Bookshop Day Everyday – 12/10/2024

Wishing you a very happy Bookshop Day 2024, a concocted concept which I fully endorse along with such events, doubtless already in your diary, as: International Day of Rural Women (15^th October – check it out); CAPS LOCK DAY (22^nd October – NO, SERIOUSLY); National Pumpkin Day (26^th October – I don’t know whose nation; I do love pumpkins).

So much to look forward to (I’m thinking of starting Olive Kitteridge Day) but this newsletter is all about looking back with some brilliant history books.

I’ve been reading The Eagle and the Hart: The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV by Helen Castor. I often find it hard to choose history books to read – why this period? Why this place? Why this book among the several on the subject? Is this the paragon? – especially as my limited knowledge doesn’t extend past the first century AD so I have a fair bit to catch up on.

I decided to dive into Helen Castor’s book and am thoroughly enjoying a dramatic family saga rich with rivalry, revolts and ridiculous outfits. Perhaps there is something about dangerously egocentric men vying for power at the expense of whole nations that drew me to this now…

It’s a Sunday afternoon book – fascinating enough to keep you awake even if you’ve eaten a roast pumpkin wellington but too weighty to pop in a tote bag as you head out for a coffee. In fact, if the ten-year-old Richard needed support with the weight of the crown at his coronation, I could do with a courtier or two to help with this intense epic. It weighs more than a blue heron.

History recommendations this week, all load-bearing:

Emperor of the Seas: Kublai Khan and the Making of China by Jack Weatherford: the story of how Kublai Khan defeated the Song dynasty in southern China, built a merchant fleet, sought conquest further afield and made China a vast economic power.

Republic: Britain’s Revolutionary Decade, 1649–1660 by Alice Hunt: a veritable gallop through a decade of chaos – beyond executing the king and selling off his possessions (Titians, Leonardos, priceless jewels) at a jumble sale there was not much of a plan for how to rule without a monarch…

Paris in Ruins by Sebastian Smee: Manet, Morisot and Degas are trapped in Paris as the Franco-Prussian war comes to an end. The city is destroyed, its people frozen. Structures both physical and conceptual were shattered. Out of this shifting and dark world, Smee argues, impressionism was born.

Finding Home by Alford Dalrymple Gardner and Howard Gardner: Alford Gardner came to England from Jamaica in 1944 to serve in the RAF, was deported following the end of the Second World War but returned on the Empire Windrush to help rebuild England. His personal history brings in the experiences of his contemporary West Indian migrants and the next generations describing their resilience in the face of hardships. He died last week, aged 98, just before the paperback publication of Finding Home.

Holding the Line by Barbara Kingsolver: in 1983, Kingsolver was working as a science writer and journalist and was sent to cover the Phelps Dodge mine strike. She stayed for months, getting to know the mining town of Clifton, Arizona, and felt compelled to tell the story of the women who kept their families going in the face of destitution.

For something quite different, Journeys and Flowers by Mercè Rodoreda, is a slim collection of short stories beginning with journeys inspired by her experiences of the Spanish Civil War, followed by a fantastical treasury of invented flowers which together address the horror and absurdity of war.

In children’s books:

King Alfred and the Ice Coffin by Kevin Crossley-Holland: Wulfstan travels to the court of King Alfred the Great where he entertains with wild adventure stories from his journeys over sea and land. This retelling, translated from the Anglo-Saxon, is one to read aloud to relish the pace and beat of the story and one to pore over, enjoying the sumptuous art by Chris Riddell.

Shadow Creatures by Chris Vick: visiting her family in Norway, Georgy asks her grandmother Tove and her sister Liva to tell her stories about their home and its history. They find themselves revealing secrets they have kept even from each other, beginning in 1940 when their community was occupied by the Nazis and their brother joined the resistance movement.  

Finally, messing with the concept of the past and time altogether, in The Clockwork Conspiracy by Sam Sedgman Isaac’s father is a horologist looking after Big Ben. One night, when the clocks are due to go back, something goes wrong and Isaac must save the day. But how do you embark on a race against time when time won’t play by the rules…?

In the Clifton Arcade, time marches on towards Poetry in Herons at 6pm with Glyn Maxwell and Kaycee Hill. We hope to see you there.

This week’s events continue apace: a reading and discussion with short story writer, Jan Carson; an uplifting night of poetry with Brian Bilston and Henry Normal at St George’s; a talk by Brad Evans about his book, How Black Was My Valley.

May all your days be Bookshop Day and most of them calmer than caps lock day,
Lizzie

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