Sherri’s Playhouse presents a very short tiny play called Dowry! It was originally for an under 10 minute play writing contest. But it was so personal and special I decided to do it on Sherri’s Playhouse. It is a very short re-imagining of the founding of my family in the US. It was a very personal project and I am very interested in chatting with my cast about bringing the stories of my Grandma to life; http://tobtr.com/11417347 Tonight I presented on Sherri’s Playhouse a very short tiny play called Dowry ; http://tobtr.com/11422435
I chatted with some wonderful guests;
Chatting With Sherri welcomes author; Joe Spraga, we had a fun chat about writing and inspiration; http://tobtr.com/11380975
Chatting With Sherri welcomes Jacqueline M. Dodd an attorney who advocates for children, we had a great talk about how she helps others and how it all started; http://tobtr.com/11380987
Chatting With Sherri welcomes back; Shaquita Smith, we talked about her new films, and how she loves to direct and write films and where she gets her inspiration ; http://tobtr.com/11388623
Chatting With Sherri welcomes Writers of the Future winner; Carrie Callahan. We had a lovely chat about her story and how she felt winning the Writers of The Future award; http://tobtr.com/11388679
Chatting With Sherri welcomes back author; Kaaron Warren, we chatted about writing and what books we love. It was a lot of fun ; http://tobtr.com/11397401
Chatting With Sherri welcomes author; Crystal Westman, we chatted about her new book which is about a woman’s epic journey. It sounded great ; http://tobtr.com/11404721
And coming up;
Chatting With Sherri welcomes back award nominated author; RM Alexander 7/20/19 2pm pt; http://tobtr.com/11417381
Chatting With Sherri welcomes author; A L Walker on 7/21/19 at 4pm pt; http://tobtr.com/11404693
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I really needed to re-read this charming fairy tale of love. Four very diverse women come together to escape London in the a very dark and dreary winter, and their domestically difficult situations. Two young wives who feel separated and unloved by their husbands. A middle aged woman who felt old and elderly before her time and as though she belonged in the Victorian world and not the modern world of the 1920’s. A titled, amazingly beautiful, over petted and utterly miserable young woman who felt that love being taken from her once she wanted nothing to do with it again.
All four are vibrant intelligent women who are just waiting for adventure and maybe if they are lucky love. So they escape in spring to Italy, to a beautiful small castle on a hill. Full of flowers and beauty. And there they all go through their own inner growth. I won’t tell you how it works out for them but each of them surprise themselves and each other.
The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I have read this before a long time ago but to be very honest the only thing I remembered was Lady Eileen “Bundle” Brent and her father Lord Caterham. So re-reading it I find that I am much more intrigued by really the lead of the story; Anthony Cade, British-educated adventurer, down on his luck when the novel opens; 32 years old, and 14 years since he was last in England. He is really very interesting, smart, kind, funny, a decent guy. Yet he is a man of action, he can climb trees, fight bad guys and protect people. Sort of a down to earth swashbuckler, with a good heart.
The novel starts when Anthony is working as a tour guide in South Africa and runs into an old friend, James McGrath, a Canadian an old friend from school days. He has a really adventurous time and saved two people so he has two things he has to do in London, but he love to hunt gold so he asks his old buddy Anthony to do it. I won’t tell you the intricacies of the script I don’t want to spoil it for you.
Meanwhile back in good old London is a towering self important bore of a politician; The Honourable George Lomax, of the Foreign Office. He has brow beat poor Lord Caterham into having people down to his country estate Chimneys. It is a place that has seen a lot of history but all he wants is peace and quiet to work on his hobbies. Well it is not going to happen it is arranged. Poor Bill Eversleigh, who works for George Lomax and is one of the house party, he is an old friend of Bundles but he is in love with; Virginia Revel, cousin of George Lomax, daughter of a peer, society beauty and young widow of Timothy Revel, former British envoy to Herzoslovakia; she is 27 years old. Well she doesn’t want to go either but George pushes her to go so she makes the best of it.
Then Anthony and Virgina meet under difficult conditions, again don’t want to give the plot away but they become friend very quickly to protect Virgin who may be in more trouble then she realized.
Well they meet at the beautiful country estate and of course there is murder, mayhem, love, betrayal and general confusion, very entertainingly done. There are some super big surprises in this one. Definitely worth a read.
