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Parliamentary Practice
In American and Australian Constitutions judicial power of State is located in judiciary: such is not given in Indian Constitution.
By Advocatetanmoy on July 18, 2018
The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.
The Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary are all treated under our Constitution with respective spheres. The jurisdiction of this Court and of High Courts under our Constitution is dealt with by Articles under the Heads of the Union Judiciary and the State Judiciary. Under Article 136 any Tribunal or Court is amenable to the jurisdiction of this Court.
Judicial review in many matters under statute may be excluded. In many cases special jurisdiction is created to deal with matters assigned to such authorities. A special forum is even created to hear election disputes. A right of appeal may be conferred against such decision, if Parliament acts as the forum for determination of election disputes it may be a question of parliamentary privilege and the courts may not entertain any review from such decisions. That is because the exercise of power by the Legislature in determining disputed elections may he called legislative power. A distinction arises between what can be called the traditional judicial determination by courts and tribunals on the one hand and the peculiar jurisdiction by the legislature in determining controverted elections on the other.
The legal order is a system of general and individual norms connected with each other according to the principle that law regulates its own creation. Each norm of this order is created according to the provisions of another norm and ultimately according to the provisions of the basic norm constituting the unity of this system, the legal order. A norm belongs to a certain legal order, because it is created by an organ of the legal community constituted by this order. Creation of law is application of law. The creation of a legal norm is normally an application of the higher norm, regulating its creation. The application of higher norm is the creation of a lower norm determined by the higher norm. A judicial decision is an act by which a general norm, a statute, is applied but at the same time an individual norm is created binding one or both parties to the conflict. Legislation is creation of law. Taking it into account is application of law. The higher norm may determine the organ and the procedure by which a lower norm and the contents of the lower norm are created. For a norm the creation of which is not determined at all by another norm cannot belong to another legal order. The individual creating a norm cannot be considered the organ of the legal community, his norm-creating function cannot be imputed to the community, unless in performing the function he applies a norm of the legal order constituting the community. Every law-creating act must be a law-applying act. It must apply a norm preceding the act in order to be an act of the legal order or the community constituted by it. When settling a dispute between two parties a court applies a general norm or statutory or customary law. Simultaneously, the court creates an individual norm providing that a definite sanction shall be executed against a definite individual. The individual norm is related to the general norm as the statute is related to the constitution. The judicial function is thus like legislation, both creation and application of law. The judicial function is ordinarily determined by the general norms both as to procedure and as to the contents of the norm to be created, whereas legislation is usually determined by the constitution only in the former respect.
The general norm, which attaches abstractly determined consequences, has to be applied to concrete cases in order that the sanction determined in abstract may be ordered and executed in concrete. The two essential elements of judicial functions are to apply a pre-existing general norm in which a certain consequence is attached to certain conditions. The existence of the concrete conditions in connection with the concrete consequence are what may be called individualization of the general and abstract norm to the individual norm of the judicial decision.
The power of the legislature to validate matters which have been found by judgments or orders of competent courts and Tribunals to be invalid or illegal is a well-known pattern. The legislature validates acts and things done by which the basis of judgments or orders of competent courts and Tribunal is changed and the judgments and orders are made ineffective. All the Sales Tax Validation cases, the election validation cases are illustrations of that proposition.
Judicial review is not to be founded on any Article similar to the American Constitution. In the Australian Constitution also the judicial power is located in the court, The doctrine of separation of powers is carded into effect in countries like America, Australia. In our Constitution there is separation of powers in a broad sense, But the larger question is whether there is any doctrine of separation of powers when it comes to exercise of constituent power. The doctrine of separation of powers as recognised in America is not applicable to our country. (See Delhi Laws Act, (1951) SCR 747 at pages 965-66 = (AIR 1951 SC 332 at p, 395):Jayantilal Sodhan v. F. N, Rana, (1964) 5 SCR 294 :Chandra Mohan v, State of Uttar Pradesh, (1967) 1 SCR 77 at page No. 87 = (AIR 1966 SC 1987 at p, 1993) and Udai Ram Sharma v. Union of India, (1968) 3 SCR 41 at v. 67 = (AIR 1968 SC 1138 at p 1152).
The rigid separation of powers as under the American Constitution or under the Australian Constitution does not apply to our country. Many powers which are strictly judicial have been excluded from the purview of the courts. The whole subject of election has been left to courts traditionally under the common Law and election disputes and matters are governed by the Legislature. The question of the determination of election disputes has particularly been regarded as a special privilege of Parliament in England. It is a Political question in the United States. Under our Constitution Parliament has inherited all the privileges, powers and immunities of the British House of Commons. In the case of election disputes Parliament has defined the procedure by law. It can at any time change that procedure and take over itself the whole question. There is, therefore, no question of any separation of powers being involved in matters concerning elections and election petitions.
When the constituent power exercises powers the constituent power comprises legislative, executive and judicial powers. All powers flow from the constituent power through the Constitution to the various departments or heads. In the hands of the constituent authority there is no demarcation of powers. It is only when the constituent authority defines the authorities or demarcates the areas that separation of power is discussed. The constituent power is independent of the doctrine of separation of powers. The constituent power is sovereign. It is the power which creates the organs and distributes the powers.
The constituent power is sui generis. It is different from legislative power. The position of unlimited law making power is the criterion of legal sovereignty. The constituent power is sovereign because the Constitution flows from the constituent power.
Every organ of the State has to ascertain facts which make the foundation of its own decision. The executive usually collects its materials through its departments. The judiciary acts in a field where there are two or more parties before it and upon evidence placed before it pronounces its verdict according to principles of natural justice. The legislature is entitled to obtain information from any source. The legislature may call witnesses. The rule of Audi Alterm Partem is not applicable in a legislative process. Legislation is usually general. It may sometimes be for special reasons an individual case. There is no doubt that the constituent power is not the same as legislative power. The distinction between constituent power and legislative power is always to be borne in mind be cause the constituent power is higher in norm.
It is true that no express mention is made in our Constitution of vesting in the judiciary the judicial power as is to be found in the American Constitution. But a division of the three main functions of Government is recognised in our Constitution. Judicial power in the sense of the judicial power of the State is vested in the Judiciary. Similarly, the Executive and the Legislature are vested with powers in their spheres, Judicial power has lain in the hands of the Judiciary prior to the Constitution and also since the Constitution. It is not the intention that the powers of the Judiciary should be named to or be shared by the Executive or the Legislature or that the powers of the Legislature or the Executive should pass to or be shared by the Judiciary.
The constituent power is sovereign. Lawmaking power is subject to the Constitution, Parliament may create forum to hear election disputes. Parliament may itself hear election disputes for example.
Categories: Parliamentary Practice
Tagged as: Judicial power
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Red Reporter Pledge Drive Update: Please humiliate me (for charity)
By RijoSaboCaseyWKRP Aug 14, 2012, 12:29pm EDT
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It's been one month since we kicked off the Red Reporter Pledge Drive. It's a little hard to calculate the total mid-stream (some pledges require the season to be over), but we've currently raised $337.50. Considering this is our first attempt - and we started after the All Star Break - I think that's damn good. You should be proud.
That also means we've hit the first $250 plateau. Per one of my pledges, I agreed to change my avatar and signature to something (almost guaranteed to be embarrassing) by community suggestion. Leave your ideas for either (or both) in the thread. Do not try to make me advertise your product, worship a weird god or claim that I hate the Reds. Wouldn't really be in the spirit of giving, would it? I'll set up a poll in another post with the best five.
And it's not too late to give. Some friendly suggestions for giving, for those looking for an outlet, after the jump.
Hospice of the Miami Valley
46 N. Detroit St., Suite B
Xenia, OH 45385
Red Reporter recently lost one of its own, Supergrover. The family has requested donations in memoriam. FordhamRam provided a very eloquent support of hospice giving:
His family's request that donations be made to the hospice where he stayed is a good indicator that he was well taken care for there.
Hospices are nowhere near as well-funded as they should be; and despite this, they're often run by incredibly caring and helpful people. If you can afford to ensure these folks have the ability to care for others the way they seemingly cared for SuperGrover, I encourage you to do.
Cincinnati Red Cross
Give Blood. Save Lives.
A leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty, with an emphasis on women, CARE leads "community-based efforts to improve basic education, prevent the spread of disease, increase access to clean water and sanitation, expand economic opportunity and protect natural resources. CARE also delivers emergency aid to survivors of war and natural disasters, and helps people rebuild their lives"
Free Store Foodbank
"The Freestore Foodbank is a provider of emergency food and client services. It is the Tri-State's largest food bank, serving 20 counties across Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. The Freestore Foodbank has three locations in the greater Cincinnati area: The Customer Connection Center on Liberty Street in Over-the-Rhine, the Mayerson Distribution Center on Tennessee Avenue in Bond Hill and the Jeff and Darlene Anderson Family Building on Central Parkway in the West End."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text: Bio Started performing as a dancer. Attended the Grandison College in Thornton Heath,Croydon and The Royal Ballet School and performed: as a dancer in (among other places) The Royal Albert Hall; as an actor in a TV advert; as a stage actor in The Ashcroft Theatre, Croydon, including with D'Oyly Carte; and in Rep in a Victorian melodrama in London's Toynbee Hall. Worked backstage at the Fol-de-Rols in Eastbourne's Congress Theatre in 1967 and as a Manager for ABC Cinemas in South East London and around the south east corner of England. Appeared in many amateur dramatics productions in South East England, including Chekhov's 'The Proposal' which took first prize at the South East England Drama Festival and went on to the national finals at The Ashcroft Theatre, Croydon. Joined Walsall's Grange Playhouse in 2010, and featured in half dozen productions, some of which won NODA awards. Also created their webspace and was Chairman of The Grange Players Ltd. Past member of British Mensa's poetry SIG (Special Interest Group), with a number of poems published in its organ, 'Lyriq'. Also the coordinator/editor of British Mensa's science fiction group, FantaSIG, editing the sci-fi magazine, 'Syzygy'. Performed at many live events as far afield as Worcester, Stafford, London's Southbank, some with own keyboard, including eight times at Birmingham Arts Fest, headlining at several central England venues and winning a slam in Dudley. Ran a poetry group at Dudley College, together with Roshan Doug, Birmingham Poet Laureate for 2001. Also created and coordinated Purple Penumbra poetry event at Langley, Birmingham, for three years. Writings and poetry have been published in a number of magazines and small press publications as well as e-zines, podcasts, Radio Wildfire and Radio Geronimo's website. A CD, 'Leandra' contains ten poems and a song, a sample (with own animation) from YouTube is on this site. Many other backing tracks and poems created using GarageBand are to be found on FaceBook, SoundCloud, Reverbnation and YouTube. A collection of poetry to be available in early 2018.


text:
Kamen je naseljeno mjesto u općini Čajniču, Republika Srpska, BiH. Nalazi se između Luka, Borajnog i Brezovica.

Godine 1985. nije ga zahvatila preorganizacija općine Čajniče (Sl.list SRBiH, br.24/85).

Stanovništvo

Izvori

Naselja u Republici Srpskoj
Čajniče

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Flormar: A Beauty Journey Shaped by Colors
Franchises-to-Open-Magz-July19-Comp-of-Month, Insights Special
by insights success
In an interview with Insights Success, Co-CEO of Flormar, Cem Senbay, shares insightful information about Flormar and its noteworthy contribution in the cosmetic industry. Founded in Milano, Italy the capital of the fashion industry, Flormar was acquired by the Şenbay Family in 1970 and began production in Turkey. In a short period of time the organization became an indispensable brand for women all over the world reaching yearly production of 120 million units with a wide range of products consisting of blushes, foundations, eye-shadows, mascaras, lipsticks, nail polishes, accessories, and skin care products.
Below are highlights from the interview conducted between Cem Senbay and Insights Success:
Give a brief overview of your company and its vision.
The name of our brand was inspired by the most powerful kind of love, the love for children. When the company was founded in 1950's in Milan, the art & fashion capital of Italy, the founders created the word Flormar by merging the names of their two daughters, Floridita and Maria. That is why our relationship with our customers is close to the insightful friendship between a mother and a daughter, a very special and powerful bond.
Talking about makeup and not thinking about colors is nearly impossible. Since every woman uses colors differently for every mood or every occasion, colors are very important. Colors are very upfront in the makeup business but Flormar is different because we understand the importance of color. We know that we must always develop new colors and new ways to keep them alive through out time. Colors are, in a sense, Flormar's heritage. That is why we say our brand's essence is "Color Centricity".
What are the cutting-edge products offered by Flormar?
With our rich product range, Flormar is always close to women, thinking about their every need from A to Z. Our focus and experience for our customers is very different from other makeup brands or retailers. Flormar is there from skin routine to the last touch of a perfume. We're here to make women feel and look amazing.
Flormar always looks at makeup from a holistic point of view. That is also why we present all the makeup categories at once to our customers. For example, one of our most innovative products, Roll'n Go Liner, has round disc tip for easy application. This unique rolling disk experience helps women to draw straight lines easily. Innovation packaging and being one of the first brands to launch this product made us way ahead from our competitors. Another example, since all the longlasting liquid matte lipsticks have a drying effect on the lips we pushed ourselves to improve our formulas to create the most comfortable product. As a result our bestselling lip product, Silk Matte Liquid Lipstick was born. One of the main claims of the product is to provide silky yet long lasting matte look on the lips. We used an independent research company to interview our customers, which resulted in 99% of women agreeing to our products claim and performance. Last but definitely not least, the nail enamels. Nail enamels are our heritage, that is why we can say it is our first love. From our humble beginnings until now and even tomorrow, we are always proud to present more than 250 shades in the nail enamel category highlighting our expansive range of colors.
What are the special franchisee strengths that make Flormar unique from its competitors?
Flormar holds a unique business model where most of the makeup retailers are not able to compete. We are manufactures of our products and in fully control with our innovation, ingredients and quality. We innovate fast, flexible to local needs, and accessible for all markets around the world.
Generally, in a makeup store, you do not see every type of beauty products in one stop shop. Flormar changed this stereotype and began presenting a wide range of products to our customers in one, lovely and charming place: A Flormar Store.
Recently we developed a new retail concept with leading firms MAD and DIAM, which are specialized in creating unique concepts for cosmetic retailers. After each work we made, we created the most profitable structure both for the shopper and for the retailer. We always use the right product at the right place, in order to designate strategic products and their purpose to our customer.
Describe the experiences, achievements or lessons learned that has shaped the journey of the company.
Flormar had humble beginning but eventually we managed to have our own fully automated factory. As a fast and ever growing powerful brand; Flormar is now proud to be a global company, having great relations with countless countries around the world.
Our hard work, professional attitude and determination, we reached our goals in a record-level time frame. With strong geo-cultural advantages, Flormar is always in the right place, at the right time. Flormar has always been lucky to work w_th strong and the best poss_ble partners _n the world. As I mentioned in the previous question, our main advantage is certainly being as fast as possible in every aspect. We innovate, produce, most importantly distribute very fast according to our local customer needs. The strength we get from our strong global partners, helps us to analyze and understand local needs of different markets allowing us to present the fastest solutions and offers possible. To exist both in domestic and foreign market is very important and crucial to Flormar, in a world of full globalization. There are 195 countries according to UN. We're present in majority of them today from East to West; Flormar has reached almost 1.000 mono brand stores, in more than 110 countries.
In addition, we always try to keep up with the new trends around the world and we are proud to be one of the very few makeup brands that does it all. We work together with the best consultants that hold global influence in the makeup industry.
Give a detailed description of your contribution over the company and the industry.
There are two main ingredients in the makeup industry: Country of origin and claiming professionalism. Both these two aspects may cause average women to feel a bit frustrated. Why? Because she may feel exposed and benchmarked with unreachable beauty goddess such as an American supermodel or a French actress. On the other hand, she can feel stressed and even feel offended to shop because she thinks professional products are very far away from her knowledge in make up. We dedicate ourselves to tear down these two taboos. We will always pay close attention to our customers wants and needs. We want to make her feel like her best friend is giving her advise during her shopping experience at Flormar retail stores. We are always smiling, humble, and helpful to our customers just like their best friend.
Flormar is well aware that the cosmopolite character of Istanbul adds a lot to the dynamism and proactivity of Flormar. With the example of a city that connects Europe and Asia continents, Flormar gets together with its customers and strengthens the bond.
We develop our products at the expected quality while keeping our price range a very affordable level. And of course, we never give up on the innovation!
Where does the Flormar see itself in the long run and what are its future goals?
As a hospitable company culture, we want to keep the 'best friend' mental_ty going, because our values are important and they state where we stand as a company. The intimate feeling is always welcome and we do our best to make every woman feel good about herself.
Flormar will always continue to expand, to multiply in color and variety, to sparkle and to enchant with its every aspect. If I need to be more specific about our long-term sales goals, I can say that we challenge ourselves to double the company's sales volume every three years.
