Skeletons in the family cupboard

I had vague recollections of my father saying he had a brother who died young so I set about trying to find out yesterday. He would never talk about him apart from saying it was a good thing he died young and he never said whether this brother was older or younger.

I found him - born in 1918 and died in 1926 - so older than my father. I remember being told he died when he was 6 but he actually appears to have died when my father was 6. I shall be obtaining both birth and death certificates as I would like to find out the cause of death.

I replied to a message on the http://www.ancestry.co.uk/ noticeboard from someone who's husband's grandfather was the brother of my great grandmother! She'd only managed to identify 8 children in the family but I've found 12. My great great grandfather married twice and I don't yet know who his second wife was - I'm working on it.

I've also found out that my grandmother - father's mother - appears to have had a younger sister which I don't think I ever knew about. My father's parents did not speak to either side - his or hers - of their family so I'm not sure what went on there and probably won't find out now.

I had a good example of the perils of Census transcription. My great great grandfather was Alfred Slator. I knew he was on the 1891 census as I'd found him on FreeCen. There was no way I could find him on Ancestry until in the end I put in the reference for the address I knew he was living at. Bingo! It had been transcribed on there as Lackford Later and my great grandmother was down as Sarah Anne Later rather than Sarah Jane Slator! I have filed the appropriate corrections.

Lies, damned lies

Most people don't like being lied to but I've recently found out we all have a different definition of the word lie. MJR asked me if I knew where a particular cable was for the television.. My immediate reaction was 'I don't know.' I could have offered several helpful suggestions but for some reason he finds that irritating so I didn't. A few minutes later having looked in a few likely places I found it. His immediate reaction - 'You lied to me. You know I hate being lied to.' Well no, what I said was the truth all I did was went and had a look for it.

According to him if you say what you believe to be the truth which you subsequently find was not the truth that means you lied in the first place. To me someone is lying if they deliberately make a statement which they know to be untrue in order to mislead or deceive someone else. Communication and the English language are sooooo confusing!

Pale as the dead

I finished reading Pale as the Dead by Fiona Mountain last night and while it wasn't quite a five star book it was certainly a good four and a half stars. Natasha Blake is a genealogist and Bethany Marshall asks her to research her family history. Before Natasha can find out exactly what Bethany wants her to do, Bethany disappears. She leaves behind a handwritten 19th century diary which Adam - Bethany's boyfriend - passes to Natasha. He asks for her help in finding out where Bethany has gone. Natasha has to find out how the past is influencing the present.

Being interested in tracing ancestors I found the book fascinating as it shows what sort of things Natsha had to do to try and find out about the author of the diary and how she was connected with Bethany. There is a connection with the Pre Raphaelites especially Lizzie Siddal and the scenes in Highgate Cemetery were very atmospheric. I thought the ending was a little too neat and tidy and seemed a little too contrived but apart from that minor complaint the book was a good read.

Kind Hearts and Coronets

There is an interesting article in the Telegraph online today about this classic film and its director Robert Harmer:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/5788804/Kind-Hearts-and-Coronets-60th-anniversary-of-a-classic.html

Fiona Mountain

I started reading Pale as the Dead by Fiona Mountain having had it on the to read pile for some time and found myself quite engrossed. I read the same author's Bloodline some months ago and found it good but I think this earlier novel is better.

Natasha Blake the heroine is a genealogist by profession. She is contacted by a mysterious girl called Bethany who then disappears. Her boyfriend, a photographer, contacts Natasha to give her a diary left behind by Bethany and to ask her to see if she can find the girl. The diary was written by someone apparently close to the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

These seem to be the only two books in a projected series featuring Natasha which have been published so far as Fiona Mountain's other books are historical novels. I hope she is going to write more of these genealogy based mysteries as they make excellent reading.

Ox Tales

Oxfam have recently launched a series of four little books of short stories by well known authors. Earth, Air, Fire and Water are the themes for each book and the books are called Ox Tales. They are about 200 pages each and contain stories by some of the best known names in fiction today. I've read the first volume - Earth - and found it well worth reading. If I was still travelling to and from work by bus they would be ideal books for the journey.

Earth contains stories from Rose Tremain, Ian Rankin, Kate Atkinson and Nicholas Shakespeare, amongst others and a poem by Vikram Seth. All the stories are of a high standard and I found the book useful as an introduction to authors I hadn't read before such as Jonathan Coe and Marina Lewycka. I can see I shall have a list of new authors to try when I've finished all four volumes.

If you like short stories - try these - you won't be disappointed

The Many Conditions of Love

Not the title of a philosophical post but the title of a book by Farahad Zama. The Many Conditions of Love is the second in the series which started with The Marriage Bureau for Rich People. It is just as good as the first one and I thoroughly enjoyed it. There are the usual issues of arranged marriages and marrying outside one's caste and religion as well as the treatment of widows in Indian society.

This story features Mr Ali's son Rehman, who falls in love with a glamorous journalist - Usha. But Rehman is Muslim and Usha is Hindu and her parents are less than impressed when they hear about the relationship. There is also the ongoing story of how Aruna is getting on with her rich husband Ram's family. Aruna is still Mr Ali's right hand woman at the marriage bureau even though she has no need to work. Her life is about to change with the advent of her unpleasant sister-in-law Mani into the household while she awaits the birth of her second child.

Life in India is vividly portrayed and I could almost smell the food and experience the heat and the monsoon rains while reading the book. I loved the author's understanding of human nature displayed in the story and the gentle humour. There are happy events and sad ones and the book does not have a neat and tidy ending where all the loose ends are tied up. I look forward to the next one in the series.