The Essaouira Gnaoua and World Music Festival 2017 - PART THREE - TITI ROBIN, MEHDI NASSOULI, SHUHEB HASAN, MURAD ALI KHAN, ZE LUIS NASCIMENTO and HABIB MEFTAH

Just occasionally, The Festival throws up a performance that you were totally not expecting - totally, different, totally unique and totally wonderful. I'm thinking, in particular of The Korean Drummers  (Samulnori Molgae) and The Ali Brothers - Mehr and Sher (from Pakistan) from way back when Bab Marrakesh was used as a venue. (In my opinion, this was the best venue of The Festival and it was such a pity when they stopped using it. I noted this year that it's been dug up - no doubt for shops or housing - and the place looks all wrong, bringing the new part of Essaouira far too close to the old part. Since writing this, I have discovered that in fact this square is being made into mainly gardens, which I'm very pleased about.)

I was reminded of both performances when listening to the set I'm about to describe: The Korean Drummers because they displayed an amazing sound and energy just using drums that quite took your breath away; and The Ali Brothers who were so spiritual that it made the hair on your back stand on end.

The Titi Robin et al set had both these elements and more because it also included a remarkable Gnaoua Group, led by Mehdi Nassouli who brought Gnaoua element into the mix, plus four remarkable musicians: Titi Robin, Shuheb Hasan, Murad Ali Khan and Ze Luis Nascimento.

Here's a little taster which, by some miracle, I managed to record on my little Lumix camera:

So, to start at the beginning, this was the first set on The Saturday night, the first of July, at Moulay Hassan Square and I really wasn't expecting to hear such Divine music which just got better and better as the set progressed until I really didn't want it to stop and still can't get out of my mind even several weeks later.

What follows are brief descriptions plus some okay-ish photos of the performers (going to get a better camera for the next Festival):

Medhi Nassouli and Titi Robin

 

Titi Robin from France is a composer and improviser, and plays the guitar, buzuq, mandelin and oud. He has been influenced by a whole range of music - Mediterranean, Gypsy, Oriental, European and Arab - plus poetry and paintings, and he's also written the film score for a number of films, as well as recording a number of albums. So, quite a talented musician to say the least.

Even more so since I have just discovered that Titi composed most of the music for the set, chose the musicians personally to perform the piece, weaving in some of the traditional Gnaoua music and allowing individual improvisations and directed it all whilst playing the guitar or a mandolin (with holes in!) That explains why it was such an exceptional, haunting set and now I know it's unique, which pleases me no end.


Medhi Nassouli is one of the most talented musicians I have ever seen or listened to and having watched numerous videos of him on You Tube in order to research this post I am actually in awe. He is far more than a Gnaoua 'Maalem' and that is no disrespect to Gnaoua 'Maalem's. Officially I couldn't find anywhere in my research that labelled him a Maalem but he certainly acted like one in this set, directing his four dancers with a small nod of the head or a smile.

I've found descriptions of Medhi as being an artist musician, a singer, a bassist and a frame drummer. But the truth is that his talent can't be fitted neatly into one label. In the many videos I've watched of him, he is often the star of the performance and he's worked with many, many other musicians. I suspect, though, that his collaboration with Titi is the most intense.

His main instrument as far as I can see is the guembri. For such a seemingly basic instrument it can make an incredibly vibrant, distinctive sound and Medhi appears to adapt it to the genre of music he's playing. I particularly liked the jazz videos and I'm wondering just how far Medhi can go in revolutionising the use of the guembri. Am I being fanciful in thinking that Medhi can do to the guembri what Jimi Hendrix did to the guitar?

So, Medhi travels the world playing with different musicians and playing different types of music but at The festival he led his Gnaoua group and played the guembri and a frame drum. I've never seen him perform before because we missed the last four Festivals but I hope to do so many times in the future because he has such a tender, expressive voice which glides effortlessly through the air, and a beautiful smile, which could melt a thousand hearts. And sometimes his face is so expressive, it was as if he was telling us a story that he cared passionately about.

One thing I haven't mentioned before are the wonderful Gnaoua costumes. I'd love to have a look at some close up to see just how they are decorated and I must admit I was green with envy seeing all the outfits that Medhi has. He has an eye for design and style as well as an ear for music.


Medhi and Titi have played together before a number of times and there seems to be a really good understanding between them, sometimes sparring against each other with their instruments. There are some delightful videos on You Tube of the two playing together and they have released a CD called Taziri (which I have ordered from Amazon) which also features Ze Luis Nascimento, who also played in the set.

Mehdi's Gnaoua Dancers (plus singers plus krakeb players)
















 


 
 












Shuheb Hasan and Murad Ali Khan


 



Shuhab Hasan is a vocalist from a distinguished musical family in India, also with an incredible voice and lovely smile. Whenever he opened his mouth something beautiful came out. His hands were most expressive and he also appeared to be telling a story. And at times he sang a repeat so quickly and for so long I had no idea how he was able to breathe. Although I'm no expert, I'm pretty sure that this was Sufi singing, which is most spiritual.

