Mother!

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If you are the kind of person that gets twitchy when a hot cup of tea is plonked beside, instead of on top of, a perfectly good coaster then Mother! is not the film for you.  It is the tale of a frustrated poet (credited as Him) and his house-proud wife (credited as mother) living in an idyllic country house.  He spends his time not writing while she noodles about sploshing muted Farrow and Ball tones on various walls of their chic wooden dwelling.  Her domestic goddessing routine is upset when strangers start arriving and, crucially, not leaving however many times she screams “Get out.”

An unknown couple stay over at the behest of the poet followed by their bickering sons.  What follows is rather like watching an episode of Grand Designs in reverse.  Strangers begin to arrive at the house in greater numbers as the film initially plays out as a home invasion horror.  The mother’s show home is steadily ruined as hordes of the poet’s acolytes descend on them, literally tearing the house down.  The film unfolds like the kind of nightmare where you are entirely impotent to events going on around you.  mother dashes from room to room straightening rugs and emptying ashtrays only to find a new group of hell raisers have arrived.

Critical chatter around this film has been mixed, with a good deal of words devoted to the allegory that the film purports to represent.  The sharp-eyed among you will have noticed that the poet’s credit is Him with an upper case h while mother and everyone else including ‘man’ and ‘woman’ are all lower case.  Yes, we are in God territory here.  Javier Bardem is God, Jennifer Lawrence is Mother Nature., the house the Garden of Eden.  The first two strangers to arrive, Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer are Adam and Eve, the sons Cain and Abel etc.  The destruction of the house is the pollution of the world and so goes the allegory.

If Mother! feels burdened by a need for interpretation it succeeds in being a nasty and very difficult film to watch – which is a good thing.  Director Daren Aronofsky is tapping into his previous work with the bristly paranoia of Black Swan and the way the camera is often stationed just behind Lawrence’s shoulder as it did behind Mickey Rourke’s in The Wrestler.  The choreography and escalation of the violence and horror make for a deeply uncomfortable second hour as Aronofsky tightens the umbilical cord he has wrapped around your neck.  That Mother! chases its own tail will come as no surprise for some.  However, you may well share the sentiments of four unlikely geysers sat to my left.  As the credits rolled one of them queried, “What was the f****** point of all that?”  What indeed?

 

 

Best Day Ever By Kaira Rouda Book Review

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best day ever, kaira rouda
Best Day Ever ticks all of the boxes for what people want in a thriller these days: an unreliable narrator, domestic discord, and enough twists to keep you guessing. A tense domestic suspense novel, a zoomed through this novel at a quick pace, always wondering what was going to happen next. It is superbly written and keeps you hooked until the last page. The novel takes place over 24 hours and has an unreliable male narrator, two things which make it different. A great novel from USA Today bestselling author Kaira Rouda. Read it now. Our Day In The Life with Kaira Rouda is here.

 

Paul Strom has spent years building his perfect life: glittering career, beautiful wife, two healthy boys and a big house in the suburbs.

But he also has his secrets. That’s why Paul has promised his wife a romantic weekend getaway. He proclaims this day, a warm Friday in May, will be the best day ever.

Paul loves his wife, really, he does. But he also wants to get rid of her. And with every hour that passes, Paul ticks off another stage in his elaborately laid plan…

 

Best Day Ever is available here. 

 

 

Getting a Christmas gift list organised? A couple of great ideas…   by Milly Adams

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The Flamingo Neon Light

 

Tested on a ten year old and a world weary ‘seen it all’ teen both of whom totally loved this neon pink flamingo light, calling it really cool.  Actually it is huge fun and I wouldn’t mind it myself. Life is so serious right now, that something to lift the spirits is a great boon. It’s simplicity itself.  Just plug it in and switch it on to share your room with this pink wading bird in all its glory. It looks really cool, as Sara said, definitely adding to the atmosphere of any room you put it in. From the crossed legs and the twist in the tail, right up to the tinge of blue in its beak, this vibrantly coloured flamingo light is just what you need to bring home a little bit of tropical fun. Loved it.