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Insights Success is the Best Business Magazine across the globe for enterprises. Being a progress-driven platform, it focuses distinctively on emerging as well as leading companies, their reformative style of conducting business and ways of delivering effective and collaborative solutions to strengthen market share. Here, we talk about leaders' viewpoints & ideas, latest products/services, etc. Insights Success magazine reaches out to all the 'C' Level professional, VPs, Consultants, VCs, Managers, and HRs of various industries.
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Insights Diary


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Triple stealth tax to cost the grieving £600m
| August 8, 2016 |
After MPs backed the latest change last week, Ali Hussain reveals the true cost of dying the bereaved will soon have to bear
When a loved one dies, especially if they leave a partner on their own to cope with young children, you might think the grieving deserve to be treated with compassion by friends, family and the state.
But Money reveals today that policy changes due to start hitting bereaved families in less than three weeks will land them with a £600m-a-year "stealth death tax".
From April 6, the benefit received by a widowed parent will become payable for a maximum of only 18 months, down from the current 20 years.
And in a further financial blow, probate fees — the legal costs for processing a deceased person's estate — will soar in May from £215 to as much as £20,000.
Last week MPs narrowly voted to approve the controversial overhaul of bereavement payments — the safety net that parents receive thanks to the national insurance contributions their husband, wife or civil partner made before they died.
The change will result in 75% of grieving families being worse off, particularly parents with young children, according to the Childhood Bereavement Network charity.
Under the current system, payments are available for up to 20 years — that is, until the child grows up and leaves full-time education. By cutting this to just 18 months, working widowed parents face losing £12,000 on average, the charity said.
Meanwhile, the threshold at which you start paying inheritance tax has been frozen for eight years. Since 2009 it has been set at £325,000 and it will stay at this level until at least 2020, meaning more people will pay the charge as house prices continue to rise in many parts of the country.
Baroness Sherlock, Labour's work and pensions spokeswoman in the Lords, told Money after the bereavement payment vote: "Ministers really should think again. Surely bereavement is precisely the sort of event that the welfare state was designed for."
How much money will these three policies make for the government? About £415m in the next tax year, 2017-18, rising to £665m by 2019-20, according to official figures.
A new "transferable main residence allowance" — which gives you an extra £100,000 next month towards your inheritance tax allowance, rising to £175,000 by 2020-21 — will benefit many families but has provoked anger among those who have no children. Only those with "direct descendants" benefit from the perk, which effectively lets parents leave their £1m home to their child tax-free.
Rising property and share prices — with the FTSE 100 hitting an all-time high on Friday — will mean many more of us face this tax.
The former pensions minister Baroness Altmann said: "We are hitting bereaved families in an unfair way. This can't really be called anything other than a stealth death tax.
"The government ruled out death taxes, specifically and explicitly, to pay for social care and yet, at the same time, it is introducing just such a death tax to pay for the court system."
Bereavement allowance
Let's look at the changes to the treatment of parents who are widowed when they have young children. Under the current system, the surviving partner is entitled to a £2,000 tax-free sum called a bereavement payment.
They also get the widowed parent's allowance if they are under state pension age, a taxable benefit of up to £487.72 a month, which is — crucially — dependent on the national insurance contributions of their deceased partner. That is, it is based on money that their dead spouse has paid towards a state pension they will never receive.
Widowed parent's allowance is paid until the youngest child no longer qualifies for child benefit. This can be until the age of 20 if they remain in full-time education.
Under the new bereavement support payment system, there will be a higher tax-free lump sum of £3,500, but the widowed parent's allowance will be replaced by a system that pays only £350 a month. What has infuriated campaigners is that this will be paid for only 18 months (the government initially proposed it would be paid for just 12 months). To make matters worse, the monthly payments will not rise with inflation, as they do now.
Campaign groups are furious about the changes, which will be saving the government about £100m a year in two years' time, according to official documents.
Alison Penny, co-ordinator of the Childhood Bereavement Network, said: "The sad truth is that it is the next generation of bereaved children who will bear the brunt of these cuts."
Anyone who qualifies for the existing system before April 6 will be able to continue to receive payments under current arrangements for as long as they remain eligible.
In May, a new charging system for probate will be introduced to help fund courts in England and Wales.
All estates worth more than £5,000 currently pay a flat probate fee of £215 in England and Wales (£155 if you do it through a solicitor).
Under the new system, estates worth less than £50,000 will pay nothing. Those between £50,001 and £300,000 will pay £300; those from £300,001 to £500,000 will pay £1,000; estates from £500,001 to £1m will pay £4,000; those worth £1m to 1.6m will pay £8,000; those from £1.6m to £2m will pay £12,000; and those worth more than £2m will pay £20,000.
The increases do not affect Scotland or Northern Ireland, where different rules apply.
As with inheritance tax, probate fees must be paid before the estate can be distributed to the beneficiaries of a will. This can be a problem if there is no cash left in a deceased person's bank account to pay the charge, which will force some families to borrow money to pay such a hefty bill. Probate fees were rarely a problem in the past because the amount was relatively small.
Mark Giddens of the accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young said some families would face a Catch-22 situation in which they inherit a £2m property but the executor of the will does not have £20,000 to pay the probate charge to release the assets.
The policy documents state that the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has spoken to the British Bankers' Association and the Building Societies' Association which, it says, have "agreed to assist the MoJ in producing guidance to help executors with information on probate and payment of the new fees".
Giddens said: "Banks are already reluctant to lend money to pay for inheritance tax liabilities. I see the same problem arising with the higher probate charges. It has never been an issue before, as the fees have always been relatively small."
Altmann said: "Why on earth do you expect any executor to pay for a loan to cover probate, especially if he or she is not a beneficiary of a will?
"There has also been a suggestion that people take out insurance to pay for this. That's great for the insurance companies but it doesn't seem fair on families."
Oliver Colvile, the Conservative MP for Plymouth, has suggested executors should be able to defer probate fees in the way inheritance tax payments can be deferred. "I think that's something the government has to look at," he said.
Inheritance tax payments can be paid in equal instalments over 10 years if you are selling property, land and unquoted shares. Normally you have to pay the tax by the end of the sixth month after death.
A government consultation document said probate fees could be waived under "exceptional circumstances".
Asked by Money what these might be, the MoJ said executors could apply to have the fee waived if they could demonstrate they had exhausted "all reasonable means" of paying the charge and that making the payment would cause "undue hardship".
The amount of money the government is making from inheritance tax jumped from £2.8bn in 2008-9 to £4.7bn in 2015-16, and this is likely to increase further.
The existing IHT threshold, known as the nil-rate band, will remain at £325,000 until the end of 2020-21.
However, property prices have certainly not been frozen. For example, a home that cost £325,000 in 2009 would now be worth about £453,000, according to analysis by the Nationwide.
What does the government say?
A government spokesman said: "We're reforming the rules to bring down the number of families paying inheritance tax from this April, with nearly 20,000 estates taken out of paying inheritance tax from April 2020.
"Our new bereavement support payment focuses support when people need it the most, and we're modernising the payment to cover younger spouses and civil partners without children.
"Finally, probate fees will always be recoverable from the estate, so executors will not end up personally out of pocket."
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After my trip last weekend to the countryside near San Gimigniano, I've been wanting to get closer to nature. I can see the giardino from our apartment windows and had seen the glicine (wisteria) in the trellis covering a long downhill walkway.
I strolled around the giardino by walking down different paths, letting any flowers, trees, fountains, and views direct me to where I should go next. I took numerous photos of everything that caught my eye. I smiled when I arrived at a clearing and saw so many monuments laid out in front of me: the Duomo, Santa Croce, Palazzo Vecchio, and the turchoise dome of the synagogue. They looked as if someone came along and sprinkled them around the city that is full of pastel and light-colored buildings with terra cotta rooftops.
In the distance I saw the green colline (hills) of Fiesole. I wish I knew how to name all the shades of green that I saw, but I feel that I wouldn't even be able to do them justice. There were darker shades and lighter shades mingling with brighter and more muted shades of green.
For the first time, I sat alone up at the café under the loggia to take in the view. One waitress was taking the orders and handing us our food and drinks. I was fortunate enough to sit at the best spot just above the two statues of a man and woman, shown in the photo, joined by a low metal gate that leads to the cured garden down the slope of the hill.
I look down to the lungarno and via dei Benci where cars appear as if they are gliding down the street. I can hear the city humming softly in the background with its usual noises of cars, crowds, and motorini (scooters).
A cool breeze carries the smell of the blossoming flowers, trees, and grass as I sit in the shady loggia. Nature has a soft scent that eases the heart and mind. I peer at the serene water in the Arno, showing the reflection of the buildings alongside it.
