Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights

I've been watching the Sophie Dahl cookery series on BBC2 on Tuesday nights, and whilst the programme has annoyed me slightly (I wasn't sure about making 6 individual chocolate pots for a night in alone!), I was tickled to spot her reading Barbara Pym's Excellent Women in 30th Anniversary Virago hardback, and enjoyed it sufficiently to seek out her book from the library. The book actually pre-dates the series by a year, which is unusual for a cookery programme tie-in, and this is reflected in the fact that you will not actually find all of the recipes from the series in it (which was something that I found somewhat disappointing).

The book contains five sections; one for each of the four seasons, featuring seasonal recipes for breakfast, lunch and supper, and a section on pudding. The book is also autobiography, about Sophie's love affair with food and her changing shape (she rose to fame, not just as Roald Dahl's grandaughter, but as a voluptuous and beautiful model. She then famously lost a considerable amount of weight and developed a twiggy-like figure, before returning to a more healthy size). We hear about the time she spent cooking with her grandmother and the importance of food in her childhood as well as the story behind her weight loss and subsequent discovery of healthy eating and living which informs the recipes in her book - in particular she doesn't eat much wheat and tries not to eat too much refined sugar. The recipes are accompanied by beautiful photographs.

So what of the recipes? I'm aware that normally if I'm writing about a recipe book I'd want to cook one of the recipes, but I didn't feel particularly enticed by any of the cakes in the puddings section - they were quite pedestrian, including things like crumble, banana bread, flapjack, and flourless chocolate cake. I liked the focus on breakfast options - the cinnamon roast peaches from the summer section sounded appealing - and I liked the fact that many of the recipes were vegetarian (Dahl is a vegetarian, although unlike me she does cook meat!). The soup options looked good - beetroot, avocado, and lettuce were the three that sounded most appealing. I am definitely going to give the stuffed summer squash a go - summer squash is the one that has a spaghetti like texture, and Dahl suggests roasting it and serving it with a tomato sauce and pine nuts. Sounds yummy.

Overall, I don't think this is a book that I will buy, but I enjoyed flipping through it - it is a lovely girlie book, and although it annoys my fiance I will watch the rest of her series, and hope to spot her reading some more lovely books! She's a bit of a Nigella to watch (although lacking some of Nigella's stature), and the show is relaxing entertainment if not especially innovative or wonderful cookery.

Recent acquisitions

Quite a few books have entered my flat over the last week or so; in fact, a new bookcase has also entered the flat, because my shelves were so tightly filled that I felt that my books must be suffocating and it pained me to see them like that. This little bookshelf takes up the absolutely last bit of wall space in our flat; we are hoping to move in the next couple of months which will be a relief as the books are becoming somewhat overwhelming.

But back to the books. I've already mentioned my birthday books so I won't repeat myself again. I had three books kindly sent to me by Fiona from Random House. These were the new Blake Morrison which I am very much looking forward to reading, having greatly enjoyed his South of the River, which I came to through its Booker shortlisting, and two titles from the back catalogue of Orange longlisted titles, for my longer term Orange Wednesdays reading project, Paradise by Toni Morrison and Fall on your knees by Anne-Marie Macdonald which comes to me highly recommended by Claire from Paperback Reader. Andrea at Canongate sent me The earth hums in B flat which I have been wanting to read for a while but not got around to. I will be writing about all of these in due course.
And, just after I took that picture, three more books snuck in, kindly sent to me by Victoria from Abacus. Abacus is part of the Little Brown Family. Victoria sent me some really rather lovely books, including, Shiny Pennies and Grubby Pinafores by Winifred Foley, which contains the latter volumes of her autobiography (I loved her Child of the Forest and Back to the Forest books as a teenager), The many conditions of love which is Zama's follow up to his hilarious Marriage bureau for rich people book, and Foolish lessons in life and love which sounded like an intriguing title. More on these in due course!

I also treated myself to a couple of books for my birthday. I bought Gardener's Nightcap, which is one of the few Persephones that I have neither read nor own, and I thought it might be interesting to write about in the upcoming Persephone Reading Week. I also bought a copy of Six Ponies, by Josephine Pullein Thompson, which I spotted on Fidra's website shortly before my birthday. It turns out that this is a prequel to a trilogy of horsebooks by JPT which I absolutely adored as a child (Pony Club Team, Pony Club Cup and Pony Club Camp), and which I photograph here with my new Fidra copy*

I must be careful not to let the TBR pile up as I have an absolute stack of library books linked to my Orange Wednesdays project, and have been lent a stash of Virago Modern Classics by Simon from Stuck in a book! I need some restraint, but it's not easy...


