Book Review: Heading Out To Wonderful by Robert Goolrick

Heading Out to Wonderful by Robert Goolrick, pub Hutchinson here in UK. Inspired by a tale told to Goolrick this is a classic story of 'a stranger came to town'. 

Not my usual fare, but one of those tales that takes you lightly by the hand and before you know it you're running through the pages out of breath…

Images of the vast plains of central America and Hollywood glamour are set against small town friendliness and Christian morality.

Open House London 2013

Looks traditional from the front...

Architects' flyer.

...but round the back...

..amazing!

West Ealing Soundbite Festival

Walking down to the main road to use the cashpoint on Saturday evening, delighted to stumble upon this mini festival going on in Dean Gardens.

Delicious picnic box from Cheddar Deli from Northfield Avenue: strong cheddar, date & walnut bread, cranberry chutney and the dark cheese is imbued with stout!

Talking of stout...

So food and drink sorted, settled down to listen to the music: these are the Bollywood Brass Band.

Art Pass

 Hooray! They've arrived. Discovered these wonderful Art Passes; they give free or discounted entrance to all sorts of arts venues.
While the money paid goes towards buying art for everyone.

Never without art.

The free bag that came with the passes - love the motto.

My favourite shop...

 A damp drisley day but the shop front of Gudren Sjoden at Seven Dials looks colourful and welcoming.

Welcome in...

Love the colourful collection of lampshades; maybe I could something like this in the top landing...

















...treated myself to a wonderful raincoat, perfect for walking the dog, and it has a hood.

Canal side walk

From the little...

...to the long.

On the move

Only 7 miles to BH work at Paddington Basin.

Lowry at Tate Britain

 The wonderful main entrance is closed off but they've provided several benches so I was able to sit in the sun while waiting to meet my old friend VJ.

 We took time to have tea (delicious loose leaf) and cake in the outside cafe and catch up.

Banner displaying the image of urban landscape that has become associated with Lowry. 

 Inside I find that I am drawn to the more domestic scenes of his work. Entitled 'Flowers in the Window' the simple symmetry of this one caught my attention.

 'Street Hawker' shows a surprising amount of colour and the figures are more formed and bulky than in the images usually associated with Lowry. I love it.

'VE Day' shows the busy urban scene populated with the 'stick' people made famous by the song Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs by Brian and Michael.

Book review: Now in November by Josephine Johnson

Waiting in front of Tate Britain, sitting on a bench in the autumnal sun, I finally finished 'Now in November'. Found in an Oxfam shop in  Dorking in April this slim volume has been in my bag since then. It has taken a long time, not because I struggled to read it, but because I have had little opportunity to read while out and about.
Now I am glad that I was forced to read this book is small segments over a long period; it is not a book to be rushed. At just over 150 pages it would have been quite easy to gobble it. This book, written in the 1930's and set in the American Depression, is firmly rooted in the rural life of one family. The pace is almost ponderous as month after month the family endure the drought that affects all life around them.
On the surface it seems the story of one family, a man, his wife and their three daughters, but told through the voice of the middle girl, Marget, it manages to encompass the politics of the time, the casual racism and the inherent sexism of accepted roles.
It brought to mind 'My Antonia' by Willa Cather, which would make a good companion read for a book group.

Laura Knight

Maybe its age, but its only recently that I've discovered the National Portrait Gallery. My first visit was with the volunteers from Jane Austen House Museum to see the single tiny picture of Jane Austen. More recently I went with a friend to see the Laura Knight exhibition and cannot recommend it highly enough. the exhibition is small  but that only makes it possible to really spend time and immerse yourself with the pictures. Her work is deceptively simple and her choice of subject is varied: WW II scenes of the women in industry, gypsies and ballet dancers.

An unexpected extra that we enjoyed was the Thursday evening bar in the foyer (2 drinks for the price of one with exhibition tickets) followed by a cheese platter dinner in the cool of the basement cafe where the pedestrians passing above can be observed obliquely.

Book review: Abundance by Amit Majmudar

Amit Majmudar is a poet and author; this is his second novel. Although the central character is an Indian mother who is dying, this is not a tale of death and sorrow, but one of families, cultural differences and food. This book tells the tale of how one family copes with the illness and impending death of the matriarch, revealing the differences between the lives of the immigrant parents and their American born children and grand-children.
The daughter, Mala is a busy working mother who has shown little interest in the food that her mother prepares, but gradually they find that sharing the recipes and processes of making the traditional food gives them an arena in which to communicate, support and heal each other.
Despite being written by a man this is a story firmly set in the female domain of relationships and the kitchen. Restrained and precise, the writing gives us access to another world. A delight.

Notting Hill Carnival

Just about sums it up

Crowds watching the procession

 A hot August day and the family decided to take advantage of our new location in London to pop over to Notting Hill - such fun!

Amazing 

Stack of speakers!

Claudia Jones: Mother of the Caribbean Carnival in Britain

Book review: Vauxhall by Gabriel Gbadamosi

Gabriel Gbadamosi is an Irish-Nigerian poet, playwright and essayist, and the language is this book is wonderfully poetic. Born in London, Gbadamosi has written a playful and touching tale of a childhood in an area of London that was earmarked for 'improvement.'. Set in the 1970's many of the references were familiar to me and evoked smiles of recognition. However, the background topics of mixed-marriages, multi-culturalism, racism and poverty remain as pertinent today as they were then. One to enjoy alone but would be great for a book group as so much to discuss.