Here are a
few book recommendations to help keep your mind off the COVID-19 lockdown.
For those
of you who are interested in books which relate in some way to textiles and/or
clothing, here are a few suggestions:
·
Arnold Bennett, The Old Wives’ Tale (1910): This novel focuses on the lives of two
sisters in a provincial draper’s shop, offering a considerable insight into the
importance of such shops in Victorian communities. One sister manages the shop,
while the other sister runs away to Paris. Lots of references to clothing and
fabric in a novel which is a masterpiece.
·
Joan Lindsay, Picnic at Hanging Rock (1967): This is set in Australia in 1900 and
concerns a group of schoolgirls who visit an enigmatic local landmark, the
Hanging Rock. Some of the girls are mysteriously ‘lost’ and if you are
interested in the history of clothing and its cultural significance, then this
novel offers a fascinating read. There are wonderful images of girls freeing
themselves of their corsets as they climb.
Still from the 1975 film version of Picnic at Hanging Rock
·
Colm Toibin, Nora Webster (2014): Set in 1950s/60s Ireland, the novel is focused
on the recently widowed Nora. There’s lots of references to clothing and home
dressmaking. A wonderfully evocative novel.
·
H.G.Wells, Kipps
(1905): You may have seen the film version, but the novel offers a negative
view of the drapery trade. Kipps, a young draper’s apprentice, hates the
fabrics he has to sell, dreaming of a more adventurous and ‘manly’ career.
Nevertheless, H.G. Wells was himself a draper’s apprentice as a teenager, and
he certainly knows a lot about fabrics.
 |
Hillary
Lette: I am
totally engrossed in Threads of Life
by Clare Hunter - it has even stopped me knitting! What an AMAZING book, on so
many levels.
Rosamond
Peet: I have at last started to read the book my sister gave me to
enjoy on winter afternoons and evenings. It is Alexander Mc Call Smith’s
reworking of Emma but brought up to
date. He certainly has brought his clever wit to the work, but so far I
am in the early chapters so I will have to see how it progresses. I feel
at the minute it centres on Emma and Isabella before the Austen story
starts. Other than that, I have lots of books to reread on my shelves and
some that have been unread and really I should put my head into some French
literature and exercise my brain, but not Proust. Marcel Pagnol is nice
to read to perhaps I shall start there.
Janice
Knight: I couldn't resist replying to your email about books when I
saw your reference to Barbara Pym. I've almost finished all my books from
Oswestry library with no chance of getting any more in the foreseeable future
but I was lucky enough to find a Barbara Pym I hadn't read in a charity shop a
few days before our enforced self-isolation. So I'm really looking forward to
reading Excellent Women.
As for suggestions, I always find Tracy Chevalier books worth
reading especially for their references to art/textiles: Girl
with a Pearl Earring (Vermeer); The
Lady and the Unicorn (tapestry); The
Last Runaway (quilting); A Single
Thread (embroidery).
Poster for the 2003 film adaptation of The Girl with the Pearl Earring
The last library book I read was, surprisingly by a male American
author, but is well worth reading: The
Last Ballad by Wiley Cash (the story based on truth of the fight for
equality and fair pay in the cotton mills of USA in the 1920s so vaguely to do
with textiles).
Elaine Rowland: I'm currently reading Millions Like Us,
Virginia Nicholson's study of women's lives during World War II. I have already
read and enjoyed her books about the 1950s and the inter-war years (both of
them were referenced in my dissertation), but reading this one at present
serves as a useful reminder that being forced to stay at home and sew is hardly
the greatest hardship ever encountered.
Ann Martin: I'm
reading books about the detective Vera as on TV. (Anne Cleeves, Vera Stanhope
books).
Darcy Lear: I thought I’d let you know that I’ve just
read A Single Thread by Tracey
Chevalier. A definite link to craft and textiles! Some time ago I
read a book called Singled Out by Virginia Nicholson - a social history
covering the period just after the Great War. It looked at the issue of
’surplus’ women, the many who’d been trained only to fulfil the career of wives
and mothers and who now suddenly found themselves without husbands and in need
of jobs to support themselves. Tracy Chevalier’s novel explores that idea.
I’ve also thought
of another novel I enjoyed ages ago with a textile theme running
through….Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood…..a theme of quilts and quilt making
running throughout.
Sharon Forsdyke:
Reading
recommendations: Carola Dunn’s ‘Daisy
Dalrymple’ series and I’m bingeing on Agatha Christie’s Poirot books.
Volunteering opportunities:
Maralyn Hepworth: Friends of Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings have now set up and extra
Volunteers facebook page where people can post. If you have any interesting
snippets about anything to do with the Flaxmill, it would be great to
share. I have posted about the dye planters there, all ready to go when
it re-opens to the public, and spinning wool for an 18th century shawl.
Others do research and random other things!!!
Debbie Marais: Here's a link for a volunteering-from-home opportunity:
Here
are a couple of links to patterns:
https://blog.weareknitters.com/free-patterns/knitted-hearts/ 3-4mm and double-knit wool
works
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH9PMEYxH6w crochet tutorial - not quite
the 6.5cm required but could add a second layer of double crochet all round or
use bigger wool and hook
How
to crochet a simple heart measuring about 2 inches by 2 inches. I hope you
enjoy! (^-^) Written version: http://www.happyberry.co.uk/how-to-cr... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/happyberryc... Website: https://www.happyberry.co.uk Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/happyberrycr... Patreon: http://www.patreon.com ...www.youtube.com
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