Mary Cavanagh - Novelist

Update

2012-01-11T01:03:00.000-08:00

I haven't updated the blog site for such a long time, have I? This is largely due to the exhaustion I felt on completing 'Max' and having a rest over Christmas. I really needed that break more than I realised. The three intensive months of completing Max rather took it out of me, and I still feel quite depleted with energy.

I am spending my time now taking the publicity of Max at a steady pace, sewing gardening and spending some time on relaxation.

Novel Four, 'Who Was Angela Zendalic' has been presented to my agent and there will be some more news to come when I've heard back from her.

Do check back in a couple of weeks when I have 'recharged my batteries'.

2011-11-24T22:34:00.000-08:00

E-Book Diary (7)

Well, I think the e-book process is, at last, coming together, and I am beginning to understand what its all about.

The formatted version of Max was sent to me by e-mail. However, I couldn't open it up and have a look as my computer 'doesn't recognise' its format. Quite normal, I'm told.

The correctly sized cover was sent to me, 600x800 pixels, as directed by Amazon and I'm very pleased with it.

I discovered an independant firm in Oxford who specialise in producing e-books and setting them up on Amazon, and they agreed to come to my house and do the necessary. This was done on Wednesday.

Firstly there was some technical tinkering to get the formatted version converted to Adobe, and something else, for Amazon. Wisely I kept out of this part as I couldn't have grasped it. Once you have opened a KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) account, and filling in your bank details (I did this all on my own so it really is easy) you are ready to complete the loading up form.

We firstly had to choose royalties - 70% or 35% - and there are some guidelines on this. I have gone for 70%, and a purchase price of £2.95, (but VAT has to added to this initially). The price has to be put up in dollars as well, but there is a conversion chart to follow.

There is also a para to put up to advertise your book - the same sort of blurb that you would put on the back cover of a paperback. I slapped something up rather quickly and it really needed much more thought and preparation. It needed to be changed, so more of that later, when it's been done successfully.

Anyway, the e-book winged its way off into space and I was told that it wouldn't show up for 24 hours. Currently the US version only is showing up, but as I made some changes to my 'blurb' this is likely what's causing the delay.

There are still some things to do - like working around a form to exempt you for US tax (alot more on that to come). Also, we didn't get round to doing an 'author page', so that too, will be for later.

Anyway, that's all folks, for now, and I will be back soon with news of the completed process.

2011-11-19T04:45:00.001-08:00

Saturday, 19 November 2011

New Blog

You will all see that I have a re-vamped blog. This has been done to co-ordinate with my new website, www.marycavanagh.co.uk that will be fully operational very shortly.

Current position of the e-book. The formatted text and cover are completed. However, having read the excellent guidelines from Amazon (several times) as to how to put the book up for download, I still don't have the confidence to do it myself. Thus I am trying to find an expert who will come to my house and sit with me while we do it together. This is the only way I'll have the confidence that it will work.

I hope its not too long, as I am now very anxious to get the job finished.

E-book diary (7)

2011-10-27T03:25:00.000-07:00

My biggest hassle, currently, is working my way around the ISBN registration with Nielsens. My story is this. I bought ten ISBN numbers with the idea that the Oxford Writers Group (OxPens) could use the numbers for all their various productions, including our very successful anthologies. It then came to light that as I was, technically, 'the publisher' all distribution etc had to come via me, which I couldn't cope with. Thus the group used WritersPrintshop and used one of their ISBN's. The blurb said Published by OxPens in conjuction with WritersPrintshop. Simple and straighforward, but now I am 'solo' and using my own numbers 'Max' has to be registered on-line through WebPub, Nielsens on-line data storage service. This involves User names and Passwords. Fine I can log on but a) I can't work out how to get them to accept my book details and b) they have asked for my BicCode. . . What on earth is that? Sigh. When I've worked out what to do I will post my findings

E-Diary (6)

2011-10-21T00:54:00.000-07:00

I have mentioned editing in the past and it's come up again. In addition to the e-book I have decided to commission 200 paperbacks as an alternative option, and hopefully for libraries. (More of that later) However, on writing the back cover blurb I suddenly decided that I needed to change the name of a character. Not difficult on spellchecker but I had to ask Justin to change the 'master copy'. I also discovered that I had made three mistakes in using the plural version of the family name. I could have let it go, but I couldn't so I had to approach Justin again. So annoyed at myself.

E-Book diary (5)

2011-10-19T05:43:00.000-07:00

Justin has told me that the e-book formatting formula will only allow one font to be used. I don't know what it is as I haven't asked, but I will. This is appropriate to me because I always write the main story story in the present with Verdana, and use Times New Roman for the 'in the past' sections. However, as the 'past' sections are clearly labelled with the date (i.e 1990)there will not be a problem. Italicized sections and size changes of the font are fine.

E-book diary (4)

2011-10-19T05:42:00.000-07:00

The completed manuscript of Max has gone off to Justin, who will be formatting it for ebook status. I emailed him an ordinary Word Document and he is able to work with this.

It's worth mentioning here that I sent it to him with every spacing between chapters and 'new' sections scrutinised for uniformity. Ditto for intalicised sections and font sizes. It is amazing how many errors I found and it took me all day to get it right. Having said that it will be so annoying if I find any errors in the text that I've missed - but even with professional editing this can happen - one seriously bad editor changed my 'chaise longue' to chaise lounger!!

E-book diary (3a)

2011-10-16T09:06:00.000-07:00

I meant to say that if you don't have your own ISBN numbers, and you want to publish an e-book, Smashwords is the place to go to

E-Book diary (3)

2011-10-16T08:35:00.000-07:00

I am not ashamed to admit I am terrified of computer technology. Sometimes you are trying to do something and it all mucks up, only to be given gobble-de-gook instructions as to what to do with your software. Two latest tricks have been 'update Microsoft Window 7 to Windows 9'. If anyone has done this they will find that their lovely familiar set-up is completely ruined, and in my case I had to call in technical help to restore 7 (which I love).

This week I have been fighting my way through registering 'Max MacCauley' with one of my own ISBN number with Nielsen's. I am aware that this isn't essential for Amazon/Kindle, but it is for me. I am publishing it as an Oxpens Publishing book, which is the name first used by the Oxford Writers Group (OWG)with their hugely succesful Oxford anthologies. The numbers were purchased by myself, with the idea that we could use them for the group, and any other member who wished to bring out a publication. The stumbling block was that I would have become 'The Publisher' and thus incur a huge amount of distribution work.

When you are publishing an e-book, it seems you have to register with WebPub, part of Nielsen's that allows you to put up your own details, and lots more info about your work. I think I have sussed what it's all about, with superb personal help from 'the man at Nielsen's' but it's a minor minefield that you have to negotiate.

Secondly I bought a non-royalty book cover picture from an American firm called www.bigstock.com. I love it - very colourful and eye-catching, and reminds me of the very memorable 'One Day' cover. The vector size, needed by Nathan, my wonderful graphic designer, was only £9.99. Brilliant I thought. But then it seems I have to buy it again for the 'e-mail publicity brochure' and yet again for the 'paper brochure'. Actally not too painful as another cover pic I wanted from elsewhere was £150. However, I have discovered that if I ever want to use it for a POD paperback I would have to pay a fee for every copy . . . impossible. Therefore, if I want to produce paper backs I have to go for the print-run method.

Otherwise, all going well. Mx is completed and sent off for formatting.

E-Book (2)

2011-10-09T09:20:00.001-07:00

This week I have been editing, and editing and editing. This is because I am preparing 'Max MacCauley' for a review, and of course, it must be presented in the best way possible. One of the things I emphasised in my text book, A Seriously Useful Author's Guide, was that although it looked perfect on-screen, the printed out version told another story. I printed out on Friday, thinking there was very little to do, and got a huge shock. It was rubbish!! So I have become boggle-eyed reading and re-reading.

One of the dithers I have is whether or not to use the 'Oxford' comma. Modern thinking says not, but it's still 'my way' to use it. However, not using it on screen works well, but it doesn't look right (to me) on paper.

I think I had better leave it, send it to my reviewer, and go over it again before I send it to the technician who will do the formatting for the e-book.

The E-Book Diary (1)

2011-10-02T10:13:00.000-07:00

The Manuscript

When you are contemplating putting your novel on Amazon Kindle as an e-book there are a great many stages that have to be completed. I will be writing up each stage as it happens to me personally, as no two people's experiences are the same. And also I am still unsure of exactly how the system works! There is a great deal of information supplied by Amazon and this can be found under 'Self-Publish With Us'. However, unless you are computer literate it can be confusing. This is why I am having technical help when I get to the formatting stage - there is no way that I could work my way through it on my own.

As an author the first and most important stage is the text. The main criticisms thrown at the e-book is the standard of editing can sometimes be very poor. The reputation of your book does not only lie with your excellent storyline and stunning prose - if you are 'new' to the publication game make sure that it's in perfect literary order.

So, for now I am reading through, editing, reading through, and editing, to try and make sure that all errors are corrected and my text is the best I can make it. Once this has been achieved I will be sending it to a fellow author for a cold read through. More to come.

News

2011-09-23T14:19:00.000-07:00

After a period of 'not very much news to report' it's now 'all happening'! My literary agent has been offering my third novel to publishers for around eighteen months and sadly there have been no contracts. The decision now is that it will be published initially as a Kindle/e-book and I'm really pleased that it will soon be 'out there' and available to be read. The title has been changed (again) and the final title will be -

Max McCauley: All He Ever Wanted Was A Quiet Life

Although the e-book is now an accepted platform for novels, and the process is widely thought of as a 'five-minute job', this is far from the truth. The process, if done professionally and thoroughly, is far from that. Therefore I will be posting a diary of the whole process, from computer manuscript to a downloadable e-book, to include all the steps along the way (and there are many) that have to done - and done properly.

So please join me in my journey. Watch this space

2011-06-03T12:13:00.000-07:00

Author Talk

On Friday 10th June at 2.00pm, as part of Wantage Summer Festival, I will be giving a talk at the Vale and Downland Museum in Wantage. The title is 'Creating Memorable Fiction - The Art of the Storyteller'. Tickets are free and bookable by ringing the museum on 01235 771447. Seating is limited and I'm told seats are nearly sold out.

The Crowded Bed has been chosen by the Museum book group as their read for June so I will also be answering any questions or discussing the book in general.

Copies of The Crowded Bed and A Man Like Any Other will be available - and even signed if you would like me to!

Meet Abingdon Writers

2011-04-26T00:53:00.001-07:00

I'm afraid it's been a long time since I posted any news. I have no updates of the progress of my latest novel, The Mistress, Her Lover and The Sad Man. Currently it's still sitting with a large publishing house, presumably taking it's turn. A friend waited a year with one company, so I may still have got a long wait.

However, here is some news about an event that will take place at 10.30 on Tuesday, 17th May, at Abingdon Library. No booking required - just turn up for coffee and biscuits.

Meet Abingdon Writers
Abingdon's own lively creative writing group was created by a group of isolated writers who were seeking support, help and social contact with like minded people.

Come and hear them discuss their work, their motivation, what made them want to be writers and how their journey towards publication works.

