A Chorus of Disapproval

Nigel Harman, Rob Brydon and Ashley Jensen.
Photo Uli Weber

Today't blog is over at my theatre review site, Strindberg's Daughter, where I'm writing about a play I saw at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London yesterday, A Chorus of Disapproval. Hop and skip over there and let me know if you agree with my views!

Guest post at KarenG's

Today I'm over at Karen's, a lovely writer/blogger who kindly let me tell her readers about The Englishman. Go and have a look, I'm talking about my new (old) marketing strategy for the book!

Life Touch Massage in Crouch End and my old life in the country.

Eleonora at Life Touch Massage

I've been suffering from a painful shoulder since last December. But it wasn't until May this year, when the pain became acute, that I decided I needed to go and see somebody. I found a web page for Eleonora at Life Touch Massage, read the testimonials, and decided I couldn't go wrong.

Eleonora asked me to arrive 10 minutes early for the first appointment to talk about my health history. She was so friendly and caring, I immediately felt at ease. After that first massage, which was wonderfully relaxing, Eleonora said I was suffering from a Frozen shoulder. 'I can fix it, but it can take a little time,' she said.

Frozen shoulder is something that affects mainly women, and there's very little research into why it happens. It's not an affliction which stops daily life - it's just painful and it prevents me from doing certain things, like swimming and going to the gym.

When my GP said the condition can last from six months to six years, I very nearly fainted. I'm not going to be in pain for six years, I decided and asked for a Cortisone injection, which sometimes helps for a few weeks, allowing more movement in the joints.

But after my summer holiday in Finland, the shoulder got even worse. It ached constantly and stopped me from sleeping. Exhausted and close to tears, I crawled back to Eleonora and her magical hands. 'You will get better,' she assured me and began working on my sore body.

After a few twice weekly sessions with Eleonora, I was right as rain. My shoulder is still a little painful and occasionally I will lose a night's sleep, but generally I feel myself again.

When I asked Eleonora why people get a Frozen Shoulder - was it my slacking gym attendance, or that fact that since we left Wiltshire I hadn't really taken regular Pilates classes? 'Well,' she said, 'Some people think it's associated with mourning.'

When I walked home after that session, I tried to think what an earth I would be mourning for. True, my life had changed dramatically in the last two years. The move from the country to London was perhaps a little drastic (from a cottage with 3 acres of land & gardens in the middle of nowhere, to a flat in busy North London with only a few potted herbs on a balcony), but I didn't think missing the orchard, or the bumper crop of swiss chard, or our lovely Labrador could be called mourning.

Our chocolate Lab doing his rounds around the garden.

But the more I thought about it, and looked at the many pictures I took of the house and grounds before we left, I realised perhaps I was kidding myself. Perhaps I just hadn't allowed myself to miss my previous life? Even though I knew I wouldn't want to go back and knew that the idyllic pictures belie the endless grass cutting, digging and weeding the garden demanded. Or the farm smells that I never got used to, or the mud and the flies which seemed to be a constant feature of our life in the country (I swear I lived in my wellington boots for the 15 years we were in the cottage). Still, I can honestly say I do (sometimes) miss the old life.

There.

Now better (nearly - my back is another story!), I go and see Eleonora about every two weeks. She literally fixes both my mind and body, and so she's become part of my regular health routine.

Eleonora at Life Touch Massage can be contacted here.

A date with a Swedish Prince (well, almost)

Prince Carl Philip with MD of Svensk Form, Ewa Kumlin. 

The Swedish Ambassador, Ms Nicola Clase, has opened up her London residence to showcase Swedish modern design during the current London Design Festival. I pricked my ears when I heard Prince Carl Philip of Sweden was going to be in attendance. The Prince has a particular interest in design, and a dab hand himself having recently launched a series of porcelain bowls with Gustavsbergs. I'd never seen a Swedish royal up close, and as you know I've got a bit of soft spot for them, so wild horses couldn't have kept me away from the Design For Everybody event yesterday (Friday 21st September 2012). Although, with a bad back I was forced to downgrade my attendance to a 'dash & photo & chat' with just a few of the designers there.

The Swedes really are a clever bunch. Out of the ten or so showcased products I was particularly impressed with a smart looking and effective hearing aid, called Domino and designed by Shift Design. The designer, Carl Hampf told me that Domino both protects the ear from noise (handy for the tube) as well as increases hearing. The sound is more defined with the help of digital processing. I can really see this product taking off, it comes in several colours, has modern tactile design, and is incredibly light.

