Blogs

Loving "The Proof of Love"

Book Review "The Proof of Love" by Catherine Hall

  I bought this book in Grasmere, in the Gift Shop attached to the Wordsworth museum. I had never heard of the author, but I was attracted by the blurb on the back and the first few lines drew me in. This book is an exploration of love. Told mainly from the perspective of Spencer Little, a young man we know very little about, it examines the difference between infatuation and desire and true lasting love, the kind that inspires loyalty and trust. As the book progresses we learn...

Read More

 

“Your Move Next…”

 

It’s said to be right up there with death and divorce: the stress of moving house. Our house has been on the market for three and a half years. “It’s a bad time to sell.” Everyone says, shaking their heads. And with the benefit of hindsight we realise we should have gone on the market five years previously. Or even earlier. The children left home years ago. Except for Christmastime, three bedrooms stand empty and forlorn. Well, maybe not quite empty. Your children may leave home but their stuff will stay with you….”

Ours...

Read More

Unfavourable Five Days

Review of “Five Days” by Douglas Kennedy

This is the third Douglas Kennedy book that I have read. I particularly enjoyed “The Woman in the Fifth”, it was refreshing and different. “The Pursuit of Happiness” was not quite such a good read. Indeed, I remember so little about it that I must have been very unimpressed. Nonetheless, I do know I enjoy Douglas Kennedy’s writing style and the blurb on the back of the book made “Five Days” sound intriguing. I liked the conversational style and the introduction to the main character...

Read More

The Fonder Heart

My parents-in-law kept every letter they ever wrote to each other. The first in 1932, the innocent flirtatious letter from an eighteen year old girl to a seventeen year old boy, the last in 1946 from an army officer to the wife he had been separated from for five years. Importantly for us, left with these letters, is the period of time they cover, a time of change and upheaval not only in their lives but in the world at large. These letters give us a unique insight into life in England before and during the Second World War and on Active Service overseas The...

Read More

Summer of ‘76

What were you doing in the summer of 1976? I was working for an opticians in Taunton. I had started there in January. My son was only two, but with mass unemployment in the mid-70’s and women still being paid less than men, it was easier for me to find work than for him. There was no air-conditioning. The office I worked in, writing out orders for spectacles, was tiny, cramped and airless. They didn’t supply a uniform and we had very little money so I bought a cheap summer dress which I washed through by hand in the evening, hanging it out on the line overnight,...

Read More

Rowling Unleashed- A review of The Casual Vacancy by J.K.Rowling

J.K.Rowling’s first foray into adult literature is certainly not for the faint-hearted. Freed from the shackles that have bound her to children’s literature, it is almost as if she is going out of her way to be shocking. The worst of life is here in graphic detail: bullying, self-harming, domestic violence, heroin addiction and under-age rape. It is not an easy book to read, on many levels. It involves many different characters and different families and right from the start I had to keep checking back...

Read More

Beware the Werewolf

A personal account of Lupus

“You always look so well.” Everyone says. “I can’t believe you have Lupus.”

It’s one of the so-called invisible illnesses. Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. A systemic disease. Lupus means wolf. Erythematosus means rednesss.

The name comes from the characteristic lupus facial rash (also called a malar or butterfly rash) which apparently looks like a person has been bitten in the face by a wolf. I rarely get the rash myself and in common with most sufferers I have a multitude of differing symptoms. It’s...

Read More

  My guest blog is by Suzie Grogan. Suzie is a professional writer and researcher. With one published title on her CV she has been commissioned to write a further two social history books which will examine the emotional upheaval caused by the First World War and the ways in which we deal with war trauma and how we have chosen to remember that period of our history. She also offers a proofreading service and can provide copy for web sites and newsletters and provide advice on using social media. Her website will help you find out a little more about her and introduce you to some...

Read More

 

The Players do Winslow

Review of Terence Rattigan’s “The Winslow Boy” performed by the Grasmere Players.

 

Every year when we go up to Grasmere we try to fit in a performance by The Grasmere Players. The expertise and professionalism of the troupe never ceases to amaze us. Despite the limitations of a village hall, the set is always excellent and the costume design well researched and executed. The standard...

Read More

Summer in the Lakes

We chose midsummer to go up to the Lake District on the assumption it might be warm and sunny. Regular visitors to this part of the world, however, will tell you this is rarely the case. Highly renowned as one of the wettest places in England, we have had very few hot sunny days in the ten years we have been going up there. Last year we were lucky: The fleeces and kagouls I had packed stayed in the car and I wished I had brought more t-shirts and shorts. This year though the rain began as soon as we reached Birmingham and continued solidly throughout...

Read More