strange and random happenstance

Two series about the advent of department stories debuted within six months of each other and if I had to pick one I would not have picked Mr Selfridge, Jeremy Piven and Andrew Davies must accept my apologizes, because I would have picked The Paradise. Created by the team behind Lark Rise to Candleford with many of the same actors, this was another loose adaptation of a classic that captured my heart and swiftly became one of my most favorite series ever. There was just such heart and romance and, unlike Mr Selfridge, there was more than a little of the Upstairs, Downstairs dynamic. Here we really got stuck into the lives of those working at The Paradise as well as those running and funding the roadshow. We saw the haves versus the have nots and how a major department store economically impacted it's small business competitors, a concern that is even more relevant today. When Denise Lovett arrives on the scene she becomes the focal point of all that is happening. She straddles both worlds, he uncle having a business that is struggling because of The Paradise, while she herself takes a job at The Paradise, and is soon seen by the owner, John Moray, as a girl after his own heart. She's smart and a self-starter and soon steals his heart. Of course there's a love triangle and many complications. This wouldn't be a show worthy of Masterpiece if there wasn't. But what I really liked most about this series is it wasn't afraid to go dark. As in, there's a murder! Arthur Darvill of Doctor Who fame gets involved in The Paradise when his storefront is bought by the expanding store. His style doesn't mesh well with the glamour Moray sells and, well, one thing leads to another, and his body is found in the river. The culprit is of course revealed, which goes into the ties that bind us as a community and as a company and as a people together. Just writing this makes me sad all over again that such a lovely show was cancelled too soon. But I'd rather have it cancelled too soon than have it overstay it's welcome, which is sadly what happened to Lark Rise to Candleford.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Andrew Davies, Arthur Darvill, Denise Lovett, Department Store, Fifty-Five Years a Masterpiece, Jeremy Piven, John Moray, Lark Rise to Candleford, Mr Selfridge, Murder, The Paradise, Upstairs Downstairs

Did my Dad write this? No, seriously, did he? Because if he didn't it was written for him. Bucolic nostalgia for a young boy's formative years and first loves of a forgotten time narrated by Timothy Spall with evocative and precise language? That's what my Dad lives for. Sadly it's not quite what I live for. This had a very Lark Rise to Candleford meets Little Women vibe with young Laurie Lee growing up between the world wars and first seeing his older sister experience love and then experiencing it himself when he grows up. The problem I have is, that while it's nice to have this world captured before it disappeared forever, that just isn't enough. I wanted some sort of plot, something other than Laurie just growing up. Because of its brevity we have a very narrow window of time in which we see Laurie arrive in the Cotswolds and then depart it. Obviously he returns, because he's buried there, but at the close of this movie he hasn't found his calling, he's just a young man setting out not someone who has found his purpose and place in the world, much like Laura Timmins in Lark Rise to Candleford or Jo March in Little Women. Plus, one would assume that naming this series after an encounter with a girl named Rosie she would be the love of his life, but that isn't the case. She awakens something in him, but one day skiving off work and drinking cider under a hay wagon while making out doesn't seem that formative an experience for anyone. Especially when you find out after the fact that Rosie was his cousin. In fact for a show that is about love and relationships they are all kind of bleak and doomed. The worst being Laurie's mother Annie. Annie answered an advertisement in the paper to be a housekeeper to a widower, Reg, with three girls. She then went on to marry Reg and have four children with him. While pregnant with her last child they moved out of London and they never see Reg again. She occasionally goes up to visit him, such as when the war is over, but his job is "very important" and he has to stay in London for work. Sure. I actually wonder if he married her. He just found a gullible lovestruck young woman who would take care of his kids and sleep with him. Once he'd had enough, which was only four years mind you, he packed her off like some sort of secret, and never thought of her again. I'm pretty sure those telegrams were faked. This poor woman was with the man she loved for only four years and waited for him to return for the rest of her life. She raised his children, she sang his favorite song, all while her heart was breaking. The last time Laurie saw his father he was three. I wanted some kind of reckoning. I wanted hellfire. Sure, they didn't want for anything, but being supported and being cared for are two totally different things. How could you have an idyllic childhood with a mother who was always wearing a brave face to hide the fact that her heart was breaking? This show wants to be a feel good nostalgia trip, but for me, there's too much sadness, too many unanswered questions, too much bitter with the sweet. 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Bittersweet, Bucolic, Cider with Rosie, Cotswolds, Fifty-Five Years a Masterpiece, Jo March, Lark Rise to Candleford, Laura Timmins, Laurie Lee, Little Women, Narrator, Nostalgia, Samantha Morton, Timothy Spall, Writer, WWI, WWII

I legit thought that the book, The Three-Body Problem, was a murder mystery. I mean why else would it have had "Body" in the title? They're corpses right? Wrong. I now know it refers to celestial bodies... But until I watched this show I would have put money on it being some sort of procedural. At least there was a cop played by Benedict Wong, so I had something right. Maybe? Well there are "unexplained deaths" so I'm sticking to a partial victory no matter how slim. My first exposure to Liu Cixin's novel is a little infamous as it went from my friend Aaron's favorite book to his most hated book in the span of a month. So when I heard it was going to be adapted by the creators of Game of Thrones for Netflix, and knowing how Aaron feels about that show, I thought that there was no way it could possibly be good and it would probably really piss off Aaron. So of course I suggested we watch it together on our Thursday Night Teleparty. And the problem with this was this is a show that needs to be binged. 3 Body Problem doesn't work spread out over weeks. You need to keep that threat of alien invasion at the forefront. I mean, sure, this is probably the longest game of an alien invasion in probable history. They won't arrive for a long long long time and made first contact decades previously. But the horror, the danger, there's an immediacy to it that suffers over the long haul. A countdown clock can not strike fear forever, eventually there will be fatigue. Though what I found oddest about the show is that while it is obviously science fiction it leans very strongly into the horror genre. You thought Game of Thrones was bloody? Wait until you see poor old Alfie from Lark Rise to Candleford disassembled. His body is sliced into a bloody morass by nanofibers. Jonathan Pryce meets the same fate. At least he had two seasons on Game of Thrones before he went boom with the Great Sept of Baelor. And this is my problem with the show. There's a rotating door with the cast. As soon as you like someone they're dead. I mean, I don't think I can even figure out how many characters died this season without multiple flow charts and perhaps a white board. But of the core college group that are these oh so great scientists that are our only hope? Of the five of them two are dead by the end of the first season. Because OF COURSE this is getting a second season. Why wouldn't it be? They're the Game of Thrones creators. Let's just totally ignore how that show tanked and there is no fanbase anymore and concentrate on the earlier seasons when it was all anyone was watching. But back to 3 Body Problem, how are they going to keep me invested if anyone I get attached to might go all 'splodey at a moments notice? Then there's the tonal shifts. The smaller collegiate setting with depression and video games and somehow now we're at the UN!?! The characters are the only way to keep this sliced ship from sinking, and if they're all dead... Well. Needless to say, I'm very interested to see if they can keep this show afloat.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: 3 Body Problem, Alien Invasion, And the Emmy Goes To, Benedict Wong, Game of Thrones, Horror, Jonathan Pryce, Lark Rise to Candleford, Liu Cixin, Netflix, Oxford, Science Fiction, Teleparty, The Three-Body Problem

The Golden Tresses of the Dead by Alan Bradley
Published by: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: January 22nd, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