Carl Hampf with Prince Carl Philip

Another product which caught my eye was an old-fashioned raincoat which reminded me of a yellow Nokia cagoule I had growing up in Tampere. The company, Stutterheim, which makes this luscious looking raincoat has a factory in Sweden where production takes place 'by hand, day by day'. I am now in love with the Arholma; its simple design, combined with practicality and great colour scheme really appealed to me. Sadly, with a price tag of £435 I might have to save up for my handmade raincoat.

John Laster with Arholma in yellow.

These Brogue slippers by Docksta Shoes, designed by one of Sweden's foremost designers, Mats Theselius, were the first item at the Design For Everybody event which caught my eye. They don't look it, but these slippers are incredibly light, while still very smart. As Mats says, 'If someone knocks on your door (say a Prince, ed), it's nice to feel somewhat dressed.'

Mats Theselius with Brogues

Finally, over buffet lunch (which the Prince tucked into just like any other commoner…) I was admiring the colourful lampshades. I was told later they were left over from last year's Swedish Design event. Apparently the Ambassador liked them so much, she decided to keep them. Nice work!

Design For Everybody is open to the public on Saturday 22nd September 1pm–4pm.  Fika and informal sofa talks with the designers and producers. (Fika is the Swedish word for an informal coffee break) Finn Petrén, Mats Theselius, Carl Hampf, Fredrik Lundqvist, Johan Gawell and Alexander Stutterheim will be interviewed individually by Ewa Kumlin, MD Svensk Form. Exact schedule www.svenskform.se    

What's your IKEA story?

The new academic year always seems to herald another trip to IKEA to get bright and beautiful bits of pieces for daughter's digs at university. But IKEA and I have a history going much further back than that.

First time ever I visited IKEA was in the round, Guggenheim style, store in Stockholm in 1973. My parents had newly separated and together with my mother and older sister we headed up to IKEA on bus and tunnelbana (tube -you can guess how this is going to end?) in order to look at things we could furnish our new flat with. We came out of the store having purchased two armchairs, complete with brown and orange cushions. Plus some other stuff we couldn't do without - lamp shades, table lamps (in orange and red), rugs (brown and beige stripe) and various bits of bed linen. It was all so cheap and chic (we thought) that we just couldn't resist.

Stockholm IKEA circa 1965

As you may have imagined, the bus and tunnelbana journey home was interesting.

The next time I went to IKEA it was a good twenty years later when, living in Wiltshire, one Sunday morning I announced that we would drive the 70 or so miles up to Birmingham to the newly opened IKEA. The Englishman had no say in the matter - I was obviously still slightly deranged following a second pregnancy. I announced I was homesick and needed to be amongst Scandinavian things. (The presence of an IKEA was still quite a novelty here in Britain). Besides the drive would only take us three or so hours each way. It was circa 1992 and our daughter was a toddler and our son was a wise five-year-old.

That time we bought the children some beautiful pine bunk beds. It was only when we headed for the car park that the wise oldest child asked, 'Is the bed going to fit into the car, daddy?' We looked at each other over the top of the five-year-old's head, and assured him there wasn't going to be a problem. The beds just about did fit, but daughter had to be squeezed in her car seat at the front, and son and I had to share a back seat (and seat belt) in our Ford Mondeo. This arrangement, as he kept telling me frequently during the three hour drive home, was 'against the law'. We became convinced our son would become an Insurance Actuary when he grew up.

The third time that an IKEA visit will never be forgotten in our household was when, in 1995, on our way home after visiting our London friends we thought a trip to a furniture store would be the best hangover cure, or rather a plateful of IKEA meatballs and chips would be.

At Brent Cross we headed straight for the restaurant and after our bellies were full we went to look for the children who by then were 7 (son) and 4 (daughter). They'd been allowed to go to the nearby play area in the cafeteria. But when we looked, we could only see our son there. 'Where's your sister?' we demanded. Poor son panicked - our daughter had left the table after him, so he had no idea where she was.

