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ClareR (5827 KP) rated The Book of Trespass: Crossing the Lines That Divide Us in Books

Sep 6, 2020  
The Book of Trespass: Crossing the Lines That Divide Us
The Book of Trespass: Crossing the Lines That Divide Us
Nick Hayes | 2020 | History & Politics, Natural World
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Book of Trespass is a non-fiction book that looks at how the land and waterways in England used to belong to everyone as Common Land, and afternoon various acts of Parliament, they were enclosed and sold to the highest bidder. People who were able to previously eke out a living on shared, common land, found themselves without income, food, a place to live, and forced to work for the family that now owned what had been everyone’s.

Fast forward a few centuries, the few rich people still own the majority of the land in the UK, and seem to guard it jealously. There’s no way that they can use all that land, but they won’t share it. In fact, the law backs them up - if you trespass, you could be prosecuted.

Nick Hayes has written a book where he charts the history of how land has changed ownership from the many to the few, the links to colonisation and the slave trade, those who have fought to keep us and our world safe and he stages his own rebellions throughout the book. He takes us over the fences and walls to look at the land we wouldn’t otherwise see (and the descriptions are beautiful, you can feel the love he has for the countryside). He shows us that this is not a communist ideal, as some would think. In countries such as Sweden, Norway and closer to home, Scotland, there is a culture of space for all. Maybe if we could all use this land, we would learn how to best look after it.

The added bonus were the pictures (woodcuts) - bold and beautiful.

I’m already trying to think of people who would appreciate this book as a gift. It’s definitely a book to share.

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole and Nick Hayes for making this book available for us to read!
  
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ClareR (5827 KP) rated The Haunting of Alma Fielding: A True Ghost Story in Books

Oct 5, 2020 (Updated Oct 5, 2020)  
The Haunting of Alma Fielding: A True Ghost Story
The Haunting of Alma Fielding: A True Ghost Story
Kate Summerscale | 2020 | History & Politics, Mystery, Paranormal
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Haunting of Alma Fielding is the non-fiction account of Nando Fodor and his investigation in to the haunting of a London housewife. Fodor was a Jewish-Hungarian refugee and worked for the International Institute for Psychical Research. When Fodor was tipped off about a possible poltergeist haunting, he rushed to Alma’s house to try and work out what exactly was going on. He was scrupulous. He involved trusted mediums, wrote detailed notes (lucky for us!) and whilst reading the book, it became obvious that Fodor became obsessed. His obsession however, had a deleterious effect on Alma. The more access to her that he had, the more physically ill she seemed to become and the more she seemed to be haunted.

There does seem to be a theme of obsession running through this with regards to Fodor. I was never quite sure if his obsession was with Alma’s haunting, or with Alma herself. She was an attractive woman, after all. He would certainly have been stopped a lot sooner if this had happened today (but I do wonder whether this would have happened at all).

The historical background and the build up to the Second World War was very interesting, and I enjoyed the historical detail throughout. I also liked that there was an ending. Summerscale researched up to the deaths of those involved - I appreciated that closure. But what interesting lives these people had!

This was a great story for a sceptic like me. Ghost stories fascinate me. I don’t believe that there are ghosts, but I still like that they have the ability to unnerve and scare me! And this was certainly unnerving!

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this book. I probably would have gone on the waiting list at the library because of the (well-deserved) buzz around it, but I really do much prefer not having to wait and reading along with my fellow pigeons!