One would think one's sister's marriage to a dashing German would be the most exciting thing in one's life. They'd be wrong. Because Flavia is far more excited about Arthur Dogger and Associates, the detective agency her and her father's valet have founded after all the cases Flavia has solved over the years. For appearances sake Dogger's name is on the letterhead, but Flavia can't deny that whenever she's come up against a problem in her cases Dogger has always been there to be a sounding board and to offer her keen insight. Yet little does Flavia realize that the wedding will turn out to be far more interesting than she could have expected, because it yields her several mysteries. First, the best man is missing, Reggie Mould is MIA, second there's a problem with the wedding cake. As in there's a finger in the wedding cake. A severed finger. This makes Flavia's day. Not only does it elicit a piercing scream from Feely, but how often are you going to find a severed finger in a wedding cake? What's more, it's not a finger from someone recently deceased, it's been embalmed. Who would want to take the finger of someone already dead? Also such a distinct finger. Because Flavia and Dogger soon discover it is the finger of recently deceased guitarist Mme. Adriana Castelnuovo. But even that's not the most interesting thing. They have gotten themselves a client, an Anastasia Prill. Anastasia is worried about some missing correspondence and needs the help of Arthur Dogger and Associates. But she soon ends up dead. What's more, there's a connection between the finger and Anastasia, the guitarist's son, Colin Collier, is also the nephew of Anastasia! This can't be a coincidence. But with two missionaries foisted on Flavia by the vicar's wife her time is becoming more and more precious. Yet soon she starts to suspect the missionaries. Is everything connected or is she totally on the wrong track?

The Golden Tresses of the Dead is the unexpected ending to the successful Flavia de Luce. Unexpected in that the previous volume, The Grave's a Fine and Private Place, seemed to finally be setting up the next big arc of the series, Flavia and Dogger opening up a detective agency. Instead we got this book, wherein they did start their detective agency, but everything else is a bit of a muddle. In fact, after the initial six book arc, ending with the revelations about Harriet and pheasants, the series hasn't really been on solid footing. Perhaps if Flavia's adventures had continued on at Miss Bodycote’s Female Academy in Canada, transforming the series into something new, it's longevity might have been assured. Instead the series has been slowing declining until it ended with this. And really, what was this? What was the ending? It was all muddled with no real resolution. Sure Flavia finally realized she could use Undine as a tool to help in their investigations, but there needed to be something more. And by something more I don't mean Dogger transforming into Sherlock Holmes. Dogger has always been the most relatable of characters. His backstory is tragic, and how Flavia was the only one able to help him with his PTSD gave them a special bond which has resulted in him becoming more of a father figure than her own father ever was. But here he seems too different. I know he needed to step up when Flavia's dad unexpectedly and unnecessarily died, but he's too competent, too all knowing. Looking at Dogger here compared to where he was just in the previous volume makes me feel like I've missed a step. Something has irreparably changed and not in a way that makes sense. But really, nothing in this book makes sense. Other than the fact Alan Bradley was obviously watching Lark Rise to Candleford while writing this book. I agree, that show is my one weakness too.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alan Bradley, Dogger, Flavia De Luce, Lark Rise to Candleford, Miss Bodycote’s Female Academy, Murder Most Foul, PTSD, Sherlock Holmes, The Golden Tresses of the Dead, The Grave's a Fine and Private Place

Two series about the advent of department stories debuted within six months of each other and if I had to pick one I would not have picked Mr Selfridge, Jeremy Piven and Andrew Davies must accept my apologizes, because I would have picked The Paradise. Created by the team behind Lark Rise to Candleford with many of the same actors, this was another loose adaptation of a classic that captured my heart and swiftly became one of my most favorite series ever. There was just such heart and romance and, unlike Mr Selfridge, there was more than a little of the Upstairs, Downstairs dynamic. Here we really got stuck into the lives of those working at The Paradise as well as those running and funding the roadshow. We saw the haves versus the have nots and how a major department store economically impacted it's small business competitors, a concern that is even more relevant today. When Denise Lovett arrives on the scene she becomes the focal point of all that is happening. She straddles both worlds, he uncle having a business that is struggling because of The Paradise, while she herself takes a job at The Paradise, and is soon seen by the owner, John Moray, as a girl after his own heart. She's smart and a self-starter and soon steals his heart. Of course there's a love triangle and many complications. This wouldn't be a show worthy of Masterpiece if there wasn't. But what I really liked most about this series is it wasn't afraid to go dark. As in, there's a murder! Arthur Darvill of Doctor Who fame gets involved in The Paradise when his storefront is bought by the expanding store. His style doesn't mesh well with the glamour Moray sells and, well, one thing leads to another, and his body is found in the river. The culprit is of course revealed, which goes into the ties that bind us as a community and as a company and as a people together. Just writing this makes me sad all over again that such a lovely show was cancelled too soon. But I'd rather have it cancelled too soon than have it overstay it's welcome, which is sadly what happened to Lark Rise to Candleford.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Andrew Davies, Arthur Darvill, Denise Lovett, Department Store, Doctor Who, Fifty Years a Masterpiece, Jeremy Piven, John Moray, Lark Rise to Candleford, Mr Selfridge, Murder, The Paradise, Upstairs Downstairs

There needs to be a special prize for The Terror because it was able to include every single British male actor of a certain age. Is that Tobias Menzies and Ciarán Hinds having a Rome reunion? Yes it is! Is that Fisher Bloom from Lark Rise to Candleford I see, aka Matthew McNulty? Yes in one! Could that be Victor Colleano from Mr Selfridge? But of course! On and on you will name check every actor in this series, yes that IS George Warleggan's dogsbody, but there are literally SO MANY characters you will have no idea who's who so you will literally be calling Victor Victor instead of Henry Collins and Fisher is Fisher, not Lt. Edward Little. And yes, I had to look up their names because I literally had no idea what their names were even though I devoured every episode of this show that merges the history of a doomed expedition to find the Northwest Passage with supernatural elements from Native folklore. So you're probably wondering why watch this show that leaves you scratching your head half the time wondering who everyone is referring to? The answer is twofold and it's two characters that are polar opposites (see what I did with the polar joke?) Henry Goodsir played by Paul Ready and Cornelius Hickey played by Adam Nagaitis are just riveting. You will never love a character as much as Henry Goodsir and you will never hate a character as much as Cornelius Hickey. Henry Goodsir is a creature of pure light and goodness and you will want to protect him from all the ills of the world while every time Cornelius Hickey is on screen you will be calling for his head on a pike. These two made the series. These two deserved Emmy nominations. But the problem there is you'd have to remember their names...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Adaptation, And the Emmy Goes To, Arctic, Cornelius Hickey, Dan Simmons, Folklore, George Warleggan, Henry Goodsir, Lark Rise to Candleford, Mr. Selfridge, Northwest Passage, The Terror, Tobias Menzies

Frankenstein
Based on the book by Mary Shelley
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Jonny Lee Miller, Ella Smith, John Killoran, Steven Elliot, Lizzie Winkler, Karl Johnson, Daniel Millar, Naomie Harris, George Harris, Mark Armstrong, John Stahl, amd Andreea Paduraru
Release Date: March 17th, 2011
Rating: ★★★
Unavailable 

The creature is born. Abandoned at birth to find his legs, his voice, his reason for being, all on his own. Like a newborn colt he twitches and flails, stumbles and tumbles, grass, rain, they give him joy. Fire brings warmth and danger. What is sustenance? What is cruelty? Is it the pain at the hands of others? He spies on a family, they show him love and compassion. The de Laceys are good if poor. The young couple's father, blind to the horror of the creature's physiognomy, teaches him to read and shows him true kindness. They hold discourses on philosophy and the meaning of life. The Creature has hope, soon destroyed by de Lacey's son Felix and daughter-in-law Agatha. They view the creature as a monster. So the creature will show them what a monster he is. He burns their home to the ground while they sleep. This act signals to the monster that it is time to meet his creator. The man responsible for making and then abandoning him, Victor Frankenstein; whose life of privileged perfection is about to come crumbling down around him. Don't make a deal with a devil if you aren't prepared for the consequences.

