England 2018: Charles Dickens Museum

On my final day in London, I headed out early to maximize my final hours in the city. I grabbed a quick latte and muffin at Starbucks and saw this mural. I love her sass and wonder if she is based on a real person? Is she someones grandma?

In front of the Charles Dickens Museum, I found blue markers to honor literary luminaries.

Charles Dickens rented this London residence at 48 Doughty Street from 1837-1839. Dickens and his wife, Catherine, raised their eldest three children here and this is where he wrote three of his most successful novels: Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, and The Pickwick Papers.

I arrived when the museum opened and paid my 9.50 pound entry fee. The museum is small and can be toured in less than an hour. They do have a garden cafe, but I did not visit it. I toured during a quiet morning and I was mostly alone during my visit.

Even if you have zero interest in Dickens, this home is a great example of life during the victorian era. It has been restored and each room showcases the lifestyle of not only the Dickens family, but of how other upper-middle class families of the era would have lived. Dickens lived here during a successful part of his career and loved to throw dinner parties that included artists and thinkers of the time. It was quite the social butterfly!

The first level of the house contains a living room, dining room, kitchen, and wine cellar.

The second floor of the home contains the bedrooms, nursery, parlor/study, and dressing room. During their time here, Dickens’ teenage sister-in-law, Mary, came to live with them. Mary and Dickens were very close and she died in his arms, after a short illness. He struggled after her death and even fell behind on his publishing commitments.

Charles Dickens’ writing desk aka “where the magic happened.”

Various editions of Dickens’ novels.

One room was filled with quotes from Dickens’ stories. How many do you recognize?

The final part of the museum contained additional information about Dickens, such as his passion for learning. Dickens was fascinated by science, mysticism, medicine, and mesmerism. These ideas often found their way into his stories. There was a model of the “Pepper’s Ghost” illusion, which if you’ve been to a Disney park, is used in the Haunted Mansion ballroom scene.

Poverty is at the center of many of Dickens’ novels. He faced this issue as a child, when his father, John, was sent to Marshalsea Prison for being a debtor. This situation forced Dickens to begin working at twelve, including a job at Warren’s Blacking Factory. This trauma influenced not only his writing, but also prompted Dickens to spend his life champion causes to help improve equality with regard to race, sex, and economics. Despite his adulthood success, Dickens was profoundly affected by his childhood.

Lastly, a piece of not only my least favorite Dickens’ novel, but the required reading of my high school years that I detested the most. Truth be told, I enjoyed most of the required reading, but I did not enjoy A Tale of Two Cities, which I read in Mr. Duffield’s 10th grade AP World History class. Oh, how I hated A Tale of Two Cities!

If you’re a Dickens fan, book lover, or just want to see a really beautiful victorian home, I highly recommend a trip to the Charles Dickens Museum. As a bonus, it is located in a lovely neighborhood, which I also recommend taking the time to explore.

Book Review: Kim Liggett's The Grace Year

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a copy of Kim Liggett’s novel, The Grace Year, in exchange for an honest review.

Garner County is ruled by men and those men enforce a rigid moral code through severe punishment and fear. As part of their fear tactics, all sixteen-year-old girls must retreat to the woods for what is termed as their “Grace Year.” Far from home, they will survive together in a rustic fort and get rid of “their magic.” The idea that teen girls possess powerful magic is a deeply held superstition that has all of the men in the community terrified and willing to send their daughters into harms way to dispel it. When the girls return from their “Grace Year”, they are forbidden to speak about it and the whole thing is shrouded in mystery, especially since many girls don’t return, and those who do are damaged, including missing limbs.

Tierney James is facing her “Grace Year” and her rebel heart makes her question the process. As she embarks on her journey, her experiences tell her to question everything, even if it means she could be killed, either by shadowy poachers who kidnap “Grace Year” girls to harvest their magical body parts, or by the patriarchy of Garner County, who don’t stand for dissent.

The Grace Year is young adult fiction that is a blend of The Hunger Games and The Handmaid’s Tale. It has the blood-sport, teens killing teens for survival and uncomfortable love triangle of the former, with the women rising against oppression of the latter.

