The House by the Dvina by Eugenie Fraser

The House by the Dvina, A Russian Childhood by Eugenie Fraser

This is the most wonderful book describing the beauty of living in Old Russia during the author’s childhood.  A fascinating insight into a beautiful era which is now lost.  The author’s parents were Scottish and Russian.  Her mother left Scotland as a young bride to live in Archangel, Russia with her husband.  The author was born in Russia.

Included in the story are relatives, friends and family and what a story it is!  So beautiful initially with sometimes holidays also to Scotland.  The wonder of the fairyland of beauty during the winter when all was cold and still and the river froze over but yet there were incredible scenic delights and splendours.  Wonderful sleigh and reindeer rides, travelling on sledges and memorable Christmas and Easter celebrations.  Midnight Easter services with lighted candles and laden Easter tables with Easter eggs and wonderful delicacies. 

  However, this idyll was not to last as the Bolsheviks even came to Archangel eventually with their policies.

 So many changes and disruptions to the families and people who had lived and worked all their lives in Russia.

The stories of the people are quite incredible and also beautiful.  There is also wonderful romance and fascinating detail regarding life in Old Russia, even stories from the earlier generations, of a great-grand-father who married a serf and of long journeys through the snow.

There was the beauty of life by the River Dvina which was a source of much needed water, vital for washing and also wonderful during the summer time for bathing and boating.   A beautiful garden and summer houses and a house with balconies overlooking the river whereby could be seen the glow of the sunset at the end of a summer’s day.  This was the last the author saw of this beautiful house from a boat which crested a wave and she could see the house bathed in a beautiful sunset glow.

This book certainly is a book to think about afterwards.  So much beauty and fascination within its pages and the tragedy of events for many of the characters in the story which finally followed are not revealed until the end of the book.

An excellent story and well recommended.

A more detailed review of A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy

This is a later review which gives more information:

A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy

This novel is a wonderful read and well recommended.  A lovely novel which I enjoyed.

This book portrays the difficulties of young women in the early days of Ireland in the 1950’s and continues with the stories of the characters to the present day and how they overcame their difficulties in life.  Chicky, who left Ireland at an early age and made a life for herself in USA but eventually returns to the place she always loved.

A week in winter is a beautiful holiday destination on the wild coast of Ireland where some of the characters resolve their differences and learn to live with one another.  The holiday alters their perspectives on life and they decide upon their futures.  It is a wonderful book.  There is the story of the accountant who is expected to join his father’s firm in Sweden but instead enjoys the freedom of travelling in Ireland and becoming immersed in the rich Irish heritage and music when he meets up with a travelling companion and they go to music gigs together. 

Each person has a unique character and often a perplexing or difficult background.  It is wonderful to read about these characters and how they change their lives for the better. 

This book cannot be more highly recommended.  I loved reading this story about the various people who chose to go on holiday to this special place in Ireland.  It is quite extraordinary in the way that people’s lives could work out the way they did and also there is romance alive in this novel.

It also details some of the challenges young people have to face in early life or difficulties encountered bringing up a child who is veering towards leading a life of crime and how the situation is reversed for the better. 

There is also the story of the mother and the prospective daughter-in-law who do not see eye to eye and do not get along.  However, this situation also is resolved in the end.  It is quite incredible, really.  Maeve Binchy also writes about life and she does this so well. 

A beautiful novel of charm to read.

A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy

A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy

This wonderful novel by Mave Binchy is a story about life.  The author writes so well about the people who inhabit the pages of this magnificent story of life and love, of general direction in life, the stories of the main characters who at one time meet up at a beautiful place on the west coast of Ireland.

 The story flows and gives wonderful insights into the lives of the characters, their place in society and how their lives pan out in directions they would never have believed possible.  It is an extraordinary story told with spirit and optimism.

This book is well recommended.  The characters are diverse, the situations different and the setting of a magnificent backdrop of the Irish coast is a delight.  Readers and followers of Maeve Binchy will enjoy reading this latest novel published in 2012. 

A Week in Winter is an exciting book to read with an unusual set of circumstances which do tend to make the reader think about life and its many complexities.