While I would like to be one of those people who when hearing their favorite actor is in a play can jump on a plane and go see them wherever the production is I am sadly not one of those people. Oh how I was tempted though by Danny Boyle bringing Frankenstein to the stage with two of my favorite actors, Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller. But thankfully there's this thing called National Theatre Live which brings the most popular of British Theatre to cinemas around the world, a real boon for this Cumberbitch. So while I couldn't afford a trip to England, I could easily afford a few movie tickets. In fact because of the conceit of Benedict and Jonny switching roles every night I bought tickets to both showings, but after seeing it the one time with Benedict as the Creature, I knew I couldn't watch it again. It's not that it's bad, it's that it's very intense. It has this visceral quality that is so relentless that even though it's been quite a few years since I have seen it this production is still seared into my mind. Like the light bulbs flashing on the stage, it's afterimage is still on my retina.

As anyone who has read Frankenstein will tell you the center, the spine of the book, if you will, is the Creature's story. Therefore this production wisely decided to follow the Creature's journey, and leave Victor where he belongs, as a minor part, not the star. This also worked well for the staging with Benedict and Jonny switching roles each night. The Creature is a rather physically demanding role and to be able to have respite and be Victor every other night, not even showing your face until almost half way through the show, must be a blessing. But it's more than just that, this conceit gets to the heart of what Frankenstein is about. The book by Shelley is about the duality of Victor and the Creature being halves of the same whole. They are one person separated into two. The struggle between man and monster becomes an inner struggle with the fluidity of the role. It's like getting front row seats to someone arguing with themself. One side retreats, the other side lashes out. It's not until Victor admits defeat, admits responsibility for severing himself from the Creature that they are able to move forward, ever onward.

This duality only works because of the genius in the casting of the leads. As I have seen time and time again the National Theatre has a distinct problem with peopling the rest of their productions with stars of equal caliber. Sometimes it's one actor who really stands out as quite possible the worst job of portraying Laertes you could ever imagine, other times it's a more widespread pandemic. But sometimes it's all down to the casting agent and director, and it's a great actor in a role they were just never meant to play. This production of Frankenstein had a pandemic on it's hand as soon as Victor entered stage left. The first half predominately staring Benedict as the Creature and Karl Johnson as de Lacey was perfect. But then again, Karl Johnson is an amazing actor, even if you are only fleetingly aware of him his Twister Turrill in Lark Rise to Candleford, he will easily convert you to loving him, as will his mumbling in Hot Fuzz. But after the de Lacey's went up in smoke so did all quality in the cast. Scenes with Victor's father and his true love Elizabeth were painful. The sign of an uneven production is when you can't decide if it's more painful to watch the rape scene or M. Frankenstein rail against Victor's stupidity.

Whatever imbalance there was in the cast I was at least in love with the set design enough that I could distract myself well. In undergrad I majored in Art but I minored in Theatre. And no, no delusions of being an actor here, despite the fact I was forced to take an acting class, I was tech all the way. In particular set design and scene painting. Therefore a well designed set can literally transport me. Whereas a boring set, like those few ladders used in Hiddles's Coriolanus, yeah, here comes boredom... thankfully relieved by Mark Gatiss and a very short tunic on Tom. But here the set perfectly captured the feeling of a time when we were on the verge of such technological breakthroughs. If you think about the science behind Mary Shelley's writing, what she envisioned, this set just perfectly melds with this driving force of progress. She never once mentions how the Creature was animated, but the constant references to Mont Blanc and lightning make the electical component inevitable. Here brought about by the popping and surging of hundreds and hundreds of Steampunk light bulbs. Combined with the train relentlessly driving forward, the future is coming whether we want it to or not, with the force of a steam engine!

If I had to point to one thing this production needed, I would say it needed a heart. Yes, the Creature does an admirable job of showing the emotions that Victor keeps under lock and key, but does the Creature love? I would say he doesn't. In fact, I would say that it's the lack of love in him and his life that leads him to do so much evil. But Victor doesn't have love either. The heart of the book, if we are to stick with this anatomical theme, was Victor's best friend Clerval. He cares for Victor and loves him and it's his death that finally breaks Victor and makes Victor willing to damn himself and the rest of his family to a similar fate. Yet Clerval is absent. Yes, this streamlines the narrative, making it all about the duality of the Creature and Victor, but while this is all well and good, you need someone to care about, someone to root for, someone whose death will actually make you feel. Because the wanton destruction of half the cast doesn't really dent your tear ducts when they were doing a bad job to start with. Clerval needed to be here, he needed to be an actor of equal caliber to Jonny and Benedict, and in fact... perhaps they could have pushed the duality future? Have a third actor that alternates roles. Because seriously, emotion is needed. Shelley didn't write a story about wanton destruction, but the search for humanity. Clerval is the epitome of that.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Adaptation, Benedict Cumberbatch, Benediction, Frankenstein, Hot Fuzz, Jonny Lee Miller, Lark Rise to Candleford, Mark Gatiss, Mary Shelley, National Theatre Live, Plays, Rape, Set Design, Tom Hiddleston

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
Published by: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: April 28th, 2009
Format: Hardcover, 374 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

At Buckshaw, the ancestral home of the de Luce's, Flavia spends her time lovingly researching poisons and thinking up ways to exact revenge on her two older sisters, Ophelia and Daphne. What else can one do with a distant philatelist father interested only in his stamps, a dead mother, and sisters more concerned with reading and makeup then forging sisterly bonds? Add Mrs. Mullet, a cook who keeps plying them with her unwanted custard pies, and Dogger, the shell shocked comrade in arms who saved the Colonel in the war and is now the house's general dogsbody, and you can see why Flavia likes the uncomplicated world of chemistry to that of her fellow man. Lucky for Flavia the long dead Tarquin de Luce had a fervent love of chemistry equal to hers and she has inherited his envy inducing laboratory in Buckshaw, where even the china has a story to it. But their peace is soon to be disturbed, and not by the shrieks of Feely as her pearls are disintegrated by Flavia, or the muffled sounds of Flavia trying to extricate herself from the closest where her sisters imprisoned her. No. Murder is about to strike Buckshaw, foreshadowed by a dead jack snipe with a postage stamp skewered on it's beak. In the middle of the night Flavia is woken by her father arguing with a man in his study. She is taken back to bed by Dogger and she blasts music to lull herself to sleep rather than stewing in her habitual discontented and inquisitive mindset, but not before she heard her father say he had murdered a man by the name of Twining twenty years ago.

In the early dawn hours she awakens and goes out into the garden to find the intruder almost dead in the cucumber patch, his last words uttered into Flavia's face. The authorities are called and the investigation begins. But Flavia has her own investigations to conduct, starting at the public library and the death of this man named Twining. To her trusty steed, Gladys, her mother's old bicycle that Flavia uses to race off to the library. Which is closed... but soon a librarian approaches. The retired Miss Mountjoy, the bane of the village, has returned to help the current librarian. But her arrival is felicitous, she happens to be the niece of the murdered Twining, who was a teacher at Greyminster, the school Colonel de Luce attended. Twining committed suicide in front of all his students by jumping off the top of the school tower after a prize Penny Black stamp was taken from the headmaster and destroyed in front of his eyes. Flavia, intrigued, then goes to the local inn, assuming that the mystery man had to be staying there. In his room she finds the stamp that was supposedly destroyed... and it's twin! But back at Buckshaw it might be too late... her father has been arrested! Can Flavia save the day and her father before Inspector Hewitt and the other detectives? Or will she need saving herself?

