One of many connections

I moved to North Walsham in Norfolk in August 2014. It had been my plan for several years when I returned to the UK after living in the United Arab Emirates. After a few months to settle down, I discovered that the best restaurant in North Walsham was The Beechwood. Then I discovered something more amazing - Agatha Christie stayed there many times. It's mind boggling. How can this be? She would spend a month at a time in the area. I live within half a mile of the hotel. These connections keep occurring, and yet I still feel I'm on a wild goosechase.


I'm pleased to report that I persuaded a companion to join me for dinner on 15 September last. We had a spare place and I poured fresh cream ceremoniously into a cup and left it for the birthday girl. Sadly, I was in too much pain from a torn cartilage in my right knee to really enjoy the experience. Perhaps it should be an annual event.


If you're interested in following in Mrs Mallowan's footsteps, here's more information:


The Beechwood

'Little Syrian memoir' rebooted

Come, Tell Me How You Live has been reprinted. Yet another event that I've missed. I'm really not doing well as a Mrs Mallowan researcher. This version includes a number of photographs, so worth buying from my point of view. I haven't actually bought a copy of the book that started this whole obsession. It was lent to me back in 2000 when I was living in Al Ain in the UAE.


Here's the link to the announcement of the reprint as published in The Guardian.

Star over Bethlehem

I've excavated another shard of Agatha's life and writing. I may have known and forgotten, but I have discovered that Mrs Mallowan published at least one book using her married name. The book is entitled 'Star Over Bethlehem: and other stories'. I managed to buy a hard cover copy for just under £5 from Amazon and I believe it must be from the original print, since the lending dates start from about 1974. According to Amazon, this is a rare thing. There is a 50th anniversary edition published by Harper Collins Publishers Ltd (25 Sept. 2014). What makes the copy that I have managed to acquire particularly special is that it is ex Oxford library. I can't tell which library would have stocked it, but it is quite something to have the book from an area in which Mrs Mallowan lived. It might look a bit fly-blown and faded, but it will be treasured. It will also be read to help with the dialogue for the screenplay - when I get a minute to sort it all out.

My mistress' voice

I've completed the FutureLearn screenplay course. I confess to skipping all of the videos. Something about people pontificating about writing and so on makes me feel depressed. I thought I'd missed some of the activities, but find I've completed what I was supposed to do and have posted them here, which was useful.


Checking the course again has led to me thinking that I must stop procrastinating. It also made realise that my biggest hurdle is lack of self belief and the constant feeling that I am a total nobody; unpublished (creatively anyway), no relevant academic background, not famous, nothing. It makes me feel that whatever I do will not be taken seriously.


The other major hurdle to the screenplay is finding Agatha's voice. I want to be true to her, even the aspects of her personality and prejudices that I don't like. So it occurred to me to search for letters. And here's a couple of examples. The photo of Agatha at the bottom looks to have been taken at about the time I want to tell her story.