Mr Mac and Me by Esther Freud was first published in 2014, by Bloomsbury. I had meant to read this book when it first came out, not ten years later. It’s one of my 20 Books of Summer.
It’s well known I think that Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife Margaret MacDonald Mackintosh moved from Glasgow to Suffolk when his career in architecture had ground to a halt. As World War One progressed they got into trouble with the authorities as some of the locals decided that the strange couple with the odd accent (Scottish) must be spies. Esther Freud has woven a story around them, embroidering what had happened to them there and how it impacted on them, as seen through the eyes of Thomas Maggs, a young boy with a damaged foot, something that he has in common with CRM.
Thomas lives on the Suffolk coast, his father is a publican, he’s abusive as a father and husband, and of course he has a drink problem, so Thomas doesn’t have a good relationship with him. When Mackintosh and his wife arrive in the area Thomas is attracted to the couple who show an interest in his own drawings and befriend him.
The Mackintoshes have money problems and Mac can’t even sell his exquisitely painted botanical art, never mind get architecture commissions, to make matters worse there are problems within Margaret’s family so she has to be away in Glasgow at times.
I enjoyed this one although it is tinged with sadness as the war takes its toll of the locals. There’s some lovely writing, descriptions of flowers, scenery and seascapes. But as you would expect The Glasgow School of Art also features and in the author’s acknowledgements at the end of the book she adds her own ‘heartfelt appreciation of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service for the skill, courage and determination they showed in overcoming the blaze that raged through the Glasgow School of Art just as this book was going to press.’
Of course fire came back again for a second bite of that building, such a tragedy. The remains, just a shell, are still wrapped in plastic, waiting for some sort of decision. It’s a deeply depressing sight.
Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson is another of my 20 Books of Summer although it wasn’t on my original list which has had to be amended somewhat. This one was a request from the library.
Where the World Ends by Geraldine McCaughrean was first published in 2004 and it won the Whitbread Children’s book award that year, also the Carnegie Medal in 2018 for an illustrated edition. This is one of my 20 Books of Summer.
Gideon Ahoy! by William Mayne was published in 1987. Gideon is a teenager and he’s profoundly deaf, so he doesn’t have much in the way of speech. He seems to be mentally handicapped but he would probably be described as being severely autistic nowadays. The whole household revolves around Gideon who makes a lot of noise which of course he can’t hear. His younger sister Eva gets somewhat neglected because of the situation, not that she minds. There are also two younger children, called Tansy and Mercury. Their mother has a hard life because she’s more or less a one parent family, the father is in the Merchant Navy and spends most of his time away at sea.
Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers was first published in 1923. It begins with Lord Peter Wimsey getting a phone call from his mother. She tells him that Mr Thipps the architect who is working on her local church’s roof, has discovered the body of a man in his bath. The body is naked apart from wearing a pair of pince nez. When Peter goes to investigate he realises that the corpse is supposed to be the wealthy businessman Sir Reuben Levy who has gone missing. It bears a resemblance to Sir Reuben, but Peter isn’t fooled.
Bill’s New Frock by Anne Fine was published in 1989. When Bill Simpson woke up on Monday morning, he found he was a girl. It doesn’t seem to puzzle his mother when she enters his bedroom, gives him a pink dress with shell buttons to wear, and drops it over his head! Bill’s father is late for work and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek before he rushes out of the house. It’s all very confusing and mortifying to Bill. At school nobody seems to be surprised at the change in Bill.
