PANDORA’S BOX – A MEDICAL MEMOIR

PANDORA'S BOX - A  MEDICAL MEMOIR

‘You’re playing with Pandora’s box. Sometimes it’s better not to open it. Sometimes, it’s better not to know’. Tatiana de Rosnay. In September 2011 I was completing my research for a narrative non-fiction book in Great Malvern,  a beautiful town in the English  county of Worcestershire. It

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The Water Doctor’s Daughters Literary Walk; St Leonards.

THE MARSDEN SISTERS MOVE SOUTH This is an extension of The Water Doctor’s Daughters’ original literary walk  around the town of  Great Malvern, Worcestershire. In 1876 Dr James Marsden separated from his second wife Mary to pursue an affair with  Sabina  Welch, a servant girl from Malvern.   Emily, the

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DEAR DAMNED DIARY

DEAR DAMNED DIARY

  It is such a privilege to have access to someone’s diaries. I  find myself handling  them with something akin to reverence. Recently I  have been in Sydney’s Mitchell Library  reading those  of  English writer Sylvia Townsend Warner.  Sylvia began them in 1927,  the year after she

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HELENE HANFF; A Literary Pilgrimage In New York

HELENE HANFF;  A Literary Pilgrimage In New York

When  a Sydney radio station announced the  death of actress Anne Bancroft in 2005  there was an immediate response  from callers. They spoke of her  enduring marriage to comedian Mel Brooks and of her wonderful  theatre and movie performances. However, no one mentioned the film for which

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BATTLE OF TWO BOOKS!

It’s an extraordinary thing having two very different books published in one year, and  it would be  quite impossible for me to choose my favourite. My first, The Water Doctor’s Daughters, has a special place in my heart due to its content.  I became so emotionally involved

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Sydney Launch of The Water Doctor’s Daughters

  THE GENESIS OF THE LAUNCH I hadn’t  considered  a separate launch for The Water  Doctor’s Daughters in Australia, but a few  months ago a generous  offer came from  Sydney’s  Ashfield  Library to do a book signing.  It was to be part of their very popular  ‘Authors

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A HIVE OF ACTIVITY; Promoting The Water Doctor’s Daughters

A HIVE OF ACTIVITY; Promoting The Water Doctor's Daughters

In The Beginning..The Water Doctor’s Daughter’s When I was writing my true crime book, The Water Doctor’s Daughters, I had a moment of panic and said to my husband Rob, ‘Oh dear, what if someone publishes this one day and I have to give talks about it?’ 

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MALVERN LAUNCH OF THE WATER DOCTOR’S DAUGHTERS

I thought I’d write a  brief report on the official launch of The Water Doctor’s Daughters in Great Malvern.  Editor Des was supposed to do it, but he was still in recovery from an unfortunate incident in London [see end of article]. WELL, THE BIG DAY DAWNED

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The Water Doctor’s Daughters – Book Launch March 23

Have just spent a wonderful  but busy few days in Great  Malvern and Worcester finalizing arrangements for the launch of the Water Doctor’s Daughters on March 23rd. It’s to be held at 2.00pm  in the spacious  Morgan Bar at Malvern’s  historic Foley Arms Hotel.  I will be

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A QUANDRY FOR QUEEN VICTORIA

A QUANDRY FOR  QUEEN VICTORIA

In my non-fiction  book, The Water Doctor’s Daughters,  Queen Victoria is an important figure. BY ROYAL APPOINTMENT- QUEEN VICTORIA AND HER FRENCH DRESSER Early in  1842,  Victoria employed a well educated young Frenchwoman as one of her wardrobe mistresses.  Célestine Doudet  was  born in Rouen  on June 

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