Standing serenely, in his pink tunic and black trousers and his hair ruffled by the wind, waiting to sing, he looked for all the world like a Bollywood Film Star. And, I have to admit that I was intrigued by what appeared to be connected buttons down part of his tunic made of what looked like diamonds. But whatever they're made of they looked very classy.

Murad Ali Khan is also from a distinguished musical family in India. In fact, he is a sixth generation sarangi and sitar player, with an impressive CV including playing the sarangi in many major music festivals around the world as well as in India, and has won many awards. He's also played with Lady Gaga and Yoko Ono and for Bollywood and Hollywood films. He enjoys playing both classical music and rock and fusion music.

The sarangi is an incredible instrument. I'd never heard it before but I am truely hooked. Apparently, it's popularity was declining in India and Pakistan until Murad brought it to audiences around the world, raising its profile, which was Murad's intention. His passion no less. It's wonderfully melodic (with up to fifty strings) and at times sounds like a human voice. It complemented the voices of Medhi and Shubeb and one flowed into another into another effortlessly.

Unfortunately, I have no full photos of Murad because he was sitting down and because I was in the VIP area not the press pit, I couldn't move around to take good photos of either him or Ze Luis Nascimento, both of whom were mainly masked by photographers.

Just to let you know that both Murad and Shuheb play in an Indian fusion rock band called Soul Savaad with records available and Murad also has records also available.









 And finally:-

Ze Luis Nascimento - the Brazilian drummer and percussionist whose face expressed sheer joy and whose energy and skill was exciting to watch and to listen to. Ze Luis trained initially as a dancer with Bahian Folk Ballet before becoming a musician, which doesn't surprise me because he seemed to let the music invade his body through the drums, which he played with just his hands.

Ze Luis has developed his own unique style of playing and is in great demand as both a solo artist as well as working with many other musicians. He has an impressive list of CDs and albums, participating in the recording of over a hundred international albums. So, we were very lucky to see him perform in Essaouira. An absolute delight, in fact.









The world-renowned Persian percussionist Habib Mefta was due to play with Titi Robin et al but unfortunately had another engagement and couldn't make it. Perhaps next year they can all play again at The Festival, including Habib. Now that would be something. Come on Festival organisers, an early request.

But back to the set on the Saturday. What I was really impressed with, as well, was that each musician communicated with each mainly just using eye contact and their smiles showed just how much they were enjoying the fabulous music they were making.

Here are some more photos:-







 





 




 


























































































Can't tell you how thrilled I was to find another short video on my camera so here it it is:-

And to view the whole set, courtesy of daftnotstupid click here and .....enjoy.





But a final plea.I have spent hours watching videos on You Tube in order to write this post and have been highly entertained. We all do it, those of us who love music. But we don't pay a penny for it and the musicians don't get paid every time we watch them on You Tube. So, my plea is this: if have enjoyed a musician's music and he or she has a CD out - BUY A COPY. I have also ordered a copy of Murad Ali Khan's sarangi playing from Amazon and will explore how to find CDs recorded by Soul Samvaad, currently not available on Amazon.


NEXT POST - coming soon - Ray Lema and Maleem Abdeslam Alikane

The Essaouira Gnaoua and World Music Festival 2017 - PART TWO - BAND OF GNAWA

The last time I saw Band of Gnawa perform at The Festival was in 2007 from the balcony of Bab Lachour Restaurant overlooking Moulay Hassan Square with its spectacular view of The Atlantic Ocean close by and its small islands dotted tantalising close to the land. Firstly, when they practised the whole set on the evening before The Festival whilst we were having supper and then when they played for real during The Festival.

I had never experienced music like that before: musicans moving from one genre of music to a totally different genre so effortlessly. I wrote about this and also included some photos from previous Festivals in a recent blog, which you can see by clicking here.

Their two performances counted, for me, among the best that The Festival has had to offer and there have been many outstanding sets, I can assure you.

So, when I saw that Band of Gnawa were playing again this year I was delighted. They were to play in Moulay Hassan Square at 23.30 on the first day of The Festival, Thursday 29th July. Really wasn't sure whether I would make it because I'm still recovering from major heart surgery but I needn't have worried: I coped with staying up very late, enjoying the music and doing a fair bit of dancing. It's amazing what a person can do if they're having fun.

No press passes, of course, but armed with those wonderful VIP badges that Loy Ehrlich of Band of Gnawa gave us - thank you again Loy - John and I were able to get close enough to the stage to do our recordings.

So, how did their performance pan out? It was brilliant, absolutely brilliant. The Band had the audience in the palm of their hands. We were dancing, singing, cheering and loving every minute and again, it was one of the best sets of The Festival.

First on the stage were Maalem Said Boulhimas with four dancers/singers and they played three numbers. I guess you could say they were acting as the warm-up band and, indeed, we were nicely warmed up thank you very much before the Western musicians joined them on stage. To see the first three songs click here.

(I do wish that Festival programmes would actually name the Gnaoua dancers because they are just as important as the rest of the musicians and without their input, the sets would be very diminished because they add a tremendous excitement and energy.

