1/11/2011 Review: The Drowning Pool by Syd MooreThis is my attempt at writing a proper book review... I have had quite a go at being a music reviewer over the years, but I have rarely done book reviews... So here it is, then.
I first came across Syd Moore as the founding editor of Level 4, an eclectic, free magazine covering culture in Southend-on-Sea. Then, with her artist friend Heidi Wigmore, she created a card game about female stereotypes, Super Strumps, which was launched at the Women Of The World festival at London South Bank. (If you are interested in it, go HERE) I had read some of Syd’s articles in defence of the much maligned Essex Girl, in which she made the link with the fact that Essex had been seen as "Witch County" across the ages. Her interest for the subject has now been turned into a two-book deal with publishers HarperCollins; not bad for a debut novelist! First, the blurb – because I wouldn’t write anything better than this to sum up the story: “Relocated to a coastal town with her young son Alfie, widowed teacher Sarah Grey is slowly rebuilding her life. But following a séance one drunken night, she begins to experience frightening visions. Her attempts to explain them away are dashed when Alfie starts to see them too, and soon, it seems that they are targets of a terrifying haunting. Convinced that the ghost is that of a 19th century local witch and her own namesake, Sarah delves into local folklore and learns that the witch was seen as evil incarnate. When a series of old letters surface, Sarah discovers that nothing and no-one is as it seems, maybe not even the ghost of Sarah Grey…” This is a refreshing and actually rather original take on the ghost story genre. But a word of warning here: if you are after a brainless, non-stop blood-splattered feast of chills and screams, you won’t get it, not in that way. Yes, it is a chilling book that has been cleverly written to make the hair stand at the back of its readers’ neck, but I have found much more in there than that. “The Drowning Pool” works on several levels, and the ghost story at some point turns into what I would call a detective story. From investigating events that have taken place in the 19th century, Sarah Grey finds that she might also be probing into a more recent past… perhaps even the present… That’s what is so enjoyable about this book: it effortlessly moves from a very familiar environment, a 21st century full of mobile phones, Skype communications and drunken antics in crowded pubs and wine bars – all instrumental in the development of the ghostly storyline – to the dark, tough reality of an 19th century seaside village. Incredibly enough, it works. The supernatural elements are introduced subtly, as the ghosts from the past – literally – start to infiltrate the very normal world of young widow Sarah Grey. The haunting itself is so unnerving because we seem to never really be sure about what is really happening. Is there any “reality” in those manifestations? Is Sarah’s mind – or shall I say, brain – playing tricks on her? Is her grief for her late husband behind all this? So, you ask me, do we firmly know the facts when we reach page 356? You’ll have to read the book, of course. What I can tell you, though, is that as the story develops and the young woman delves into the “witch”’s life and that of the close-knit, superstitious community in which she lived, we are completely taken by the historical details about the times and the area. The author has done her research (the "sea-witch" Sarah Moore did indeed live in Leigh but her name has been changed to avoid confusion), and it shows without being forced down your throat as so many authors do. An important part of the success of the book is Syd Moore’s humour and her flowing, bouncy writing style – she can switch it to stark and brooding at will. I like the unpretentious style of the author who is not here to dazzle you with some literary prowess but to offer you a bloody good read and tell you the story of a human being whose fate has obviously touched her very much. I smiled and chuckled quite often as well – comic relief works marvellously here and helps you shake off the tension, before plunging you into yet another goose bumps-inducing episode. As an ex-teacher myself, I recognised the staffroom antics and “teachery” (I’ve made up a word here) moans of Sarah and her colleagues. In the early stages of the book, Sarah's tense communication with her boss, the barely human McBastard, oops, I mean, McWhittard – an austere, gothic character – is responsible for some uncomfortable but funny scenes. And the drinking! There is a lot of it indeed, as the author captures the spirit of our times, all the socialising and self-doubts brought on by modern life… I actually think that the first supernatural moment in the book occurs as soon as the first chapter, when Sarah and her group of friends – all very inebriated – decide to go up the Hadleigh Castle from Leigh Broadway and light up a camp fire. Go up there, on foot, blind drunk, as the sun sets? If this is not supernatural… Try it yourself, you'll see... Do you need to know Leigh-on-Sea and the area to appreciate the book? No, of course, not. There is enough in there to make any reader happy, but I do admit to finding it rather helpful and it made me feel closer to the story, more intimate with it. Familiar