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BORDERS BOOK FESTIVAL This yearly literary celebration is bigger and better than ever
Since its first incarnation in 2004, Borders Book Festival has evolved from a small summer event with just a few hundred visitors to welcoming tens of thousands of book lovers to Melrose's Harmony Garden over four days. Its timing is perfect too – with most of Scotland's major book festivals clustered around spring, late summer and autumn, the Borders' offering makes the most of those long bright days. This year's instalment features an eclectic range of authors covering everything from food and drink, to crime. The Hairy Bikers will open the festival on Thu 14 Jun and ex-GBBO judge Prue Leith make an appearance, as will List favourite Mary Contini.
Elsewhere, comedy is well represented in events from Nina
Conti, Jan Ravens and Rory Bremner, while book festival favourites Ian Rankin, Alexander McCall Smith and Richard Holloway will also pop up.
There's a strong journalism strand too, with appearances from the BBC's James Naughtie, the Guardian's Simon Jenkins and broadcaster Stacey Dooley. From the political sphere, former Tory leader William Hague and ex-PM Gordon Brown will also head to Melrose to talk to audiences.
2018 celebrates the centenary of the birth of one of Scotland's greatest writers, Muriel Spark. To mark the occasion, journalist Alan Taylor and crime writer extraordinaire Ian Rankin will get together to discuss Spark's legacy. And don't miss the festival's comics strand too, featuring appearances from Mark Millar, Frank Quitely and a screening of Miller's Kick-Ass.
Other films at the festival include O Brother Where Art Thou?,
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and a fourth film chosen by audiences. For more details and the full programme, head to bordersbookfestival.org. (Yasmin Sulaiman) ■ Borders Book Festival, Melrose, Thu 14–Sun 18 Jun.
MUSIC BIOGRAPHY CHARLES RAWLINGS-WAY These Are Such Perfect Days: The Del Amitri Story (Urbane) ●●●●●
It’s interesting to read this book with the knowledge of the forthcoming film about Travis, Almost Fashionable, which takes the novel approach of profiling the band in light of the huge critical apathy which follows them. A similar thing may be said of Del Amitri, whose critical star has waned, although they have recently returned to gigging for adoring, nostalgic fans. But why should the tastes of the present outweigh the successes of the past? This band, as the author is keen to drive home, have sold six million records, had a top ten US hit (with ‘Roll to Me’) and seen five of their six albums reach the UK top ten. Their history is that of a rock group with a creditable career, yet – as documented here – even they are unsure as to why anyone would want to tell their story.
Rawlings-Way’s achievement, then, is not just in telling Del Amitri’s story, but in framing it in the context of why it should be told. He’s a fastidious and detailed writer, poring over the details of the group’s lives together and apart, and a series of comprehensive appendices emphasises this; although having written the book at a distance, the evocation of the book’s other character, the city of Glasgow, feels somewhat detached. Yet by the end the group’s journey feels like the reader’s, and their achievements are once more remembered. (David Pollock) ■ Out 7 Jun.
MEMOIR BECK DOREY-STEIN From the Corner of the Oval Office: One Woman's True Story of Her Accidental Career in the Obama White House (Bantam Press) ●●●●●
As an official White House stenographer, Beck Dorey-Stein’s job was to transcribe every word the POTUS spoke for the annals of history. And indeed, the books have a great deal to document: not just the unprecedented fact of America’s first black president, but also Sandy Hook, Charleston, the Affordable Care Act, amongst many other era- defining events. Dorey-Stein had a front seat for it all, and she
recounts with obvious relish the incredible privileges she’s given. Her perspective is a valuable one, as she sheds lights on the pervasive gender imbalance within politics, as well as the hundreds of uncelebrated staffers who devote their lives to getting a single man from A to B.
That gravitas is at times let down by a preoccupation with some of the more salacious details of her tenure. Do we need to know about Jon Favreau’s sculpted abdomen ('Fav's abs')? Her pride at being a 'cool girl' with lots of male friends and a toxic relationship with a rakish colleague also sets one’s teeth on edge.
But historical significance is highly subjective, after all. Ultimately there is enough here to make the memoir an enjoyable read for politicos and non-politicos alike, if only to bask in the memories of the now seemingly halcyon days of the Obama presidency. (Deborah Chu) ■ Out Thu 12 July.
RURAL FICTION EMMA HOOPER Our Homesick Songs (Fig Tree) ●●●●●
Following on from her debut novel, Emma Hooper’s second offering returns to a province in Canada, but this time to a small rural fishing town. The novel centres on the Connor family in two different eras: depicting life in the late 60s and 70s for Aidan and Martha; and in the 90s, now that they have two kids of their own, Cora and Finn.
Set amongst the backdrop of the Atlantic northwest cod fishery collapsing, we are shown glimpses of a prosperous past in the older fragments compared to the fish-less reality of the children’s life. The town’s residents start to move away, the town becomes empty and the two children find themselves the only youngsters left.
Through the eradication of speech marks and with the ease that Hooper flips from the 60s and 70s to the 90s, the prose flows like the waves it recounts: back and forth seamlessly. Difficult subjects like infidelity are touched on matter-of- factly and, mixed with the subject matter, they are presented sympathetically. Hooper’s prose style is elegant and musical – most likely influenced by her parallel career as a musician – and the traditional songs and instruments woven into the story nod to a past that will never return. Ultimately the book is a rather sombre, yet also resolute and sanguine representation of the everyday effects that unsustainable environmental practices have had on small communities. (Katharine Gemmell) ■ Out Thu 7 Jun.
1 Feb–31 Mar 2018 THE LIST 75 1 Jun–31 Aug 2018 THE LIST 75