Shangri-La, the story behind the name

I love discovering books by accident. Years ago, we were in Capel Curig, in Snowdonia. Such a beautiful place! We were walking past a hotel, when we noticed they were selling books. So, as self-confessed bibliophiles, we ventured in and were not disappointed. I picked up Lost Horizon, by James Hilton. I watched the film in the 70s, and was mesmerised by the magic. I have never watched it again, although I have watched the trailer since reading the book, and am astonished at how it was translated. It is an amazing story of a group of people who are escaping from a revolution in Persia (Iran), on a plane to Pakistan. The plane crashes in the middle of nowhere, but fortunately they are rescued by a group of travellers who take them to a beautiful sanctuary, which has everything they could ever want. Their new home is very cut off, particularly during Winter, and it is a long time before the group might be rescued. 

The visitors are made up of three men and a woman, and they adapt (or not) to their new surroundings in different ways. The youngest male struggles the most as he just wants to get home and find a wife. He has left too much behind to give up, and cannot see a future where they are, despite being treated very well by all the other inhabitants, and having everything he could desire. The woman appears to relish living there, and both of the older men, also settle in very well. There is a magical atmosphere in the remote community, surrounded by mountains. They have found a way to extend life, giving them time to indulge in the pleasures they enjoy. The isolated community is led by one man, and it soon becomes clear that he is training one of the new visitors to take his place. Eventually, some leave, but the book ends with wonder and mystery. It is a very exciting story, and beautifully written, tempting one to go and look for this wonderful place or just wonder if it actually exists. I really hope it does. I love the idea of being able to extend my life so I have time to read all the books that I want, without the distraction of work. Perhaps I am already. Living in Cornwall, feels a bit like Shangri-La. It just feels like there is time, which is the greatest wealth ever. This book is one of my new treasures, and I shall revisit it again and again.

Uncertainty, loss, and new hopes

I have been reading, but working in public health and spending my days reading a lot of literature about COVID, I have reverted back to gentle, re-reads in the evening, where I know the outcomes. However, I have read three books which were totally new to me.

The first one was The Whole Town's Talking by Fannie Flagg. If you have read my previous blog posts, you will know I am a huge fan of Fannie Flagg's writing, and this was no exception. It was absolutely wonderful and beautiful, focussing on a small town in Missouri, created by Lordor Nordstrom and his Swedish mail-order bride. Together they create a small town for family and friends, and the book explains each story and how the town grows, including the development of the town cemetery, and what happens to the town residents when they die. It is such a great story and a pleasure to read.

The second book I am writing about is in sharp contrast to the first one. Endorsed by Amnesty International, the Windrush Child was an emotional rollercoaster. It is about a young boy who has the ideal life with his Mum and Grandmother, when he has to move to England to be with his Father, who has been creating a new life for them. When he gets there, he has to adjust to seeing his Dad after all this time, the new climate, the different food, culture, people, etc. It is such an interesting story, and I was gripped throughout. I learnt so much about Jamaica, and the experience of Jamaicans moving to England. It must have been such a shock to this little boy, Leonard. He must have felt really torn, choosing between his Grandmother and his Mum and Dad. The book takes you through his experiences as a child and later as an adult. He has a family, and one day, when his daughter is all grown up, they decide to return to Jamaica for a visit together, and that is where the story comes to a shocking conclusion. The ending is so powerful and thought-provoking. It took me a while to process the outcome of this book. It was brilliantly written, by Benjamin Zephaniah, who made me feel everything that Leonard went through. It really is well worth reading.

The last book I am writing about was a surprise. I picked it up in a charity shop for a pound. I bought it because I liked the front cover, which was illustrated by Sylvia Dyson. Melissa Ann was written by Ethel Parton. There are no details of dates, but it sounds as though it was written in the 1800s. It is a delightful story about a young girl called Melissa Ann. It reminds me very much of Anne of Green Gables, by LM Montgomery. You learn about Melissa's, known as Mitty, family and friends. In a similar manner to the Windrush Child, she has to move from her childhood home, with her grandparents to another home. There is much uncertainty in her life, and she deals with it all, with courage, and she seems like a really sweet character. The book is filled with lovely characters and storylines. It was a wonderful surprise, and makes me want to learn more about Ethel Parton.