2011-02-04T11:05:00.000-08:00

Once again!! Please go away

Once again I have have been having to put up with telephone calls from a 'stalker'. i.e several daily phone calls from someone who clearly doesn't choose to speak for several seconds and then then hangs up. If YOU are my phone pest then can I remind you that I have a friend (ex-police with many contacts) who has ways of finding out who you are. So, once again, go away before you are caught and charged with harrassment

2011-01-20T11:15:00.000-08:00

Library Talk

I will be giving a talk at Abingdon Library on Tuesday 15th February to co-incide with Valentine's Day. Start time 10.30 am, for coffee and biscuits, and all you have to do is turn up. No booking necessary.

The title will be 'Love In The Third Age' and examines 'enduring' love, and new found love in the later years.

The resources used will be the legend of Borcis and Philemon, Ethel and Ernest by Raymond Briggs, The Browns from Cider With Rosie, and A Short History of Tractors In The Ukraine.'

2010-12-24T09:56:00.000-08:00

Happy Christmas

To those of you who loyally visit the site, and there still seem to be quite a few, I wish you a Very Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year. My apologies for not updating the site more often but I really have very litle news to report. Novel four, with the working title, 'Set In Oxford' is going well, and I've been helped a great deal with structure by Abingdon Writers, especially Duncan.

I have no news to pass on from the publishers who are still looking at 'The Mistress' but I live in hope of an update in the fullness of time.

Next year I will be taking part in some events at Abingdon Library, which will be posted when they are organised.

If anyone is in a position to oppose the current vicious library cuts proposed for Oxfordshire please can you do all you can, or make some suggestions that will help the many thousands of library users who will no longer be able to access a library at all, due to travel costs and/or mobility problems.

With best wishes

Mary

Latest News

2010-09-17T09:50:00.000-07:00

Since my last post my agent, Kate Nash, of the Kate Nash Literary Agency, has submitted my latest novel to three top London publishers. Of course I hope for good news but, as ever, I will have to be patient and keep my fingers crossed that someone likes it. The original title has been changed from 'In The Company Of Wolves' to 'The Mistress, Her Lover and The Sad Man'. I hope this title stands out!

With the weather moving down to autumn I am now hard at work writing my fourth novel. The working title is 'Garvie Warlock - An Oxford Man'.

News

2010-07-28T23:46:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I have posted any news on my BlogSpot. This has been because I have had a phase of health problems. Simple treatment, although slow, is leading to a full recovery, and I am feeling fitter than I have done for some time.

My good news is that I have completed novel three and I have a new literary agent, Kate Nash, of The Kate Nash Literary Agency. Currently Kate is in the process of offering my book to several leading publishers, so I am hoping, in the fullness of time, to receive some good news.

2009-10-09T00:59:00.000-07:00

Writers In Oxford

Together with fellow Oxford writer Julie Summers I will be doing a talk on October 22nd, for Writers In Oxford, entitled Book Promotion and Self-Publishing.

No news yet on my latest novel, In The Company of Wolves, currently with an agent.

The Oxford Writers Group are preparing a third volume of 'Oxford' short stories, to be published in the spring.

Currently I am having a short rest from writing, Having published three books in two years I rather need it, but will be back to writing, with enthusiasm, very shortly.

2009-09-08T04:06:00.000-07:00

Wychwood Library

Last night I had a really enjoyable evening with the members of The Wychwood Library Reading Group, who had read The Crowded Bed. It was great night, and I would like to make a special thank you for the wonderful welcome, and the really beautiful bouquet of flowers.

It was very interesting for me to discuss The Crowded Bed again, as it has now been out for nearly three years , and has rather been sidelined by A Man Like Any Other. I even had to read it again myself to familiarise myself with the characters and the plot!

My next event is The Anchor Book Club, on Monday 14th September when I will also discuss The Crowded Bed.

2009-08-24T00:31:00.000-07:00

Summer Recess

It may seem that I have had a summer recess, but I have been working very hard to complete my third novel, In The Company Of Wolves. The manuscript has now been sent away to a literary agent and I await a report. I am currently writing a short story for inclusion in the Oxford Writers Group's third anthology, due to be published in the spring of 2010. The group is now pictured above, celebrating the launch of our first production, The Sixpenny Debt and Other Oxford Stories.

In September I have two 'gigs'. I will be attending Wychwood library on 7th September to discuss A Man Like Any Other, and will be meeting up with The Anchor Reading Group on September 14th to discuss The Crowded Bed.

Over the summer I have also had some articles published and I now include one that was written for The Heritage Coast Gazette (East Anglia)

'For the last twenty years my husband and I have kept a summer holiday caravan on the Suffolk Coast, firstly at Shotley and now at Marsh Farm near Saxmundham. Whilst all our friends and relations were jetting off to exotic, world-wide locations we were never tempted to go anywhere else, finding the peace and beauty of the area a sanctuary from our working lives in the busy city of Oxford. We even come up out-of-season to stay at Wheelwright’s Cottage in Dallinghoo.

When planning my second novel, A Man Like Any Other – The Priest’s Tale, I needed to create an isolated Cistercian Abbey, where its senior incumbent, Father Ewan, could lead a privileged lifestyle, and enjoy a secret long-term love affair with Marina, an older woman. Thus ‘Waldringhythe Abbey’ found itself placed between Waldringfield and Hemley, overlooking the beauty of the Deben estuary.

Now, at the age of forty, and suffering from Marina’s bereavement, he seeks the peace and tranquillity of the area to begin his grieving.

‘His daily two-mile discipline along the Deben estuary bank was a strict, sacrosanct routine . . . His feet followed their usual beaten path towards the marshes, but the thrash of his strides gave no relief. At the turn-back point he stopped to rest, sitting on a dry tussock of grass to overlook the lower reaches of the wide waterway. With the tide drawn out it was a flat stretch of wet, muddy sand, showing the criss-cross imprints of a seabird’s wavering walk . . .

However, having chosen my location, the prose that describes the approach road to the Abbey, and its landscaping, is drawn from an amalgam of places, including Walberswick and Ramsholt. In addition I drew on my own driving experiences whilst exploring the estuary area, south of Woodbridge.

Creating an authentic 12th century Abbey was quite a challenge, but (with an author’s license of fiction) I modelled its basic architecture on both the ruined and existing stone church of St Andrew in Walberswick.

In this extract, Sally Fuller, in the wake of a failed marriage, is escaping to the Abbey in the hope of re-building her life.

‘Sally’s map-reading skills were being seriously challenged by the maze of gorse-filled lanes, unique to the Suffolk heritage coastland . . . She joined a single width lane, edged with high trees, and peppered with sandy passing places. At ground level pheasants jaywalked unperturbed, and above her head, wavering, whippy branches of bright spring green were interspersed by sharp, glittering sun.

Without warning the lane suddenly ended, to reveal a wide sweep of low farmland, and on the edge of the distant horizon she could see the glinting water of the Deben estuary . . . Sally caught her first glimpses of 12th-Century perimeter walls . . .

. . .The gentle pastoral landscape of East Anglia gave up no natural hewn stone, and thus the Cistercians, seeking to estrange themselves from the Benedictines, had built the core of their sanctuary using the only materials available to them: an endless supply of palm-size elliptical stones endemic to the sweeping coastline, some five miles down-river . . . Sally could picture bowed and silent ascetics, patiently assembling layer after layer, hand over hand, toiling for perhaps the whole of their short lives.

Towards the end of the novel, Father Ewan, in re-counting his on-going struggles with life, once again seeks the solitude of the estuary.

‘Ewan was now at Waldringfield, a small waterfront village some two miles up the coast. Seated at a bench, in the garden of The May Bush public house, he overlooked a small harbour where tethered yachts bobbed and a shrill wind rang their chandlery like discordant bells. Behind him a steady stream of Sunday patrons trooped past, crowding inside to enjoy the fine food and cosy warmth. Feeling an intense need for solitude he was grateful to find that the chill of the outdoors attracted no one but himself . . .

I hope that in A Man Like Any Other I have paid homage to your beautiful area. It really is a ‘heaven on earth’ and now we are retired intend to spend as much time as possible ‘on holiday’. I am thus happy to talk to any group, bookshop, or interested party. Please contact me on marycavanagh@btinternet.com

Mary Cavanagh is the author of two novels, The Crowded Bed (Transita 2007) and A Man Like Any Other – The Priest’s Tale (Matador September 2008). Her most recent publication is A Seriously Useful Author’s Guide to Marketing and Publicising Books (Troubador 2009)

Reviews of A Man Like Any Other –The Priest’s Tale:

Mary creates credible, human characters that excite, anger, frustrate, and generally mess up their lives – as we all do – whilst evoking our sympathy, and affection for their human frailties. A superb choice for any Book Group.
Sharon Stanley - Library Reader – Ipswich, Suffolk

Trust me - once you start, you will not want to put this book down!
Sharon Goforth - Ex-Libris Independent Reviewer, Ohio, USA http://exlibris.typepad.com/

I had to stay awake till the wee small hours to devour the book in one sitting; I loved it and unreservedly recommend it.
Amanda Stock - Oxford Daily Information

A Masterpiece of Genius. As soon as I started reading this novel I could think of little else until I reached the end.
Kate Wiltshire – Author

2009-07-30T07:12:00.000-07:00

My Dogs (for one week only)

It was nice to hear from Gregor in Poland who has read and enjoyed my books. Thank you very much for the nice comments you made, and I hope that you will introduce my work to some more Polish readers. I have put up a picture of my dogs for you to see, although it's very difficult getting them to pose! Louis is the golden one, Lovejoy, the black and tan.

2009-07-13T00:26:00.000-07:00

Burford Library - A Seriously Useful Author's Guide to Marketing and Publicising Books

As part of The Burford Festival I am speaking about Seriously at Burford Library on Tuesday 14th July, 8.00pm. My publishers, Troubador, have assured me that a new print run has been received so hopefully it will be 'seriously' available from now on.

Mostly Books Night

The Oxford Writers Group, of which I am a member, held a very successful evening at Mostly Books on Thursday 9th July. Thanks everyone for a wonderful event. The report is up on the Mostly Books blog at: http://mostly-books.blogspot.com If you live in the Abingdon area, and are looking to join a writing group, then do get in touch with Mark.

The Northern Clemency by Philip Hensher

Too long. Too rambling. Poor characterisation. Storylines started and lost. No drama. No drawing together of any loose threads. Don't bother.

2009-06-18T11:36:00.000-07:00

Current Events

For those of you who ocasionally visit my blog page I apologise for the fact that I've not posted much for a while. This isn't because I can't be bothered, but because I've been really busy. A literary agent has expressed an interest in 'In The Company Of Wolves', my third novel 'in-progress, and I have a deadline to produce it by the of the end of July.Current news also includes a feature on 'my literary life', and how I came to write A Seriously Useful Guide to Marketing and Publicising Books, in the Oxford Times In Business supplement (Friday 19th June).

July 9th

For those of you who write, want to write or are avid readers, The Oxford Writers Group warmly invite you to 'An Evening With The Oxford Writers Group' at Mostly Books, Stert Street, Abindon, Oxon,on Thursday 9th July at 7.30. The OWG, as you may know, is a long-established and highly successful writers group, with an established membership of novelists, poets, journalists and non-fiction writers. The publishing world has always been a tough place to penetrate, but even more so these days. This informal event is intended to be a lively and informative evening, that showcases the ups, downs, struggles and successes of the group . We will especially be talking about the two anthologies we have self-published, and our own individual publications. If you want to know more about the publishing world, and the benefits of group unity in writing, then do come along. Can you please forward this email to anyone you who you might be interested.Tickets: 01235 525880, or email books@mostly-books.co.uk

2009-04-24T05:36:00.000-07:00

The Victoria Arms

I would like to thank all of you who made the evening at The Victoria Arms so enjoyable.