The Girl Next Door by Ruth Rendell

The Girl Next Door by Ruth Rendell

This book by Ruth Rendell gives an interesting perspective of England in the days of the 1930’s and 1940’s.  A crime is not resolved until many years later when the children and adolescents of the 1930’s and 1940’s who are now older look back to a time when they were young and used to play in the qanats or tunnels on the outskirts of London.   It was also a time when they often had to take shelter underground during the air raids.

What appeals to me about this book is that it is such a wonderful portrayal of life and characters and how they choose to live their lives, the dilemmas they have faced and how they go about resolving their differences.  The story is quite unusual and also complex in the beginning as there are many characters to keep track of initially.

This book has a charm and a quality quite unique which I enjoyed for the eccentricities of the main characters  who seemed very human.  Ruth Rendell is writing about life in this regard.  Rosemary and Alan, children and grand-children and the dilemma and shock Rosemary has to deal with, Michael and his children and elderly father who had sent him away at an early age.

This book is quite an unusual story but wonderful for a portrayal of the early years in England during the war years and also for being able to understand the qualities of people in different circumstances and an uncanny knack of knowing how people will react to certain situations.  A very good book to read.  This book also seemed very real to life with the interesting portrayals of the characters.

Regent's Park by Paul Rabbitts

Regent’s Park

From Tudor Hunting Ground to the Present

By Paul Rabbitts

I have enjoyed reading this wonderful book which tells the story of

the development of Regent’s Park over time.  This book gives fascinating

insights into the decisions of the times and the workings of parliament and

local bodies.

A majestic park, which was once a forest, nearly lost during the time of Queen

Mary I and subsequently destroyed is by Oliver Cromwell, who had many of the

trees in the forest cut down for timber.  There are prints included and also

aquatints which show the park from earlier times.  There is a lovely rural scene of

Marylebone Park, which was its previous name in 1750.  There was a Plan of Improvements

For Marylebone Park in 1809 by John White, which preserved rural characteristics with

Housing around its perimeter.  It is mentioned that White’s design would have influenced

John Nash’s ideas but that White was never acknowledged.

After reading so much of the history of the park, the villas, and people who occupied them, the

stories of the architects and the wonderful town planning of the park and Regent Street I would

like to visit Regent’s Park on a visit to London.

 The history is wonderful and this book by Paul Rabbitts describes in detail the beauty of the designs of the villas and gardens of Regent’s Park.  For all who love London, this book is a treasure.  It also gives information regarding the greenery and recreation areas needed as cities grew in population.  A wonderful informative read!

Pictures of the various villas are included and also the beautiful flower gardens and lake.  A wonderful chapter on “Regents Park: a literary park” describes the wonders of the literary poets and writers and their impressions of the park given in their stories   and also songs, as for example, references to singers and the park’s alluring qualities.  To be at the top of Primrose Hill and see a beautiful sunrise is extraordinary and described as being very beautiful.  A wonderful experience which seems to be magical.

It is indeed fortunate that this park is now available for the enjoyment of visitors, tourists and people because of decisions made by The Regent and also John Nash who was responsible for many of the designs.  People interested in town planning would also enjoy reading this book. 

Poetry for Poetry in Pariadise 2014 - What is Love

A poem for Poetry in Paradise of 2014 - What is Love

Poetry for December 2014

What is Love?

From marble top mountains

To a grand plateau

The golden light streams

In infinite reams

Mirrored in your dreams-

Beckoning glorious wonders

Upon the morrow;

Intricate, reeling,

This golden light:

Is this beauty love?

For all to see

Which sets us free?

Or more-

Faith, hope, love,

Charity-

Do these embody love

-for eternity?

We go to other reams-

An aching heart

A dull ache-

Sorrow, sadness,

Joy,  togetherness-

Does this mean love?

Love for a person, or animals,

Friends, family, relatives

Where does love end?

With all good wishes to send-

To a friend.

