• Shetland: A Dark Redemption, Eleven Days, and, The Intrusions by Stav Sherez

  I first saw Stav at an event at Woking Library "in conversation" with Mark Billingham. He was promoting his first Carrigan and Miller book. Now that he is up to his third, The Intrusions, which has won the 2018 Theakston Old Peculiar Award for crime fiction, not to mention being a Guardian and Sunday Times "Book of the Year" for 2017, so I thought it was about time I actually read all three books. They did not disappoint.

  

  
  


• Secret Lives
  An E F Benson novel from 1932 dramatised in 3 parts starring Pauline Collins.
  I love the Mapp and Lucia novels, which were published around the same time as this. It has the same gentle humour and satire - but centred around "Durham Square" - a desirable residential area. Two strong women (a stuffy inhabitant of long-standing and an uncouth newcomer) are at odds with each other...


• Having a Wonderful Time
  An extended Las Palmas holiday, at someone else's expense, seems ideal. But is there a hidden agenda?
  Written in the form of postcards, the story chronicles a young couple who vacation on the Canary Islands, but their flight home is repeatedly cancelled until it becomes apparent that they - along with thousands of other families on holiday - will never return home, and have been forever exiled.
  A short story by J G Ballard, read by Patricia Brake.


• Trespass
  Set in the Cevennes, an untamed area of southern France where traditions and secrets run deep, it is the story of two very different sets of siblings. Veronica and Anthony are privileged, cultured and English. Aramon and Audrun are French, rooted in the old stone mas and the land around it that their family have cultivated for generations, and in their shared and violent past. When these two very different worlds collide, a chain of events is set in unstoppable motion. Radio 4's Book at Bedtime by Rose Tremain, abridged by Sally Marmion, and read by Sara Kestelman.



• A Small Town Murder
  Jackie Hartwell (played by Meera Syal) is a Family Liaison Officer in Stratford-upon-Avon who solves cases by winning the trust of those caught up in the nightmare of serious crime and murder. Working in liaison enables Hartwell to get closer to the people involved in the crime - allowing her to investigate in a way they can't, as she combines empathy and intuition with the keen observation of a clever detective. In this 12th series she is assigned as family liaison officer to a woman viciously assaulted in her own home. It soon becomes clear the suspect is likely to strike again.


• Whip Hand
  This is the second Dick Francis novel about Sid Halley first published in 1979, and dramatised here in 5 episodes starring Mick Ford.
  I am very keen on Dick Francis novels - ever since my first exposure to one read on Radio 4 in 1978 (I believe it was Forfeit or Flying Finish - abridged I assume), and I never looked back. Sid Halley was a very popular hero, and ultimately there were four novels which feature him - fairly spaced out in date - and a fifth follow-up book by Felix Francis, (Refusal).
  

Posted by Christina at 11:44 am | Category: Art and Culture, Books of the Month | Permalink

We met up with Deborah and Chris for an evening with "the team" [Jack Dee, Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor and Kerry Godliman] at the New Victoria Theatre, Woking. This will be series 70, Episode 3 broadcast in December - when we can "hear ourselves laughing in places where we don't remember doing so".

Posted by Christina at 1:24 pm | Category: Art and Culture, Days Out | Permalink

We were absolutely thrilled to find this was being staged at the Olivier and immediately booked the best seats we could. Rob's a dedicated fan of Anaïs Mitchell so the songs were all well familiar - a wonderful experience.

In the warmth of summertime, songwriter Orpheus and his muse Eurydice are living it up and falling in love. But as winter approaches, reality sets in: they can't survive on songs alone. Tempted by the promise of plenty, Eurydice is lured to the depths of industrial Hadestown...
Because we have and they have not
Because they want what we have got...
...The enemy is poverty
And the wall keeps out the enemy
And we build the wall to keep us free
That's why we build the wall

Music, lyrics and book by Anaïs Mitchell, and developed with Rachel Chavkin.
Set: Rachel Hauck, Costume: Michael Krass; Lighting: Bradley King.

Posted by Christina at 1:24 pm | Category: Art and Culture, Days Out | Permalink

I thought this was such a fun and intelligent show when I saw it at the Fringe that I coerced both Rob and George to come with me to see it. It has gone from strength to strength, and is now on tour, and has come to the Rose.
I did give them a fair description of the show and music to try and ensure they were fully prepared, but I doubt either of them were as impressed as I (still am...).

Posted by Christina at 7:48 pm | Category: Art and Culture, Days Out | Permalink