With short days and storms like Eowyn whipping up the wind and battering the windows, who wants to venture outside? Better to stay in the warm and curl up with a good book. At The Vale, residents have a choice – to remain in their own apartments or wander down to the comfort of the library with its array of titles on the shelves and comfy, welcoming chairs.
If you opt for your own book, here are few that celebrities, other writers and critics have recommended – some old favourites as well as newer titles. Several are on the Waterstone’s reading list and don’t forget that Streatham now has its very own branch on the High Road. That should provide enough reading material for many winters to come.
A Far Cry From Kensington, Muriel Spark
Set in 1950’s London in the post-war publishing industry, the book centres on a diverse set of young people newly arrived in the capital. They live in a large rooming house under the stewardship of landlady, Milly, who regales them with tales from her own past. ‘Provocative and entertaining.’
The Turn of the Screw, Henry James
Probably not one to read on your own, late at night, this gothic horror tale is compelling and chilling. It relates the experiences of a governess who comes to take charge of two young children in a remote house. She begins to think that they might be haunted after some strange and disturbing happenings.
Hindoo Holiday: An Indian Journal, J.R. Ackerly
Not exactly a holiday but a fascinating journal of Ackerly’s few months spent as private secretary to the Maharajah of Chhokrapur. Funny, observant and a blissful escape into another time, place and culture.
The Proof of My Innocence, Jonathan Coe
Moving between 1980’s Cambridge and the short-lived rise and fall of the Liz Truss premiership, the book centres on Phyll, an English graduate living with her parents and working a zero hours contract in a sushi chain. Crime and dark academia become intertwined when Phyll is faced with a shocking death.
Gabriel’s Moon, William Boyd
A 1960’s spy romp with a tragedy-haunted travel hack who is lured into doing the British state’s dirty work in the Congo during its early years of independence.