Love does not end-

It endures,

As seasons come and go

As infinite as the tides

Ebb and flow

Where ripples appear silver

In the moon’s tow

As a bird builds its nest

For its little chicks to rest,

In trees graceful

 and also knowing

Of the seasons

 coming and going;

 giving welcoming shade

and towards the end of day

 lengthening shadow over

sun-kiss’d fields of clover;

the pathway of a golden ray

Glorious in its way;

Love

Delicate as a flower,

A golden daffodil,

In a sea of grass

Untrammelled as a sea-horse

On a rocky mountain pass;

Given to nature

by its stature-

Love which is meant to be,

Strong as a fortress tower

Never wavering, whichever way,

As a beautiful lady and her knight

In a garden bower

Surrounded by flowers of a sweet bouquet

Music, poetry and minstrels play;

Soft as a piano’s silent note

Beautiful as a lark

Of which nature’s seasons wrote

In a Summer’s Arc:

Love which cannot be

contained in the dark;

As the knight

To his lady said,

That, now,

“Thou shall be wed!”-

Summonsed by imagination

A ring of diamond stones

Glittering  bright as any

of queens sitting on thrones;

 Thus the knight

pledges his troth

as was his wont-

 romance, chivalry

  admiration.

Graceful as a swan

On a river of dreams,

 Or a gazelle-

Gracious as in Solomon’s Song;

Beauteous as a lily

In a river throng-

where daisies and buttercups

Lift their faces to the summer sun

This colourful scene:-

And at the end of the day,

Sheltered by night

Cooled by breezes light

They dip their little faces,

 nod in conspiracy

and sagely agree

this lily is the decorative one.

A majestic tree

In a Russian land

Leaves shimmering

 in myriads of patterns

of light-

Burnished gold, sunset colours

Entrancing, enchanting,

As coins tossed and turned

and glimmering

in wayward delight;

A message of love to deliver-

The secret rites of nature.

When the light of a golden dawn

Touches gently upon the tops of trees,

Glimmers on roof-tops,

 over fields and across the lawn

newly sprinkled with drops of dew

Seeing nature itself renew

Then we see beauty from above

The wonder and magic of love.

In the Footsteps of Anne Boleyn

In the Footsteps of Anne Boleyn

This book by Natalie Gueninger and Sarah Morris gives a wonderful historical

account of the places where Anne Boleyn visited during her life-time.  Wonderful chateaux

in France, stately tudor mansions and beautiful lost palaces and majestic castles which hark back

to an earlier time in history.

I found this book informative and would also be useful as a guide if visiting some of the places

mentioned.  There is Hever Castle, childhood home of Anne Boleyn, where her father is buried

at the chapel of St Peter with the full regalia in brass of the Order of the Garter.

There is also the history of the Tower of London, which at one time was also a palace for royalty

and Anne Boleyn was accommodated here before her coronation.

Wonderful snippets of history are included in the book which also portrays a time of romance and

elegance from another era.  Anne Boleyn was created Marquess of Pembroke at Windsor Castle and Blenheim Palace is built across the valley from the Lost Palace of Woodstock.  There is a little village of Woodstock in Oxfordshire. 

It is interesting to note also that Anne Boleyn may have been inspired by the interior decorations of the renaissance which she would have become accustomed to during her time in France.  These renaissance themes may also have influenced her decisions when Henry and Anne were decorating Whitehall Palace and other places.

It is also sad to think that so many old palaces and castles from tudor times have been lost because of fire, civil unrest or from not being maintained in a proper manner over the years.  However, there are still many emblems of tudor life to be seen and many old medieval tudor themed villages in England with the timber framed houses to view.

 Many of the grounds of the castles are described vividly with orchards, gardens, tiltyards, fish ponds and it is easy to imagine the beautiful scenery of a bygone era when the king, queen and court would go on their progress around the countryside visiting many of the stately manors and castles.    This book is highly recommended and gives the reader a fascinating insight into the layout of the castles, grounds and gardens and the way of life lived in many of the rooms of the lost palaces and castles.  It also gives wonderful insights into the romance of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. e.g. The palace of Havering-Att-Bower which was a palace given to Anne Boleyn on her marriage to

Henry VIII, which was set upon a hill overlooking the Thames Valley with beautiful park land.  This was an old Saxon castle and popular with kings and was known as  the Palace of the Queens from the days of Queen Eleanor’s dower.

  Abbeys are also included in this book, though unfortunately many of these were lost with the dissolution of the abbeys and monasteries during the reformation years.  Notley Abbey was restored by Vivien Leigh and Sir Lawrence Olivier in the 1940’s.

This book is certainly evocative of earlier times of enchantment and romance with the lovely descriptions of scenery and locations brimming with fascinating history.  A book which is lively and interesting and a wonderful companion to take on a journey throughout some of the byways and paths travelled by Anne Boleyn and Henry in England.