In an era of great change and great beauty emerged the character of James McNeill Whistler. Considered by some to be one of the great innovators of 19th century art, he was a contemporary of the Impressionists, much admired by Van Gogh and Manet, and a truly unique character. Tate Britain is currently staging the first major retrospective of Whistler in three decades. This blockbuster exhibition promises to reawaken the world to just how important Whistler is to art history, uniting world famous masterpieces with rarely seen works.

James McNeill Whistler – Wapping 1860 -1864 National Gallery of Art Washington

Working in close collaboration with Tate Britain, Exhibition on Screen, the award –
winning film company and unique arts brand behind critically acclaimed film releases
Vermeer: The Greatest Exhibition, Caravaggio and Frida Kahlo, is releasing:

JAMES MCNEILL WHISTLER

about the pioneering artist’s stunning works and the incredible story behind them – to cinemas around the world while the exhibition is still running. Bringing this truly global artist to a global audience, JAMES MCNEILL WHISTLER will be an unmissable chance to see this visually spectacular artist on the big screen and appreciate the influence he has had on those who followed.

James McNeill Whistler: Symphony in White No 3 Barber Institute Wiki.jpg

Boldly experimental and famously witty and irascible, Whistler disrupted the strict
conventions of Victorian society in pursuit of a new cult of beauty, creating “art for art’s
sake” and earning himself a place in the history of great art. He found a parallel between painting and music, and entitled many of his paintings “arrangements”, “harmonies” and “nocturnes”, emphasizing the importance of tonal harmony in his work. Known for a number of striking publicity-conscious self -portraits, Oscar Wilde once said of Whistler, “ Mr. Whistler always spelt art, and I believe still spells it, with a capital I”.

Whistler’s most famous painting, Arrangement in Grey and Black No.1 1871 (poster above), commonly known as Whistler’s Mother, is a revered and often parodied portrait of motherhood. It is arguably one of the most famous paintings in history and this film will unveil the artist behind the art.

Directed by David Bickerstaff and produced by Phil Grabsky, the BAFTA winning
founder of Exhibition on Screen, JAMES MCNEILL WHISTLER will be shown in
cinemas nationwide from 15th September 2026. Step into the captivating world of rule-breaking American artist James McNeill Whistler

JAMES MCNEILL WHISTLER Directed by David Bickerstaff and produced by Phil Grabsky.
Runtime : 90 mins. Watch the TRAILER: here Find a screening: here

JAMES MCNEILL WHISTLER is at Tate Britain until 27th September 2026

The Waterway Girls: A moving British WWII saga of friendship and resilience by Milly Adams so they say, and it is. I find I write about community, friendship and resilience a great deal.

The waterway girls who worked on the canals were ideal for this theme. After all, where can we find a tighter community than a group of people who have spent their whole lives on the canals, and as a group or community have to accept war-workers who know nothing of running a narrowboat, and girls at that. I loved writing it, and did a great deal of research to ‘get it right’. I hope I did. It is the first of three, and this week, it is FREE @ https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FRN1JWMF/

The Beauty Shop: A historical romance in WWII England (Heroes of War Book 1) by Suzy Henderson  the first of three. This historical romance is a gripping saga full of bravery, suffering and hope around the Guinea Pig Club and surgical pioneer Sir Archibald McIndoe.

It is set in Bassingbourn, England, 1942 Stella Charlton is determined to do her bit for the war effort by joining the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. Much to the dismay of her mother who wishes her daughter to settle down – preferably with Alex, the perfect match for a young woman. But a US air force pilot has caught Stella’s heart and while trying to do right by everyone, she lives with the fear of losing Mac every time he sets off to battle. John ‘Mac’ Mackenzie knows of the huge responsibility he shoulders as a bomber pilot – for himself, his crew and the people he wants to protect. When Mac becomes just another casualty in the war and is badly burned, he is convinced that beautiful Stella will never look at him again and pushes her away. Fat chance, she is made of tougher stuff. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DNN3QHCG/ @ £0.99 instead of £1.99

A Taste of Treason: A quite different novel – a cozy small-town whodunnit (The fabulous The Tea Leaf Mysteries Book 9 of 9) by J. New Judging art is easy. Escaping a murder charge isn’t. When the only thing framed turns out to be Lilly Tweed, she’ll have to draw on all her skills as an amateur detective to catch the real killer.