To exit the giardino, I walk down the path through the tunnel di glicini e ortensie (wisteria and hydrangea tunnel). It is definitely the highlight of the giardino right now because the glicini are in bloom. When I arrive below one of the restricted areas toward the two statues, I peer up at the green grass where azaleas and irises add their splash of color.
I love the feeling of being in the city, but also outside of it at the same time. To feel the energy of it, and yet be in a serene environment. I'm so fortunate to have such a beautiful giardino so close to our place where I can walk around and take in its beauty whenever I feel like it. Every time I walk out I feel as if I have been recharged. When I look at the giardino from my desk, it certainly makes me smile. However, it is so much more enjoyable when I am strolling around inside it where all my senses are stimulated.


So I tried not to do it but Bath & Body Works was calling my name!!
The call was loud and I could not resist!
So now I have a mini haul for y'all!!
I went last week to pick up only one item (a travel size lotion) and I left with two three-wick candles, a mason jar candle, three hand sanitizers, a travel size lotion, and a tube of body cream, in a very festive holiday scent!
Now usually I wouldn't "feel some kind of way" about it, but I was honestly trying to behave, see how far that got! Lol!
But for realizies, I'm not mad. Of the three candles I picked up I have been killing two of them, so hard!!
I am so loving these fall scented candles.
In my Currently Buring post, a few weeks back, I was stuck on a Sumertime scent (Jubliant), and I wasn't sure I was wanting or going to change anytime soon. But I COMPLETELY fell in love with Sparkeling Pear Riesling on first sniff! I'm so in love with this candle.
Now as for Pumpkin Apple, it had to wear on me a little bit. I picked it up in the store and wasn't completely sold right away. There was something mysterious about it that made me want to "explore" it a little bit more. Nonetheless, I brought it home and in less than a week it is nearly half burnt out.
Then there's Cranberry Pumpkin, you see the pumpkin trend. I haven't burned it yet, but it's coming. I just felt as thought there are holidays coming and I can't burn out all the new scents before them. I'm saving this spectacularly scented candle for Thanksgiving Day. A new scent for the holiday.
There were a few more candles that I wanted to pick up, but I had to restrain myself. I had already picked up too much! But I do know this much, there is at least one candle at Bath & Body Works with my name on it waiting for me to come pick it up!
Christmas is just around the corner, and Ima need a good Christmas scent??


text:
Book reviews – Three Novels in Advance of NonFiction November
Liz Dexter Book reviews, TBR challenge 2021-22 book reviews, books, TBR challenge 2012-22 32 Comments
As I have Nonfiction November coming up, when the only fiction I'll be reading is two Anne Tylers and little books for Novellas in November (OK and also because I needed to pick some easy wins off the shelf to make room for Incomings), I took some fiction from the front shelf of the TBR. And thus also made inroads into my TBR Project (esp as I had a DNF, too). So her are (shorter, don't worry!) reviews of three good novels I've enjoyed at the latter end of this month, with one more review to come early next month.
Jane Linfoot – "Love at the Little Wedding Shop by the Sea"
And this is why I love it here. Because in St Aidan generally, and in Brides by the Sea in particular, every difficulty is faced together. (p. 322)
I apparently pre-ordered this, presumably as I'd enjoyed her other books in the series (this is the fifth), and we're back at the wedding emporium in an invented/blended coastal town in Cornwall, with Milla seeking refuge from her own wedding business providing cover for the shop we know from the other books (this confused me at first; she set up Brides Go West with her friend who then stole her fiance,basically: when their baby is about to be born, she runs away for a bit). Milla is a bit less well-groomed than her business partner, a bit kooky and accident prone, and she keeps running into local hunk Nic in a variety of embarrassing situations. But he's organising a wedding, and he weirdly needs lots of flat space for it.
I did guess the plot for both of those mysterious aspects, but it was fun enough. I thought there was a slightly iffy moment around the final wedding, but it would spoil the plot to discuss it. I wasn't sure, though. It was a good and fun read, an ideal holiday or downtime choice. I liked the way all the characters from the previous books were pulled in with a quick update, too.
Ursula le Guin – " The Other Wind"
(16 December 2020 – Not so Secret Bookcrossing Birmingham gift from Sue)
A "new" Earthsea book and her last, we revisit the islands of Earthsea at a frightening time when dragons are reappearing and portents are worrying. A princess has been shipped from the Northern Lands to an unwilling king, and an Archmage has retired and lost his powers, but can still give counsel to a minor sorcerer who's plagued by terrifying dreams which mean something for the whole world – but what, and why him? And of course the Archmage is dear Ged/Sparrowhawk from back in "A Wizard of Earthsea" first read goodness knows when.
It's interesting that in my review of "Tales from Earthsea" in 2015 I said what I also thought here:
I find Le Guin's books very moving, and these stories show why – although part of the fantasy genre, they are deeply rooted in a realistic, if medieval, world, so a wizard will worry about his chickens when he goes away to try to prevent a catastrophe, and a quiet cat gives comfort to a man in distress. The female characters are also good and strong, proud and able, and this theme is woven all through these stories. This makes these books a lot more accessible than some of the other fantasy novels out there, and perhaps more suitable for the general reader. (my review)
So here, there's a little cat (that is adopted safely) who is always provided with a sand box, and when a dragon changes into a human, we consider how she might feel in her new body – so practical, always linked into real experiences somehow, even when fantasy. In this book, which is a bit scary and sad but not too much so and rightly, ends are knitted together, alliances and friendships are formed or re-formed, and it has a perfect ending.
Anne Youngson – "Three Women and a Boat"
(24 December 2020 – from Bookish Beck)
'Well I know we're all made up of matter and are subject to the laws of physics,' Sally said, 'but even if we can't, strictly speaking, have free will, we also can't predict how other people will behave.'
'Annoying, isn't it?' said Eve. (p. 323)
Blogger Bookish Beck very kindly sent me a box of review copies et al which she'd received, read and reviewed, and made some very good choices. She popped this one in because the canal barge journey it describes goes through Birmingham (and actually I knew more of the canal it describes, through to and leaving Birmingham).
I was a little bit unsure of reading it because there's a character with cancer who is facing a bad spell of treatment, and I was worried I wouldn't cope with the medical / uncertainty theme, but you know what? I read the first few pages, the slightly acerbic, truth-telling and funny narrative, and was hooked in and off I went!
Eve and Sally have come to big junctions in their lives and simultaneously encounter each other, Anastasia and her dog Noah at a time when it's just right for them to change things up and go off on an adventure, taking Anastasia's beloved, but spartan, boat up to Chester. Have they ever been on a barge before? No. Do they learn what to do? Yes! And of course there's a range of interesting characters on the canal, including stylish Trompette and her weird boyfriend, Billy. As well as a plot point or two, Billy, as an itinerant storyteller, gives us some excellent tales of canal history, and this works really well woven into the story. I also love how Eve and Sally have complementary skills and knowledge, and help each other to grow without it being mawkish or didactic.
As well as enjoying the canal scenery and boat lore, I was reminded how two boats passed each other when there's only a towpath on one side and they're being towed by horses. Hooray! And a mysterious traveller passes the women a copy of a Francis Brett Young novel (a favourite writer of mine). A lovely novel with just the right ending (again) and highly recommended.
As I also DNF'd Cathy Kelly's "The Family Gift" (bought in Oxfam in September, couldn't warm to any of the characters), I've now done TBR Challenge 2021-22 Books 4-7/85 – 78 to go.
Book review – Toufah Jallow with Kim Pittaway – "Toufah"
Liz Dexter Book reviews, Social justice - gender sex sexuality, social justice - race 14 Comments
I was interested to spot this book in a NetGalley email, with its subtitle "The Woman who Inspired an African #MeToo Movement". And it was an inspiring and fascinating read indeed. It was also my second book set at least partly in The Gambia (like "Roots") and has inspired one of my posts for the upcoming Nonfiction November challenge!
Toufah Jallow with Kim Pittaway – "Toufah: The Woman Who Inspired an African #MeToo Movement"
(25 September 2021, NetGalley)
This insistence on using 'allegedly' when it comes to rape can't be explained away as simply protecting the rights of those not convicted, because the word isn't just attached to the person named as perpetrator, it is attached to the crime itself … I notice the same tendency in report about other crimes in Canada and abroad: when men say they are beaten or assaulted, the word 'allegedly' is rarely inserted. When someone says they've been robbed, 'allegedly' almost never appears. But when a woman says she was raped, her assertion is often framed as 'she claimed she was raped' or 'she was allegedly raped'. Whether in The Gambia or Canada or the United States or the United Kingdom, when women say they were raped, the men they accuse are given the benefit of the doubt. The women? They are simply doubted.