The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
In the last days of renting the estate Chimneys, Sir Oswald and Lady Coote host a party including Gerry Wade, Jimmy Thesiger, Ronny Devereux, Bill Eversleigh and Rupert “Pongo” Bateman, Sir Oswald’s secretary. Gerry Wade has a bad habit of oversleeping. The others plan a joke on Gerald by placing eight alarm clocks in his room and timing them to go off at intervals the next morning. The alarms are heard but Wade is not awake. The poor young man died.
Lord Caterham and his daughter Lady Eileen “Bundle” Brent move back into Chimneys. The coroner gives a verdict of Death by Misadventure for Gerry. Bundle, who adores Bill Eversleigh, puzzles over this event. She is not thrilled to find out that Gerry died in her room; she finds an unfinished letter from Gerry to Loraine dated the day before he died. He asks Loraine to forget about that Seven Dials business. She is even more puzzled and wonders if this Seven Dials business is the reason for the death of Gerry. So Bundle goes off to London to see Bill. She drives a car just like Phryne Fisher’s and with the same speed and skill and on the way, a man steps out of a hedge and into the road. Bundle misses him but he collapses anyway, muttering about “Seven Dials…Tell… Jimmy Thesiger.” Then he dies.
The next day Bundle reaches London and gets Jimmy’s address from Bill. She tells Loraine Wade and Jimmy of Ronny’s death. Bundle tells the other two of the warning letter that George Lomax received. Lomax is hosting a house party the following week at his house at Wyvern Abbey; Jimmy and Bundle get themselves invited by very different but clever means.
Bundle visits Superintendent Battle at Scotland Yard; he is being very mysterious but he does hint to Bundle that Bill knows something about Seven Dials. According to Bill, Seven Dials is a seedy nightclub and gambling den and Bundle insists he takes her there. In the club, Bundle recognizes the doorman as a footman from Chimneys. Bundle returns to the Seven Dials club and questions Alfred, the footman. He tells her that he left Chimneys for far higher wages offered by Mosgorovsky, owner of the club. Further, Mosgorovsky sends a replacement for Alfred at Chimneys, John Bauer. Alfred takes her into a secret room with a table and seven chairs. She hides in a cupboard in the room and witnesses a meeting. They wear masks with eye slits and clock faces on the hoods, each clock showing a different time. The only clue to identity is that one woman has a mole on her exposed shoulder blade.
Bundle and Jimmy arrive at Wyvern Abbey and are introduced to the Cootes, Sir Stanley Digby the Air Minister, Terence O’Rourke, and the Hungarian Countess Radzky. Superintendent Battle is there, disguised as a waiter, which Bundle finds very amusing but he is as formidable as ever. Bill Eversleigh is there as staff of Mr Lomax. Jimmy and Bill agree to keep watch, changing over at 3.00 am. Bundle and Loraine are both told to let the boys handle it, with the result they both find ways to sneak in. Really, Bill should know better!!!
Bundle, acting alone, changes her clothes and climbs down the ivy outside her room. She runs into Superintendent Battle, on his own watch outside, he tells her that he is aware of everything she has found out and to leave the lady with the mole alone. He persuades her to go back. She does so, and then checks on Jimmy in the hall. Finding him gone, she goes to Bill’s bedroom but finds that she has erred and is in the Countess’s empty room. Bundle hears a tremendous struggle in the library, and two gunshots. Apparently the bad guy fought with Jimmy and shot him as he escaped.
Bill goes to Jimmy’s London flat. Ronny Devereux’s executors have sent him a letter written by Ronny, and Bill is amazed. Jimmy rings up Bundle and Loraine and tells them to meet him and Bill at the Seven Dials club, Bill’s story being “the biggest scoop of the century.” Loraine reports that there is something wrong with Bill. They find him unconscious in the car. Then someone knocks Bundle unconscious. She comes round in Bill’s arms, where she stays comfortably cuddled in his arms, with her eyes closed, as Bill finally tells her how he feels about her, thinking her unconscious.
And that is all I am going to tell you. Because that would be spoilers of what is really going on in this rather wild plot. It is a fun tale, it sort of reminds me of the first Tommy and Tuppence story. I highly recommend it.
rithebard 