Antonio Carluccio came to One Tree this week. Most authors who come for signings are given a table and chair in the middle of the shop and orderly queues are formed. Antonio does things his way. Fuelled by strong cups of coffee he sat in the sunshine in front of the shop at a table with four chairs and people came and sat with him chatting about this and that and getting him to sign copies of his new Pasta cookbook.
The RSC production of Wolf Hall is a reminder quite how good Hilary Mantel’s book is. Ben Miles as Thomas Cromwell is supported by a very strong cast and three hours disappears in an instant.
I am reading Man At the Helm by Nina Stibbe. Nina wrote the highly entertaining Love Nina about her experiences as a Nanny in North London in the early 80s. This novel is written in a similar style, though about a young family looking for a new father to keep their divorced mother on the rails and allow them a social life in rural 70s Leicestershire. Laugh out loud funny in parts but half way through am still not wholly convinced.