On The Shelf – Page 5 – Number One London

On The Shelf: Annie Groves

Recently, I was given that which every avid reader covets – the gift of discovering a new author. Annie Groves, who also writes as Penny Jordan. Her writing style is reminiscent of Catherine Cookson and Groves also writes family sagas, most of them being set around World War II London, rather than 19th century Tyne and Wear. Her latest series begins with London Belles, a tale of four very different young women thrown together by war. Finding freedom and independence – as well as love, passion and heartbreak – for the very first time, a unique bond is formed as the hostilities take their toll on Britain.

United by chance, bound together in times of need When tragedy strikes, Olive is forced to seek lodgers. Three girls come knocking at her door, each in need of a roof over their heads. Sally has left Liverpool to work as a nurse in London and when she arrives she is a shell of her former self. Where once stood a vivacious, sociable girl, now stands one plagued by homesickness and a betrayal that is devastatingly fresh in her mind. Dulcie is living the high life in the West End, a world away from her home in Stepney. Working at Selfridges gives her access to the most fashionable clothes and makeup, but at home she is the black sheep of the family; always second to her sister. So she decides it’s time to make a bid for freedom. Agnes grew up in an orphanage, having been left on the steps as a new-born baby. But with war looming, and the orphanage relocating to the country, she must now seek out a job and lodgings. But with change comes exciting new opportunities, worlds away from the life she’s known… As the women prepare for war, all of their futures hang in the balance. Soon their lives will change irrevocably and the home that binds the London Belles is no longer the sanctuary they once sought.

Imagine my delight when, upon finishing London Belles, I rushed to the Barnes and Noble site only to find that there’s already a sequel, Home for Christmas, which picks up the tale exactly where it left off.

There’s nothing new or shocking in Groves’s storytelling, but that’s a good thing. She uses a gentle voice to relay the wants, desires and motivations of four 1940’s girls, each of whom has their own distinct personality. Like Cookson, Groves charms the reader with good, old fashioned storytelling that left me wanting more. Best of all, Groves has a couple of previous WWII series in her backlist, so I’ll have a title of hers in my TBR pile for a while to come. You can visit Annie Groves’ website here.

On The Shelf – High Rising

I’ve just re-read Angela Thirkell’s High Rising and realized that I’d made a huge mistake – I read it without having any more of the Barsetshire novels on hand to read next. I then spent a good hour online, ordering six more titles in the series. Honestly, these novels, and the characters therein, are pure joy. Another thing I only recently realized – penned in the 1930’s, these stories are now eighty years old, but they still read as funny and the characters are just as amusing as any 21st century counterparts. Like E.F. Benson and P.G. Wodehouse, Thirkell takes us back to an England where conversation is witty and entertaining, where plots are relatively simple (yet infinitely engaging) and where villians, if there are any, are really rather harmless, except to themselves. Everyone gets their comeuppance, everything comes right in the end and we, the readers, are thoroughly entertained throughout.

Oft compared to our own Jane Austen, Ms. Thirkell is a genius at setting place, crafting a plot and at writing sometimes over-the-top yet wholly believable dialogue. After reading any of the Barsetshire novels, who wouldn’t want to spend a few weeks in the English countryside?

From the Powell’s Books website: “In High Rising, Mrs. Morland, a widowed author, must attend to the deeper problems of country life while her son Tony drives everyone to distraction with his amazing combination of toy trains. Here Mrs. Thirkell demonstrates the characteristic style for which she is known and for which readers love her. This is fiction replete with gentle irony, grave absurdity, and urbane understatement. This novel introduces one of Angela Thirkell’s most beloved characters–Laura Morland, a novel-writing widow and mother of four who strongly resembles Thirkell herself. In High Rising, Laura receives a marriage proposal from her publisher, who really loves Sibyl, the daughter of Laura’s neighbor; Dr. Ford has feelings for Laura’s secretary, Anne; and attractive but neurotic Una is determined to marry her employer. And in Tony, Laura’s youngest son, Thirkell has created one of the most exasperating small boys in fiction. This is the first of the Barsetshire novels.”

If you haven’t yet read Thirkell (above), do. If you have, read them again. Oh, Barsetshire is sheer bliss. You can learn more about Angela Thirkell at the Thirkell Society’s website here.

In Memoriam: The Titanic

On this, the 99th anniversary of the sinking of the luxury liner Titanic, we have yet another book out on the disaster, but one that promises to be more logical than lurid in it’s approach to the already well churned material surrounding the tragedy.

The latest book is Titanic: Nine Hours to Hell – The Survivor’s Story by W.B. Bartlett. The publishers blurb for the book call it: “A major new history of the disaster that weaves into the narrative the first-hand accounts of those who survived. It was twenty minutes to midnight on Sunday 14 April, when Jack Thayer felt the Titanic lurch to port, a motion followed by the slightest of shocks. Seven-year old Eva Hart barely noticed anything was wrong. For Stoker Fred Barrett, shovelling coal down below, it was somewhat different; the side of the ship where he was working caved in. For the next nine hours, Jack, Eva and Fred faced death and survived. They lived, along with just over 700 others picked up by 08.30 the next morning. Over 1600 people did not. This is the story told through the eyes of Jack, Eva, Fred and over a hundred others of those who survived and either wrote their experiences down or appeared before the major inquiries held subsequently. Drawing extensively on their collective evidence, this book weaves the narrative of the events that occurred in those nine fateful hours. The stories of some are discussed in detail, such as Colonel Gracie, a first-class survivor, and Lawrence Beesley, a schoolteacher, who both wrote lengthy accounts of their experiences. No less fascinating are the accounts of those who gave gripping evidence to the inquiries, people like the controversial Lady Lucille Duff-Gordon, steward John Hart who was responsible for saving the lives of the majority of the third-class passengers who lived, or Charles Joughin, the baker, who owed his survival to whisky. This is their story, and those of a fateful night, when the largest ship ever built sank without completing one successful voyage.”

