october 2018 books…

Lucky To Be An Artist (Unity Spencer): This memoir (published in 2015) by Unity Spencer (1930-20170, daughter of painter Stanley Spencer, is a wonderful, poignant, candid account of her memories of her father (and the often chaotic world that surrounded him) and of her own artistic life. It describes a number of struggles with depression and mental illness (her own, her mother’s and, indeed, those of three male friends who all ended up committing suicide at various stages of her life) and, right up to when she was in her forties, tensions with various members of her immediate family. I bought the beautifully-illustrated, hardback book for £2-50 in The Last Bookshop(!). Although Stanley Spencer is one of my favourite artists, somewhat embarrassingly, I knew very little of Unity’s work. In fact, she was a very talented artist in her own right (I love the self-portrait, painted in 1954, which adorns the book’s cover). She and her sister Sherin clearly adored both their father and mother and the books ends with a beautiful, joyful, yet heart-breaking, letter Unity wrote to her father in March 2009 (he died 50 years earlier) giving him “some idea of the things that have happened” in her life.  
Negroland: A Memoir (Margo Jefferson): Jefferson is a black American theatre+book critic, writer and a professor of writing at Columbia University School of the Arts. She was born in 1947 (so we are of similar age) and this rather profound book is a memoir of her life at a time, in the 1950s and 60s in particular, when being black came with a whole host of society’s prejudices and discrimination (and segregation). But, for Jefferson, life was rather different from images we might have of black society in America. The ‘Negroland’ she refers to is not so much a geographic location as a state of mind; an exclusive club without discernible borders, to which few have ever belonged. Over the years, its members have been characterised by descriptions ranging from “the coloured 400” (families) to “the blue vein society”. Jefferson’s fashionable, socialite mother (married to a Chicago paediatrician) described their family as “upper-class Negroes and upper-middle-class Americans”. It’s an absolutely fascinating (and sometimes quite shocking) book, beautifully crafted (she writes wonderfully) and mixing historical background of with that of her own family and her own memories and experiences… and frequently with reference to fashion, music, magazines and ‘accepted manners’. A remark by Jefferson’s mother, perhaps tired of the constant requirement to frame their lives through race, was telling: “Sometimes I almost forget I’m a Negro”.
The Fourth Sacrifice (Peter May): As you may have realised, I rather like Peter May as an author (I loved the ‘Lewis Trilogy’). Thanks to the Last Bookshop, I bought a couple of May’s books from his ‘China Thrillers’ series of books (£5 for the pair). This is book two out of seven (I know, I know). The Chinese police have been forced to enlist the services of an American pathologist (she was apparently in book 1) to work alongside a Chinese detective (he was also in the first book… and it seems that the two of them were ‘quite intimate’!) to investigate a series of four horrific ritual executions. Yes, it IS a thriller and May is an excellent writer… but it’s 500 pages long when, frankly, it should have been cut down to perhaps 300 (so much unnecessary, and rather tedious, ‘romantic padding’… something May isn’t particularly good at writing about in my opinion)(was he on a bonus from the publishers if he reached 500 pages?). Nevertheless, I did enjoy it and will certainly read other books in the series.
Iconic Nature+Travel Designs 1931-85 (Clifford+Rosemary Ellis): I bought this short book after seeing the exhibition at Victoria Art Gallery, Bath. Essentially, Clifford and Rosemary Ellis were pioneering art educators. Clifford (1907-1985) studied Illustration at Regent Street Polytechnic, before taking an Art Teacher’s Diploma. Rosemary (1910-1998) was a student of sculpture and art history at the Polytechnic. They married in 1931 and worked in partnership for the next 50 years designing posters and book jackets… signing their work simply “C&RE”. After moving to Bath in 1936, Rosemary taught art at the Royal High School (when Rosemary started work there, it was called the “Royal School for Daughters of Officers of the Army in Lansdown”… oh, how times have changed!). Clifford ultimately became Head of the Bath School of Art and, after the war, he became Principal of Bath Academy of Art from 1946-72 (and duly supported there by Rosemary). A very good, well-illustrated catalogue to support an excellent exhibition. 
Nothing Is Black (Deirdre Madden): A beautifully told story of three women who find themselves in a remote part of Donegal, Ireland at defining moments in their respective lives. A wealthy and ‘successful’ woman desperately seeking peace of mind; a painter leading a solitary life; and a neighbour longing for reconciliation with her estranged daughter. Lyrical, sparse and hauntingly beautiful.