The Granite Kingdom: a Cornish journey by Tim Hannigan

 Tim Hannigan is a travel writer known for covering far flung destinations such as Indonesia. This time though he's looking at somewhere much closer to home - to his native Cornwall. 

Starting at the Tamar, the traditional boundary separating Cornwall from the rest of England, his journey zig zags from coast to coast heading towards the furthest point of Land's End. It's a journey that could be made in under two hours by car (according to Google Maps, and making allowances for holiday traffic) but this is a slower winding way, mainly on foot, taking the reader up and over empty, boggy moorland and the spoil tips of China clay works, down to tourist-packed hotspots and quiet seaside villages, from places which sound quintessentially English to those with a definite flavour of Brittany in their names. 

Along the way, the author discusses the geology of the area, its history, tries to pin down what exactly makes Cornwall different to the rest of the country, and what it means to be Cornish, while putting paid to a lot of the myths about King Arthur, wreckers, and smugglers. 

Hannigan's own personal history weaves around that of the inhabitants of, and visitors to, this remote-seeming peninsula - of the Neolithic builders of burial cairns, Phoenician tin traders, the early 'tourists' venturing into a barren, desolate area, or, more recently, artists in search of its beauty, and holiday-makers searching for sun and surf.

For many of us Cornwall is the place of summer holidays, with Betjeman's 'Sand in the sandwiches, wasps in the tea', or the setting for the novels of Daphne du Maurier and Winston Graham with rain-lashed moorlands and brooding heroes.The scenery is either balmy and idyllic, or dramatic and wild. It's not the post-industrial landscape of China clay workings and ruined engine houses left from tin mining. It's not the centre of sea trade with European neighbours, or the countryside that thousands left as work there dried up. But this is an insider's view, a behind-the-scenes-look at a place we think we know. Part travelogue, part history, I found this a fascinating read. Apart from a small area around Polzeath, I haven't visited Cornwall as an adult, and now I realise how little I know about the rest of the county. Time, I think, for me to plan a visit. Meanwhile, if you're heading down west this summer, have a read - it may open your eyes.

The Temporary Bride; a memoir of love and food in Iran by Jennifer Klinec

"A relationship was a mathematical formula: the correct variables of age, beauty, morality and finances were entered and the output was a successful, peaceful marriage. It couldn't be, therefore, that their Iranian son could feel desire for someone six years his senior, someone who didn't come to him pure and untouched. I was an amusing visitor from another world and soon enough I should return to it, fading quietly into an anecdote ..."

 review by Maryom

The Temporary Bride is a cross between autobiography, cookbook, traveller's tale and romance; an account of how one Western woman went to Iran looking for traditional recipes and found love.
Jennifer Klinec was born in Canada to Hungarian-Croatian parents, moved to England, spent weekends away from her corporate job in travelling to as many exotic, out-of-the-way places as possible, then gave up that life to set up her own cookery school. Her speciality was the re-creation of unusual but authentic recipes, with nothing altered or tamed down to suit British palates: not the food served in restaurants but that consumed at home.
Eventually this culinary curiosity took Klinec to Iran, where, covered almost head-to-toe, she began to learn the art of Persian cookery in a family kitchen in the city of Vazd. This strange westerner with independent ideas at first repels the son of the household, but slowly he becomes intrigued by this woman who is so very different to the bride imagined for him .... and the couple find themselves falling in love. How can their story have a chance of a happy ending in a country where both law and custom is against them?

