Summer Fare: Watching & Reading

QUIRKY SCOTTISH DETECTIVE

Annika (PBS Passport)

Annika & daughter Morgan (imdb.com)

The Chief Penguin and I were big fans of Unforgotten and Nicola Walker who played one of the two detectives researching cold crime cases.  We were sorry to see that series end and delighted that Walker is starring in a new series.  This one, based in Glasgow, features Walker as Annika, the head of a marine homicide team dealing with drownings and other suspicious deaths.  This season has 6 episodes.  

The first episode gave us pause as Annika talks to the screen and is often quoting from Norse legends or other literature.  In addition to her professional duties, she also has a rebellious 15-year-old daughter.  Between her ragtag team of colleagues and the challenges of parenting, it’s a series that grew on us and by the end of the second episode we were hooked.  

A different Nicola Walker, but, ultimately, an engaging one!  We binge watched all the episodes on PBS Passport, but the series will also be shown on Masterpiece later this year.

ROMANTIC CORNWALL

Four Seasons (Acorn)

Julia & Charles enjoying a seaside picnic (crew-united.com)

This 4-part series made in 2008-2009 is based on several novels by British author Rosamunde Pilcher.  She won world-wide popularity with her family saga, The Shell Seekers, published in 1987.  Many years ago, I read a bunch of her novels.  They were perfect bonbons for summer.  

Julia, divorced wife of Stephen, returns to Endellion, the family estate which will one day become Stephen’s.  Julia and Stephen’s daughter Charlotte died twenty years ago.  Granddaughter Abby, who was raised by Stephen, is keen to learn more about her mother and her death.  Add in the gentle patriarch Alex, Stephen’s warm and more laid-back younger brother Charles, Abby’s slick boyfriend Jamie, and you have the makings of conflict mixed with romance.  

Filmed in Cornwall, the mansion and the scenery are stunning.  The initial pacing is somewhat languorous, the background music heavy, and the dialogue pedestrian.  It picks up in successive episodes as conflicts erupt.  What happens is mostly predictable, but I’ve stayed with it as it’s good enough to keep me on the treadmill.

SUMMER READING

(123rf.com)

Every June, I start to take stock of which books I want to read over the summer and which ones I’ll pack or download for our Maine sojourn.  This group of titles is mostly lighter fare, perfect for lazy afternoons.

MYSTERY

Something to Hide by Elizabeth George

I’m reading this now and it’s the latest Thomas Lynley and Elizabeth Havers mystery.  At more than 600 pages, it’s a tome and not one for reading in bed!

***

NOVELS

The American Fiancée by Eric Dupont

A family saga of the 20th century translated from the French.

The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed

A Booker Prize finalist recommended by my favorite local bookseller, it’s a historical novel about a Somali man in Wales accused of a crime he didn’t commit.  

The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles

Libraries and librarians are very popular in fiction now.  This historical novel is about a librarian at the American Library in Paris in 1939.

The Women of Chateau Lafayette by Stephanie Dray

A historical novel about a real French castle through the years and wars from the 18th century to the 20thcentury.

Vigil Harbor by Julia Glass

The latest novel by one of my favorite authors, this one is set in the future around characters dealing with climate change.  I’ve seen no review or publicity about it, so it’s a gamble.

***

NONFICTION

The Gilded Edge by Catherine Prendergast

A 20th century love story laced with cyanide set in Monterey and San Francisco.

The Women I Think about at Night: Traveling the Paths of My Heroes by Mia Kankimaki

I received this title through a book exchange.  Translated from the Finnish, it’s the account of one woman’s worldwide journey to the places where artists and explorers she admires have lived.

Note: Header photo of book stack ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).

Manhattan: American Art & Fashion

Winslow Homer:  Crosscurrents (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

We made two visits to the Met Museum this month.  The first was to see the very large and comprehensive exhibit of Winslow Homer’s work.  A New Englander by birth, Homer (1836-1910) lived in Boston and then in 1859 moved to New York.  Although associated rightfully with his portrayals of the sea, his work was much more than that.  He captured returning soldiers from the Civil War, both Black and white, and showed women at work or enjoying a day at the beach.  Added to that are his luminous watercolors depicting scenes from his trips to the Bahamas, Florida, and other islands.  It’s a wonderful exhibit!

