I've been MIA as far as blogging goes. I blame it on writing projects and holiday hoopla -- wonderful things, to be sure, but also crazy-making.
Let's see . . .
-- This week Steve is giving a presentation in Boston and I'm tagging along, so prepare to be spammed with travel photos. I'm very excited to stay at a haunted hotel, meet a friend for tea at the Boston Public Library, and generally soak up the beauty of this old city during the holidays.
-- Speaking of tea, a friend posted this video on my Facebook wall a few days ago. Why didn't I watch more Kids in the Hall back in the day? Tea lovers MUST watch; everyone else is strongly encouraged to do so:
-- More than 3 months after our return from Oxford, I FINALLY have photos online at Flickr. I posted some of them on the blog a while back, but if you're desperately in need of a distraction -- and want to see, among other things, photos from film locations for movies like Pride & Prejudice '05 and Jane Eyre '11 -- you should check out my Oxford 2011 photo collection.
Here's a little preview -- can you guess what this is?
-- As I mentioned in a previous post, I've been watching 1930s movies as research for a certain project, and I can highly recommend 1932's Academy Award winner for Best Picture, Grand Hotel.
Yes, the performances will seem quite broad by today's standards (and I confess to getting annoyed with Garbo's stagey wriggling and hand-fluttering), but the cinematography is pretty spectacular, the script -- which features a shocking twist I totally didn't see coming -- is nuanced, and Lionel Barrymore's penultimate scene with Joan Crawford brought me to tears.
Joan Crawford, seen above in a charming scene with John Barrymore, was SEXY. I vaguely remembered her as the "Mommy Dearest" psycho-lady, but watching her in this film was a revelation. I'd love to see more of her early work -- any recommendations?
We leave in 5 days. I'll be so glad to see my kitty and be reunited with all the conveniences of home, but I'm dreading the heat of Oklahoma. And it's been such a great summer that I'm really going to miss this place.
We enjoyed many adventures with our friends this past week.
Last Tuesday we punted to the Victoria Arms with John and Liesa Richter (& kids). From their lovely holiday cottage on the river it was a 40 minute punt -- made a little longer than usual by the fact that Steve struggled at first with the technique. (We knew better than to let me have a go at it.) I wore my punting hat (there is no such thing, I just felt I needed a white hat.) Unfortunately, hats always transform me into a little old lady, but this one did protect me from the rain that began to fall as we neared the pub. It rained pretty heavily while we ate, so the cushions got soaked, but once we flipped them over we were mostly dry. It did get a little dark, however, as you see above. And at one point I was distracted from the scenery by the sound of Steve crying "Oops!" This was what he was oopsing about. We were able to paddle back to retrieve the pole, but not before John ran over it in his punt. Fortunately, it popped right up!
On Friday we drove out to Bourton-on-the-Water and from there hiked about 8 miles through the Cotswolds. Here we are lunching at The Old Mill in Lower Slaughter, which has one of our very favorite riverside cafes. From Lower Slaughter we made our way to Stow-on-the-Wold, where we met program director Bob and his wife Carolyn for refreshments at Huffkins.
From Stow we rambled through scenic meadows and wooded paths (as seen above) toward Donnington, and from there to Longborough, where we had a fantastic night of eating and dart playing at The Coach and Horses.
Saturday took me on an entirely different but equally fabulous adventure. I traveled to Bath and joined fellow Elevensie Stephanie Burgis and her husband (my agent-sibling) Patrick Samphire for tea at the Jane Austen Centre Regency Tea Rooms (note portrait on the far wall). I felt instantly at ease with them, so time passed quickly, and before long we were moving on to Waterstones, where Stephanie signed her latest Kat book (A Tangle of Magicks in the UK, or Renegade Magic in the U.S.) After the very successful signing, we collected a group of writers for tea at the Pump Room. (Yes, I had a lot of tea that day. You know I'm not complaining!) I was so busy chatting with Harriet Castor, Amy Butler Greenfield and Alex Dally Macfarlane that I forgot to take any photos. I really hope to meet up with them again. Thanks for setting this up, Stephanie!
Sunday morning we rejoined the Richter family for a drive north to Kenilworth Castle. We enjoyed climbing over the ruins, peering through windows, and touring the lovely Elizabethan garden. Best of all was imagining Robert Dudley and Elizabeth canoodling in various secret nooks, for it seems that Dudley poured a lot of money into Kenilworth in the hopes of impressing the young queen and perhaps convincing her to marry him.