A Seriously Useful Guide to Marketing and Publicising Books was published on 20th April, ISBN number 9871848761513.

Currently it seems to be 'sold out' but I am checking with the publishers and hope that it will become available very soon

2009-04-14T08:09:00.000-07:00

Love For Lydia

I realised after about a third of the book that I had read it before, many years ago, and it had been serialised for TV in the seventies(?). I think a young Peter Davidson played Mr (no christian name) Richardson. What I probably missed first time was what a wonderful prose writer H.E is. His descriptions of nature and the weather are spellbinding. The beginning is slow, but then the drama builds up between five friends, to a very powerful and compelling story. Sorry to say that I just couldn't stand the spoiled and insensitive Lydia!

2009-04-10T04:38:00.000-07:00

Burford Library Reading Group

I would like to thank Carole, the Librarian, and Burford Library Reading Group, for making me so welcome on the night of Tuesday, 7th April. It was very enjoyable to meet with such a lively group, and to answer so many interesting questions. I was also delighted to discover that A Man Like Any Other is now on the official County Libraries Reading Group List.

2009-03-29T02:16:00.000-07:00

An Inspector Calls

In the past I have posted on the J.B.Priestley stage play, An Inspector Calls. This exceptionally insightful and suspenseful play has been revived under the direction of Stephen Daldry and is currently touring the country. It will be at the Oxford Playhouse from 9th-13th June and I wholly recommend you see it.

2009-03-13T12:22:00.000-07:00

Oxford Fringe Literary Festival

I will be taking part in the Oxford Fringe Festival that runs in tandem with 'the other one', The Times Literary Festival at Christ Church (29th March-5th April). I will be reading an extract from A Man Like Any Other at Blackwell's all day 'open mike' session on both Friday 3rd and Saturday 4th, somewhere around the after-lunch spot. On the morning of 4th April I will be giving a talk, 'Calling All Authors: Publishing Solutions and How To Sell Your Book' at the QI Club. This is part of Writers In Oxford Spring Book Fair.

On 7th April I am delighted to be attending Burford Library to discuss A Man with their reading group who selected it as their Book of the Month for March.

2009-03-13T12:16:00.000-07:00

Kennington Library Festival on Saturday March 7th

Apologies to Oxfordshire Library Service for not writing this up before. The first Kennington Library Festival, to celebrate World Books Day, was a great success with nearly three hundred attenders. From a personal point of view both of my talks were very enjoyable and well attended, and The Oxford Writers Group table was visited all day. Needless to say the Librarians ended the day exhausted and it was lovely to go over to the pub with 'the team' and collapse with a well earned drink.

2009-02-22T08:35:00.000-08:00

The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale

Mr Whicher was a real person - one of the first police detectives, and part of the London police force in 1860. His case is that of an horrific murder - that of a four year old child, Saville Kent. The boy was taken from his bed, whilst sleeping beside his nanny, in an affluent country house, occupied by his parents, many siblings, and a wide selection of servants. He was found dumped down an outside privvy, with his throat cut 'from ear to ear', and it is obvious that someone from within the house killed him. Mr Whicher's job is to find the culprit

I think this book was the most unputdownable I have read for a long time, and won't spoil it for any reader who, like me, previously knew nothing of this very famous case. Although the case is studied in great depth, it also highlights some very interesting Victorian social facts - that of other equally horrendous murders of the times, including those of children, and the strength of public opinion within the population at large who were very quick to condemn and spread rumours. A very absorbing read. 9/10

2009-02-10T05:19:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I updated my Blog Page but this is because I have been working very hard on the text of A Seriously Useful Authors Guide to Marketing and Publicising Books (a slightly altered title). It is hoped that it will be out by the end of the month, so all updates to come. If anyone would like to come to The Kennington Library Festival on 7th March, 2009, at 2.00pm, I will be doing a talk, based on the book, called 'Do You Want To Be A Published Author?' Venue the Kennington Village Centre, opposite The Tandem Public House.

Kate Atkinson's One Good Turn

It was Kate who actually inspired me to write fiction. After reading Behind The Scenes at the Museum I realised exactly what creative freedom was, and began my own attempts. One Good Turn was a very, very absorbing read, with what seemed like a simple road rage episode escalating into a murderous and convoluted story. The characters were very finely and amusingly drawn in true Atkinson fashion, but It wasn't until I got to the last thirty pages that I suddenly realised just how over complicated and, in places incomprehensible, the story had become. There were far too many strong characters, all jockeying for prominence, and I really lost the plot. I'm sorry to say that I then had to leave it unfinished. The book would have benefitted from some ruthless editing to become at least 100 pages shorter. 5/10

2009-01-26T05:56:00.000-08:00

The Birmingham Meet Up Reading Group

It was very enjoyable to 'Meet Up' again with the lively Birmingham Group, and to become re-aquainted with some of the members I met last time. I had a full house of twenty-four attenders, which was great support. Thank you very much for inviting me. I was made very welcome and I really enjoyed myself. Thank you all for your in-depth discussion of A Man, and generating some very interesting topics. Hope to see you all again next year with my third novel - (still 'In Progress').

2009-01-11T15:29:00.000-08:00

Please Go Away
For the past couple of years I have had an intermittent telephone 'stalker'. If YOU are my phone pest then you will be interested to know that I have been talking to a friend (ex-police with many contacts) who has ways of finding out who you are. So go away before you are caught and charged with harrassment.

2009-01-09T11:57:00.000-08:00

Fred Dibnah's Autobiography

I was looking forward to reading this book as my husband had enjoyed it so much. Although, like everyone else in the country I have a huge affection for Fred, and was fascinated by all his television programmes about bygone skills and crafts, I found the book to be a little dry. Like everyone else I was also fascinated with his complicated personal life, but his three wives all seemed to suffer from the same fate - abject neglect and his refusal to accept the confines of domesticity. I virtually skimmed the last half, but I shall still enjoy seeing repeats of his programmes as there really is, and never will be, anyone like him

2008-12-31T03:57:00.000-08:00

The Birmingham Meet-Up Reading Group

Last January I went up to Birmingham to talk to The Birmingham Meet-Up Reading Group to discuss The Crowded Bed which had been their book choice for December 2007. I had a really great night with a very large group of very welcoming thirty-somethings. We had an excellent post mortem and I came away really delighted with so many positive comments. You may recall that the target audience for TCB was 'the middle years woman' so it was a real bonus to get the enthusiasm of another age group.

How lucky I am that they have chosen A Man Like Any Other as their December choice for 2008. On 13th January I will be making a return trip to meet up with them, and I am looking forward to it very much.

The Kennington Library Festival

On 7th March 2009 I will be taking part in the first Kennington Library Festival. This is my own village (a very large village actually) that is lucky to have its own branch library. More details later, but worth saying here that in the morning Eliza Graham and I will be doing author spots, and in the afternoon I will be presenting a talk on Publishing. Here I will be able to present and refer to my forthcoming text book, The Seriously Useful Authors Guide, as all is on course for a publication date in February.

Benedict's Carnival

I just adored Kate Wiltshires novel Benedict's Carnival. I heartily recommend it, and here is my review. *****

A perceptive and emotive story

Although having adored my early years of education at a CofE Junior School, and fascinated with the concept of religion per se, I am a non- attender. Thus, I know nothing about the structure and politics of an Anglo Catholic ministry. Benedict's Carnival, for me, took the lid off the insider dealings of the church function and administration that outsiders like me never consider. Personalities abound to great effect, and it was the first time that I have thought about a vicar being revealed as such a complex character. A really well drawn aspect was the actual struggle that 'active' gay clergy have in being accepted for ministry. The two-faced woolly areas are that they CAN 'come out' and declare themselves to be gay, BUT they have to be celibate. This is such a fudge of the issue. Had Benedict been allowed to form an open, mature relationship with another man it's doubtful that he would have caused all the stress and emotion he did - the congregation and his close colleagues would be able to accept his boundaries, and the whole administrative set-up would have functioned much more efficiently. Thus, with open and active homosexuality being virtually banned for the ordained, his sexuality was the bane of his life. But he was also very 'naughty' and attention seeking. In garnering a 'fan club' from his heterosexual female admirers, he clearly had no idea of the danger his sweet words were creating. I consider this to be because he needed an emotional outlet for his affection, but had no idea just what heartache he was causing. The most emotive feature that Kate Wiltshire captures brilliantly is exactly what happens when a married middle aged woman falls in love - deeply in love - with an 'unattainable' man, and the serious madness it creates in her mind. The character Meg was so spot on as she pathetically hung on to every tiny crumb of Benedict's affection towards her and went completely over the top in trying to gain his favour. She even thought, poor thing, that she was in 'telepathic communication'with him. The denouement is rather sad, but I have to come to the conclusion that everything that happened to Benedict was entirely his own fault. A very emotive read.

2008-12-07T08:21:00.000-08:00

A Review of A Man Like Any Other

I was alerted by several people that an excellent review had appeared on Amazon, and how delighted I was to read it! I discovered that the reviewer was Kate Wiltshire, a fellow Matador author of Benedict's Carnival. After thanking Kate, I quickly ordered her novel, as its subject matter - a new gay vicar and the maelstrom of anxieties and devotions that his appointment causes amongst his congregation - sounded right up my street. I had just ditched Calamity Physics, finding it was far too long drawn out and boring, and thus I am now entranced by Benedict's Carnival. I am just loving it and will write a proper review when I've finished it. In the meantime, here is Kate's review.

Amazon Review ***** A masterpiece of genius.

As soon as I started reading this novel I could think of little else until I reached the end. I am tempted to say the best of Susan Howatch and Joanna Trollope rolled into one - but Mary is her own person with her own unique and captivating literary style. The narrative flows fluently, with enough vividly evocative descriptions of the variety of settings and atmosphere,witout being overworked. The characters are sharply drawn and credible, if complex and bizarrely unorthodox. The dialogue is fluid and totally natural sounding, be it brisk repartee or earnest, measured conversation. And although the narrative frequently switches between different times, which can be a risky technique, in this case there is little chance of confusion as this unusual and gripping story unfolds. This is clearly the work of an experienced, perceptive, imaginative and mature author with a great future. Hopefully she will meet the certain demand for a succession of further novels of quality.

2008-12-01T00:53:00.000-08:00

Seriously Useful
The title of my new text book will be The Seriously Useful Authors Guide To Marketing: Marketing Publicity and The Book Trade. This will be published by Troubador in February 2009. I am really looking forward to the production as I have had a great deal of positive feedback that its content will be much in demand.

Publishing Alternatives
The recent talk at the Writers in Oxford Xmas Book Fair on Publishing Alternatives was a great success with a full house. In fact the general feeling was that it should be expanded to a full day. Hopefully this will take place in the spring.

