MUSICAL DOLL; I Bet You Think About Me

 And I bet you think about me...

xxx

BOOK NOOK; Hare House by Sally Hinchcliffe

 "I watched Cass, her hands in the pool of light, the shape of a hare emerging. It was crouching, watching even as it was being brought into being. Alive."

Hare House is a novel based around the mythology that witches can shape-shift into hares in order to avoid detection and as the title would suggest, the hare is a prominent theme throughout this book.  It features an unnamed, unreliable narrator, which adds to the sense of mystery and suspense, as the story unfolds at a steady pace.

The narrator has a mysterious past. She was once employed as a teacher but was forced to leave the school where she worked, for reasons that become known as the tale progresses. At the opening of the novel she has decided to make a new start as a private tutor, setting up home in a pretty cottage in Scotland where the local manor, Hare House, is home to her pupil. Set in the beautiful landscape of Dumfries and Galloway, here she attempts to put the past behind her and move on with her life, but circumstances seem to conspire against her.

Her pupil, Cass, is a troubled young girl of seventeen, who comes from a family that has seen more than its fair share of tragedy.  Her next door neighbour is the local busy-body, gossip her main currency, spitefulness dripping from every interaction.  It is a tight knit village, where newcomers are regarded with some suspicion and the narrator worries that her past will soon be revealed. 

Hare House is a very cosy book.  I had expected it to be set in spring and summer, when hares are most active, but this is actually a very wintry book, beginning in early autumn and ending in the deep snow of a Highland winter, where homes and villages are cut off for days, sometimes weeks, due to power cuts and impassable single-tracks roads.   The novel is very descriptive, setting the scene beautifully and adding in those lovely domestic details of blazing fires, cosy chairs by the hearth-side and hot cups of tea and coffee, that make the reader feel very present in the story. In that sense, it reads like a hug, keeping you warm as you endure the harshness of being snowbound, without heating or electricity, along with the characters as you read. For that reason, I almost wish I had saved this book for the dark winter nights, but once I started reading, I just couldn't bear to put it down and leave it untouched for several months.  

It is an interesting novel with Gothic themes of secrets, madness, witchcraft and deception, subtly worked into the text.  The narrator, though unreliable, has a strong voice throughout and it is a book that keeps you turning the pages, eager to read the next revelation of her past, which are used as chapter openings and work effectively as hooks.  The ending is suitably ambiguous, in perfect alignment with the main character.  It made me wonder if there is going to be a sequel of some sort.

Overall I enjoyed this book very much, and if you like witchy novels then you should certainly give Hare House a try.  If you are a seasonal reader though, you might want to save this novel for the winter nights, or at the very least, a rainy summer's day.  One thing is for sure, you will probably never look at hares in quite the same way again! Enjoy.

BB Marie x

AD; This book was sent to me by the publisher for the purposes of review.  It is available now in hard cover and digital download formats. 

BOOK NOOK; Idol by Louise O'Neill

 

"You had to steal everything from me because you couldn't get it by yourself, you wouldn't have a clue how to do it alone. And now - after I've spent so long working and working, building a career that a pathetic little housewife like you could only dream of - you want to steal that from me too?"  Sam could feel spittle running down her chin but she couldn't stop, not now. "You and all your ambitions of being a writer? Ha! What did you do? You did nothing. Because you're not like me Lisa. You've never been like me."

I have just finished reading Idol, which is a novel based around Influencer and Cancel Culture.  Like many people, I am somewhat fascinated and bemused by this new way of becoming famous.  How does it work, why does it work and should we be worried that absolutely anyone can pick a platform, upload a video and start selling to the impressionable youth of today?  Who holds them accountable for the promises they sell? 

Idol is told through the eyes of one such social media star, Samantha, who is at the top of her game with over three million followers, seminar tours and best selling books to her name, selling the idea of self-healing via universal energies, mantras and so on.  The opening chapters read just like a Gabrielle Bernstein workshop and so the novel certainly strikes the right vibe for Samantha's fictional career in the very real world of social media personalities.  So far, so guru.

But then it takes a darker turn, for right when Sam should be celebrating her latest win, a blast from the past threatens everything she has built, in the form of an accusatory email from none other than her former best friend from school.  This unleashes the Cancel Culture-Vultures in droves and Sam has to do something fast to save the career, reputation and lifestyle she has worked so hard to achieve. 

So she pays her old friend a visit and unearths a few home truths that she wasn't quite ready to deal with.  Back in her hometown, little has changed and she is faced with the subtle jealousy that permeated her friendship with Lisa throughout childhood - the copy-cat ways, buying the same clothes and shoes, even living in an identical house - it all becomes visible to Sam in a way that she can't ignore.  Lisa has always been jealous of her and now she is trying to sabotage Sam's career with lies. 

Idol looks at the often toxic and deeply intense friendships that exist between teenage girls, exploring what happens when these old rivalries spill over into adult life. What happens when one person becomes successful, while the other lives a more rudimentary life and those old wounds are reopened? Can you really forgive someone who has been jealous of you your whole life, determined to take everything that was yours?  And what happens when two people remember the same event very differently?