Detectives and spies

Shocked to see we are in November and my last post was in January of this year! Well, it has been a strange year, but fortunately we have books to take us to other worlds and adventures. I have continued working, and therefore have needed some gentle books to relax in my spare time. I started off my re-reading my beloved Chalet School books, but as time went on, I branched out and tried some new authors. 

I love Bond films, but had never thought to read the books, so I took the opportunity to read a collection of four of Ian Fleming's short stories, "Octopussy and The Living Daylights". Octopussy, the story, was brilliant, as it brought together, in a short tale, so many elements from the different Bond films, and finished with a very creative suicide. I enjoyed it, because the author clearly enjoyed natural history, and shared his knowledge, making the story even more interesting. Property of a Lady was wonderful as it described the auction of a Fabergé egg, belonging to a lady who worked in the offices of Bond's headquarters, and earning £50 per month. Clearly there is a mystery there, but I am not going to spoil it. It is a superb read, and again very interesting, as I hadn't realised that Fabergé created these eggs to help the aristocracy make their jewels more portable, when they had to disappear in a rush! By the way, interesting fact, Ian Fleming also wrote "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", which I really must add to my list!

Another book I have read is "Enola Holmes: The Case of the Missing Marquess", written by Nancy Springer. I had watched the film first, and really enjoyed it, so I thought I would see what the book was like. They were quite different, and to be honest, I think that if I was the author, I would be quite annoyed at how much of the book was changed. They took the main character, and pretty much created a different story. They are both equally good, but I think it would have been interesting to see the book translated accurately in to a film. In case you don't know, Enola Holmes is the much younger sister of Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes, and they return to the family home when their mother disappears. In the book, Enola is poorly educated but clearly very bright, and applies the same deductive techniques as her older detective brother, Sherlock, as she tries to find out what has happened to her mother. It was a really good read, and I have ordered the next two in the series, and I am looking forward to the next in the series, although I have just discovered that I missed a book that Fannie Flagg has written called The Whole Town's Talking, so I am quickly catching up with that first! Stay safe and well everyone!

The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R King

Happy New Year to you all! So, a couple of months ago, a lovely friend in America introduced me to a fabulous series of books – the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes mysteries. The first is The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, and it is just amazing; beyond brilliant, in fact! Written by Laurie R King, the story behind this series, is that the author received a mysterious package, containing a series of journals and other gifts.

The journals were written by an orphan called Mary Russell, and they start when she is 15 years old, after the sudden death of her family, and her first encounter with the retired Sherlock Holmes, who is living in Sussex with his housekeeper, while tending his bees. They meet on the Sussex downs, and despite their age difference, they form a professional friendship, with Holmes becoming Mary’s mentor, and Russell becoming Sherlock’s apprentice. He teaches her his skills and tests her abilities, and together they become a team and solve complex crimes together. I am not doing these books justice. The first was so good, I had to immediately get the next two, and I have almost finished those now, so am ready for the next instalments. The second book is a collection of short stories, and provide some background information to give a better picture of Mary Russell’s history.

There are some incredibly powerful insights into World War I and what the soldiers endured in the trenches, but I also had not appreciated the impact that war had on women. Not only did many lose the prospect of being a wife and a mother, because many men either did not return from the war or were too badly injured or traumatised to become husbands and fathers. Furthermore, while the war was on, women took on traditionally-male roles, such as farming the land, flying planes across the country, and keeping the home-fires burning so that returning soldiers would have something to come home to. However, once they were home, they took back those jobs, and the women were left with fewer options. I found this all so thought-provoking!

The development of Mary and Sherlock’s personal relationship is also described in one of the short stories, culminating in their marriage, when she is of age. It is beautifully done, with no improprieties. Their relationship is complex, and they are clearly dependent on each other. I am so delighted to be reading this series of books, as they are such a pleasure to read. The books are so well-written, informative, suspenseful, sensitive, and unexpected. I am very grateful for the introduction!

