Humour
It’s immoral, dear.
This was Mother Mary Austen’s catchphrase. Oh, how we laughed at her. One of the most ancient of nuns in my convent school, she was big, ungainly and ripe for teasing at all times. Her innocence was immense. She had entered the convent before the first world war, and once admitted to us she had […]Read Post ›
Walter de la Mare
I just found this book on my shelf after many years and was enchanted all over again by the sweetness of the cover. The illustrator is Margery Gill. The back cover is no less delightful. I received this book for Christmas when I was ten. I remember choosing it with the woman who gave it […]Read Post ›
Mallorca. Again.
Our plane was delayed. We had sat in it for an hour before it moved off. Then it did. Fast. Up and down. Too much turbulence for me. We were in business class. I was looking forward to my delicious meal. Instead we got something they called afternoon tea. But no tea. Little stale sandwiches. […]Read Post ›
Mallorca 2022
Wednesday. And we’re off again. Is there anything more stressful than packing on a hot day to go somewhere even hotter. Luckily there is lots of time and I actually did most of my own packing yesterday. Work expands to fit the time available so I spent all day, running! Up and down the stairs, […]Read Post ›
Prater
When I was very small my paternal grandmother used to talk about going to the Prater, the ancient Viennese funfair with a giant ferris wheel. I never really understood what she was talking about, as the Polish words for Vienna and prison were virtually interchangeable in my childish mind – I knew she had lived […]Read Post ›
The Man who Died Twice
Couldn’t put it down. Better than the first Thursday Club, because it doesn’t spend so much time explaining who is who. I love Joyce and her self deprecating asides. Lovely Bogdan, the token Pole, has a smaller role to play here, but still twinkles blue eyes and tattoos when necessary. Chris, the fat policeman who […]Read Post ›
The Crucible or: My Most Embarrassing Moment.
For all those mentioned in the programme. If you remember, get in touch! Looking through some stuff the other day I came across this newspaper cutting, lovingly preserved by my father, and the memories of one of my most embarrassing moments came flooding back. As you may have realised, acting is not one of my […]Read Post ›
Tennis
I was a great disappointment to my father in one particuar way. I did not like sport. I could not catch a ball, or throw it, or run, or jump, or aim, or swim, or ride. Nothing. He did manage to teach me to skate – how? I can’t now, but I did learn to […]Read Post ›
Moonflower Murders
What a great mystery – you get two books for the price of one, and though the parallels are (not so) subtly spelt out for you, there is more than enough whodunnitness to keep you interested. Anthony Horowitz writes the way I would like to write- wittily, observantly, intelligently. He’s clever and fun, and is […]Read Post ›