Do take this opportunity to meet Lilly Tweed a former Agony Aunt, purveyor of Fine Teas and a glorious accidental sleuth. The annual amateur art competition is the highlight of Plumpton Mallet’s social calendar, and this year Lilly has been invited to judge. It’s an honour… until she discovers that artists can be every bit as competitive as they are creative.

With rivalries simmering, tempers fraying and more than a little envy on display, the exhibition opens to great fanfar, but disaster strikes when a body is discovered. And as if one murder weren’t enough to ruin everyone’s day, Detective Phillips is abruptly taken off the case, leaving Lilly without her closest ally. Then matters go from bad to utterly disastrous when Lilly herself is arrested for murder… Read on, I beg you. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0HC8RTTTC/ @ £3.99

Milly Adams is the author of The Waterway Girls trilogy. https://www.amazon.co.uk//dp/B0FRN1JWMF/ @ £5.97 for all 3 kindles

If you have kids you know they are always snacking, and fruit is their drug of choice. I never realised I would buy so much fruit in my life. Cotton Candy grapes are making it easy to enjoy their deliciously juicy, sweet-flavoured grapes, with the launch of a new, convenient 125g snack pot.My kids absolutely love a snack pot, and these grapes were a huge hit.

Although they taste like a treat, Cotton Candy grapes are in fact a traditional grown grape variety. Their distinctive, fresh flavour isn’t created through added or artificial sugars, flavourings, or genetic modification; instead, it’s the result of traditional breeding techniques used for thousands of years. These techniques involve carefully crossing the pollen from two high-flavour grape varieties to create a completely new and unique variety, often known as the ‘offspring.’ They are unique and tasty.

Available now in Tesco, Cotton Candy grapes come in a new 125g snack pot, alongside the existing 400g punnet and 800g sharing pack, so you have even more ways to enjoy nature’s sweetest surprise.

Every so often in the affairs of man – or in this case, in the life of your editor, something quite wonderful happens. A niece gathered together as many of the extended family who could make it to celebrate her mother’s birthday, which would happen later in the year. Though, on consideration, I think it was decided by Fiona that it was high time the brothers and sister and assorted others should get together. I count myself as an assorted other. Oh yes please, went out the cry. But where to meet?

Fiona is one of those exceptional young women who is not only gorgeous, but has the ability to pull a huge number of strings together and make a situation work – looking calm as she does so. She clearly had a good look at the map and decided The Royal Oak at Car Colston was pretty much the central point for us all to drive for a couple of hours for lunch, a chat, and to decide that though it had been years we had not changed at all. Readers, I said as much to Dick, who is one of the brothers/uncles, and declared – ‘Really, Margaret, how can you say that and with all your white hair?’ He had to wait until the end of the day and we reached home to be banished to the flagpole to consider his sins.

We all arrived, pretty much together from all points of the compass to glorious Car Colston, a heavenly hamlet with the pub resting on the edge of the village cricket ground and pavilion. Yes really. Somehow these seem to have been vanishing, but here one stood, a bit parched, but wonderful.

Fiona was waiting outside The Royal Oak and gathered us up, and then the soon to be birthday sister barreled out to her brother Dick who was quite overcome as he hugged her and wondered just how many years it had been. How could it be so long??? Then we rushed inside to find the others already gathered around a long table in the bar. ‘Hello hello’ to another lovely niece and her husband, not to mention their dear little dog. ‘Hello hello’ to everyone else, Nigel and Ewa had arrived by now, and the two brothers, and their sister were together again.

As dogs are welcome we had brought Polly too, a Cavachon. So off we all went, talk talk, but hang on, what would we like to drink? And so it went on with Richard, who runs this diamond, taking drink orders, food orders and generally herding cats as there were so many locals and visitors in various bars, as well as this ‘get together’ mob. Staff brought drinks – yes, sorry I had such a huge glass of perfectly cooled Pino Grigio but I had been backseat driving for two hours, and needed resuscitating. And then the food. Perfection, huge platefuls of lasagna, or scampi, or whatever one felt like from the specials board, or menu. Then, as one does, I had to nip out with Polly to let her do a tinkle, (she’s the dog, just in case I’ve lost you and you are wondering quite who was to have an outside tinkle) to find Richard the proprietor had slipped out with his two springers for the same reason, so I caught up with him on this huge village green to hear all about his pub The Royal Oak

He and Vicky had arrived 22 years earlier when The Royal Oak needed a bit of tender care and soon it was thriving in this quintessentially English hamlet which has 29 acres of village greens which could be the largest rural common in England, surely. The Royal Oak itself is over two hundred years old – ‘Well, Margaret, you have only a few years to go to compete,’ muttered Dick when I told him. So his time at the flagpole was doubled.

Interestingly, there is an unusual vaulted brick ceiling in the bar which fits in with the thought that this 200 year old building was maybe, probably, possibly a hosiery factory, with the textile machinery being held on the floor above the ceiling. It was all just so nice to sit imagining the past of this building, as people bustled and sipped real ales through the various bars, relaxed, friendly and outgoing. A hub for the community through the ages, clearly.

So, with Vicky’s culinary delights being prepared in the kitchen, and Richard and staff busy we relaxed and wondered if we could all move to Car Colston. Just imagine being able to slip into The Royal Oak whenever we wanted. Dick was delighted that Cask Marque real ales were on offer, though he was stuck on non alcoholic lager as I was backseat driving again on the return, too. Bad hand, you see. Ho hum.

We all left, promising we wouldn’t leave it so long again, having caught up on news and grateful to Joe, the birthday girl’s son-in-law who quietly slipped off to pay the bill – so very kind.

Would we meet at The Royal Oak again? You bet we would. Let’s face it, a pub which has won Vale of Belvoir and Nottinghamshire CAMRA pub of the year for 2021, 2020 and 2009 should be visited many times.

The meat at The Royal Oak is locally sourced from: Harkers Farm, Clipston-on the Wolds https://harkersfarmshop.co.uk The fish is from Nottingham Seafoods The vegetables and salad are sourced locally from Maxeys Farm Shop The fresh flowers in the restaurant are supplied and arranged by Zinnia Florist, Bingham. The Royal Oak caravan site is for the use of Camping & Caravanning Club members and the B and B Richard recommends is The Grange, Elton-on-the-Hill . Finally, The Royal Oak, The Green, Car Colston, Nottingham NG13 8JE for more information on menus and to book. Enjoy! We most certainly did.

The groom that got away | A flirty Second Chance Romantic Comedy (The Logan Brothers Book 1) by Sally Clements. Note that this is Book 1 of a series of 4, and it is FREE, and all about second chances. Do you believe in them – or not?

You see, Matthew left April’s sister standing at the altar seven years ago, breaking June’s heart in the process. Now June is marrying another bloke, the cake is iced, April has made the wedding dress and she’s not having her sister’s big day ruined all over again. Oh, but why should it be… June has chosen Matthew to be her something old! Yes, really, and this tickled me. I had to read it. You will have to as well, to see what happens, as I am not going to tell you. @ https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0G4HCCC1N/ for the grand total of – nothing. It is FREE but see the even better news below.

Yes indeedy, the second in The Logan Brothers series – happy days. Match me if you can | A sweet and spicy Romantic Comedy (The Logan Brothers Book 2) by Sally Clements.

Photographer Valentine Jones isn’t a great one for ‘in love’ but when her romantic friend Maggie drags her along to a speed dating event, she finds herself reluctantly attracted to architect Finn Logan. Against her better instincts, she ticks yes on her scorecard to seeing him again. He never calls. Finn shouldn’t have flirted with Val at the speed dating event because he was there to chaperone his wayward niece, not find another girlfriend–he has two already. When he meets Val again at his cousin’s wedding, he tries to explain, and ends up kissing her instead. Then she acts as a photographer for Finn’s company, but is Finn just the same? Or has he dispensed with the harem??? Read on, read on… all for £0.99 instead of £1.99 @ https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0G8GZ7VMT/

is this all? Certainly not.

