite between larger narrative fare. I loved it. Bradley’s writing is spare and precise, his images haunting, and his plot reimagines the well-known fairy tale from the point of view of Rapunzel’s darker, wilder sister. Having written my own Rapunzel retelling, Bitter Greens, and being in the final throes of a doctorate on the Maiden in the Tower tales, I have read many hundreds of reinventions of this tale. Beauty’s Sister is one of the most powerful.
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6. Bellfield Hall, or The Deductions of Miss Dido Kent – Anna Dean
Imagine a novel where Miss Marple meets Jane Austen, and you will begin to have a sense of this delightful Regency murder mystery. Miss Dido Kent, the heroine and amateur sleuth, is clever, witty, and astute. The book begins with the discovery of a body in the shrubbery at a grand English manor house where Miss Kent is staying. She sets out to solve the mystery, of course, in her own ladylike way, and the story rollicks along from there, filled with charm, humour, and the faintest touch of romance. I’m so looking forward to reading the next instalments!
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7. A Spear of Summer Grass – Deanna Raybourn
"Don't believe the stories you have heard about me. I have never killed anyone, and I have never stolen another woman's husband. Oh, if I find one lying around unattended, I might climb on, but I never took one that didn't want taking."
As soon as I read these opening lines, I sighed happily, knowing I was going to love this book. Deanna Raybourn is best known for her Lady Julia series of Victorian murder mysteries, and so A Spear of Summer Grass is a new departure for her. Set during the Roaring 20s, it tells the story of the scandalous debutante Delilah Drummond who has caused one scandal too many and so is banished to Kenya. Her voice is pitch-perfect. She’s sassy, cynical, and smart, yet there is a touch of pathos and vulnerability about her which makes her a far more interesting character than you might expect. In Kenya, Delilah gets caught up in the social whirl of the white landowners, makes unexpected friends, takes a lover and falls in love (not with the same man), and finds herself accused of murder. An utterly brilliant book, and one of the most enjoyable reads of the year so far for me.
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8. Resurrectionist – James McGee
This is Book 2 in a series of Regency thrillers featuring Bow Street Runner Matthew Hawkwood. This time round, the ‘ratcatcher’, as the Runners were nicknamed, is called in to investigate a strange murder in the mental asylum known to most as Bedlam. Hawkwood also finds himself dealing with ‘resurrectionists, men who dig up dead bodies to sell to doctors for their research. Before long, he realises the two cases are connected and he is dealing with the most ruthless and macabre villain ever. These Regency thrillers are a long way from the romantic and genteel worlds of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer. The London of McGee’s book is dark, gritty and violent, populated by thieves and cut-throats and prostitutes and war-damaged ex-soldiers. Gripping and dramatic stuff.
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9. Longbourne – Jo Baker
What a brilliant premise this book has! Did you ever wonder – when reading Pride & Prejudice - about the lives of the servants toiling away quietly downstairs? No, me either. Jo Baker did wonder, however, and from that imagining has spun a beautiful, intense, heart-wrenching tale. Do not expect the wit and charm of Jane Austen; do not expect the well-beloved characters to be lauded. In fact, most of the cast of Pride & Prejudice come off badly – some are selfish and narcissistic, others merely oblivious. Do expect to have your understanding of the world of Jane Austen turned upside down and inside out, and made richer and truer as a result. Longbourne is driven by a strong sense of social justice, and we see just how hard life in Regency times could be for the poor and the weak. Much as I love Jane Austen, I always wondered why we heard nothing of the political turmoil of her times, nothing about the impassioned debate over slavery, nothing about the Napoleonic wars, nothing about the Luddites and the costs of the Industrial Revolution. Jo Baker has attempted to engage with many of these gaping holes in Jane Austen’s world, and has achieved a work of great beauty and serious intent. Longbourne caused an international bidding war and has already sold film rights, and I can certainly see why.
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10. Happily Ever After: Celebrating Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice – Susannah Fullerton
Good gracious me, a lot of books that deal with Jane Austen on the bookshop shelves at the moment! It must be the 200th anniversary of the publication of Pride & Prejudice. Susannah Fullerton is President of the Jane Austen Society of Australia, and has published a number of books and articles about her. Happily Ever After is a hagiography; Fullerton firmly believes that Jane Austen is the best writer in the world and Pride and Prejudice her best book. Nonetheless, this is an enjoyable and very readable examination of a novel that is certainly one of the world’s favourites.
