Not much reading to speak of

  

    If you've read my drains saga you'll guess that books and reading haven't been high on the priority list for the last few days. Though what we've had to put up with has been minor compared to the disasters that can happen, it's amazing how a small thing such as lack of the basic domestic facilities we usually take for granted can absorb so much time and attention and throw everything out of kilter.

    Anyway, providing a welcome distraction from anxieties about 'the black lagoon' at our back door has been Joan Bodger's How the Heather Looks: A Joyous Journey to the British Sources of Children's Books. A page or two at bedtime, following this American family's late-1950s journey round Britain visiting literary locations, has been soothing reading, and while I'm not far in yet I am enjoying the period portrait of the country it offers and marvelling at the Bodgers' encyclopedic knowledge of children's literature.

    I've just flicked ahead for a quick look at the chapter in which the Bodgers come to Edinburgh on the trail of Robert Louis Stevenson, and I see that mention is made of the Stevenson family's being urged to move for the good of RLS's health because of their home's "exposed position and poor drains" - they were living at the time in our street!

Comments

[Erika]

I fell in love with this book so I followed up on Joan Bodger's life--and almost wished I hadn't; so much tragedy but she surmounted it and left a good mark on the world--starting with this book.

[Freda]

What an extraordinary coincidence! And in this heat....hope it is sorted soon.

[Lori, the eclectic book gatherer]

Hello, I've been thinking of buying this book, it does sound very good, and it has a lovely designed cover.

[Cornflower]

Oh, how sad!

[Cornflower]

Fingers crossed, all is well now. We were thinking that it was good it was mid-summer and not winter that this had occurred: bailing, etc., in the dark and cold.

[Cornflower]

The cover is lovely, and it's a very pleasant read indeed so far.

[Mrs. Pom]

I read this a few years ago and it holds a special place on my bookshelf. Just an enchanting book and I think I will pull it out to reread this summer. Good luck on the drain saga!

[Cornflower]

It looks like being a lovely book to dip back into from time to time, and the very thing to send a person off down all sorts of reading trails.

[Ann]

I just love that you casually looked ahead in the book and there, fair and square, was an extraordinary coincidence and link with RLS. Wonderful!

[Cornflower]

RLS was very much a local laddie as his birthplace is just yards from my door. His house is closer to the river than ours, and I daresay in those days drains and general miasma in that area may well have been a problem.

[litlove]

I am so sorry to hear about the drains! Ours blocked last summer, and it was not fun. Very glad to know the tidal wave has abated, as it were, and that normal life can recommence!

[Cornflower]

Yes, here's to normal life!