Here are a few examples.

Early Morning after a Storm at Sea, 1900-1903
Eagle Head, Manchester Massachusetts, 1870
Old Mill (The Morning Bell), 1871

In America:  An Anthology of Fashion (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

On our second visit, the Chief Penguin re-visited the Homer exhibit and spent time in the Annenberg Wing admiring the simply marvelous collection of Impressionist paintings.  I missed seeing the first part of the Costume Institute’s fashion exhibit for 2021 but decided to tour this year’s part two which is housed in the American Wing.  

I had never spent any time in this section, but it consists of a series of period rooms from the early 19th century to the 1950’s.  For this exhibit, various curators have dressed manikins in fashions related to the rooms’ furnishings from Shaker Retiring Room to Richmond parlor to 20th century ballroom.  This is not as showy exhibit as some of those of previous years, but interesting, nonetheless.  With the right inclination, one could spend a fair bit of time reading all the information about the setting of the room itself and then the fashion-related labels. 

Shaker Woman, early 1800’s
High style in the 1950’s

Note: Header photo is Winslow Homer’s Oranges on a Branch, 1885. Photos by JWFarrington.

Manhattan Moments: Screen, Page & Plate

DC SOCIAL SCENE ON SCREEN

Georgetown (Amazon Prime)

Elsa and Mot (nytimes.com)

Georgetown, a movie offering from Prime, is inspired by shocking real events.  Mot, an immigrant to the U.S., aspires to grand adventures and a role in the diplomatic world.  Charming and debonair, he meets a grand dame socialite and former journalist, invites her to lunch and flatters her.  When Elsa’s husband dies, he re-establishes contact and then marries her.  She is several decades his senior, but he is not above using her connections to host Washington notables at elegant dinner parties.  

From there, with her smarts, he parlays his way into advising and counseling heads of state and other eminent individuals.  When Elsa dies, the manner of her death raises questions, and Mot’s behavior gets a thorough examination.  

The narrative arc is shallow and the ending predictable but watching Mot maneuver makes for good entertainment.  And the cast includes notables Vanessa Redgrave and Annette Bening.

RISING TO THE TOP IN THE STATE DEPARTMENT

Lessons from the Edge by Marie Yovanovitch

Former ambassador Yovanovitch (theguardian.com)

Foreign Service Officer Yovanovitch gained fame and notoriety when then President Trump fired her from her position as ambassador to Ukraine.  Her testimony during Trump’s first impeachment trial was riveting.  Her memoir is a fascinating account of the political climate after the Cold War and the end of the communist state in the USSR.  Of Russian heritage and an immigrant to the United States herself, Yovanovitch was very interested in serving in Moscow and the former Soviet countries.  

During the 1980’s and early 90’s, the Foreign Service Office was a male bastion; the very few women there were routinely either ignored or discriminated against.  Ms. Yovanovitch details both her professional struggles and her personal insecurities in her climb up the diplomatic ladder.  

I’m about a third of the way into her memoir and find it an informative look at the U.S. diplomatic efforts in Somalia, Moscow, and Ukraine.  She is candid to the point of rawness and does not stint on criticism of herself and some of her superiors, while praising those who listened to her and gave her opportunities.  

ETHIC DINING

One of the pleasures of being in Manhattan is the wide range of ethnic restaurants.  As has been the case for a while, Italian cuisine predominates, but there are good Chinese, Indian, and Turkish restaurants too.  Here are a couple we enjoyed recently.

Wa Jeal

Chicken broccoli and Shrimp with peppers

This Upper East Side Sichuan restaurant interior is light and attractive.  We had lunch here and were delighted with the warm welcome from our waitress and with the clean flavors of the dishes we ordered.  The scallion pan cakes and the Sichuan pork dumplings were excellent.  Sliced chicken with broccoli and the sauteed shrimp and green peppers in a hot pepper sauce were equally delicious.  Pair those offerings with white rice and a Tsing Tao beer, and you have a fortifying meal!  Take out and several delivery options are also available.