When the dearly departed David Thompson from Murder by the Book casually mentioned a new and unique mystery that he thought I'd like I had little inkling that it would be the start of one of my favorite book series. Six years have passed since he sent me that email, five years since I first read The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and David died. I can't believe it's been that long, but the sheer joy with which I've devoured the following six volumes attests to the fact that time hasn't stayed still. Flavia de Luce has worked her way into my heart. Part Addams Family, part Eloise, she's precocious but in a way that isn't cloying because it is balanced by her fondness for the macabre.  Bradley's world is populated with overtones of Christie and Du Maurier, which I'm sure he would gladly confirm. He has given us a wonderful mystery that reads like the best of the British whodunits but with a unique narrator in the guise of Flavia. Her family and their estate remind one of a dysfunctional Larkin family, they all have their little quirks and obsessions. Whether it's Flavia and her chemical compounds or Daffy and her books or the Colonel and his stamps, Bradley has created a myriad of interesting folk and their foibles who you can't help but love. But their bizarre personality quirks aren't just their for the sake of creating a semblance of depth in these people, they are integral to the plot and to the solving of the mystery. Only those with the experiences and backgrounds that the de Luce's possess would be able to see the greater picture.  

Though re-reading it all these years later with the sheer number of books I read per year details have become hazy and it was nice to refamiliarize myself with Flavia's origins. The truth is The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is rough around the edges. Bradley has matured as a writer over the years to be more polished and to tell Flavia's story in a more assured and competent manner. With his development over the past few years he has definitely secured Flavia's place among the cannon of British whodunits, even if he's Canadian. But here this assurance is lacking and there are times when I was distinctly put out. Flavia waffles between being mature for her age and being very slow on the uptake. This results in her inner monologue occasionally becoming repetitive and simplistic in her deductions when the answer is actually right in front of her. While the mystery isn't really the driving force of Flavia's story, it is hard on the reader when they are so far ahead of Flavia that you start hoping that she'd get on with it already. But then again, this slow style is typical of the cozy genre and for a first outing, it's better than some writers achieve in their entire life. Yes, it might be a little clunky, yes, it's not perfect, but it does lay the groundwork magnificently for a solid series to come.

What really strikes me coming back to the beginning is just how British this series is. It's not just that this story could only happen to this family but also this could only happen in Britain. My love of Lark Rise to Candleford has made me more then a little obsessed with running a small rural post office in Victorian England, and the history of the postal service and the issuance of stamps and the Penny Black and it's connection to revolutionary forces and how it oddly ties into the climax of the movie The Young Victoria; well, the Anglophile in me was doing a happy dance. I find it interesting that in my original review, which I might have liberally borrowed from here, I found the reminisces of Colonel de Luce over long and unnecessary. But the truth is his unburdening in that little jail cell is the core of this book. Not only do we get this postal history but how much more British can a book get than long reminiscences of boys going to boarding school? The halcyon days of Greyminster and Colonel de Luce's mentor, Twining, are the stuff of Waugh and Powell, but here, here they take a deliciously dark twist. These settings, this time period, it just makes you long to dwell in the world, to walk the crumbling Buckshaw estate and wade out to the little folly. It is a world that is gone and we long to recapture, and here it is thanks to Bradley.    

And then there's Dogger. Dogger is a product of this time and this place and he is the heart of this book. Knowing, as I now know, Dogger's full past, seeing the clues, the little crumb trail that Bradley started here makes me realize what a long game he was playing. But it's not just Dogger, it's the way the de Luce's take care of him and even shelter him. They know Dogger is special and they treat him as such and let him do as he does in order to recover. Dogger is also the balancing force to Flavia. Flavia spends so much time talking about death and poisons and how she would eliminate her siblings, she's a bit out there. In fact, some people might be put off by her love of these deadly arts and that she solves the murder by rather gruesome knowledge. Inspector Hewitt doesn't even want her to finish her demonstration on her articulated skeleton Yorick because he's more than a little spooked. Therefore Flavia needs some way to humanize herself. While anyone who was a young girl would attest to the fact that young girls do spend much of their time planing the downfall of their enemies, it might not be so palatable for readers, and here is where Dogger comes in. Flavia helps Dogger however she can. She helps him through his attacks in whatever way he needs, whether it's a helping hand, a cup of tea, a lie down in his bed, or acting as if everything is OK, Flavia just knows what Dogger needs and does it. He humanizes her and she anchors him, they are the true dynamic duo of this book, sorry Gladys.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Agatha Christie, Alan Bradley, British, Buckshaw, Daphne Du Maurier, Dogger, English Cozy, Flavia De Luce, Lark Rise to Candleford, Murder by the Book, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, The Young Victoria

Jamaica Inn
Based on the book by Daphne Du Maurier
Starring: Jessica Brown Findlay, Matthew McNulty, Sean Harris, Joanne Whalley, Ben Daniels, Shirley Henderson, and Andrew Scarboroug
Release Date: 2014
Rating: ★
To Buy

Mary Yellan's mother has died suddenly and she is forced to go live with her Aunt at Jamaica Inn because she doesn't want to take the offered hand of her childhood sweetheart Ned. Life at the inn is brutish and hard, filled with rough men and dangerous living. Mary has every reason to hate smugglers, as they killed her father, but soon she is one of them, part of a network hidden in plain sight throughout Cornwall. Jamaica Inn is a den of thieves and yet, despite her better judgment, she is falling for one of them, the younger brother of her uncle Joss, Jem Merlyn. The only place she knows safety away from the brutes and horse thieves is at the home of the local vicar, Francis Davey, where he and his sister Hannah offer Mary hope that her uncle will be caught and her and her Aunt Patience can forge a new life together. But no one is as they seem and everyone has some dark secret that haunts their dreams.

Seriously, this miniseries is not my fault. When I said I really wanted Jamaica Inn made into a miniseries after I first read it I didn't mean this! Let's go wreck a ship in broad daylight said no smuggler ever! Daphne Du Maurier is probably rolling in her grave right about now, but I'm sure after the Charles Laughton version she has no expectations at all and is used to disappointment. There is just so much wrong going on I was tempted on re-watching this painful miniseries to just do a Mystery Science Theater 3000 type review, but even that would have been too much effort and after a certain point there are so many major gaffe's that my brain shut down and I just tried to lie back and think of England while occasionally bemoaning the unlikelihood that anyone could get that much mud on their dress ever. Seriously. Was Mary rolling in the pig sty?

What is really grating is that this version obviously tried to keep the overall plot in tact to some degree but that it kept making little changes for no reason that kept adding up and resulted in changing everything. Now, I understand that this is an "adaptation" and that purity of the story is changed for a new medium, but seriously, why randomly make Mary have this long backstory with her father being killed by smuggler's but then have the twist that he was a smuggler!?! What does this add? Mary's mother hiding her illness from her daughter... it takes away Mary caring for her mother and showing what a strong independent young woman she is. In fact a lot of the changes chip away at Mary's independence. Instead of her not caring about love and wanting to return home to have her own farm, enter Ned, her love that was left behind that wanted to make a good wife of her. Ugh.

Why you're at it give Aunt Patience more of a backbone, make Joss less of a physically imposing giant of a man, add some new characters for no reason, change Harry the peddler from a creep and a rapist to a nice doddering smuggler. Oh, and why not take all suspense away and have Mary learn about the smuggling at Jamaica Inn in two seconds flat and have her helping out five minutes later! Then throw Jem in every scene you can, make Davey's housekeeper Hannah into his psycho sister, and on and on and on. Strip away everything little by little and what do you have? Three hours of my life I want back... or, by this point, six!

