Meeting your heroes
While I enjoy making trips to London for big shows or exhibitions, there's something very special about seeing familiar faces or meeting skilled creative people in your own local community.
This weekend I enjoyed hearing chat show host and presenter Clive Anderson speak at Aldeburgh and I toured artists' homes through the Suffolk Open Studios initiative in Woodbridge.
Seeing beautiful pieces of art, whether paintings, sculpture or pottery, was very energising and uplifting. It was also inspiring to see how these skilled and gifted people chose to shape their lives and lifestyles around their creativity, seeking to overcome the challenges we all face, particularly in terms of time and money, to express themselves and fulfil their passion.
And Clive Anderson, known for his self-deprecation and mocking manner, was also enlightening as he reviewed his on-screen disasters. Despite always preparing his interviews meticulously, his brief for his tv programmes was always to get a laugh, he said, but the interviewee wasn't always willing to participate in this intent. As a result the Bee Gees walked off mid conversation and Richard Branson poured a glass of water over Clive's head.
Though I'm hoping there won't be any such incidents when Reverend Richard Coles talks to me on stage at the Riverside in a few weeks' time, it is sure to be a memorable occasion in other ways, so I hope you'll be able to join us (scroll down for details). Tickets are selling well, so don't delay if you want to get a good seat!
Thank you for reading.
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The Reverend RICHARD COLES
Wednesday 21 June, 12 noon
at the Riverside Cinema, Woodbridge
The bestselling writer, broadcaster and vicar, Richard Coles will be visiting Woodbridge for this special lunchtime event to talk about his second Canon Clement Mystery, ‘A Death in the Parish’.
Another crime has been committed in the parish of Champton and it’s up to Daniel Clement to solve the mystery and steady his flock, assisted by his beloved dachshunds, Cosmo and Hilda.
This is the follow up to Richard’s first novel, the Sunday Times number one bestseller ‘Murder Before Evensong’.
Catherine Larner will be in conversation with Richard, and there will be plenty of time for your questions too before you meet the author as you have your books personally signed.
We are expecting great demand for this event, so don’t delay in reserving your place!
Tickets are available from the Riverside, online or in person, priced £20 and include a signed copy of ‘A Death in the Parish’ (RRP£18.99). One further ticket can be purchased for £10, without the book.
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Introducing
MARGARET MEYER
Tuesday 4 July, 7.30pm
at Woodbridge Library
Debut novelist Margaret Meyer will be in conversation with Catherine Larner, talking about her inspiration and motivation in writing 'The Witching Tide', a stunning and haunting novel set in East Anglia during England's deadliest witch hunt, in the 17th century.
It's Suffolk in 1654 and Martha Hallybread, a midwife, healer and servant, has lived peacefully for more than 40 years in her beloved Cleftwater. Everyone in the village knows Martha but no one has heard her speak.
One morning, Martha witnesses a witch hunt, led by the sinister new arrival Silas Makepeace. As a trusted member of the community, Martha is enlisted to search the bodies of the accused women for evidence. But while she wants to help her friends, Martha also harbours a dark secret which could cost her own freedom.
Margaret Meyer was inspired to write 'The Witching Tide' when she chanced across a small exhibition in Aldeburgh's Moot Hall detailing the women involved in the witch hunts of the 17th century. Imagining the horrors of this time, of suspicion and persecution, Margaret wanted to use her novel to tell the stories of the women who had been written out of history, and to hold up a mirror to the world in which we live now.
This is a fabulous book, wonderfully atmospheric and sensitively told. Margaret is fascinating to hear speak about her characters and story development as well as how her varied careers have led her to this point, seeing her first novel attracting international attention and acclaim.
Tickets are available online here, priced at £18.50 and include a copy of 'The Witching Tide' (RRP£18.99) and refreshments. Details at www.moreaboutbooks.com.
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NOVEL OF THE WEEK
A Death in the Parish
by Richard Coles
This week sees the publication of The Reverend Richard Coles' second novel. He will be talking about it when he visits us in Woodbridge on Wednesday 21 June and you will get a copy at the event. You can reserve your place at our Riverside event, here! If you can't join us but would like a signed copy, please reply to this email and I'll let you know how we can do that for you. But in the meantime, let me tell you about the book!
