British Raj : in literature

I recently read two books that take place in India. One was a novel, The Covenant of Water, by Abraham Verghese, which our island book group read. The other one was a biography, Rumer Godden: a storyteller’s life, by Anne Chisholm. Verghese’s novel is mostly about Indian characters, but their lives are intertwined with British (Scottish) characters, including a woman who grew up in India. To her, India was home. Author Rumer Godden also grew up in India, and spent much of her early adult life there, including in Kashmir, a place I have always been interested in visiting, especially if it includes staying on a houseboat. Several of Godden’s books take place in India, including Black Narcissus, which takes place in the Himalayan foothills.

This led me to think about novels about the British in India. The Guardian has a great list of 10 books that take place in India, including books by Rudyard Kipling, E.M. Forster, and Paul Scott. Emily Eden’s Up the country looks especially appealing: “If Jane Austen had gone to India, these are the letters home she might have written.”

Goodreads has the term, “British Raj,” to describe this period of history, and created a list of books to read. Wikipedia also has a list. The British Raj was the period of British Parliament rule on the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947, for around 89 years of British occupation.

One of my favorite children’s books is “A little princess,” by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Sara Crewe, the main character, is the daughter of an officer in the British Army, stationed in India. In another book by Burnett, The Secret Garden, the central character Mary Lennox was also born in India. Both children end up in England in somewhat miserable circumstances, but find their way into a better life.

In the early 1990s I had the opportunity to visit a friend who was living and working in India. While India was never on my bucket list of places to visit, I was thrilled to spend a few days in beautiful Simla (Shimla) in the Himalayan foothills. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of British India. We met an older British woman, named Pat, who had grown up in India, and it was home to her.

Regardless of the lasting impact of the British Raj on India, the literature to come out of it is worth further investigation, and adding to my growing list of books to read.

Happy 100th anniversary, Winnie the Pooh!

I found out that this year is the 100th anniversary since the publication of “When we were young,” where we are first introduced to the endearing sweet little bear, Winnie the Pooh. This book of poetry by A. A. Milne launched the literary career of “tubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff” Winnie the Pooh. Coincidentally, Bette Jane lent me her copy of “The House at Pooh Corner,” which is the second book to feature Winnie the Pooh (the first being, “Winnie the Pooh“). Amazingly, I don’t think I have ever read any of the Winnie the Pooh books, but was well acquainted with the characters in the classic children’s stories by A. A. Milne, thanks to television shows and movies, such as the recent “Christopher Robin,” which I watched on our way home from Brussels in the spring.

Enjoy this classic song by Kenny Loggins, in honor of the 100th anniversary of our beloved Winnie the Pooh.

Dave Singo: Vietnam Conflict Medic

There is a new display in the glass case at the Long Island Community Library, courtesy of Long Islander Dave Singo, who served in the Vietnam Conflict from 1968 to 1969 as a combat medic and laboratory technologist. Come see this amazing exhibit of items from Dave’s time in Vietnam, including photographs, books, awards, flags, and banners.

Appropriately, this exhibit is up through Veterans Day.

Printers and printing presses in Portland

If you are interested in the history of printing in the Portland area, then the Portland Room at the Portland Public Library is the place to go. In addition to the current exhibit, Printed in Portland, there are a lot of wonderful examples of the works of printing presses in Portland, which has had an abundance of smaller presses throughout its history.

One of these great little presses is Shagbark Press, which began in 1985 in South Portland. David Wolfe, who started his career in Maine at the famed Anthoensen Press, teamed up with the general manager at Anthoensen, Harry Milliken, to launch Shagbark Press. Harry N. Milliken was the President, David Wolfe the Vice-President, and Gwendolyn Milliken the Treasurer. Harry and David were printers, and Gwendolyn, Harry’s wife, was the proofreader and secretary. They created books, periodicals, pamphlets, folders, bookplates, stationery, and broadsides, among other things. They later sold the press to Scott Vile of Ascensius Press. David Wolfe currently has his own press, Wolfe Editions, at the Bakery Studios on Pleasant Street.  

It’s a small but magnificent circle of printers intertwined in Maine, with a rich history of printing behind them.

Art and Soul 2024

It’s that time again! The biannual fundraiser of the Long Island Community Library. Where else can you buy books, flowers, and baked goods, as well as bid on artwork and purchase raffle tickets for beautiful themed baskets created by island organizations and individuals. There were even opportunities to listen to great music and create paper flowers. Mostly it’s a fine time to gather with island friends and neighbors and celebrate our wonderful island library, on a gorgeous July (20th) day.

The literature of Norway

Last fall our island book group read “Out stealing horses” by Per Petterson, which was recommended to me by my friend Kari-Lise, who grew up in Norway. I invited Kari-Lise to join our book group, to give her perspective on the book, life in Norway, and Norwegian literature in general. It was Kari-Lise’s first visit to the island, and her first visit to any island in Casco Bay. She shared the background of other books by Petterson which related to the characters in “Out stealing horses.”

 We asked Kari-Lise for books by other Norwegian writers that she enjoys, and here are two of her recommendations:

The unseen, by Roy Jacobsen, which takes place on an island!

