The Gallery - September

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The Gallery - September

Welcome to THE GALLERY where we invite you to browse some of the beautiful literature we have in stock here in the Plymouth Proprietary Library.

All of these books are available to borrow and you will be pleased to know we don't specify a date for their return, hence our policy of not issuing library fines.

Complimentary coffee, cake and a tour of the Library will be available at all of our Coffee Mornings on the second Saturday of each month for anyone interested in joining. Annual membership is £60 - payable by cheque or cash - with a reduced rate of £30 for under 25's or students.

The GREAT WESTERN Beach
by Emma Smith

The Great Western Beach is Emma Smith's wonderfully atmospheric memoir of a 1920s childhood in Newquay, Cornwall. She recalls the rocks, the sea, the beaches, the picnics, the teas and pasties, the bracing walks, the tennis tournaments and bathing parties, the curious residents and fascinating holiday-makers - relishing every glorious, salty detail. But above all this is a portrait of a family from the astonishingly clear-eyed perspective of a nine-year-old girl: her furious, frustrated father, perpetually on his way to becoming a world famous artist but suffering the indignity of being a lowly bank clerk; her beautiful, unperceptive mother, made for better things perhaps but at least, with three fiancés killed in the Great War, married with children at last; the twins, fearless, defiant Pam and sickly, bewildered Jim, for whom life is always an uphill climb, and baby Harvey, brought on the same winds of change that mean that life, with all its complication and wonder, cannot stay still and the Cornish playground of Emma's childhood will one day be lost forever.

The Mussel Feast
by Birgit Vanderbeke

The modern German classic that has shaped an entire generation.

A mother and her two teenage children sit at the dinner table. In the middle stands a large pot of cooked mussels. Why has the father not returned home? As the evening wears on, we glimpse the issues that are tearing this family apart.

‘I wrote this book in August 1989, just before the Fall of the Berlin Wall. I wanted to understand how revolutions start. It seemed logical to use the figure of a tyrannical father and turn the story into a German family saga.’ Birgit Vanderbeke

ANGLER'S MOON
by Leo Walmsley

In Angler’s Moon Leo Walmsley's memories reach back to his boyhood at the turn of the 20th century when the cobles of Bramblewick (Robin Hood's Bay) were propelled by sail and oar, when in wintertime every fishing trip was a gamble with death.

His recollections, spanning more than sixty years, not only recount his own fishing escapades but also bring to life the many interesting characters he found living in fishing communities from North Yorkshire to Cornwall. Throughout he shows his ability to evoke in the mind of any reader, even one whose interest in fishing is non- existent, the delight in sailing on the blue pellucid Cornish summer sea; the excitement of hauling-in the first mackerel of the season; of watching a school of giant basking sharks, their fins projecting from the water like sails; the drama of a winter's day at Bramblewick, the coblemen caught in a sudden storm, cutting their lines and racing for the shore.

This is a collection of tales, all linked so effortlessly by Leo between his present and the distant past so that the past becomes the present and both become alive for us today.

The Vintage Book of Walking
edited by Duncan Minshull

'It is good to collect things, but better to go on walks. ' Anatole France. A fundamental act, often taken for granted, yet through the centuries it has inspired a fascinating literature. This, the first comprehensive anthology on the subject, delves into why we walk and how we walk; the differences between the country hike and the city stroll; walking and wooing; walking into trouble and marching out. Then some of us will walk to meet the Maker. A mix of fiction and non-fiction, poetry and drama provides the reader with over two hundred booted authors. Xenophone and Baudelaire, Flora Thompson and Julian Barnes, Mark Twain and Roberto Calasso tramp the pages of this fascinating collection.

PATHS OF DESTINY
by E.V. Thompson

Cornwall, 1854 - Alice Rowe owes everything to Reverend Alfred Markham who rescued her from a workhouse, employing her in his parsonage as a housemaid. So when he dies suddenly of a heart attack, Alice faces a fearful and uncertain future. But as one chapter in Alice's life ends, another begins. For as she discovers the Reverend's body in the woods near their house, she meets Gideon Davey - a 'ganger' who is laying a nearby stretch of railway line. Not only does Gideon help recover the body, but he returns to Trelaggan for the funeral - and also to see Alice again.

Gideon's behaviour does not go unnoticed in Trelaggan - especially from those critical of Alice and her past. Though he is threatened, Gideon is man enough to stand up to the village bullies. Then, just as Alice and Gideon's friendship hints at something more serious, Gideon is given an offer he can't refuse: to travel to the Crimea and build a railway to help the British troops.

Gideon, however, is not the only person about to leave Cornwall. For the arrival of the new rector finds Alice moving on too - and starting a remarkable chain of events that follow Gideon's journey across the world . . .

THE STREET LAWYER
by John Grisham

John Grisham is back with his latest courtroom conundrum.

Michael Brock is a man in a hurry. He's in the fast lane at Drake & Sweeney, a giant Washington law firm. He's a rising star, with no time to waste, no time to toss a few coins into the hands of beggars. No time for a conscience.

But a chance violent encounter with a homeless man stops him cold. The fallout propels him onto a trail of corruption and illegality which leads straight back to Drake & Sweeney. To get to the truth, Michael will have to dig deep into some of his own firm's dirtiest secrets...

The House of Northcliffe - The Harmsworths of Fleet Street
by Paul Ferris