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    Old Filth

    Old Filth

    Jane Gardam

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    Book

    Sir Edward Feathers has had a brilliant career, from his early days as a lawyer in Southeast Asia,...

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ClareR (5686 KP) rated The Sin Eater in Books

Oct 5, 2021  
The Sin Eater
The Sin Eater
Megan Campisi | 2021 | Fiction & Poetry, Mystery, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Thriller
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Sin Eater is set in an alternative Elizabethan England, with so much attention to detail that it could be true! I mean, there WERE Sin Eaters, but in reality I don’t think their diets were as varied and rich-sounding. I had a google, and it seems as though some bread was left on a coffin for a Sin Eater to eat. Until, that is, the Church got involved. Sin Eating had to many Pagan connotations.

Each sin in this book has a different food, which is how 14yr old May Owens learns that something sinister is going on in the Queen’s court.

May can’t tell anyone what she knows. It’s a terrible punishment for a young girl: sentenced to a life of silence and ostracised by everyone - all because she stole bread to eat. Ok, she’ll never go hungry, but some of the combinations are pretty grim!

I really enjoyed reading about the travelling entertainers, and the homeless people who decide that living with a walking, breathing curse (May) is worth the risk when it’s cold outside.

This is a really atmospheric book, steeped in the sights, sounds and smells of a 16th Century England-type-place, and it ticked a lot of boxes for me as a historical fiction, occasional fantasy fan (amongst the other types of fiction!!)
  
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ClareR (5686 KP) rated The Dictator’s Muse in Books

Jan 10, 2023  
The Dictator’s Muse
The Dictator’s Muse
Nigel Farndale | 2021 | Fiction & Poetry, Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This sounded like it was going to be solely about Leni Riefenstahl, but it’s not. This is a really enjoyable mystery set in Germany and England in the pre-war years, and the Berlin Olympics in particular.

Hitler is in power, and one of his most respected film makers, Leni Riefenstahl, has been tasked with filming the Berlin Olympics. She has to tread a fine line between the film-making she wants to create and that of the Nazi propaganda machine.

Meanwhile, back in England, Kit is training for the olympics whilst holding down a full time job and trying to impress his upper class girlfriend. He discovers he can get sponsorship through Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists, even though he isn’t by any means a fascist.

Alun is a Welsh Communist, who has been tasked with infiltrating the Blackshirts.

Leni seems to be in a state of permanent dread, because even those who are staunch Nazis aren’t safe from being taken down by the SS.

There’s a lot going on in this book, and it sounds like it should be confusing. But it’s really not. It wasn’t fact, unputdownable.

There’s a great mystery threaded through this, introduced by a modern day character, an academic called Sigrun Meier.

Historical fiction AND a mystery - what’s not to like?!
  
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B (15 KP) rated Stuff You Missed in History Class in Podcasts

Jan 10, 2018  
Stuff You Missed in History Class
Stuff You Missed in History Class
Society & Culture
9
9.0 (7 Ratings)
Podcast Rating
Stuff you Missed in History Class is all the things I wish I would have actually learned in school. From the stories you think you have already heard to things you would not think to look into this podcast covers them all. In the coverage, the overviews are often more informative then hours in the classroom. I love listening to Tracy and Holly tell the well-researched and well thought outlines full of what is promised history. This podcast leaves out most of the personal feelings of the hosts, which is very nice as well. Episode suggestions: New England Vampire Panic and Building Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion.
  
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James Koppert (2698 KP) rated This Is England (2007) in Movies

Dec 3, 2019 (Updated Dec 3, 2019)  
This Is England (2007)
This Is England (2007)
2007 | International, Drama
10
7.8 (10 Ratings)
Movie Rating
A British film that actually got recognition (0 more)
Poor Milky (0 more)
British classic
Unless it's a comedy, British films often don't get the recognition they deserve. This did. Friends in the State's were messeging me saying they have seen it.

The unscripted acting was warm when it needed to be and tense when it needed to be. It shine a light on Thatcher's Britain, divided and angry, a but like today. It's not always easy to watch but at the same time there is recognition of anyone who lived through this period.

So good it spawned a TV series, This Is England is one of Britain's best.