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11. 84 Charing Cross Road – Helen Hanff
I have heard about this book on-and-off for years, all my bibliomaniac friends saying, ‘you haven’t read it? Oh, but you must!’ So this month I decided it was time. 84 Charing Cross Road is not a novel, but rather a collection of letters between an American writer and an English bookseller over the course of many years. That description does not really give any indication of just how funny, heart-wrenching and beautiful this book is – you really do have to read it yourself.
The book begins in 1949, when Miss Helene Hanff of New York writes a letter to Marks & Co at 84 Charing Cross Road, London, an ‘antiquarian’ bookshop that specialise in out of print books. Helene is a struggling writer with a rather refined taste in books, most of which are impossible to find in America. The exchange of letters that follows begins rather formally, but soon Helene’s natural wit and charm break through, and she is soon cajoling Frank Doel, the reserved English bookseller, into an unlikely friendship. Their correspondence lasts for 20 years, and soon draws others into the friendship – the other staff at the bookshop, Frank’s wife and daughter, his elderly and lonely neighbour. Helene is very much a New York Jew, bold, funny and forthright. Frank is gentle and courteous and shy. Reading this slender book, I loved out loud and then finished with quite a large lump in my throat. A lovely, heartwarming book that any bibliophile will appreciate.
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12. Letters from Skye – Jessica Brockmole
One of my favourite books is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Anne Schaffer. It is an epistolary narrative which simply means ‘told in the form of a letter or letters’. Extremely popular in the 18th century, this narrative form fell out of favour in the 19th century and has not been used much since. It seems that Mary Anne Schaffer may have revived the form, however, for this new novel by debut author Jessica Brockmole is told entirely in letters. It moves between two historical periods: the First World War and the Second World War. The primary narrative is that of the relationship of a young Scottish poet who lives on Skye in and an American university student who writes in March 1912 to tell her how much he admires her poetry. Slowly friendship blossoms into love, but many obstacles stand in their way, including the fact that Elspeth is already married and their world is on the brink of a cataclysmic war. The device of driving a narrative through an exchange of letters can be hard to pull off (one reason why it fell out of favour), but Jessica Brockmole has created an engaging and very readable suspenseful romance in Letters from Skye.
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13. Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald – Therese Anne Fowler
Baz Lurhmann’s movie of The Great Gatsby has re-ignited a fascination for the famous Fitzgeralds and Therese Anne Fowler’s new novel is perfectly positioned to take advantage of this. The novel is told entirely from the point of view of Zelda, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s glamorous, brilliant and unstable wife. As she says in her Afterword, most biographies of the Fitzgeralds tend to fall squarely into Camp Scott (who blame Zelda for thwarting his genius) or Camp Zelda (who blame Scott for thwarting her genius). I’ve always been firmly in Camp Zelda, and so I really enjoyed this sympathetic portrayal of the girl called the original flapper.
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14. Austenland – Shannon Hale
I know Shannon Hale’s work as a young adult novelist, and so I was curious to see how she measured up as a writer of funny chick-lit for adults. I’m also reading a lot of Jane Austen-related books at the moment (did you guess?), and so I thought I’d give Austenland a whirl. The basic premise is our heroine Jane (subtle name choice) is obsessed with Mr Darcy as played by Colin Firth in the BBC production of Pride & Prejudice. No real man can ever measure up, so her obsession is ruining her love life. A wealthy great-aunt sends her off to Austenland so she can live out her fantasies pretending she lives in Regency times. She gets to wear Empire-line frocks and bonnets, dance at balls, and exchange witty repartee with men in skintight breeches and cravats. It’s all meant to be good, clean fun, but Jane begins to have trouble distinguishing what’s real and what’s not … all while getting tangled up in romance. Austenland is really chick-lit at its most frivolous and fantastical. All the pleasure comes from the dialogue and the situation; the characters are very one-dimensional and the plot as predictable as possible. It has been turned into a film directed by Stephanie Meyer and is due for release later this year, and I’ll happily settle down with some popcorn to enjoy it again.
This round-up of my July reading was also published in BOOKTOPIA's blog and they have links to all the books so you can buy them here
BOOKS I READ IN JUNE
BOOKS READ IN MAY
BOOKS READ IN APRIL
BOOKS READ IN MARCH
BOOKS READ IN FEBRUARY
BOOKS READ IN JANUARY
PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT - I LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK
