Memoirs from Mrs. Hudson's Kitchen — A Rare Find

What am I celebrating this week? A rare literary treat for Sherlock Holmes lovers— Memoirs from Mrs. Hudson's Kitchen, written by Canadian author Wendy Heyman-Marsaw and edited by  JoAnn and Mark Alberstat.

Wendy Heyman-Marsaw

Mark Alberstat

Memoirs from Mrs. Hudson's Kitchen, is a treasure trove  for writers of Sherlock Holmes pastiches and fan fiction.  It's also sheer pleasure reading for those who simply like wondering about the fictitious people who lived at 221b Baker Street. Settling into these pages, it's easy to believe they actually existed.

Mrs. Hudson, readers will recall, was the patient landlady who rented rooms to Holmes and Watson. What's fun about this book is Mrs. Hudson's many observations on the habits of these gentlemen, what they preferred for breakfast, whether they took tea or coffee (coffee with breakfast, tea for special occasions), little gossipy tidbits like that. Obviously the landlady was an avid reader of Watson's stories, for she refers to various cases in little trips of her own down memory lane. Not surprisingly, her memories involve meals served, advances in kitchen gadgetry, recipes with instructions for preparing several recipes, and cleaning tips she and her maid, Molly used to keep 221b clean and sparkling.

Mrs. Hudson was well-read in general, and these memoirs provide her own slant on Victorian society, train travel, fashion, the history of certain buildings, and on Queen Victoria herself. We also get a glimpse into Mrs. Hudson's personal background — how she met her husband; how he died; why she never remarried. (Heyman-Marsaw provides a lovely portrait supposedly of Mrs. Hudson as a young woman.)

This delightful book both an enjoyable read and a truly useful handbook for anyone writing about the Victorian Era in general or Sherlock Holmes adventures in particular — all enhanced by newspaper photographs and advertisements of the time. Five stars to this fine book.

You can order Memoirs of Mrs. Hudson's Kitchen HERE
You can follow her on Facebook HERE or follow her on Twitter HERE


What are you celebrating today? Did you watch Victoria last night after the Super Bowl? Do you have a favorite book that provides examples of memorabilia and realia of a historical time?

Celebrate the Small Things  is a blog hop co-hosted by Lexa Cain at: Lexa Cain,  L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge , and Tonja Drecker @ Tidbits Blog. (You can go to any of these sites to add your name to the links, if you want to participate.)

Celebrating Being Home

I seem to have fallen by the wayside when it comes to blogging in recent months. Preparing for travels, our trip to Spain and Portugal, and trying to put finishing touches on notes for recent books, all distracted me from both blogs. We got home Monday evening, and I've been busy ever since then, catching up. But I do have things to celebrate:

First, Celebrate the Small Things  is a blog hop co-hosted by Lexa Cain at: Lexa Cain,  L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge , and Tonja Drecker @ Tidbits Blog. (You can go to any of these sites to add your name to the links, if you want to participate. )

Now to the celebrations:

1. As some of you know, I discovered last year that I have glaucoma. It was really severe, too, when the opthamologist discovered it. I've had surgery in the eye most severely affected, and I've been taking drops in both eyes to bring the pressure down. I am diligent in taking my drops. Still, one can't help but be nervous. So in my last exam -- GOOD NEWS: The pressure came down some more in both eyes. I am so happy about that.

   

2. As mentioned earlier, my picture book, Dragonella, was released October 20th (in time for Christmas.) Here is the LINK if you want to order a copy for a little one: 

3. But I also have a contract for my story collection for children, The Carnival of the Animals, which will  come out next year. As you can imagine, I feel like turning somersaults of joy.

4. A book I ordered came in my absence: Memoirs from Mrs. Hudson's Kitchen, by Wendy Herman-Marsaw. As many of you know, I am a great Sherlock Holmes fan. (My book, Imogene and the Case of the Missing Pearls, includes him among the characters.) This book includes many details of Victorian society during the time of the Sherlock Holmes canon, as well as recipes for meals served in various classes — all through the eyes of the Great Detective's landlady.   And here is a LINK for it.

5. I'm submitting my cosy mystery novel now, and waiting with bated breath for the sound of the pebble landing somewhere. 

I'm also caught up on a lot of things, now, so I expect to be blogging more faithfully, both here and on my Fourth Wish blog next door. 


How about you? Have things distracted you from blogging? Have you had good health news lately? Are you submitting your writing projects? Do you have any good summer 

Sherlock Holmes - Tangled Skeins

This wonderful collection of tales is a pastiche. According to Wikipedia, “A pastiche is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, or music that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche celebrates, rather than mocks, the work it imitates.”

Tangled Skeins is indeed a celebration of the characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson and the writing style of Sir Arthur Canon Doyle. For Holmes and Watson lovers, there is the pleasure of encountering beloved characters in new adventures. For pastiche lovers, there is the admiration of seeing how Marcum gets the tone and style just right. For lovers of good writing, there is the pleasure of well-crafted, intricately plotted stories that keep the pages turning.

I especially liked the humorous introduction by David Marcum, purportedly the editor of  these “undiscovered” tales. In Part I, Marcum recounts his life-long attachment to wearing a Deerstalker hat. In Part II, he takes the reader on his pilgrimage to famous Sherlockian sites mentioned in the canon and in other pastiches. Part III explains how Marcum came by these stories during his London pilgrimage: A strange man had instructions to give a certain tin box to a man in a Deerstalker hat. Inside the box are the stories, along with Watson’s foreword saying he is leaving them temporarily with a friend while he and Holmes finish up a case. Apparently he never came back for them. There are five tales in all:

            In “The Mystery at Kerrett’s Root”, Mrs. Grimshaw, Mrs. Hudson’s widowed sister, meets Holmes and Watson on the train when they are returning to London during a case. Mrs. Grimshaw has a ghost story to relate, but in the convoluted tale that unfolds, much more is revealed than the ghost that has frightened her.

            In “The Curious Incident of the Goat Cart Man”, Watson joins Holmes, Inspector Patterson, and several detectives at Paddington Station on a case involving Professor Moriarty when another case intrudes. The new case includes two brothers and a recluse whose life may be in danger, Sir Giles Gidley-Hall. Sir Giles, impoverished by debts, now resides at the edge of his former park. He’s eccentric, riding around the park in a cart pulled by a goat, and the revelations solving his plight lead eerily back to Moriarty.

            “The Matter of Boz’s Last Letter” features an auction and a letter by Dickens that outlines  his ending to The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Or does it?  Or is it really by Dickens? Whatever the truth, the contents are incendiary and could be dangerous to the Crown. Soon both Mycroft and Sherlock are at work on surprising and interwoven aspects of the case.

            In “The Tangled Skein at Birling Gap”, Sherlock is retired, but as Watson visits his friend in Sussex, the reader learns that Holmes still consults when his assistance is needed. At Birling Gap, a boy has been kidnapped for ransom. While Holmes and Watson are planning their approach to the kidnapper, they learn that Officer Warren at the coast guard residencies has been murdered. Holmes narrows down who the killer is and why. Not surprisingly in a Sherlock story, these two cases are related. But no spoilers here. You’ll have to read this satisfying story yourself.

            My favorite in the collection is “The Gower Street Murder”, a story within a story that features the Wiggins family. In the original canon, the Baker Street Irregulars were street urchins spying for Holmes, who made Wiggins their leader. In this story, before Watson ever knew him, Holmes helped clear Peter Wiggins’s  mother of a false murder charge. Watson encounters the grown Peter on return from an errand for Holmes on a current case, and he’s invited to join Holmes at Wiggins’ home for his mother’s funeral. The tale of how Holmes cleared Mrs. Wiggins unfolds in bits and pieces by Holmes and by Lestrade, also attending the funeral. Simultaneously, their current case also progresses, and Peter has a role in its success. A long story, beautifully told.

Tangled Skeins will be released April 12, 2015, but can be pre-ordered  HERE.

You can order it RIGHT NOW at Strand Magazine HERE .

David Marcum, when not
wearing his Deerstalker hat. 

You can visit David Marcum and his books at his Amazon author page HERE. 

                                                        You can also visit him on Facebook HERE .

And you can find other cool Sherlock Holmes books at MX Publishing HERE .