2nd April Newsletter
What’s On At Veranda
Welcome, welcome! A slightly shorter week, and a slightly shorter newsletter. It feels as though the year has reached a natural lull – Seymour Place has been a bit quieter as school holidays begin and many of our customers are taking a break from their usual routine.
We’ll be closing early on Friday, and closed altogether on Sunday – but usual hours on Saturday (10-6) give you the chance to call in and pick up some weekend or holiday reading.
If you’re celebrating this weekend, we’d like to wish you and yours a very Happy Easter! Or indeed, a very Happy Passover! Hope everyone enjoys a weekend of rest and reflection, and we’ll see you soon.
(NB Next week’s newsletter will be a big one – in your inbox next Friday!)
Shop News
Launch of A Vast Horizon
A very special evening on Tuesday as we hosted the launch of Anna Thomasson’s new book A Vast Horizon: Artists and Lovers, Freedom and War, which fuses history and art to tell the story of Pablo Picasso and his free-spirited friends, including Lee Miller and Man Ray in the years leading up to WW2. Anna was inspired to write this book by Lee Miller’s iconic photo of a group of friends enjoying a picnic in 1937. Those friends were artists, dancers and poets, united by creativity, sex and rebellion – their lives as dramatic as the political backdrop in 1930s Europe.
This is a wonderful and unique book full of photos, artworks, poems and letters – a great one to lose yourself in, while learning more about this heady social circle. It took Anna several years to complete, which made Tuesday’s celebration well-deserved! We were delighted to welcome Anna’s family friends and publishing team from Pan MacMillan as they raised a glass to the success of her book – and we have a lovely stack in store, if you’d like to grab a copy, perfect for a long weekend!
Now Booking
An evening with Ali Isaac - 9th April
Our Recommended Reads
Happiness by Yuri Felsen (tr. Bryan Karetnyk)
This week, Alison’s recommendation will transport you to the Russian emigré scene of Paris in the 1920’s, and deep into the psyche of narrator Volodya as he overthinks his tumultuous relationship with the mysterious and mercurial Lyolya. In diary form, frequently lapsing into stream-of-consciousness, this is experimental writing which seems strikingly contemporary – despite the fact it was first published in 1932. Felsen died in Auschwitz and his work was lost to the cultural chaos of the Soviet era. It’s thanks to the translator Bryan Karetnyk, and visionary publishers, Prototype, that his novels are being resurrected for new audiences.
My Friends by Fredrik Backman (tr. Neil Smith)
Emily recommends Fredrik Backman’s latest novel, which tells the story of a group of teenagers and how their endless summers together inspire one of them to create a painting. Decades later, that painting ends up in the hands of Louisa, who embarks on a journey to the seaside town where it all began. Beautifully written and gloriously plot-driven, this novel is like a warm hug. The perfect summer read now the weather’s getting warmer.
What we’re loving this week…
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