The Flamingo Neon Light glows bright pink, and is main powered. It is, of course, tested to eu standards.

Also available in Unicorn, Cocktail, Pineapple and Rainbow and Cloud.

£30.00

The Wall Racer

 

And here it is, the broom broom present for boys and girls of ALL ages. Childen, keep it away from Grandpa, and I reckon Grandma will want to get her hands on it too.

The Wall Racer is a remote controlled car with such a powerful suction that it can drive up walls and across ceilings. Huge fun, especially when others are nodding off, after plentiful wine and pudding, and think they’re seeing things.

£20.00 tested to eu standards.

 

Available from: www.hawkin.com

 

Milly Adams’ most recent novel is The Waterway Girls. Pub Arrow. Pb £5.99

 

THE BUSINESS OF BOOKS: MENTAL HEALTH IN FICTION – Jane Cable on romance in the wake of World Mental Health Day

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When I was a rookie author working with my first editor I wanted to write a book with a central character who had OCD. I had a friend with quite a severe form of the illness and he was willing to help me to get it right. But I was told in no uncertain terms that I couldn’t write romantic fiction with a hero like that because no-one would want to read it.

I was prepared to accept the fact I couldn’t write it due to my technical ability, but not that the subject was taboo. Yes, it might make uncomfortable reading but surely it fitted perfectly with the romantic genre: X wants Y and Z stops them getting it.

I put the manuscript to one side (it’s still there, but for a different reason) and in the meantime The Cheesemaker’s House won the suspense and crime heat of the Alan Titchmarsh Show’s People’s Novelist competition. I was almost relieved when judge Sophie Hannah told me I needed a better editor. And totally vindicated when Jeffery Archer found Owen (who is teetering on the brink) a fascinating character.

With The Faerie Tree I was inspired to take things further. I had a good friend who’d suffered a major breakdown and I suppose I wanted to show him that a character with similar problems could get their life back on track. Robin’s struggle with depression is central to the story but he’s just like any other romantic hero – he’s funny, self aware and loving – he certainly doesn’t have ‘damaged goods – pity me’ stamped across his forehead.

The Faerie Tree, book, book review, review

Readers loved him too. Amazon reviewers said, “I fell a little in love with Robin myself,” and “Love, relationships, grief, depression, hope. The Faerie Tree covers it all, yet it’s not all doom and gloom.” But the best was from blogger extraordinaire Ann Cater: “Jane Cable creates characters that are believable, who have problems, who are often annoying and frustrating, but whose story is compelling. She cleverly takes the reader into the heads of two damaged and fragile people, and this is done so very well. Despite their faults, both Izzie and Robin are characters that the reader will root for throughout this really excellent novel.”

I’m not quoting these to show off – I’m making a point. People with mental health issues do make good characters in romantic fiction. Not just shuffling on and off the side-lines, but right in the centre of the story. The reviews also made me brave enough to tackle the thorny issue of PTSD amongst service personnel in Another You.

I’m not the only one: search PTSD romance in Kindle books and there are 341 titles in contemporary alone. Big publishers and writers are tackling the issue too, with books like Kristin Hannah’s Home Front (published by Pan) and USA Today best-selling author Kallypso Masters’ Nobody’s Lost.

Sadly it seems more people are suffering from mental health issues. But perhaps it’s just that happily they are more likely to seek help and not feel ashamed. There is a greater understanding that depression and other illnesses have a physical source in the imbalance of brain chemicals (read Tim Cantapher’s Depressive Illness: The Curse of the Strong if you want to know more) so stigma and taboo really shouldn’t come into it.

While readers want romantic fiction to take them away from their everyday lives, many need to be taken to a world they recognise. And in a way that gives them hope. X wants Y and despite Z, they get it.

My Murgh Makhani – National Curry Week

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We are if you are unaware in a celebratory culinary alignment of epic proportions it is National Curry Week, Seafood Week, Chocolate Week and National Porridge Day. “Go on”, I hear you cry, “You’ve had all year have you come up with a recipe combining all of these?”