The Secret Lives of Eleanor Jenkinson
Although written by Ann Oakley, the author of one of my favourite all time reads, The Men's Room, I didn't find it very page turning or exciting. The interesting thing, for me as an author, was that Eleanor's secrets lives were led through her obsession with novel writing. In fact My Novel had accompanied her through a boring marriage, the appearance of a family, a brush with low life out of her 'class', and several lovers (real or imaginary). It made me wonder whether us writers have a need to create alternative lives in their heads to escape from a humdrum life, or whether we are just mentally hyperactive and creative. Memorable for its thought provocation, but not as a 'thumping good read'. 7/10

2008-11-16T07:29:00.000-08:00

Details of The Writers In Oxford Christmas Book Fair

Venue: The Corner Club (formerly the QI Club), on the corner of Turl Street and St.Michael's Street, Oxford.
Date: Saturday 22nd November (this coming Saturday)
Time: 1.30pm

Mary Cavanagh and Jane Gordon Cumming of the Oxford Writers Group, wearing their Writers in Oxford hats, will be pleased to see you at the above event. They will be talking at 1.30pm on a topic of 'Publication Alternatives'. What if your publisher lets you down, or you can't find one in the first place? Don't sit in a corner and be miserable. There are many exciting alternatives.

Mary and Jane will be talking about their successful publishing experiences, as represented by their own novels, A Man Like Any Other - The Priest's Tale and A Proper Family Christmas, plus the two Oxford Writers Group anthologies, The Sixpenny Debt and Other Oxford Stories, and The Lost College and Other Oxford Stories.

Copies of all our books will be available for sale, so we hope to see you there. With the horrid credit crunch upon us what better Christmas present can you buy for someone than a book? A Proper Family Christmas IS the ultimate stocking filler. There will also be an array of books from the members of Writers In Oxford so there will be something for everyone.

2008-11-11T01:39:00.000-08:00

Updates and Restitution

The manuscript of Seriously has been submitted and I now have some breathing space. Actually, there's no peace for the wicked as I'm catching up on all the literary sideshoots I've neglected for the last couple of months. (I won't mention the state of the house, the ironing and the mess of a new puppy as well.)

I am currently writing a feature for submission to the broadsheets entitled Four Gutsy Ladies. The four women in question have all achieved great things in their lives AFTER their sixtieth birthdays. Move over Lulu and Twiggy - here come the REAL girls with both physical and academic kudos! Polly Vacher, the Aviatrix flew solo round the world, Kate Yagimoto undertook four years training to qualify as an Acupuncturist, Sue Moss cycled from Lands End to John O'Groats, and (humbly) I made it as an author.

I will be taking part in the Writers In Oxford Xmas Fair at The Corner Club, Turl Street on Saturday November 22nd with fellow Oxford Writers Group member, Jane Gordon-Cumming. We will be selling copies of our novels (Jane's A Proper Family Christmas would be a great stocking filler) and I will be giving a talk on both Matador Publishing and The Lost College. More details to be confirmed.

The newly formed Mostly Booklovers of Abingdon Literary Society is really forming into what is going to be a terrific literary society. A great list of potential speakers will be confirmed when all is up and running in January.

Restitution by Eliza Grahame

Restitution is set in Germany in the time of so-called 'peace'. It's 1945 and the Russians, who as part of the victorious allies, are sweeping through the country in a wave of terror and fear to its citizens. Having been a modern history 'major' I was ashamed of how much of this period I have either forgotten, or never knew about. I will not be giving a precis on the story but more the evocation of the time. The atmosphere reminded me so much of Dr Zhivago - the bitter cold, the military might, and the flashbacks to the happy lives the main characters had led before the war. As in all good stories there are secrets that abound from the past, and another that develops in the current time frame. I congratulate Eliza on her stunning attention to detail and the hours of meticulous research are obvious. I do hope it gets made into a film. Restitution is a no brainer when giving a score - a resounding 10/10.

2008-10-27T13:04:00.000-07:00

Update

I have failed to update the blog lately, but that isn't because there's nothing happening. A great deal is happening, resulting in my not having time to give it any attention. The manuscript of my text book A Seriously Useful Authors Guide (working title) is in the final stages. I must perfect it by this weekend for a hopeful publication date in February 2009. More updates next week, and a review of Eliza Grahame's super book, Restitution.

2008-10-11T12:44:00.000-07:00

Bright Day by J.B.Priestley

I got about 35 pages into Bright Day I was enjoying it, but then I suddenly began to get bored. I thus dropped it, and moved on to Eliza Grahame's Restitution, which I am enjoying very much. I may return to the Priestley - I feel a bit defeatist - but it wasn't taking me anywhere.

2008-10-05T05:14:00.000-07:00

A Great Review of A Man Like Any Other

I would like to thank Sharon Goforth (Ex-Libris), the renown BookBlogger (independent reviewer) from Chicago USA for this wonderful review. As my books aren't available in the USA I am very grateful that she has highlighted the excellent international service that The BookDepository offers here in the UK.

A Man Like Any Other: The Priest's Tale

Last summer I had the privilege to read and review the first novel published by English author Mary Cavanagh. That book was The Crowded Bed, the gripping and provocative story of a Jewish doctor and his struggle with his faith versus love, ending ultimately in murder. It was so good, it made my end-of-year "best of the best - top 5 books of 2007" list.
This past week I was fortunate to read Mary's second novel, A Man Like Any Other: The Priest's Tale, which I had been anxiously waiting for since the day I put down The Crowded Bed. Expect the unexpected is an understatement when reading her books. This woman knows how to pack a literary punch. And A Man Like Any Other: The Priest's Tale did not disappoint.
The story focuses on Father Ewan McEwan, a somewhat unconventional and at times controversial priest who specializes in grief counseling. Little does he know how much he will need his counseling skills when Marina, his secret lover of 25 years, succumbs to cancer. Marina's death sets into motion a series of events that will forever change the lives not only of Father McEwan but an entire circle of people surrounding him. It forces each of them to come to terms with who they truly are as well as who and how they love.
Some may find this book a little uncomfortable. But isn't it in those uncomfortable moments when we must wrestle with ourselves? Good literature makes us think, and rethink, about who we are and what we believe via a fascinating story you cannot put down. (Trust me - once you start, you will not want to put this book down!)
I highly recommend this book and encourage you to order it or ask your library to order it. It is not currently available in US bookstores, but you will find it online at The Book Depository. (They offer free shipping worldwide.) This book, as with Mary Cavanagh's first novel, is most certainly worth it.

2008-09-27T13:31:00.000-07:00

The Men's Room by Ann Oakley

First published in 1988 The Men's Room chronicles the long and painful can't-live-with-you/can't-live-without-you affair between Charity and Mark. I re-read this book every five years or so, and every time I do my sympathies and reactions to their wearyingly awful behaviour are different -reflecting the change in my attitudes and on-going experience of life. Nothing is ever stable between them, and the detritis of their infidelities and quarrels litter their feet. The conclusion was that their passion was so great they were unable to sustain a relationship in 'the ordinary' and had to hurt each other to prove the worth of their existance. But even when the death knell has been sounded, and Mark has finally married a girl twenty-four years his junior, Charity knows she hasn't lost his soul, nor ever will. She states, in a tirade to his absent self' ' . . .I know there's not a moment of any day when you don't miss me . . . but it's only a matter of time. Time will make you reach out for me again.'
7/10

2008-09-22T01:27:00.001-07:00

Another Great Review of A Man Like Any Other- with grateful thanks to Amanda Stock of Oxford Daily Information.

Thank you, Amanda for a really generous review, and also for mentioning the humour in A Man. I have tried to inject a running theme of humour, but I wonder sometimes if it might be overpowered by all the drama! Thank you too, for highlighting the Greenham Common section. It took me quite a bit of research for authentication, and it's part of 'my' history that needs remembering by others.

A Man Like Any Other by Mary Cavanagh
I was looking forward with keen interest to the next novel by Mary Cavanagh (The Crowded Bed) and A Man Like Any Other does not disappoint. Again, she is a spell-binding storyteller, and not a gentle one – she seizes you by the scruff of your imagination and plunges you head-first into a world of titanic passions and cruel consequences from which you cannot be released until the last page is turned. Again I had to stay awake till the wee small hours to devour the book in one sitting; and again it was an absolute delight. Her writing is fresh, pungent, surprising; often sharp and very funny. She is direct and forthright, doesn’t waste words; when I had finished I wished it had been much longer than its modest 200ish pages. Cavanagh’s leading characteristic as a writer is a superb boldness. She is unafraid, and unapologetic, to present you with breathtakingly big themes – death, grief, madness, devouring love, incest, jealousy, betrayal, murder – in combination with breathtakingly unlikely coincidences.
The story opens with the death of Lady Marina Proudfoot. She was a woman of both great personal and spiritual beauty, whose generous, brave and loving nature is deeply mourned by her surviving son Timothy and her priest-counsellor Father Ewan McEwan, whom she has been visiting for twenty-odd years after a horrible tragedy shattered her life in 1982 – her infant daughter and her much-loved husband both drowned. Soon we learn that Marina and Father Ewan were secret lovers, were in love, were inseparably entwined in one another, despite a fifteen year age gap. With the assistance of beautifully paced flashbacks we witness how Lady Marina Proudfoot started life as Molly O’Dowd, a beautiful young Irish girl in Oxford, chucked out by her vile mother after an unfortunate encounter with a fish porter from the covered market results in a teen pregnancy . . .

. . .Meanwhile Timothy also has a secret lover – his best friend Roger, married to Sally, a very nice woman who deserves better. Roger and Timothy are planning to Come Out at Marina’s funeral; Sally of course already knows and is leaving to start a new job at the bereavement counselling centre run by Father McEwan. Roger is a man of awesome selfishness and boundless vitality. His inner child is very close to the surface and his attempts to control his titanic rage when his devious plans are thwarted contribute greatly to our entertainment in the present-day parts of the story. His passion for the weak and petulant Timothy, and his hatred for Marina do not prepare us for a second devastating revelation which I will not by any means spoil.

There are occasional moments when your inner critic begins to say "Hang on a minute …", but so intense is your desire to find out what happens, or rather, why what happens happens, that you have no time or desire to listen to it, when every page delivers powerfully gripping stuff. For example, while discoursing back and forth through recent decades we are transported to the Greenham Common Embrace the Base day, to show us the steps that led the young about-to-be-ordained Ewan to pose for what became a world-famous image, Crucifix Man.

There are themes explored in the book that were also present in her first novel The Crowded Bed – the emotional grip of religion, the sense of guilt, the desire to hide painful secrets from early life, the catastrophic results of these secrets coming to light, the enthralling power of beauty, the enthralling power of big love – that hit home, and ground the novel with depth and sensitivity in the midst of a story that is almost over-stimulating in it succession of big events and emotional body-blows. In other words, this is a big, colourful, tasty paella of a story chock-full of delicious king prawns and chunks of spicy sausage – you are not going to be hungry again half an hour later. I loved it and unreservedly recommend it.

2008-09-20T04:30:00.000-07:00

An Inspector Calls by J.B.Priestly

I was alerted to read this after a piece on Stuck-In-A-Book that talked about never forgotten who-dunnits and plots. I had only ever heard this on the radio as a play, and had always remembered its slowly built up revelations. I didn't realise that it had never been a novel, and was only produced as a stage script, but nonetheless I really enjoyed it in this medium, and it all came to life brilliantly. A perfect time-piece of middle class social attitudes of the pre-1914-18 period, that also fascinates with the clever characterisation of The Inspector. Was he real or was he the conscience of the cast? Utterly brilliant and worth 10/10 stars

2008-09-19T08:17:00.000-07:00

A Man Like Any Other - Review

I would like to thank Elaine Simpson-Long, the renowned BookBlogger from Random Jottings (randomjottings.typepad.com) for her very generous review of A Man. Thank you, Elaine.