But nothing can ever beat the bad casting and dialect! The casting of Sean Harris as Joss is a joke. You need someone tall, imposing, like Clive Russell is at 6'6". But that is nothing to Sean Harris's mush mouth. I swear, I don't think he's actually saying real words. There's even a good chance he can't speak given the evidence of this miniseries. He is the worse perpetrator, but not the only one by a long shot! All the mumbling and grumbling of the dialogue led to a fair few complaints to the BBC back in April when this first aired, as in thousands of people called to complain. What the dialogue reminds me of most is that scene in My Fair Lady when Henry Higgins is filling Eliza Doolittle's mouth full of marbles and telling her to speak and enunciate and she can't. Everyone in this miniseries must have had a mouth full of marbles, it's the only explanation. The worst result of this is that the scene where Joss bares his soul and tells Mary that he is a wrecker, instead of coming across as riveting and horrific and sad all at the same time, it comes across as a mumbling drunk in front of a fire like a drunken uncle at the holidays you'd ignore. This direction and acting wouldn't inspire the horror in Mary, it would just be shrugged off as just another rant.

Finally, Mary Yellan herself cannot be exempted from the train wreck, or should I say shipwreck (oh naughty) that this miniseries is. She's supposed to carry the narrative on her shoulders and instead she spends all her time moaning and looking like she's constipated or drugged or both. Perhaps she's on drugs for her constipation? This role is yet another step in the downward trajectory that is the career path of Jessica Brown Finlay. Let's see where she went wrong. Firstly she's on like the most popular television series ever and she quits. Strike one, you don't leave Downton Abbey. Then she goes on to "star" in the cheesy television adaptation of the Kate Mosse book Labyrinth which was abominably boring and didn't even show up in the US till two years after it premiered in England to lackluster reviews. Next she stared as the fair damsel in the box office flop Winter's Tale, which didn't even make back one fifth of what it cost to make it and got an astonishingly low ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. I didn't know a movie could get only 13%! Oh, even better, top critics gave in only 10%! And then, oh joy of joys, came Jamaica Inn! Here's a hint. If you're going to leave a big show get something bankable as your followup, like Lily James and Cinderella. It's Disney! Oh, and she didn't have her character killed off so she can come back to Downton Abbey whenever she wants!

But underneath all that mud. Seriously, what's with all the mud!?! This adaptation got a few things right. Mainly they hired Matthew McNulty. A regular face for fans of Bill Gallagher's shows Lark Rise to Candleford and The Paradise, he is perfectly cast as Jem Merlyn. I defy anyone to make the phrase "come to market" sound sexier then he did. Also the duality of humans and their male and female aspects that Du Maurier wrote extensively about in the book was touched on with Mary crossdressing, which I thought was a nice touch. If only they had stayed true to the spirit of the text and stopped mumbling about things that didn't matter perhaps this would have been watchable. As it is you're better off turning off the volume and just pretending it's a nature documentary with lots of pretty scenery that occasionally muddy people walk through.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Charles Laughton, Cinderella, Cornwall, Daphne Du Maurier, Downton Abbey, Eliza Doolittle, Henry Higgins, Jamaica Inn, Jessica Brown Findlay, Lark Rise to Candleford, Mary Yellan, MST3K, My Fair Lady, The Paradise

Name: Ben Miles

"Dream" Character Casting for the George Mann Newbury and Hobbes Miniseries: Sir Charles Bainbridge

First Impression: Berkeley Square... only it wasn't him! OK, I'm totally confused. I would have put money on the fact that he was the soldier that Hermione Norris was fooling around with... I think I must re-watch the entire series to see why I got it wrong. Really, I'm doing it for us, not just for me. So I guess that means The Forsyte Saga and Dartie it is for my first impression. Which is really a shitty first impression, because the character doesn't have anything redeeming about him till he dies...

Why they'd be the perfect actor for the Newbury and Hobbes Miniseries: In recent years he's gotten very good at being cast as either a gentleman or a cop, and I can't think of a better way to describe Bainbridge then as a gentleman cop. Also he looks good with a big bushy moustache.

Lasting Impression: I want to say Coupling, because yes, he did make an impression on me... but really it's Zen! Why? Because for the first time I really saw the depth in his acting and saw that he was more then just a womanizing ass.

What else you've seen them in: More a TV actor then a film actor, though he has starred in some big name movies like Speed Racer, Ninja Assassin, and The Affair of the Necklace, if you're a BBC miniseries addict you sure know who he is. He spent many years perfecting the womanizing ass until he transitioned to elder statesman with perhaps a little bit of darkness thrown in. Just look at his role in the newer tv adaptation of Dracula or even the aforementioned Zen! Though personally my favorite of all his roles was as Sir Timothy Midwinter in Lark Rise to Candleford. Why couldn't he and Dorcas have worked it out? Or at least she could have ended up with someone better then Gabriel. Yes, I am still bitter. 

Can't believe it's them: V for Vendetta. Really, that's him! I mean a lot of that movie is, OMG, look who it is because it's peopled with British actors I know and love, but still, V for Vendetta man!

Wish they hadn't: Under the Greenwood Tree because I literally can not think of a more forgettable miniseries of all the miniseries I have ever watched. Though as the Parson this does mark his transition out of being a womanizer, and for that I am very happy.

Bio: Ben started acting on television in the mid-90s after training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, but it wasn't until 2000 when he was cast as Patrick in Coupling that he got his big break. Which begs the question as to why he hasn't appeared on Doctor Who! I mean come on Steven Moffat, you gave him his start, get on this! End rant. After this many roles followed in numerous miniseries. He is married to a fellow actress, Emily Raymond, and among his theatre credits is a stint in Richard II opposite his father-in-law. Lately he has been starring more and more onstage and can be seen as Thomas Cromwell on Broadway when Wolf Hall transfers there next year. Though I'm still bitter that my friend Mike got to see him and a plethora of my other favorite actors on Broadway a few years back in the revival of The Norman Conquests which went on to win a Tony. Perhaps I might go and see Wolf Hall to level the playing field...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Bainbridge, Ben Miles, Berkeley Square, Coupling, Dracula, Dream Casting, George Mann, Lark Rise to Candleford, Newbury and Hobbes, The Forsyte Saga, Under the Greenwood Tree, V for Vendetta, Wolf Hall, Zen

Home to Roost and Other Peckings by Deborah Devonshire
Published by: John Murray
Publication Date: 2009
Format: Hardcover, 168 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

While Deborah has always been considered the horse and hounds sister of the Mitfords, but involving chickens, I think that she has a secret... that despite her protestations ("[m]y father would not have wasted time reading - a trait I have inherited from him") that she is actually quite well read and loves to write. Despite Home to Roost being a very slim volume, it clearly shows that the writer is well educated, a fact we know is not due to her upbringing, and adept at pulling out the right literary quote at the right time, traits that I wouldn't lay at people who aren't readers. The little essays in this beautiful book (there are adorable illustrations) run the gamut from book reviews (see she does admit to read a little!) and her awkward book signings to family history and how one looks in a tiara. So there is a little something for everyone you might say.

Yet, like her most literary of sisters, Nancy and Jessica, it's not the slightly turgid and formulaic book reviews or weird ramblings about motorways that capture your interest, it's her own experiences and the history of her husband's family that not only sparkle with wit and insight but draw you completely into her world. I think it's because this is what she loves to write, plain and simple. Sure, she'll write the other stuff if asked or if the mood suits her, but really she'd rather tell you about a party at Chatsworth House during the height of Queen Victoria's reign. In fact, this family history I think is what lured her into being a writer, especially if you take note that her earliest writings where all on Chatsworth. It's her love of Chatsworth and it's history that make a simple story about a post office closing something more. A post office isn't a post office, it's the beating heart of a community, which anyone who is a fan of Lark Rise to Candleford will agree. Therefore the closing of the Edensor post office was a poignant story.

