chrisharding53

  • Wild Strawberries – Sweet as Saccharine…

    The Leslies, who star in Angela Thirkell’s Wild Strawberries, lead a charmed life in their beautiful ancestral home, cared for by faithful servants, and looked up to by local villagers. There is no shortage of cash, no nastiness, no rain,… Continue reading

  • Short Story Sunday: A Flawed Treasure and a Good Mother

    The Exile, by Betty Miller, is a little odd, and I didn’t really enjoy it, but it was interesting. Here we have the Moores, Edmund and Louis, and his young brother Arthur. They are middle class and well-off, leading comfortable,… Continue reading

  • Delightful Mrs Miniver

    It was lovely, thought Mrs Miniver, nodding good-bye to the flower-woman and carrying her big sheaf of chrysanthemums down the street with a kind of ceremonious joy, as though it were a cornucopia; it was lovely, this settling down again,… Continue reading

  • August in the Garden

    I seem to have amassed a stack of gardening books, old and new, read and unread, which I love to browse through, along with seed catalogues, imagining the riot of colour and perfume that I could create – only I… Continue reading

  • Short Story Sunday: French Connections…

    OK folks, I’m getting back on track here. Having a laptop that works properly makes all the difference. This is Brand New (but does not, thank goodness, involve touch screen – the charming young man in the shop agreed that… Continue reading