Having watched Gnaoua dancers over many years, I can safely say that they are world class dancers as good as the best. Watch their performances as they dance and sing for several hours and, from time to time, jump high into the air and wonder if you could do even a tiny part of that. Even their 'basic' dance is pretty complicated. And all this whilst whirling the toggles on their hats. You or I would be off to the chiropractor if we tried that.)

(Apologies for the quality of the photos: they were the best I could do under the circumstances but at least you can get a sense of the set and the action.)

Maalem Said Boulhimas



Maalem Said Boulhimas and his Gnaoua group








The Gnaoua group - my favourite dancer is second from the right. He worked with Ray Lema and possibly other groups too this year.




And then Band of Gnawa came onto the stage and it all changed: guitarists Loy Ehrlich and Eric Lohrer, drummer and percussionist Cyril Atef, seemingly as mad as a hatter in his green cutout fez, bright red shirt and orange and white checked trousers which I could have sworn were pyjama bottoms, Jean-Philippe Rykiel, keyboard player, Tao Ehrlich (son of Loy), drummer and percussionist, and last but not least, Akram Sedkaoui, lead singer, strutting around the stage in tight black leather trousers and a nifty little jacket for all the world as if he owned that stage and with a beautifully haunting voice once praised by Bono of U2.

From left to right - two Gnaoua dancers, Tao Ehrlich, Maalem Said Boulhimas, Cyril Atef, Akram Sedkaoui, Loy Ehrlich and Jean-Philippe Rykiel


 

And then they started playing the Beatles song - Get Back and we, the audience, were all singing away because we know the words and we're bopping along until, seamlessly, it all changed into a Gnaoua song and the Gnaoua musicians came to the fore. Now, I have no idea what any of the Gnaoua songs are about because I don't speak or understand Arabic but it doesn't stop me from loving the sound, the emotion, the energy and it being so very different to Western music.




Every so often, the Dancers strutted their stuff and the audience were whooping and cheering at every jump and twirl and glide across the stage (reminiscent of The Georgan State Dancers). These Gnaoua Dancers can adapt their dance to every musical genre, even including hip-hop, and what's even better is that they look as if they're having an absolute ball.


Then the music morphed into another Beatles number  - Come Together and the Western musicians took centre stage.


 


And so it continued as we were led through Immigrant Song (Led Zeppelin), Who Knows (Hendrix), Power of Love (Led Zeppelin), Four Sticks (Led Zeppelin) and Kashmir (Led Zeppelin), all the time interspersing with Gnaoua songs. As the set progressed, the Gnaoua musicians and the Western musicians joined in whilst the other group took centre stage and so there became a total fusion of music. Quite wonderful.

From left to right - Jean-Phille Rykiel, Loy Ehrlich and Eric Lohrer





From left to right - Akram Sedkaoui, Jean-Philippe Rykiel, Loy Ehrlich and Eric Lohrer



Photos and words can give a sense of a performance and reaction but you really need to hear the music and to see and hear the daftnotstupid recordings click on the video playlist below....and enjoy.



PART ONE - published last week - covering the press pass debacle and the horse Fantasia is available here.
PART THREE - coming next - will be my report on Titi Robin, Medhi Nassouli, Shuheb Hasan, Murad Ali Khan, Ze Luis Nascimento and Habib Meftah

The Essaouira Gnaoua and World Music Festival 2017 - PART ONE - PRESS PASSES AND FANTASIA

It was wonderful to be back in Essaouira after an absence of five years. Flying to Essaouira from Luton Airport made a big difference and I'm sure that many more people will visit Essaouira because of this direct link, which will be great for Essaouira.

We were staying at a new hotel - Villa de L'O - and it was a real find. A riad hotel set into the old walls with terrific views across the bay towards the village of Diabet, made famous by the visit by Jimi Hendrix way back. Our room was the terrace room at the top and we could see the beach and beyond even from our bed. Breakfast was on the terrace once we had scared off the seagulls. I must mention this breakfast because it was the best I've ever had: fresh orange juice, omelette, croissant, fresh bread, butter and jam or honey, yogurt, fruit salad and plenty of coffee. A great way to start the day.

 
 
  

John on the terrace

 

Me on the terrace

 

Seagull on the terrace

But the important thing was to get those wonderful press passes, which we had been given in the past, so that both John and I could film/record/photograph for our internet postings from the very best position right next to the stage.

We tried as hard as we could, even waited for an age to see the person in charge at Le Medina Hotel and explained our dilemma to everyone with possible influence but it just wasn't meant to be. The official line was that because it was the 20th anniversary of The Festival too many professional photographers had applied for passes and even some of those were denied.

However, the reality was that, apart from the first set on the Friday night when the press pit was absolutely heaving, many in the press pits were young women taking a few photographs on mobile phones and then spending their time dancing. I even saw people without press passes barging their way past the security guard into the press pit. To say we felt frustrated is an understatement.

We were, however, greatly helped by Loy Ehrlich of Band of Gnawa, who gave us two special VIP badges so we could go into the VIP areas of all the venues and therefore could get reasonably close to the stage. And it is thanks to him that we were able to record etc as much as we did. So, a very, very big thank you Loy.

