News

Some of the positive outcomes of these difficult times have been the little kindnesses shown, the friendships forged and the communities built.

I'm sure we all have examples of moments, gifts or gestures which have stirred our emotions and built our sense of hope and good will.

In my street, when one of us has been baking, we've offered each other portions of pudding or slices of cake. We've shared shopping deliveries, and I've been treated to surprise drops of flour, eggs (and chocolate) on my doorstep. There have also been book deliveries, of course, and book swaps - I know of one street nearby where they have a box at the end of a drive for leaving or picking up your next read. 

We've all found, I'm sure, different ways in which we can make someone's day a bit better, and have been moved and delighted when we've been on the receiving end, reassured that we've been in somebody's thoughts.

So I'd like to say a huge thank you to the people who've been in touch with me lately about this newsletter.

When my original purpose of writing was clearly redundant, with all the author visits I'd organised having to be cancelled, I was reluctant to drop all contact but didn't want to be an intrusion!

I've been thrilled, then, to learn from many of you that my messages and recommendations have proved helpful. It's certainly been a good discipline for me each week, and getting such positive feedback proved a great comfort when life had changed so radically. Thank you!

For the time being, though, we are all having to make do with Zoom for our author talks and discussions.

Take a look at the Virtual Primadonna festival here. Originally planned to take place in a field in Pettaugh, Suffolk next weekend, now you can hear from authors such as Kit de Waal, Stella Duffy, Dorothy Koomson, and many more, via your screen of choice, and it's free.

And tomorrow evening I hope you'll join me for this month's book group discussion. We'll be talking about Benjamin Myer's 'The Offing' from 8pm, with general chat from 7.45pm. Please reply to this email so that I can send you the log in details. 

I'm afraid I'll have to continue with the Zoom book group for the foreseeable future. If you are in or near Woodbridge, do continue to buy your copy from Browsers Bookshop. But I am on the look out for other options as I know many people find Zoom quite challenging, so please keep reading!

We have a few more days to get used to wearing a face mask before their mandatory use in shops at the weekend.

While we all recognise we must do what we can to prevent infection, 'the new normal' continues to prove a challenge.

People are difficult to recognise when half their face is obscured and eyes don't seem to smile so readily when we are deprived of other facial clues.

We may need to find different ways to communicate our emotions, and to anunciate more clearly, in these coming weeks, so what of actors who are far more familiar with putting on a mask of another sort, each time they adopt a new role?

David and Jessica Oyelowo were interviewed in their home in Los Angeles today for Holy Trinity Brompton church in London.

You may know David for his extraordinary roles as Dr Martin Luther King in 'Selma', and leading roles in 'Lincoln', 'The Butler' and 'A United Kingdom', as well as 'Spooks' and the BBC's 'Les Miserables'. His wife, Jessica is also a successful tv and film actress, and grew up in Woodbridge.

They were speaking about their marriage, their acting roles, their careers and their strong Christian faith, but also the power of storytelling in challenging attitudes, particularly regarding racism.

It's a fascinating, entertaining, challenging and inspiring conversation. Do look it up here - you'll find their two-part interview starts first at 8 minutes and then 32 minutes into the programme. You can also view 'Selma' on BBC iplayer here.

So what mask will you choose to wear, and where will you get it? Medical or building supplies were running low early in lockdown, so those nifty with a sewing machine were making snazzy designs from fabric stashes, wanting only thanks or a donation to charity for their trouble. Of course now the fashion houses have brought out their ranges, and the purchase price has become not inconsiderable.

There have been various business opportunities during this testing time, so a short book on entrepreneurship - 'Anything You Want' by Derek Sivers - is my recommended title this week!

Whether our jobs are safe or have come to a sudden end, many of us have had time to reflect during lockdown, so if you are thinking on life taking a different path, whether or not that means starting a business, this book is well worth a read.

It's been widely acknowledged that the media as a whole hasn't excelled itself in our current national crisis but, if we seek to look beyond headlines and soundbites, there are many more sources of serious, considered, long-form journalism on offer.

Through Zoom in the past few weeks, too, I've been able to attend a number of inspiring and informative panel discussions and talks highlighting the work of journalists at their frontline. The first female editor of the Financial Times, the war correspondent Christina Lamb talking about her new book 'Our Bodies, Their Battlefield', and this week there is a talk by the parents of Kim Wall, the journalist who was murdered when she sought to interview the eccentric owner of a submarine in Denmark.

These events have been organised by Women in Journalism, which this past week hosted a panel discussion with health correspondents. Five women from various different media outlets - BBC's Newsnight, Financial Times, Guardian, New Scientist, and a freelance reporter - all joined to share their experience and their perspective.

It was very enlightening and thought-provoking in many ways. It was both worrying (the inadequate release of accurate information) and also encouraging (that there were informed, experienced, committed and passionate communicators, desperate to do a good job and to deliver clear and accurate information to their audience).

