I am sooo behind in my reviews at the moment, so you’ll see a couple of catch-up posts before I get onto my traditional year-end fare. Today it’s non-fiction, with 4 memoirs. Without further ado…
Children of Radium by Joe Dunthorne
Back at the end of May when this was published, I went to see Joe talk about his family memoir at Mostly Books (report here). Joe was in conversation with John Mitchinson and proved to be absolutely delightful in person, speaking with self-deprecating wit about his research into his Jewish family history, particularly that of his great-grandfather Siegfried in pre-war Germany. He was a chemist who invented a radium toothpaste, then found himself working on chemical weapons, managing to extricate himself from the Nazis to Turkey and then the USA. Siegfried had written 2000 pages of autobiography and had it translated, and Joe set about reconciling that account with his own research into his family history – often bouncing things off his mother, who did speak German, to comedic yet compassionate effect. Dunthorne doesn’t shy away from the dark side of his ancestor’s work and the toll it took on his great-grandfather’s mental health. Dunthorne found it impossible to get at his US medical records.
When I told my mother all this, she said that I fundamentally failed to understand the nature of American bureaucracy. Four weeks later, she had struck up a lifelong friendship with the woman in the hospital records office. Across multiple phone calls they had formed a bond sufficient that the woman had happy decended into a distant basement, retrieved and copied the microfiche and a week later it all arrived by airmail at my parets’ house in Wales, free of charge: forty-five pages of observations, notes, sleep charts, medication records and Freudian analysis from the autumn of 1957.
In the latter third of the book, he takes a look at the life of Siegfried’s sister Elisabeth, his Great-Aunt during the same period – she with friends and colleagues Alice and Hedwig had started a kindergarten for Jewish refugee children. While Elisabeth escaped to Tel Aviv, the picture wasn’t rosy for the others sadly.
This is a marvellous family memoir, successfully blending the history with the story of Joe’s research. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Source: Own copy Hamish Hamilton hardback, 220 pages. BUY at Blackwell’s via my affiilate link (free UK P&P)
Vagabond by Tim Curry
Don’t you just love that cover photo?
Curry’s memoir is purely of his growing up and acting career – relationships are acknowledged, but no names or details – it’s none of the readers’ business! He takes us from ‘military brat’ to boarding school to uni where he studied drama and English (but not acting), and into the acting world…
Then and now, I’m slightly baffled to listen to other actors speak fervently about their own process or preparation. I don’t have a method to speak of, beyond being mindful about the words on the page and getting into the heart of a character. Not for a lack of being asked, I don’t know much about how I act. It’s instinctive, and always has been. I’ve rarely done excessive preparation for my roles.
He fell on his feet out of uni in 1968, landing a part in Hair. After Hair, a few bit parts at the RSC filled a gap before a spell at the Glasgow Citizens Theatre under Lindsay Kemp – who was a bit of a bully, but convinced Curry that taking risks in acting was the way to go. Back down to London and the Royal Court Theatre in time for The Rocky Horror Show – he originally went up for the part of Riff Raff, the butler (he’d go on to play the butler in the fab Clue of course). The rest is history as they say – a distinguished career on stage and screens, big and little, West End, Broadway and LA beckoned and thanks to that unmistakeable voice, many many voice credits. From Tristan Tzara in Stoppard’s Travesties to playing the first Mozart in Amadeus (to Ian McKellen’s Salieri – he got the Tony Award over Curry), via some great screen baddies, and an award-winning run as King Arthur in Spamalot, his career has been varied and exciting. Sadly, Curry suffered a stroke in 2012 – while lying on a massage table – which while leaving him wheelchair bound, hasn’t entirely stopped his voice work.
I loved Curry’s tone throughout, which is witty and self-deprecating while talking to the reader. The memoir is full of insights into the world of musical theatre, acting in general and showbiz without being over gossipy. A full list of performances is appended, although it neglects audiobooks of which he has done lots too (his narration of the Lemony Snicket books is wonderful). A rather brilliant read.
