Non-Books set in Bournemouth(Dorset)?

I’m currently reading The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn. It’s set in Chilcombe (I’m only a short way in, but so far Weymouth and Swanage has been mentioned). Think the author grew up here.

Also, no idea if they’re any good, but there’s a crime series by Rachel McLean in which most of the books are set around here: Corfe Castle Murders; The Clifftop Murders (Old Harry); The Island Murders (Brownsea Island); The Monument Murders (Swanage’s Globe) and a few more.
 
beds cherry said:
Although not many stories et here, I was always surprised that there was no big book festival in Bmth Shelley, RL Stevenson etc..Tolstoy was supposed to have visited a group of Russian authors that lived in bmth too.

The Shelley story is interesting for me as i'm in work today virtually overlooking the St Pancras old church & graveyard, where her parents bodies were dug up and moved to St Peters church.

And one of my best mates is from Viareggio in Italy which has something to do with it too.
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But the grave stone remains. Walked through there a few years ago and wondered how she could be buried twice.

Edit. Which, of course, she was. She just isn't in 2 places.
 
purbeck67 said:
The problem with Hardy is he was so cynical about society and it drips off every page (he would have enjoyed posting on here!)

Hardy didn't write to entertain. He would keep diaries of small things he saw. He knew the world was changing rapidly and his novels were his way of preserving those small details. That's why they can be a difficult read - I was always told that once he starts describing something you can skip two pages and not miss anything (again, just like this forum).

He did save Maiden Castle when the train line was proposed to go straight through it, creating the Dorset Natural History & Archaelogical Society as a campaign group - now the Dorset County Museum.

Also, his novels were serialised, try to find out where the breaks were, it makes more sense knowing when to stop reading.

There's your Thomas Hardy lesson for today. 500 words on why Jude the Obscure is unreadable, on my desk for Monday morning.

Next week - Why William Barnes was the greatest ever Dorset writer.

Class dismissed.
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It's often remarked that Hardy was more of a Poet than Novelist ... imo some of his shorter poems were sublime. ..the longer ones a bit tedious tbh.
I did enjoy Tess' and Far From'....but preferred. Under the Greenwood Tree...and Mayor of Casterbridge..all when very young ; however not sure how I would take them now !
Jude was OK as a film I'd say..
William Barnes, arguably better than TH, especially on Dorset, was an Anglican Priest He influenced TH to some degree...a school he taught at was close to where TH was an apprentice architect.. TH would visit the older man for opinions on the use of grammar on behalf of his boss John Hicks.

There was a tale in TH's short story collections ( Life's Little Ironies I think?) set in downtown Poole near the Quay/ St James Church, involving a sailor, but I can't remember the title of it ... it was a riveting read.
 
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ErikthViking said:
If you have to choose one as an introduction to Hardy, consider the Mayor of Castetbridge. Is there a greater start to a novel than where the main character sells his wife so that he can get money to buy more to drink?

In addition to thinly disguising the place names (my favourite is King's Bere for Bere Regis) , he writes about real places that actually exist and are identifiable - bearing in mind that he was describing the places as they were 150 years ago.
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I love that book, I also love walking over the hills around Dorchester because, as you say, it's easy to transport yourself back in time 150 years and picture the places in the story. Even Dorchest itself is relatively unchanged when you look at the places mentioned.
 
beds cherry said:
The Shelley story is interesting for me as i'm in work today virtually overlooking the St Pancras old church & graveyard, where her parents bodies were dug up and moved to St Peters church.
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There is a Thomas Hardy connection here. He was working as an architect in London and one of his jobs was just that project on the old St. Pancras graveyard.

If anyone is really interested, there is a great biography of Hardy by Claire Tomalin entitled, Thomas Hardy A Time-Torn Man (ISBN 978-0241963289).

I have a family connection with Hardy. The 'midwife' that attended his birth and ensured that he survived in difficult circumstances was Elizabeth Downton, an ancestor on my mother's side.
 
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ErikthViking said:
There is a Thomas Hardy connection here. He was working as an architect in London and one of his jobs was just that project on the old St. Pancras graveyard.

If anyone is really interested, there is a great biography of Hardy by Claire Tomalin entitled, Thomas Hardy A Time-Torn Man (ISBN 978-0241963289).

I have a family connection with Hardy. The 'midwife' that attended his birth and ensured that he survived in difficult circumstances was Elizabeth Downton, an ancestor on my mother's side.
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To put it in football terms...

"Tree fell over, tree fell over!"

www.atlasobscura.com

The Hardy Tree

This churchyard arbor is surrounded by hundreds of gravestones placed there by author Thomas Hardy.
www.atlasobscura.com www.atlasobscura.com
 
My wife enjoyed this series by Michael Hambling set in Dorset.

Also they go to Bournemouth Police Station.

DCI Sophie Allen is the main character.

www.bookseriesinorder.com

Michael Hambling - Book Series In Order

Complete order of Michael Hambling books in Publication Order and Chronological Order.
www.bookseriesinorder.com www.bookseriesinorder.com
 
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