On Thursday last I went to see Under Milk Wood at the Liverpool Playhouse. It is a touring production directed by Terry Hands and has had rave revues; but to be honest I was disappointed. The words were gabbled, especially by the women, and so lost both the beauty of the poetry and the humour. I often make the same criticism of productions of Shakespeare. There seems to be a prevailing theory among directors that unless the words are spoken very fast and very loudly, with lots of movement at the same time, the audience will get bored. It doesn’t work like that! Harold Pinter knew the power of the silent pause. Television has learnt that silence and stillness can speak louder than words, as anyone who has been watching Hinterland can testify. Shakespeare himself was very much aware of the tendency of actors to gabble and flail about. He set out exactly how he wanted his poetry treated in his advice to the players in Hamlet. ‘Speak the speech, I pray you, as pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue; but if you mouth it as many of your players do, I had as lief the town crier spoke my lines….. suit the action to the word, the word to the action, with this special observance, that you o’erstep not the modesty of nature.’ Why have our theatre directors forgotten this?
Monthly Archives: May 2014
Letter from Denise Doyle
OPERATION KINGFISHER. Just finished reading this on my Kindle, could hardly put it down. Will there be asequel to this, I think that perhaps there is a lot more to this story to be told.I am also a big fan of the Follies series and have read & reread them several times. Keep these stories coming please.
Letter from Jen Llywelen
I've only recently come across your books. I have read two of the ENSA ones, and the Leonora trilogy. I wrote my PhD on a Welshman and the First World War; obviously I needed to read a lot about the war as research. I'm now trying to write my first novel, about my grandparents and the way the 1914-18 war impacted on them all, their children, and their grandchildren. Lots of love, lots of conflict. I'm impressed with the accuracy of your wars, but also with the back-stories, the way characters relate to horses, that sort of thing. There is a density of information, but it's great throughout. The ENSA stories conveyed very well the dangerous nature of their work, and their devotion to it. You also write so movingly of love, in its many forms. So thank you! I read several of these in Lanzarote, having a week away after my mother's funeral. I bought one of the ENSAs at the tiny shop on the complex, and then others on my Kindle. They helped me through a very difficult time. Leonora's just found Lexi - and Sasha! - and all's well at last. But I miss them! And dear Tom. I wish you well with future novels, and I'll read some more of yours. You've inspired me. Thanks.
Letter from Alison Grady
Two things happened at Christmas that led me to your books: My husband gave me a kindle, which I have barely put down since, and my Dad told me a story about my maternal Grandfather that made me want to write a book. I have no writing experience so started reading historical novels just to see how the stories are told. Your books just grabbed me straight away and I am enjoying the content and method equally. In fact, your books have inspired me so much that I am simply writing to say thank you.
Letter from Jen Llywelyn
I've only recently come across your books. I have read two of the ENSA ones, and the Leonora trilogy. I wrote my PhD on a Welshman and the First World War; obviously I needed to read a lot about the war as research. I'm now trying to write my first novel, about my grandparents and the way the 1914-18 war impacted on them all, their children, and their grandchildren. Lots of love, lots of conflict. I'm impressed with the accuracy of your wars, but also with the back-stories, the way characters relate to horses, that sort of thing. There is a density of information, but it's great throughout. The ENSA stories conveyed very well the dangerous nature of their work, and their devotion to it. You also write so movingly of love, in its many forms. So thank you! I read several of these in Lanzarote, having a week away after my mother's funeral. I bought one of the ENSAs at the tiny shop on the complex, and then others on my Kindle. They helped me through a very difficult time. Leonora's just found Lexi - and Sasha! - and all's well at last. But I miss them! And dear Tom. I wish you well with future novels, and I'll read some more of yours. You've inspired me. Thanks. Jen
Follow-up letter from Yvonne
I was lucky to find ‘A woman called Omega’ and ‘the Fidelio affair’ in a second-hand book shop in Somerset and really loved them, again such well drawn characters and great stories. You are certainly amongst the elite for bringing all your characters to life; they become as real people and one feels as if you know them and can visualise them as well.
I have now bought ‘Aphrodite’s Island’ which I shall keep to read when on holiday in a two weeks, so that will occupy me!
I heartily endorse your comment on regretting not being able to publish the first 5 chapters of ‘Now is the Hour’/ Kindly leave the stage.’ I found these on your web-page and having read them I think, in fact they made The Follies series even easier to understand because they give the backgrounds of the main people.
Much as I have loved all your books, I must admit to having a very ‘soft spot’ for Merry and Felix, very closely followed by Richard and Rose.
I think I am reading faster than you are able to write so I shall have to re-read them all aging whilst I wait for the next book!
Thank you for giving so much pleasure; I am really glad I found you.
Letter from Yvonne Carter
I have read (and re-read several times now) the four Follies books and I felt I had to contact you to say how very much I enjoyed them. I have learnt a lot about the history of World War ll and you have made the four main people 'come to life' in a way I have not experienced from other writers. In fact, one feels you know Merry, Felix, Rose and Richard better than some of your own friends! Also, it made me understand how the relationship between Merry and Felix can be such good love . Until I found 'Now is the Hour' I had not read any of your books but am now starting on the First World War books. One question, in the first two books Merry's cottage is in Seaford but in the third book it is at Shoreham, Where is it? I shall look forward to reading many more of your books, keep them coming! Yvonne.
Newsletter April 2014
Well, the audition for the Lancashire WI must have gone all right, because I am now on their approved list of speakers; but since they seem to book speakers up to a year in advance it may be some time before I get any definite invitations.
The talks in Sheffield and Ilkely were both a bit disappointing in different ways. In Sheffield I shared a platform with Tim Lynch, who writes non-fiction and was talking about the misconceptions that have been perpetuated about WWl by the writers of the period. His thesis was that most of the soldiers were patriots who were willing to serve their country and their morale was much higher than is generally portrayed. He also had statistics to suggest that the number of casualties in certain major battles was exaggerated. There was quite a good number of people at the talk, but sadly they seemed more interested in his book and memorabilia about the war than in my novels, so I did not sell many copies. Ilkely was the opposite in many ways. The director of the Playhouse is trying to establish an audience for regular literary events but I was only the second person he had invited and only five people attended. They were all most enthusiastic and asked lots of good questions and bought books – I just wish there had been more of them, for the director’s sake as well as mine.
However, the two engagements did provide the framework for a very pleasant few days away from home. We stayed for four nights in the Peak District and went to visit Chatsworth House and then visited friends near York. Plenty of stimulation for the historical imagination in both places!
I am currently engaged in trying to drum up support for the History Reading Month which is being organised by the Historical Writers Association. The idea is to hold events in libraries and bookshops to encourage people to read both fiction and non-fiction history books. The response varies from area to area but I am interested in the North West, so if any of you out there live in my area and know of any libraries or other organisations who would like to have a panel of writers to visit them, please let me know. If you are out of the area you can find details on the HWA’s website.
My next speaking engagement is with the Mid-Wirral WI in Thornton Hough on May 28th.
The audio edition of OPERATION KINGFISHER, read by myself, is now available. So if you want to know what I sound like and how I interpret my characters, this is your chance!
Meanwhile, it’s back to the Empress Matilda.
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