News

In the past week the media channels, newspapers and conversations have been dominated by Pageantry (and Pens), the Queen and the Queue.

Whatever emotions have been brought to the fore, and whether or not we enjoy ritual and tradition, it has been rewarding to see and celebrate precision, splendour, respect and excellence when so much of life in recent times has felt shoddy and sloppy. 

Tomorrow we will have the final occasion to bid farewell to a woman, a monarch who has brought such positive sentiments and responses. I wonder what we will take forward from this in the coming days and months.

We will soon be returning to our usual routines and activities so there are a number of events to highlight in the next few days.

On Wednesday, the University of Suffolk will be hosting Dig It! Unearthing Agatha Christie’s Crime Fiction Legacy, with guest speakers, a panel discussion and Q&A at The Hold in Ipswich. Scroll down for my review of the new biography of Agatha Christie by Lucy Worsley.

On Friday, John Sheeran will be talking about My Life in Art at Thomas Mills School in Framlingham. John has entertained and informed audiences in Suffolk for many years and this is an opportunity to find out how he has gathered his extraordinary knowledge, insight and passion for art.

Then, next Monday the book group will meet again after our summer break. We will be discussing 'Cecily', the debut novel by Annie Garthwaite. If you would like to come along, please reply to this email so that I have an idea of numbers and can let you have all the details of the meeting.

And if you're wondering what our group concluded about the Booker Prize longlist this year, I can tell you that we were quite attuned to the judge's decision but not entirely for the right reasons.

After sharing our reviews of the 13 titles in the longlist, we drew up two shortlists.

The first was our preferred shortlist (which agreed with the judges on two titles - The Trees and Small Things Like These). 

Then we compiled a list of the titles we felt the judges would choose for their shortlist. This matched three of the six titles - The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, Glory and Treacle Walker. None of these our reviewers particularly enjoyed!

We were given two exceptionally enthusiastic, passionate and detailed reviews for the titles Nightcrawling and Map of Our Spectacular Bodies which caused us all to want to read the books immediately, yet neither made the judge's final six. And although a number of us enjoyed reading Oh William!, we didn't think it was a contender, yet this made the prize shortlist.

So the judges put forward the following six titles as their shortlist - Glory, Small Things Like These, The Trees, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, Oh William! and Treacle Walker. We'll have to wait until 17 October to find out who triumphs as this year's winner.

Thank you for reading.

Unlike those in the media and the establishment, or in businesses and organisations, I hadn't planned for these days.

I hadn't drafted words of tribute, gratitude or loss because, though it was both inevitable and imminent, I hadn't anticipated the time would come. 

As our lives have become increasingly more uncertain, fragile and unsettled, the constant, calm and dignified presence of the Queen has become more and more vital and valued.

If wisdom, integrity and reliability have seemed to be lacking in our leaders today, she stood both as a reminder of higher standards in the past, and better times in the future. 

Alhough we no longer have her faithful, unifying, steadying presence, perhaps we can hold on to some of the messages she shared over her 70 year reign:

"It has always been easy to hate and destroy. To build and to cherish is much more difficult."  Christmas speech, 1957

"When life seems hard, the courageous do not lie down and accept defeat; instead they are all the more determined to struggle for a better future." Christmas speech, 2008

"It's worth remembering that it is often the small steps, not the giant leaps, that bring about the most lasting change." Christmas speech, 2019

"For Christians, as for all people of faith, reflection, meditation and prayer help us to renew ourselves in God’s love, as we strive daily to become better people." Christmas speech, 2013

"Our modern world places such heavy demands on our time and attention that the need to remember our responsibilities to others is greater than ever." Christmas speech, 2002

"Grief is the price we pay for love." A message of condolence to New York in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, 2001

There are no book recommendations today. It didn't feel appropriate. And I'll share a report of the Booker Book Group discussion next week. But the title we're reading together this month seems strangely fitting - 'Cecily' imagines royal events centuries past.

