Years ago, when I would go on a cycling trip, I would spend hours trying to decide which books to take. Now I just pack my e-reader, a godsend for cyclists!
Among the books I bought this time was Anne Hall's Four French Holidays, which I chose mainly because it includes a chapter on The Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden. A favourite book and one of the reasons I once cycled through Northern France, looking for, and not finding, its location in Epernay. It was only when I returned that I discovered I had been looking in the wrong place, I should have gone to Chateau Thierry.
My family used to spend summer holidays on the island of Ameland and I would get some extra pocket money to buy a book in the local shop. This is when I bought De zomer van de reine claudes, the Dutch translation.
I loved the story and the magical atmosphere of the book and went on to read most of Rumer Godden's books in English.
Anne Hall's book starts with an introduction by Hugh Schofield who shares her fascination with Rumer Godden. Hugh Schofield wrote this article on his search for Rumer Godden's 'famed French Summer'.
This really gives you all the information you could want, including a map.
What could Anne Hall add to this? As it turns out: not much and too much. For a start, she does not include most of the facts covered by Hugh S. in his article. So hardly any information on landmarks in the book. What she does do is give a summary of the story, thereby spoiling it for anybody who still wants to read it. She also gives us every detail she has found out about the lives of two people Rumer G. based her characters on: the hotel owner, and a mysterious Englishman staying in the hotel. Anne Hall may be good at research, but she cannot tell a story (I kept loosing the thread because of all the (grand)parents, wives and husbands she mentions).
I tried reading the other chapters on Margery Sharp, Stella Gibbons and Daphne du Maurier, but gave up. Not recommended!
Last Friday we took a cycling trip to Delft; a lovely trip along a canal. Along the way we stopped at the Kringloopwinkel (a giant charity shop or thriftshop) which usually has a good selection of English language books, thanks to the technical University and its many foreign students and teachers.
One of the books I picked up this time was a Little Toller edition of The Fat of the Land by John Seymour.
I already own a copy but this was worth it (at only E 2,50) for the cover alone, plus a very interesting introduction by John's daughter Anne.
We often visit Delft (some 14 km's from Rotterdam), as it is such a lovely old town with a beautiful market place, lots of quiet canals to wander round and many small shops and cafés. This is apart from the wonderful museums, churches and windmill.
If you ever intend to visit the Netherlands I recommend seeking out the smaller towns like Delft (or Leiden, Dordrecht, Zutphen and many many more). They are small enough to explore on foot and aren't filled with loads of tourists.
I borrowed Four French Holidays for exactly the same reason as you did - after reading Greengage Summer when I was doing the 'Reading the Seasons ' thing last summer - and just like you didn't think much of it at all.
ReplyDeleteI love the Little Toller Books - my collection is growing.