Elizabeth Hopkinson's Hidden Grove

I'm writing this little blog in response to a blog by Book Riot.  http://bookriot.com/?p=109205 You know the sort of thing: if you could go back in time and hand some books to your 12-year-old self...?  So, without further ado, here's my list (in no particular order): 1.  Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne I was about 18 when I first read it, and knew I would have loved it earlier. 2. The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien My young self actually thought this was a rival to Narnia, and had no idea Lewis and Tolkien were friends. 3. The Christmas Mystery by Jostein Gaarder The book that turned me back to contemporary fiction, after about a decade hiding in the 19th century in case Angela Carter jumped out at me again. 4. Overcoming Low Self-Esteem by Melanie Fennel Enough said. 5. The Dalemark Quartet by Diana Wynne Jones How did I miss her at time of writing?? 6. The Lais of Marie de France So I wouldn't have to wait until uni to know I didn't need to give up fairy...

     Some time last year, I was in a second hand bookshop, when a title leapt out at me: The Fool Beloved  by Jeffery Farnol.  Regular readers will know how much Robin Hobb's Fool, Beloved, means to me.  So, I simply had to buy the book, just because of its title. I asked Robin Hobb on Twitter if there was any connection between this book and her work, and she said she knew nothing of it.  But she would like to know what it was about.  Now, there is a challenge!  I set about reading the book and finding out what I could about its author. According to Wikipedia: "Jeffery Farnol  (10 February 1878 – 9 August 1952) was a British writer since (sic) 1907 until his death, known for writing more than 40  romance novels , some formulaic and set in the  Georgian Era  or  English Regency  period, and  swashbucklers . He, with  Georgette Heyer , founded the Regency romantic genre." The Fool Beloved was published i...

Well, it's 2015!  My Christmas decorations are coming down, which is very sad, but there are lots of things to look forward to in the new year.  Of course, no one can predict the future, but these are some of the arts and history things I'm looking forward to this year: 1. A glut of costume dramas exploding onto my TV as the new year kicks off.   The Musketeers, Grand Hotel, Foyle's War a nd Mr Selfridge , to name but four I know of. 2. Watching my two Christmas gift DVDs that I haven't yet seen: the new La Belle et la Bête and Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart. 3. Going to the Sam Wannamaker Playhouse in London to see Farinelli and the King  in February.  Not only is the play about my all-time 18th-century icon and the subject of one of my most popular blogs, but it's in a theatre I've been dying to see, and stars Iestyn Davies, one of my favourite countertenor singers. 4. The Manga Jiman Competition exhibition at the Embassy of Japan.  My daughter is invo...

As I write this, there are only 15 days to go until the UK publication of Fool's Assassin by Robin Hobb.  I am a huge fan of the Farseer/Tawny Man trilogies, and especially of the Fool.  I was devasted by how his story was left hanging at the end of Fool's Fate, and am very excited (and somewhat nervous) to see how things will progress in the Fitz and the Fool trilogy. Robin Hobb's Fool is one of the all-time great fantasy characters.  However much we get to know him, he will always remain a mystery.  (Is he even truly a he, for a start?)  A self-confessed coward yet courageous, affectionate yet capable of inflicting deep hurt, learned yet a fool, he shifts gender, changes colour and is impossible to pin down.  His love for Fitz is heartbreakingly touching, and his androgyny and insistence that love doesn't require sex make him, for me, one of the great asexual icons. The Fool has influenced me professionally as well as personally.  It i...

Well, here I am on the last day of Swanwick Writers' Summer School.  If you know nothing about it, look it up.  [ http://swanwickwritersschool.co.uk/index.asp]   It's the most brilliant week of courses, speakers, food, mad discos, meditative moments, networking, food, sleep deprivation...   Oh, and did I mention food?  I think this is my eighth year at the school, so by this stage I've been roped into doing all sorts of stuff to contribute to, as well as receive from, the week.  Maybe a bit too much this year...  But I have really enjoyed leading two chapel devotions and running a one-hour workshop on Scandinavian folk tale, Prince Lindworm.  It was amazing what wonderful re-tellings could be produced by people in two 10-minute slots.   As well as giving out, I have managed to take some things in!  I've especially enjoyed a talk by James Moran (who's written for Dr Who and Torchwood), a 4-part poetry course from Debjani Chatterjee, agent...