Agora Turkish Restaurant

Interior of Agora

We like A La Turka restaurant on 2nd Avenue but decided to venture farther up that avenue to Agora for lunch.  Paintings adorning the walls and Turkish oil lamps on each table give this restaurant a charming Old-World feel.  We liked our waiter and ordered hummus to start followed by chicken shish and lamb adana.  Each entrée was accompanied by rice, onion salad, red cabbage, and tomatoes and green pepper.  

The chicken seemed a bit dry, but the Chief Penguin found the lamb very tasty.  Another place to add to our list of regulars!

Note: Unattributed photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).

Manhattan Moments: Seeing, Viewing, Reading, Pt. 2

ART OF ALL KINDS

The Whitney Biennial 2022 (Whitney Museum of American Art)

Roughly every two years since 1932, the Whitney has presented a survey of contemporary American art.  This year’s exhibit occupies two floors of the museum and includes more women than some years and, overall, a very diverse set of artists.  Viewing the exhibit, one might ask, what makes something art?  Here is sculpture, painting, film, and all sorts of strange and exotic arrangements.  One floor is white-walled and quite bright.  The other floor is black throughout and very dark.  

Detail of Row Houses…by Rick Lowe

Lots of the works did not appeal to me either aesthetically or otherwise, but I think that is part of the point—pushing beyond what many of us expect.  There were striking pieces like the representation of a woman standing in a sea of spent bullet shells or whimsical ones like the Palm Orchard of yellow trunked palm trees with colored spikes.  Here are a couple examples.

Ishkode (Fire) by Rebecca Belmore
Palm Forest by Alia Farid

POLITICAL HANKY-PANKY

Anatomy of a Scandal (Netflix)

Thanks to my friend, Patricia, I got onto this compelling 6-part series.  Based on a novel by Sarah Vaughan, it’s the account of a British cabinet minister facing trial for a rape charge brought by an associate with whom he had an affair.  James Whitehouse, the politician, is handsome and polished with a picture-perfect family—his blond wife Sophie and two young children.  The attorneys are both women, Angela Regan, for the defense and Kate Woodcroft, very precise and measured as the prosecutor. What is truth?  In the courtroom and in life?  And what constitutes a definition of rape?  

How each of these principals, James, Sophie, and Kate, handles the unfolding scandal and recalls their past histories, provides plenty of fuel for this gripping drama.  Michelle Dockery of Downton Abbey is the impressive Ms. Woodcroft.  For mature audiences.  Recommended!

SPY TURNED DECTECTIVE IN ITALY

Signora Volpe (Acorn)

A British spy on the outs with MI6 decamps to Umbria for her niece’s wedding.  No stranger to intrigue, Sylvia Fox suspects trouble with the fiancé and gets herself embroiled in a complicated criminal case.  Emilia Fox (who starred in the chef restaurant series, Delicious) is masterful as a former spy who finds herself settling into village life midst family and new friends.  

The beautiful Italian scenery is as much a character as are Sylvia’s sister Isabel, her brother-in-law Matteo, niece Alice, and the regional police chief, Giovanni Riva.  Each of the three episodes (only three, alas) is an hour and a half.  The pacing is somewhat leisurely, and there is a warmth and delight to the interrelationships.  Crime yes, but lots of local color too.  Highly recommended!

WOMEN WARRIORS IN THE AIR

A Sunlit Weapon by Jacqueline Winspear

Jacqueline Winspear has now churned out (although they don’t feel churned at all) seventeen Maisie Dobbs mysteries.  This latest one features Jo Hardy, a WWII female pilot who ferried fighter planes and other aircraft to where they were needed.  It was a dangerous exercise and not for those lacking in daring do.  When Jo approaches Maisie about an unsuccessful shot at her plane and another tragic incident, Maisie swoops into action. A soldier is missing and there is a plot to harm First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.  Her sidekick Billy provides reliable assistance, and her family and friends, along with new husband Mark Scott, play their familiar roles.  I thoroughly enjoyed this latest adventure with Maisie.  

Note: All photos by JWFarrington (some rights reserved).