Toufah grew up in a traditional home in The Gambia, first of all in a multi-family household made up of her father, his three wives and their children, then in a compound her mum has scrimped and saved and worked at two jobs to afford to build, brick by brick. Not only is her mum independent and a feminist in the way a woman can be in traditional, Muslim Africa, but her mum's mum made sure she could get to university before being married off, and tried to find her a husband who didn't already have a wife. Her aunt wears trousers and has moved to the UK.
The women in my family, and in other families too, subverted men's power where they could; made choices in their own interests where they could; and where they could created a world in which their daughters had a little bit more power, more choice. Social and religious circumstances pushed them down. Their strength and will pushed them forward – and perhaps in these ways they were more similar to the mothers and graddmothers of Western feminists than is often acknowledged.
So she's learned from example to stand up for herself and she knows her mum will stand up for her, too. That's why, when something awful happens, she has no choice but to flee her home country and become an international refugee.
Toufah is encouraged to enter a competition, a pageant (more than a beauty queen competition, she must produce a performance, answer questions and put forward a proposal for change in the country), the first prize of which, she is led to believe, is a scholarship to a university abroad. Winners are typically lavished by the president, Yahya Jammeh, with gifts for themselves and their families – laptops, furniture, jobs … But when Toufah first turns down a job then more from Jammeh, he has his fixer bring her to him during an Eid festival, and rapes her.
Toufah knows she's being followed by the authorities. Resourceful and clever, she manages to escape and, through a network of Gambian citizens who have left the country for various reasons, she is able to throw herself on the mercy of the police in neighbouring Senegal. And they don't know what to do with her, because they get political prisoners, journalists, people who have tried to overthrow the administration, but no one has come to them who has been raped. In fact the word "rape" doesn't even exist as a word in the languages of The Gambia, and so she has to either skirt around the issue or be horribly direct.
Once in Canada, Toufah lives in accommodation for refugees where all the people around her try to teach her to how to live as a Canadian – and she does the same as new people come along. Once more, people who think refugees seek asylum and refuge in other countries in order to access wealth and benefits should read her accounts of grinding poverty and basic, shared accommodation, of trying to heal while working at several jobs, of not being able to access her own Gambian community because of the misinformation being shared about her.
And now here she is, back giving evidence at the Gambian Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission after Jammeh has been deposed, in her own name, her face showing, detailing what he did. She's lived in Canada in the meantime, making a life for herself, making friends, working hard in multiple jobs and studying for qualifications that will help her support other women going through the same situation. A hashtag, #IAmToufah, allows other women to tell their stories under the veil of anonymity, and she has set up a foundation to support women's safety and mental health. She has an all-round, holistic view of what needs doing, and is starting to achieve that, getting funded to provide audiovisual materials on rape and sexual harassment for the country as the book is written.
I know from my own experience that simply focusing on one aspect – telling young women they can be what they want to be, say no if they want to say no – was actually dangerous if those shiny ideals weren't backed up with practical supports, effective laws and societal structures to hold abusers accountable.
The end section of the book shares powerful African women who Toufah sees as role models and offers to her students as such. There are definitely some people to look into there as well as the ones I was more familiar with. What an example to us all Toufah is, and her story is deftly crafted by Kim Pittaway while leaving it feeling like her own speech and thoughts.
Thank you to Steerforth Press for giving me a free copy of this book via NetGalley in return for an honest review. "Toufah" was published on 12 October 2021 and you can find the Toufah Foundation in many places online, including Facebook.
Book review – Pragya Agarwal – "Sway"
Liz Dexter Book reviews, Social justice - class, Social justice - disability, Social justice - gender sex sexuality, social justice - race, TBR challenge 2021-22 book reviews, books, TBR challenge 2012-22 15 Comments
I won Jessica Nordell's "The End of Bias" on NetGalley back in June (it was published at the end of September) and had decided I really needed to read this one first, which explains unconsious bias (and I hoped help end it, too). Then I somehow didn't get round to it until this month, but it's done now and I'll get the Nordell book read as soon as I can. Phew! This one was also a loan from my friend Sian that I've had for far too long, so all neat and tidy now all round.
Pragya Agarwal – "Sway: Unravelling Unconscious Bias"
(Feb? 2021, borrowed from Sian)
As we talk about gender bias, let us not forget about intersectionality and how certain multiple identities can further stigmatise women and render them even more invisible. Yes, there is change, but it is glacial. And to all the sceptics, I would just say, 'Am I not believed because I am a woman?' (p. 251)
This is a long and dense book which covers a lot of research, well-known and more niche, about unconscious bias, i.e. the decisions we make and opinions we form in a split second, more automatically the more tired or under pressure we are, which affect how we perceive and treat other people. Agarwal contends that this is a product of both individual learning and wider cultural environment, which I tend to agree with. There was a fair bit in here I'd encountered before, but who knew that hurricanes given 'feminine' names end up with more fatalities than those with 'masculine' names, because people don't treat them as seriously and don't evacuate to safety in such numbers?
In the early chapters she goes through the neuroscience of how the brain operates and what 'activates' in the brain when looking at people, recognising in-groups (broadly, people who share one's race, accent, social class, other characteristic) and out-groups (those we might see as a threat or 'other'). There's a lot of detail here and the images of the brain would have been better within the chapter than stuck at the end. Anyway, then we get into characteristics such as race, gender, and smaller categories such as height, weight or age, demonstrating through discussing many academic studies how bias and stereotypes are formed and exemplified.
Agarwal takes in a world perspective in the book, showing how bias works in Indian and American politics and how various examples show up around the globe. She addresses issues of intersectionality (the double bias a Black woman might face, etc.) and makes it clear she's considered non-binary and transgender people in her gender chapter, while pointing out that there's not enough research on these groups at the moment to be able to draw conclusions.
There's an interesting section at the end about how AI systems, which we must remember are taught using data from real-world phenomena, can become biased from the beginning (for example, if the criminal justice system treats Black offenders as more likely to re-offend and lets White offenders, off, any AI system created to make those judgements is going to take these data and amplify them, ending up even more racist than the originating humans; if driverless cars aren't shown enough images of Black and Brown pedestrians, they are less likely to recognise them as pedestrians and more likely to run them over than White pedestrians – it's all pretty horrific). She does demonstrate how human intervention can work against this.
Agarwal puts enough of her own experiences into the book to make it interesting and personal, but not too much, retaining the scientific rigour. At one point, she bravely makes job applications in both her original name (used here) and her married name, double-barrelled with her White British husband's name, thus not getting five out of six invitations to interview in one of the two sets (you can guess which). The academic rigour is certainly there, but angled to the popular science reader, too – there are lots of footnotes explaining scientific and sociological terms, and a good set of notes easily found which point to the academic studies referenced.
There's only a small section in the back about how to work against bias: the usual stuff of be aware and don't go with the first instinct till you've thought about it, consider using anonymous job applications to remove name bias, and also notes on how we can't be exonerated by it being unconscious and reiterating the double dose of personal and societal bias. Lots of information is packed into this book and it's valuable for pulling all of that together. It's written accessibly, there's just a lot of it!
This was TBR Challenge 2021-22 Book 3/85 – 82 to go.
Book review – Maya Angelou – "All God's Children Need Travelling Shoes"
Liz Dexter Book reviews, Social justice - class, Social justice - gender sex sexuality, social justice - race book reviews, books 25 Comments
Please forgive me for getting a bit ahead of Ali in her, Meg's and my readalong of Maya Angelou's autobiographies: I wanted to get this one read this month so I could add the next one into a couple of challenges, and also I wanted to find out what happened next! Here is Ali's review.
Maya Angelou – "All God's Children Need Travelling Shoes"
(April 2021)
The drive was too short to clear my mind. I had never been face to face with royalty and didn't know the protocol. I suspected that I had been sent for to discuss some incident pertaining to the presence of black American residents, and I was nervous. I knew I was given to dramatic overstatement, or was known to waffle about repetitiously. To further complicate matters, I was sincere. Sincerity badly stated elicits mistrust. (p. 118-9)
In this volume of the autobiography, published in 1986, we spend the whole time with Angelou in Ghana – a country I didn't know that much about, so very interesting from that perspective, as we do learn something of its history and what it was like in the 1960s. With her son injured in a car accident, she decides not to move on to Liberia as she'd planned, but to stay in Ghana. Here, while Guy integrates into the student population, she becomes part of a group of Black Americans who have moved to Africa, and she has quite a lot to say on the interesting subject of different types of people who have often saved up to 'return' to their roots, only to find that they're not effusively welcomed by the Ghanaian population.