Before The Festival started, John was invited by Ray Lema to his practice with Maalem Abdeslam Alikane and I tagged along. I took these two photos which aren't as good as I would have liked but I'm putting them on anyway. (None of my photos are of the standard I've achieved in the past but my little Lumix camera does not, I discovered, take good photos from a distance. Next year I shall come armed with a much better camera.)


 

Ray Lema is on the left

 

Ray Lema's saxaphonist and drummer

What was fascinating about this rehearsal was that they would play a piece of music and it would sound absolutely fantastic but at the end Ray Lema would suggest improvements and then they'd play it again and this happened repeatedly. It was incredibly hot and yet there they were, honing their skills: quite a dedication to achieve perfection.

And now to another form of perfection: The Morrocan Fantasia.

This is a age-old tradition which is still very popular, particularly for special occasions. It involves about thirty or forty horsemen, dressed in beautiful traditional costumes, who execute their skills by riding hell-for-leather in a straight line for about two hundred yards, stopping dead and firing their muskets at the same time so that it seems to be just one very loud shot.

This Fantasia takes place before The Festival and it's a delight to watch, even scary if you stand too close to one of the horses, as I did. The day before The Festival started, they performed this tradition on the beach. At first, all I saw from our terrace was two lines of people standing some distance apart from the promenade to the shore-line, and then I saw the riders practising so I got my camera and off I went to get a closer look.

Up close, it really is impressive and I'm pleased to say that at least these photos are sharp and focused.












On the next afternoon, the day that The Festival starts, there is a procession through town of many of the Gnaoua groups and you can hear the music getting closer and closer and that's also very exciting. And just below our terrace, near to one of the gates leading into the old city, the horses lined up on either side of the road for hours waiting for I know not what.

I had hoped that the procession would come through the gate and proceed between the line of horses but it just didn't happen. They stopped short of the gate and eventually dispersed. Had I not been in my dressing gown having had a bath, I would have gone down to investigate but a girl can only do so much. So, the horses and their riders also eventually dispersed but to stand without moving for several hours was very impressive and I hope you enjoy looking at these photos as much as I do.

View from our terrace

(By the way, there is at least one British Women's Fantasia team - some of the members were interviewed on BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour).

It was interesting to watch the setting up of instruments on the stage at the main venue Moulay Hassan Square, all adding to the growing excitement of the music to come, particularly the familiar sound of the ditty-ditty-ditty-ditty noise of the Gnaoau  krakebs heralding the start of The Festival.



This shows the team getting ready for the Bill Laurance and Khalid Sansi set in Moulay Hassan Square. John and I arrived just at the end and we're really sorry that we'd missed most of it because it sounded terrific.

We missed quite a few sets that we would have liked to have seen and saw some that didn't impress at all so I shall be focusing on the three that were outstanding, starting, in my next blog (PART TWO) with the brilliant Band of Gnawa.

NEW BOOK REVIEW - AFTER YOU by JOJO MOYES

For some strange reason, unknown even to me, I didn't realise that this novel was the sequel to the highly acclaimed me before you, and I wondered whether I would find the central subject matter too distressing (euthanasia) but I needn't have worried: after you is a delightful novel, and a real page turner.

Louisa Clark is coming to turns with life after the assisted suicide of the man she was caring for and whom she fell in love with. Will Trayner had been the best in everything he did so when he was paralysed after a road accident he couldn't accept life as a quadraplegic and despite Louisa's best efforts, he still decided to end his life in Switzerland with Dignitas.

It's this knowledge that ultimately she couldn't save him despite all their happy times together that haunts Louisa for most of the novel. She also has to cope with her injuries after she accidently falls from the roof of her building having drunk far too much.

She has a pretty horrible job in an airport bar with an overdemanding boss and an absolutely ridiculous Irish-themed costume, and has a lonely existence, choosing to live away from her family and the snide comments of people in her own town. For a while, her only friends are an odd assortment of people who have also suffered loss as they all attend a bereavement group and for a long time she doesn't feel able to reveal her own situation.

But things change and two people enter her life who have a profound influence on her. The first is Sam, the paramedic who attened to her after her accident. He's the uncle of one of the bereavement group and a pretty gorgeous hunk of a man. And the second is the bombshell of a teenager who turns up at Louisa's flat claiming to be the daughter Will never knew he had.

Lily is a fantastic character, full of high-antics and insecurities. She has run away from her school and her home and it becomes obvious very quickly that her mother is unable to cope with either her daughter or her twin sons, the product of a failing marriage.

Lily is, indeed, Will's daughter and Louisa can't help but wonder whether Will would have ended his life if he'd know that he had a daughter. She also feels some kind of responsibilty for Lily but finds it difficult to deal with Lily's erractic behaviour, often fueled by drink and drugs. And whilst she's clearly smitten by Sam, she's frightened to get too involved just in case she loses him too.

And then we have the behaviour of parents. Will's parents have now split up and neither make a good impression on Lily when they first meet her, so hung up are they on the loss of Will. Louisa's parents are also experiencing difficulties, particularly as Louisa's mother has discovered feminism and is refusing to shave her legs or cook Sunday lunch.

