Category Archives: Sunday Scene

SUNDAY SCENE: JENNIFER BOHNET ON HER FAVOURITE SCENE FROM VILLA OF SECOND CHANCES

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Everyone deserves a second chance, don’t they? But sometimes other people and life itself gets in the way of that happening.

The scene I am about to share with you is from ‘Villa of Second Chances’. In this book several of the characters find themselves at a crossroads where their lives can only move forward when they fully embrace their past. But those long ago secrets and mistakes all conspire to throw complicated shadows from the past into the present.

Freya and Marcus are re-marrying after realising their divorce a few years ago, was a mistake. In this scene, Freya is remembering their first wedding as she drives to have lunch with her mother Effie, in Antibes.

. . . The chosen day had been bathed in blue skies and April sunshine. Her dad had been alive then and had proudly walked her down the aisle of St. Petrox Church – the ancient church out on the Dartmouth headland. Clemmie and Angela had been her bridesmaids, and Marcus’s boyhood friend, Rufus, had been his best man. Marcus’s fellow officers had formed the traditional archway of swords for the two of them as she and her new husband took their first steps together as man and wife. The reception at the now defunct and much-missed iconic Gunfield Hotel on the banks of the Dart had been a wonderful, relaxed affair. . .

Gunfield Hotel (Jim Cozens Photographer)

The Gunfield Hotel on the banks of the River Dart did actually exist years ago and was, let’s say bohemian, in its dealings with guests. If you wanted formal perfection, you went to another hotel. The Gunfield Hotel was a fun place that did its own thing and plays an important part in my story as it unfolds.

Over lunch Effie turns to Freya and ask the question . . . 

‘So, what’s happening with Verity?’

Freya stiffened. ‘I’ve sent her the invite, as you wanted me to, but haven’t heard anything. To be honest, I’m hoping that it’s too short notice for her to come. She’s probably spending the summer on some Greek island or the latest “in” place she’s discovered.’

‘She’s family,’ Effie said. ‘Hyacinth would be turning in her grave if she knew her daughter was persona non grata at your wedding.’

Freya sighed. ‘She’s not exactly persona non grata, but even you have to admit Verity can be difficult. . .

. . . ’If she does accept, she’ll expect to stay with you and the others at the Villa Sésame. Is there room?’

Freya hesitated before shaking her head. She knew Effie would be cross when she told her the truth, that she was deliberately not mentioning the villa arrangement to Verity because there was no way she wanted her cousin spoiling the run-up to the wedding for the others. . .

. . .  ‘Clemmie is definitely coming?’ Effie asked as she picked up her cutlery.

‘Yes, and Angela.’ Freya had her fingers firmly crossed as she answered. No way did she want Clemmie backing out because of Verity’s presence, if indeed, her cousin decided to show up.

‘I’m really looking forward to having time to catch up with them properly – especially Angela, after all she’s been through with the accident and Paul’s death. Clemmie says the last time she saw her she was still a shadow of her former self. Only to be expected, I suppose, and it will take time. I’m hoping the invitation to Villa Sésame has given her something to look forward to.’ . . .

 

Find out more about Jennifer on her Facebook page:  https://bit.ly/3qglPh4

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY SCENE: VIVIEN BROWN ON HER FAVOURITE SCENE FROM FIVE UNFORGIVABLE THINGS

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When I started to write my second novel, Five Unforgivable Things, I wanted to follow all the ups and downs of a family, from its beginnings when Kate and Dan first meet in the seventies right up to the present day, exploring the pivotal decisions and mistakes the couple make along the way and what impact they have on their children as they grow up.

Each of the now adult offspring is introduced in a way that reveals something important about their lives, and the ‘introduction’ scene I most enjoyed writing is the one featuring Natalie, the first of the siblings to appear on the page.

Natalie is entering a wedding dress shop alone. In the window she has spotted what could be the perfect dress for her Christmas wedding to childhood sweetheart Phil but, with no family or friends with her, how will she know if it’s the right one, with no-one ‘to oooh and aaah and spin her around in all directions and take sneaky photos on their phones?’