A Man Like Any Other - Mary Cavanagh
First thing I have to say about Mary Cavanagh's book is that it is not for the faint hearted. It packs quite a punch and while I could not put it down once I started, I made myself do so as I felt I needed time out half way through to recover from its impact.
Mary's first book The Crowded Bed which I reviewed last year here was also pretty powerful and, again, not a book to be taken lightly, but as with this one, quite a read.
The full title of this new book is A Man like any Other: the Priest's Tale and is the story of the childhood and priestly life of Father Ewan McEwan, the chaplain of Waldringhythe, a Cistercian abbey on the Suffolk coast where people, grief stricken at the loss of a loved one, come for healing. Marina, Lady Proudfoot, who lost her small daughter and husband in a sailing accident many years ago, has been a regular visitor and over the years she and Ewan have conducted a passionate and loving affair which has been kept a closely guarded secret. Now Marina is near death and she has left papers behind for Ewan to read in which she tells of her life and her own secrets.
Ewan is a charismatic priest, an iconic figure after being photographed in his youth as The Crucifix Man, someone who is loved by both men and women and exerts a powerful sexual aura. We learn about his life, his childhood and his adoption and his feelings on becoming famous as the subject of this controversial photograph. Most of all, we learn of his feelings and his knowledge that he is a priest who has betrayed his vows. Throw in another secret love affair, this time homosexual, between Marina's son Timothy and an old family friend Roger, who has betrayed his wife for most of their marriage, and you have a potent brew.
As I said, hard hitting and powerful stuff and I cannot write any more without giving away the final twist, the ending that left me wondering. We not only learn yet another dark revelation, this time about Timothy, but are also left wondering just how much Marina knew about her lover and if, as is hinted, she knew his full story, then the reader is totally winded. I know I was.
I will repeat my opening sentence, this book is not for the faint hearted, but it packs a punch and grabbed my attention and never let it go until I had finished reading. Written with great conviction and style with a narrative not only flicking backwards and forwards between the main protagonists, but also in time so you need to concentrate, this is a worthy successor to The Crowded Bed.

2008-09-17T09:19:00.000-07:00

Good Morning Miss Dove

I last read this book when I was sixteen, and in the upper fifth at school. I was looking forward to reading it again, as I have always remembered how much I enjoyed it at the time. Miss Dove is an institution at Cedar Grove School - a career teacher at a time when, at least at my girl's grammar school, ALL teachers were single, scary and dedicated to their careers. Sadly, with the passing of time, I found it was actually a bit too slow and tame for me. The story of Miss Dove, and her impending illness, captured me with a short story quality, but the anecdotes of the WASP small town school children, both past and present, I found rather 'American'. Difficult to score as it was very well written. I think 6/10

2008-09-16T02:01:00.000-07:00

Author Night

For those of you who are within striking distance of Abingdon, Mark Thornton of Mostly Books, is hosting an author night for A Man Like Any Other . The details are below.

Venue: Mostly Books, 36 Stert Street, Abingdon, Oxon. OX14 3JP
Date: Wednesday, 8th October 2008
Time: 7.30pm
Tickets: £3.00 redeemable against a book bought on the night - doesn't have to be mine!
To Book: Phone Mostly Books, 01235 525880

2008-09-12T05:31:00.000-07:00

The Way Home by Rose Tremain

As promised I will not be attempting to be a BookBlogger, and give subjective reviews, so I will only be reflecting my enjoyment (or not) of the current book.

I have only given really high marks to three books this year. Death of a Murderer by Rupert Thomson 9/10, and Engleby by Sebastian Faulks, 10/10.

The Way Home also gets 10/10. I just loved this book. It was truly 'unputdownable' and I didn't want it to end. I was tempted to knock half a point off for a sudden 'jump in time' at the end, that I felt required a little more 'filling in', but no more crit than that. Do read this book. It's a gem and seriously deserves it's Orange Broadband shortlisting.

It also made me view 'legal' immigrants in a much more sensitve way.

2008-09-11T11:30:00.000-07:00

Books I Read

Although I've been in the habit of mentioning the book I'm currently reading, I have never posted my thoughts. There are so many wonderful BookBloggers on-line and I certainly don't have their skill, or their ability to read so fast. However, from now on I will be giving a very short comment when I've read a book, and give it a score out of ten.

Currently I am LOVING Rose Tremain's The Road Home. I shall finish it shortly, and I'm sure it will be a recommended read.

2008-09-01T08:44:00.000-07:00

Copies of A Man Like Any Other - The Priest's Tale can now be ordered directly from me. The price is (£7.99 (discounted) plus free p&p. If you would like to put your name and address on comments, I will contact you with my details.

It can also be ordered from Troubador http://www.troubador.co.uk/book_info.asp?bookid=680 Amazon and through bookshops.

I will be holding an author evening at Mostly Books in Abingdon, Oxon, on Wednesday,8th October, courtesy of Mark Thornton. More details about times and tickets later.

2008-08-23T10:15:00.001-07:00

The launch of The Lost College and Other Oxford Stories was a great success, and attracted a full house. My friend Simon Thomas, of Stuck-In-A-Book.blogspot.com, blogged the event the minute he got home (19th August), with his usual enthusiasm for all things literary. His lively write-up leaves me very little to say, other than to thank all the people who came to support us, especially Colin Dexter. He had us all in stitches, telling us a story about an Inspector Morse episode, when he noticed that, in the credits, there was a reference to, 'Second Dog Handler'. This was all the more amusing, as there was no credit to 'First Dog Handler', and no episode of Inspector Morse had ever involved a walk-on part for a dog.

Copies of A Man Like Any Other will be with me soon, so more news to come soon.

2008-08-19T02:12:00.000-07:00

This morning I was interviewed by BBC Radio Oxford to publicise The Lost College and Other Oxford Stories. Having been interviewed on 'live' radio once before I wasn't particularly nervous, and by a miracle, I had slept very well.

My slot was 8.15am, so it meant an early start, but it just reminded me of the daily mad scramble I went through when I was working, and how lucky I am not to have to turn out these days. However, the weather excelled itself in the 'cold and rainy and more like November' stakes and, being a Reynaud's sufferer, my hands were frozen to paralysed lumps when I arrived.

On meeting the producer I was terrified to find I was booked to talk on a 'continuous talk' programme, and not to do a guest spot on a music show as before. This meant that I didn't have the luxury of talking in a relaxed way with the interviewer, while a series of easy listening pieces were played. I was taken in to the studio to meet Malcolm Boydon, the presenter, and after a ten second intro chat I was 'straight on' without a safety net.

Malcolm Boydon is clearly masterful and experienced, as he was juggling with phone-ins, directions from the producer, and running my interview with with a pace and sound very much like Adrian Chiles. Having put me at ease, I was able to talk up The Lost College at my own pace, and I hope I didn't end up gabbling! I think I managed to say everything in the right order, mention and thank those who have supported Oxpens in the production, and ended up inviting the entire listening force to our launch tonight at Far From The Madding Crowd. More of that tomorrow.

2008-07-28T07:03:00.000-07:00

The Lost College and Other Oxford Stories

Following the success of The Sixpenny Debt and Other Oxford Stories the Oxford Writers Group (OxPens), of which I am a member, have brought out a follow-up anthology, The Lost College and Other Oxford Stories. If you are local to Oxford we hope that you will be able to drop in and celebrate with us at our launch. 'The Sixpenny' has sold in excess of 2000 copies, and Waterstone's, Oxford, have announced it to be their highest selling non-discounted book. It should be a lively evening.

The Launch of The Lost College and Other Oxford Stories

Venue: Far From The Madding Crowd (an arts friendly pub in Friars Entry, next to Debenhams)
Date: Tuesday 19th August 2008
Time: 6.00pm - 8.30pm

Colin Dexter has very generously written a cover quote and a foreward, and will be there to support us. We have no hospitality budget, but drinks are available from the bar. Hope to see you there.

2008-07-13T10:52:00.000-07:00

Matador's Pre-Publicity Page

Matador's publicity and sales page has now detailed A Man Like Any Other - The Priest's Tale, together with the final finished cover. I am very, very pleased with it, and I am also very pleased with the excellent presentation of all of the publicity links. Many thanks to all at Matador ( the imprint will actually be Troubador). I'm getting very excited that the book is firmly on its way.

Here is the link:

http://www.troubador.co.uk/book_info.asp?bookid=680

2008-07-04T01:48:00.000-07:00

More Good News
My further good news is that I have been commissioned by Matador to write a non-fiction text book for authors, Seriously Useful Publicity and Marketing Advice For Authors (working title).

This is a project I have been working on for a while, and born out of my diverse and useful experiences in marketing both The Crowded Bed and The Sixpenny Debt and Other Oxford Stories. I have already posted some initial articles on the website of the brilliant author, Caro Fraser (The Caper Court series and much more). http://www.caro-fraser.co.uk/and click on blog. Caro is currently looking for a talented children's illustrator.

Seriously Useful is intended to 'do what it says on the tin': to be of serious use to anyone who is published, especially self-published, and needs to know what to do to get the book sold. So many books on the subject are not written by someone who has actually pounded the pavements, and pursued every opening available, to 'get the book noticed'. Yes - there have been stone walls and failures - but it's all been worth a try. To date TCB has sold over 2000 copies, which, although modest, is a success story for 'the likes of me' - a first timer given no budget for publicty. Did you know that only 5% of published authors sell over 3000 copies? It's only the big hitters who make the headlines with large sales figures, and they, of course, are professionally marketed with large budgets behind them. 'Large Publishing Houses spend 90% of their publicity purse on 10% of their authors'.

My deadline is November, for a publication date in February, and I am trying to collect anecdotal additions from other authors, to back up each category I highlight. If you are a published author, reading this post, and you would like to contact me with your own success story, I would love to hear from you, (50 words max). Can you contact me on marycavanagh@btinternet.com marking the title Seriously Useful, as I get so much Spam.

Also, if anyone subscribes to Matador's tri-annual publication, The Self Publisher, I will be contributing a series of articles, talking about my experiences of both mainstream, and self publishing. www.troubador.co.uk/selfpublishingmagazine

All is going very smoothly towards the publication of A Man Like Any Other, and all news as it happens.

Mary

2008-06-10T02:56:00.001-07:00

NEWS!!!!
The title of my forthcoming second novel has been changed to A Man Like Any Other (The Priest's Tale). This is because The Priest's Tale, as a main title, was swamped (i.e. virtually buried) on all the on-line book sales retail sites, by The Nun's Priest's Tale. Naturally, Geoffrey Chaucer's references were chosen before Mary Cavanagh's!

I am very pleased to be able to publish my first review of A Man Like Any Other, and for this I am deeply indebted to Sharon Stanley.

A Man Like Any Other, Mary Cavanagh’s second novel, is a truly, excellent and page-turning read. Anyone who has read her first novel, The Crowded Bed, will not be disappointed with her stunning follow-up.

As before, Mary creates credible, human characters that excite, anger, frustrate, and generally mess up their lives – as we all do – whilst evoking our sympathy, and affection for their human frailties. She evokes 1960’s morality, and in particular, Roman Catholic morality, so very well, drawing the reader into the claustrophobic attitudes which strangle youth, hope, and ambition.