All this is done with a very light touch so even Will's assisted suicide is handled with sensitivity. I was very impressed with Moyes' writing style: sentences just ping off the page and descriptions are woven effortlessly into the story. And it was often surprisingly funny, too.

But her triumph is in her characters. I warmed to Louisa straight away and wanted to know how she was going to deal with all these problems so I find myself picking up the novel to read more whenever I could. And all her other characters are well-defined too so, to me, they became real people whom I cared about.

No surprise then for me to say that I thoroughly recommend this novel. It's a very good read and I shall certainly read more of Moyes' novels, including the prequel me before you.


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

The Essauoira Gnaoua and World Music Festival 2017 and The Band of Gnawa

The photographs below were taken by me at a number of different Essaouira Gnaoua and World Music Festivals to give a flavour of how the festival looks. 

The beautiful coastal city of Essaouira, Morocco, is hosting the 20th Gnaoua and World Music Festival at the end of June and the daftnotstupid team (John (husband) and I) WILL BE THERE, after a reluctant absence of five years. Whether we will get press accreditation or not remains to be seen but having those precious press badges for the last three years of attendance made an incredible difference to our reporting of the festival.

View of Moulay Hassan Square from the terrace of Bab Lachour (restaurant).

John's recording and filming of performances are amongst the best to be seen on YouTube and over one million hits can vouch for that and my more humble blog and photographs certainly get a following, so we shall fight tooth and nail to be considered for press badges. Quite simply, being right next to the stage gives a fantastic view that we can then share on the internet.

Gnaoua dancer (right).

 

Maalem Hamid El Kasri, who is in the 2017 line up, and Gnaoua dancers. The dancer on the left also dances and sings with other groups and in my opinion, seeing him many times, he is the best.

The line up had now been published and it's a very exciting one, including the best Gnaoua groups in the country. Sadly, no Maalem Mahmoud Guinea, probably the daddy of all the Maalems, because he passed away two years ago but both his son and brother will be performing.

              Maalem Mahmoud Guinea (2010)                                         Gnaoua dancer

                     
                               Mahmoud's eldest son (he'll be leading his group this year)

 What I want to write about, however, is The Band of Gnawa, who are in this year's line up and who also performed at the 10th anniversary of the festival, in 2007, because their 'practice session' on the Wednesday evening of 2007, the day before the festival started, was an occasion I shall never forget. Quite simply, it was one of the best evenings of my life.

                
                 My favourite Gnaoua dancer - if anybody knows his name please let me know

John and I were sitting having supper on the terrace of our favourite restaurant in Essaouira, Bab Lachour, which overlooks the main venue for The Festival - Moulay Hassan - when The Band of Gnawa came on the stage to run through their set. The line up was as follows: Loy Ehrlich (one of Essaouira Artistic Directors since 2000) on bass guitar, Louis Bertignac, guitar, Jean-Philippe Rykiel, keyboard, Cyril Atef, drums, Akram Sedkaoui, singer, and Maalem Said Boulhimas with four Gnaoua musicians.

                                         Maalem Omar Hayat, who is in this year's line up


When Akram Sedkaoui was introduced in French, we thought that he was actually Bono and John mentioned this in his blog posting. Later on he was corrected by, I think Louis Bertignac, who informed us that what had been said was that Bono had praised Akram's voice. I can't remember the actual words but it was something along the lines of being silver lined.And it was true: he had a wonderful voice.

                                                             Maalem Omar Hayat

Just to set the scene, to the right of the Moulay Hassan Square, which is the main festival venue, is the Atlantic Ocean with small islands close by, and it was a beautifully warm evening and as the set progressed the sun set over the ocean until it changed from hues of pink to ink black and the square filled pretty rapidly, mainly with young men, so there was an enormous audience and a fantastic atmosphere.

The group played a fusion between Western music and Gnaoua and what a set it was! The Band played music from The Beatles to Jimi Hendrix to Led Zeppelin and each piece of music merged into  Gnaoua music and then the Gnaoua group would play for a while and then it would merge back to the Western music and so on. And I must emphasize that this was music of the highest quality.

              Gnaoua dancers (left)








We were enthralled and delighted and wonderfully entertained and what made it even more special was that the crowd watching sang along to all the Western music, totally at one with the professionals on the stage. I couldn't tell you how long it lasted but it must have been more than an hour.





                        Gnaoua dancers (right)









When the festival started for real, we watched this set all over again from the terrace of Bab Lachour and it was just as good second time round.Wish we'd had press badges then and certainly wished that I had taken photographs but I only started photographing and blogging the next year. John did record the set from the terrace of Bab Lachour during their official performance and that can be accessed on his YouTube site. Just click here. Plus, there are plenty of other recordings of this set on YouTube.

John setting up his camera on our balcony facing Bab Marrakesh Square when it was used as a venue (with Gulliver Travels getting in on the act)

I am the first to admit that I'm not a photographer and I very rarely take photographs when not at the festival but something just switches on in my brain when I hear the music and all I want to do is, firstly dance, and then stand below the stage and photograph away, particularly trying to capture the movement of the dancers.

Writing this post and looking through my photographs had wetted my appetite for the festival to come.  Bring it on, is what I say. Plus, give this girl a press badge....please.

To see my festival reports click here.