After Kenilworth we drove south to Broughton Castle, near Banbury -- the sort of place that's easiest accessed by car. This 14th century castle, still inhabited by Lord and Lady Saye and Sele (who were walking the grounds with their grandchildren while we toured) had a lovely moat and garden. Liesa and I decided that we needed to watch Shakespeare in Love again, since parts of it were filmed here and its star, Joseph Fiennes, is cousin to Lord Saye and Sele!
We ended the day with a meal at The Trout in Wolvercote, which never fails to please. Such a memorable weekend!
On Monday I took the train down to Winchester and then a taxi over to the little village of Chawton to see Jane Austen's house. It was wonderful to meet up with my old grad school buddy Laura (who is now a college professor and gets to teach Austen, Bronte and all sorts of lovely 19th century authors).
I'm knocking at Jane's front door! After exploring the house and enjoying tea across the road at Cassandra's Cup, we walked to the church where Jane Austen's sister and mother were buried and ogled Chawton House, one of the estates owned by Jane's brother Edward. Chawton House is now a library of early English women's writing. Someday I hope to go back for a tour.
Last year I was in quite a frenzy to capture images of all the Peter Wimsey-related sites in Oxford. At that time St. Cross Church, where Peter and Harriet were said to have been married, was covered in scaffolding. Fortunately the work is done now, but the church has been made redundant (how can this be?) and is to become a historical collections center for Balliol College. We could not get inside on this evening, but we did sneak into the churchyard . . .
to get this picture. Lovely, isn't it?
This past weekend my Dad and stepmother came to Oxford. We dined with them Friday and Saturday, and on Sunday took them to Blenheim Palace. Steve and I had been before, so this time we tried to explore the more remote reaches of the gardens. (It was lovely, but I still prefer Chatsworth.) This is a shot of the palace and its Italian garden.
I like this shot of Steve and the . . . what is she, exactly? It's a lion with wings and a woman's head. A sphinx? It was such a sunny, warm day. Almost too warm -- in fact, we're having quite the heat wave this week. High of 80!
Only two weeks left of this glorious summer in Oxford. How can it be August already?
This past weekend Steve and I went to the Peak District to celebrate our 20th anniversary. It turned out to be the best weekend trip we've ever taken during an Oxford summer. Beautiful villages and countryside, lovely hotel, friendly people, great weather -- we hardly could have asked for better!
Friday was Chatsworth day -- we got there just as the garden was opening.
[Click each photo to see an enlarged version]
This is the best photo I could get of Chatsworth because the familiar facade (as seen here) was covered in scaffolding! WAH! This is still a beautiful view, however, and I was thrilled to see the house that may have inspired Mr. Darcy's Pemberley in Pride and Prejudice. (It's certainly been used as a location for film adaptations.)
The Chatsworth gardens were exquisite -- better even than those at Blenheim, in my opinion.
The maze took Steve half an hour to solve -- a long time for him. If I had tackled it alone I'd probably still be trapped in there.
After finishing up at Chatsworth, we set out on what we thought would be a 1.5 hour walk to Haddon Hall -- a walk that turned out to be much longer. We arrived at the admissions booth 5 minutes after they closed. BAH! We had no choice but to put it on the agenda for Saturday.
However, first up on Saturday was a walk along the Edges. It was a long hike to the top, but the great view was well worth the effort.
This was a particularly interesting section of tall rocks that attracted a large group of climbers.
Eventually we turned back and took a path down the hill through what seemed to me an enchanted forest. This was my favorite part of that morning's walk.
After lunch we made our way back to Haddon Hall, and I'm so glad we alotted more time because I needed every minute. As a huge fan of the latest film adaptation of Jane Eyre, I was dying to see where they filmed it. (Apparently four different adaptations have been filmed here!) Here's a passage from Wikipedia for some context:
[Cary Fukunaga] looked at some 60 residences for one to represent Thornfield Hall but settled on the previously-used Haddon Hall as it had not undergone much redecorating. The conditions were very cold and Fukunaga admitted that Wasikowska nearly got hypothermia on the second day while shooting the rain sequence; however, he could not imagine filming anywhere else, saying "Northern England – Yorkshire and Derbyshire, the moors and dales – they look like they’re something straight out of a Tim Burton horror film. The trees are all twisted by the wind; the bracken and the heather on the moors have this amazing hue. And the weather is so extreme and it changes all the time. The house even, Haddon Hall, is just so steeped in history, the spaces, the galleries, they sort of just breathe and you feel the presence of the history."