Angelou meets another fascinating big man and my heart sank but this time she seems to have learned a bit and when he proposes a lifestyle and country change to her, to move to Mali and settle in as his second wife, she realises she won't be able to summon up the requisite meekness and turns him down (and his gift of a fridge!). It is good to see her staying independent and resisting this offer. She also comes into contact with other highly powerful people (well, men) and even kings, which manages to dent even her self-confidence!
Malcolm X comes to visit Ghana and one stage and it's fascinating to read about his time there, even more fascinating when he encounters a young Muhammad Ali but is snubbed by him as he's recently split from the Nation of Islam. He's someone Angelou of course knows from her New York activism times, though she was at that stage on the side of Martin Luther King Jr and his non-violence. But, as they discuss, what has that produced and is it time for more action? By the end of the book, she's realising she needs more than African can offer her, and needs to be somewhere she fits in better, and is planning to return to the US to work for Malcolm X's organisation.
While Angelou finds it wonderful to be in countries where everyone, presidents, airline pilots, senior managers, newspaper owners, are of course Black, she also encounters some horrifically racist commentary on Ghana and the Black Americans who live there too from European members of the university she works at for a time. But the common room steward gently gives his own take on the situation after she has embarrassed herself yelling at them intemperately:
He said, 'This is not their place. In time they will pass. Ghana was here when they came. When they go, Ghana will be here. They are like mice on an elephant's back. They will pass.' (p. 58)
Venturing into the countryside alone, Angelou encounters old buildings that were used to hold slaves before they were shipped to America, and she imagines vividly a tableau of enslaved people suffering. She dwells on the possibility of her origins, fearing her ancestors might have been sold by their own people, and finds a weird experience in another village, originally decimated by slavery, where she once again (she's already been mistaken for two other types of African person) resembles their families and the people remaining very strongly. But, like Alex Haley really found in "Roots", she can't know for certain if this is where she came from, although in her case she wasn't seeking an exact place. It's a very moving scene, though.
After a brief trip to Europe (and a very upsetting scene for her in Germany) to revisit a play she'd been in, we leave Angelou getting ready to set off back to America. As usual, I can't wait to know what happens next, and I'm sad there are only two books of her autobiography left to read!
Some mini-reviews for Shiny New Books
Liz Dexter Book reviews, Social justice - class, Social justice - gender sex sexuality, social justice - race book reviews, books 7 Comments
Anita Rani – "The Right Sort of Girl"
In this excellent memoir, Anita Rani, lately of Strictly and Countryfile, but I've been watching her since she presented Desi DNA back in the day, tells of her crisis of confidence in her 40s and her need to address the issues of her life and culture which may have held her back.
In case you're worried it's all protest and journeys, this book is also warm, funny (she makes much of the "Illuminaunty" network of bossy, nosy women who know everything) and endearing (she's excited when she makes friends with John Craven, who she used to watch on Newsround). She's very proud of her Yorkshire roots and extols the virtues of her home county – and when she learns to drive, the first place she goes is up on the moors, away from everyone, on her own and free in nature.
Read the full review here
Shon Faye – The Transgender Issue"
An important book I also reviewed on here in a more personal capacity (see link below)
It's a very human book, certainly not all facts and figures. Faye interviews people from the trans community, from parents of a young trans child who knew nothing, but could access a lot of information and support online to a man running a shelter for homeless trans people who provides support and information to them. In addition, various news stories are carefully debunked and the people they are about honoured, and myths such as trans people and their doctors being in cahoots overturned with an explanation of the long and fraught process of having gender transition needs recognised and progressed. It's very interesting to see that a lot of the media narrative about trans people echoes almost exactly the narrative about gay people from 30-odd years ago: in terms of a claim of cults who are trying to turn everyone's children gay/trans, and all sorts of other hysteria.
Read the full review here and I have reviewed this more fully on this blog here.
Lev Parikian – "Light Rains Sometimes Fall"
Parikian, writer, birdwatcher and conductor, had already started this project to map British nature against the 72 seasons of Japan in February 2020. Yes, you get a chill when you see those dates, don't you! So it didn't start as, but did turn into, a sort of coronavirus lockdown project, and we've seen a few of these lately, but this is very nicely done and certainly not all about the lockdown, or made difficult to read because of that aspect.
Each Japanese mini-season has its name and a lot of the joy of the book comes from Parikian's alternative British names for the sets of days. For example, the Japanese name for 9-13 February is "Bush warblers start singing in the mountains", which Parikian replaces with "Dunnock song defies traffic noise". In fact, I can contribute my own here, as I finished reading it during what the Japanese call "White dew" for the larger season and "Swallows leave" for the smaller, Parikian calls "House martins leave" and I term "Large electrical goods are replaced" as this has happened in this week two years running.
There's a lovely recognisable moment when a blackbird sings the beginning of a tune and he always answers in his head, as we used to have "the Toreador bird" who would sing the first few notes of the song from Carmen repeatedly.
Of course I learned things; did you know Flying Ant Day isn't when the ants hatch, but when they mate? There are pleasing moments when the seasons coincide and he does indeed see some wagtails during the "Wagtails sing" season, and he's great on the privilege of seeing tiny details, crows mobbing a hawk, a flower growing in a crack, without being mawkish or sentimental (and there is some death and decay and some worry about fledglings, but nothing too challenging in that regard). He acknowledges that this year of observation has given him more insight into his patch and into the human-constructed context and its interplay with nature, a lovely positive to draw from a time of constraint, and he states it has made the year more bearable.
Book review – Anne Tyler – "A Spool of Blue Thread"
Liz Dexter Anne Tyler 2021, Book reviews Anne Tyler 2021, book reviews, books 26 Comments
We're definitely in remembered territory in my Anne Tyler 2021 project now; weirdly, I bought this in 2015, and first read it in November 2016, having acquired "The Beginner's Goodbye" that year, too. I must have missed that one coming out, I suppose.
Now, I did have to hurry this one a bit, as you can tell if reading this on the day by the fact that I haven't published this review until the afternoon, rather than having it scheduled and ready to go in the morning, but it didn't feel like such a return to form as I thought last time. To be honest, I didn't love the structure and felt it dragged it back a bit. However, last time I read it, I thought it was going to be Tyler's last novel apart from "Vinegar Girl"; now I own the next two and know there's one coming out early next year. So maybe that coloured my first read of the novel.
If you're reading along with the project or just this one or whatever, please do share your thoughts in the comments at the bottom or add a link to your review on your blog or Goodreads, etc.. I'm adding links to these reviews plus all the reviews I am alerted to to the project page, so do pop there to see what other people have thought, too.
Anne Tyler – "A Spool of Blue Thread"
In the Whitshank family, two stories had traveled down through the generations. These stories were viewed as quintessential – as defining in some way – and every famly member, including Stem's three-year-old, had heard them told and retold and embroidered and conjectured upon any number of times. (p. 51)
In this longer novel than she'd written for a while, we're thrown straight into Red and Abby Whitshank's life with a snapshot in 1994 when their disappearing son, Denny, phones to announce somewhat randomly that he's gay. Red barks, Abby fusses, and there they are in summary. Not only does Denny follow the Disappearing Child Tyler trope, he is skinny with lank black hair – tick! And there are four children, and Abby and Red live in Red's family home.
After going through a lot of Red and Abby's later parental years, where their children grow and have their children, they decline and care has to be sorted out (another Tyler theme of course), we then hop back and forth, to their courtship and then to Red's parents, Junior and Linnie. Bits of contemporary life are threaded in, Denny coming and going, sibling rivalries and upsets, cousins following family trends and some lovely circular links around particularly parenthood or lack of, and the descriptions of the house. Character traits continue through people's lives – for example Abby is a keeper of secrets even though she seems so chatty and intrusive.
I think one of the themes is the memories that disappear when we die. Linnie and Junior's family life is unknown by the time Red and Abby are in their prime, but their section fills in details of their parents that their descendants never knew. Family stories have an importance only to the teller – Abby constantly starts the story of when she fell for Red but their section starts with her particular sentence when we know she will remember it no more. It's a clever way to do it, but I'm not sure it's that engaging. It's also a good social document of course, of Depression era poverty and 50s consumerism, and the way family relationships develop over time.