Liggett has a created an intriguing premise and the first third of the book is a page-turner. I was hooked immediately. Mostly, I wanted to know the mystery of the “Grace Year” and to understand why girls were dying and getting maimed. It’s grotesque. I was particularly intrigued by the idea that there are poachers who flay the girls, selling their body parts as magical medicine. This is sick and stomach turning enough when we think of this happening to endangered animals, let alone teenage girls.

The Grace Year starts off like a shot, but has a soggy middle. The love story did not work for me and it distracted from the story of the girls. In a similar dynamic as Katniss in The Hunger Games trilogy, Tierney faces a situation of passionate love with a fiery partner vs. the less interesting, yet steady love of a guy who she has in the friend-zone. Like Katniss, Tierney is a strong woman, who makes it quite clear that there are more important things in her life than love. Tierney is very vocal in her desire to avoid marriage and to lead a life of working in the fields. She does not dream of romantic love, yet it seems to find her. It is possible for her to have a change heart or to be swept away in the moment, but I found the weight given to this aspect of the story, undermined the strength and spirit of her character.

The story redeems itself in the last third, where many of the mysteries are solved and where the women show their power. The strongest element of The Grace Year, is the concept of oppression. The women are not the only ones who are oppressed by Garner County’s rules. Anyone who tries to challenge or who dares to be different, is beaten, executed, or banished to the edge of town. The family members of unruly citizens, even very young children, can be punished. The banishment creates a whole different class of society; women who survive by prostitution and men who become the poachers. The people who are banished live through the mercy of those who are still in town. They are part of the ecosystem of Garner County, yet they exist on the edge of it. Their participation in superstition of the power of young girls is part of maintaining the patriarchy.

Garner County reminded me of Salem, Massachusetts during the infamous witch trials. During that time, Salem had both a strong patriarchal and religious culture with fear ruling the society. Punishment could be severe. The young girls who made accusations of witchcraft found their power in a society where they had none. The Grace Year explores this concept in opposite, as the “Grace Year” is not supposed to give girls power, but the concept of it is to break the girls and make them compliant as they head back to Garner County to be the property of men. As soon as they return, they will be either wives or workers, with communication between women a rarity.

Although the middle was a tad sluggish, I enjoyed The Grace Year. I read that Elizabeth Banks has optioned the film rights, with Liggett working on the screen play. The story is exciting with many unexpected twists. It is very cinematic and I can imagine that it would be a box-office hit.

England 2018: The Imperial War Museum

On the last full-day of my London vacation, I visited The Imperial War Museum. The Imperial War Museum was absolutely amazing and next to The Churchill War Rooms, it was the best place that I’ve visited in London.

More on that in a minute…remember how I mentioned getting lost in London? Well, my GPS continued to fail me and I had an ordeal as I tried to find The Imperial War Museum.

Luckily, London is full of these handy street maps, which is the only reason that I didn’t resort to buying a map from a tourist shop.

I estimate that I walked about two miles out of my way and really should have taken “The Tube” to the Waterloo Station, however getting lost led to some cool discoveries, such as this class British phone box- which are not so common these days.

And this old monument with a new skyscraper in the background. London is a city of modern and vintage.

Nearer to the museum, I found a school with a scary amount of barb wire! What the heck is going on here?

The Imperial War Museum is located on the outskirts of London, in a semi-residential neighborhood. When I walked back to the tube (Waterloo station) I realized that it was about a mile walk. It isn’t a long distance, if you’re in shape, but for older visitors or those who don’t wish to walk, I recommend a taxi from the tube station. The museum has a convenient taxi rink, located just outside of the main entrance.

The Imperial War Museum knows how to make a great first impression. It has an expansive lawn with old cannons and even a piece from the Berlin Wall.

As with many of the other London museums, The Imperial War Museum has free admission. However, they also would love donations. In exchange for a small donation ( I believe it was 10-15 pounds), I received a blue Imperial War Museum tote bag and a map of the museum.

When I bought my admission ticket, I asked, primarily out of curiosity, how long people typically spend at the museum. The answer was two hours.

HA!!!!!!!

