The Albion spring edition arrives a little later than usual in order to accommodate our major special on Liverpool culture, featuring interviews by James with Scouse legends Mike McCartney (with a heartwarming anecdote about his father Jim’s Yorkshire puddings, as well as some stories of a certain individual endearingly referred to as 'our kid'), and Roger McGough on the occasion of the new Scaffold box set release. James also reviews this collection of the surrealist Merseyside trio's work in depth, while Mark looks at Ian Leslie’s poignant new book John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs, and I take the opportunity to revisit Paul Du Noyer’s captivating Liverpool: Wondrous Place. It was while we were putting the finishing touches on this special feature that the shocking news about the events at the Liverpool FC victory parade came through, and we send our love and sympathy.
In Art Paul reviews an exhibition at Pallant House Gallery on pre-Second World War artist Dora Carrington --whose oeuvre is finally beginning to get the recognition that it deserves-- and in the process evokes the turbulence of early twentieth-century English bohemia. Mark evaluates a new book by Nicola Moorby which compares two very different artistic contemporaries, the bucolic Constable and the atmospheric Turner, and their wary but respectful relationship.
English country life is notoriously variable: while some villages are warm and friendly, others are best given a wide berth. This is particularly true of E. F. Benson’s Tilling and Riseholme, dominated by the terrifying Mapp and Lucia, and Mark provides an entertaining overview of these wildly popular comic novels. Also in Books, Paul reviews a new social history of Southwark through the ages by Margaret Willes, which uncovers the area’s extraordinarily rich cultural heritage. Mary examines the profound High Anglican angst and spiritual crisis captured in the outwardly comical The Towers of Trebizond by Rose Macaulay, while I look at the politics —gender and otherwise— of Sir Kazuo Ishiguro’s An Artist of the Floating World and The Remains of the Day. These two novels, although set respectively in postwar Japan and England, rhyme in arresting and sometimes uncanny ways.
Finally, in Music, Em reviews the latest releases of English classical works, including Sorabji, Coates, and Vaughan Williams, and is delighted by a particularly special new recording of Quilter's songs. I would also like to draw your attention to Michael Lowe's delightful image on our home page. Need a Good Companion? Get yourself a typewriter!
We hope that you enjoy this edition, and we’ll be back in the autumn. See you then!--The Editor
