'The Sack of Bath' - Adam Fergusson

During these times of isolation, social distancing and almost-lockdown in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, like many people I am seeking comfort in books. So whether anyone wants it or not, I will be writing about the books I've been reading.

LITERATURE FOR A LOCK DOWN

BOOK SIX - 'THE SACK OF BATH' by ADAM FERGUSSON

Book six already? Actually, given we are four weeks in, this seems pathetic. Time has taken a very elastic nature lately and seems to be racing by when it comes to actually doing anything, and crawling by when it comes to thinking about The Future. We are stuck. We are unable to make plans.

I no longer seem to be seeking 'comfort literature' and instead am just devouring books. And yes, this is the second book by a man on this blog in as many weeks. What on earth is the world coming to?

Well, this is an absolutely furious book and maybe fury is what we need right now. Originally written in 1973 and reprinted a handful of times since (this edition is, of course, by Persephone Books and, if you want a copy, please do buy direct from the publisher to best support an independent, women-led business), The Sack of Bath by Adam Fergusson is about the unforgivable destruction of Georgian Bath at the hands of nonsensical town planning decisions. 

I have already written about the anger-inducing bulldozing of the historically unique Suffragettes' Wood at Batheaston here (it features prominently in Volume One of my book The Women Who Built Bristol and I regularly talk about it in my public talks, but it makes me so cross). But it is the wrecking ball that was taken to the central areas of Bath that dominate Adam's book here. Coming in at just 77 pages, plus Adam's 2010 foreword, this is a brief book, but I'm not sure how much more righteous anger the reader could take. Liberally illustrated with before and after photographs showing the appalling decisions the planners took, it is clear to see which side of right or wrong anyone reading this would fall on. 

Aside from Adam's anger, what I also noticed while reading The Sack of Bath was the absence of any women's names. It wasn't something I deliberately looked for, but save for a nod to Jane Austen, who only briefly lived in Bath, all of the historical references alluded to, all of the council officials and decision makers and architects slurred in the book - every single one of them is male. Of course, that partly says something about the role of women in official positions during the 1960s and 1970s, but women were starting to be 'allowed' into such jobs back then. That Dorothy Brown was tirelessly working to save Bristolian buildings from a similar fate during the same time period (again, you can read much more about Dorothy and her amazing work in Volume One of The Women Who Built Bristol) shows that it was evidently possible for women to campaign, fight and - most importantly - be heard in matters of town planning during these decades. 

'Make More Noise' - Short Story Collection

During these strange times of isolation, social distancing and almost-lockdown in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, like many people I am seeking comfort in books. So whether anyone wants it or not, I will be writing here about the books I've been reading.

LITERATURE FOR A LOCK DOWN

BOOK FIVE - 'MAKE MORE NOISE' by VARIOUS WRITERS

Book five in this Lockdown Literature series is, like book four, a return to suffrage stories for young adults. Make More Noise is a collection of ten short stories by female YA writers aimed at empowering younger readers to think positively about their own actions. Published by the independent Nosy Crow in 2018 to tie in with the partial suffrage centenary, £1 from each book sale goes to the charity Camfed (the Campaign for Female Education).

Opening with a whopper from the always excellent Sally Nicholls (see my write-up about her excellent book Things A Bright Girl Can Do here), the story 'Out For The Count' follows a schoolgirl as she and her sister, mother and female house staff camp out for the night to avoid the April 1911 census report. Sally uses this as an opportunity to bring in a range of issues without it being too clunky. So we hear about how women are paid less than men for doing identical jobs, how women are expected to leave work once getting engaged, and even how women had to turn down engagements to their sweethearts because they had adult dependents who they wouldn't be able to afford to keep caring for, especially once marriage obliged them to leave the workplace. It's an excellent way of showing that the suffrage campaign wasn't a one-trick pony. There was a lot more to the suffrage campaign than just demanding votes for women. 

Elsewhere in Make More Noise, we meet other suffrage sisters but the range is not just confined to the Victorian and early Edwardian eras. We also have a ghost story (albeit not a spooky one) in 'The Tuesday Afternoon Ghost' (by Ella Risbridger) which is really about the values of friendship and forgiveness. 'The Bug Hunters' (by MG Leonard) covers the topic of schoolyard bullies and the issue of liking things, such as bugs, that are not seen as a traditional 'girl' interest. While 'On Your Bike' by Jeanne Willis was an absolute treat - written in diary form, it tells the true story of American woman Annie Cohen who became the first woman to cycle around the world in 1894. 

PS - If you're struggling to explain the coronavirus situation to your kids, Nosy Crow has a free book that you can download that aims to help you with this. Click here for to go to the web page.

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Now, more than ever, it is so important to support your local, independent retailers to help ensure they are still here for us on the other side of this pandemic. So please consider ordering books direct via your local, independent bookshop rather than that very problematic online monolith. Thanks.