Well no. We had porridge for breakfast, big bowls made with creamy Jersey milk and I can hear all you spurtle welders screaming, yes made with milk.* Chocolate, I have two daughters so I could use Willy Wonka’s chocolate fountain, seafood I will save for the weekend so supper this rather chilly, wet evening was a suitable curry, one of my favourite curries in fact, Murgh Makhani or Butter Chicken. This week I have soaked lentils, pounded garlic, ginger and cinnamon sticks, roasted coriander, mustard and fennel seeds and even opened a jar of the now infamous, homemade chilli and lime pickle. I love cooking curries and balancing the complex flavours of the spices.

*The spurtle is used to stir proper porridge made with rolled oats, salt and water only. I worked for a two times winner of the Golden Spurtle but that as they say is another story.

In the meantime, if you don’t fancy cooking or you fancy celebrating the up and coming Diwali here is a list of some award-winning restaurants I can personally recommend if you want some amazing authentic Indian cooking.

Trishna – is the baby sister of a world-famous seafood restaurant in Mumbai and specialises in its own unique take on the coastal cuisine of south west India. It has a Michelin star and serves incredible food in a relaxed environment in London’s Marylebone village.

The Chilli Pickle – serves a menu with dishes from across the Indian sub-continent inspired by the travels of the two ex-pat owners. Having moved from the famous Lanes it is now housed in the Brighton MyHotel. A well lit modern designed restaurant is home to some astounding cooking.

The Cinnamon Club – is the original London restaurant of Chef Vivek Singh, he now has his own celebrity superstar mini-empire including The Cinnamon Kitchen and Cinnamon Soho. One of the first chefs to blend Indian recipes with classical western techniques the Cinnamon Club has won numerous awards and plaudits.

Also look at Veeraswamy, the UK’s oldest Indian restaurant, Tamarind, Benares, and Gymkhana, all Michelin starred brilliant restaurants, they do some wonderful, good value, set menus but best not call them curry houses.

 

And so to Butter Chicken does not have a pedigree stretching into the dawn of history, it is believed to have been created in Peshawar and after the British partition, the chef moved to a New Delhi restaurant. A customer wanted a meal late in the evening and marinated chicken, ready for the Tandoor oven, was tossed with tomatoes, butter and spices and the Murgh Makhani ( butter chicken ) was born. While the dish looks similar to a Chicken Tikka Masala, it is more flavoursome with more depth of spicing in the rich tomato-based sauce. The Tikka Masala is Britain’s most popular curry and is believed to have been made originally with Campbell’s Condensed Tomato Soup and to have originated in the hallowed curry houses of either Birmingham or Glasgow.

The chicken, either on or off the bone, is marinated in yogurt and spices but the secret of a true Murgh Makhani is Qasuri Methi or dried fenugreek leaves. The chicken is best cooked in an extremely hot oven, a Tandoor ( if you have one ) or over coals or on a char grill to add an authentic smoky flavour before finishing in the sauce and serving. So, you can fire up the BBQ.  Garnish with green chillies, sliced hard boiled eggs, coriander leaves, raisins and toasted almonds.

 

Murgh Makhani ( Spiced – Butter Chicken ) serves 4 – 6

for marinated chicken

1.5 kg of Chicken pieces, skin removed or 1 kg chunky diced Chicken

Juice of 2 Limes

150 gr fresh natural Yoghurt

1 medium sized red Chilli, very finely chopped

2 tablespoons Coriander Seeds

2 tablespoons Fennel Seeds

1 tablespoon Cumin Seeds

1 tablespoon Fenugreek Seeds

6 Cloves

8 White Peppercorns

¼ Stick of Cinnamon

2 Bay Leaves

8 Cardamom Pods, crushed and seeds removed

½ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

Sea Salt

Vegetable Oil

 

for butter sauce

75 gr Butter in small pieces

3 tablespoons Clarified Butter or Ghee

2 medium Onions, peeled and finely chopped

8 Cloves of Garlic, peeled and crushed

3 centimeter piece of Ginger, peeled and crushed to paste

4 tablespoons Tomato Puree

8 fresh Tomatoes, de-seeded and roughly chopped

200 ml Pouring Cream

2 tablespoons Kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)