This is how it happens, I thought. We're in London where children, particularly little girls, disappear all the time. Awful, unimaginable things are done to them by cruel, sick people. Cold fear overtook me and with an numbness I haven't felt since, I rushed to talk to the nearest security man, while husband - on a hunch - made his way down to the ground floor. The store was filling up - it was a Sunday in late November, and the early Christmas shoppers were in full force.

We found out later that our daughter, when being told she could go to the play area, decided to make her way down to the 'sea of balls' which she'd spotted on arrival but hadn't been allowed to go into. Luckily she made it there, and the staff realised she wasn't with a parent, and alerted store security. I'm sure both the Englishman and I developed a few wrinkles and grey hairs during the fifteen or so minutes (which felt like years) we lost our daughter at IKEA.

So you can imagine that now every trip to IKEA makes me shudder…

Do you have an IKEA story?

Alys, Always by Harriet Lane

Harriet Lane's debut novel, Alys, Always, was recommended to me by my old bookseller friend, Danny, at West End Lane Books when I was looking for authors who write about North London for next year's Crouch End Festival (more about this later). I didn't really know what kind of book it was, but trusted that Danny knew exactly what I like. And I was right!

Alys, Always tells the story of Frances whose unhappy and dull life as a sub-editor of a literary magazine changes when, on a cold winter's night, she happens upon the aftermath of a car crash. What follows is a modern story of one woman's quest to better her situation, yet this is also a chillingly familiar - and depressingly common - tale.

The first person narrative adds a psychological thriller-like quality to Lane's writing; the readers is never quite sure what is going to happen next, nor whether the main protagonist is completely self-deluded or not. Francis is clearly unhappy, but is she also dangerously unhinged? It's this unpredictability of the main character's intentions, which drives the readers curiosity, and renders the book completely unputdownable. (I read it in a matter of days.)

As well as being a fast read, Alys, Always is also brilliantly written. The voice of the narrator is sharp and distinct. Here, Frances describes twenty-something daughter of the well-to-do family she befriends, 'Polly's very young, of course; and on top of that she has the performer's transparent and somehow rather tawdry desire for attention.'

I usually dislike the use of similes, but here they add a double-layered richness to the prose, exactly what they were invented for. When Frances describes a meal at her parents house, Lane gives an insight into the relationship between mother and daughter which is pure genius, 'She passes me the cheese plate with its fussy little knife, the knife that forks at the end like a serpent's tongue.'

Alys, Always is an excellent read. At one level it examines modern life, ambition, celebrity and the morality of networking. At another it's just a good old-fashioned rollocking read. I highly recommend it.

Alys, Always
by Harriet Lane
Orion Books
£12.99

Swedish Wallander comes to London's West End

The lovely Krister Henriksson.
Photo: Baldur Bragason / Yellow Bird

I've been a fan of Krister Henriksson long before he became the Swedish Wallander, but it's in this role of the moody detective created by Henning Mankell that the actor is best known here in the UK.

This is about to change.

I met Krister today at the Leicester Square Theatre where he held a press conference to talk about his forthcoming performance at Wyndham's Theatre of Doktor Glas, a play based on the Swedish classic novel by Hjalmar Söderberg. It's a play about sex, passion and murder. As Krister put it, 'My favourite director Truffaut said that all a good play needs is a man, woman and a gun. Doktor Glas has two men, one woman and some arsenic.' 

Krister Henriksson as Doktor Glas.
Photo: Baldur Bragason / Yellow Bird

Doktor Glas has been a sell-out success in Sweden, as well as in the other Nordic countries, including Finland where it was performed in the original language, just like here, with surtitles. When I asked Krister why he chose this play in particular to break his run of Wallander, he said it was a play which had made a deep impression on him at a young age. 'Somehow I knew one day, when I was old enough, and brave enough, and enough experience as an actor and as a human being, I'd do this play.' 

About playing it in Swedish he jokes, 'I offered to do it in English, but once they heard how badly I speak it, they said, 'No,no'. It was an offer the producers loved to refuse.' Of course this isn't true; Krister's English is impeccable (although I preferred to interview him in Swedish). Krister added that he loves the way Söderberg uses Swedish, which is why its important for him to perform the play in its original language. 'I've often regretted being born in a country with such an ugly language, especially when I was younger I thought why couldn't I have been born, for example, in England. But when you read and perform Söderberg, you see how beautiful the Swedish language can be.'

