The Week UK 21.03.2020

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21 March 2020 THE WEEK

The List

Showingnow

Amongthe Treesis a“smart, urgent show”

of work by 38 contemporary artistsfocusing

on allthings arboreal, fromasix-screen video

of asprucetodrawingsoft he Amazon forest

(Telegraph). Until17May,Hayward Gallery,

London SE1 (southbankcentre.co.uk).

Love,Loss&ChiantiColdFeet’s Robert

Bathurst stars in “a quirky, witty andpoig nant

doublebill”ofpoetChristopher Reid’s verse

dramas, about his wife’s deathand adisastrous

lunchdate(Times). Until 17May, Riverside

Studios,LondonW6(riversidestudios.co.uk).

Book now

Alongsidethe main programme–featuring

Gavin Esler,Jung Chang andothers–this

year’sHexham Book Festivalwill,for the

first time, includeastrand of children’sevents.

24 April-3May, atvarious venues, Hexham,

Northumberland(hexhambookfestival.co.uk).

Followingits acclaimedrun atTate Britain, a

huge retrospectiveof more than250 worksby

veteranwar photographerDonMcCullinmakes

itsway to Liverpool this summer, with an

additionalselection ofphotographsof the

city takeninthe 1960sand1970s.5June-

27 September,Tate Liverpool(tate.org.uk).

Just out in paperback

An Impe ccable Spyby OwenMatthews

(Bloomsbury£9.99).More than 100books

have beenwrittenabout Richard Sorge, Stalin’s

master agent.This latestis undoubtedly the best:

“wry, sympathetic andoddlymoving”(Times).

PossessionbyA.S.Byatt,

1990 (Vintage £9.99).Abook

withinabook:onestoryis

abouttwomodern academics

researchingthe connection

betweentwoVictorianpoets,

andthe otheristhe actual

truthofthe connection.Funny,

clever, heartbreaking–you

willneverlookat theBritish

Librarythesamewayagain.

HeartburnbyNoraEphron,

1983 (Virago£9.99). Ephron

lightlyfictionalisedthebrutal

breakdownofher marriageto

CarlBernstein,andindoing

so wrotenotjustthe funniest

noveleverwrittenabout

divorce,butthefunniest novel

ever.Onlythetruly talented

makewritingasgood asthis

lookeasy.

TheWonderSpotbyMelissa

Ba nk,2005 (Penguin£11.99).

No one’sheardofthis,andI’ve

madeitmymissionin lifeto

fixthat.Infuriatingly,itwas

originallypackaged asjunky

chicklit,becauseit’safunny

novelaboutawoman’slife.

Butthisbook issowiseand

beautiful, and itdeserves

universallove.

PersuasionbyJane Austen,

1818 (Wordsworth Classics

£2.50).To mymind,the

greatestofAusten’snovels.

Ilove itsgentle, winterymood

of regret,andthe storyofAnne

Elliotand CaptainWentworth

isoneofthe most authentically

romanticin English literature,

filled withmissedchances,hurt

feelingsandenduring love.

BridgetJones’sDiaryby

Helen Fielding, 1996 (Picador

£8.99).No one–notMartin

Amis,notNickHornby –

capturedlate20thcentury

Londonmoreamusinglythan

Fielding.Itis ludicrous how

thisbookisdismissedassilly

girly nonsense when,say,

Jeeves andWoosterislauded

as aproperclassic.

IKnowWhytheCaged

Bird SingsbyMayaAngelou,

1969 (Virago£8.99).The book

thattaughtmethatmemoir

couldbeeven more gripping

thanfiction.Morethanhalf

acenturyafterit waswritten,

Angelou’sstoryofher

childhoodinArkansasand

Missouribreakstheheart

thenmakes itsoar.

Bestbooks... Hadley Freeman

The journalistand author choosesherfavourite books. Hernew family

memoir,House ofGlass: The Story andSecrets ofaTwentieth-Century

JewishFamily,ispublished by 4th Estate, priced£16.99

The Week’s guide to what’s worth seeing and reading

AmongtheTreesatHaywardGallery

Television

Programmes

TheNestNewdramaabout

anaffluentGlasgowcouple

whoarefacedwithadilemma

whenateenagerenterstheir

livesandofferstobetheir

surrogate.Sun 22 Mar,BBC1

21:00(60mins).

Putin:ARussianSpyStory

Three-partdocumentaryseries

exploringhowPutin’spast

asaspyhasinfluencedhis

presidencyandpolitics,and

shapedmodernRussia.Mon

23 Mar,C421:00(60mins).

GrowingUpGiftedLooking

atsocialmobilitythroughthe

livesofsixbrightteensfrom

disadvantagedbackgrounds.

Asseasonthreebegins,the

boysfacetheirGCSEs.Wed

25 Mar,BBC221:00(60mins).

HarryBirrellPresents

FilmsofLoveandWar

ApersonalhistoryofWWII

andbeyond,toldthroughthe

filmsanddiariesofaScottish

soldier.NarratedbyRichard

Madden.Wed 25 Mar,BBC4

21:00(90mins).

FridayNightDinnerReturn

of the popular comedy about

the Goodman family. The boys

arrive home to find Dad has

boughtacaravan. With Simon

Bird and Tamsin Greig. Fri

27 Mar, C4 22:00 (35mins).

Films

FilmStarsDon’t Die in

Liverpool(2017) Bittersweet

love story based on the real-

life romance between a

young Liverpudlian actor

and Hollywood star Gloria

Grahame. Jamie Bell and

Annette Bening star. Sat

21 Mar, BBC2 21:00 (100mins).

DiegoMaradona(2019)

Doc umentary about the

ep ic rise and fall of the

controversial and charismatic

Argentinian footballer. Sat

21 Mar, C4 21:00 (155mins).

Titles in print are available from The Week Bookshop on 020-3176 3835. For out-of-print books visit biblio.co.uk

Podcastsof the week

We Need toTalk about the

British EmpireWriterAfua

Hirschexplores Britain’s

colonial pastthroughfamily

histories in this“riveting and

revelatory” six-part podcast

(Observer). On Audible.

The NobodyZonetellsthe

“fascinating” true storyof

an Irishmanwhoconfessed

to aseries of de cades-old

murders(FT).

The Archers:what happened last week
At Grey Gables, where Philip’s workman is fixing the broken pipe, Lynda apologises to Freddie
but he rebuffs her. Emma and Tracy step outside to talk and then hear the sound of an explosion
from the kitchen. Chaos ensues: Oliver is in shock as Roy evacuates staff and guests, but no one
can find Lynda. Trapped in the rubble, Freddie comes to and finds Lynda and the workman, both
badly injured and unconscious. He drags Lynda to safety and paramedics try to revive her. At the
hospital, Jim tries to comfort and calmadistraught and angry Robert, who later tells Oliver he’ll
hold him responsible if anything happens to Lynda. Freddie is discharged and hailed asahero by
the Echo. Kirsty says some people are pointing the finger at Philip’s company. Lillian is worried
about her recent fights with Lynda, but Emma encourages her to visit the hospital, where she tells
an unconscious Lynda that they’re rooting for her. Tracy comforts Oliver after Robert’s outburst.
On receiving the investigation report, Oliver calls Philip: the report says his firm is to blame.
©L

INDA NYLIND/THE GUARDIAN; ANYA GALLACCIO. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, DACS 2020. COURTESY OF HAYWARD GALLERY/LINDA NYLIND

Some or all of these events may be cancelled asaresultofgovernment advice about the coronavirus pandemic