¼ teaspoon Turmeric Powder

Juice of 1 fresh Lemon

Sea Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper

Coriander leaves to garnish

 

 

Toast the spices, excluding the chilli, cardamom and cayenne pepper by heating them in a medium sized, heavy bottomed frying pan, stirring occasionally, until they colour slightly. Place in a small food processor or coffee grinder with the cayenne and cardamom seeds and reduce to a powder. Mix half of your spice mix with the chilli, lime juice, and yogurt and in a large glass or ceramic bowl stir in the chicken. Cover, refrigerate and allow to marinate for at least two hours. Larger chicken pieces benefit from marinating an extra couple of hours.

 

Preheat your oven to 425 F / 220 C / Gas mark 7. Drain off any excess yogurt mix from the chicken and set aside. Place the marinated chicken pieces on an oiled baking tray and cook for fifteen minutes for diced chicken or twenty-five minutes for the large chicken pieces. The chicken can brown well, almost char in the oven as this improves the flavour of the finished dish. At the same time as the chicken is cooking heat the clarified butter and a little more oil in a large casserole, add the onions. Sauté the onions for 15 minutes until golden brown in and then add the ginger, garlic, remaining spice mix and the turmeric. Cook for two more minutes, stirring to prevent sticking and burning.

 

Add the tomato paste, tomatoes, kasuri methi, cream and any remaining yoghurt marinade to the pan and mix together. Place in the chicken and simmer for ten to fifteen more minutes till the chicken is tender and the sauce has reduced and thickened. Do not boil as the sauce will split. Finish the sauce by correcting the seasoning and immediately before serving stirring in the lemon juice and butter pieces. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with Naan bread and rice.

Unique Book for Mature Women Wanting to Date Out Now

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 From Dinner Date to Soulmate – Cynthia Spillman’s Guide to Mature Dating – a practical and witty one-stop resource for older women looking to enter or re-enter the world of dating is out now. 

Author Cynthia Spillman, founder of The International Dating Academy and formerly the Chief Executive of Dinner Dates, is on a mission to help mature women re-entering the dating market to find love. For many, following either divorce or widowhood, it is a period of anxiety, uncertainty, and trepidation – all of which can be overcome with appropriate preparation and organisation. As Cynthia states in the book: “Make a Plan. Work the Plan.”

Distilling all the knowledge she has formed from her many years of helping people find love, Cynthia shows how searching for a fulfilling new relationship must be undertaken mindfully and strategically, and that in order to attract the partner she deserves, a woman must first feel good about herself.

From Dinner Date to Soulmate guides readers through a series of proven steps, encouraging them to examine their previous relationship patterns, and provides a whole host of mature dating skills, strategies, and techniques to be put into practice. The book covers both offline and online dating.

 

Cynthia Spillman is Chief Executive of The International Dating Academy, a one stop dating shop for people who wish to improve their dating skills. She was formerly Chief Executive of Dinner Dates, the UK’s top social networking club for elite professional singletons. Her area of expertise is in mindful dating. Her articles have been published in a number of magazines including Vogue, Woman’s Own and online magazine Single Living. She is also an award-winning inspirational trainer and motivational speaker. She has kissed a lot of frogs in her time, but is now happily married to her third husband, Peter. She divides her time between London and Nice.

Mindful Pregnancy & Birth: Nurturing Love and Awareness By Riga Forbes

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mindfulness, pregnancy

This is a great book which gives you the inspiration to go through your pregnancy and birth with a mindful approach. As well as advice it also has meditative exercises and insights. A great, helpful book for mothers-to-be. 

Focusing on the entire journey; from pregnancy through to early parenthood, this guide to living mindfully for expectant mothers helps prepare you for birth and improve your wellbeing with the ancient practice of mindfulness. When we talk about making something, it usually refers to creating, manipulating, or forming a material. In pregnancy, our bodies are wrapped up in doing all of these things at once, and on a grand scale. But in the act of making space in ourselves through mindfulness, none of these things apply. In Mindful Pregnancy & Birth we engage in an act of “not doing”. Of not changing, but of simply “being” in the experience of ourselves. Pregnancy is a phase in which to reconcile what has been, with what will become. It is a process, a time of change, and even more so for a first-time mother. It is a recognition of our dreams for the future being in transit, in gestation, in the making.

