The end of August is always a good time to look back and reflect, before everyone has fully returned to school and the madness of Chr*stm*s starts to ramp up. But 2014 has been a Vintage Summer for us in more ways than one...
The gorgeous weather has meant that we've been able to do every single event since May in our beautiful courtyard garden, and our reading community have shared some very special moments with authors Alison Mercer, Bethan Roberts, Mark Forsyth, Louise Millar, Kate Clanchy and, yes, The Gruffalo. We've also been able to hold four bookgroup meetings in the garden as well...
Winning the 'Julia Donaldson Children's Independent Bookshop of the Month' for August meant a lot to us. We have had a lot of families in over the Summer, and we're looking forward to discovering (slightly nervously) how well our recommends went down over the long Summer holiday!
We also spent the whole of August celebrating Vintage Books - so if you did wonder what the weird, wonderful and, yes, 'vintage' items in the window were for the last month - now you know...
And we can't resist sharing a few pictures with you...
Our thanks to various family members for the props - and particularly to Oxfam just down the road who loaned us various delicate pieces for display!
We are still running our 'buy one, get another half-price' promotion mixing contemporary favourites such as William Boyd's 'Solo' with classics such as Bram Stoker's 'Dracula'... so if you haven’t had a chance to take a look at the great titles in this promotion, then you have one more week to enjoy!
If you need any inspiration for how to choose a good mix of interesting titles, for the whole of August we have been sharing our favourite Vintage titles with the hashtag #VintageSummer for young and old on Twitter - and we've collected all of them - and responses - in a single, storified, page.
Our bookgroups have been reading 'Birdsong' by Sebastian Faulks and 'I Am Forbidden' by Anouk Markovits – why not choose a classic to curl up with as the nights start slowly to draw in?
This week is also the last chance to join in with our 'cover treasure hunt' - children need to identify eight Vintage titles from cover details for a chance to win a great prize from Vintage.
We kicked off our 'Vintage Summer' with author Bethan Roberts...
...and we'll be closing our Vintage Summer by supporting Lewis Dartnell with his book 'The Knowledge' at The Unicorn Theatre, just down the road in Abingdon on Thursday, September 4 with Science Oxford Live...
Why not come along and hear an interesting, erudite and witty debate on how to rebuild civilization in the event of an apocalypse? You never know when these things might come in handy...
The realities of motherhood and the sometimes difficult relationship of employing a nanny, together with fond memories of family holidays on Anglesey were the inspirations behind Bethan Roberts’ new book ‘Mother Island’, which she was at Mostly Books to talk about on Thursday.
Her first novel set in the present day, Mother Island is the story of two women – and one child. New mother, the assured and aloof Nula, thinks the perfect person to take care of her new-born is her cousin, Maggie, an Oxford drop-out, and a bundle of emotion just waiting for someone to love, who has drifted into childcare, and who thinks she knows what is best for Nula’s child.
The pair clash over parenting styles alongside the evolving backstory of how they first met in one summer full of family feuds and raging disappointments. Early on we know Maggie plans to take the child and what follows is a shifting tide of emotion that allows the reader to see both sides of this tug-of-love story as two woman's history bubbles long-buried resentments to the surface.
The distinctive cover gives an idea of the pattern of the story – the switching between the two voices – and a constant shift in where the reader’s sympathies lie between the two women.
Bethan - born and raised in Abingdon - started her published life at independent Serpent's Tail, a small but hugely respected publisher of edgy fiction and book in translation (who also have an enviable reputation for spotting new, young authors). After book 'The Pools' and 'A Good Plain Cook', she moved to Chatto & Windus. She talked a little about the difference in approach from two publishers that she has enjoyed working with.
Describing how she aims to improve with each novel, she particularly values the editing process at Chatto that goes into her novels, describing how the manuscript goes back and forth over several months as changes are made.
‘I was really surprised when I saw the jacket as it looks like a thriller, although it isn't. I like writing about domestic situations and not in a fluffy way, but I am conscious of having a narrative that pulls people through. The reader deserves a cracking story.’
Bethan’s previous novel ‘My Policeman’ is a well-constructed tug-of-love story of a different kind – the fight between the wife and the lover of a gay man set in 1950s Brighton, which has earned her many plaudits, particularly for her skill in getting under the skin of what it was like to be gay at that time.
The idea of writing about early motherhood, she said, came from her own experiences and in looking to literature when she was pregnant to find out what it might be like to experience motherhood – and finding there were very few novels that had much to say on the subject (she has recently wrote an article on the subject for The Guardian).
‘Mother Island’ is Bethan's fourth novel, and you can read a few reviews here and our own review of it here.
Despite a weather scare (!) we were able to sit out on a lovely Summer evening in the garden. Thanks to Bethan for coming up from Brighton (you never really leave Abingdon of course) and thanks to everyone who came along to listen on what was another delightful event - one that kicked off our 'Vintage Summer' celebration througout August. If you were unable to make it along, we have signed copies of 'Mother Island' now in the shop.
(Brilliant blogger Gaskella has done a rather fabulous write-up of the event here - and she'll be reviewing 'Mother Island' as part of the next edition of Shiny New Books...)
It's going to be a Vintage Summer. And no, we aren't just talking about the weather...
For the whole of August, we will be celebrating Vintage Books, with competitions, activities and discovering the mixture of classic and contemporary writing that are the hallmark of one of our most successful publishing imprints.
And on Thursday, July 31 at 7.30pm - to launch the whole month - we will be welcoming Vintage author Bethan Roberts to talk about her new book 'Mother Island'.
Bethan grew up in Abingdon. Her first novel 'The Pools' won a Jerwood/Arvon Young Writers’ Award. Her second novel 'The Good Plain Cook' was serialized on BBC Radio 4’s Book at Bedtime and was chosen as one of Time Out’s books of the year. She also writes short stories (receiving the Olive Cook short story prize from the Society of Authors in 2006) and has had a play broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
Her third novel 'My Policeman' - inspired partly by the private life of EM Forster - was the 'Brighton City Reads' choice for 2012, and one of our favourite books from that year.
'Mother Island' has two storylines and two voices - but one child. Controlling, career-minded new mother Nula employs her contrasting cousin, Maggie, to look after her baby. When their childcare approaches clash too much, Maggie decides to take the child. But has she misread how much Nula will care? A dissection of motherhood and how the lasting subliminal effects of your own parents can have on your approach to your own children.
Read more about the book here and its review in The Independent here.
Tickets for the event are £3 and include a glass of wine. And if we're really lucky, and it turns out to be a real vintage Summer, the event will be in the Mostly Books garden...email us if we can reserve you a space.