* I must write about Fidra very soon as I seem to be building up a collection of their books and they definitely fit within my sphere of interest.

A week of Orange Wednesdays: The white woman on the green bicycle (Roffey)

I spotted The white woman on the green bicycle in the library on Monday. I didn't connect it with the Orange prize as it was on the new books shelf, but I knew I'd seen it mentioned a lot in the blogosphere recently, and Claire from Paperback reader confirmed that it was indeed on the longlist. It hadn't initially appealed, but the intriguing title, and mentions on blogs, and the fact that it was a new book were enough to convince me to take it out.

The vividly evoked Trinidad setting provides the background for the story of Sabine and George, a couple who moved there in the 1950s, among the last colonials to settle there. Whilst George has found it easy to acclimitise to his new life, Sabine hasn't, struggling with the heat, the lack of friends and family, and the racial segregation. We meet the couple much later on, in 2006, when George discovers a cache of letters that Sabine has written, but not sent, to Eric Williams, a politician who is trying to rescue Trinidad from colonial rule. The letters reveal Sabine's frustrations with the country, and with their marriage, and George is stunned. The book cleverly works back through the past to build up a picture of their lives up until that point, piecing together their story.

My favourite part of the book was the second part, when Sabine and George arrive in Trinidad. The culture shock is immense, and not knowing the country/period at all, witnessing Sabine's attempts to learn about life there was hugely interesting.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read, and I liked, as I've often said, having the opportunity to read a book set in a different environment to those that I would normally choose to read, but this one didn't have the star quality in terms of either plot or writing that my favourites from the Orange longlist have had. Having said that, I am really glad that it made it onto the list or it is another book that might have just passed me by, and I shall certainly look out for more by Monique Roffey

I hope you've enjoyed my week of Orange longlisted posts - I've now reviewed 7 of the longlisted titles, which with the 5 I'd read already means I've read 12 of the 20 titles. The only one I'd still really like to read is The Lacuna. Anyway, I will be hugely interested to see what titles are shortlisted! I'd love to see Hearts and Minds, This is how and The still point there. I suspect that The little stranger may well make an appearance and probably Wolf Hall.

A week of Orange Wednesdays: Savage Lands (Clark)

Savage Lands did not immediately appeal to me, but Fiona from Random House very kindly sent me a copy, and I thought I would give it a go, principally because one of the things that I like about the Orange prize is its ability to broaden my reading. It's Clare Clark's third novel - I remember seeing her second The great stink on a previous Orange list, but it was not one that I ever got around to reading.

The book is set in the early eighteenth century and tells the story of Elisabeth, a girl from Paris, who is sent, along with a number of other "casket girls" to Louisana to provide wives for the early settlers. Elisabeth marries Jean-Claude, and is fortunate enough to fall in love with him, although trauma follows with a number of failed pregnancies. The book also tells the story of a young boy named Auguste, who is acting as a spy between the colonials and the "savages" who already inhabit Louisana, and the way that he becomes embroiled in the relationship between Elisabeth and Jean-Claude.

The book immediately grasped my attention, with Elisabeth proving to be a bookish girl after my own heart, taking out some of the heavy linen from her trunk in order to include more books ("She did not tell her Aunt") and recieving a presentation copy of Montaigne's Essais as a leaving present which she resists reading on the boat, in order to save it for Louisana. Unfortunately, once she arrives in America, reading is no longer so important, and it is only later on that she re-discovers reading. However, I found her becoming less likeable as the book progressed and she had miscarriage after miscarriage and seemed to have changed very much from the girl who set out - I suppose that was partly the point of the book.

The writing is vivid and the story has a good pace, so despite it being very different from my usual reading material I found it engrossing, although I think it was probably the Orange book that I have enjoyed least so far.

A week of Orange Wednesdays: The secret son (Lalami)

The secret son was the third book that I picked off the Orange longlist this year that I hadn't already read; it had a lot to live up to after This is how and Hearts and minds, and although it was an interesting read, which whilst I enjoyed, I wasn't gripped in the same way that I had been by the previous two.

The secret son tells the story of Yousseff, a poor but intelligent college student, living with his mother in the slums of Casablanca in Morocco. He had always been told that his father, a teacher, had been killed in a tragic accident, but one day he discovers that his father was in fact a rich businessman, for whom his mother worked, and who is very much alive. Yousseff seeks him out, and they establish a relationship, Yousseff becoming in effect . Although his mother warns him against it, Yousseff takes advantage of his father's money, moving into a city-centre apartment and gaining work in his business. Essentially Yousseff has the opportunity to recreate his identity. But his father's family could not accept him, and after they find out about Yousseff's existence it is only a matter of time before his world is changed as dramatically again.