Now sometimes autobiographies can be a little dry and lacking in emotion - the events happened too long ago to have any real feeling attached to them or the reader is too aware of how the 'story' will end - not so here! The writing style feels almost like fiction, giving an immediacy to events, and I was lured in by the mouth-watering descriptions of food, the sights and smells of Iranian streets and kitchens, and then fear of
conducting what is essentially an illicit love affair under the watchful eyes of both family and state. Klinec builds the atmosphere with a masterly touch, making the reader feel there in the moment, whether cooking delicious sounding meals, struggling with bureaucracy for a visa extension, or stealing kisses in hidden alleys.
Mixing with families, becoming temporarily part of them, allowed Klinec to experience Iran and its customs from an unusual,intimate, angle. Whether you're interested in cookery, travel or just a plain old-fashioned love story, there's something for all here. I've only one quibble - it would be nice to have recipes for some of the simpler dishes.
 Every page held me fascinated - but did the story end happily? Read it and see.

Maryom's review - 5 stars
Publisher - Virago
Genre -autobiography, travel, cookery,

Atlas of Adventures - illustrated by Lucy Letherland

Review by The Mole

The world is a much smaller place than the world of 50 years ago, a time when I remember books of this type adorning my "bookshelf". The articles in this book are things that many readers will actually have chance to travel the world to see in their lifetime - and these adventures are accessible to travellers the world over.

Beautifully illustrated with plenty of colour, the pages are packed with short sharp facts that make each page easily readable by the young and less intimidating than the books of my generation.

See London from the London Eye, or the Northern Lights from a glass igloo in Finland, or Monarch butterflies by their million in Mexico. Visit a festival in Hong Kong, or a horse parade in Spain, or just put your feet up and watch penguins in the Antarctic. Sights, sounds and experiences the world over are here to tempt you.

If, like me, international travel is not your thing then you can use search engines and websites to "visit" many of these places from the comfort of home.

A truly delightful book that children will love but you may just find yourself looking at your annual holidays differently.

Publisher - Wide Eyed Editions
Genre - Non-fiction, travel, children's 7+

World Food Cafe Quick and Easy by Chris and Carolyn Caldicott

review by Maryom

Chris and Carolyn Caldicott took a break from running their World Food Cafe in Covent Garden and went on a trip in search of new recipes - not just the fortnight or month-long trip of the average holiday-maker, though. They travelled by boat through Burma, Laos and Bangladesh, on foot through Chile and Bhuttan, with reindeer herds in Lapland, on quad bikes and by plane in Namibia, by rickshaw in Vietnam,on the bullet train in Japan, a 1950s Oldsmobile in Cuba and went on a road trip through history in Syria - the sort of trip that most of us could only dream of! And then, there's the foodie ideas they came home with, which after all was the reason for the trip.

It's an eye-catching book with a lime green and shocking pink cover as vibrant as the food within. The book is divided into sections for each country visited - with lots of photos of the places, people and food.  Each country's section starts with a description of the Caldicotts' travels and a general introduction to the cuisine of the region, followed by recipes. Most of these use familiar everyday vegetables in totally unexpected ways - a leek and broad bean dish from Bangladesh, a Bhutan recipe for asparagas or a potato and mushroom bake from Namibia. There are recipes for salads, stews, snacks, breads, desserts and drinks - all vegetarian, though how anyone would miss meat with these dishes I don't know. The emphasis, as you may guess from the title, is on quick and easy cookery rather than fiddly and complicated and, as far as I can tell from merely reading, they live up to that description - most seem to involve popping a few ingredients in a pan, simmering or frying for a while, maybe adding a last-minute extra - and that's it!

I've two minor gripes - I'd have liked to see nutritional info for the recipes and the index only gives the names of dishes, not the ingredients, so it isn't easy to find a recipe for, say, chickpeas or broccoli.
 
As well as being a delight to browse through, I can imagine that this will become a well-used, well-thumbed cookbook.

Maryom's review - 5 stars
Publisher - Frances Lincoln
Genre - cookery, travel

Buy World Food Cafe: Quick and Easy: Recipes from a Vegetarian Journey from Amazon

Ten Pound Pom by Niall Griffiths

Back To Oz
review by Maryom

When he was 9, Niall Griffiths' parents decided to emigrate to Australia with the 10 pound scheme. They stayed for only 3 years, first settling in Brisbane, then relocating to Perth on the opposite coast, travelling across country by car.
30 years later Niall Griffiths decided to recreate this experience. First re-visiting the places his family lived in and around Brisbane, then driving to Perth.
Part autobiography, part travelogue, Ten Pound Pom compares Griffiths' memories of the past with the modern Australia he discovers in the present.
Lots of things have changed but have they improved?


