Author: Wansteadium

Feeling the pain of Wanstead’s ‘Angel’

downloadWanstead is becoming quite the mecca for writers. While Anya Lipska’s latest novel was being launched, another book by a Wanstead writer was also finding its way to bookshops. The Angel and the Cad by Geraldine Roberts, left, has already been nominated as a book of the week by the Times, and more accolades seem certain to follow.

e40e7e1b32ccf4b8adfbfafe77b5db53The book is dubbed “Love, Loss and Scandal in Regency England”, but for many Wanstead readers the intrigue and the scandal will be overshadowed by a sense of loss. It’s the tale of the disastrous marriage and betrayal of Catherine Tylney Long by William Wellesley Pole, which resulted in the plundering of family treasures held in her Wanstead House mansion – all to pay the debts of his high living. And of course, the fact that there is nothing left of the mansion except a bunker near the 18th hole at Wanstead Golf Course, the result also included the destruction of the house to be sold for timber and stone.

Geraldine (a Wansteadium reader, incidentally, whose website is here) has over a period of 10 years pieced together the story from records, letters and newspapers and, as the Times reviewer said, describes it in such detail “you would swear Roberts had been there”.

The reviewer in BBC History Magazine said: “Roberts does an outstanding job of bringing this dark tale to life, and her book truly is a page-turner that surpasses any work of Regency fiction…the author’s meticulous research is commendable.”

You can buy the book here. And on Tuesday, it will be Wansteadium’s privilege to be publishing an exclusive extract.

Wanstead weekend photo, CXXXII


Geoff Wilkinson writes at Wanstead Daily Photo: “If you are interested in photography you may have heard of ‘the rule of thirds’. That’s exactly what sprung into my mind when I spotted this grass, pebbles and bark combination in a Grosvenor Road garden. Not that the composition of this picture bears any relationship to the photography ‘rule of thirds’, that’s quite different…”

A Devil Under the Skin, by Anya Lipska: An exclusive extract

The third novel by Wanstead’s own Anya Lipska, A Devil Under the Skin, is being published today. Wansteadium is delighted to offer this exclusive extract. (Contains strong language.)

PC Natalie Kershaw gripped the wheel as she steered the armed response vehicle around the Green Man roundabout, the scream of the two-tone scything a path through the rush hour traffic.

‘Third exit. Left, left,’ said Matt from the passenger seat, sending her a grin. She smiled back, breathing fast, her pulse marking a purposeful beat, yet feeling totally focused. This was what she’d spent eight weeks training for, and from what they’d been told about the shout, it was no false alarm this time – no kid poking a toy gun out of his bedroom window. Her brain noted the comforting cocoon of the body armour flattening her breasts, forcing her to sit upright, and the reassuring pressure of the Glock in its pancake holster against her thigh.

She felt … safe.

‘It’s the Maccy D’s on Leytonstone High Street, right?’ she asked, her voice sounding to her ears as tight and high as the engine of the BMW. She knew where they were going, obviously, but saying it out loud made it feel more real.

The gravelled voice of the Silver Commander came over the radio: ‘Control room to Trojan 3. Latest we have is the suspect is in the toilets. Staff have been instructed to stay clear.’

The Sarge leaned in from the back seat, his face impassive. ‘Pull up beyond the curry house, Natalie,’ he said, as calmly as if they were about to pop in for a biryani. A restless knot of rubberneckers had gathered on the pavement outside the McDonald’s. ‘No borough uniforms,’ he noted, with just the ghost of a sigh. ‘Natalie, you cover the front exit and manage the MOPs, okay?’ Although still conversational, his tone brooked no objection.

‘Sarge.’ She knew her place in the trio: she was the newbie, just a couple of months out of firearms training – still learning the ropes. No problem.

Matt and the Sarge approached the glass door of the McDonald’s at a crabbing run, cradling their weapons, while Kershaw radioed in an update. After signing off, she left the ARV and took a few steps towards the onlookers. ‘Armed police!’ she shouted, one hand on the MP5 carbine slung from her shoulder, the other gesturing south down the high street. ‘Move away now!’

Most of them scurried off sharpish, either at her tone or the sight of the gun. But one guy stood his ground, ignoring her. ‘What’s going on?’ he asked in that ‘I know my rights’ tone that always made her heart sink.

She threw a look back at the Maccy D’s – wondering if the boys had immobilised the suspect yet. Where the fuck were the local uniforms?

‘Sir, will you just …’ She didn’t finish the sentence. Registered instead the sudden widening of his eyes, fixed over her shoulder. Heard the Sarge bellow ‘Natalie!’ His voice not cool any more.

She spun round. In the car park, jogging towards her from behind a parked van was a young guy. Not very big or threatening to look at. Mousy, you might call him. Except for the thing he whirled in a great flashing arc out to one side. Something that made a rushing noise as it carved a passage through the air.

A giant samurai sword.

lipskaA Devil Under the Skin is published by the Friday Project/HarperCollins, and is available from the Newham Bookshop, Foyles at Stratford and from Amazon, who have it as a paperback and as an audiobook.

*Anya is offering a free signed copy to a Wansteadium reader. Email your name to info@wansteadium.com – the winner will be chosen at random.

Shameful abuse of privilege

Wansteadium lost its faithful Fitbit step tracker somewhere on Wanstead High Street on Wednesday evening. Not only does this mean it misses its 10,000 steps for the day (which will be only the fourth day missed since Christmas) but it also just makes Wansteadium sad. Any sightings or leads gratefully received via WAAA-IWANTMYFITBITBACK@wansteadium.com And yes, this plea does constitute the disgraceful abuse of position mentioned in the headline.

The next TV detectives?

alisonThe next detective/private investigator combo to come to television may be a pair who were created in Wanstead. Author (and Wansteadium reader) Anya Lipska, left, who lives here, has had her crime novels “optioned” by the BBC for a possible TV series.

That means the BBC has bought the right to make a series if things work out, though of course it’s not a guarantee.

Happily for fans of the books, the third in the series featuring  Janusz Kiszka, a fixer to the Polish community, and police detective Natalie Kershaw, is being published on Thursday.

lipskaLike its predecessors, A Devil Under the Skin, is set in familiar surroundings – Leytonstone/Walthamstow – though some particularly small-minded readers will not be satisfied unless Wanstead itself gets a namecheck.

Even more happily, Wansteadium is delighted that on Thursday it will be publishing an excerpt from the book.

* A Devil Under the Skin will be available from the Newham Bookshop, Foyles (who have the complete series) and from Amazon too, who will have it as a paperback and as an audiobook.