Lalami has a beautiful writing style and describes the slums and scenery of Morocco with wonderful detail. I think that this was what I liked most about the book - the opportunity to read about an unfamiliar culture and environment. Again this takes me back to what I like so much about the Orange prize - the fact that reading from the list transports me to worlds that I wouldn't necessarily normally read about.

The author, Lalami, by the way has an interesting blog www.moorishgirl.com which is worth taking a look at - she writes about her writing, and her work.

A week of Orange Wednesdays : The very thought of you (AlisoN)

I would probably have picked up The very thought of you by Rosie Alison in due course anyway, had it not been on the Orange longlist, since I generally like good novels set during the Second World War (there are a lot of "historical romances" out there for this period which I tend to avoid), but the list brought it to my attention rather sooner.

Set at Ashton Hall in Yorkshire, The very thought of you deals with the experiences of evacuees from London centring around the character of Anna, a young girl. However, it is not a straightforward evacuee story. The plot revoles more around deals with the couple who own Ashton Hall, Thomas and Elizabeth and their disintegrating, childless marriage. Anna becomes drawn into their lives, and the couple's relationship. There are also subplots featuring Anna's father who is away fighting, and Anna's mother who is trying to work out a new way of life on her own in London.

The events at Ashton Hall during the war turn out to have a profound influence on the rest of Anna's life, and we revisit her later, still trying to make sense of the things that happened then and the relationships formed.

It didn't grip me in the way that Hearts and Minds or This is how did (I'm sorry, I know I keep banging on about that), but it was a lovely read that didn't take too much effort and I warmly recommend it to all of you who enjoy Second World War fiction.

A week of Orange Wednesdays: The still point (Sackville)

I was very keen to read The still point by Amy Sackville - it was not a title I had come across until I saw it on the Orange longlist. My library was slow to get copies (I see it has some now, but with a hefty list of reservations), but Claire from Paperback reader kindly gave me a copy for my birthday! What a lovely and generous present.

I love to read presents straight away (although sometimes I like to save them), but it turned out that this was a book to be savoured, and I was extremely glad that I was not able to read it all in one go as I might have liked to have done. Both a wonderful and gripping story and an exquisite piece of writing, I think this is probably the book that I have enjoyed most from the Orange longlist (the debate being of course whether one can fully enjoy books like Hearts and Minds or This is how which are brilliant but ultimately quite grim).

The still point is a dual narrative; it tells the story of a day in the life of Anna, and her husband who live in London, intersperesed with the tale of Anna's great-great Uncle who was a doomed arctic explorer. Anna spends part of the day looking at letters and diaries from the expedition that he went upon, whilst reflecting on the effects that this had on her great-great Aunt Emily's life. At the same time, we see her and Simon thinking about the nature of their own relationship. Is it better to have a humdrum relationship, driven by the 9-5 grind and punctuated by dinner parties or one that is ripped apart by adventure?

Sackville's writing is so very lyrical that this book is an absolute pleasure to read for the writing as much as the story - and as I am a reader usually gripped by the storyline at the expense of the writing, I think this shows how special this book is.

One thing I'm wondering about - this is a debut novel. I wonder how it is decided whether a book will be entered for the main Orange prize or for the Orange new writers prize? I would be very disappointed if this book did not gain recognition somewhere!

Persephone Reading Week

While I've been away, it seems like people have started to get excited about the Second Persephone Reading Week, so I thought I would take the opportunity to write about it on my blog today. Persephone reading week started out last year, when, with a week off work, I decided to read a Persephone book every day. It was such a joyous experience that I decided to repeat it with my next week off work, Claire from Paperback Reader joined in, and it turned into a rather spectacular blogging event with people across the world reading Persephone books, taking part in competitions, blogging about their reading and entering giveaways.

So, we're doing it all again! The fun runs between 3rd and 9th May, and will be hosted here at the B Files and over at Paperback reader. There aren't any rules; to participate all you need to do is to read a Persephone book. You can read more if you like, and hopefully if you have a blog you'll blog about your reading too. If you don't, then Claire or I can put posts up on our blogs. Each day we'll round up the Persephone posts (you'll be able to post links in the comments of our blogs) so that everyone can share in the Persephone fun.