NEW BOOK REVIEW - THE SUNRISE by VICTORIA HISLOP

I wanted to read The Sunrise because it's set in Famagusta, Cyprus, in 1974 at the time of first the Greek Cypriot coup and then the Turkish invasion, because I have written my own novel Cyprus Blues set in Cyprus within the same timeframe and I wanted to know if The Sunrise was any good.

I was living in Famagusta during that time and became a refugee when the Turkish army swept into Famagusta and displaced all of the occupants apart from Turkish Cypriots so it's a subject very close to my heart. Writing my novel was a way of using my knowledge and experience of life in Cyprus during those times and I'm very proud of what I've achieved but to date Cyprus Blues is only available as an e-book on Barnes and Noble.

By reading The Sunrise I felt I'd get an idea of whether I should pursue a more mainstream publication or leave it be because Hislop had nailed it as a subject and my novel just wouldn't match up.

Reading the positive comments on the back cover of The Sunrise from The Mail on Sunday and The Times and the many glowing reviews about  her first three novels at the beginning of the novel, I started reading with a heavy heart. This was obviously a literary genius and my own efforts would pale into insignificance.

However...the very first paragraph of The Sunrise had me cringing; "Famagusta was golden. The beach, the bodies of sunbathers and the lives of those who lived there were gilded by warmth and good fortune." To me, that is lazy, uninspiring writing. Of course, the fantastic Famagusta beach which spread in a wide curve for miles had the most beautiful golden sand I have ever seen but it's just too easy to just say it was golden.

And then there were all the fantastic boutiques, department stores and ultra-expensive jewellers in Hislop's Famagusta. Sad to say that if there were any, then I missed them and I lived there for three years. There was one small boutique but that was about it. Anyway, writers are allowed plenty of licence and it was clear that Hislop wanted to create Famagusta as a place of glamour to slot in two of her main characters: husband and wife team of Savvas and Aphroditi Papacosta.

This young, rich and attractive couple have so much money that Savvas is able to finance the building of what he believes will be the most ornate and expensive hotel in Famagusta, named 'The Sunrise', hence the name of the novel. Quite an inordinate amount of time is spent at the beginning of the novel describing all the fixtures and fittings of the hotel and had I not have been determined to read the whole book, I would have stopped there since I find that kind of description very boring.

Neither Savvas and Aphroditi are likeable and we learn very little about them other than Savvas is ambitious, chavanistic and fool-hardy and Aphroditi is beautiful, vain and likes wearing nice clothes and very expensive jewellery. They are very one dimensional. There is a chance to more fully develop Aphroditi's character when she has an affair but Hislop misses that chance and the affair lacks passion. If Aphroditi feels any inner turmoil we, the reader, are not aware of this.

The saving grace of the novel is the eventual (thankfully) concentration on the two working class families, the Georgious, who are Greek Cypriot, and the Ozans, who are Turkish Cypriot. The conflict betwen the two communities are reflected in these families and although all the characters are one dimensional, too, they are at least likeable and I did care what happened to them.

When the fighting of the coup starts, a son from each family disappears, obviously to become actively involved, and this is the reason why both families decide to remain in their homes in Famagusta once the Turkish invasion begins because they want their sons to be able to return home. So, whilst the rest of the poulation of Famagusta are getting the hell out of there, the two families remain and eventually live together, first in one of their homes and then in the abandoned Sunrise Hotel, where they live for months and months and months.

However, this just didn't work for me as a plot development. I can assure Hislop that when an army is rapidly approaching your home town, all you want to do is to get as far away as possible.

So, let's return to the glamour dimension of the story and whizz back to before the war. The Sunrise has opened for business and because Savvas has immediately embarked upon a new challenge - the building of another hotel only much bigger than The Sunrise - he has left the running of The Sunrise to his manager, Markos Georgiou. He's one of the sons of our Greek Cypriot family who eventually live in the hotel. He's particularly in charge of the supposedly glamorous night club.

Whilst I lived in Famagusta, my brother-in-law had one such nightclub but it was very different to the one described in the novel. His nightclub was incredibly exciting, with top Greek singers who inspired much breaking of plates as a sign from the audience that they rated the performance. (It's now banned but it was great fun.) It was noisy and vibrant and made you quite heady. There's no such passion in Hislop's nightclub; it's just over-expensive drinks and posing place, with Marcos and Aphroditi (because of course he's the one she is having the affair with) occasionally touching hands. Far, far too sedate and clinical and we learn nothing about how Marcos feels.

In a secluded part of the nightclub in The Sunrise, are very sturdy safes and when Savvas decides to leave Famagusta after the Turkish invasion, taking Aphroditi with him, he places all of the expensive jewellery he has give her in the safes and hands over the codes and keys to Marcos. At this stage, no-one thinks they'll be leaving their homes for long so it's a reasonable thing to do. However, as weeks turn into months and there has been no settlement allowing Famagustians to return, Marcos is taking pieces of jewellery to sell to a Turkish Cypriot in Nicosia, the capital city, miraculously avoiding detection every time despite being in an area over-flowing with Turkish soldiers.