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This story follows on from Rev Coles' first book 'Murder at Evensong' where a number of murders rocked the community. As Canon Daniel Clement tries to calm and steady the villagers of Champton in the aftermath, he finds that the parish is to be joined with Upper and Lower Badsaddle bringing more change and unease. And for Daniel, himself, there's a challenging colleague to contend with, too, in the evangelical Chris Biddle, the new associate vicar.
Sadly a tragedy is in store for the village, once again, and Daniel is in the midst of it all.
It's set in the late 1980s so we are not troubled by email or mobile phones and village life is as you might expect, at times slow and predictable but beset with politics and secrets. The characters introduced in book one feature again (though we don't need to have read the first book to appreciate them or their histories). Daniel is a delight and shares his home and life with his mother Audrey and the two dachshunds Cosmo and Hilda.
I very much enjoyed escaping to the village of Champton to spend time with Daniel Clements. There's wry humour and some wise observations and the routine of church life dictates the pace of the day, the week and the seasons.
For recommended fiction titles, take a look here.
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NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE WEEK
Rivets, Trivets & Galvanised Buckets
by Tom Fort
For more than 80 years there's been a hardware shop in Sonning Common, near Reading. When the owner wanted to close the shop, retired BBC journalist and author Tom Fort stepped in. This is his account of how his family rose to the task, and why hardware shops remain such a cherished part of British life and continue despite the threat of competition from the internet and superstores.
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Tom Fort and his daughter-in-law Sharona took over Heath & Watkins in 2018. It had a loyal customer base but some work was needed to make the shop the centre of village life once more. They were just making headway when lockdown hit.
Thinking that was it, they were going to close their doors and take up a hobby, they were stunned when the government declared hardware shops essential businesses.
Tom describes the challenges of this very particular time while also introducing the previous owners, the idiosyncrasies of the customers and the extraordinary range of products on offer for sale.
The book describes the stock, the people and village life, as well as providing a social history of DIY and home improvement. Tom outlines the development of hammers and screwdrivers, rawlplugs and power tools, three-in-one oil, and much more.
Just like the stores he’s celebrating, his book is a fascinating eclectic mix of information you didn’t realise you wanted to know. I loved it and interviewed Tom, and the owners of other hardware stores, for an article for 'Country Life' magazine which is due to be published next month.
For recommended non-fiction titles, take a look here.
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CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE WEEK
An Adventure for Lia and Lion
by Al Rodin
Lia is a young girl looking for some excitement and Lion is a lion who wants to spend some time enjoying...being a lion. When they meet there needs to be some negotiation in order for them both to get what they want. It's a delightful picture book using a variety of media in bold illustrations.
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Lia has set out on a walk in a meadow looking for some company for an adventure. A nice pet would be just the thing. In the same meadow, at the same time, a lion is looking for the same thing.
When the two meet, it's a battle of wills as they each try to tame the other. But in their conversation we come to explore conflict and compromise, play and friendship, and the benefits of finding out ways to rub along together in life.
Ultimately Lia and the Lion form a relationship of mutual admiration and wonder, appreciating each other for who they really are and finding the world open up before them as they see it through someone else's thoughts, feelings and dreams. Lovely!
Read about more recommended children's books here.
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Browsers Bookshop Book Group
at St John's Hall, Woodbridge
Monday 26 June 8pm
talking about...
The Slaves of Solitude by Patrick Hamilton
This tale of life in a wartime boarding house strikes the perfect balance between poignancy and dark hilarity, says one reviewer. Written in 1947, it premiered as a play in London in 2017. What will we make of it?
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Everyone is welcome to join the meeting. Please let me know by replying to this email if you're planning on coming.
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VISIT MY WEBSITES
catherinelarner.com for details of my journalism and an archive of my published articles, past and present.
moreaboutbooks.com on books and authors with recommendations, reviews, conversations, broadcasts and events.
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