Before Imogen Hermes Gowar was a writer, she worked at visitor services for the British Museum. There she came across a rare and hideous artefact, a mummified monkey stitched to the tail of a fish. Fascinated, she plunged into the story that became her first novel, The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock. Thanks to a feckless captain, Jonah Hancock -- a merchant -- loses a ship but finds himself apparently in possession of a mermaid. Gowar wickedly evokes the brothels and coffee shops of Georgian London, abuzz with talk of this extraordinary creature. he impeccable period detail is brought to life by the sheer joy of Gowar’s prose in this bawdy, witty tale. And she has particular fun with Angelica Neal, a spoilt, spirited and highly accomplished courtesan.
Making Bread Ahead Doughnuts
Like most people, I will eat any doughnut offered to me: a Greggs jam doughnut; a Krispy Kreme chocolate dreamcake or even a yuzu and matcha vegan number from Crosstown. The absolute acme of doughnut perfection, however, are Bread Ahead doughnuts.
Originally made by baker Justin Gellatly for St. John restaurant, he’s now Head Baker at Bread Ahead where they sell 5000 of these beauties a week. Even if you’ve never tried one, you’ve probably seen pictures of them on Instagram.
The End We Start From by Megan Hunter
The narrator of Megan Hunter’s moving first novel envisages for herself “a water birth, with whale music, and hypnotism, and perhaps even an orgasm”. The reality is, of course, different and she leaves hospital “barely intact”. The change wrought in her by new motherhood is echoed by a change in the world around her: a flood is threatening to engulf England, making the narrator, her partner and their new baby refugees. The claustrophobia of life with a newborn is intensified by the apocalyptic drama unfolding around them. Retreating to the rural home of her partner’s parents, the narrator refers to the “tiny cabin that has become our world”.
Meeting Elizabeth Jane Howard
I had read Slipstream (2002), the novelist Elizabeth Jane Howard’s brilliant – and apparently candid – memoir by the time I interviewed her in November 2013. It was less than two months before she died. I wondered what else there was to ask her: she had laid bare her disastrous first marriage to Peter Scott, son of the Antarctic explorer; her affair with Cecil Day-Lewis, whilst he was married to one of her closest friends; her acrimonious divorce from her third husband, fellow writer Kingsley Amis, and so much more.
Five Books You Should Have Read (Instead of Lie About Having Read)
The best response to someone asking you about a book you haven’t read is to own up – immediately. The main reason for not lying about what you’ve read, of course, is that the lie somehow seems to stop you from actually getting round to the book. It’s also rather chic to be honest about this. I asked the bestselling novelist David Nicholls what he thought of DH Lawrence a few years ago and he said: ‘I would be more eloquent about this if I’d ever got to the end of one of his novels – and I never have.’
Justine Tabak
If, like us, you’ve been enjoying the new BBC adaptation of Howards End, then you’ve probably also been seduced by the clothes of the bohemian Schlegel sisters. We’ve found that it doesn’t do to interpret the style of an Edwardian bluestocking too literally and don’t feel we could pull off the high-necked, puff-sleeved blouses as amply as Hayley Atwell does anyway. We do, however, yearn for a long oxblood red skirt or a dress in smart cotton tartan with a black velvet ribbon tie. This is where Justine Tabak, who has produced a small collection of just such clothes, comes in.