Doktor Glas is a tough play for an actor. It's a one-and-a-half-hour monologue, where Henriksson portrays three tragic characters. There's no interval, no time to collect oneself. But Krister says that although he's a 'lazy actor' he loves playing Dr Glas. 'When I enter the stage, the time just flows by. I may be lazy, but I love being on stage. The longer I'm on there, the better.' At sixty-five he certainly looks energetic, youthful and very charming. He also told me that there have been plays that he's got bored doing - but not this one. 'Hjalmar Söderberg is such a wonderful writer, you can read this novel over and over and still find something new.'

Several times, while I was interviewing him, and particularly when I asked about the differences between doing Wallander and Doktor Glas, he had a glint in his eye that I dare any woman to resist. 'Oh, you know the Doctor and Wallander are very similar. Both are Scandinavian men, who may be very good at their jobs but when a woman enters the room, they freeze. I'm sure Finnish men are the same?'

I could but nod, especially when he continued, 'Of course then they have a drink and become bold and then it all goes horribly wrong.' 

Sadly just at this point, the lovely James from the PR company gave me the 'wrap it up' sign. I'd only asked half of my prepared questions, and we were just getting to the good bits!

But the great Swedish actor was in great demand, so I rushed to get a picture of me and Krister, and as we parted with a kiss he said, 'We'll meet again, yes?'

I swooned.

Krister and me earlier today.
(Sorry about the photo - I had camera fail)

Doktor Glas will be at the Wyndhams Theatre
16 April - 11 May 2013
Mon-Sat 7.30 pm
Wed 2.30 pm & Sat 5 pm
Tickets: 0844 482 5120 (from 24 Sep 2012)
www.drglas.com

A new translation by Paul Britten Austin with a foreword by Margaret Atwood of the novel Doktor Glas by Hjalmar Söderberg was published by Harvill in 2002. 
ISBN 1 84343 009 6

My Nights Out At London Theatre

Jussi Kangas: Pyynikki Summer Theatre, Tuntematon Sotilas 12.7.1961
(Tampere Museum picture archive)

One of my real passions in life is theatre. Ever since I was a little girl and my mother dragged me and my sister to the summer theatre in Tampere (a revolving stage in Pyynikki which is still going strong and which you absolutely must visit if you're in central Finland during summer), and later to the grand Swedish Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, I've loved the stage. As a little girl I wanted to become an actress (who doesn't?) and then a theatre critic, but as often happens life got in the way, we moved to the country, and I became a novelist instead.

Now that I'm finally living in London, the capital of good theatre, I'm taking every opportunity to see as many plays as humanly possible (and my back and wallet allows…) I've seen great performances on all the notable theatres such as The Donmar Warehouse, The National Theatre, Hampstead Theatre, The Almeida as well as some famous West End Theatres (too many to mention!) and some small stages such the Arcola and The New Diorama Theatre. There are so many stages, so much on offer here in London that some time ago I decided to set up a designated blog for my reviews.

Me as aspiring actress during my Dr Zhivago phase.

If you like theatre, and want to find out if a play is (in my humble opinion) worth seeing or not, go and visit my theatre site, Strindberg's Daughter. There you'll find stories on all my nights out at the theatre, the good, the bad, and the totally disastrous ones when the only option is to walk out of the theatre…and get a headache.

Pedigree Border Terrier Puppies!

My Terrier has featured on this blog, on my Twitter and Instagram feeds a few times. Today I got the wonderful news that our Border who most people mistake for a puppy has himself become a Great Uncle!

Our old man looking regal.

And here are his relatives, three beautiful 5-week-old puppies. There are two girls and one boy, and they are ready for a new home.

So if you are in need of some Border loving, send me an email through the contact form on the left (Helena's Inbox) and I'll pass your info onto the owner of these beautiful puppies.

Brunch at The Blue Legume Cafe, London N8

When we moved to this particular corner of North London last January, I set out to do The Crouch End Knowledge, i.e. visit all pubs, bars and cafes in the N8 area and report back to you.  But, due to some other important business (such as the publishing of my book), this task has been rather on the back burner lately. But today, to start these efforts anew, I persuaded the Englishman and Daughter to join me for brunch at the more recently opened establishment in Crouch End, Blue Legume Cafe on Crouch Hill.