This novel is so skillfully crafted that secrets and lies are revealed in a steady drip, drip, drip of information and back story, each woman giving her version of events, each secret surfacing slowly as the story progresses, making very effective chapter hooks that keep you turning the pages. I read this book in two sittings, because I just couldn't put it down.  I didn't know who to believe or which character I was rooting for, because the story was so intricate, just like a lifelong friendship would be.  After all, if you can't trust your best friend, who can you trust?  

As the two women try to come to terms with their past and the toxicity of their friendship, they are each confronted with truths and lies they thought were long buried.  The ending of the book is very satisfying, and also surprising,  reminding me that the traitor is always the one you just don't see!  

In conclusion, I have really enjoyed reading this novel and the darker side of the social media world it explores. It is a gripping story and would appeal to anyone who has an interest in social media, female friendships or cancel-culture.  Definitely a great summer read.  Idol is released today. Enjoy.

BB Marie x

AD: This novel was sent to me by the publisher for review purposes. It is released today in both hardcover and digital formats. 

ONCE UPON A DREAM; Woodland Rides

 

The local woodland where I like to ride

Today has been a lovely, active day in the saddle.  One of my favourite things to do is go riding through the woods, so I got up this morning and off I went to the stables.  There is no better way to enjoy a forest than on horseback and the view between a horses ears has to be one of the best views in the world!  You get to see so much because you have a higher vantage point than if you were walking or cycling.  Sitting atop a 15-16 hand horse means that you are able to command a great view of the surrounding area, so you see things that you might otherwise miss.

I am very lucky, in that I get to ride through an ancient woodland (169 hectares), which is hundreds of years old. It is very diverse, with the lower level of the woods being made up of mostly oak, holly, thorn and beech, then giving way to magical silver birch trees, which look amazing on a frosty morning in winter.  Today however, I rode up to the highest point of the forest, with views over the beautiful Peak District.  Here the woodland is made up of conifer trees, the tall straight trunks rising up majestically all around, looking something like a barcode and always reminding me of Scotland. I absolutely love it up there, its so magical and peaceful.

The forest was quiet today, so it seemed as if we had the whole woods to ourselves, just the soft sound of the horse's hooves clopping along, the jingle of the bit and the occasional happy snort from my mount.  The May blossom was out in full array, the gorse is in bloom and of course, there was a full carpet of bluebells in the lower wood - the trademark of a genuine ancient woodland.  It was so pretty and I had a huge smile on my face the whole time I was out riding, with the sun breaking through the clouds and even the odd shower not enough to dampen my spirits. 

The forest is always familiar because I have been riding there for many years, since I was a teenager in fact, but it is also ever-changing with the weather and the seasons.  There is always something different to see, something new to discover.  Today my ride was shadowed by a couple of grey squirrels, like spies following on behind, their curiosity peaked as they hid in the treetops and leapt from branch to branch in our wake.  I love watching them scampering around the tree trunks. 

We took the bridle paths around the large loop of forest track, then headed higher and higher along the stony deer tracks, until we reached the peak of the woods, with the Peak District laid out like a quilt and stretching to the horizon, before completing the loop and heading back down, leaving the pines behind and returning through the deciduous trees and back to the stables.  

It feels like a very magical, enchanted forest and you can easily imagine the Oak and Holly kings, the Green Man and fey folk residing here. It was such a lovely ride and I enjoyed it very much.  It is still hard work though, because you're still riding, you are not just sitting there and allowing the horse to meander through the woods, so it hacking is a good work-out for both horse and rider!  

I am always glad to get back to my car, happy to drive home and start writing again, knowing that I have pushed myself physically, because riding is tougher on me now I have chronic fatigue than it ever used to be.  It would be easy to give in to the chronic illness and horse riding does take its toll on me, so I always feel proud that I've pushed myself and have been rewarded with such a lovely ride, chatting to a like minded friend and enjoying the company of both horses and pony pals. It's been a fabulous horsey day.

I'm not going to lie though - that first cup of tea, curled up on the chaise when I get home from the stables each week, is like the nectar of the gods!  😀

BB Marie x

WISE WOMAN; Creative Wounds

 

The modern world is full of creative opportunity and we are living in a time when creators have more control than ever before. The lock-downs we have endured in recent years led to a vast increase in submissions being made to publishers, literary agents and record companies, as people finally found the time to dust off their dreams and indulge their creative tendencies. Add to this the fact that there are now so many ways to just do-it-yourself, and lock-down life generated a society of creative people who were suddenly writing books, starting blogs, creating You Tube channels or setting up recording studios in spare bedrooms. For a time, the therapeutic concept of Free Play was in charge and people embraced it with gusto!

