What I read

I already mentioned some of my thoughts evoked by Luster, though I realise that there is more to the book than the issues there. Though also there is the feeling that it falls into 'fiction written by young person who has done MFA/creative writing degree', and okay, I daresay in these dreadful days once they emerge with their shiny ( Read more... )

Well, yay for the British Academy, what: Historian David Olusoga awarded President’s Medal: The writer and broadcaster has brought diverse stories from Britain’s past to a wider audience: Olusoga, a writer, broadcaster and film-maker, best known as the author of Black and British: A Forgotten History, is the 39th person to be given the President’s ( Read more... )

The first black student at Oxford University: The University did not start recording the ethnicity of its students until late the following century, so we cannot say with absolute certainty that Cole was the first black student; but his presence in Oxford was remarked upon by contemporaries, suggesting that his appearance was something new. ( Read more... )

A bit late for World Menopause Day, but ugh: New Study shows Vaginal Laser Therapy Ineffective for Menopause Symptoms: Vaginal rejuvenation is a sham.: We have a very long history in gynecology of under tested medications and therapies gaming the system in some way or another with women paying the price. Diethylstilbestrol (DES, birth defects and ( Read more... )

Lost in the Archives: Ayahs in Scotland: British families travelling back and forth from India to Britain, often hired travelling ayahs or brought their family ayah on the long and occasionally treacherous sea voyage. Before the Suez Canal opened and the advent of steam powered liners, these journeys could take up to six months. The ayah on board ( Read more... )

Reading this piece about The Last Glimpses of California's Vanishing Hippie Utopias I do wonder if the people who are still there have a different and mellower vision of what it was like than the ones who left - though there is some acknowledgement that people did leave, and we see that there doesn't seem to be much generational continuation of the ( Read more... )

This sounds fascinating, but I am aghast at the price (though it's par for the course for that particular academic press): Ryan Hanley. Beyond Slavery and Abolition: Black British Writing, c.1770-1830: 'the Royal Historical Society deemed Beyond Slavery and Abolition worthy of its annual Whitfield Prize, an award that this novel work most ( Read more... )

Augusta Fells Savage, a talented sculptor who had faced obstacles due to her sex and race at every turn: [L]ittle of Savage's work survives today. Because she couldn't afford bronze, she often had to make her sculptures out of plaster; most of these have crumbled over time. Other works, like The Harp, were destroyed because they could not be moved ( Read more... )

I keep meaning to mention this: I think I may have posted at some time about my friend who wrote a well-received book on what happened to the children of British women by black US GIs after the war (not an edifying story on the side of either government: the US Army authorities would not give per for interracial marriages to take place; British ( Read more... )

Okay, I haven't actually been watching Bridgerton because we really only get absolutely bog-standard what used to be terrestrial channels, pretty much, and anyway, I hardly ever watch television, so getting to grips with streaming is really low down on my list of priorities.
But anyway, there has been so much about it over various bits of social ( Read more... )