Because of this diverse range of topics, Home to Roost has a very uneven feel until about half way through the book. What happens half way is that Deborah shifts the book right into that which she writes best, her own life. It becomes a diary, and oh what a diary. The three pieces on the Kennedys is amazing. While the Mitfords where kind of the lay royalty of England, the Kennedys where the same for America. To find out that not only that they had this connection, but that the families where joined by Kit Kennedy's marriage to Debo's brother-in-law was fascinating. Too bad that ended in the tragedy which made Deborah the Duchess of Devonshire... yet that this intimacy between the families continued long after the tragedy is what drives these little vignettes. That Deborah was there for not only the inauguration but then the funeral, brought a sad reality to it. For me, JFK was always someone of the past and a part of history, but Deborah made him more real, more human. Also, it didn't hurt that she thought he was an all round swell guy.

Though hands down there was one article, for sheer humor, that made the book for me. Being raised in the art world and then being an artist myself, who at one point was considering going to get a Masters Degree at Christie's Auction House, I know the vagaries of naming art work and the inherent humor. Debo herself mercilessly skewered and made fun of these naming conventions in the short piece "Auction Catalogues." I was howling with laughter and her thinking of how the names where created by the compiler of the catalog. "The figures in rural scenes are always Peasants or Cottagers. If the female peasants have got pots on their heads they will be In an Italianate Landscape. Any water in the way puts them into A River Landscape. If you can see for miles, start with An Extensive Landscape." Deborah views the modern "untitled" art as a wise move, to avoid these lenghty and downright odd conventions. Go Debo! I am heartily glad that there is still one Mitford out there we can count on for some barbing! Where would we be without a Mitford?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alan Bennett, Chatsworth, Deborah Mitford, Home to Roost, Jessica Mitford, JFK, Lark Rise to Candleford, Mitford March, Nancy Mitford

Bleak House
Based on the book by Charles Dickens
Release Date: October 27th, 2005 – December 16th, 2005
Starring: Anna Maxwell Martin, Denis Lawson, Carey Mulligan, Patrick Kennedy, Nataniel Parker, Gillian Anderson, Timothy West, John Lynch, Charles Dance, Burn Gorman, Phil Davis, Loo Brealey, Catherine Tate, Alun Armstrong, Pauline Collins, Johnny Vegas, Hugo Speer, Anne Reid and Ian Richardson
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

The case of Jardyce verses Jardyce has spent many years in chancery and destroyed many lives. There are too many wills and no definitive final version. Ada Clare and Richard Carstone have just found out they are at the heart of this case. Having spent years in schools and sheltered, they never knew of their stake in this historic case. But now one of the other possible benefactors, John Jardyce, has taken in these two wards of Jardyce, and hired a companion for Ada, the sweet Esther Summerson. While the case continues to play out in the courts of chancery, Esther and Ada try to come to terms with this new life they have been given, while poor Richard can't detach himself from the fortune he might have if the case where to be settled in his and Ada's favor. Though there are many people who could be effected from the outcome of the case. Lady Deadlock has some stake, though how much is not made clear. Yet it is Lady Deadlock's secret, and the ruthlessness of her husband's lawyer, Mr. Tulkinghorn, that in the end could have a far greater effect on Esther than any court verdict. From a scribe called Nemo to a street boy named Joe, a "childlike" man with more guile that you could imagine, to an odd hoarder who spontaneously combusts, it is the little people, the odd characters that are touched by this case that make the beautiful tapestry that is Bleak House.

The first time I watched Bleak House was when it aired on PBS and I did not enjoy the experience. Yes, I know this is blasphemy and my fellow Anglophiles have derided me for this, just so you know you aren't along in the shock they felt. I just felt it was too drawn out, having to wait weeks for each installment, when what I really wanted to do was marathon it. Also the fact that many things that where scandalous and taboo in Victorian times are rather the norm today. There was also the fact that I didn't really care for the actress who plated Esther. At this time I had only seen Anna Maxwell Martin in North and South. She was good in that and then she died. I just felt she didn't have the strength to carry this show on her shoulders and I kept hoping for her death. I mean, I can't stand her and she's picking up all these people in thrall to her, why exactly? More on that later. But the main problem besides my hatred of Anna (which I have somewhat resolved, either she has become a better actress over time or I've just gotten used to her) was the drastic jump at the end. There is a mood and a feeling throughout the miniseries that jumped in the last scene. Everything is dark and sensibly bleak and then all of a sudden it's happy and jovial and every one's dancing and the music is upbeat and not fitting the tone. Icky jumping the sharkness. Even the music in the end credits is all happy happy joy joy and I think, more than anything, that left me scratching my head and dissatisfied. Now, when I watch, which I have done several times since, I am prepared for this jump and therefore, though I don't like it, I know it's coming and can brace for the impact.

There are other things that just irk me, most are directed more at Dickens than at the production. I'm sorry but John Jardyce is so awesome he deserved a happier ending, stupid Esther and your stupid Doctor. I still hate Richard, weak willed annoying cry baby... which has become a hatred of this actor because of his role in this. Recently he showed up on Boardwalk Empire and I was all, icky, no, can we kill him here too? Guppy to me is fascinating and perfectly played by Burn Gorman. Yet, I want to understand Guppy's motives more. He's totally entertaining, but does he love Esther for her or for her expectations? Because he's obviously one of the smartest characters in the story being able to easily unravel the central mystery of Esther's parentage... but is it this secret that makes him "love" Esther... and yes, I know I need to read the book and maybe this will answer my questions, but still, more closure or explanation was needed with this. And really, what was the draw of Esther. She picks up all these people who have an unwavering devotion to her, but why? What has Esther ever done than be just a boring dull person who never hurt or harmed anyone and shows just a little kindness and young girls and boys are willing to risk their lives for her? Really? If that's true, then a stronger actress was truly needed, see rant above. Also, Esther's stupid Doctor, I've never liked him and just couldn't put my finger on why he was bothering me even more on this re watching and I realized he was on Lark Rise to Candleford as the supposed match for Dorcas in the end, which I totally don't buy. Dorcas deserved so much better.

Yet, the things I love have started to overcome those that bother me. See, repeat viewings are good. Also, I think that Trollope was correct in his attack of this book in that it's the secondary characters that you love while the primary characters are weak and unlikable. I mean, who hasn't watched this miniseries and had a strange urge to yell at people "Shake me up Judy"? Also, I would never have been one to think that Johnny Vegas was suited towards period drama, yet it seems as if the self immolating Krook was written just for him. Then there's just little cameos like Richard Cant as the slightly drunk butler Mercury, that entertain me to no end, oh, and I want to be the mooching cop Bucket when I grow up. I guess I'm just saying, in a round about manner, that yes, I'm sorry I was quick to judge this series originally, but I can still see why I hated it, but have now come to find things that I greatly appreciate that make me overlook the flows, *cough* Esther *cough*.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 1 comments  

Labels: Anna Maxwell Martin, Bleak House, Boardwalk Empire, Chancery, Charles Dickens, Esther Summerson, Johnny Vegas, Lady Deadlock, Lark Rise to Candleford, North and South, PBS, Richard Cant, Shake Me Up Judy

This years inspiration was a more Victorian urchin/lower classes look. While I had reveled in last year's explorer, I actually wanted something, dare I say, more girly? Again, not being one for a corset, though I promise, I will one day try, I started looking at people who might not have the nice corsets, mainly, the working class or field laborers. This actually was one of the reasons I decided to re-watch all of Lark Rise to Candleford. Not that I needed an excuse, but it is fun watching a show and claiming it's "research." Also, I thought it would be fun to bring back some of my other skill sets for this year, aka, knitting!

Here is Emma Timmins. What I love about her look is the blouse, minus the stiff collar and the earthy cream color of it with the voluminous skirts.