names of buildings and public places find their way to the pages and conjure up images. If you know the atmosphere of the Leigh folk festival, for example, or what the Old town, St Clement church or the Heritage Centre there look like, it might make your experience that little bit more interesting. As I was finishing the book, I thought that it would make a great classic British movie, if the director managed to capture the atmosphere and the haunting the way it should be. In the right hands, it could become the "clever" chiller of the year - with Helena Bonham Carter as the 19th century Sarah , although she probably is too expensive... Any takers? In the meantime, I for one will start looking around me a little bit more carefully next time I walk around Old Leigh. I will try and ignore the ice-cream licking, seafood chomping and beer drinking visitors and I will think about the 19th century Sarah Moore/Grey, the so-called “sea-witch”, a woman whose incredibly hard life and insufferable tragedies are the things that will haunt you long after you have closed your copy of "The Drowning Pool" and put it back on the shelf. *UPDATE*: Just been on Amazon and some comments made me almost wet myself with laughter: Reader 1: "The only thing I'd have changed, was how much alcohol the main character downed on a regular basis. I don't know how she managed to work, look after her son and the house as she seemed to be permanently drunk!" Reader 2: "Agree about all the booze - and all the smoking. That's the only thing that I didn't like about it." (Hahahaha! I won't comment on this because I could be unkind to some people I don't know... We live in strange times indeed!) 6/10/2011 The Real Jane AustenI really enjoyed watching "The Real Jane Austen" yesterday evening (on... BBC4! Again!).
The programme was a repeat from 2002, but I didn't have TV back then! :-) It is presented by the wonderful actress Anna Chancellor, herself a descendant of the writer. It always pisses me off when people dismiss Jane Austen's novels as mere romantic "Chick Lit" fodder. One, the books are well written and entertaining. Two, they are an engaging, witty, unflinchingly detailed description of a certain section of English society at the end of the 18th / early 19th Century. Therefore they are as good as historical novels as any other book. Three - she gets human nature so very well, and her observations are still relevant now, still make us wince, laugh and - for some people - cry. Four - and this is made very clear in the programme - Jane Austen was a pioneer, a courageous and intelligent woman with a very modern outlook for her times and strong opinions on the position of women in society and the "marriage market". I often found myself nodding and smiling in approval. The way she was allowed to pick any book from her father's library when she was a child reminded me of my younger self - she even read books "unsuitable for young ladies" like Tom Jones! Then the writer in me felt for her as she courageously carried on writing, then stopped due depression and loss of stability, picked it up again and then wrote through illness; I really understand that, as I have only been able to settle down to write novels once I had found some security and stability in my personal life. To write well, I need a certain amount of quiet, a high degree of inner peace - otherwise my brain is full of parasitic interferences - self-reflection and the ability to be reclusive for several hours a day. The Austenonly website talks about the programme really well, and therefore I refer you to it HERE. 27/9/2011 Reading...I read Jerome K. Jerome's infamous book when I was 11 and in French. Since then, I have studied English at secondary school, University and been living in England for 14 years. Already, within the first pages, I could recognise a lot of cultural references I couldn't possibly have been aware of at the time... The language is simply delicious! I am going to enjoy this immensely... But before I do sit down and open the book again, a lot of writing has to be done! I have now planned the next four scenes or so of The Book of Thoth, and have to get them down on paper. 19/9/2011 CountdownJust opened the word document on which is stored the first draft of my second novel, "The Book of Thoth": 48,000 words!
And let me tell you that I'm far from finished! 1/9/2011 Reading...I have two books on the go now: Christopher Fowler's Ten-second staircase (I started it on the Eurostar yesterday and was probably the happiest passenger on there, smiling to myself and chuckling my way to Paris; it looks very promising, the usual wonderful mixture of delicious wit, London urban grittiness and overflowing inventiveness... This time, the author is tackling the bonkers and often sinister world of contemporary art, with celebrity shock artists a-gogo (the murder victim has quite a lot in common with the insufferable and overrated Tracey Emin). But I am in France at the moment and I thought that it would be appropriate to put my English reading to one side and to switch to something in French. I raided my parents' library and found this: S.A Steeman is a Belgian author and he wrote this book in 1937; the French language is deliciouly old fashioned - I can revise my French past tenses, especially the now relatively ignored "passé simple" (preterit in English I think).