Just quite what he is doing with the money is not explained, apart from buying a few guns for presumably his brother despite having no interest in politics.

As we approach the end of the novel, the plot goes into freefall.

Aphroditi is now living in Nicosia in her mother's house and wearing her mother's clothes because she brought none with her. Couldn't she have bought some new ones? And it goes completely against her previous vanity. On a visit to a cafe, she sees a woman wearing what she is pretty sure are some of her jewellery and so she decides to pay someone to take her back to Famagusta to find Marcos because he was in charge of it all.

How on earth would she know where to start looking and why go back to a Turkish controlled Famagusta, which would be highly dangerous? She has no idea that Marcos and his family are actually hiding in The Sunrise but off she goes on a perilous journey, trusting people who quite clearly aren't trustworthy, straight to The Sunrise. And surprise, surprise, she is raped by Turkish soldiers just outside the hotel, watched by Marcos who is on his way back after selling more jewellery. He shows no emotion and doesn't intervene and so another opportunity is lost for some character development.

Huseyin Ozkan, who is the teenage son of Halit and Emine, also witnesses the rape and Marcos' lack of intervention. He has been following Marcos after realising that he has been sneaking out of the hotel and it is during one of these evening excursions that an incident occurs and Huseyin is forced to kill Marcos in self-defence and hide his body in an empty shop. He can only tell his parents the truth and so the seemingly inexplicable disappearance of their son causes much anguish for the Georgious. Huseyin's feelings of guilt are the closest we come to any real sense of emotion within any of Hislop's characters.

The Turkish Cypriot dealer who had been waiting for Marcos that evening is keen to find out what has happened to his valuable source of jewellery and before we know it, there are three bulldozers outside The Sunrise with Turkish soldiers, ready to knock down the massive security railings, and our hapless group of refugees realise that they had better leave.

They pay someone to take them to Nicosia and here the two families part company - the Georgious to te Greek Cypriot sector and the Ozmans to remain in the Turkish Cypriot sector. Again, this is all told in a clinical way.

So now Hislop has the problem of ending the novel. Easy. She has a final chapter telling us that all our main characters, apart from Savvas, eventually end up in England and details who, through old age or illness dies, and what the rest are up to. There's no attempt to show - it's all telling. Very lazy writing in my eyes.

All that's left for me to say is that I intend to publish my own novel Cyprus Blues and give it as good a go as possible because this part of Cyprus's history needs a work of fiction which will give the reader a sense of actually being there and fully-rounded characters to engage with. Sorry, Victoria but I don't think The Sunrise is a very good novel for all the reasons above, plus your writing style is uninspiring to say the least.

If Christmas Trees Could Talk

Here's a seasonal tale to lighten up your day:

If Christmas Trees Could Talk

A short story by Maggie Knutson

A late December sun was just sinking below the village church opposite when Mo and Isabel put the last ornament on their Christmas tree. “That looks grand,” said Isabel, and she gave her sister an affectionate hug. “We've done it! We've done all our unpacking and put the tree up and all before supper time.”
“We're a good team, you and I,” Mo said. “So who's going to put the lights on?”
“Go on, Mo, you do it,” Isabel said. And with no more ado, Mo bent down and did the honours. The lights burst into a brilliant show of reds and greens and blues, flooding the room with a cheeriness which warmed both of their hearts.
“Now we've got to see this from outside,” Isabel said and, despite the cold, they pitter-pattered outside. They were pleased with what they saw: the tree nestled prettily in the window alcove of their front room as if it were meant to be there.
 “If anyone was passing by,” Isabel said, “what would our tree tell them about us?”
“Well,” Mo deliberated, “... Click to read more

MY LATEST POEM - The Thunderstorm

The Thunderstorm

Trapped in my car
I watch the hard pellets of rain
machine gun into the windscreen
Shrapnel of spray
bounces back
into the darkness beyond

I recall the film 'The Birds'
And imagine each raindrop
as a
Blackbird's piercing beak gouging
deep holes
into the re-enforced metal of the roof 

I dare not move
The world beyond has shrunk into
a black unknown

I am only sure of what I see within: 
my own sharp knees and rigid hands
and
wide-eyed stare
back from the small mirror
used
in calmer times
for make-up


I am late
he will be gone

This now is the only thing of which I'm certain






 
 

New Book Review - THE MINIATURIST - by Jessie Burton

It is Amsterdam,1686, and young, innocent Nella has just married world-weary Johannes, a seemingly prosperous merchant trader. It is an arranged marriage so the two do not know each other.  But right after the ceremony, which takes place in Nella's village, Joahnes leaves his new bride to deliver a shipment to Venice, which will take him away for one month, and it is up to the bewildered Nella to make her way alone to his Amsterdam home after the month is up.

To compound the strangeness of it all, when Nella arrives at his house, which is one of the magnificent tall, terraced houses facing onto one of the canals in Amsterdam, she is greeted by, of all things, a partly open front door and she has no choice but to step inside. Only then does she come in contact with the other occupants of the house: Marin, Johannes' frosty sister, and the two servants, Cordelia and Otto. It is a less than friendly welcome, these three so obviously a tight-knit group, and when the illusive Joahanes eventually returns it is with Marin that he holds council whilst Nella is ignored, hidden away in her own, separate bedroom.