'Star by Star' - Sheena Wilkinson

During these strange times of isolation, social distancing and almost-lockdown in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, like many people I am seeking comfort in books. So whether anyone wants it or not, I will be writing here about the books I've been reading.

LITERATURE FOR A LOCK DOWN

BOOK FOUR - 'STAR BY STAR' by SHEENA WILKINSON

Book four in this Lockdown Literature series sees me return to familiar territory - suffrage novels. I've long had a fascination with novels about the suffrage era, and specifically young adult novels, because I believe it is so important to educate and interest the younger generation in this critical period. And this is where Star By Star by Sheena Wilkinson comes in. 

Initially, this seems a bit of an odd choice to read during a global pandemic given that Star By Star is set in 1918 during the height of the Spanish Flu global pandemic. For instance, here is the back of the book:

But bear with me. There is actually something rather comforting about reading about a past pandemic in the middle of the current one. We are reminded that this has happened before and we have survived it before. In fact, by virtue of the advances in medicine, technology and communication we have it more comfortable now. Although, of course, it is no less worrying. 

Our hero Stella is just 15 and her mother has recently died after contracting the Spanish Flu. Left alone as an orphan in Manchester, Stella travels alone to Cuanbeg on the west coast of Ireland to stay with her aunt Nancy: her mother's sister, whom Stella has never previously met. Stella's mum, you see, had been a suffragette and her family had disowned her when she became pregnant as an unmarried 16-year-old, forcing her to flee to England and forge a new life with her daughter. Growing up with a militant mum, Stella is imbued with the suffrage spirit and is struggling to come to terms with her grief, her new life in a quiet rural town, the realities of the deadly flu raging all around, the seemingly never-ending war and her immense sadness that her mother will not be able to vote in the December 1918 elections - the very first one that some women could vote in. 

I really liked that Star By Star repeatedly acknowledges that the 1918 result was only a partial victory for women. So many people now think that 1918 was the end of the suffrage battle but it was far from it - women could only vote if they met stringent criteria: being over 30, owning property, having a degree etc, meaning that many of the women who fought for the vote were still not able to vote until 1928, by which time many had died. 

It was refreshing to read a suffrage novel that is a break from the norm. In Star By Star our focus is less on the suffrage campaign as it is on the aftermath of the survivors of that bitter war. Stella is a strong young woman and her character is shaped by her mother's spirit, but the issues of grief and isolation are what are covered here, coupled with Stella's fighting spirit to find good, her determination to make the world a better place and to help those that she can. And in these current times of grief and isolation, it strikes me that Star By Star would be a useful novel for many younger readers to turn to at the moment. 

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Now, more than ever, it is so important to support your local, independent retailers to help ensure they are still here for us on the other side of this pandemic. So please consider ordering books direct via your local, independent bookshop rather than that very problematic online monolith. Thanks.

'Another Planet' - Tracey Thorn

During these strange times of isolation, social distancing and almost-lockdown in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, like many people I am seeking comfort in books. So whether anyone wants it or not, I will be writing here about the books I've been reading.

LITERATURE FOR A LOCK DOWN

BOOK THREE - 'ANOTHER PLANET' by TRACEY THORN

In a different vein to my previous two suggestions for Lockdown Literature which were both older novels, book three is a contemporary memoir by musician Tracey Thorn. Perhaps best known as half of Everything But The Girl, she is also an acclaimed writer and her first memoir Bedsit Disco Queen is a real treat. It is a thoroughly enjoyable trip through the world of *real* independent music in the 1980s and Tracey's narrative voice gives the book a wonderful presence. Check it out. 

Anyway, Another Planet focuses on being a teenager in suburbia, specifically Brookmans Park on the outer edges of London during the 1970s. Being a teenager is never easy, especially when you feel you are on the edge of something and somewhere. I grew up in a tiny village in rural Somerset, so share Tracey's frustrations at feeling bored and ignored. It's something I've given a lot of thought to over recent years because, like Tracey, I have also revisited my teenage diaries (except mine are from the early 1990s) for a writing project. So it was especially interesting to read Another Planet and see Tracey's tackle all this from a different decade and a different geographic area.

Another Planet is a fascinating potted biography of a suburb. Even if you don't know Brookmans Park, you know plenty of places just like it. Identikit commuter dwellings that popped up at the end of the war and were places for those who worked in London to live without enduring the big city prices. Of course, the implication here is that the residents were the worker bees, the ones without the big pay cheques. In other words: know your place. 

Brookmans Park has one of everything: one school, one pub, one playground and so on. Which means it is deathly dull for a teenager. But as Tracey explores by revisiting her diaries, is being a teenager ever anything other than boring? Her diaries are more significant for what she does not do than for what she does do. Her entries are catalogues of trips to towns and garments she did not buy, and events she did not go to... but the omissions also speak loudly about aspirations. 

