BACK LIST
Black meets white on an isolated farm outside Washington DC. when the white Fletcher family buy up the farm and move in. forcing the black Bellows clan back into the cottages ‘out-back'. Despite Charley Fletcher‘s liberal attitude and attempts at friendship. natural resentment develops from the Bellows' side and tensions flare up. The men. Moses and Guy. in the Bellows family feel their loss most keenly and no amount of liberal niceties on Charley Fletcher‘s part is going to heal the rift. Lara. Charley‘s Danish wife. knows what it means to have lost both possessions and pride — and it is the women of both families who most understand the reasons behind the tensions at Elm Grove.
Passionate undercurrents are unearthed as the lives ofthe two families merge. leading to an CXpIOSIVC climax. and threatening to shatter everyone‘s lives.
The novel is a richly-crafted network ofcharacter. language and plot in which every page is to be savoured - Susan Richards Shreve is a formidable story-teller. The ending is the only weak point of the novel — the rest is pure pleasure in book form. (Ann Vinnicombe)
JUST PUBLISHED
Rosemary Goring reviews the latest titles.
I Elsewhere, Perhaps Amos Oz (Flamingo £3.99) Life behind the ideological patina of a kibbutz — infidelity and jealousy and passion and all.
I No Fixed Address Aritha van I Ierk (Virago £4.99) The fast-screwing adventures of a ladies‘ underwear saleswoman.
I The Beast Must Die Nicholas Blake (Hogarth £4.95) From the pseudonymous pen ofCecil Day Lewis. a cleverly warped tale of revenge.
I Vito Loves Geraldine Janice Eidus (Serpent‘s Tail £6.95) Surprising scoop ofcolourful American stories - risky and successful.
I Forty-Seventeen Frank Moorhouse (Faber £4.99) Everything he‘s learnt by this ripe old age. and all that she. a mere child. doesn‘t want to know.
I David Blaize E.F. Benson (Hogarth £4.95) Sterling British humour from the archetypal public school. with the inevitable ink pellets and beetles under the blankets.
I Threatening Eye Lesley Grant-Adamson (Faber £3.50) A graveful ofcorpses. murdered each. and a likely. pornographic suspect. Not exactly gripping.
I Working For Love Tessa Dahl (Penguin £2.99) Not a bit like Dad. she brings us a semi-autobiographical account of a tragic childhood and miserable marriage; the entrails are left wide for all to see.
I Bigtoot Dreams Francine Prose (Futura £4.50) What happens when a positively non-investigative reporter discovers that one of her imaginative offerings is disturbingly true.
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FESTIVAL or wmrmo
Scarcely has the bookish dust settled on Edinburgh‘s biennial literary iamboree, than Glasgow‘s International Festival of Writing tees oil. The event is, according to organiser Margery Metzstein, a trailer lorthe literary programme during Glasgow's reign as the European City of Culture. ‘The Festival will be the trigger for several community-based initiatives which are going to feed into the main events in 1990. There will be school events, as well as writers’ group link-ups.‘ The themes for this year’s International Festival -writing and race, class, gender and culture—will also carry on into next year. ‘We wanted to look at the whole multi-cultural aspect of Scottish lite by having these themes. It will enable us to discuss issues that affect Glasgow now, and it will set the agenda for next year. By starting this year, itwill be on-going. In April there will be a multi-cultural event, which will be followed in September by a literary fortnight. We’ll gather in all oi the community-based activities, and have exhibitions oI work,’ said Metzstein. The International Festival of Writing (see below for details) is a creditable harbinger of book-based events next year, with a line-up including Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Sue Townsend, Liz Lochhead, and part-Aboriginal, part-Scottish/Australian poet Archie Weller. Tickets are available Irom the Ticket Centre, Candleriggs (and other Ticketlink outlets) or by telephone on 041 227 5511 or at the door. All tickets are £2 (£1) per day or £5 (£2) Iorthree days, except where indicated.
FRIDAY 1
I The Writer and the Language 8pm at Glasgow College. Keynote Address: Ngugi wa Thiong'o. Responses: Edwin Morgan (Scotland). Shirley Lim or Achebe.
