Les Ombres blanches de Dominique Fortier est la suite des Villes de papier dont j'ai parlé ici la semaine dernière et imagine l'«après Emily», la place qu'elle occupe dans la vie de quatre femmes — sa sœur Lavinia, son amie Susan, puis l'amante de son frère et la fille de cette dernière, qui furent toutes deux éditrices de sa poésie et de sa correspondance —, même de celles qui ne l'ont jamais rencontrée. Elle devient un fantôme qui a une présence plus forte et réelle que la personne vivante. C'est touchant sans virer dans le cucul. J'ai aimé ce livre presque autant que le précédent…
J'ai noté et je me répèterai certainement longtemps cette phrase pleine de sagesse que l'auteure met dans la bouche de Lavinia :
«Parfois, on s'évertue à vouloir réparer les choses quand il faut simplement trouver un moyen de les casser mieux.»
I've known of Lara Maiklem from her Instagram account for many years, but hadn't yet had a chance to read her book, Mudlarking: In Search of London’s Past Along the River. Her beautifully evocative writing takes us, through the fog and the mud, on a sensory journey over the course of the Thames from west to east, to seize the small pieces of the past that emerge into the present, as well as to lament the effects of natural erosion, human depredation and pollution on the river's foreshore and structures. It's simultaneously an introduction to the fine art of mudlarking, a history lesson, and a memoir — one to revisit.
I'd somehow forgotten about the excellent "Kitchen Sisters Present" podcast, but found it again while searching for Emily Dickinson content on my app of choice. Their episode on "Emily Dickinson's Hidden Kitchen" provides an interesting and unusual angle into the poet's life.
My endeavour to get the most out of my month of Netflix access continued this week with the thoroughly quirky Glass Onion. It didn't disappoint, offering all the best elements of a mystery plot in one tropically coloured package: a (multi-)puzzle box, an isolated island, old grudges, a charismatic detective, and a missing object. Daniel Craig is a complete hoot as Benoit Blanc — even better than in Knives Out, in my opinion — and Janelle Monáe fully reveals her remarkable acting talent. (Amazing news: there's a third movie planned for release next year, huzzah!)