In Tracey's case, she escaped suburbia, went to university and was part of a successful duo with her partner Ben Watt. The flip side of that coin is what her life might have been had she not escaped. If she had remained in suburbia - as so many of her friends might have - what would she then have done?

Another Planet is an evocative exploration into the world of suburbia. And if you're looking for an escape from these isolated times of pandemic anxiety, then why not climb into these pages and slip back a few decades to a charmingly uncomplicated time before the internet, before mobile technology and before, for Tracey, fame. 

PS - Although I have a hardback copy featured in the photo, Another Planet is now out in paperback so you can save yourself a few pounds by splashing out on that one. And please do support an independent bookseller if you get a copy. 

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Now, more than ever, it is so important to support your local, independent retailers to help ensure they are still here for us on the other side of this pandemic. So please consider ordering books direct via your local, independent bookshop rather than that very problematic online monolith. Thanks.

'The Fortnight in September' - RC Sherriff

During these strange times of isolation, social distancing and almost-lockdown in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, like many people I am seeking comfort in books. So, whether anyone wants it or not, I will be writing here about the books I've been reading. And I hope that, if you're looking for hot-water-bottle book recommendations for yourself, then some of these sound appealing to you, too.

LITERATURE FOR A LOCK DOWN

BOOK TWO - 'THE FORTNIGHT IN SEPTEMBER' by RC SHERRIFF

I'm breaking with tradition on this blog and writing about something that (whisper it) a man (gasp) has done. But he's done it ever so well, and he's disguised his name by using only his initials so we can pretend it was written by a woman and all will be well. (Removes tongue from cheek.)

The Fortnight in September by RC Sherriff (1896-1975) has been sitting on my to-be-read pile for about two years. Maybe longer. But it got rocketed to the top after author Lissa Evans (who is a delight on Twitter; you should also read her books - two of which I have written about here and here) posted her list of books for troubling times. And this was on there. 

Published by Persephone Books (please do buy direct from them if you'd like a copy, as that's the best way to support an independent publisher), we know we're in safe hands from the off. Persephone don't often publish books by male writers so when they do, we know they must have done it for a good reason. And they certainly have. The preface to The Fortnight in September is by Sherriff himself and is an excerpt from his autobiography. He describes how his 1931 novel came to be. It was a huge departure from his previous work (including the successful WW1 play Journey's End that drew on his experiences in the trenches) and he initially wrote it only for his own amusement, unable to imagine how this simple story of a family going on their annual holiday to Bognor Regis could possibly be of interest to anyone else. How wrong he was!

The joy of The Fortnight in September lies in its detail, its mundanity, its close observations of the nuances of middle-Englanders who know their place but secretly harbour aspirations to be something more. The Stevens family consists of Mr and Mrs Stevens, son Dick (who is frustrated in an office job he felt pushed into), daughter Mary (who works for a dressmaker) and school-age Ernie. I absolutely love the fact that even though we know the first names of the parents, they are only ever referred to as Mr Stevens and Mrs Stevens. This detail perfectly sums up the time, place and atmosphere of our leading family.

Closely-knit, the Stevens' know they are on the cusp of change but they don't want to mention it. Dick and Mary are really getting a little too old for a seaside holiday with their parents and kid brother. The boarding house they go to (the same one every single year, for two decades) has become shabby and uncomfortable, but nobody wants to say anything less they spoil the magic. Most delightfully, Mrs Stevens doesn't even much enjoy the annual holiday (her favourite hour of each day is the one when everyone goes out and leaves her on her own with a glass of port) but keeps pretending that she does so as not to spoil it for anyone else. It's all just wonderful. 

Nothing really happens. In exacting detail, we follow the family as they close up their London home, drop the canary off with an annoying neighbour and we go with them on their train journey to Bognor. We share in the magic of walking from the station to Seaview, their boarding house, and we go with them as they each quietly pretend not to notice how the house is that bit more rundown than it was last year, and the year before, and the year before that. 

For the Stevens', the days are taken up with routine. Mrs Stevens goes to the shops, the children swim and play on the beach, Mr Stevens enjoys his evening drink in the pub and flirting with the barmaid. But we see the shadow of change looming on this evolving family. Dick is starting to go out on brooding walks on his own. Mary is befriended by a more outgoing girl than herself. And Mrs Stevens has a frank heart-to-heart with their landlady at Seaview.

But when the family head back to London, we know that while small changes might well take place for the Stevens family, ultimately they will continue in their gentle, kind and considerable manner. Looking out for one another, considering the feelings of others, and being good, honest people... albeit ones who have to draw straws to decide who has the bad luck of visiting the neighbour to deliver the canary.

I cannot recommend The Fortnight in September highly enough. Especially in these difficult times. I wished it would not end.

PS - Here's another blogger's list of suggested reading for taking the edge of pandemic angst. Lots of good suggestions on here.