A creative life is something lots of people want. They sit in their office dreaming of writing a novel and working from home as a full time writer or children's author. They want to become a successful Influencer, gleaning all the free products and travel perks that entails. They want to pen heart-wrenching songs based on their own life, inspired by the likes of Taylor Swift and her tear-splattered guitar. And for some people, myself included, the dream of a successful creative life comes true.

However, living a creative life means that you must learn to take the bitter with the sweet, because disappointment and rejection are an unavoidable aspect of the job. In any industry there is always a degree of competitiveness, professional envy, personal jealousy and negativity. The Arts are no exception to this rule and the more successful you become, the more negativity you will have to deal with. When your name becomes known, in any field, in any genre, you will inevitably become something of a target for those disgruntled individuals who think they deserve it more than you do and they may try to tear you down in order to feel that they are leveling up with you.

This can lead to Creative Wounding and such wounds are slow to heal. There is a myriad of ways in which a creative wound can be inflicted. Rejection, sabotage, slander, people stealing your ideas and passing them off as their own, losing a creative contract that you’ve had for a number of years without any warning, plagiarism of your work, a scathing review, thunder-stealing and so on.

Moreover, no-one is immune to the pain of creative wounding, no matter how successful and celebrated they might be. Charles Dickens suffered a creative wound when his novel Martin Chuzzlewit didn’t sell as many copies as he was used to. Kylie Minogue experienced a similar wound when her album Impossible Princess didn’t do as well as expected. More recently Taylor Swift was so visibly creatively wounded by her spat with Kim and Kanye that she felt the need to withdraw from public life for a whole year.

Creative wounds are very real. They inflict pain deep in the psyche and they can even be life-altering. This is because artists and creatives identify themselves so closely with their work, that if the work is rejected, doesn’t sell, has bad reviews or if the work suddenly dries up completely, it feels like a personal attack. Losing an agent, a publisher, a platform, and the income that goes with it, is like losing a limb. It can be that life-altering, that painful and it takes time to heal from such an injury.

Other ways you can suffer from a creative wound is when someone close steals your thunder. That wedding you’ve been planning for months is suddenly upstaged by your sister’s glittering engagement party. Your best friend has a baby before you do, giving it the name you told her you would give your own child, way back when you were both 10 years old and playing with dollies. While you’re busy saving up the fees to do a Masters Degree, your boyfriend suddenly announces he’s going to do one through his workplace, which won’t cost him a penny and ensures that he will graduate before you do, thus subtly trying to keep you in your place. All these are examples of how a creative wound can be inflicted by a thunder thief. Such wounds run deep and life can often pour salt in them when you least expect it, adding to the pain.

So how do you even begin to unpack this and start the healing process? Well, as with most hidden injuries, the first step is to recognize it. Feel the pain and name it for what it is – a creative wound. Acknowledge that you have been deeply wounded and treat yourself gently. Know that you can come back from this, that you can heal and that your creative energy will come back to you when you begin to take steps towards closing the wound. This might mean that you take some time away from your creative outlet and disappear for a while just like Taylor Swift did. Take time out for yourself. Keep a low profile, stay off social media if it helps. Don’t torture yourself by ruminating on the missed opportunity or the lost contract or the rejection. There will be other opportunities for you, and you can come back even stronger, just like Kylie did with Spinning Around. 

Another step towards healing a creative wound is to put the sense of wonder back into your creativity again. When creativity is also how you make a living it can sometimes lose its magic, as the pressure to generate enough income to pay the bills takes over, and takes the fun out of it. A creative life should be fun, joyful, vibrant and dynamic. Forget agents, publishers, galleries, editors, producers, music labels and the like for the time being. Create something just for fun. Go into it gently, no pressure. See what you can come up with when you enjoy the process once again, without a deadline looming, without looking over your shoulder watching out for a rival to stab you in the back, or a pal to steal your thunder. Just create.  A little bit, every day. Art for Art’s own sake. Just like the Bohemians.

Finally, learn to play your cards much closer to your chest. If you don’t mention what project you’re working on, or what your plans are, no-one else can steal your thunder, steal your ideas, or sabotage your work. If you don’t share details of your professional contacts, no-one else can hang on your coat tails, piggy-back on your success or pitch for the same contract. 

Remember that nothing heals a creative wound like a new spate of success and achievement, so keep working on your projects, envisioning the smug moment you'll have when all your new books, albums or paintings come out at once!  Spend time daily, proving your enemies wrong, because they cannot sabotage your success in the long term unless you allow them to. Work on your new ventures, but keep the details to yourself until release day. Know that while your enemy might be working on and enjoying the success of their first project, you will soon be enjoying the success of several! 

A creative life is lived creatively. Creative wounds are slow to heal, but they do heal and in the meantime you can learn from the experience, deploy a new creative daily routine and enjoy your talents, with no expectation, no rejection, and absolutely no competition! Trust in your talent and the Universe – when the time is right, a golden opportunity will come your way once more, taking you to the next level of success and you will be more than ready for it when it does! Most of all, enjoy the creative process because each thing that you create is helping to heal that old wound and prevent it from festering. 

Serene Blessings

Marie Bruce x