There are so many things I really should be doing but currently I can't seem put my mind to them - they can wait. Thank goodness for my pile of new books which are offering such a great source of relaxation and escapism.
Although published last year, I have only just read The Salt Path by Raynor Winn - a great read full of love and pathos. This is her first book, I enjoyed her writing, and am now looking forward to her follow up book 'The Wild' due out this September. The Salt Path begins in Minehead, a Somerset seaside town, and a place where we stayed last Autumn. The path runs all around the South West coast for 630 miles until it finishes in Poole, Dorset. Whilst reading The Salt Path, I recognised many of the small rocky coves and fine sandy beaches, quaint towns and pretty villages that the couple pass through whilst on their journey. I had forgotten just how much of the SW coast we have actually visited. Our visits to that area have always been happy, relaxed holiday occasions, unlike those of Raynor and her husband Moth, who are dragging themselves along the pathway in the depths of despair, seeking a solution to their profound problems, but ultimately, in doing so, find themselves.
The Dutch House by Anne Patchett, was the next book on my pile, but when I went to find it, the book had disappeared, but was found in the hands of my husband. He was finding it a page turner, but fortunately he is a much quicker reader than I am, so I waited patiently for him to finish.
Fall in love with the Dutch House, you will want to visit it or maybe even live in it. Interestingly my vision of the property, both its situation and its architecture was completely different to that of my husband. Don't you just love this painting of Maeve? one of the main characters, and the daughter of the owner of the Dutch House. Her piercing blue eyes stare straight out at you from beneath her long, thick, black, glossy hair?
Why does the Dutch House hold such a pivotal role for both Maeve and her younger brother Danny throughout their entire lives, and will a resolution ever be found?
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PS - for anyone living in the UK - did you watch the wildlife programme on BBC2 - 10th July called The Fens - a Wild Year. The programme explores the vast patchwork of ancient wetlands and fertile farmland that make up the fens of East Anglia. You can get it on BBC iplayer catchup, it is one of the most beautifully filmed wildlife programmes I have seen. Whooper swans fly in from Iceland each winter, there has been a re-emergence of Cranes, wild ponies roam the Fens from Poland, and there are Asian water buffalo in the water meadows. Apart from the scenery and the diversity of animal/bird life, there are some really interesting human stories too.