Here is what I have always wanted when watching period dramas! Until recently I always referred to it as the knitted wrappy thingy that farm women wear. Yeah, as you can tell, real technical. So after about an hour online once I decided I wanted to make one, I found out it's called a Sontag. It's basically a shawl that is designed to wrap around the body and then connect. The one pictured here is the pattern I plan on using. So here's hoping it doesn't take too long. But of course, I must establish my color palette before going yarn shopping, and here's hoping I might have something in the house that will work... I do have a yarn hording habit...

Now this right here is THE DRESS that always makes me associate Lark Rise with Steampunk. How much more Steampunk could Dorcas's outfit be? While, yes, in a magical ideal world, this right her would be my costume, what I am taking to use is what I call the "cloth gauntlets." Women who where working and doing menial chores, like cleaning out fireplaces, would wear these so that they wouldn't get their shirts dirty. While here it is more fashion versus function, I felt that I would incorporate that into my look.

Yet, of course, I would go knitted, same yarn as the Sontag, with a little Steampunky design.

Finally for the skirt, I wanted something a little more modern, a little more space agey, but could still be mistaken for Victorian in the right setting, so an over skirt similar in style to this one.

While, I was originally thinking a split layering, the over skirt above wouldn't work so well, but I do want the layering with a lacier underskirt, preferably tea-stained, and the over skirt a little shorter, so as to see the two layers clearly.

Next week, some sketches! Or, really, as soon as I get them up because I am two weeks behind on this post (sorry, sorry, my computer crashed and got a nasty virus and I got a new OS and had to basically rebuild my computer, but now it has more RAM, not so exciting to you, very exciting to me, and I don't have a scanner attached now and I don't have the drivers updated for my Wacom yet... chaos did ensue.)

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Dorcas Lane, Emma Timmins, Knitting, Lark Rise to Candleford, Sartorial Sundays, Sontag, Steampunk, Teslacon

Have you ever been reading a book and find that you can't read the next page because it has never been cut?  But this surprisingly happened to me just the other day while I was reading my copy of Lark Rise to Candleford. Of course this used to be a common occurrence with older books, and it was de riguer in Austen's lifetime. Ever wondered why Mr. Bennet in the BBC miniseries has a knife whilst sitting in his study avoiding the shrill cries of his wife? And no, not just plotting on his behalf. People actually kept knives ("paperknives") nearby in order to open said pages... they weren't there to keep away book pilferers as you might have thought. So out of interest I wandered to the lovely web and looked up uncut pages only to find I have been using a misnomer for years, I should have been saying unopened pages! Also it turns out I should have used a parring knife not a regular old knife... but it turned out better than the time I tried to do it with my finger to the first volume of Pride and Prejudice that was my grandmother's when I was a teenager and it now has a very "badly opened" page indeed (ie torn and raggedy).

As the book collector's glossary explains unopened pages: "A state where the book's pages at the fore edge and/or top are still joined from the folding. This cannot occur if the book has been properly cut. At one time many books were issued unopened, and it is not uncommon to find older books still in this pristine state."

It further goes on to say: "A rare book that is unopened may be considerably more valuable than that same book opened. Therefore, one should consider carefully before opening a book. Of course, you cannot read a book that is unopened, at least not in its entirety."

Hmmm, I understand book collecting...but I think you'd want to be able to read it!?!

A final note: "If you wish to "Open" a book in order to read it, DO NOT USE A VERY SHARP BLADE TO OPEN IT. Use something like a letter opener, and gently TEAR the fold, DO NOT CUT THE FOLD. You may find it useful to sharpen the crease at the fold before you attempt to open it. Don't use your finger to open a book, either. (See I knew it was wrong!) That is guaranteed to result in a book that is "Badly Opened", with rough, ragged tears that extend into the page. "

Sigh, to live in a world where I could meet a gentleman who carried around a paperknife just so that his reading wouldn't be interrupted! But at least we have Bortoletti, who specialize in reading accouterments...including paperknives!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Bortoletti, Jane Austen, Lark Rise to Candleford, Mr. Bennet, Mrs. Bennet, Paperknives, Pride and Prejudice, Uncut, Unopened

So this weekend isn't the best weekend, it's kind of the last weekend... of my break that is. Come Monday morning I'll be schlepping myself and my books to school once more. You can tell the excitement in my voice I'm sure! Why couldn't the snow come on Monday not Thursday, when I was off to see Jasper? Cause that nice big bleak parking lot next to the airport is always so inviting and pleasant in winter, what with the snow and the ice, not to mention the wind! We can't forget that now can we? But the BBC knew of my impending doom and has brought me a little ray of sunshine, in the form of new episodes of two of my favorite shows! I knew Being Human was returning, and I've been hooked on Aidan Turner for awhile now... not that I'm going to spoil anything, but maybe check out my Pink Carnation dream casting tomorrow... also Russell Tovey! What's not to love, plus here's hoping his girlfriend dies! But, that's not all! The BBC has fulfilled a true dream... new Lark Rise to Candleford. I knew it was coming soon, but this soon!?! Nope, not a clue. Ah Laura, Dorcas, the Pratts, I have missed you all! So now I have something to look forward to every week! A little reward that will help me face that horribly cold parking lot every Monday morning. Here's to the BBC! PBS might let me down, but you never have!

Also, here's the Being Human trailer for those who are desperate and can't wait for tomorrow... why do they make those stateside wait till at least summer? I'll really never know, the ocean isn't that big!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 5:41 PM 2 comments  

Labels: Aidan Turner, BBC, Being Human, Dorcas Lane, Jasper Fforde, Lark Rise to Candleford, Laura, Pink Carnation Spotlight, Russell Tovey, School, Snow, Winter

Every damsel needs her hero... who is this I see on a kind of off white steed?

Name: Stephen Campbell Moore

Dream Character Casting for the Lauren Willig Miniseries: Robert, Duke of Dovedale

First Impression: He Knew He Was Right... one of the best miniseries EVER, plus, besides being sweet and awesome, his sister kicks some serious ass, not that that really applies here, just thought it was worth mentioning.

Why they'd be the perfect actor for the Lauren Willig Miniseries: One of those occasions where I instantly thought of this actor. Don't know why or how, but when Robert shows up on that snowy night, he looked suspiciously like Stephen Campbell Moore.

Lasting Impression: Ashes to Ashes. Evan White. While, yes, his relationship with Alex is a little... odd to say the least, him with a beard... first time I thought sexy and not kind of goofy, ie the picture here.

What else you've seen them in: Byron, He Knew He Was Right, The History Boys, Lark Rise to Candleford, Ashes to Ashes, Stephen is a great period piece actor... there's something of a different time about him, even if that time was just the 80s, and I think he'd fit in perfectly in my little Lauren Willig world.

Can't believe it's them: A tie, Wallis & Edward with Bright Young Things. Wallis & Edward, just because this was made after some of the other things, yet he looks ten years younger. He looks so little and vulnerable, and he was the only reason I kept watching this very boring movie about two of the most self centered people in history. Yes, I'm not of the, oh how romantic notion, I'm of the, these people were friends with the Hitlers persuasion. And Bright Young Things just because I really can't remember much about this film... I know he was in it, I know it was by Stephen Fry... can't for the life of me recall anything else really... oh, Richard E Grant had a ten second cameo... yep, that's about it.

Wish they hadn't: Shaved off his beard! He's one of those men that must have a beard, just as Tom Selleck must have the stache!

Bio: Slowly building a reputation for great acting... wish he'd drop by season three of Ashes to Ashes with the beard back though...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 2 comments  

Labels: Ashes to Ashes, Bright Young Things, Duke of Dovedale, Evan White, He Knew He Was Right, Lark Rise to Candleford, Lauren Willig, Pink Carnation Spotlight, Stephen Moore Campbell, Wallis and Edward

December and the holidays are now upon us and the BBC has been plentiful with their presents this year! So let's take a look at what the coming month has to offer us Anglophiles...