The bell in the Lake, by Lars Mytting, a historical epic novel.

This book is not by a Norwegian author, but it takes place in Norway (and is at LICL):

Norwegian by night, by Derek B. Miller, a debut novel.

And if these selections leave you wanting more, here’s a great website, Books from Norway

For those lucky enough to be traveling to Norway, here are some suggestions of books to read before you go.

And for the rest of us, until Norway is in our travel plans, we can enjoy reading about this beautiful northern country.

Looking for Dorothy: Dorothy Gilman in Portland, Maine

Every few years I read one of my favorite books, Caravan, by Dorothy Gilman. Although I rarely re-read fiction, there’s just something utterly delectable about this book. Pure escapism, and a unique love story. I read Gilman’s Mrs. Pollifax spy series, also sheer entertainment, while growing up in California. In researching a bit about Dorothy Gilman after re-reading Caravan, I was amazed to find that she lived in Maine, and is one of our “Maine women writers”! I set out on a quest to discover more about her life in Maine.

A digitized letter at the Maine State Library gives Dorothy Gilman’s address as 7 Fox Court, #410, in Portland, in 1978. Abraham Schechter in the Portland Public Library’s Portland Room helped me find out where Fox Court was, which was on a street parallel to lower Exchange Street, between Fore and Middle Street. Not much is left of Fox Court, just an alleyway that has been renamed Patton Court, after World War II general George Patton. There is a parking garage on one side and the back of the storefronts on Exchange. It appears that soon after this letter dated August 1978 Fox Court changed to Patton Court, according to the city directories, although there is still mention of it in the 1982 Portland city directory – the listing for Exchange Street states that in between 26 and 29, Fox Court begins and Milk Street ends. There is still a little alleyway there – perhaps remnants of Fox Court, although a little unclear, as Fox Court paralleled Exchange Street.

In the 1978 city directory there is still a listing for Fox Court, as being “from Exchange Street to the Canal Bank parking lot.” More specifically, there is a listing for “7 Fox Court Studios.” Perhaps this was some kind of artist studio? From what I hear, this was a tough neighborhood in the 1970s. In the 1920s it sounds like it was even worse, according to the 1924 tax records: “Remarks – This lot is covered by buildings of no value, most of them being in a decrepit state. There is some little income but could not get it.” Fox Court buildings may have suffered from Urban Renewal, as well as “paving over paradise to put up a parking lot” (or parking garage in this case).

The Portland Room’s newspaper index led me to an article about Dorothy Gilman in the Maine Sunday Telegram, Oct. 24, 1982, which gives more clues to Gilman’s life in Maine. It states, “Ms. Gilman had lived quietly in Portland for five years,” and goes on to say that her move to Portland was “more or less random” after deciding that she no longer wanted to live permanently in Nova Scotia. Apparently living in a small fishing village had run its course. Starting out leasing a condo on the Eastern Promenade, she discovered that there were warehouse apartments on the fourth floor above Exchange Street, where she was still living in 1982. Unfortunately I couldn’t find Dorothy Gilman (Butters) in the city directories for those years so I’m not sure exactly where she lived. If the back of her apartment was on Fox Court, perhaps that’s where her mailing address was. There is a building on that side of Exchange Street that has four floors, so perhaps that was her building. The article in the newspaper has a a more exact description of her apartment.

Fox Court (now Patton Court) – building with four floors was perhaps where Dorothy’s apartment was?

Possibly the building Dorothy Gilman lived in with the four floors

I will continue to research, but for now, when I walk by the alley that was Fox Court, or stroll down lower Exchange Street, I will think fondly of Dorothy Gilman and her wonderful, transporting, books.

P.S. I found the book that is mentioned in Gilman’s letter to Shirley Thayer at the Maine State Library, “A new kind of country,” at the Portland Public Library, which tells of her life in a small town in Nova Scotia. From what I’ve read so far this book will remind Long Islanders of our lives on an island in Maine, in Dorothy Gilman’s usual charming way. The Long Island Community Library has seven of her books, including “Caravan” and several from the Mrs. Pollifax series.

Cuala Press

In this month of March, when we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, I would like to share with you another wonderful treasure in the Portland Room of the Portland Public Library, the Cuala Press collection. This special collection of greeting cards, prints, and book covers was given to the public library by James Augustine Healy (1890-1975), a philanthropist and active proponent of Irish literature. He also gave Cuala Press materials to Colby College. (Healy had a summer home on Chebeague Island, to give further connection to our island community). The Maine Irish Heritage Center also owns some Cuala Press books.

The Cuala Press (pronounced coo-la) was an Irish private press set up in 1908 by Elizabeth Yeats and Lily Yeats, the sisters of William Butler Yeats, the Irish poet, dramatist, and writer. Their brother Jack provided illustrations for some of the works of the press, which promoted Irish cultural heritage and decorative arts. It was also the only Arts and Crafts press to be run and staffed by women (which also helps us to celebrate Women’s History Month in March).

A small library on an island on the coast of Maine