In My Hands Today…

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The Royal Nanny – Karen Harper

26795367Based on a seldom-told true story, this novel is perfect for everyone who is fascinated by Britain’s royal family—a behind the scenes look into the nurseries of little princes and the foibles of big princes.

April, 1897: A young nanny arrives at Sandringham, ancestral estate of the Duke and Duchess of York. She is excited, exhausted—and about to meet royalty. . . .

So begins the unforgettable story of Charlotte Bill, who would care for a generation of royals as their parents never could. Neither Charlotte—LaLa, as her charges dub her—nor anyone else can predict that eldest sons David and Bertie will each one day be king. LaLa knows only that these children, and the four who swiftly follow, need her steadfast loyalty and unconditional affection.

But the greatest impact on Charlotte’s life is made by a mere bud on the family tree: a misunderstood soul who will one day be known as the Lost Prince. Young Prince John needs all of Lala’s love—the kind of love his parents won’t…or can’t…show him.

From Britain’s old wealth to the glittering excesses of Tsarist Russia; from country cottages to royal yachts, and from nursery to ballroom, Charlotte Bill witnesses history. The Royal Nanny is a seamless blend of fact and fiction—an intensely intimate, yet epic tale spanning decades, continents, and divides that only love can cross.

In My Hands Today…

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Homegoing – Yaa Gyasi

27071490Two half sisters, Effia and Esi, unknown to each other, are born into different villages in eighteenth-century Ghana. Effia is married off to an Englishman and will live in comfort in the palatial rooms of Cape Coast Castle, raising children who will be sent abroad to be educated before returning to the Gold Coast to serve as administrators of the empire. Esi, imprisoned beneath Effia in the Castle’s women’s dungeon and then shipped off on a boat bound for America, will be sold into slavery.

Stretching from the wars of Ghana to slavery and the Civil War in America, from the coal mines in the American South to the Great Migration to twentieth-century Harlem, Yaa Gyasi’s novel moves through histories and geographies.

2017 Week 20 Update

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We’re close to the halfway mark of this year and I suspect I am starting to get depressed with this whole job hunt business. 

This week was my usual sort of week with some errands I had to run outside the home. It actually felt good to get out and I am really yearning to start working again so I can be out and about. For someone who prefers books to people, this is surprising even to me! I think this year plus of introspection has made me even more committed to doing a great job should I be hired. Though I sometimes wonder if I will ever get hired. Wonder if it’s my age which is against me. Anyway I did promise not to bring my negativity here, so I’ll stop right here. 

School ends this week and I should really start planning a short holiday. S is busy but can spare a couple of days. So need to research places close to home. I am actually rooting for a destination in Malaysia which is a 3-4 hour driving distance away, but will look at some Indonesian islands which are a short ferry ride away too!

Have an awesome week folks and hope your week is filled with joy and happiness. 

Secondary 2 Week 20 Update

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This was the penultimate week of school before they break for the mid-year holidays and other than paper checking, the children had some fun in school. 

GG went for a two day coding workshop. Initially she was very resistant to the idea of coding, even after I explained how it was a life skill these days. Her reasoning was that she was planning to major in humanities so coding which was a science subject was of no use to her. But she enjoyed the workshop so much that she was super excited to go back to school for the next day’s session. She also did a geography investigation where they interviewed residents near their school on their take on the amenities found there and what they liked/disliked about the neighbourhood. They now have to do a report and present it to their class. 

BB was the big surprise this week. His school’s lifelong learning programme is music and arts and as part of this, they had a music fest in school where students had to make groups and perform like a band where they have one or two students singing and the others playing instruments.  Now although BB was in his school choir in primary school, after his voice broke almost two years back, he has refused to sing at all, being very self-conscious about his half childish and half adult voice. So when he told me he was going to sing, I was actually surprised and GG and I landed up at his school to listen to him. We were pleasantly surprised. He did a great job of singing One Direction’s Night Changes and they were the only group who got calls of encore and one more song from the audience which mostly comprised his cohort and some parents. After the concert and the next day, many students came up to him to tell him he had sung well. The best accolade for him came from his principal. He met her in the corridor and she stopped and told him he sang very well. BB was so happy when he came home that day!

This week is the parent teacher meeting in both schools and then they break for almost a month. Both have activities the first 10 days of the holidays and then it’s play time for them.