Gradually, Nella is drawn into life in the house and what we are presented with is a most bizarre portrayal of Nella's developing relationship with each one of them and her own growth in character and confidence.

They all have secrets, even the other characters in the novel, and some of these secrets prove to be very dangerous given the puritanical political system of the time, influenced by a calvanistic church, which is not only restrictive but exteremely barbaric. And nothing is as it seems at face value. For example, why does Marin wear beneath each of her austere black dresses a lining of sable fur and velvet? And is Jack London merely a delivery boy? As he plays an increasingly important role in the destiny of Johannes' household, we are presented with more questions than answers.

Central to the story is the large doll's house which Johannes has given as a present to Nella. A strange bridal present you might think and one that has Nella confused, particularly as it is a miniature version of  the house they are living in. Whilst she is not mistress of the main house, she can at least be mistress of this smaller version. She keeps this house in her bedroom and finds an advert for a miniaturist within the city who will make pieces for her doll's house, commisioning three small pieces: a lute (to represent the lute she played for Johannes before their marriage), a betrothal cup (to represent their marriage) and a box of marzipan (again to represent the marriage.)

When they arrive, delivered by the handsome Jack London, she is amazed at the elaborate craftmanship employed. But, to her surprise, there are another three, unordered items for her house: two wooden chairs with backs covered with green velvet and studded copper nails, a cradle, and two whippet dogs. And to compound the intrigue, the chairs are identical to those in the parlour and the two dogs are miniature versions of Johannes' two dogs, even down to the black spot on the belly of one of the dogs. Just how does the miniaturist know such details and what does the cradle represent given that Johannes has hardly spoken to Nella never mind touch her?

And further, unordered items continue to arrive for Nella's dolls house. Each one is very personal to the household, as if the miniaturist knows everything about their lives, not just for the present but also their future.And with each delivery comes a message for Nella, EVERY WOMAN IS THE ARCHITECT OF HER OWN FORTUNE being the first.

As the story unfolds, we see Nella become the woman that these messages indicate, not by choice but by necessity as she has to take charge of the household due to a series of tragic cicumstances.

Nella's search for the miniaturist finally comes to fruition as she stives to understand how she (yes, the miniaturist is a woman)  knows so much about them all. Can the unexplained be explained?


When I started this novel, I thought I wouldn't like it. For a start, it's written in the present tense and I've never read a novel in the present tense before. And secondly, the language is highly descripive and I thought it would be a barrier to the flow of the story.  But I suprised myself by adapting to both very quickly: the present tense makes the story fresh and immediate and I can see its advantages, (so much so that I've written this review in the present tense and will experiment with this style of writing in my own writing); and the descriptions add a richneness to characterisation and setting. It's such an intriguing story all round and I was soon drawn into the lives of Nella, Johannes, Cordelia and Otto, caring what happened to each of them so, yes, I can thoroughly recommend it.

Synopsis of my novel CYPRUS BLUES

It is 1973 and the idylic island of Cyprus is a magnet for tourists with its offer of wonderful weather, beautiful scenery, a relaxed way of living and all that sun, sand and...sex.

 But Kate has come on holiday for a very different reason. She wants to get as far away from home as possible before starting her first teaching job back in England. But she hasn't counted on meeting charasmatic Jack, an expat artist, who has lived on Cyprus for several years. Kate is beautiful but innocent,  Jack is a fun-loving  hedonist, with more conquests than is good for him. Can the two of them ever have a lasting relationship?

And then there's Ellie, a Greek Cypriot, who has lived all her life in london, but has come to Cyprus to marry the charming Tony. It might be an arranged marriage but Ellie has great hopes for the start of a new life well away from her controlling mother. Tony is a Greek Cypriot from a small village in the mountains who has escaped poverty and through ambition, hard-work and a sizable dowry from Ellie's mother, is doing very well for himself. He has opened the first supermarket on the island and merely sees Ellie as a useful workhorse. But can he ever love her the way she loves him? And can he conceal from her the fact that he is part of the Eoka B terrorist group who are plotting to overthrow the President of Cyprus?

As the lives of these four become intwined, there is growing political unrest on the island, with both America and Turkey ready and willing to intervene. Is war inevitable given all the provocations and can these four survive such an outcome? And will not only they but also Cyprus ever be the same?

This novel is now available on scribd

CYPRUS BLUES - MY NOVEL

A big thank you to my technical manager, John Knutson, who has posted the revised version of my first novel, Cyprus Blues, onto the e-book site Scribd, plus a beautiful photograph of Kyrenia Harbour, which we took when we went to Cyprus a few years ago. (You can read the report that I wrote of my first visit to the Turkish occupied Northern Cyprus after nearly 30 years if you type in the title "Drinking our way round Cyprus.") 

Anyway, if you want to read the novel, you can find it scribd on Scribd.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I am now working on my second novel – a murder mystery set in a school in Winchester – Winchester Blues. I'm having a lot of fun writing it because I'm basing a lot of my characters on people that I know/knew and situations in schools that I've experienced. It's definitely pay back time!