While Women in Journalism is a membership organisation, its online events are accessible for a fee of £10. The session about Kim Wall takes place on Tuesday evening to highlight the publication of a book telling Kim's story. You can find out more about it here.

I've been reading the work of another journalist this week. Debora Mackenzie spent the first few weeks of lockdown writing about how the current pandemic did not come as a surprise to her as she has been reporting on infectious disease for many years. Her book was rushed through to publication and she spoke about it a couple of weeks ago on Radio Four. You can listen again to the programme again here.

I was impressed by how she spoke, and was interested, though dismayed, at what she had to say, and I have been immersed in the book she has written - 'Covid 19: The pandemic that never should have happened. And how to stop the next one.' It's very easy to read and, although the message is bleak, her ability to communicate difficult and sometimes complicated information in an engaging and accessible manner is energising and inspiring.

Being only too aware that we cannot meet in person for author talks, I hope you might like an extra feature I've included this week - an exclusive conversation with the novelist Meg Rosoff!

Meg spoke to me about the launch of her new book, and about her writing generally. You can scroll down for details of her novel 'The Great Godden' (available from your local independent bookshop!) and you can get a flavour of our conversation here, or listen to all that Meg had to share here. I hope you'll enjoy it and please do get in touch to let me know what you think!

Acknowledging the challenges we've each had to face in the past few months, this week I've been reminded of teachers, in all that they have had to deal with, and how they have contributed.

There was a powerful article in the 'Guardian' yesterday detailing the experiences of three 'ordinary' people at the frontline of our current crisis.

It included a moving account of a headteacher who spoke openly about his struggles leading his school and his community. You can read it here.

I've heard of headteachers who have taken time to write to parents every day giving them encouragement in home schooling but also suggesting topics for conversation at mealtimes, and books to read together at bedtime. That contact and reassurance has, I'm sure, been invaluable.

Teaching has always been more than lessons in the classroom. There was sad news this week of the death of Wendy Cooling, a former teacher who spent her life reaching out to families with books. She founded the BookStart initiative providing books for babies and toddlers, to encourage a lifelong love of reading.

So my recommended non-fiction title this week is the memoir of poet Kate Clanchy recalling her teaching career. Scroll down for more details.

While the weather doesn't really support this statement, we're now in the summer months and, due to lockdown, we are being treated to lots of great novels whose publication dates were delayed due to the crisis.

I've listed a number of new titles on my website, so I hope you'll take a look when you're seeking ideas for your next book.

Among this week's releases, you might like to consider 'Rodham', a fictionalised alternative life for Hillary Rodham Clinton by Curtis Sittenfeld. And Meg Rosoff's new book 'The Great Godden'. We'll have more news of that next time.

For a fun read, I highly recommend 'The Shelf' a debut novel by Helly Acton about a reality tv programme with a difference.

Whether you're a fan of reality tv or not, a series on Radio 4 investigating the impact of the genre is worth a listen. Called 'Watching Us', you can listen to it here. It's 20 years since 'Big Brother' was aired. It's a programme "which changed history, revolutionised TV and transformed our ideas about truth, surveillance, technology and politics". Fascinating.

One last thing to mention - I'll be joining Lesley Dolphin on BBC Radio Suffolk on Tuesday afternoon, and it would be lovely if you can listen in, or email or text if you have read this month's book 'The Hunting Party'. If you want to catch past programmes, they're all archived on my website here!

As more steps are taken to ease the lockdown, it's interesting to think about how things will look when we are eventually back to some semblance of what we once considered 'normal'.

There have been certain features of this difficult period which we have all agreed have been positive outcomes - the extraordinary and sudden reduction in pollution, the greater sense of community, a better appreciation for people who keep society in place.

But will this impact us in the long term or will we revert to our former consumerist, self-contained selves?

I've been very encouraged by a series of short essays presented on BBC Radio Four recently. They're called 'Rethink' and you can access them all on the Sounds app here.

Leading thinkers have shared their ideas on how the world should change after the coronavirus pandemic.

There is a broad spectrum of subjects covered and some interesting individuals sharing their expertise and personal perspective (and many of them have books further developing the topics they are presenting!). For me this week, I was interested in hearing Brian Eno talk about leadership, and also Katherine Grainger share her views on the Olympics (I'm a bit of a fan of hers - she visited us in Woodbridge a few years ago! Take a look here).

Looking ahead to the coming week, tomorrow we'll be having our Zoom book group discussion at 8pm to share thoughts on Michael Ondaatje's 'Warlight'. If you'd like to join in - and don't worry if you haven't finished the book - reply to this email and I'll send you all the details.

And on Saturday 4 July at 3pm, the Essex Book Festival is offering a Zoom conversation with the author Louise Hare talking about her debut novel 'This Lovely City'. Sign up to listen to the author here.

Set in London in the aftermath of the Second World War, the book tracks the life of a jazz musician who's arrived on the Empire Windrush. He's looking for a new life, but finds prejudice and hardship, as well as love and opportunity. I read the book this week, and found it compelling, moving and ultimately full of hope. See my review here.