Most of us know Australia solely from TV and films - so is it all Neighbours and Picnic At Hanging Rock? Australia through Niall Griffiths' eyes is certainly not the place I thought it was. Muriel's Wedding with its grubby politics and 'fit in or else' attitude is the closest I've seen on the screen. Instead of a happy-go-lucky surfer culture there are warnings that speed can kill, signs prohibiting smoking, the wearing of flipflops or singlets. Instead of the alien beauty of Walkabout, there's mile upon mile, hundreds of miles, of dull desert road. In between the restrictions and monotony, though, are the memories of the child he was and the things that delighted him- the beach huts on Coochie Mudloe island, a flock of lorikeets perching on his arms and head, sleeping overnight in a hollow tree and just maybe catching sight of a platypus.

Ten Pound Pom is an enjoyable, immensely readable, highly entertaining look at Australia, its people and their lifestyle, whether Griffiths is laughing at them, say the continuing chauvinism of the average Ozzie bloke or raising serious moral issues such as the treatment of the native population.
It's a book that will make you laugh, may make you cry, but I don't think it will encourage you to visit Australia! I wonder what Australians will make of it?

Maryom's review - 5 stars
Publisher - Parthian
Genre - adult, travel, biography

Buy Ten Pound Pom from Amazon

New Year, New Boots? Julia Bradbury's Railway Walks

Enhanced walking
Review by The Mole

When Maryom reviewed this book she reviewed it as an armchair read, but as the days start to lengthen after the solstice it's time to start getting out and think about losing some of those Christmas kilos. As I have resolutions to try to improve my fitness in 2011 I thought I would review this book from the viewpoint of a practical walker.

One of the walks in the book is the Monsal Trail in Derbyshire, parts of which I know very well and walked as a child.

The books directions are brief but more than sufficient to find your way along these well marked trails and explain something of the geology that the railway builders encountered. It talks about the history of the railway construction but also of the history that immediately surrounds the line.

The book has six walks in along then length of Britain on disused railway lines (as the title implies) and while you can walk the trails without the book the inclusion of it in your pocket will explain much and entertain you along the way. Well worth taking along!


Publisher - Frances Lincoln
Genre - Adult's Non-Fiction

Buy Julia Bradbury's Railway Walks from Amazon

The Honey Gatherers by Mimlu Sen

Travels with minstrels
review by Maryom

The Bauls with their particular blend of music and mysticism are traditionally itinerant musicians of Bengal living on the alms given by the villages they pass through - hence their name of honey gatherers. Theirs is a life style under threat in modern, increasingly urban India.
This book follows Mimlu Sen's discovery of them and their culture. Born and raised in India, after a period of political activity including time spent in prison she left home first for London, then Paris where she lived for several years and her two children were born. Strangely it was in this city on the opposite side of the world that she discovered the music of the Bauls, and her future partner, Paban Das Baul, at a concert. Instantly attracted to them, she gave up her Parisian life and moved back to India. She tells of travelling with the Baul singers and musicians throughout Bengal, hitching lifts, balancing on the top of trains, joining them at festivals and melas and eventually setting up home with Paban Das Baul and trying to find a way to bring their differing life styles together.
This was a more personal account than I had expected and I felt the author assumed the reader to have more knowledge of Indian music and customs than I have, but nevertheless a really interesting book, capturing the sights and sounds of Bengal and its people.

Maryom's review - 3.5 stars
Publisher - Rider
Genre - Adult Non-Fiction


Buy The Honey Gatherers from Amazon