Book Chat Issue #67

Need a good cry?

Hello reading friends,

Welcome to Book Chat, a fortnightly message from your reading friend.

This newsletter is for chronic readers, occasional readers, and everyone in between. With bonus recipes for people who like food.

This week I’m talking about a sad book and a cooking disaster, but don’t be put off. One has a happy ending and sometimes we just need a good cry.

What I’ve been reading

Do you ever think it’s odd to read books about grief and loss? Is it weirder that reading books that scare the pants off you, or books that make you long for some romance in your life? I’m not sure. What do you think?

I was thinking about this when I read A Heart that Works by actor and writer, Rob Delaney. You might have seen him in the comedy series Catastrophe, which he co-wrote with Sharon Horgan. It’s hilarious, but in A Heart that Works, Rob writes about the death of his beautiful two-year-old son Henry from a brain tumour, and the impact on him, his family, and their friends. I heard him speak at the International Writer’s Festival in Edinburgh earlier this year, where he spoke movingly and honestly about his grief.

He said people often ask him why he feels compelled to write about his grief, to disseminate information designed to hurt them.

He answers…

“I genuinely believe, whether it’s true or not, that if people felt a fraction of what my family felt, and still feels, they would know what this life and this world are really about.”

After reading A Heart that Works, I’m not sure I know what this world is about, but it definitely made me feel very grateful for all the good things in my life.

Let me reassure you that although it’s heart-breaking in places, it isn’t unrelentingly grim. Sometimes it’s even funny. He talks about the practical aspects of making a living (writing comedy) while your son is dying. And the importance of maintaining a relationship with his wife and their two other sons whilst living through what must be the worst experience in the world.

Much of the book is about human kindness. Nurses and play therapists who are angels. Neighbours and friends who come in and quietly wash dishes, cook meals and do laundry so the family can spend quality time together.

Reading this book made me sad, but also hopeful for humanity, in a weird but life-affirming way. And heaven knows, we can all do with that.

What I’ve been cooking

When you cook a fair bit, people tend to assume that you never have any failures, but when you think about it, the more you cook, the more likely it is that something will go wrong. And that’s exactly what happened to me last week.

I picked a few strawberries from the garden, but they were very small and knobbly, so I decided to cook them with a few leftover blueberries and make the world’s smallest jar of jam. Strawberry jam is notoriously difficult to make (not enough pectin) so I was left with a tiny quantity of runny fruit which didn’t really qualify as jam. It was at this point I decided to make a fruit and custard flan for dessert. I’ve always loved them so I thought to myself, ‘how hard could it be to make one’? Hmmm…

Ignoring the frozen pastry in the freezer, I set about making my own shortcrust pastry from scratch, only to drop it on the kitchen floor halfway through blind baking the pie shell. I managed not to swear and cleaned up the greasy mess.

After an hour or so of sulking, I pulled out a sheet of pastry from the freezer, fashioned a new pie crust and popped it in the oven. By this time I was completely over the idea of making proper custard with eggs, so I made some vanilla instant pudding with cream and milk, reducing the amount of liquid so it was nice and thick. Then I added a bit of gelatine to the fruit mixture, poured it over the custard/pudding mix and put the whole lot in the refrigerator. It set perfectly and tasted quite nice!

A cooking disaster with a happy ending

Book Club - Demon Copperhead

Our International book club is meeting this week and I can’t wait. It’s happening two hours later than previously advised. Here are some indicative times and dates, depending on where you are in the world.

Feel free to join the discussion via this link. It’s a friendly affair. Don’t be shy.

VIDEO LINK
meet.google.com/vtp-biur-vwg

That’s all for this week. I like to keep my newsletter short, but I love hearing from you, so feel free to leave a comment and tell me what you’ve been reading (or eating).

And if you enjoy Book Chat, please share with a friend or hit the heart button below. It makes it easier to find in the big sea of newsletters.

Warm wishes,

Marg xxx