SATURDAY 2
I Ama Ata Aidoo. Eunice De Souza. Micere Mugo and others 930— 1 pm in the Boyd ()rr Building. University ofGlasgow.
I The Writer and the Race 9.30pm in the Boyd Orr Building. University of Glasgow. Speaker: L'sha Brown.
I The Writer and Class I lam in the Boyd Orr Building. University of Glasgow. Speaker: Sue Townsend. Responses: Castlemilk Writers Workshop. Sue Townsend will be available to sign copies of her latest book.
I The Writer and Gender. 2.30pm in the Boyd Orr Building. University of Glasgow. Speaker: Shirley Lim (Malaysia). Responses: Liz Lochhead (Scotland). Ama Ata Aidoo (Zimbabwe). I Meet the Author (and Eat!) 5.30pm in the Scotia Bar. Stockwell Street. Reading: Bernard MacLaverty ( Ireland ).
I International Poetry Reading 8pm in the Scotia Bar. Stockwell Street. Tickets £2 (£1). Eunice de Souza (India). Jackie Kay
(Britain). Shirley Lim (Malaysia). Archie Weller (Australia).
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SUNDAY 3
I International Writing in Schools 1 1am in the Mitchell Theatre. Moir Hall. This isa seminar for teachers toexplain the International Festival of Writing and its relevance to schools. Information on writers as well as multi-cultural and anti-racist materials will be on display. Writers will be present to discuss their work and explore its educational possibilities. Free.
I Against Racism and Apartheid 12.30pm in the Mitchell Theatre. Moir Ilall. Chair: Radha Cherry (Scottish International Labour Council). Speaker: Ngugi wa Thiong‘o (Kenya). Introduced by Brian Filling (Scottish Committee for Anti-Apartheid). Supported by the Scottish International Labour Council and the Scottish Committee for Anti-Apartheid.
I Archie Weller, Shirley Lim. Wangui wa Goro 1.30—4pm in the Moir I Iall
I Reading at the Phoenix 2pm. A special event taking place in the PhoenixTheatre in Barlinnie Special L'nit. Readers: Chinua Achebe. Bernard MacLaverty and Mark McManus. Free. For entry. turn up at the main gate and ask for Billy Elliotof The Phoenix Theatre Committee. Enquiries to 7709691 ext 210.
I The Writer and Nationality 2pm at the Mitchell Theatre. Moir Hall. Speaker: Douglas Dunn (Scotland)
I The Writer and Culture 4pm in the Mitchell Theatre. Moir I Iall. Speaker: Edward Kamau Brathwaite. Responses: Peter Arnott. Eunice De Souza.
I Poetry and Performance b.3(lpm in the Mitchell Theatre. Moir llall. £2 (£1 ). Readings: Jackie Kay. Edwin Morgan. Sorley MacLean. Liz Lochhead. Douglas Dunn. Chinua Achebe.
Pertormance Group Staunch Poets and Players present ‘Tim Tim' written and performed by George Alphonse. This one-man show is a stylised commentary on the vanishing Caribbean; a unique weaving of the splendid poetry/prose of the Caribbean and Africa. incorporating the works of poets such as Louise Bennett. Martin Carter. Robert Kee. Kendal llippolyte and Gabriel Okara.
MONDAY 4
I Tim Tim 1.30pm at (‘ranhill School. Performers: Staunch Poets and Players.
. RESTAURANT & BAR .
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THE
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TWO CENTURIES OF SCOTTISH STORIES
edited by
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:30 contributors
including Scott, Hogg‘. (ialt, Stevenson. Mt‘(lal)e. Gray, Dunn . . .
. an exrellent volume . . . the fullest volume of Scottish short II(‘II()II ever made available.”
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£14.95 hbk 0 86241 207 2 lfi‘lune 1989
CANONGATE PUBLISHING I7_]elIrey Street I'ltlinlitirgh III II II)I{ Tel: 031-557 5888
The List 1— 14 September 1989 69