Eltham Palace and Gardens

I recently jollied off to the wonderful Eltham Palace and Gardens. It's a fascinating mismatch of architecture, there is a medieval great hall and then some glamorous art deco additions.

The beautiful wooden celling in the great hall 

The great hall was really impressive Built in the 1470's by Edward IV, the great hall still stands despite been bombed during WWII, the scorch marks from the incendiary bombs can still be seen.  

  

Eltham Palace was the boyhood home of Henry VIII, but as he favoured his palace at Greenwich, Eltham was neglected and the palace did not remain a royal residence . Various additions where made by owners throughout the years. In 1930's the extremely wealthy Stephen and Virginia Courtauld built a modern art deco extension adjacent to the great hall.    

The circular entrance hall, I can just imagine flappers lounging on the sofas having a smoke 

Carol Anshaw- Carry the One

Carol Anshaw's Carry the One was part of my library haul from the other week. 

The Plot: Returning from a wedding, a car filled with drunk and stoned guests accidentally run over and kill a child on a country road. The consequences of that night reverberate for the next twenty-five years, shaping the lives of all those involved. Siblings Carmen, Alice and Nick all react differently to the tragedy, and the novel follows their relationships and guilt.

If you enjoy novels about family dramas, this would be a good choice. The sibling relationship is beautifully observed, and anyone with brothers and sisters will recognise truths in Anshaw's novel. Carmen, the eldest, is an over-achiever, maternal and has strong convictions. Alice, is creative and talented, but has a disastrous love life. Nick is intellectual but self destructive.

Carry the One is good at balancing the small dramas of everything day life (marriage, parenthood, divorce etc.) with the far-reaching, life altering event of the car accident. Through a whole cast of well-developed characters, Anshew portrays a whole range of reactions to tragedy.

 

Home of Charles Darwin- Down House

To make the most of the sunny back holiday earlier this week, we took a trip over to Down House, former home of Charles Darwin. It was here that he wrote 'On the Origin of the Species' and  where he collected specimens in the extensive grounds.

Down House

There was an informative exhibition on the life and work of Darwin, including a first edition of 'On the Origin of the Species', which is undoubtedly rare and expensive.

see the future seek the truth

here

Margaret Atwood- Happy Publication day!

Margaret Atwood- what an absolute legend. She is one of my favourite authors, so I was  incredibly excited to find out that MaddAddam, the third book in her post-apocalyptic trilogy was out to day.

The Maddaddam Trilogy 

I pre-ordered my copy, and have just finished reading it. The review will be up in a couple of days, I just need to work out what I thought of it!

Some of my Atwood collection

I picked up The Blind Assassin second hand when I was backpacking around Cambodia. I spent the whole day sat in hammock, drinking cheap cocktails and reading this. Pure bliss.  

Handmaid Tale- probably the most famous of Margaret Atwood's books- they used to teach it at A Level, I'm not sure if they still do?  

I've read most of Atwood's novels. I particularly enjoy her dystopian fiction, her descriptions are so vivid, she can craft a very believable, scary world, it's like she's a prophet.
 

Tea Obreht- The Tiger's Wife

Hmmm I have mixed feelings about this one, some parts I really loved, other bits I found a bit dull. I'm glad I read it, but I'd have reservations about recommending it to other people. Still, it was the 2011 Orange Prize for fiction, so it isn't all bad.

The Plot: Set in Yugoslavia, soon after the Yugoslav Wars,  Natalia, a young doctor, attempts to vaccinate an orphanage. Whilst on her philanthropic mission she hears of the death of her beloved Grandfather. Grieving, Natalia reminisces about her Grandfather's stories; the legend of an escaped tiger who forms a bond with a deaf-mute girl and The Deathless Man, an enigmatic figure who can predict when other people will die, but who cannot die himself.

No surprises, given my love of fairy-tales, the aspects of The Tiger's Wife I enjoyed where the stories of The Deathless Man and  the tiger and the deaf-mute girl. The myths were carefully interwoven with the Grandfather's account of his childhood. Magical realism fits comfortably with the surrealism of the aftermath of war.

I also enjoyed reading about Yugoslavian superstitions, it's the Victorian in me coming out again, I found the morning rituals fascinating. Apparently when someone dies, their possessions and house should not be disturbed or cleaned for 40 days, so the soul is anchored to a familiar place and does not  wander aimlessly causing trouble. After the 40 days have passed, the soul is collected at the crossroads. I love things like this, the stories and rituals that are created to explain death, keep order and provide comfort are so imaginative and culturally significant.

My reservations about The Tiger's Wife, come from the fact that apart from the Granddad's stories and the folk tales, the book is rather forgettable. I read it just under a week ago, but I can't recall the ending.  Natalia didn't really resonate with me, her character wasn't half as interesting as her Granddad. I found myself racing through parts of the book, as I wanted to more know about the Deathless Man and was uninterested in Natalia's chat about becoming a doctor or listening to Bob Dylan.   

I'd recommend this book if you're a fan of The Life of Pi or A Hundred Years of Solitude.

Potted Potter

picture taken from here

To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the publication of the first Harry Potter,  new covers have been designed. Personally, I prefer the new covers, they look more dynamic, but  neither of the American covers can compete with the original British versions. Though the Harry Potter dust jackets aren't the most striking, (I remember when I was 10 resisting reading the first HP, as the cover made me think it was about train-spotting) I'm still nostalgically loyal to the originals.

If you want to have a look at Harry Potter cover art from around the world, have a look here.

Also, in other Harry Potter related news- I saw this advertised on the tube, Potted Potter, all 7 books condensed into 70 minutes, with only 2 actors. It's got some good reviews, so I might have to try and get tickets.

You're a dog! You're a dog!

"My grandfather would pet the dog, and, in a voice that made him sound like some kind of children's program puppet, he would say: "You're a dog! You're a dog! Where are you? You're a dog!" [..] After a few hours of this, I said, " Jesus, Grandpa, I get it, he's a dog", not knowing that, just a few years later, I would be reminding every dog I met on the street that it was a dog, and asking it where it was."

- Tea Obreht, The Tiger's Wife 

When men die, they die in fear

'"When men die, they die in fear," he said. "They take everything they need from you, and as a doctor it is your job to give it, to comfort them, to hold their hand. But children die how they have been living-in hope. They don't know what's happening, so they expect nothing, they don't ask you to hold their hand-but you end up needing them them to hold yours"

- Tea Obreht, The Tiger's Wife

"In London, love and scandal are considered the best sweeteners of tea" - John Osborne

If you want to have a rummage around second hand and independent bookshops, one of the best areas you can go in London is around Leicester square.

There are loads of bookshops waiting to be discovered in the vicinity, we stumbled upon Cecil Court (WC2N 4EZ) completely by accident.

Established over 100 years ago Watkins specialises in occult books 

Alice Through the Looking Glass

After having a wander around the bookshops and The National Portrait Gallery we were parched, so went to probably one of the most unusual places we have ever had a cup of tea- the crypts of a church