Once I was a clever boy learning the arts of Oxford... is a quotation from the verses written by Bishop Richard Fleming (c.1385-1431) for his tomb in Lincoln Cathedral. Fleming, the founder of Lincoln College in Oxford, is the subject of my research for a D. Phil., and, like me, a son of the West Riding. I have remarked in the past that I have a deeply meaningful on-going relationship with a dead fifteenth century bishop... it was Fleming who, in effect, enabled me to come to Oxford and to learn its arts, and for that I am immensely grateful.


Tuesday, 16 June 2020

Book recommendation


Elena Vidal, who publishes the excellent Tea at Trianon blog about the later Bourbons and the Court at Versailles had hoped to visit Oxford this spring and we had arranged to meet so that I could give her a tour of the city and generally to share ideas. Well, thanks to Covid-19 that has gone, for the moment, the way of so many plans this year, but we hope to rearrange the visit for a time when travel is possible and social distancing back to the “new normal”, if not normal.

In the meantime she wrote last month and drew my attention to a book on modern rather than historical concerns, and as the book is available in the UK through Amazon, I thought it easiest to reproduce her e-mail and share it with readers. I have not so far been able to look at The Last Closet myself, but online reviews are clearly favourable to a book about deeply unpleasant matters, and Elena is a highly respected Catholic blogger.

Elena wrote as follows:

Here is a review of The Last Closet, a book by my lovely friend Moira Greyland, who is the daughter of author Marion Zimmer Bradley. Mrs. Bradley wrote The Mists of Avalon which became a best-selling novel and miniseries. Moira, who is now a practicing Catholic, survived a childhood of extreme abuse in her parents' home. The book describes how the philosophies embraced by her parents made it easier for them to abuse their children with little or no remorse. I am encouraging everyone over 25 to read The Last Closet since it offers many insights into the source of much of the deep confusion in our society. Moira saw the review and appreciates it and is glad that I am spreading it: https://teaattrianon.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-last-closet-dark-side-of-avalon.html

No comments: