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Thanks for this, it’s right up my street and an author I’ve never read before. Bought!

My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout “It interests me how we find ways to feel superior to another person, another group of people. It happens everywhere, and all the time. Whatever we call it, I think it’s the lowest part of who we are, this need to find someone else to put down.” The premise is straightforward. Lucy Barton has an extended hospital stay and is quite unwell. Her estranged mother comes and stays at the hospital for some days (they haven’t seen or spoken for some time). The novel (well, novella really) consists of Lucy and her mother talking and a significant number of flashbacks (plus a few flashforwards). We get lots of thoughts about life, family, love and so on. It’s a quiet novel where not a great deal happens and is very reflective. It is also full of quasi-profound quotes like the above: on virtually every page. It is much loved. “This must be the way most of us manoeuvre through the world, half knowing, half not, visited by memories that can’t possibly be true.” I am afraid it didn’t do a great deal for me, but it isn’t much of an investment in terms of time. 6 out of 10 Starting Sycamore Gap by L J Ross

After much mind changing, I've decided to read "Shadows in the Moonlight" by Santa Montefiore for this challenge. It's the first of a new series in which someone time travels.

Every little thing she does is magic - The Police

These are ripe,and another tip, never pick any at ground level......

Little Thing Mean a lot - Kitty Kallen (juicy, sweet, and almost melt in your mouth) 😀

A Little Of What You Fancy Does You Good! ~ Marie Lloyd (or lots, in the case of blackberries 😉)

Grass in Piccadilly by Noel Streatfeild

Blackberries can have a little bit of sour taste if they are picked too soon. Because they are "black" does not mean they are ripe. I look for 2 things when I pick blackberries. The ones that are "plump" give a good indication, but even more important, I don't pick a berry if it does not fall off into my hand when picking. If you have to give a little pull on the blackberry it means it isn't quite ripe.

The Lost Estate (Le Grand Meaulnes) (1913) Alain-Fournier This has been on my radar for many years and I finally got round to it. As is often the case with anything that gets put to one side for a lengthy period, it rarely lives up to the ever increasing expectations. I was, suffice it to say, somewhat underwhelmed. The story is narrated (to begin with) by a 15-year-old boy named Francois) who tells us about meeting the impressive 17-year-old Augustine Meaulnes. We get a lot of rather slow build-up that takes forever to go anywhere. Then one evening, Meaulnes disappears and doesn't come back for several days. On his return he tells Francois about an amazing adventure where he ended up at a strange estate with countless guests in marvellous surroundings and costumes. Here he meets the beautiful and mysterious Yvonne Galaise and quickly becomes enamoured. But when he returns home he can't remember where the estate was and how to get back to it. He dedicates himself (with Francoise's help) to tracking these people down (especially Yvonne) and what follows is a somewhat convoluted narrative involving Meaulnes, the girl, her brother, and his fiance. I could go on but honestly the best part of the book is now very much over (the mysterious estate and the party of guests). This was the only part of the book where I was genuinely intrigued by what was happening, who they were, why they had gathered in such a strange place. It definitely has a magical quality to it, an other worldly aspect, one which gives the book a sincere note of mystery and uncertainty. I was actually hoping the estate would turn out to be something more unnatural and eerie, perhaps ghosts, magical creatures, or a strange cult that barely exists (you can certainly see why this influenced The Magus by Fowles). There is a definite sense of wonderment and excitement about it all, a strange but intriguing mystery. But no, it turns out that it's just an engagement party gone wrong (the brother of Yvonne is marrying a girl called Valentine but she never arrives). Meaulnes has, by virtue of an errant horse, accidentally gatecrashed this engagement party and imbued it with greater mystery and romance than it deserved. From this point on, the rest of the book frankly bored me. It simply goes around in circles. Frantz comes to the village, befriends Meaulnes and Fracois. They try to find Yvonne. They succeed. Meaulnes tries to find Frantz. There's a baby. Francois becomes a school teacher. Yadda yadda yadda. I don't care. I just wasn't engaged with any of it after that, and found a lot of the writing to be unnecessarily flowery and prone to worthless descriptions of the environment. It was rarely fun to read. Fournier tries a little too hard to be melancholy and romantic, to really sell the idea of a doomed romance and a forgotten world and... I dunno... it was just a little relentless in its desire to feel dreamlike and wondrous. It only accomplished this fleetingly. Otherwise, I wasn't impressed. 5/10

Blackberries here tend to be quite bitter so you have to mix them in with something else or put loads of sugar on them!

Wee little funny:

Maurice, E M Forster. Thanks to Books do Furnish a Room

Hell House Richard Matheson This is a great book! Very atmospheric and good old fashioned horror. I believed the characters and even the supernatural elements that went into the story. I was also caught by surprise a couple of times, which is unusual. I was a little disappointed in the ending though but don’t have any suggestions as to how to make that better. I will be seeking out other books by this author, having read I Am Legend too. Recommended

Maurice by E M Forster “It comes to this then: there always have been people like me and always will be, and generally they have been persecuted.” E M Forster wrote this in 1913-1914. It was published in 1971 after his death. It is very clearly a novel about being gay, the perils and pitfalls, written in clear Forster style. He showed it to a few friends over the years. He felt it could not be published without prosecution, especially as he had decided that it must have a happy ending: “A happy ending was imperative. I shouldn’t have bothered to write otherwise. I was determined that in fiction anyway two men should fall in love and remain in it for the ever and ever that fiction allows, and in this sense, Maurice and Alec still roam the greenwood.” Forster felt that he had to show that two gay men could live together and make a life and not be cursed. A bad ending would be expected and might be more easily accepted if it was published (This didn’t work for Radclyffe Hall though with The Well of Loneliness). The novel itself is pretty straightforward; we follow Maurice Hall from his schooldays, through university to adulthood. It follows his gradually growing awareness of his feelings towards other men and his lack of desire for women: his first love affair at university: finally, a more lasting relationship with Alec. Maurice is clearly upper middle class and Alec is working class and parallels have been drawn with Mellors in Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover. Forster’s novel, as is well documented, was inspired by a visit to Edward Carpenter, a gay rights activist and socialist who lived in Derbyshire. He saw there two gay men living together as a couple and this inspired the novel. It was be remembered that Wilde’s trial and treatment was recent history when Forster wrote this. As one reviewer has written (Jeffrey Round), “conformity is the true “perversion””. 8 out of 10 Starting Travels with my Aunt by Graham Greene

Oh What a Night - the Dells

I love blackberries. Every day for lunch I will eat a generous amount of them. Blackberry pie will come later with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Blueberries will be at their peak in about 2 weeks. Saturday there will be some for picking. They are late this year due to the rain that we have got. But, blackberries are my favorite.

Yummy! What beautiful blackberries. Blackberry pie for dinner? 🥧

One Of These Nights ~ Eagles

Those berries are huge, bit early for them here at the moment.

Nights in White Satin - The Moody Blues

Yes, I saw that.

Lovely!

I went blackberry picking this morning. they were so plentiful that it only took me 45 minutes.