Mindful Pregnancy & Birth: Nurturing Love and Awareness By Riga Forbes is available here.

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde: Theatre review by Paul Vates

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At Greenwich Theatre, London.

 

“you just have to sit back and let it overwhelm you”

Bracknell-based Blackeyed Theatre have toured this country since 2004, producing everything from Brecht plays to The Great Gatsby. They have previously visited Dracula and Frankenstein, too. Their current production is a return to this horror genre which obviously suits them really well. Nick Lane’s adaptation is as close to the book as a play can be, utilising monologues to zip the story along when it is needed.

Lane also directs, using a cast of four stunning actors to whisk us from scene to scene with precise choreography.

 

Ashley Sean-Cook – photo courtesy of Alex Harvey-Brown

 

At first, the whole piece seemed a little messy – a hotchpotch of styles: musical numbers, monologues, ensemble effects, live and recorded sound effects, recorded music, physical theatre, natural theatre, slow-motion … it goes on. What The 39 Steps does for comedy, nothing here is played for laughs, the intensity of the play driving through at all times, for instance when two characters mime jumping into a taxi to dash across London.

 

And it works.

The audience had a large number of teenagers and they gasped with awe at each revelation, turning the theatre into their own version of Gogglebox, reacting quite freely. This lack of restraint is wonderful to witness – the ‘awwww’ at the romance, the shock at the cruelty. A few ‘Duff-Duff’ Eastenders-style moments left them reeling and buzzing with excitement. They were truly gripped. It was like a pantomime without the jokes.

Jack Bannell – photo courtesy of Alex Harvey-Brown

On top of that, the hero of the play – assuming the weak Jekyll role and the masculine Hyde persona – is a Poldark lookalike. Jack Bannell has the long hair, the unshaven swagger of testosterone oozing from him as Hyde. From the moment he first appears, twirling his walking stick with gay abandon like a Terry-Thomas moustache tweak, we know he is dangerous. Then he physically shrinks and limps, to become the frail, desperate Jekyll – and the teens lapped it up.

Paige Round photo courtesy of Alex Harvey-Brown

Supporting this stand-out performance, there is Paige Round, primarily playing the Irish Eleanor Lanyon, both loving and lusting for  Jekyll and Hyde. She appears as a cockney tart and a housemaid, too, showing a grand versatility. As do Zach Lee and Ashley Sean-Cook, playing a multitude of characters throughout. Sean-Cook’s Dr Lanyon is touching and believable, a light character in this dark world. Lee’s solicitor Utterson, hard and edgy.

There is much not to be impressed with in this production. Although the lighting and the set suit the mood and fulfill all their requirements, it somehow feels dated and unadventurous in its presentation and style. It is theatrical box-ticking. Yet, it is undeniably spot-on for getting its points across. The darker, heavier and meatier elements of the story slightly brushed over, for the gothic gore – ‘giving them what they want’. For this, there is a lot to be admired. Knowing the book is on the GCSE syllabus has allowed the company to get the funding and have the courage to tour a full-on version.

It could so easily have been a long and dull, worthy and wordy adaptation of the text. I saw an RSC production many years ago that was just that. But Blackeyed have triumphed.

In the end, you just have to sit back and let it overwhelm you. It’s worth it!

 

 

 

Length 2 hours including interval    Ages 11+

Box Office Tickets are available from individual theatre box offices.

Details of the tour: www.blackeyedtheatre.co.uk

Twitter: @Blackeyedtheatr #JekyllandHyde

Director Nick Lane

Composer Tristan Parks

Designer Victoria Spearing

Costumes Naomi Gibbs

Lighting Claire Childs

Producer Adrian McDougall

Photography Alex Harvey-Brown