D.E. Stevenson, Eva Ibbotson, travel inspo – welcome to episode 120!
We have our first returning guest – the wonderful Claire, who blogs at The Captive Reader. In the first half of this episode, we talk about inspiration from travel – do we get it from our fiction reading or non-fiction reading?
In the second half, we compare two novels Claire suggested – Eva Ibbotson’s The Morning Gift and D.E. Stevenson’s The English Air, two novels starting just before the Second World War.
You can get in touch with suggestions, comments, questions etc at teaorbooks[at]gmail.com – we’d love to hear from you. Find us at Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. And you can support the podcast at Patreon.
The books and authors we mention in this episode are:
The World-Ending Fire by Wendell Berry
The Princess of Siberia by Christine Sutherland
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
Fanny Herself by Edna Ferber
So Big by Edna Ferber
The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie
Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie
Faith Fox by Jane Gardam
Hickory Dickory Dock by Agatha Christie
The Jasmine Farm by Elizabeth von Arnim
Introduction to Sally by Elizabeth von Arnim
The Benefactress by Elizabeth von Arnim
In the Mountains by Elizabeth von Arnim
Princess Priscilla’s Fortnight by Elizabeth von Arnim
Illyrian Spring by Ann Bridge
A.A. Milne
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
How The Heather Looks by Joan Bodger
The Adventures of Elizabeth in Rugen by Elizabeth von Arnim
Catch the Rabbit by Lana Bastašić
Heidi by Johanna Spyri
The Provincial Lady in America by E.M. Delafield
Louisa M. Alcott
Essie Summers
Marianne North
A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains by Isabella Bird
A Visit to Don Otavio by Sybille Bedford
Oleander, Jacaranda by Penelope Lively
Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson
In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
Karel Čapek
George Mikes
The Silent Traveller in Oxford by Chiang Yee
Stephen Leacock
Mary Lawson
Obasan by Joy Kogawa
The Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson
Madensky Square by Eva Ibbotson
Old Filth by Jane Gardam
The Man in the Wooden Hat by Jane Gardam
I cannot wait to listen to this episode! Most of my travels (and more frequently, fantasies) have been inspired by my reading Jane Eyre at 12 and then Austen and so on.
This isn’t set in Vancouver but in British Columbia: I Have Heard the Owl Call My Name by Margaret Craven. It’s about a priest who goes to a Northern coastal Indigenous community. Son of a Trickster was recently recommended to me, and I think that’s also set in British Columbia.
Loved this episode! Can we have more travel topics please, UK/London travel in particular? Having read Ballet Shoes again recently, on my next visit to the V&A (staying on the Brompton Rd, which I walked to save the bus fare!) I pestered the information desk to see if they still have the dolls houses to hand … I love stuff like that. (They hadn’t but I’m hoping they are at the new Young V&A when I get to visit, they assured me they would still have them somewhere). I have also chosen a particular London cafe to eat in hoping a connected (present day) fictional character who frequents it might come in … they didn’t, but they might have! I don’t get out of Lincolnshire often enough no doubt!
I tend to be the same with travel inspo – the places I want to visit don’t exist any more (Paris being the main example) – I obviously need a TARDIS rather than a train…
I had such a good time! Thank you again for having me.
I have been plagued since the recording with trying to think of great Vancouver novels. I’m still not sure one exists yet but many of Douglas Coupland’s books do give a vivid sense of the city and The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy has an interesting focus on Chinatown in the 1930s and 1940s.
Simon,
Happy to hear you are coming to Canada! I live in Calgary- next time, you should consider coming here. I’m writing to tell you of books set in B.C. First an older one, actually published by Persephone is Swamp Angel by Ethel Wilson. A short story book by Nancy Lee- Dead Girls is phenomenal but also not for the faint of heart- shows the darker side of Vancouver. Lastly, Stanley Park, by Timothy Taylor. Takes place in Vancouver. Hope you try one out. If you do, let me know what you think.
When you are in Toronto you may want to make a day/afternoon trip to see Stephen Leacock’s grave. It’s an hour’s drive north of Toronto on the shore of Lake Simcoe. It’s in the cemetery of St. George’s Anglican Church, Sibbald Point, which is right beside Sibbald Point Provincial Park in Georgina. The cemetery overlooks the lake. It is a beautiful cemetery. My husband’s grandparents lived in Sutton, so we would often stop by the cemetery for a walk as it is lovely. It could make a nice excursion from Toronto if you have access to a car and Georgina is a cute place to wander in by the lake.
I also highly reccommend the Owl Called My name by Margaret Craven. It’s not Vancouver-ish but is a great British Columbian novel and I think you would really like it. I also really enjoy the artist Emily Carr’s memoirs – she’s a great writer as well as an artist.
Enjoy your trip! I’m grew up in Vancouver, but now live in Ontario (about 3 hours east of Toronto).
That was such a fun episode. I have to admit, I started The English Air a year or so ago and abandoned it because it just wasn’t “sparking” with me. I have found sometimes that happens with D.E. Stevenson books, though there are other novels of hers that I absolutely adore. Go figure.
Eva Ibbotson has a secret sauce that I quite like. I agree with you that you know exactly what she’s doing with the love stories, but you are captivated all the same. Like Claire, I think “Madensky Square” is her best. It’s utterly delightful and also very moving.
I came to your lovely podcast just recently, and have now subscribed to your blog. As a Vancouverite, I must recommend a few titles for your trip here: Stanley Park by Timothy Taylor; The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy; Five Little Indians by Michelle Good. I’m also very curious as to what bookstores you’ll be visiting!!
I also say I wanted to agree about your discussion on Women Talking by Miriam Toews, but highly recommend any of her other novels.
Also, was you you that recommended the Typewronger Bookshop in Edinburgh? My husband and I are heading to Scotland soon and I will, hopefully, be visiting this bookstore.
Have to chime in again with a Bill Richardson mention… I think he lives in Vancouver and recently published a linked collection of short stories called I Saw Three Ships all working around a neighborhood in Vancouver—also a good holiday read. I don’t know whether you have access to any Canadian television but Robson Arms takes place in an apartment complex in Vancouver and is also pretty entertaining.
Thanks Jack!