A great day spent with friends on Sunday 8th March, reading from and discussing fiction that comments directly or indirectly on the lives of women. Violet read from Jessie Kesson’s ‘Where the Apple Ripens’; Steve from Vera Britten’s ‘Testament of Youth’, while I read from one of my own short stories, ‘Small Beginnings’ which explains how things really got started in the Garden of Eden. Emily read a poem by Ursula Fanthorpe, while Charl read one poem by herself and another by her daughter that celebrated the quality of their relationship. Christine tantalised us with an article about Diana Dors from a magazine of the Sixties and with snippets from various other publications of the era. There was much wide-ranging and animated discussion about issues such as violence against women, the roles women have been expected to fulfil at various points in history and how far (or not) things have changed.
Even though Naresh, the billed chef, had gone AWOL, we still managed a comprehensive lunch, courtesy Camilla and me. The event raised £300 for Tribal women in Maharashtra, supported by the work of the Impact India Foundation.