Other Tyler tropes include of course the family home, changes to it, upkeep and then slow decline. An older man moving into an apartment is getting more and more common, and aged family dogs feature once more. Abby is a common Tyler woman, with her "orphans" invited to family meals and occasions and her fussing and trying to get information out of people, and her son Stem is at one stage the stalk-necked, pale and silent child who crops up a lot. Son-in-law Hugh doesn't have a huge role but is one of the people who flits from job to job and is currently running a Thanksgiving-themed restaurant. There's even one of those journeys, right at the end, where you feel Tyler could have told the stories of any of the other characters flitting around in the sidelines – or maybe she already has. The religion side has retreated again: Nora, wife of their youngest son, is a member of a church but doesn't force anyone else to go or introduce it into their lives, just smiles serenely and cooks and cares and somehow incites people to rage.
Have you read this one? What did you think?
Book review – Tory Bilski – "Wild Horses of the Summer Sun"
Liz Dexter Book reviews, Reading challenges, TBR challenge 2021-22 book reviews, books, TBR challenge 2012-22 19 Comments
At last I pluck a book from my TBR Challenge 2021-22! I bought this book in my 2020 Book Token splurge, where I save up my book tokens from Christmas and my January birthday and have a wild book-buying extravaganza to give myself some presents part-way through the year. I'm pleased to say that out of the seven books I bought in that splurge, I've read four, am part way through a fifth and will be reading the last two for Novellas in November and Aus Reading Month next month. Not too bad!
Tory Bilski – "Wild Horses of the Summer Sun: Iceland, Freedom and the Gift of Female Friendship"
(24 June 2020, book tokens)
These were our tales, these were the times, these were the women, and this was the place. (p. 235)
The book opens with a wild countryside canter on slightly out-of-control Icelandic horses, a special and protected breed which has remained the same and isolated since the Viking settlement. No horses are allowed onto the island and if one leaves, it can't return – they are very vulnerable to disease.
Having been a horse-mad youngster, Bilski spots a picture of Icelandic horses on the Internet at the turn of the Millennium and decides to go to Iceland to see them. And I have to say that I fell in love with them when I saw them in real life on my own first trip to Iceland in 2014, and had a wonderful time riding a feisty horse called Freya on my trip in 2015.
Once she's been once she's obsessed (I can understand this; I went to Iceland once a year in 2014-17 and miss it dreadfully and yearn to go back) and then meets up with a group of women, led by the older Sylvie and her friend Eva, who are planning to go to stay on a farm in the north of the country run by Sylvie's friend Helga. This turns into an annual event, and woven into the very normal story of Tory's life (her son presents difficulties, her father dies and her mother is claimed by dementia, she has root canal surgery) are these annual trips (not every single year, c.f. root canal surgery) with a shifting group of women.
I'm afraid the horses and riding were the main appeal to me. The group of women sometimes includes oddities and a few times a woman who Tory and her ally Viv really don't get on with (I did wonder what she felt when she saw herself portrayed in this book, if she did, even though her behaviour isn't kind), and the glimpses of the Iceland I know and love. There's also a parallel portrayal of the growth in the tourism industry of Iceland, so that by the time she goes last to the farm in 2015, there are millions of tourists, Reykjavik has grown exponentially and it's no longer considered odd to go there.
I also loved the part where Bilski talks about being the go-to person for Iceland info and how she tries not to be too gung-ho about the place when recommending it, especially if the person is only wondering about going. I smiled at the group's love of Jane Smiley's novel, "The Greenlanders" while Bilski has only so far read the Vinland Sagas – I found the Smiley an excellent version of the saga style but I still have so many actual sagas to read I couldn't spend hours reading a modern idea of one!
All good things have to come to an end, the lives of the core of women shift and then Helga announces she is closing the farm and moving to Selfoss. For once, Bilski's husband comes to Iceland with her to see what the fuss is all about – although of course it's about getting away from her home responsibilities as much as anything else – and Helga is happy with her plants and trees in the south. It's poignant but not done for melodrama, and a good end to this interesting and open book.
Liz with Icelandic horse Freya, April 2015. It was April, it was cold, they made us wear these boiler suits; I am short.
Book review – Thurston Clarke – "Islomania"
I bought this book in my last batch of pre-pandemic charity shop meandering and bulk book buying – the next acquisitions on the shelf are an online buy and a gift from June 2020 then charity shop books from the Opening Up, where I dared to pop in in July. So my TBR is a record of lockdown whether I intended that or not! This is one of the books I was reading as September turned into October and I was quite slow with it, not sure why as it was an engaging read. I think I was worried there might be icky bits of history so it was an upstairs not a mealtimes read.
Thurston Clarke – "Islomania"
(04 February 2020)
One of the rules of insular life is that once something arrives on an island it can stay for centuries. Large objects are difficult and costly to remove, and islanders are instinctive pack rats, so things that might be lost, junked, plowed under, paved over, or locked behind glass on a mainland are preserved on an island in an amber of water and isolation. (p. 158)
Clarke lives within sight of some quite normal islands on a lake but they exert a fascination on him and any guests as powerful as any South Sea paradise. He decides to go and visit some islands in various categories – types of islands (holy, scary, private, prison, utopian), islands he's visited himself before, and famous islands (Isla Robinson Crusoe, the Spice Islands, Atlantis, etc.) – and works his way around them with a chapter on each. He's an engaging companion and provides the right amount of history and modern travelogue (not that modern, actually, as it was published in 2001 – I would love an update on how some of these are doing).
He doesn't shy away from the negative aspects – islands where the original inhabitants have been massacred, places run by a despot, islands destroyed by nuclear testing – but in general looks for good points, things he likes, important people who have had a positive influence on a place – and the odd eccentric, of course. He finds people who wouldn't swap island life for luxuries and ease of buying stuff, and communities which have absorbed or rejected incomers. I found his return to Fishers Island, where he spent many youthful summers, with its careful study of what has happened to the people who live there all year as opposed to the holidaymakers, fascinating and moving.
Even half-way through his project, Clarke begins to find echoes and connections between the islands, and by the end he's able to draw some interesting conclusions – I really like that he does this rather than just stopping dead, and he also gives an update here on what had gone on on some of the islands between him visiting them and writing the book. I also liked reading about some new places – I'd only really read about Svalbard to any great extent before.
An interesting read and I'm very glad I picked it up.
Book review – Christine Pride and Jo Piazza – "We Are Not Like Them"
Liz Dexter Book reviews, social justice - race book reviews, books 10 Comments
I had heard a bit of a buzz about this novel and so I was excited to find it on NetGalley and be approved. You might have heard of this novel about race and friendship, written in collaboration by a Black woman and a White woman – and I heartily recommend this page-turner.
Christine Pride and Jo Piazza – "We Are Not Like Them"
(23 August 2021, NetGalley)
Real change in this world is only going to happen if we keep talking to one another. Shutting down and pushing people away won't accomplish anything.
The authors' note makes it clear that this is a special and ground-breaking work, a very modern novel looking at issues that are current nowadays, but also universal issues about friendship and when two very different people are friends. Edited to add: given some of the early comments below, I should probably make it clear that the book has alternate chapters written from the perspectives of the two main characters, although I don't know whether each author wrote only one character.
Riley and Jen have been friends since they were small and Jen, who comes from a poor and shaky background, was dumped by her slipshod mum on Riley's grandma for child-minding. Riley's family is secure and whole, two parents, brother and sister, loving grandma. Riley goes on to university and becomes a high-flying news presenter, moving up the ranks through the local stations and hoping to make anchor, groomed to within an inch of her life and becoming a local celebrity. Jen has married a safe man after years of hopping around dodgy ones, and is now finally pregnant, but not doing so well, not well-off, not too well-educated and still with that slipshod mum in and out of her life.
When Jen's husband, who wasn't a police officer when she got together with him but felt he wanted meaning in his life and followed his dad and brother into the force, shoots a teenager and is a news celebrity, of course Riley, who's come back to town for a new job, is assigned to his case. As if that's not enough problems for Riley and Jen, Jen and her husband are White; Riley and the teenager, Justin, are Black, and it's 2019. So while their community opens up along fault lines of race and blame, so does Riley and Jen's friendship.
A book like this probably need to be a little bit didactic. Jen certainly does all the standard non-ally, White privilege things, from claiming that she can't be a racist because her best friend is Black to not speaking up when other White people display racism to claiming not to see race. Her sister in law pushes back against racism and the police closing ranks, having been to unconscious bias training in her nursing work. It does kind of tick the boxes in that respect, but then it's stuff that we are reading in non-fiction books and it's potentially more useful and will reach more of the audience it perhaps needs to in the form of a novel. Riley is not without her flaws, too – she doesn't share much emotionally, so maybe blaming Jen for not understanding her experiences of life is not entirely valid when she has never shared them with her, and there's a lost relationship back in the South that might have ended for this reason, too.
