Hello,
Welcome to the third edition of Sunday Glimmers - a round up of things that have brought me hope, inspiration and joy this week. I hope you’ll find a gem in here that gives something to you too.
If you check out any of the podcasts or Substackers, please let me know - one thing Substack is reminding me all about is the magic of sharing. This loop of communication we all have going here is like a life source to each of us in the circle, isn’t it? All of us picking up something we needed, somewhere along the way.
I should say here, as usual that Sunday Glimmers is something a little extra from me for paid subscribers. Though I hope everyone will take the opportunity to have a read of all of it, at least once, with the ‘free post’ offer thingy.
Fist up - Celebrating the talent of friends
I was delighted to see the publication of my good friend’s collection of 10 short stories this week. Writer Sue Gale creates beautifully nostalgic stories, often with the plight of women at their heart. This collection has key themes of loneliness and revenge. Her stories are slice of life, with searing themes and sometimes a sense of the uneasy, the dark undertones of life seeping into seemingly soft, sensible lives, set against the backdrop of simpler times. Sue has a rich background to draw on and I feel so inspired by how hard she has worked to pull these tales together and bring them to life in her gorgeous book: Finally the women sing, short stories by Sue Gale. Pick up a copy if you can.
A couple of films this week
As part of my MA in Creative Writing I’m focused on screenwriting just now. I’ve loved writing for screen - so much so it looks like I’m switching my dissertation form from fiction to screen writing, which I’d have never seen coming.
Back to Black (the Amy Winehouse movie)
This has had mixed reviews but gets a hardy recommendation from me. If you just want to watch a movie that will press all the emotion buttons as well as take you back to London (Camden Town specifically and the sweaty headiness of The Dublin Castle and the Good Mixer pubs) in the early 2000s then sit back for this biopic.
There are problems with it, sure. It’s a blurry retelling of the Amy and Blake Fielder- Civil love story. I’m not quite sure it drags out any truth, really. But what do any of us really know about it all and what the truth was anyway?
What I will say is that the portrayal of Amy and Blake is spot on - some incredible acting from Marisa Abela and Jack O’Connell - as well as British stalwarts like Eddie Marsen (Mitch Winehouse) and the perfection of Lesley Manville as Amy’s beloved nanny, Cynthia. Watch it, it’ll make you cry and a good cry is never a bad thing, is it?
The Miracle Club - (written by Jimmy Smallhorne and directed by Thaddeus O’Sullivan}
I stumbled across this dreamy British comedy drama flick on Amazon Prime and am glad I did. It’s the story of a group of women in Ireland who take a trip to Lourdes in the hope of ‘curing’ a little boy who does not yet speak. But of course, it’s about so much more than that. Over the course of an hour and a half, a lilting tale unravels of love and loss, lies and regret - all delivered through a wry, tight script with lines that snake into your heart and settle there for days. Maggie Smith brims with frustration and emotion in a her role as a grieving mother - a life spent without the son she adored. Laura Linney stars too, returning to Ireland from the US after her mother dies and the pair had not seen each other for decades. It’s an easy watch, with its heart on its sleeve and all of life laid out to be examined and maybe mulled over, for a day or so.
People and podcasts
Su Chantry - Sian Williams’ Life Changing podcast
I was touched this week but a moving interview with a woman called Su Chantry. Here, adopted Su tells the story of finding her birth mother and the years they spent writing to each other, followed by the emotional turmoil of the events surrounding their eventual coming back together. This story gets to the guts of human relationships minus the decades of meaningless ‘stuff’ that usually weighs them down and tramples them into something that at the core, they’re not. It brought me a glimmer to remember the powerful simplicity of love and how to give it, unencumbered. It’s worth a listen.
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