Her account of the Priest’s early beginnings are beautifully drawn, showing how a child is influenced by both nature and nurture. With great insight she describes the making of a small boy into to a man, a man to a priest, and a priest to a vulnerable ‘man like any other’. I was impressed with her handling of the enforced adoption theme, from which flowed how life’s uncertain throw of the dice can benefit, or destroy. Whilst being a perfect environment for the child, his ‘theft’ destroyed his natural mother, forcing her to reinvent herself.

As ever, Mary writes with sensitivity and a sure hand, using psychological nuance, darkness, and human weakness, so very well. However, to lighten the moral overload, she injects a running theme of black humour. If not handled properly, the result could border on farce, but it never does, steering the reader to view each scenario with perfect balance.

This novel will appeal to anyone who enjoys a fast-moving story, with fallible, enigmatic characters, and no heavy-handed judgements of right or wrong. The seriously ‘wrong’ aspect of the book is deep and jaw-dropping, but it is depicted eloquently, as an ‘unspoken sin’. The reader is, thus, left to judge for themselves in every situation.

A Man Like Any Other is wholeheartedly recommended. It will appeal to all age groups, of both sexes, and will make a superb choice as a Book Group read. Hopefully, it will become a huge best seller for Mary.

Sharon StanleyJune 2008

Matador have just confirmed that the official publication date will be 14th September 2008. Meanwhile, here is a list of library talks I am doing over the summer. Reviews of my first novel, The Crowded Bed, can be found below.

2008-05-03T04:23:00.000-07:00

Library Events

Tuesday 9th September, Reading Group Event, Cook The Books Reading Group, Faringdon area.
November 22nd, The First Kennington Literary Festival, Kennington Village Centre, Kenningto, Oxford

Reviews of The Crowded Bed

2008-04-10T12:06:00.000-07:00

Reviews of The Crowded Bed by Mary Cavanagh
Published by Transita, January 2007
ISBN 978-1-905175-31-4

Kate Saunders - The Times 17th March 2007
This funny and dramatic first novel about the darkest of family secrets begins with Joe Fortune, a charismatic Jewish doctor, killing his father-in-law. Joe has good reasons for wanting Gordon dead – better reasons than your average murderer. The sanity of his adored wife, Anna, a fragile Botticelli blonde, may depend on it. Meanwhile, Joe must decide exactly how Jewish he wants to be. It is a tall story, but is told so artfully that there are genuine surprises.

Sharon Goforth (Ex-Libris) Independent BlogReviewer Ohio, USA
2007 - A Year in Review
The Best of the Best - Top 5 Books of 2007
Now to the hard part - deciding which books I enjoyed the most. This year it is especially difficult to choose, as there were so many books that were outstanding. But the following 5 books topped them all and are ones that will stay with me a very long time:
By the Lake by John McGahern
The Crowded Bed by Mary Cavanagh
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
The Spanish Bow by Andromeda Romano-Lax
An Ice-Cream War by William Boyd

Tim and Simon,The Big Green Book Shop, Wood Green london, N22
http://woodgreenbookshop.blogspot.com/
Despite what people tell you about bookselling being hard work, it's an honour to be able to see and read pretty much anything that you like (not on company time mind you), and I miss it badly. So to be sent these wonderful books has been a real treat for me, and I intend to give all the books I'm sent a chance. So thanks.There have been a couple recently that have really stood out for different reasons. One isn't published yet, but one is. The Crowded Bed by Mary Cavanagh (Transita 9781905175314)I started reading this on Sunday, and to be honest I wasn't sure if it was my kind of thing. But I was so wrong. This book is a belter. I was hooked and devoured it in 2 sittings. From the prologue, in which we watch Joe Fortune (our 'hero') murdering his father-in-law, we're then transported back to Joe's childhood. And there begins the story of how we get to his crime. The strength of the writer lies in her ability to take us from the past to the present and back again and still hold the story together so cleverly that you just have to know what happens next. I was both delighted to get to the end and sad that I'd finished it. This book has been picked up and recommended by Mostly Books amongst others, and rightly so. This is going eye level on our Big Green Favourites bookcase from day 1.

Elaine Simpson-Long
Independent BlogReviewer
www.randomjottings.typepad.com
Using the phrase 'a darn good read’ always seems a somewhat dismissive way to describe a book, and yet it IS a darn good read, in fact, a great read and deserves to sell lots of copies.
On Sunday I had a lot to do, but everything else went out of the window as I was totally absorbed in The Crowded Bed by Mary Cavanagh which has just been published by the aforementioned Transita. I read it straight through only stopping for the odd necessary visit and to grab a cup of tea.
Unusually, the story is narrated by a man, Joe Fortune, a Jewish doctor, who has been married to his adored wife Anna, for twenty years. He loathes his father in law who is cruel, sadistic, and wildly anti-Semitic and finally, after years of simmering hatred, Joe decides to kill him. This is stated in the opening sentence of the book which certainly grabs the reader's attention.
The book ranges from the present to the past and back again, and we gradually learn just what has happened to bring Joe to the point where he is considering committing murder. He had had a loving but stifling childhood, brought up by 'the quartet' his parents and grandparents who smothered him with affection and care. He eventually escapes to University where he leads a lonely life studying medicine and where he meets Urshie, the good Jewish girl his parents always wanted him to bring home. Though he has fought against his heritage, Joe is a good Jew at heart and feels it right to carry on the family line so he marries Urshie who is pregnant with his child, even though they do not love each other. It is a disastrous marriage and descends to physical fights and abuse. Caught in a cycle of misery, Joe then meets Anna, a nurse working in the same hospital and for the first time in his life, falls deeply in love.
His love is reciprocated and their affair is passionate, but lies and betrayal separate them and they are not reunited until many years have passed. Joe is aware that Anna has secrets of her own, but has agreed not to ask her anything of her past and to accept that their life together starts now.
The use of the time shifting device and the alternating narratives of Joe and Anna gradually draw the reader in and, as you become privy to their inner thoughts and feelings, you become totally involved with both characters and care about their fate. At one point I was fighting against the temptation to take a quick peek at the final pages to see how it all ended, but managed to resist and glad I did as the ending of this book packs quite a punch. Anna has kept secrets not only from Joe, but from us, the readers and when in the final few pages we learn about her secrets, what she has hidden from Joe and what she will continue to keep hidden, it comes as quite a shock.
And if you want to know if Joe did murder his father-in-law and, if he did, whether he got away with it well, you will just have to buy the book and find out.....
You won't be disappointed!

Lisa Guidari, Independent BlogReviewer, Chicago, USA http://bluestalking.typepad.com
The Crowded Bed surprised me. It wasn't that I hadn't expected it to be a great read, because I'd peeked at enough other reviews by people I respect to know this was very much worth the time. What I didn't expect was how complexly woven the writing actually was.
I'm not one to throw out a lot of comparisons between modern writers and standards in the western canon, because that one thing can make me very wary of reviewers, but there were times I was reading this novel I thought the prose was so inwardly complex I thought of Woolf's novels. I know, that's a pretty high claim, but if it hadn't happened I wouldn't be claiming it. There were times I got so caught up in the prose style of The Crowded Bed, a style bordering on stream of consciousness, I forgot where I was or which author I was reading. I only knew that it was very, very good.
The plot of the book is shocking, in that way books written by people with anger verging on psychosis can be. In this case there's no doubt the anger is entirely justified. There is such a thing as unpardonable offenses. It's just the fact the resolution to the situation involves a threatened murder that gives pause.
Joe Fortune, the main male character in the book, has been in love with Anna for nearly his entire life. She is his idea of perfection, his soulmate, and he in turn is all of that to her, as well. However, Anna's controlling, manipulative father, Gordon, despises Joe, largely because he is Jewish and not good enough for his daughter. Never mind the pain this causes her. Gordon couldn't have cared less about that. There was almost nothing so low he wouldn't stoop to it in order to keep Joe away from Anna. Joe, in turn, nurses such a deep hatred toward Gordon he imagines he could murder him. Beneath it all there's even more betrayal than Joe could have imagined, and ultimately the question becomes not ‘how could he consider murder,’ but ‘how could he not.’
Where it all leads I won't tell you. It's not a simple story, and doesn't have a simple resolution. The Crowded Bed is deeply psychological, and often quite dark. At times the prose verges on obscure, but it does so with a point. The mind is not simple territory, especially when such strong passions are at stake. Mary Cavanagh does a superb job venturing into the heart of all this turmoil, and she handles it all with an assured hand. This is a thoroughly impressive debut.

Mark Thornton
Mostly Books – Abingdon - Oxon
The Crowded Bed is a rare treat. A gripping, page-turning story, combined with the finest prose writing. My tip as a huge success in 2007.

Jane Karpa
The Bookstore – Abingdon – Oxon
It was an excellent read. Rarely do I finish a book and then want to read it again immediately, but I did with The Crowded Bed. CONGRATULATIONS!

Sharon Stanley – Library reader from Ipswich, Suffolk
From: S STANLEY [mailto:sstanley134@btinternet.com]
Sent: 18 February 2007 19:31
As usual spent Saturday in the library. On the quick selection stand was the above book. I looked, read the back and chose. On Sunday morning I opened the book and finished it at 19:15; I am going to buy it to read again in a month to taste again the texture of it. I laughed; I cried; I sat stunned by the depth of treatment of many of humankind’s blackest deeds: incest, alcoholism, bullying and betrayal. The systematic destruction of motherhood by fear; the familial structures being denied; religious and racial differences of the times and the social blindness of observers all being treated so wittily and sometimes cynically, this book reveals an intensity rarely shown by a first timer.
I am from South London and know Peckham Rye, Bromley and Orpington very well. She has captured the essence of all places, urban to suburban so very well, from linoleum to crimplene trousers and cravats.
I can honestly say that I rarely give up food for a book but today I did so. Is she a 21st century Susan Hill, I believe so. On that note I am going to cook.
Thank you so much for publishing her and please send my thanks for a great read to Mary.
http://dovegreyreader.typepad.com (with review of TCB in response to The Times David Baddiel column)

Ex-Libris - Sharon Goforth, USA – Independent Book Reviewer
June 16, 2007
Rating: 5/5
For the past several months, I have been reading and reviewing books published by Transita, a publisher whose primary audience is women who are in their 40's and 50's. These books focus on a number of issues of interest to this group and often present very creative ways in which to deal with them. I was surprised, then, when I began to read The Crowded Bed by Mary Cavanagh. The first page was a cold, clinical, and calculating invitation to witness a murder. Not even an invitation, really. It was a statement: if you continue to read this book, you will witness a murder. Once that was established (and it was very quickly), the remainder of the book told the behind-the-scenes story leading up to that event.
The Crowded Bed is the story of Joe Fortune, a middle-aged Jewish physician. Anna is Joe's non-Jewish wife who comes from a very wealthy, dysfunctional family, dominated by her powerful and abusive father. Both Joe and Anna are haunted by private demons, as well as their own shared past that weigh down on them; hence, the crowded bed. It is a jigsaw puzzle of a story, assembled from vignettes that take place across time, culminating in the above mentioned murder.
The story is gripping. The characters are unrepentantly flawed, which makes them believable and (in some cases) sympathetic. This book brought to mind questions that do not have easy answers. Is murder ever justified? Is ‘an eye for an eye’ ever an appropriate response? I like a book that doesn't have easy answers and makes me think.
The Crowded Bed is a gripping story, and one of the best books I've read this year. It is a story that will stay with me a long time.

