‘Always at night it came on; first the black panther under my bed, then wolves crowding in the shadowy corners of my room out of range of the nightlight, then snakes climbing up the walls. And my mother, finding that nothing else would reassure me, would spend large parts of each night carrying me wrapped in a shawl round and round the room and into all the corners, making me pat the walls to show myself that there was nothing there’
So ends Chapter I of Rosemary Sutcliff’s memoir Blue Remembered Hills. Best known for her series of novels telling the story of the Roman occupation of Britain, Rosemary was born in 1920 – the only child of a naval father and a pretty, manic depressive mother with bags of charm and a wild imagination. Blue Remembered Hills is a record of the growing up and making of a writer, full of humour, affection, joy in people and the natural world, and the kind of deep understanding that can come out of hard experiences.
As Mothering Sunday approaches in the UK and Ireland (30 March) we thought some of you may appreciate the inspiration of a few gift ideas for the maternal figures in your lives, be they mother or grandmother, aunt, teacher or friend or, indeed, yourself! Existing subscribers to the magazine may like to be reminded that we’re running a special subscriber-only offer of a 50 per cent reduction on new annual gift subscriptions until 31 May. Subscribers may use code GIFT25 at the checkout.
Please read on for a selection of present suggestions for Mothering Sunday and any other upcoming occasions
With best wishes from the SF staff
Edie, Isabel, Rebecca, Izzy, & Jennie
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