The team at Beatons Tearooms and Bookshop in Tisbury and
Blandford Forum serve up a stimulating selection of summer reads. Five local
authors go beyond the shallows of 'chick lit' and a new children's publisher
sets the sky alight with a bedtime verse for little dreamers.
Mischief by Fay Weldon (Head of Zeus)
Wiltshire's best loved authors tops off twenty-one of her best
short stories with a cracking new novella. Unnerving, bang up-to-cyber-date 'The
Ted Dreams' will appeal to men as much as women (save on the luggage and share
it!) Dream-time comings and goings of a
dead husband turn into a sinister mystery crossing the bounds of normal
reality. A global conspiracy rises from the shallows of suburbia and sets our
sights into the future.
Working backwards, the short stories never fail to dig into
the pith and pernicious world of relationship with wit and... well, mischief! And for those with their own literary
ambitions or careers check out Fay Weldon's perspicacious four-page
introduction commenting on writing today.
Deception, Lies & Chocolate Muffins: The Guilty Secrets
of a Wayward School Teacher by Jennie Ann Rake (Book Guild)
Not just for those in education, but cat and cake-lovers
too! This is a romp for those with itchy feet, capturing all the headaches of a
house move and the heart-aches of lost loves while the day-to-day dramas of
teaching only fail to wear us down because of the humour with which they're
described. Great observer of domestic detail, Dorset author Jennie also ensures
lust and a chocolate muffin are never far away but ensures us and her
characters retain enough decorum to make this an entirely enjoyable light read.
To the End of the Day by Eve Bonham (Book Guild)
By contrast to Jennie's novel, this restless volume charts
an unbearably close friendship between two women and takes us to France and
back in the course of a day. Punctuated by flashbacks, Dorset author Eve Bonham
doesn't flinch from tackling disturbing issues which we are drawn into as
inexorably as the day pulls towards night. Brooding. Brave.
Off Her Facebook! words Rob Windsor illustrated by Jo Stroud
(Magic Oxygen)
Dorset based Magic Oxygen publisher this stunningly
illustrated graphic novel in the Spring. It's
an adaptation of Wiltshire based Rob Windsor's stage play - he is
Creative Director of Facing Tides Theatre. It is cautionary tale about a family
coping with alcoholism. Dark, but wise, gripping and hopeful - and of huge
value to any teenager or family confronting alcoholism at home.
Dear Mother by Mark James (Magic Oxygen)
Although this is, in fact, a play script, this slim volume
will speak to many war veterans. Perfect for teachers looking for a WW1
centennary piece but also for those who have WW2 memories of receiving letters
back from the front. Touching. Simple. Let-get-it-performed!
P.S. For little ones, fabulous new children's publisher Fat
Fox have just published a charming illustrated rhyming story, 'Little Bell and
the Moon' written by Giles Paley-Phillips, illustrated by Iris Deppe - a real
treasure to take children (and possibly relaxing adults) into dreamtime.
Beatons now holds regular book signings and talks by local authors at their Blandford Forum tearooms. Beatons Tearooms & Bookshop, The
Square, Tisbury, 01747 871819 www.beatonstearoms.co.uk @beatonstearooms