I well remember accompanying my own daughter to a bridal shop a few years ago, with her sister, the prospective chief bridesmaid, also in tow. That sea of long white dresses billowing on a seemingly never-ending rail right across one side of the room, and all the sparkling tiaras, floaty veils, beaded bags and very posh shoes – unforgettable! In the novel I describe the shop Natalie enters as ‘an oasis of beauty and calm. There was a deep cream carpet and floor-to-ceiling mirrors without so much as a smudge on their shiny gilt-edged glass. The sweet scent of jasmine drifted in the air…’

But it can be a bit daunting when the assistant hands out glasses of fizz and starts measuring and fussing. Ivory or white? Lace or satin? Shape? Style? How long a train? For Natalie, not only is she making these choices alone but the choices themselves are a lot more restricted. There are hints that something is different here as Natalie enters and a look of surprise flits across the shop assistant’s face before being ‘swallowed up in what was clearly a well-practised customer-friendly smile.’ It’s a look Natalie is used to, one ‘that told her she was not quite who, or what, had been expected to come rolling in.’

‘Sorry about the carpet,’ says Natalie, as her wheels leave a trail of dirt and leaves behind them. And so we learn that Natalie is in a wheelchair, and that the beautiful traditional dresses that sweep the floor as they flow along behind a walking bride will never be quite right for ‘someone like her’.

This is a very short scene but it gives the reader a peep into Natalie’s mindset as she ponders her sisters’ absence, realises that the last thing she really wants on her big day is to be the centre of attention, and that the dream dress in the window is never going to work for her.

Yet, I did not want the reader to pity her. Natalie is in many ways the happiest of the siblings, and the only one to have found true love with a man who adores her just as she is. Still, how she came to be disabled will form an important element as the story unravels, and is at the heart of the mistakes and tragedies that have rocked Kate and Dan’s marriage and family life and are so hard to forgive.

 

https://twitter.com/VivBrownAuthor

 

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY SCENE: MELANIE HEWITT ON HER FAVOURITE SCENE FROM LOOKING FOR THE DURRELLS

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In May 2019 as I sat in the Panorama restaurant in St George South on a typically idyllic, light and heat infused afternoon in Corfu, I suddenly thought – If the Durrell family were here now, rather than in the 1930’s, what would they be doing, how would they live?

The character of Penny came into my mind. She was the stone dropped into the pond that created the ripple in the lives of those she would meet.

I have no idea if other writers work in the same way, but as soon as the seed of an idea was there, certain scenes immediately began to play like a film reel in my head. I had visions of Penny and Dimitris on a boat sailing to Corfu, the tour reps welcome meeting and Penny’s first experience of Corfu Town.

A scene by the harbour, with Penny – who’s a book illustrator – painting, with Tess’s young son Theo, though is one that I’d like to look more closely at.

The small harbour for me is the real heart of St George and can be seen from the “Athena” restaurant, the hub of life, love and action in the book. Penny and Theo have both lost their fathers.

Having lost my own dad when he was only in his 60’s and subsequently worked for a time in a hospice, there were issues and experiences around grief and grieving I wanted to explore.

Whilst grieving can follow familiar and similar phases and timelines, it’s an individual and sometimes solitary experience. Reading about or sharing, experiencing what others are going through can help the healing. As Penny experiences here.

“A wave of compassion and tenderness towards him almost overwhelmed Penny as she watched. To lose a father at just four years old was beyond her comprehension. All the years of paternal love she had received felt more miraculous than ever. Gratitude blocked out her grief as its healing warmth embraced her.”

Theo also shares with her that sometimes he can’t remember his father’s face when he thinks of him and this worries him.

Tess, Theo’s mother is moving through her grief for lost husband Georgios and I wanted to weave together the experiences of them all – the universality of loss. Whether a friend, parent or partner. Often loss is a taboo – I’ve known people avoid those who’ve had a recent bereavement rather than have to chat, or because they’re worried they’ll say the wrong thing.

As Penny and Theo paint, the activity draws people to them. Although in a new place, travelling alone Penny is in her element when she paints and this connection with something familiar and comforting, relaxes her.

She connects with the sea, the heat, the feel of her bare feet on the stone harbour pathway and the cool when she dangles her feet in the sea.

The subtext here is the way life carries on – sensations, the daily course of the sun, new friendships and the desire to embrace all these things – coupled with the fear of letting the grief go, because it feels as though that’s all you have left of a loved one.

St George South harbour is also the place where I always go to in my mind when I need to find peace, sanctuary.

Even more reason then, in these times, to share grief and talk about it more – whether through the pages of a book or with a friend or colleague. As someone once said ”we read to know we are not alone.

 

https://www.thebookseller.com/news/harper-inspire-publish-hewitts-looking-durrells-1259141