This is splendid: "He’d died while she was at Goldsmiths. He’d gone down in the kitchen like a sack of coal on a Sunday afternoon while she, oblivious, explored the sweet pasture of her first and only girlfriend’s breasts..."
“On January 1st she didn’t try to hide the newspaper on her lap, her hand on the photograph of forty-four women.” One of those lines I love. So much so quickly!
“Her heart wasn’t in missiles and Governments lying, it was lying in a bed with a blonde pierced Spanish woman whose voice she’d heard across the fire giving a lesson in Spanish history to Bridget.” I’d love to hear a list of reasons (if people were willing to be honest with themselves) for protesting. Wonder if the cause would even make the top five. Such a wonderful layer you’ve added here.
This was my reaction as well. These chapters add what is a thicker layer to the meaning of the protest. Bridget's speech is a summation of all she observed at home channeled through the perspectives she's acquired at the protest further channeled through an adolescent mind.
Annabel, "in it for the wrong reasons," not returning to Greenham adds a complication and a layer that my guess is that her story perhaps reflects some of why we've known so little of these women who staked their lives. Wondering if I could be right about the way this character might resonate with "dismissal" by too many others? That's a direct q., Eleanor.
Yes, Annabel feels like she's not as good as the other women there who she assumes are in it for the right reasons, although the truth is she is more typical than she realises. For thousands of women, Greenham was an escape which happened to align with their principles, but nonetheless, an escape.
Very much like a certain Anti-Apartheid encampment I bedded down in my first year at the University of Vermont circa 1986… Or how I met my true love volunteering to help end violence against women 4 years later… (she and I have been together 34 yrs now). Yeah, it’s all pretty spot on, I’d say. Love this chapter so much. She and I listen together (still in Vermont).
Loved the references to London especially as I drove through New Cross and past Goldsmiths yesterday. Now looking at it with new pairs if eyes! There’s a fast pace to this piece of writing hichI really like as a reader. How does one achieve that?
That's a million dollar question. I can tell you I feel fully immersed when I'm writing, if that helps. And I let the characters speak. There's a beat to it which I'm aware of, and a foresight they have which is often greater than mine, so the exercise is often one of trust; they know where they're going, I let them go.
That’s very humble, as if you’re only observing, and scratching down some notes. That “process” is such a very lovely picture on it’s own.. surrendering one’s self to the tale, and getting out of the way. I can’t help but believe there’s a very creative (subconscious?) “weaver” putting together the captivating, colorful tapestry.
I listen to you read, savoring each bittersweet chapter… wanting—not wanting to catch up to the present post. I can’t thank you enough for giving me so much beauty and pleasure (and sadness mixed in). True respite in the midst of our (USA) national nightmare…
If I can provide even a slither of light and respite, I’m happy for it. Yes, the nightmare you’re in, I’m so sorry. We, in England, feel devastated by it, so I can barely imagine your own grief and horror.
That’s great to read. I often ponder about planning and plotting and so far my main fiction pieces are shorter ones or poems and I kind of worry when the characters go off like that but when I try to bring them back to something it feels like they know better. Thank you for explaining the crossroads for me for this one. I’ve not been part of the previous one, but something told me I should read 26. Are they available still and in a similar style? Do I read them in any particular order?
This is splendid: "He’d died while she was at Goldsmiths. He’d gone down in the kitchen like a sack of coal on a Sunday afternoon while she, oblivious, explored the sweet pasture of her first and only girlfriend’s breasts..."
“On January 1st she didn’t try to hide the newspaper on her lap, her hand on the photograph of forty-four women.” One of those lines I love. So much so quickly!
Holy damn, I love this story, Eleanor.
“Her heart wasn’t in missiles and Governments lying, it was lying in a bed with a blonde pierced Spanish woman whose voice she’d heard across the fire giving a lesson in Spanish history to Bridget.” I’d love to hear a list of reasons (if people were willing to be honest with themselves) for protesting. Wonder if the cause would even make the top five. Such a wonderful layer you’ve added here.
Kimberly,
This was my reaction as well. These chapters add what is a thicker layer to the meaning of the protest. Bridget's speech is a summation of all she observed at home channeled through the perspectives she's acquired at the protest further channeled through an adolescent mind.
Annabel, "in it for the wrong reasons," not returning to Greenham adds a complication and a layer that my guess is that her story perhaps reflects some of why we've known so little of these women who staked their lives. Wondering if I could be right about the way this character might resonate with "dismissal" by too many others? That's a direct q., Eleanor.
Yes, Annabel feels like she's not as good as the other women there who she assumes are in it for the right reasons, although the truth is she is more typical than she realises. For thousands of women, Greenham was an escape which happened to align with their principles, but nonetheless, an escape.
Very much like a certain Anti-Apartheid encampment I bedded down in my first year at the University of Vermont circa 1986… Or how I met my true love volunteering to help end violence against women 4 years later… (she and I have been together 34 yrs now). Yeah, it’s all pretty spot on, I’d say. Love this chapter so much. She and I listen together (still in Vermont).
That makes me so happy 😊
Always so enamored with your prose, E. Phenomenal chapters this week.
Loved the references to London especially as I drove through New Cross and past Goldsmiths yesterday. Now looking at it with new pairs if eyes! There’s a fast pace to this piece of writing hichI really like as a reader. How does one achieve that?
That's a million dollar question. I can tell you I feel fully immersed when I'm writing, if that helps. And I let the characters speak. There's a beat to it which I'm aware of, and a foresight they have which is often greater than mine, so the exercise is often one of trust; they know where they're going, I let them go.
That’s very humble, as if you’re only observing, and scratching down some notes. That “process” is such a very lovely picture on it’s own.. surrendering one’s self to the tale, and getting out of the way. I can’t help but believe there’s a very creative (subconscious?) “weaver” putting together the captivating, colorful tapestry.
I listen to you read, savoring each bittersweet chapter… wanting—not wanting to catch up to the present post. I can’t thank you enough for giving me so much beauty and pleasure (and sadness mixed in). True respite in the midst of our (USA) national nightmare…
If I can provide even a slither of light and respite, I’m happy for it. Yes, the nightmare you’re in, I’m so sorry. We, in England, feel devastated by it, so I can barely imagine your own grief and horror.
That’s great to read. I often ponder about planning and plotting and so far my main fiction pieces are shorter ones or poems and I kind of worry when the characters go off like that but when I try to bring them back to something it feels like they know better. Thank you for explaining the crossroads for me for this one. I’ve not been part of the previous one, but something told me I should read 26. Are they available still and in a similar style? Do I read them in any particular order?
It's a novel, so yes, start with the Prologue - https://open.substack.com/pub/eleanoranstruther/p/prologue?r=1iyx7n&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web . Successive chapters are linked at the bottom of each post.
Great!
🙌