So Silas Lord's hero is Sherlock Holmes, but he is even better than the English Victorian detective! Let see what this book has got in store for me... There is a short biography of the author here: SA Steeman 29/8/2011 On my way to...Tomorrow, I will be on my way to France via London for a week. A WHOLE week in France! Wish me luck... I'll be on the Eurostar on Wednesday morning with Christopher Fowler's "Ten-Second Staircase" for company... But I already can't wait to come back to Home sweet Home, because it will be the beginning of a busy and exciting Autumn/Winter season: lectures, exhibitions, gigs, markets with Matt ArtPix... I hope I will be able to blog about this and other stuff on here... It will all kick-start on the very week of my home coming, with Peter Ackroyd at the South Bank and Covenant at the 02 Academy! I am taking the MS of "The Book of Thoth" with me, as I hope to find a bit of time to move forward in the story... On my way, I will be dropping the final MS of "I Am a Muse" at Sabine T's house, as we are hoping she might find some inspiration for her artwork within the lines of the novel... Sabine's Daphne will be the cover of the book if I self-publish (see in the I Am a Muse section of this website). Sabine's new website can be found here: SabineT 18/8/2011 She's a witch!I loved The Pendle Witch Child shown on BBC 4 yesterday evening. Simon Armitage's prose, the animated illustrations and the bleak but beautiful Lancashire landscape combined to create a fantastical, eerie atmosphere. More about the story here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14490790 BBC iplayer here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b013fj47/The_Pendle_Witch_Child/ I have always been interested in witches, because I have always been intrigued and fascinated with people who are deemed outcasts and outside of the mainstream and the realm of respectability. If you read about witches and witches trials, you will discover more about the psyche of an era, than you would ever find in any historical book. It has to do with religion, politics, sex, psychology, ignorance, disfunctional families, greed, fear of the unknown and strangers, fear of independent/beautiful women, envy and jealousy. One book I've found very instructive is "Witchfinders: A seventeenth Century English tragedy" by Malcom Gaskill. It tells - in sometimes gory details - the story of the brutal witch-hunt that took place in East Anglia in the 17th C, led by Matthew Hopkins, aka the Witchfinder General. I have always said that if I had lived in the 17th C, I probably would have been denounced and burned as a witch. People's attitudes haven't changed that much when faced with independent, opinionated, strong-minded women who don't care too much about the conventions layed out by society. I have observed that kind of attitude mostly in women. Strange, that, eh? During my short career as a teacher in inner London, I have been called a witch numerous times - most certainly because of my somewhat "strong features" - I am not an English Rose type of woman! - and dyed black hair, and my love of dark clothing. I've heard the words "she's a witch" hissed in school corridors, I've had students ask me if I was one, if I knew Satan and such fun things. You see, in the 21st Century, in some communities, witches are still very much of actuality. These extremely religious people still believe in Satan and Evil and magic, literally. They reject science, evolution and common sense. For them, witches are very real and represent a real threat. Believe me, it feels strange when people call you a witch without any irony whatsoever. I've had the good grace of taking it as a compliment though. It makes me sound more interesting than I really am! I am looking forward to reading Syd Moore's first novel, "The Drowning Pool", out this September. It is inspired by the real life story of the sea witch of Leigh-on-Sea, Sarah Moore. Ms Moore (Syd) did a presentation on the book at this year's Shorelines literary festival in Southend, and it was utterly fascinating. I hope I'll have the opportunity to hear more about her research in the forthcoming months, as the author seems to know a great deal about the witch-hunts that have taken place in Essex, and has managed to find links between 17th C and contemporary England. Syd Moore in The Echo newspaper. Her Facebook page: Syd Moore Facebook Most of all, of course, witches have inspired terrific tales and stories and legends... For a writer like me, they are a bottomless source of inspiration!
In my novel "I Am a Muse", there are no witches. But there is a Crimson Woman, a slight variation on the theme of the Scarlet Woman, another mythical female character. 17/8/2011 Mister Bookseller - graphic novellaI found this while doing some research on the Internet... Isn't it simply lovely?
http://a-la-la-la-n.blogspot.com/2009/04/mister-booksellergospodin-libar.html It is a fitting tribute to books and what they can mean for us and others... "Gospodin Librar" by Darko Macan and Tihomir Celanovic. |
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