Posts about both sides of my family
The online Cambridge Dictionary defines memoir as “a book or other piece of writing based on the writer’s personal knowledge of famous people, places, or events”. In other words, a memoir is written from the perspective of the author, and the author’s perspective is formed by their culture, upbringing and
Last year the second edition of my grandmother’s memoir, Upheaval was published. It was the culmination of many years of research, not only from sources on the internet, in academia and in libraries, but also from documents which I inherited. Throughout the process I almost constantly wondered and debated about
A year ago the 2nd ed of Upheaval was about to be launched and I was suffering from anxiety. Although I don’t mind speaking in front of people, no matter how many, I’m not the sort of person who enjoys visibility. I much prefer working in the background, doing the
On this Father’s Day it would be strange if I didn’t think of my father and share some memories of him. My father was an animal lover. He loved dogs and horses and cats, probably in that order. Over his lifetime he had many dogs, and a few cats, I’m
I admit, I never thought I would find anything written by my grandfather which included the Russian Imperial Family. After all, it was my grandmother, Olga Woronoff, formally Countess Kleinmichel, who was known to be the writer in the family. She had written her memoir, Upheaval, detailing her life in
L.M. Montgomery wrote a passage in Anne of the Island (1915) describing letters from years past, which were written by her parents and which Anne was reading, “The sweetness of forgotten things clung to them – the far-off, fond imaginings of those long-dead lovers”. I feel much the same