The Jewish Chronicle
May 25th 2007
The Crowded Bed is a neatly told tale of intermarriage featuring A Jewish GP, his beautiful non-Jewish wife and her deep and dangerous father.

Detective work
From The Oxford Times, first published Thursday 21st Jun 2007.
Mary Cavanagh's first novel The Crowded Bed is a skilfully complex, psychological piece full of high drama and murky secrets, although at its heart is a loving, long-enduring relationship. It begins with Jewish GP Joe Fortune murdering his father-in-law Gordon before he returns to bed with his sedated wife Anna. Shocking and horrific, you might think, but by the end of the book, one empathises very much with Joe's dark deed because wealthy, powerful, well-connected Gordon is truly a monster.
The book, which is mainly told from Joe's viewpoint, starts five days before the murder and alternates between past and present. Over its course we go through Joe's loving, but suffocating childhood, Oxford University days and his hellish first marriage to a nice Jewish girl. This is interspersed with Anna's loveless upbringing and difficult first marriage. It is clear that they are passionately in love with each other, but that their bed is full of the ghosts of a sometimes unbearable past and Joe wants to murder Gordon in part to avenge these.
When I asked Mary what inspired her to create Joe, she explained how her central character was originally Gordon, but that when Joe appeared, he demanded centre stage.’ He became so fascinating to me,’ she said. Mary then went through some happy years finding out about Jewish culture. ‘I tagged on to the shirt-tails of every Jew I knew and made sure that my research was right,’ she said. ‘I went through a phase of being absolutely fascinated with the religion, the people, with the attitude to their faith and their attitudes towards their social structure and culture, which is so much part of Judaism.’
Such absorption has enriched the book greatly and some reviewers have said how well she describes Jewish family life. They have also compared her book to such diverse authors as Susan Hill, Anita Shreve, Virginia Woolf and Henry Fielding. Blog reviewers, who are becoming increasingly influential, particularly seem to like her book.
Apart from murder, she tackles some very dark themes: incest, adultery and abuse, but because of the way she writes, they never seem melodramatic. They just unfold, are explained and become part of Anna and Joe's hinterland. I asked what made her want to write about these things.’ I'm not the sort of writer that can write ten pages about a man putting a sock on,’ she said. ‘I have actually got to have some sort of real drama in my books to develop my characters.’
Mary was born and grew up in North Oxford. She used parts of her childhood in the book - Joe's school is based on St Barnabas School in Jericho, while Gordon is based on ex-colonials who she came across as a child in North Oxford.’ They were used to servants and kowtowing and they had no humanity at all,’ she said.
She came to writing late in life. ‘I only did it when I had the head space.’ That came when her two sons were at college, even though she was working full-time as a medical administrator. ‘Once I took it up, I never ever let it go. I never thought I can't be bothered. I was always bothered.’
She was inspired to write by Kate Atkinson's book Behind the Scenes at the Museum.’ I thought I don't have to write like everyone else, I can be unique, I can do wild things and I can get away with it.’ She can, because she writes with great warmth and panache, making her characters believable and, apart from Gordon, likeable. She found writing male characters easy.’ I am a real man watcher. I've had male employers, before I was married I had boyfriends and I made a sport of watching them and realising that they're very different to women.’ By contrast she finds it difficult writing women. ‘I don't know why. Maybe because I'm not very good at revealing myself.’
The book was published earlier this year when Mary was 60.’Mary Wesley started at my age or even older. She actually managed to sustain a career and that's what I want out of my writing, I want a career. I've still got a lot of energy and a lot of impetus.’ She also has the nous to realise that to get books sold she has to generate publicity herself.’ I've been quite ruthless in being bold. I've never been like that before.’
Boldness led to David Baddiel writing a bizarre column in The Times about how he was refusing to review the book as he'd only been sent it because he was a Jew. Great publicity for Mary and it resulted in a proper review in the paper. See what a bit of chutzpah can achieve.

Caroline080 BookCrosser
Having been warned by previous reviews that this was not the usual romance froth, I took it slowly and paid attention from the start. It was worth it. The structure is intricate but is made clear to the careful reader at the beginning, the story is spell-binding and the characters are so attractive I wanted to know what happened to all of them. I read it in one night, although I did have to stay awake late to finish it.

Miranda Stock
Oxford Daily Information
This is a first novel by Oxford author Mary Cavanagh, and it is excellent. It opens – arrestingly – with the hero, Joe, murdering his father-in-law, and the rest of the novel dances adroitly between the past and the present to divulge the reasons why he done it. Rarely can there have been a fictional character who so richly deserved to be murdered (in fact you almost feel that murder is too good for him!), and the reader must cast aside any personal scruples that murdering people is wrong to really enjoy the story and sympathize with Joe – who is, indeed, a very engaging and sympathetic character.
Joe is a Jew, who grew up in a close and loving working class Jewish family, did well at school and Oxford, and became a doctor; but his personal life is a mess. He basically doesn’t fancy Jewish girls and yearns for a cool blonde shikse with milky skin and clear eyes; after a false start with the plain and shrewish Ursula, he finally gets his Venus on the half-shell in Anna, a lissom blonde beauty, who returns his passion and gives herself to him utterly, partly to escape her horrible father, and partly to spite him. But Anna’s clear-eyed innocent appearance hides frightful secrets, and the novel uncovers these masterfully, never letting the suspense drop, and delivering every revelation with style and humour. Anna never wants to speak about her past, which leaves Joe vulnerable to the lies of interested parties.
The tale of their misunderstandings, betrayals, parting, loss, eventual happy marriage and resolution of the misunderstandings is gripping, dramatic, believable. I had to stay up till 3.30 this morning to finish it. Much of the book is told as a first person narrative by Joe, and this is a great success – his love for Anna and for his children, his ambivalent feelings about his family and background, his hatred for his father-in-law, his intensely physical nature, sometimes pulling counter to his sensitivity and intellect, are all captured with salty, grounded detail. If anything – this is a tiny quibble - his visceral passions and griefs loom so large that they slightly overshadow the more anodyne character of Anna, whose calm, gentle, loving nature seems an unlikely outcome for someone with such tragedies and cruelties in their history. But don’t let that put you off. This is a riveting story beautifully told, and deserves whopping success. I am very pleased to have found Mary Cavanagh, and I hope she writes lots more novels.

Sue Fairhead
Independent Reviewer
www.thebookbag.co.uk
The book begins with a prologue. The author invites us to watch Dr Joe Fortune as he prepares to murder his father-in-law, before getting back into bed with his sedated wife Anna. Spine-chilling, particularly as the author adds that Joe is aware that he has sinned, but does not care.
Immediately we're taken back to 1955 where Joe is five years old, raised by a loving but rather claustrophobic Jewish family: his two parents and two grandparents. Then we're taken to 1965, when Anna is five years old. The scene here is a formal Christmas dinner where Anna feels ill, and is severely reprimanded by her strict father.
Thus the stage is set for the rest of the book, which is helpfully described as taking place in both the present and the past. This is exactly what happens. Each chapter begins in one of the days leading up to the murder, written from Joe's perspective. Then there are lengthy flashbacks to the past, in both his and Anna's childhood and teenage years, and their early adult life. The main point, perhaps, is to show how even cold-blooded murder can sometimes seem entirely justified.
I was a bit ambivalent about reading this book. The blurb on the back tells me it's about revenge, mutual hatred, cruelty, violence and shocking revelations. It sounds over-dramatic and rather exhausting. I don't like thrillers; I like peaceful stories with happy endings. Having finished the book, however, I don't think the blurb does it justice. This is a character-driven novel which is very cleverly crafted, revealing the past in such as way as to build up a clear and positive picture of both Joe and Anna, and many of their relatives too. There is violence and unpleasantness, but it's not described in gory detail. By the end of the first chapter I could quite see why Joe wanted to murder his wife's ghastly father.
Not every incident is explained in full at the time, so there's a gradual unfolding of the various subplots in ways that manage to seem entirely natural. No awkward pauses for thoughts about what had happened; instead we move almost seamlessly between the years, with each scene building on what has gone before and hinting about what is to come. The revelations happen gradually, so the shock isn't too great. And there's a bit of ironic humour here and there, too, that made me smile inwardly.
It was thought-provoking, too. By the end I was fully sympathising with Joe and hoping he wouldn't be detected as a murderer. I also found myself thinking about other issues that came up naturally in the book: religious and racial intolerance, incest and adultery.
As a debut novel this is impressive. I look forward to reading more by this author in future.
Christopher Gilmore
Former Literary Editor
Tradition holds that all the best mainstream English novels have to do with three themes: money; adult sexuality, and social status. The cocktail is variously mixed, but all are present, and all will motivate the principal characters. A variety of spices can be added to the mix, and to The Crowded Bed Mary Cavanagh adds one of the most potent – traditional Ashkenazi Jewishness. In the present climate of increasingly fashionable anti-Semitism, it is also one of the most dangerous, but in truth, it was never easy for anyone. So Cavanagh has set herself a hard course, the more so as it’s also a course into the unknown. For Joe Fortune, her protagonist (sometimes first-person, sometimes not), is not only an unbelieving (though not entirely unobserving) Jew obsessed with his own Jewishness, he’s also a successful man of hedonistic bent with an extremely happy marriage to a Schiksa. Yet the Bed of the title, their marriage bed, is crowded indeed, and not only with the usual personnel.
Apart from comprehensible guilt feelings deriving from the weaknesses of the flesh and competing duties, Joe has to contend with a tight little knot of emotions deriving from his East End background. The brilliant only child of an Orthodox couple, he has more than his share of ‘smother love’, and the embarrassment that goes therewith; and of course, he is ashamed of being embarrassed. Neither feeling is one for which he can possibly expect sympathy from any quarter, which leaves him feeling sorry for himself, and ashamed of that.
Mary Cavanagh writes about these emotions with great insight and a superb eye for the telling detail, but that is by no means the limit of her range. The other occupant of the Bed, Joe’s second wife, has a background very unlike his, and in many ways a great deal worse. Whereas Joe is smothered in love, Anna is the product of a loveless marriage. Joe’s parents, and grandparents, may sometimes make him want to grind his teeth, but they represent reality: What you see is what you get, however embarrassing. Anna’s father is outwardly impressive, but is in reality a domestic tyrant and hateful hypocrite, motivated exclusively by his desire to look well in the eyes of a world that he hates and despises – as he hates and despises everything except himself.
Once again, Cavanagh is taking a heavy risk with such a character. It would be all too easy to make him too hateful for belief, because a man with no redeeming features at all lacks credibility. That was how Dickens failed with Pecksniff. Yet Cavanagh succeeds, as Samuel Butler succeeded with Theobald Pontifex, and by much the same means. She presents him in a series of vignettes, always with something to say, and always showing consistent motivation.
And the story? As the novel shuttles back and forth through time, we meet Joe as a child, as a young man, and well into middle age – by which time he is truly happy. Yet it is not an unalloyed happiness; in a superb piece of parallel writing, she describes how this couple, who know and understand each other well, and are still very much in love, lie wakeful together, each feigning sleep, each aware that the other is pretending, and neither daring to speak to the other, least the Crowd erupt to overwhelm their relationship. There is something yet to be done, and it must be done, to lay at least some of the demons that crowd the marriage bed – for all that it would appear to entail considerable risk. It is the planning and execution of this deed that constitutes the core narrative, while all the history of Joe, and Anna, and Joe’s hellish first marriage, and the accommodations Joe seeks to make with his children, serve to explain why it must be done.
It is Cavanagh’s triumph that by the end, we sense the necessity as keenly as does Joe.