I've been wanting to go to this place for some time, because when passing the place onboard the number W7 bus, I've watched people sitting at tables outside, enjoying cups of milky coffee and delicious looking plates of food. Sometimes it takes all of my will power not to get off the bus and join them, and delay what ever trip I am making into town.



When looking at the menus today I noticed (to my slight disappointment) that the Blue Legume Cafe serves the kind of fare which most small restaurant/cafes London nowadays do. You know the kind that's called 'Modern British', old-fashioned food with a Mediterranean twist. But since this place almost always looks full, I decided here the food must be a little more special. Or at least a good example of its kind.

And the place is certainly friendly. As soon as we sat outside on this unseasonably tropical morning here in London, a smiling waitress came over to ask if we'd like drinks. We were given menus and (almost too) swiftly our first order of skinny cappuccino, americano and Earl Grey tea arrived.

Both the Englishman and I decided to have the vegetarian sausage breakfast, while Daughter went for Eggs Royal. All again arrived in record time and were on the whole delicious.

Vegetarian sausage, grilled 1/2 tomato, beans, fried mushrooms and granary toast.

Eggs Royal: Toasted muffin with smoked salmon and two poached eggs.

The poached eggs were well cooked (not a mean feat), just soft enough in the middle.  Although both the Englishman and Daughter found theirs were a little cold, mine was perfect.  The wholemeal toast was also hot and the butter which arrived was room temperature, a perfect match. I also loved the mushrooms, they weren't slimy, nor dry, which they sometimes can be, and as a whole my meal was just what I wanted on this Saturday morning.

So as the first establishment of the second leg of The Crouch end Knowledge, I would wholeheartedly recommend the Blue Legume Cafe. It's friendly, has a nice atmosphere and on the whole is as nice as it looks!

Three films I want to see this autumn

One of the reasons I like September, and autumn in general, is that after a long, hot summer (ok, perhaps not in the UK) it's again time to go to the cinema. During the summer months it doesn't somehow seem right to step into a darkened room and spend two hours watching a large screen. But when the schools go back, and the evenings draw in, there's nothing better than to settle into a plush seat and let moving images take you away from the impending cold and dark winter.

There are three films which I'm really looking forward to this September.

Number One is Hope Springs with my eternal favourite, Meryl Streep. It also stars Tommie Lee and Steve Carrell.

Many years of marriage have left Maeve wanting to spice things up and reconnect with her remote husband. When she discovers a famed relationship guru she persuades her skeptical husband to get on a plane for an intense week of marriage and sex therapy. A bit of a job to say the least! And if getting there wasn't hard enough… having to shed their bedroom hang ups, learn some new moves and rediscover their youthful spark is when the real adventure begins.



Second is Barbara, a German film directed by Christian Petzold, who also wrote the screenplay. It stars Nina Hoss, Ronald Zehrfeld and Rainer Bock. Barbara is set during the paranoid times of the GDR. I love this period (even my book, The Englishman is set during the Cold War), so this film is right up my street.

Nina Hoss is Barbara, a young doctor starting a new job at a small hospital in the provinces. It transpires she has been transferred there by the government as punishment for applying for an exit visa from the GDR. Her aim is to escape to the West to join her boyfriend Jörg who has been planning her escape via the Baltic Sea. Barbara, detached and self-contained, keeps her head down and gets on with her work, despite being subjected to random home checks and intrusive body searches. However, as the weeks go by, she becomes both beguiled and confused by the attentions of her new boss, Andre. Can she trust him, or has he been assigned to keep tabs on her?




Number Three is Arbitrage, a thriller starring Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon and directed by Nicholas Jarecki. You just can't go wrong?

A troubled hedge funder desperate to complete the sale of his trading empire makes an error that forces him to turn to an unlikely person for help.



What films are you looking forward to seeing this autumn?

Prince Andrew abseils down The Shard

You know my obsession with the The Shard, the latest London skyscraper? I keep taking pictures of it when I'm in my new office near London Bridge, and I cannot wait until the 1st of February when I'm going to be able to go up to The View on 68th to 70th and experience the fantastic vistas over London myself.

When I heard that Prince Andrew and 40 other people were going to abseil down the facade for charity, I was determined not to miss it. And guess what, I did!

Oh well, at least our friendly hacks at The Telegraph got all the action on film for us.



I've never been much of a fan of Prince Andrew's but I'm not sure I'd have the courage to do what he did - would you?