The museum has five floors of exhibits. I started on the first floor, which is dedicated to WW1. I spent over four hours just on the first floor.

I actually toured half of the WW1 exhibit, when I heard an announcement regarding tickets for a guided tour. I left in the middle of WW1 and went to the information desk to inquire. The special tour was ten pounds and lasted for an hour. It was worth far more than the cost of the tickets, truly a must-do, especially since the museum is free.

For the tour, we were provided with headsets, so that we could hear our guide and he didn’t have to shout or disturb other visitors. Only eight people were in my group, which is a real shame, since this added so much to my experience at the museum. I love in-depth looks at specific things.

We were taken around the museum to about six different exhibits and given a greater understanding of their significance. One of the exhibits was a boat used in the Dunkirk evacuation and although I have not watched the film, it was explained to us that the movie, Dunkirk, had many inaccuracies. Another item, was a cage like structure that British families were given to protect themselves during bombings. The guide took the time to answer questions and we had one senior citizen in our group, who added insight from childhood memories of WW2.

After the tour, I went back to WW1 and finished the section. At this point, I was quite overloaded with information and if I had more days in my trip, I would have come back and done the other sections with a fresh mind, but I didn’t have the luxury of time.

I took a quick lunch break in the museum’s cafeteria. One of the things that the Brits really get right foodwise, is lunch. I adore British pre-made sandwiches, crisps, and cloudy lemonade. Even when I had flights that were quickly passing through Heathrow, I grabbed this combo at Boots or M&S. The museum cafeteria was a huge step-up from Boots or M&S, with regard to both quality and price. If sandwiches are not your thing, the museum offered quite a few hot lunch items as well.

After a speedy lunch break, I headed to WW2. I was conscious of time and did not go through the second floor on as leisurely a pace, as I did on the first. I had theatre tickets and I was meeting my niece in central London, so I could not stay until museum closing at six. I only had until about 5pm. I knew that time was precious and that I wouldn’t see it all, so I zeroed in on WW2 and a separate Holocaust exhibition.

Again, just as with the first floor, it would be easy to spend four plus hours on each floor. I felt overwhelmed and frustrated. One of my favorite exhibits in the WW2 section, was look into the life of an average London family, showing how the war impacted each member.

There was a section on English children who were evacuated out of the city and into the countryside. This happened to my mother-in-law, who was sent to Wales during the war. Take a look at this heartbreaking and disturbing letter that an evacuated child wrote.

Speaking of my mother-in-law, I got a kick out of the nutritional signs, especially “Doctor Carrot.” I had been staying with my mother-in-law prior to heading to London and she got a ton of carrots in her weekly farmer’s box, so I felt like I was eating or rather, being offered carrots, non-stop for nearly a week. I even had an inside joke about it with my sister-in-law, who was also offered carrots!

The floor dedicated to The Holocaust was an emotional experience. I’m relieved to report that I was surrounded by respectful and reverent visitors, who quietly viewed the exhibits and refrained from taking photographs. The exhibit is filled with personal items from prisoners, such as a doll that was created from camp uniforms. There are so many horrific personal stories and even stories that show humanity in the darkest of places. One of the main parts of the exhibit is a forty-foot scale model of Auschwitz- Birkenau. If you only have a few hours to tour The Imperial War Museum, you should head to this exhibit first. It’s too important to be missed.

I ended my day with a quick trip to the gift shop and a look at the exhibits in the lobby. Airplanes are suspended from the ceiling and the bottom floor has some large scale exhibits, such an old horse drawn cannon cart and a car that was recently bombed by terrorists. The car is a startling reminder that although the museum deals primarily with wars of the past, the threat is always looming. The world remains an unstable place.

The next time I have a few free-days in London, I will definitely head back to The Imperial War Museum. This is one of the best history museums that I have ever visited and must-see for history buffs. It’s an important place to take children and your visit should not be rushed.

One last, non-related item…as I headed to Trafalgar Square to meet my niece, I bumped into a statue that was on my must-see list. It is called A Conversation with Oscar Wilde 1854-1900 and was one of the literary monuments that I was hoping to visit. I thought it was fitting to have discovered it while on my way to the theatre!