I quite agree with that last sentence -- I absolutely fell in love with Haddon Hall.
The Lower courtyard. [Funny tidbit -- the chapel in which the wedding scene is filmed in JE '11 is actually in the opposite corner to this main entry, but in the movie Rochester drags Jane outside and up a hill to get there, right? I mean, I've seen the film five times, so I think I have that right.]
The gardens were absolutely gorgeous. We even saw the little enclosure where Rochester and Miss Ingram were playing with the feather (see here and here), but unfortunately there were a couple of kids sitting in it, so I didn't get my own photo.
The sun was blinding, and thus my face is all screwed up, but you can still see how giddy I was. Haddon Hall may not be as opulent as Chatsworth, but to me it seemed to have much more warmth and character. It definitely was the perfect setting for a gothic romance.
I'll leave you with a haunting little clip from Jane Eyre 2011 that I'm almost certain was filmed at Haddon Hall (click the little rectangle to make it full screen):
It's been rainy and cool (verging on cold) in Oxford lately. This is the sort of July weather I love! But I feel bad for the folks at home who are withering away in the 100+ temperatures. I sincerely hope it cools down for you soon.
And now for a mishmash of updates . . .
First thing I have to mention (as I already have done on Twitter and Facebook) that Novel Novice has put together some stunning wallpapers for THE REVENANT. I've chosen the above for my own computer, but which one is your favorite? It would mean the world to me if you gave them a look and commented on Sara's blog post.
At Novel Novice you'll also find Sara's extended interview with me (starts here) and a guest blog post from yours truly that lists ghostly film/book recs.
Last Thursday Steve and I went to London to see Betrayal, starring Kristin Scott Thomas, Douglas Henshall and Ben Miles. This darkly funny but also painful play about infidelity featured amazing performances, especially from Ben Miles, whom I've only seen doing comedy (he's hysterical in Coupling) and gentle historicals (Lark Rise to Candleford).
We've really been enjoying our evening walks in the University Parks. I thought the light was particularly nice for this photo. On our first night we encountered the loveliest fragrance, but it took a few days to identify the source. After much research, I'm pretty sure it's the linden blossoms that smell so good. As a side note, I came across a hilarious Mitchell and Webb video during my Internet searches. It's slightly R-rated, so I won't link directly here, but those of you who enjoy spoofs on Victorian culture should google Mitchell and Webb + linden tree. (Those who got a giggle out of Darcy's "posh dancing" video really should check this one out!)
Yesterday afternoon we walked to Port Meadow and then on to Binsey (which was hosting a village Fête straight out of Midsomer Murders). Here you see our cream tea at The Perch. The setting was breathtaking, but unfortunately the tea was way oversteeped. Still, I'd like to go back and try a meal there.
This week it's work, work, work and then we're on a train to the Peak District to celebrate our 20th Anniversary! Can we possibly be that OLD? Hmmm.
Last night was the opening banquet for the OU summer law program at Brasenose College in Oxford.
Last year we had to eat in a tent. This year we're back in the Hall -- huzzah!
There was much revelry -- too much in some cases, but Steve and I managed to behave ourselves.
Today we set out for our favorite sandwich shop on Holywell Street and stumbled across a film shoot for Inspector Lewis!
Laurence Fox and Kevin Whately waiting to rehearse the scene.
Getting last-minute hair and makeup touches.
Roll cameras! In this scene, Lewis and Hathaway encounter a WPC, and something about her makes Hathaway turn around and stare. I guess it will all make sense when we watch, eh? This episode won't air until after Easter in the UK, so maybe we'll get it next summer or fall? It will be titled "Generation of Vipers" and should be the first of the season.
Hi there! I'm the author of THE REVENANT (2011), THE DARK BETWEEN (2013), and GHOSTLIGHT (2015), all from Alfred A. Knopf. I blog a little about writing, but more often about reading, travel, TV and movies. Nothing too serious.