Sweet Poison: A twisty Golden Age murder mystery (Lord Edward Corinth & Verity Browne Book 1) by David Roberts. The first of 7 and a steal at £0.99 instead of £1.99

A must-read classic whodunit set in 1930s England, where murder, political intrigue, and high-society secrets collide. It is August 1935 and the Duke of Mersham is hosting one of his many parties, this time the bringing together public figures interested in improving Anglo-German relations. One of his guests is General Sir Alistair Craig VC, who swallows poison in the duke’s excellent port and dies just as latecomers Lord Edward Corinth and journalist Verity Browne arrive on the scene.

The unlikely pair – the younger son of a duke and a journalist committed to the Communist Party – find common ground as they seek for the truth behind the general’s murder and discover that everyone present, including the duke himself, had a motive for wanting Sir Alistair out of the way. Do read it at the reduced price (for a limited time): https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DT21FRL9/ for £0.99

The Wrong Sort to Die : A gripping Edwardian mystery with a daring female pathologist (Dr Margaret Demeray Book 1) by Paula Harmon and it’s FREE

This is a period I love – it’s London, 1910. We have a pioneering woman, a string of suspicious deaths and to top it off, a conspiracy that could cost Dr Margaret Demeray everything. Look, she has fought hard for her place as a pathologist in a man’s world as you can imagine. But when the deaths of two paupers raise troubling questions, her search for answers draws her into the orbit of Fox—an enigmatic stranger with secrets of his own. As Margaret digs deeper, she finds herself shadowed at every turn. Her home is burgled. She is attacked in broad daylight. Friends grow distant. And Fox may be ally… or enemy.

With whispers of corruption reaching from London’s slums to the highest levels of society, Margaret must risk her career—and her life—to uncover the truth… @ https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DW928SMY/ FREE for a limited time.

Death in the Last Reel: Another intriguing Edwardian mystery (Dr Margaret Demeray Book 2) – by Paula Harmon. I said ridiculous prices and now the second in the series… not quite FREE this time, but close to it.

As you know it’s set in Edwardian London, a pioneering female pathologist must continue to defy societal expectations and confront a web of espionage, murder, and betrayal to uncover the truth behind a growing threat to the city.

After the violent murder of three policemen in the line of duty, tensions between London constabulary and Whitechapel anarchists simmer. Meanwhile accusations and counter accusations of espionage further weaken relations between Germany and Britain. (Isn’t it a fascinating period). When Fox asks Margaret to help with a mission, she can’t wait to assist. But enquiries in wealthy Hampstead, and assaults in Whitechapel backstreets lead to genteel Glassmakers Lane. How can a place where a moving picture studio is the only thing of interest be important? And is the death of a young woman Margaret can’t forget ,a critical link or a coincidental irrelevance? How can Margaret persuade Fox to stop protecting her so that she can ask the questions he can’t? @ https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DYTS9M4G/ £0.99 instead of £2.99 for now.

Another favourite – treats galore for us this week: The Sugar Secret: Another thrilling action-packed naval adventure in the Evan Ross Series (Book 7) by Lyle Garford 

In the wake of the Battle of Trafalgar, a secret mission, hidden treasure and a trail of murder threaten to ignite the Caribbean once more. As the French and British forces collide, they are pulled into a dark web of conspiracy where the fate of two empires hangs in the balance. Martinique and St. Kitts, 1808 – hard to put down, I assure you.

In the aftermath of Trafalgar, French power in the Caribbean is crumbling. With morale at rock bottom and British forces closing in, only Martinique and Guadeloupe remain under French control. Desperate pleas for reinforcements go unanswered … until Napoleon takes matters into his own hands. He dispatches Colonel Rémy Bernard, a senior intelligence officer and Knight of Malta, to restore order. But Bernard arrives with a secret agenda: the Knights have uncovered rumours of a priceless treasure hidden decades earlier on the British-held island of St. Kitts—and Bernard is determined to find it. While launching a series of daring raids to keep the British off balance, he begins a covert search that could change the course of the war. However it’s not going to be plain sailing – sorry about that – but I couldn’t resist. Standing in his way are Captain Evan Ross and Commander James Wilton of the Royal Navy. As they race to halt the French attacks, they are… Now read on – oh,I know I’m mean but- @ https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0GPWFC8LL/ for £0.99 instead of £4.99 for a limited time.

Milly Adams is the author of the Waterway Girls trilogy https://www.amazon.co.uk//dp/B0FRN1JWMF/ @ £5.97 for all 3 kindles