Thank you for reading.

Yes, the winner of the Tory Party leadership campaign is declared tomorrow. But let's not dwell on that.

Instead, tomorrow evening Browsers Book Group will be meeting to decide on their winner from this year's Booker Prize longlist. We'll be reviewing all 13 titles ahead of the judges' decision in drawing up the shortlist on Tuesday. I'll let you know what we decided in next week's newsletter. It's always interesting to see if we agree with the judges, and it's nice to be involved, isn't it?

One of my recommended reads this week is Jess Phillips' account of being a Member of Parliament. She says that some political players want us to think that we can't be involved, we can't influence change and we have to leave everything to the decision makers. But she urges us to write, to speak, to make our voice heard. We can make a difference. It's an encouraging read, written with a light touch, and I hope you'll take a look. 

Have a good week, and thank you for reading.

I was talking to someone this week who had forthright views on the media. He said that he didn't want to hear opinions, comment or interpretation, just the facts, all the facts, unfiltered. 

I found this statement rather overwhelming.

There seems to be a limitless amount of information, available 24 hours a day, from a huge array of sources, so, for me, the issue is surely less about accessing data, and more a case of gaining knowledge and wisdom, seeking a way to process it all?

This acquaintance said, though, that he didn't have a problem ploughing through information to establish his response. He said his studies at school, university and then professionally had given him the expertise to divine the details he needed to make his decisions.

But we don't all have that training, confidence or application? Now, more than ever, don't we need to find reliable sources who will help us get to the hub of the matter and respond to the crises affecting us today?

In the past, we've turned to the BBC. But in the lecture delivered by the former Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis in Edinburgh this week, the integrity of the national broadcaster was brought into question as she claimed that the media in general was no longer in step with the changing face of politics. 

It's an eloquent and compelling speech, and I've always rather liked and been inspired and impressed by Maitlis. Not all of her arguments stack up. But why should we expect her to be wholly right? There is rarely a simple solution to anything and life today is complex. But we seem to be losing an ability to debate with consideration and respect, and are always expected to be on one side or another.

Perhaps we shouldn't try to be informed about everything and instead invest our time more thoughtfully. Perhaps we should carefully choose a book on a subject about world affairs, social issues, climate consequences, and dig deep? Perhaps you're already doing that?

Thank you for reading.

There was a fascinating article in the 'Guardian' magazine yesterday, written by Maggie O'Farrell about her experience of Covid.

I didn't realise that she had been badly ill - hospitalised, in fact, because the virus triggered a resurgence of the serious illness she experienced as a child. (She shared something of that when she visited us at Woodbridge Library to talk about her memoir 'I Am, I Am, I Am' a few years ago.)

The doctors told Maggie to rest so she took to her bed and chose to surround herself with books, just as she had as a child. And the particular book of choice this time was 'Mrs Dalloway' by Virginia Woolf, set five years after the Spanish flu pandemic. 

"Despite multiple readings, I had never before noticed the mechanisms of illness and recovery at work in the novel," Maggie says, "and I’m riveted by the coincidence of our pandemic and Woolf’s, separated by almost exactly a century."

She decides then to search for more descriptions of illness in fiction and, in the article, presents some of her findings. She concludes that "perhaps as we emerge from our pandemic, we need to ensure that we take with us what we have learned, to retain the sober wisdoms of sickness".

It's key, isn't it, that we take time to pause, to ponder and reflect. We're too quick to move on. I find that's the case with my reading. There are so many brilliant books to read that I'm straight on to the next before I've fully digested the one I've just finished. 

How interesting, though, to take a theme in literature and to explore it, as Maggie has done. And I think I've read elsewhere that she likes to follow lists in her reading, generally. She'll read all of the titles shortlisted for a prize and she also likes to read all the work by a particular author, to see how they have developed and the themes and ideas they have pursued. I'm sure this proves fascinating.

Thank you for reading.