What saves the book is the impressively compelling story-telling, the side characters, the lovely bond Riley has with her grandma. There's a very powerful scene where Riley and her parents go back to the house they originated from, and Riley learns more of the history of her family, including horrific racist incidents she wasn't aware of previously. This sets the book in its context, and shows how her grandma, her parents and now Riley and the next generation are facing the same issues again and again, with seemingly no resolution.
But there is hope. There's the promise of a full and frank conversation, where both Riley and Jen can share how they really feel and Riley can let Jen know authentically how she experiences life (there's an element of the onus being put on her to share her trauma, however she is described as being closed off from Jen, and maybe Jen will look at Riley's social media or news videos and take note herself of the racism there, too). And the quote at the top of my review is Riley's mum talking to Riley, revealing her own feelings for once instead of modelling coping and not talking about things to her daughter.
Sometimes you just need to be around someone who loved you before you were a fully formed person. It's like finding your favorite sweatshirt in the back of the closet, the one you forgot why you stopped wearing, and once you find it again you sleep in it every night.
It's a novel that looks at the issues and is powerful and moving, but is also a good read. It would be an ideal book group read.
Thank you for HQ Stories for selecting me to read this novel via NetGalley in return for an honest review. "We Are Not Like Them" was published on 05 October 2021.
Book review – Alex Haley – "Roots"
Hooray, it's time for Kaggsy and Simon's twice-yearly Year Book Club, and this week it's 1976. Warned well in advance, I tackled the 889 pages of Alex Haley's American Black history saga, "Roots", as you do. Simon's post collecting reviews is here and I'm sure there will be loads of great resources to explore as the week continues! I was fortunate enough to be able to read this book through September along with the bloggers Buried in Print (review here) and The Australian Legend (his review here), 30 chapters a week, every week; it was a pleasure and privilege to read it alongside them and also fascinating to get their Canadian and Australian perspectives respectively.
Alex Haley – "Roots"
So Dad has joined the others up there. I feel that they do watch and guide, and I also feel that they join me in the hope that this story of our people can help to alleviate the legacies of the fact that preponderantly the histories have been written by the winners. (p. 888)
I'd known about this seminal saga of Kunta Kinte, his life in Africa, his abduction and Middle Passage on an American slave ship, his slavery, family and descendants seemingly forever, but it seemed to be too big, too brutal, too hard to read. I'm so glad I was prodded into attempting it by the 1976 Club – of course I can't say I enjoyed it as such, but it was a compelling read, fascinating, human, and I learned a lot.
There was more than I expected about Kunta's life – over a quarter of the book – and I loved reading about the society in his village in The Gambia, every day life and his growing up. I was particularly engaged by the fact that Haley doesn't give explanations for a lot of the terms used, for implements, clothing, kinds of food – he just places the terms there and, presumably, expects you to know what they meant or look them up (some I did, some I did, if you see what I mean).
The descriptions of his capture and sale, his attempts to escape and the driving down of his spirit until he lacks the will to try again, are of course devastating. They're brutal and deeply horrible, as are the rape of Kizzy and other scenes, but not gratuitously so: we needed and need to know this stuff.
As a reading group, we differed a bit on our attitudes to the way history was inserted into the narrative once we were in the US. I accepted the chunks of reported history as I felt it was realistic: house servants picked up scraps of news while serving dinner to their masters; slaves who were drivers or otherwise accompanied their masters out of the house and far away were able to bring back news; news travelled between people almost by osmosis then someone would report it to an audience, and I'm sure that's what happened. I didn't find it too didactic or bolted on and it kept the narrative rooted in history.
Bill found a link between the matriarchs of the family while I saw a line of males; Marcie made a great link between the treatment and breeding of the cockfighting birds and that of the slaves (there were too many "chickens" in that part of the book, needed as they were to advance the plot, and I think we all agreed on that!) which I'd not made. Discussing the sections as we went along by email was a great addition to the reading experience personally.
Looking through my post-it note markers, the overriding feeling is of heart-break. Kunta can't feel he can talk to his mother when he lives in the village, then he's snatched away and never gets to tell her what she means to him. Kizzy is snatched away and we lose sight of Kunta (of course; we're seeing this through the family oral history, so when someone moves on, the continuing story of those they were with is lost) and she never sees her parents again. Kunta's dignity and retention of his Muslim faith are so moving, too. We all know of the inhumanity of slavery of course, but this slams it home.
Maybe surprisingly, there are some beautiful descriptions of landscape and birds, in Africa and America. The landscape is always drawn very clearly, so you can see it in your mind's eye. This is used to devastating effect in the slave ship and chase scenes, of course, but the occasional beauty and the clear interiors were not something I was expecting.
There's so much more I can write about – the interrogation of attitudes towards integration: could Black slaves and White owners ever be more than slaves and owners; was it important to retain African bloodlines? – but really I'd say if you can, go and read this important book.
Was Haley writing history or historical fiction? Of course there was a debate about his sources and his researcher integrity. But I don't think that matters: first off, it's entirely plausible to have an oral history go that far back in a family, especially when in more recent memory and presumably before the details were chanted to each new family member. I know my gran's grandfather was Spanish, and have access to his name and town of origin, and presumably my cousins' children know this, too, so that's a lot of generations here. And while conversations and details are obviously invented, the whole is plausible and gives an incredibly vivid picture of life for each succeeding generation, the struggles they faced, their psychology and everyday life, and that's got to be more valuable than quibbling over exact accuracy.
My Vintage edition had an introduction by David Olusoga which sets the book in its own context and was very useful. He points out it was a massive counterpoint to a narrative of the "benign and fatherly slave-owner" (x) which existed at the time and also writes of the effect it had on Black British people, too.
And what did I do just the other day? Take delivery of a copy of "Queen", Alex Haley and David Stevens' 915-page (I know) story of Haley's mother's family …
In 1976, I was four years old, so I don't recall the book or series coming out. Reading it now, having David Olusoga, Afua Hirsch, Sathnam Sanghera et. al to tell us about the Middle Passage, colonialism and slavery histories, it felt like I was prepared for what I was going to read, that I had some understanding of the history I was going to encounter, and the cruelty, if not the visceral feelings of what it was like to be an enslaved person. I would be fascinated to hear from anyone who experienced the book or series at the time, how much you already knew on the subject, what it did for you and how it changed you and your attitudes, if you have the energy to tell me.


Etzebeth the key to Boks' lock poser?
Wellington - One All Blacks flyhalf has rejected the chance of Olympic glory and another is weighing up playing the Lions against a lucrative foreign offer as New Zealand contemplates life after Dan Carter.
Test centurion Carter is ending his stellar international career after the World Cup to take up a contract with Racing Metro in Paris, leaving Aaron Cruden, Beauden Barrett and Colin Slade vying to replace him as New Zealand's first-choice pivot.
They do so against a backdrop that includes the chance to win Olympic gold in 2016, a rare opportunity to play the British and Irish Lions in 2017 and immediate big-money offers from European clubs.
Slade has reportedly been offered €500 000 a season in a two-three year deal with French second-division club Pau which would rule him out of playing the Lions who only tour New Zealand every 12 years.
But with his added value in being able to play wing and fullback, as well as kick goals under pressure, Slade is not a player All Blacks coach Steve Hansen wants to lose, despite Cruden and Barrett confirming they are staying put.
"He has got a really big future. We have got the Olympics next year, for a start," Hansen told Fairfax Media.
"They are keen to take one of the five-eighths, probably Barrett I would say. He's (Slade) got plenty of Test matches left in him, it's just a matter of whether he wants to stay and do that."
Hansen particularly likes Slade's utility value which fits his ideal of playing two flyhalves at once, such as when Slade came off the bench against Wales last year with Barrett moving to fullback.
"We really play well when we have two five-eighths on the park - as we saw when Beauden moved back to fullback in the Welsh game," Hansen said.
"Sladie came on and probably won the game for us with his astute kicking. And he won the game for us against Australia also - so his goal-kicking is very valuable."
But it is Cruden, not Barrett, who has confirmed he has been approached by sevens maestro Gordon Tietjens to join the All Blacks Sevens' Olympics campaign, and he turned down the offer.
Members of the sevens squad will have their Test appearances curtailed in 2016 to avoid conflict with their Olympic preparations.
"It probably just isn't the right time," Cruden, the one fly-half contender without recognised utility experience, told Radio Sport.
"I have aspirations of playing against the Lions in 2017 and maybe taking a year off wouldn't do my chances any good."