David Randall, of The Independent, said in his review of the book, “. . . The centenary of the sinking of the Titanic looms, and, with it, the prospect of book after book marking the anniversary. This is, even for mild obsessives of the saga such as myself, not altogether to be welcomed. Our shelves already overflow with volumes about the ship, and we have long since discovered that new books on the subject are liable to be written to prosecute ever more arcane theories. So it was with some foreboding that I opened Mr. Bartlett’s offering. What cock-eyed “revelation” would he be peddling?

“Er, none. Instead, we have here quite the best and most level-headed telling of the whole story I have ever read. What makes it so is not just that Bartlett can, unlike the authors of many Titanic books, actually write; but that he brings to the controversies which still surround the sinking a judicial sense of what constitutes conclusive evidence, and what does not. He makes plain that the recollections of survivors are so varied (and often conflicting) that some of the more bitter controversies (such as the role of the SS Californian, five miles away or 19, depending on whom you believe) are only kept going by taking the word of some and ignoring the testimony of all the rest.”

The Omnipotent Magician: Lancelot 'Capability' Brown 1716-1783 by Jane Brown

Victoria, here. UK magzines, newspapers and blogs have covered the recent publication of a new biography of Lancelot Brown by renowned garden historian and biographer Jane Brown. John Phibbs in his Country Life review assures us that they are not related. But they certainly could be, for they share a remarkable knowledge of gardens and gardening. Ms. Brown will be making an appearance at Hay-on-Wye, among other festivals and meetings. Alas, I will not be able to see her in person. But I intend to send for the book, which can be ordered in $$ through Amazon.com or direct in pounds from many booksellers.

I looked in vain for an author’s website. Judging from the number of books she has written, I assume she has little time for websites, blogs or social media. Can’t say I blame her. One can spend (waste?) hours on Facebook, though I must say I enjoy (almost) every moment I spend writing blog posts. Below, since I haven’t read it yet, the description of the book from the publisher:

Capability Brown, by Nathaniel Dance
ca.1769 National Portrait Gallery

“Lancelot Brown changed the face of eighteenth-century England, designing country estates and mansions, moving hills and making flowing lakes and serpentine rivers, a magical world of green. This English landscape style spread across Europe and the world. At home, it proved so pleasing that Brown’s influence spread into the lowland landscape at large, and into landscape painting. He stands behind our vision, and fantasy, of rural England.

In this vivid, lively biography, based on detailed research, Jane Brown paints an unforgettable picture of the man, his work, his happy domestic life, and his crowded world. She follows the life of the jovial yet elusive Mr Brown, from his childhood and apprenticeship in rural Northumberland, through his formative years at Stowe, the most famous garden of the day. His innovative ideas, and his affable and generous nature, led to a meteoric rise to a Royal Appointment in 1764 and his clients and friends ranged from statesmen like the elder Pitt to artists and actors like David Garrick. Riding constantly across England, Brown never ceased working until he collapsed and died in February 1783 after visiting one of his oldest clients. He was a practical man but also a visionary, always willing to try something new. As this delightful, and beautifully illustrated biography shows, Brown filled England with enchantment – follies, cascades, lakes, bridges, ornaments, monuments, meadows and woods – creating views that still delight us today.”

I have visited many of the country houses for which Brown created landscapes and though I love to look at them, I always feel my photographs are inadequate to show the sweep and grandeur of the landscape. It always looks so natural. Which is, of course, the point. As some of his contemporaries observed, Brown improved on what God had left a little undone. Though he came from a modest background, Brown advised kings and princes and dukes on how to arrange their estates. And in large part, his vision has remained intact at some of the UK’s most visited gardens, such as Stourhead, Blenheim and Stowe.

Ms. Brown has also written about some gardens we may see only very rarely. From its origins as a mulberry garden in the time of Samuel Pepys, this volume tells the illustrated story of the largest private garden in London, which, from time to time, is open to selected audiences and even concert-attendees. Hundreds of photos are included of the garden at all times of the year, by photographer Christopher Simon Sykes.

In The Pursuit of Paradise Gardening, published in 2000, Ms. Brown takes the broadest possible approach. ‘The most enchanting, erudite and thought-provoking book on the subject to be published for many years’ wrote Amanda Craig, in the Independent on Sunday when it first came out. Ruth Gorb, in the Guardian, wrote ‘Be warned. This is a rich brew, not to be taken in one gulp. Gardening in this book encompasses science and history, philosophy and art, literature and the military, politics and sex… it is all tremendous fun.’

Jane Brown writes about contemporary gardens too. This 2001 volume has been widely praised.
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Tales of the Rose Tree: Ravishing Rhododendrons And Their Travels Around the World, out in 2009, tells the story of how cultivation of these magnificent plants, which have more than a thousand variations, have spread around the globe. Anyone who has had the privilege of walking through a garden filled with rhododenrons in full bloom will be eager to find out more about this adaptable favorite.

Above is one of snaps I took at Bowood in Wiltshire of their extensive rhodenron gardens in May 2009. It was a perfect fairyland and we wandered for hours.

Finally, before I run out of enthusiastic adjectives to describe the wonderful books of Jane Brown, I will mention her biographies of Vita Sackville-West as a gardener and her enchanting garden at Sissinghurst. I can see I have a lot of reading to do…and pictures to enjoy. Jane Brown’s booklist is longer than I have presented, but I will leave further discoveries to your personal search for now.