Well, the much blogged about (by me) two part Cranford Christmas special is drawing ever nearer. But this little bit of casting news has me in an apoplexy of joy! Tim Curry is in it! He will play the conjurer Signor Brunoni. Also, in an effort to make sure the denizens of Cranford stick to their Gaskell roots, the production is firstly incorporating characters that didn't get included in the first telling, including Signor Brunoni. But secondly it's looking to Gaskell's other works using both her story, The Moorland Cottage and The Cage at Cranford for inspiration. Oh, I can't wait. On a final Cranford note (for now) Carl (P&P) Davis is back doing the score and there will be a behind the scenes special entitled: Corsets, Carriages and Christmas at Cranford (way to go for alliteration!)

In more "classics" news, the new adaption of The Turn of the Screw will also be airing... A new adaptation of A Child's Christmas in Wales staring Ruth Jones of Gavin and Stacey, will be shown and I'm sure harshly judged by my father (it's one of his favorite stories). But as I said, at least Ruth Jones is Welsh! Plus, after her turn in both Tess and Little Dorrit, she has proven she can do period pieces as well as being the best friend to the only gay in the village. But is anyone else a bit worried there was no mention of Lark Rise to Candleford's Christmas episode?

Elsewhere on the BBC, David Tennant is back battling the Master, while Donna, his erstwhile companion Catherine Tate is back for her very own Christmas Special... I really wonder if this one will top her previous foray into the holidays with lots of angry letters from viewers... personally I didn't find it too offensive, unless you really dislike watching Catherine make out with George Michael. There is also going to be a Gavin and Stacey Christmas Special attached to the currently airing 3rd season. Also in what is sure to be the weirdest spoof documentary since Christopher Guest and the gang first created Martin Di Bergi, we have Steve Coogan: The Inside Story to look forward to. Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer help Steve chronicle his rise to fame. Also diconcerting... no mention of The IT Crowd's rumored Christmas episode...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 1:28 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Child's Christmas in Wales, Anglophile, Catherine Tate, Christmas, Cranford, David Tennant, December, Elizabeth Gaskell, Holidays, Lark Rise to Candleford, The Turn of the Screw, Tim Curry

So today begins the boring part of Masterpiece (no longer theater). Or so that's how I always view the Contemporary section in my head. It doesn't have the lure of the costume drama that the Classic has, or the intrigue of what was once Mystery, or the length, usually being the shortest of the seasons. But I think I might reconsider all this seeing as David Tennant is the new host. Yes, I hate how they've done away with the old intros and I hate this rotating celebrity shtick they've got going, but with David Tennant they may be onto something. Aside from Alan Cumming that is, he's too perfect and the natural inheritor of the show from the likes of Vincent Price and Diana Rigg, bring back the Edward Gorey sets and I'm hooked for life. Back to David. He's got the classic training down, he's got that wonderful Scottish brogue and he's The Doctor for freakin' sake! The fact that I have David Tennant to look forward to on Sunday nights means I'm a little less pissed he quit Doctor Who...just a little...I mean he's so perfect and I know why he quit...but back to Masterpiece.

This season of only three shows (see I said short) looks to be stellar. We have Endgame, and no not the Samuel Beckett play, and while we're on it, why name a political thriller about apartheid after the most famous play by Beckett, after Waiting for Godot that is. This one is the show that fills the "political quota" that the Contemporary section seems to want to burden us with. After that we get Place of Execution. This aired in Britain last year, and I have to say, it's amazing! Starring Juliet Stevenson and Greg Wise this takes place around a girls disappearance 40 years earlier and the investigative journalist who has to uncover the truth, at all costs. This is based on the book of the same name by Val McDermid and made by Robson Green's production company that made McDermid's Wire in the Blood (it so needs to be uncancelled right now). So right there you are forewarned. It's dark, it's creepy, it's fabulous...and it's also totally a mystery, so it's in the wrong section, but I won't quibble, this means an intro by David Tennant. The final show, Collision, I know nothing about, apart from it's written by Anthony Horowitz of Foyle's War inception so it has to be good, he's never failed yet. It also stars that actor from Primeval who I hate cause he played Ned Lawrence mac two on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles...but that's a personal hate...he has such creepy eyes!

So at least you'll be in good hands (they are the hands of a Doctor after all) until the best season ever returns. Gotta love the Classics! I'm sure we'll be seeing the new Emma, perhaps the recent miniseries on the Romantics? Desperate Romantics anyone? And of course Cranford! We can also hope that Lark Rise to Candleford gets bumped from random airings to full fledged Classic, as it should be! Have you watched season 1 yet? It's out on DVD now! A final thought...I do wonder who our host will be? Shall Laura Linney return or will she go the way of Gillian Anderson and Matthew Goode?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 6:36 PM 4 comments  

Labels: Alan Cumming, David Tennant, Diana Rigg, Dr. Who, Edward Gorey, Lark Rise to Candleford, Masterpiece Contemporary, Masterpiece Theater, Place of Execution, Robson Green, Val McDermid

Spring of 2008 I got hooked on the new BBC series Lark Rise to Candleford. I just could not get enough of the sweet little series set in Oxfordshire where nothing every really went wrong and life was calm and peaceful, but with a dash of humor, especially from Dawn French. After the first series ended I found myself suffering severe Lark Rise withdrawal, how was I going to last till Christmas!?! I decided to take the logical step and read all the books the series is based on, Lark Rise, Over to Candleford and Candleford Green, thankfully all contained in the volume I was able to get my hands on! But the first two books were not exactly as I expected them to be. They had the sweet rural charm of the series but then after a lovely description the author would take all the loveliness away with some backhanded remark. Twister, that sweet old man who all the children loved years later would kill cats for pleasure. Mr. Timmins always dreamed of getting out of the hamlet and leading a better life for his family, 40 years later he died still in the end house in the hamlet. I thought how could this be what my lovely series was based on? The books had a dark ominous air that these "future echoes" imparted. I put down the book and would only read a little at a time because that is all I could take. I finally finished it and I actually am glad I did, and not because it was over, but because the third book was actually the series I knew and loved. All the characters were finally there and all the horribleness of the future was left unsaid.

Flora Thompson wrote these books as an autobiography, only changing her name from Flora Timms to Laura Timmins. They were based on her growing up in rural Oxfordshire and then going on to work in the Post Office. The television series starts with Laura going off to the Post Office to start work, and that is where Candleford Green starts. By her third and so far best book she has done away with the ominous storm clouds of progress and sticks mainly in the then and now. We see the day to day life of a bustling town, not quite a city but not a hamlet. All the wonderful characters from the series are present, from the Pratt sisters who do dress work to Dorcas Lane and Zillah. This book is what I expected of the previous two! The sweet country reminiscences of Laura being in between two worlds.

If you have not yet watched this show I urge you to watch it immediately (it has been airing on PBS and will be out on DVD October 10th). Likewise if you have watched the series and are in desperate need of some more adventures of these lovable characters before season two airs in the US or season three in the UK, I suggest reading Candleford Green. I am also excited for the follow up to Candleford Green, Heatherley about Laura's first job as head of a Post Office in Grayshott, I'm not endorsing this yet though, I have yet to read it and it might be just as sad and depressing as the first two.

Lark Rise to Candleford by Flora Thompson
Published by: Penguin
Publication Date: 1945
Format: Paperback, 537 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

Posted by Miss Eliza at 2:35 PM 2 comments  

Labels: Book Review, Candleford Green, Dawn French, Flora Thompson, Lark Rise to Candleford