Last
week a large parcel arrived from Transworld. It contained the proofs
of the book that will be published this autumn under the title The
Sea Garden.
It
has always been one of my jobs to proof read the books. This is both
a joy and a nightmare: a joy because I really enjoy reading what
Marcia writes and a nightmare since it is so easy to get carried away
by the story only to realise that for the last few pages I have been
‟reading″ rather than ‟proof reading″.
By
the time we get to this stage I have already read the book at least
four times (when writing, the first draft when complete, after the
editorial requests have been included and at the copy editing stage).
Thus Marcia is always very surprised – and pleased – when I burst
out laughing since she feels I really ought to be bored silly by this
stage. The fact is that I am not: unlike most, Marcia’s novels can
be reread many times and each reading brings out something new: often
an unexpected link in the webs of personal
relationships she weaves with such dexterity.
This
book is set in part in the old familiar scenes of Tavistock (where we catch
up with some of Marcia’s old familiar characters) and, for the
first time, Marcia visits the banks of the River Tamar. Many readers refuse to
believe that Marcia finds descriptive writing to be extremely
difficult because she does it so well. I have never read anything by
any author which evokes a place with more precision and with more
beautiful writing than some of the paragraphs in this book: they are
a treat to read. And don’t say, ‟well he would say that, wouldn’t
he?″.
 |
| Marcia is standing on the saltings at the high tide mark. She and Jossie are returning from an evening walk. |
The title comes from a garden that has been made behind an old quay which was built out into the river many years ago to enable trading vessels to tie up alongside. It is a large flat area, bounded by an old stone wall and a lavender hedge: the scene of many parties past and present.
Those
proofs are now back with Transworld and so we now await the cover
design and the blurb. I will keep you informed.
The
other good news this week is that Linda Evans, Marcia’s editor at
Transworld, has read and thoroughly approved the book to follow The
Sea Garden. Like all books, it has a working title but I will
keep that a secret. It was a mistake to talk about The Ginger Jar
as that was a working title with the book being published as The
Prodigal Wife. To this day barely a week goes by without someone
asking where they can buy The Ginger Jar as they can’t find
it anywhere. Well, they wouldn’t, would they?
THE
TADPOLE TIMES
The
old ‛poles seem to be developing more slowly this year than is
usual. That is not to say that they are not growing at the usual rate
but there is still no sign of legs. This is almost certainly because
it has been so cold. They live in a utility room which is unheated
but faces south. The usual problem is to keep it cool enough for them
but not this year.
Sometimes
tadpoles just fail to grow up in one season and then overwinter as
rather oversized individuals who wait until the following summer to
change into frogs. As far as I know, thy have no problems with this.
I just hope that I don’t have any like that as looking after tem
through the winter would be a bit of a nightmare.
