‘Strange how potent cheap music is…’ Listening to the sounds of the past
On 25 September 2015 by Christina KoningWhen you’re trying to recreate the past, there’s nothing quite so evocative as listening to the popular music of the era, which is what I’ve been doing for the past few months of researching and writing my soon-to-be-published novel, Game of Chance. The book is set in 1929, on the eve of the Wall Street
‘Down the hatch’ – a brief history of the cocktail
On 21 August 2015 by Christina KoningIt’s summer, it’s hot, and I’m up to my eyes in researching the next book… Happily, it doesn’t always have to be the heavy stuff. Today I’m looking into cocktails – specifically, those popular between the ‘Jazz Age’ of 1925 or thereabouts, and the early 1930s. In this endeavour, I’ve been assisted by a book,
How I learned to love the Bloomsbury Group
On 21 August 2015 by AdminI must confess that I started watching ‘Life in Squares’, the new three-part drama about the Bloomsbury Group, which was recently shown on BBC2, with considerable reservations. What on earth was there left to say about these – to be frank – rather self-indulgent and privileged people, that hadn’t already been said in a host
‘Sitting on a sofa, playing games of chance…’
On 31 March 2015 by AdminMy latest novel, Game of Chance – the second in a series of detective stories set in the late 1920s – centres, as the title suggests, around a game of cards, specifically, Solo Whist. I chose this particular game, rather than Bridge (which was actually more popular in the period I’ve been writing about) for