Professor Annika Bautz recently gave her Inaugural Lecture at the University of Plymouth titled 'Jane Austen and her readers: what makes a bestseller?

You can now view her talk on Youtube. Professor Bautz conducted research at the PPL and discusses our Library at 48.19.

Laura Horton, the Plymouth Laureate of Words, presented a World Book Day event to unveil a new modern play text collection at the PPL. She gave a play reading followed by a Q&A

Laura Horton unveiled a new modern plays section, generously donated by Concord Theatricals and Paines Plough to celebrate World Book Day on 3rd March.
The event included a short reading of one of Laura's new plays, Breathless.
This was followed by a Q&A with Plymouth's first woman and playwright in the role of Plymouth Laureate of Words:

"I'm really keen to get people to think about picking up a play to read like they would a novel or short story. Plays are so accessible and fun to read, they fire your visual imagination in wonderful ways. I'm delighted that Concord Theatricals have donated such a brilliant range to the library and hope people get lots of use out of them."

Many thanks to everyone who donated money at this event at the PPL. £166.30 was raised and given to the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.

The Trustees are pleased to announce that Darren Bevin has been appointed as Library Manager from Monday 7th March.

Darren has worked in various libraries including Chawton House in Hampshire that houses a rare book library of early women writers and was once home to Jane Austen's brother (Jane herself lived at the cottage close by). He has also worked in libraries in Manchester, Cambridge and Switzerland.

Darren says "I will be attending the coffee morning on Saturday 12th March and look forward to meeting members (and potential members!) over the coming days and weeks. The library is a lovely quiet sanctuary and I aim to make it an attractive venue for a wide range of events in the near future that will appeal to existing and new members alike."

The trustees are looking forward to working with Darren to grow the membership and range of activities that we offer.

There is no change to the library opening hours at this time.

We have launched a PPL Digital Community to allow members to keep in touch, submit articles and stories or just to let us know how you are doing. We may not be able to meet up in person but that is no reason why we cannot keep in touch. you are also able to comment and discuss all the submissions.

Click on the PPL Community Menu option at the top of the page - or CLICK HERE

Got something to say then email your submission to editor@theppl.org.uk after all there is little else to do!!

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

Following a meeting of the trustees today (Friday 20th March) to discuss the future opening hours of the library after much soul searching it was unanimously decided that that the library will close completely from 2.00pm on Saturday 21st March in line with government advice on non-essential businesses.

With this in mind all events and meetings at the library have been cancelled until further notice. Please see the website for the most up to date information as to when things will restart.

There is no need for any books that are out on loan to be returned until we reopen.

You can still email the library at admin@theppl.org.uk and about once a week we will check the answerphone for messages.

During the closure the trustees will continue to “meet” albeit digitally to prepare an events programme so we are ready to hit the ground running when we reopen later in the year.

Plymouth Proprietary Library
From the President
10th March 2020

Events
The holding of scheduled events will be reviewed in the light of Government advice please see our website for the latest information.

Recommendations for our Library

We are recommending the following specific practices within the library.   The basis of making these small adjustments to our practices is twofold:

1. Forming good habits ahead of any local outbreak will help us proactively stay ahead of any risks, and

2. Even if we are healthy and at a very low risk of harm, there are others in our community with weaker immune systems whom we will be helping by taking precautions.

On entering the library

Visitors should disinfect their hands with a disinfectant alcohol-based hand sanitiser from a dispenser which will be placed at the entrance of the library. As this is becoming more difficult to source, please bring your own disinfectant gel with you if possible.

Greeting People

Avoid shaking hands and kissing other visitors.

The PPL Celebrates a Forgotten Feminist - Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott is known principally for her novel, Little Women, published in 1868, never out of print and loved by readers all over the world ever since. The story, an idealized portrayal of Alcott’s own family, traces the lives of a middle-class, if impoverished, New England family through the four March sisters as they grow from childhood to womanhood.

Much more than a cosy family story, the novel is also subtly subversive, particularly in the portrait of Jo March, who has become one of the most iconic and influential characters in literature – acknowledged by later writers such as Simone de Beauvoir, JK Rowling, Gloria Steinem, Erica Jong and Carson McCullers as a seminal force in the development of their own work. Simone de Beauvoir commented that ‘…she [Jo March] was so much more tomboyish and daring than I was, but I shared her horror of sewing and housekeeping and her love of books’.

“British identity in the poetry of James Thompson and the music of Thomas Arne”

After the abolition of the Scottish Parliament in 1707 a new British identity was required that could apply to the whole of Great Britain. Thompson and Arne were two important people in its formulation. Is their contribution no longer relevant with the growth of separate Scottish and Welsh identities?

This lecture by Fr Gregory Carpenter will take place at the PPL on ??/??/???? starting at 11.30. Admission £?.?? including cake and refreshments.

The Library Flat on the first floor is now refurbished and being marketed for rent by SAMS Accommodation Agency.  All enquiries go through SAMS telephone 01752 481382 www.samsaccommodation.co.uk The flat is suitable for one person or a couple.

NEW ADDITION!

Agatha Christie’s first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, is now available to borrow from the Classic Crime Collection.
The novel introduces the reader to three of Christie’s most-loved characters:

• Captain Hastings, injured in the First World War and recuperating at the country home, Styles, of his old friend John Cavendish;
• Hercule Poirot, the Belgian refugee temporarily living in Styles St Mary due to the kindness of John’s stepmother, Emily Inglethorp;
• Detective Inspector James Japp of Scotland Yard, who first met Poirot when they worked together on a case in Brussels in 1904, and is now charged with finding the murderer.

Agatha Christie began the story in 1916 but it was not published until 1920. Drawing on her work as a volunteer nurse with Belgian soldiers and later with Belgian refugees in Torquay, it is a clever tale of murder set in a country house occupied by various individuals – the Inglethorp family, servants, lady companion, doctor, friend of the family – who all seem to have something to hide. The story was well-received and achieved substantial sales for the novice writer.

The reviewer in the Times Literary Supplement of 3 February 1921 stated:

It is said to be the author’s first book and the result of a bet about the possibility of writing a detective story in which the reader would not be able to spot the criminal. Every reader must admit that the bet was won.

Did you know?

• Agatha Christie later called her house ‘Styles’;
• The final Poirot novel, Curtain (1975), returns to Styles for its setting;
• The author earned only £25 for her story – no-one knows how much her publisher, John Lane, made!

 Elaine Henderson

DEATH OF A GENTLE LADY
by M C BEATON
A Hamish MacBeth Mystery

Another story from the ever-popular MC Beaton and her engaging Highland policeman, Hamish MacBeth. Tall, lanky and with a shock of bright red hair, Hamish lives in his beloved police house in the  village of Lochdubh, along with his sheep, chickens, dog Lugs, and half-tamed wildcat Sonsie. Hamish is a quiet, if eccentric, man, lacking ambition, but in spite of this his natural Highland curiosity, local knowledge and intuition allow him to solve crimes in spite of himself – and much to the annoyance of his senior officer, Blair, who is constantly trying to force the closure of the police station and the removal of the policeman to the nearby town of Strathbane. In this story, Beaton introduces Mrs Gentle, a ‘sweet little old lady’ who is anything but sweet and gentle! Hamish is drawn into a series of disasters which result in the policeman himself becoming a murder suspect.

A fine example of ‘cosy crime’ the story is immensely readable with well-drawn characters, intriguing plot and plenty of beautiful Highland scenery. Perfect escapism for grey, winter days.

Elaine Henderson

HISTORIC BOOKS
and tea in the drawing room
Saturday 27th May 2017 10am to 4pm
Free event for the Plymouth History Festival