Liz Broomfield
BookCrosser
This is an action-packed story of six days and fifty-odd years in the lives of Joe and Anna Fortune. The Jewish/non-Jewish relationship was interesting to me as I am in a similar relationship (although luckily Matt doesn't feel the Lure Of The Other quite as much as Joe in the book - I am no Boticelli angel!). The author cites her influences as Alan'n'Arnold Bennett etc, but I detected more of a trace of Howard Jacobson in her angst-ridden London Jewish boy, desperate to escape his clinging family and seek another way, or Philip Roth (who is name-checked). In fact, interestingly, this book does not identify as being written by a woman or a man. The male narration is convincing and I think this gives the book a broad appeal. I did not guess the plot twists and the story was told well.

Stuck In A Book
As promised, a review of Mary Cavanagh's The Crowded Bed today. For those keeping tabs, Blogger appears to have once more changed the format for posting, so we'll see how this goes..."Good evening, dear friend. I'm extremely pleased to see you, but I'm sure you'll understand why I can't give you my full attention. Joe Fortune is just about to kill his father-in-law, and I've no intention of missing this long awaited event."So opens The Crowded Bed... Gosh. From the first sentence I sensed this wouldn't be an uneventful novel - and, genre-wise, it's a canny decision by Cavanagh. If it hadn't been arranged thus, we'd have had a Hamlet-esque tussel over whether or not Joe wanted to kill his father-in-law - and let's face it, who hasn't watched Hamlet and thought "to be or not to be, don't care, just get on with it!"I digress. The Crowded Bed follows Joe, a Jewish boy and later doctor, from childhood through various relationships and to just after the pivotal moment described. Like many recent novels I've read, the narrative jumps about a bit, so 'the present' is shown parallel to various sections of the past - though, like those novels too, it's not confusing. I found Joe a fairly repugnant character, but I think that's ok - he has manifold sins under his belt, and more or less his only redeeming trait is a deep love for his son. And an abiding love for Anna.She's the other lass. Liked her. Despite her name, she's not Jewish - she's more like Botticelli's Venus, as shown on the cover. My favourite sections of this novel were the opening chapters, when the childhoods of Joe and Anna were depicted alongside each other, and thus contrasted. Where Joe has indulgent and proud parents, Anna had a vicious father and a passive mother. And a twin brother, a theme popping up in quite a few recent reads. Reading their childhoods in this comparative way is so revealing about the characters and the way they interrelate.The path isn't smooth for Joe and Anna. That crowded bed gets pretty crowded as the novel progresses, and I'll keep schtum over whether or not they manage to kick everyone else out but, suffice to say, the shocks keep coming to the very end. Cavanagh has written a novel which is both gentle and vicious, warm and unsettling. It's hard to like many of the characters, but that doesn't stop being compelled to find out more - and the rollercoaster they go through is dramatic but believable. Certainly not comfort reading (though someone recently described The Kite Runner as that, so it takes all sorts) but is a very engaging and perpetually surprising novel. Oh, and it features Oxford, which is always exciting!

Reader-2-Reader
This was recommended to me by a friend who said it was being talked about a lot and getting good reviews so I thought I'd give it a go. If there is a lot of buzz about this book it is well-deserved. From a murder you are an accessory to right at the beginning of the book, you are taken through the histories of the killer and his adored wife in way that gradually reveals why the murder has taken place. It's a fascinating and compelling read so far - you'll have trouble putting it down!
Suggested by Jane, Birmingham
Tagged with: page-turner

http://www.hercircleezinel.com/
‘Good evening, dear friend. I'm extremely pleased to see you, but I'm sure you'll understand why I can't give you my full attention. Joe Fortune is just about to kill his father-in-law, and I've no intention of missing this long awaited event’: this is how The Crowded Bed begins, and it follows up on its promise of family secrets and action-filled drama. Anna is a teenager when she meets Joe, ten years her senior. They fall in love, only to be forced apart by her wealthy, tyrannical father. About ten years later they meet again and marry. The novel is comprised of the story of what happens in the interim, as well as the period before their first meeting. Joe is the narrator for most of the book. He grew up a working-class Jew with hopes of bettering his position by becoming a doctor. While in medical school, he meets his first wife, Ursula, who gets pregnant accidentally. Against her better judgment, he convinces her to have the baby and marry him. He lives to regret the unhappy marriage, especially after he meets Anna, a nurse he works with.
Anna, on the other hand, grew up rich but troubled, with an abusive, controlling father, a twin brother who plays guitar in a punk band and has a drug problem, and a defeated alcoholic for a mother.
All of the characters in this book do terrible things: they have affairs (the central marital bed is, indeed, crowded), they keep secrets, they hurt each other physically and emotionally, they act selfishly. The only clear villain, though, is Anna's father. The rest of the characters are spokes of a wheel spiraling outward in reaction to him. Thus the book explores questions of morality and the effects of brutality enacted on innocent people.
At the end of the book, the neutral narrative voice returns. It says, ‘Now they are free; free to find a perfect version of their own peculiar freedom, and they will, dear friend. Rest assured, they will.’

The Crowded Bed
Anne Darnton – Independent Reviewer
Patternings - http://patternings.typepad.com/patternings/
I remember there being some quite heated discussions in reading circles when Transita began publishing books aimed specifically at the over 45 women's market. I can't pretend to recall what the arguments were, either for or against, as it wasn't a debate I was particularly interested in. As long as the books are good and nobody is actually going to be banned from buying them if the don't fit into the intended demograph then I can't really see what all the fuss is about. Mary Cavanagh's first novel, The Crowded Bed, is also my first foray into the Transita world and I ordered it not because of who had published it, but because two readers whose views I really trust had spoken so highly of it.
The Crowded Bed is the story of Joe and Anna Fortune and their tortuous route to a happy married life. The double time scheme of the novel covers, in one strand, just the five days leading up to and encompassing the death of Anna's brutish father, Gordon, and, in the other, the years from Joe's birth into a close and loving East End Jewish family through his meeting with Anna to the time of their marriage. Through Cavanagh's exploration of the latter we come to understand the reason for what Joe does in those crucial five days.
Initially I didn't think I was going to enjoy this as I'd just come from another book dominated by someone who believed that they had a right to treat others exactly as they liked, exercising power in a mean and brutish way. However, the book doesn't focus as much on Gordon Morton Moore (Anna's father) as the opening suggests it might and the other characters, while flawed and frustrating in many ways are all warm and likable human beings and I very soon found that I was bound up in their lives and their attempts to chart a path through the ideals of their upbringing and the realities of life in an ever changing social climate. Ironically, then, I think if I have fault to find with the book it is that Gordon's behaviour (and he should really have been put down at birth) didn't surface often enough for me to really work up the necessary head of anger to condone what Joe does. When I sit back and think about it in the light of everything I learn about him then, yes, he deserved precisely what he got, but in the act of reading I didn't find myself building up the emotional fury that would have had me screaming for his end.
Having said this, I really did enjoy this book and will certainly read anything else Cavanagh writes, whoever publishes it.

Philippa Martin
Abingdon Readers Group
A cleverly constructed and entertaining read. An impressive achievement.
John McLellan
Journalist
Mary Cavanagh has created a satisfyingly, deftly drawn cast of memorable characters. The tale is pacy, recounted with a deft wit and neatly observed touches

David Baddiel
His word
‘Every offer in my in-tray comes garnished with herring and neurosis’
OCCASIONALLY, BECAUSE I AM known as a man of letters about town in literary London – and also, maybe, from writing a books column – publishers and literary agents send me books, in the hope that I will provide a quote for the cover, or alternatively, perhaps, mention them in this very newspaper.
Now, often – not always, but often – these books are titles that are skewed somehow in my direction, based on what the publishers feel they know about me: so they might be about football, or comedy, or insomnia or hardcore pornography.
But the other day, I received a copy of The Crowded Bed, by Mary Cavanagh, with a suggestion that I might review it. I couldn’t work it out. On the front cover was the face of Venus from Botticelli’s painting of her birth; tasteful author and title fonts; a coverline announcing a ‘rich and compelling story’ that through ‘warmth and humour’ reveals ‘a tragic and shocking drama’.
It looked for all the world like a solid piece of upmarket women’s fiction, something in between Joanna Trollope and Anita Brookner, who are not, to be honest, authors who usually think of me as slapbang in the middle of their demographic. Then, in the first sentence of the story description on the back, I spotted a key word. See if you can pick it out: ‘Joe Fortune, a Jewish GP, has been married to Anna, his Aryan beauty, for twenty years.’ Here’s a clue: it’s not ‘Aryan’.
I’m sure The Crowded Bed is a fine novel, but I won’t be reviewing it. This is because, although I am, at heart, extremely proud of being Jewish, and not in any kind of Jewish closet (I think it’s more likely to be a larder, but there you are), I’m not keen on something that, judging from the work which seems to come my way these days, appears to have happened to my public profile: namely that I’ve become British Culture’s token Mr Jew.
I haven’t helped this by writing a big Jewish story with Holocaust undertones for my last novel, nor by clearly being the Jewish one on Who Do You Think You Are?, but these were things that I thought I could do without necessarily boxing myself into a corner marked with a glowing yellow star. Turns out this was meshugge: I have always received the odd request from Jewish charities, but now it seems that every other offer in my in-tray comes with a garnish of pickled herring and entrenched neuroses.
To be fair, this is just what happens when you come out with whatever-it-might-be on a public stage. I was complaining – no doubt in quite a typically Jewish way – about this very issue the other day to Justine Picardie, who has written a memoir and a number of articles about the tragic death from breast cancer of her sister Ruth. She told me that now she always gets contacted any time there is a new book/documentary/seminar in the offing about death.
Now I’m not suggesting that being seen as Mr Jew is as bad as being seen as Mrs Death, but it amounts to the same thing. The problem is not the subject matter, which may be something that deeply concerns and engages you, but the stamping of one’s self with that subject matter in a way that comes completely to define you. Which leads to the nagging feeling that no one thinks about asking you to talk or write about anything else.
Fact is, I might not mind so much being seen as Mr Jew if Jewish ever gets its moment of being hip. Every other minority – black, Asian, gay etc – has had it, but Jews are seen by the liberal consensus in this country, if not in the US, as just a bit too suburban, a bit too associated with nasty old Israel, and – at the end of the day – not really different enough to justify banging soundtracks, angry film-makers and long ‘you should know about this’ pieces in The Guardian illustrated by moody portraits of men in yarmulkes standing by brick walls. There’s also a feeling, from the cultural Left at least, that Jews aren’t really oppressed or discriminated against enough to get given the hip card, which may have some truth if you ignore 2,000 years of Western history.
Apart from anything, being seen as the poster boy of any religion is somewhat ridiculous for me, as in terms of actual belief I have no other god besides Richard Dawkins. And the really bad thing is that, eventually, this kind of self-image gets under one’s skin. I’ve always quite fancied Botticelli’s Venus but now, looking again at the cover of The Crowded Bed, I can only presume it’s something to do with the lure, for me, the (filthy, leering) Jew, of the archetypal blonde shiksa. I know I should resist these thoughts, but a part of me is already shrugging and thinking: ‘Ah well, what can you mach?’