Carol Lee

This evening after work I went to a talk by author Carol Lee about her new book "Out of Winter", in which she describes the two and a half years she spent going to and fro from London to Wales, as she looked after her elderly parents and really got to know them for the first time.

Carol Lee, a journalist and author who now lives in Islington, had an interesting childhood,partly spent in Tanzania where her mother was secretary to a wealthy diamond mine owner.   She didn't mention what her father did there, except that he was an engineer.   She described life in Tanzania at that time as wonderful for children, with a great deal of freedom to enjoy themselves out of doors.  But her father was a morose man, due to feelings of guilt and horror for having taken part in the raid on Dresden, and Carol herself spent much time living apart from her parents, including long spells with the grandmother in Carmarthen.  The result was that she never really got to know her parents when she was young, and made her own way in life without them.  Added to that they also had little in common - she was a writer, while they never read books or even newspapers.   After a very interesting talk and reading short passages from the book, Carol took questions from the floor about her work and the book, which brought forth more interesting facts - she is an excellent speaker, who knows how to engage with her audience.  No looking down at the floor or mumbling.

The talk was held at Waterstones in Islington Green, after the shop closed, and started with wine and almond slices - very nice!   There was quite a crowd of people there, all very friendly, and most seemed to know Carol well.   A number arrived late, as there was some confusion over the starting time; The information I saw on the internet gave 6.00 p.m., but the notice at Waterstones said 6.30 p.m.   It actually started about en past six.

I didn't buy a copy of the book, although I intend to borrow it from the library.