Source: Own copy. Century hardback, 283 pages incl appendix. BUY at Blackwell’s via my affiliate link (free UK+ P&P)
I Shop, Therefore I Am by Mary Portas
Back in 2016, Portas published her first fab book of memoir, Shopgirl, which chronicled her childhood up through college and into first jobs including window dressing at Harrods, moving on to Top Shop. Then in 1989, aged 28, came another move with a big promotion to become Head of Visual Merchandising and Store Design at Harvey Nichols where this volume begins. Day one – she’d caught the bus into London with sister Tish, who was editor of the Nursing Times, to give her confidence. She arrived at HN to find a quiet and aloof reception, that atmosphere soon dispersed by the arrival of Bean (aka Polly), her assistant who takes her up, pointing out Toni the legendary Fashion Director on the way. Her new boss, Callum, the Sales Director welcomes her and tells her about his expectations, ‘And the more successful you are, Mary, the better I’ll look.’
He explains that the core Harvey Nichols shopper is English and from old money. Most live within five miles of the store – not that you’d know it from the drivers who parked up on Lowndes Square ready to take their shopping bags home and their charges to lunch at Daphne’s. Plummy mummy-and-daughter duos wander the shop floor together – all pleated skirts, strands of pearls and puffy velvet hairbands. They’re not looking for anything in particular, more killing time until the weekend.
Mary would change all that, making HN a destination and rival to Harrods. Through innovative and arty shop windows and displays but even more by linking the store with Jennifer Saunders’ TV series Absolutely Fabulous, which although thought a terribly controversial move by HN management was a huge success and opened the store up to a younger, less stuffy clientele, although their key customer would remain aged 50+. During this time, Mary was married to Graham Portas and had two children. She writes about the difficulties in returning to work and still being taken seriously while trying to balance work and family.
This was a fascinating follow up to Shopgirl, taking us up to Mary’s realisation that she could help other brands too and a brave decision to go it alone. In her afterword, she discusses nostalgia, shopping mantras and gives five principles for retail management, which offer totally sound advice. Her style, as ever, is bright and breezy, not suffering fools gladly, but always willing to admit to her own failures, all done with wit and creative flair.
Source: Own copy Canongate hardback, 317 pages. BUY at Blackwell’s via my affiliate link (Free UK+ P&P)
So tell Me What You Want by Nicki Chapman (with Sarah Thompson)
You may know Nicki Chapman best from the BBC’s Escape to the Country these days; stretch your mind back and you might remember her as one of the judges on the first series of Pop Idol won by Will Young, and before that judging PopStar which formed the band Hear’Say. She had a long career behind the scenes in the music business though before branching out onto our screens.
Nicki is twenty, back from an eight-month stay in Australia with an aunt and uncle, now working for a photocopier company. The pay is good, but it’s a long commute into the city from Herne Bay in Kent, and the job isn’t exciting. As a music-mad teenager, she dreamed of working in the industry, and when an opportunity comes up to work for MCA records in Soho, she jumps at it, although the pay is lower – it’s where she wants – needs – to be. Working in the promotions dept, she makes a name for herself by her thoroughness in preparing the weekly summaries, but can’t break into becoming a plugger herself until she senses a gap – no-one is looking after Radio 2. She carries on to develop more TV placements for the label’s artists.
That’s the first step up in a career that would lead to looking after Take That, S Club 7 and the Spice Girls, but not just pop groups. Along the way she was involved with promoting Annie Lennox (one of her absolute heroines), and for short stints, David Bowie, Prince, ZZ Top and many more. It was when she moved from MCA to RCA that she met her future husband Shacky (Dave Shackleton) who was in international sales, but it would be ages before they got together properly. It was there too that she met Simon Fuller, who would manage the Spice Girls and create S Club 7.
Throughout it all, you can tell that Nicki is superb at her job. She really cares about her clients, becoming friends and surrogate mum if needed. She has fought all the way against the odds as a woman in a male-dominated job by working ever so hard and being utterly professional, understanding her charges and the business they’re in, trying to give the youngest ones the space they need and presenting a positive side to the industry. She had her fair share of slimy men trying it on, and petty misogyny, and proved she was better than them.
With her collaborator’s help, her voice comes through just as you’d imagine it; straight-talking but with a wryness that almost makes you think she still can’t believe her luck. She has many great stories to tell, but is not over gossipy, striking a good balance. You’ll end up applauding her. I devoured this book.
Source: Own copy. Sphere hardback, 277 pages. BUY at Blackwell’s in pbk via my affiliate link (free UK+ P&P)