Finally, an update and some book reviews

I am shocked to see how long it is since we last posted. I know that you have been viewing our web-site, and I am so pleased that you, do, but I am sorry for being so hopeless at updating it. The reasons are, that I work full-time, our house in Cornwall is a lifelong project and needs loads doing to it, we are trying to reduce our use of plastics, and therefore, we are doing lots more cooking from scratch, and in my spare time, I love to read books. So, where is the time to blog!?! But I do also enjoy blogging, so here we finally are. I should say, that one day, we would still like to open Pilchard Books, but at the moment, we are happy doing what we are doing, and exploring the options open to us.

We live on the outskirts of a fantastic town, called St Just, about 9 miles from Penzance, (the best train station to come in to), in Cornwall, UK. It is the most wonderful community, with amazing people, fabulously, useful shops, heavenly cafes, and just so much to do! In July, we made a 13ft Snow White out of willow/withies, and paper, for our local festival, Lafrowda, to promote Pendeen Pantomime. Anyway, I am digressing…in our lovely town, there is a post office, which also sells second-hand books for 20p (money going to Cancer Research). I always find treasures in that pile of books, and one of those treasures helped me discover a new author, who I hadn’t read before: Susan Wittig Albert (https://susanalbert.com/), a best-selling author in America, but not one I had heard of in the UK, which, if you read the rest of this post, you may find truly surprising!

So I started off with “The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree”, (one of a series of 5 books), and I loved it. It isn’t deep, but it is engaging, entertaining, and educational. It is set in the 1930s, in a small town called Darling, and is about the members of a gardening club, The Darling Dahlias, who unravel the story behind the mysterious death of a local blond bombshell. Being a small town, there are lots of rumours, leading to speculation and drama. The story is full of wonderful characters, and at the start of the book, there is a brief biography for each one. For example, Miss Dorothy Rogers, is Darling’s librarian. She knows the Latin name of every plant and insists that all the garden club members know them too! The author writes really well, and clearly researches her topic, because there are useful details about gardening, and at the back of the book there is a section called “Makin’ do: 12 ways to stretch whatever we have”, which is full of useful advice, still relevant in today’s society. For example, “Save old letters and envelopes and use the backs or notes and lists. But be careful not to use a letter you don’t want someone else to read.” Finally, there are recipes, along with interesting facts, from food that is described in the book, for example, Florabelle’s Soda Bread, and Euphoria;s Peanut Butter Meringue Pie. The author seems to include recipes in all her books, some more appetising than others 😊

Once I had finished that book, I was intrigued to know more about this author. I soon found that she has written lots of books. Two series are along the same lines as the first Darling Dahlias book, set in small American towns, with lots of gossipy and earnest characters. But she has also written a series of books which feature Beatrix Potter as a character, and not only in her capacity as an author, but also as a sleuth! Now, being a huge fan of Beatrix Potter, I was a little concerned about an American author turning the most wonderful Beatrix Potter into a detective, so I ordered just one of The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter series of 8 books. I started off with “The Tale of Briar Bank”, and it was absolutely charming, and so clever. The author portrays Beatrix Potter, just as one might imagine her, describing her life in the Lake District, the challenges she faces with her family, and being a new farmer in a man’s world, and her growing romance with Will Heelis, whom she eventually married in real-life, I believe. It is so well-researched, it is difficult to tell what it fact and what is fiction. I really love this series of books, because it not only presents such a brilliant picture of what it was like in the Lake District at that time, but it also integrates Beatrix Potter’s characters so well, alongside new animal characters. So, you have wonderful human characters, along with the original Beatrix Potter animals who meet new ones created by Susan Wittig Albert. Beatrix Potter is still a successful author, but is also a very well-respected part of the community, with many friends and admirers. In these stories, she has a knack of being very perceptive and manages to resolve any issues between other characters in the book. And this proves very useful, because in this series, there are many problems which need a calm and fair person to find a resolution. But, on top of the usual village goings-on, there is also a mystery to be solved, and in this book, someone is killed, and treasure is involved. Beatrix Potter does solve the mystery, along with Brock the Badger, and Rascal, a Jack Rascal Terrier, and in the two books I have read of this series, the answer is not at all what I thought! 

