Author:Juliet Ace,Patricia Hodge
Patricia Hodge stars as Mattie in Juliet Ace’s four linked dramas, written especially for Patricia’s voice, in which Mattie reflects on her life as a naval wife, an actress and as a mother and daughter. In these funny and beautifully observed performances we come to meet Mattie as she shares her hard-earned understanding of her life, in all its intimacy.Episodes are: 'The Captain’s Wife', broadcast 8 May 1998; 'Small Parts', first broadcast 21 August 2000; 'Skin', 15 March 2004 and the not previously broadcast episode: 'Upside Down in the Roasting Tin', in which memories of Christmas dinners past and present give the listener a poignant and entertaining sweep through Mattie’s mixed experiences of the festive season.
One of the best books of the year
—— Jeanette WintersonOn Bullfighting casts an unofficial eye over a world of male exploit; the public spectacles are treated with a fresh particularity, the inner landscapes of pain with an ardent, high-risk honesty
—— Julain BarnesInformative, minutely observed and beautifully written
—— IndependentAn ecclectic and fascinating cultural history
—— ObserverA strange and beautiful book
—— Michael IgnatieffA thrilling and thought-provoking read
—— John Banville , Irish TimesWitty and well observed and, on the subject of music, inspiring
—— Sunday Tribune