Lee Stuart Evans at Bromley House

You can catch Lee Stuart Evans at Bromley House Library, Angel Row, Nottingham NG1 6HL on November 23^rd at 6pm. He’ll be talking about his latest release Pleasantly Disturbed, his writing inspirations and his influences.

Link to book your place There will be a bar. If you have any questions about this event please contact the library on 01159 473134 or e-mail enquiries@bromleyhouse.org

Lee’s latest novel Pleasantly Disturbed is a comedic coming-of-age mystery and love story, set against the backdrop of the East Midlands in the 1980s. His debut novel, Words Best Sung (2017), showcased his knack for blending humour with heartfelt storytelling. There’s more jinx and reminiscing to be had in his new book, a story of teenage kicks and how music can help a turbulent time make sense.

Robin, a cheeky teenager from a Nottinghamshire mining town, fancies himself the next Jim Kerr of Simple Minds. The catch? He can’t sing, unlike his girlfriend, Fliss, a more reluctant musical prodigy with the voice of Kate Bush.

While Robin's busy dreaming of stardom working at a local garage, Fliss auditions for a TV talent show. Meanwhile, Robin’s eccentric colleague Vern, who’s read one too many Maigret novels, ropes him into investigating a series of car thefts linked to a old railway station near Sherwood Forest. Things take a turn for the worse when Robin and Fliss are dragged into a police investigation.

Lee has penned another nostalgic, feel-good novel that captures the essence of 1980s Midlands life. Robin and Fliss are endearing, and their struggles and ambitions are touching and funny. Robin’s delusions of grandeur and lack of talent are a perfect foil to Fliss’s quiet brilliance, while the witty dialogue, vivid descriptions, and the transformative power of music, accompany the exploration of teenage dreams and young love, while also delving into the odd darker theme.

Fans of 1980s music will love the cultural references and Jim Kerr fandom, and there’s local mentions galore - Nottingham Forest, Cresswell Craggs, Wellbeck etc. etc. But if you not from Notts, or have no fondness for Simple Minds or ‘80s’ music, you’ll still be charmed by the novel’s humour, warmth, and engaging plot. Highly recommended for anyone looking for an entertaining read that balances nostalgia, humour, and warmth. It’s also pleasantly unpredictable.

About the Author

Lee Stuart Evans, raised in north Notts, is a BAFTA-nominated comedy writer with over two decades of experience. He’s worked with some of the UK’s top comedians, including Sean Lock, Harry Hill, and Jimmy Carr. 

Poodle Parlour

This poodle parlour was on Hounds Gate in Nottingham, near Spaniel Row.

The woman featured, Anne Cox, died this year. She was colourful character herself. In addition to settting up her poodle parlour, the first in the country to dye the dogs, she ran away to join the circus where she took care of the elephants, before she joined a repertory theatre and acted in many productions. She was later heavily involved in Nottingham Speakers' Club having previously joined Newark Speakers' Club as they were one of the first to accept female members.

Poetry Launch at Central Library

Five Leaves New Poetry series, part of Nottingham Poetry Festival 2024, continues at Nottingham Central Library.

Hear from Fiona Theokritoff and Nathan Fidler, along with guest appearances from other poets in the series.

June 13th, 2024, 7pm-8.45pm

It is a fundamental law in our universe that energy cannot be destroyed, it can only be transformed. This principle lies at the heart of Fiona Theokritoff‘s debut pamphlet, New Uses for a Wand, which follows the way our world has taken the old energy of magic and alchemy, and transformed it through inspiration, conflict and necessity into today’s energy of science and technology. The poems explore the pain as well as the inevitability of change, how our world changes, and how our global and personal relation­ships change as a result. And how humans will always struggle to love, whatever the cost.

Collecting poems with a sense of anxiety or an underlying itch – sometimes with a drop of wry humour – You Worry Too Much is the debut pamphlet of Nottingham-born poet Nathan Fidler. There are poems for people long gone, for people still here, and for tiny insects. There are poems about the strangeness of being alive, here with you. Often written last thing at night in the moments before nodding off, or after the buzz of a coffee in the morning, they acknowledge that we get these feelings sometimes, of doubt, of worry. Don’t you? There aren’t really any answers here, this isn’t a self-help pamphlet. You’ll just have to sit with that vague feeling for a while.

FREE TICKETS HERE

Our Celery Days

In John Deane, his adventures by land and sea, by W H G Kingston, I came across the following passage:

It was French prisoner who first observed celery growing wild on rock on which Nottingham Castle stands, Alamon Francaise, and having cultivated it successfully in his own little garden, he made that pleasant edition to English tables, from that time forth common every where throughout the kingdom.

In 1704 the Duke of Marlborough had defeated the French at the battle of Blenheim. Of the captured 13,000 prisoners, a number of French officers, aristocrats and servants were taken to Nottingham. One of the men, Marshal Tallart/Marshall Tallard, was allowed to rent Newdigate House on Castle Gate. He too is cited as the man that brought the stringy foodstuff to our tables after noticing wild celery growing in the Nottingham marshes.  

Whilst celery was not a new discovery, both Francaise and Tallard are credited with making it popular cuisine in England, with others following their taste.

 

Tallard also had a taste for Nottingham women. In 1724-5, Daniel Defoe wrote of him:

They showed us the Gardens of Count Tallard, who, in his Confinement here, after having been taken Prisoner by the renowned Duke of Marlborough, at the glorious Battle of Blenheim, amused himself with making a small but beautiful Parterre, after the French Taste, which happens not to be the reigning one with us at present. ‘Tis said, likewise, that this gallant Gentleman left behind him here some living Memorandums of his great Affection and Esteem for the English Ladies.

Captain John Deane, born in Nottingham in 1679, lived a life full of adventure. He died in his 80s and is buried in the Wilford Churchyard so beloved by Henry Kirke White.