Micro Review 12 (2025)

 

The Green Kingdom by Cornelia Funke & Tammi Hartung (illustrated by Melissa Castrillon) Dorling Kindersely.

Right now the world feels a very strange (and scary) place and I am having trouble losing myself in novels, which does seem counterintuitive I know! Even old favourites and comfort reads aren't working so I was very pleased to become instantly immersed in The Green Kingdom.

This is a delightful middle grade novel and while it is packed full of action it is also incredibly gentle and positive.

Caspia's plans for a summer spent hanging out in the wilds of her hometown with her two best friends are scuppered when her parents announce that they will be spending the summer in Brooklyn, due to the work and learning opportunities that they have been offered.

And that is the absolute maximum of threat/peril that happens in the book. Caspia's parents are happily married and not working through any issues and Caspia has only the normal worries of an on the cusp of adolescence girl and even her friendship triangle is mostly issue free.

What we get instead is an exploration of friendship, and cross generational friendship, and of the plant world that can be found even in the heart of a huge city. Caspia comes across some old letters from the family who own the apartment the family are renting and from these unfolds a botanical treasure hunt which spans the world.

In the best sense of the word this is an old fashioned story, and one that can be read and enjoyed by so many people. It reminded me a lot of Eva Ibbotson's Journey to the River Sea (but with less peril) and also of Elizabeth Enright's series about the Melendy Family. 

In fact it was so gentle that perhaps my biggest criticism is the freedom Caspia has to wander around a New York Borough - even with a mobile phone this lack of supervision did worry me a bit, although removing parents from a narrative to make the story is of course very common!

The botanical details and illustrations are as important as the story in this book and it is absolutely delightful. I was a huge fan of Funke when I was working as a bookseller and I am so pleased to rediscover her with such a gem.

Theatre 2017: Review Ten - Mamma Mia!

Mamma Mia! Theatre Royal, Norwich. March 2017.

I wrote about seeing this show, with my mum, when we went to New York and in that review I explained why, however cheesy the show is, I am always going to think of it fondly. I was wary of a return visit to the show - what if it was all location, location, location that made me enjoy it before?

I'm pleased to say that the slightly scaled down tour version made just as fun event as before, and in fact with a better behaved audience it might have even been just a little bit better as nothing got drowned out.

What really impressed me was just how much like Greece the set looked, and also just how well some lighting and a backdrop created absolutely the light and feel of a Greek island in summer.  The shutters were thrown open and with a simple cloth, a cut out tree and the lights I believed I was looking out over the Aegean sea.

I also noticed a lot more of the peripheral action this time, perhaps because we had such excellent seats in the circle, however there did seem to be a lot of character acting from the support cast which really added to the main characters.

All of the cast seemed in fine voice this week and once more my admiration for anyone who can sing, dance and act in ridiculous costumes is total.

However I think that my favourite bit of the evening came from the audience. Just in front of us was a family of mum and three teenagers. When it came to the last number/curtain call where audience participation is encouraged these three teenagers sat there literally head in hand in embarrassment as their mum danced and sang along - they really didn't want to be there at that point.

Mamma Mia! has a daft plot but it is great fun and I can even recommend it as a cold cure - I felt really quite rough with my first cold of the winter when I saw this but for the 2 1/2 hours I forgot everything and had a super trouper time, well worth the money. money, money!

Reappraisal of an author

Book review: My Salinger Year by Joanna Rakoff

Electronic proof from Netgalley.com. UK publication date 5th June 2014.

A few years ago I read A Catcher in the Rye for the first time and didn't like it.  I'd not read it as a teenager or young adult and I think I came to it too late to "get it."

My Salinger Year is the memoir of Rakoff as she works for the New York literary agency that represented Salinger and is a fascinating insight into the behind the scenes work of some areas of publishing just before the Internet changed everything.

The book in part charts Rakoff's life as she adjusts to the working world after leaving university, as well as talking about her job and the intricacies of working for a reclusive genius such as Salinger.  Interestingly as she started the job Rakoff had not read Salinger and it was about 9 months into the year before she did try him - although being closer in age to a teenager than I was she did love the books.

Nothing overly dramatic happens to Rakoff in the book, and it is again a nice gentle book set in New York but like a lot of quiet things it is very good.  The book is just a rounded memoir for an interesting year in the author's life but it is compelling and again vividly and evocatively written - I was walking with her around New York and could 'see' all she was writing about clearly.

Interestingly this is the second book I've read recently that has recommended Salinger's Franny and Zooey and so I think that I might have to give this a go very soon.

Theatrical Interlude 10 (2013)

 Mamma Mia! Winter Garden Theater, New York. May 2013.

The Norfolbookworm and her mum went international last week as we treated ourselves to a few days in New York.

The weather was amazing and in 3 1/2 days we walked about 20 miles and saw loads of the famous sights.  Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge towards Manhattan under a glorious blue sky, sailing in front of the Statue of Liberty aboard the Staten Island Ferry, the views from the top of the Empire State Building and the Rockerfeller Center were all highlights.

I did indulge in a bit of a busman's holiday with a visit to the New York Public Library - a truly amazing building and home to the original Winnie the Pooh and friends:

We had a list of things we really wanted to do while in The Big Apple and seeing a something on Broadway was pretty high on that list.  On our first full day we arrived at the famous TKTS booth in Time Square and queued for discount tickets for a show that evening.

The booth opens at 3pm for the evening discounts and even though we were there before 3.30 the queue was huge - happily there were also lots of shows and tickets available.  We'd decided that we wanted to see something fun and lively, set ourselves a price limit and joined the queue.  Barely anytime later we were at the counter and came away clutching tickets for the orchestra stalls at the Winter Garden Theater to see Mamma Mia! at 8pm.

One of my earliest musical memories is ABBA's Super Trouper plus as Mr Norfolkbookworm and I got married in Greece the year the film version of the show was released I've always felt an affinity to the show but never managed to get around to seeing it in London.

We weren't disappointed at all - from walking into the theatre and being given a *free* playbill (programme) until the final curtain we had a ball. The energy of the performers, the set, costumes, music and acting made it a magical evening.

There were a few negatives - audiences in New York seem to be worse behaved than in London, people were talking quite loudly throughout, especially in dialogue/quiet song moments. The walls to the theatre seemed quite thin and unlike in London it wasn't just drums you heard in the auditorium - it was all traffic and people chatting just outside. You could even smell their cigarettes...

However all in all we had a great time, and as we joined in during the last number (participation encouraged, not crashing the stage!) we can now say that we too have sung and danced on Broadway!