The second book I read in this series, is The Tale of Hawthorn House, another mystery, about an abandoned baby, and the sad demise of a farmer. The villagers, suspect fairy-folk involvement, but Beatrix Potter, despite having such a wonderfully creative mind, figures out what really happened, and ensures that everything becomes right with the world again. In this book, you are reminded of the story of poor Jemima Puddleduck, who just wanted to raise ducklings, but everyone thought she was too fickle to remember to look after them. In this book, the story continues, and you find out what happens next to Jemima. There is quite a troubling section about badger baiting, which I didn’t like, because it explained it quite thoroughly, but it did also make me understand quite a bit, so I found that very educational. Once again, at the end of each book, there are useful additions, including a list of resources, which the author used to inform the book, recipes from food mentioned, and a glossary to explain the dialect. I am not from the Lake District, so I don’t know how accurate it is. If you like Beatrix Potter, then I think you might like this series. The books are so well-written, magical, informative, and I really treasure them. I have managed to track down another two, which I will read once I have

finished a book from another series by Susan Wittig Albert, about a lawyer turned herbalist, who solves crimes. Wormwood is set in a Shaker community, and I am learning so much about what is involved in this religion. I know they had a unique style with regards to the furniture they built, but I didn’t know that Shaker comes from dancing and singing, which was part of their religion. There are really interesting facts about herbs, which are actually making me want to take a herbalist course, and recipes, although I am not too convinced by Vinegar Pie.

At 79 years of age, Susan Wittig Albert is still going strong, and has another book published this year – “A Plain Vanilla Murder”. The common themes to all of her books are that they involve natural history in some way, they have strong female and feminine leads, they contain recipes and other, useful supporting material, and they are just a very good read. Let me know what you think!  

The wombles go round the world by Elisabeth Beresford

I am delighted that people are still looking at Pilchard Books. I am sorry that we haven't posted for quite a while. We still have not opened our bookshop and there are no plans to do so at the moment, as I am working and P is writing. Who knows what the future will bring, but for now, we will try to be more regular with our book reviews, and if you have any book recommendations, then please do share.

So, I have been reading about the wombles. For those of you who do not know who the wombles are, they are gentle, furry creatures who live on Wimbledon Common in London, and collect and recycle all the rubbish that humans leave behind. There are a series of books about the wombles and their various adventures, and they were originally written in the 70s. They are children's books, but beautifully written, and very suitable for all ages. The wombles in England are led by Great Uncle Bulgaria, the oldest of the wombles. All wombles are named after place names, so you have Orinoco who loves food, and does a lot of thinking and resting, Tobermory, who takes all the rubbish that the other wombles find, and recycles it, Madame Cholet who is the much-loved chef, and many others. There is even a womblegarten for the youngest wombles. These books are so clever, and have wonderful insights, such as "cor blimey", frequently said by Tomsk, which actually means God blame me. 

The book I have just read is called "The wombles go round the world" and it is about the wombles travelling around the world to other womble burrows to create a new volume of the womble history. Their experiences are so brave and exciting, and the tales so creative! Four of the wombles travel in two hot air balloons to America, Japan, Germany, Russia, Australia, and New Zealand, experiencing the wonders of the world and collecting stories and recipes to share with the rest of the wombles in Wimbledon. They are lovely stories, but they also have such strong messages for today's world, and it appears that we have learned nothing about protecting the environment in the past forty years. Womble wisdom! Here is a quote "Our big problem is the objects we tidy up, most of which are some sort of plastic. Plastic is not an easy kind of material to make good use of." Further on in the book, they talk about the issues with air pollution. So sad, that forty years on, we are still using plastic and polluting the air. I wish these books could be read in every primary school so that perhaps the next generation can take better care of our planet. Better still, I wish it could be compulsory reading for the decision-makers of this world.

Piranha To Scurfy And Other Stories - Ruth Rendell

I love short stories, and I enjoy crime fiction, but I have never read any books by Ruth Rendell. I had seen her characters come to life on the television, but never read their original stories. This collection of short stories, Piranha To Scurfy And Other Stories, was a great surprise, and I enjoyed them immensely. The macabre twist of the first story, the title cleverly reflecting a volume from the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and the disturbing nature, but satisfying ending of The Wink. The High Mysterious Union really reminded me of the Wicker Man, with its 'loving' community, and the Myth was wonderfully creative, with the idea of the Garden of Eden being in Wiltshire.