What will I be reading? Well, there are only 5 Persephone books that I have yet to read, three of which I own, and the other two I hope to own by then (I'm still not quite complete with my collection of books, but I have read the others in different editions).
I have waiting:
Julian Grenfell (Mosley)
The expendable man (Hughes)
The hopkins manuscript (Sherriff)

and hoping to obtain:
An interrupted life (Hilsum)
The gardener's nightcap

I'm sure it hasn't escaped your attention that 2 more Persephone books will be released on 22nd April, and I shall be ordering those from the shop to add to my selection.

Maybe it'll be time for me to do a reread of some of the books - it has been a long time since I read Family Roundabout. And I must find a recipe that I can bake to share with you all!

Return from holidays

I'm back! I've had a wonderful time, in Cornwall. There was a lot of weather, but we managed to get out and about and I was thoroughly spoiled on my birthday with sparklers and banners and candles. I was lucky enough to have a parcel of books from my parents, selected from a wishlist that I had sent them - this was a wonderful surprise as I didn't know until I opened it what I would get. It turned out to be three more Greyladies titles - Covent on Styx, Eliza in the common and A proper place, the first two of which I have already devoured. I also had a copy of Jane Gardam's Crusoe's Daughter from a colleague. My fiance treated me to three books while we were away, including a lovely book of old Cornish postcards, and two memoirs of a lady who worked for the National Trust (of which I already had the first)(he had made the mistake of pointing me in the direction of the second hand booksale while he went to look at some farm machinery, so it was only fair to expect him to buy me what I found!)

(And there were many book shaped packages waiting for my return also; Claire from Paperback reader kindly sent me The orange shortlisted The still point for my birthday, there were 3 books from Canongate, and a few other things besides)

I got through a large number of the books that I took, reading:
My driver (Maggie Gee)
Steer by the stars (Olivia Fitzroy)
Snapped in Cornwall (Janie Bolitho)
Treveryan (Angela Du Maurier)
Clothes Pegs (Susan Scarlett)
Once a and girl (Angela Huth)
American Wife (Curtis Sittenfeld)
Life with the lid on (Nicola Hopkinson)
How to paint a dead man (Sarah Hall)
Barbara Hepworth (Margaret Gardiner)
Buried in Cornwall (Janie Bolitho)
Framed in Cornwall (Janie Bolitho)
Taking the plunge (Stacey Lewis)
Rambles beyond Railways (Wilkie Collins)
The marriage book (Nicky Lee)
Convent on Styx (Gladys Mitchell)
Dry rot and daffodils (MAry Mackie)
Hunting and gathering (Anna Gavalda)
Eliza in Common (O. Douglas)
The carm of North Cornwall (ed Alan Drew)
Louisa (Pamela Brown)
The vicarage family (Lorna Hill)
It's only the sister (Angela Du Maurier)
Faith fox (Jane Gardam)
Death on tiptoe (RC Ashby)
The Whicarts (Noel Streatfield)
Hungry Hill (Daphne Du Maurier)

The highlights were Treveryan, Clothes-Pegs, The Vicarage Family, and Rambles beyond railways. I might write about some of these in due course.

By the way, if you're interested to know what I broke my bookban with, it was with a cheap set of the wonderful "English Journeys" books, which were brought to my attention by Thomas of My Porch, who is reading his way through them this April. When I saw the complete set for £15, less than £1 a volume, I just couldn't resist them as something rather lovely to dip in and out of. I'm particularly looking forward to Vita Sackville-West's Let us praise famous gardens, Vaughan William's Folk Songs, and Celia Fiennes Through England on a side saddle. I hope to see lots of mentions of places that I know, and to learn more about the history of England as a place. Now I just need to find somewhere to put them... Also whilst in Cornwall I bought a copy of Angela Du Maurier's It's only the sister (which I devoured lying in the sun on the beach).

Next week I'll be reviewing three more Orange long-listed titles in preparation for the announcement of the shortlist next week, so do pop by and see my thoughts and share yours if you've read any of them. I also hope to do an Orange themed bake! After this week I intend to continue my Orange Wednesdays series and review a formerly Orange longlisted title each Wednesday - until I get bored! I'm hoping that this will provide inspiration and direction to my reading as well as enabling me to read more modern women's fiction.

I'll start reading everyone's blogs again next week and popping by to say hello, and I'll also try to catch up on my emails!

Happy Easter

I'm off on my Easter and birthday celebration holidays, and will be taking a break from blogging from the next 10 days or so.

As we're self-catering, I've made an Easter Simnel Loaf to take with us, and I'll leave you with a picture of it!