Helen East

''London is like that pot. Layer upon layer of story going in-one on top of another. Each tastes different.''

London is not just a city. It is a living, breathing creature. It has always been thus. It calls to us, expecting us to be carried away by its charm. Its dark streets whisper stories to the visitor, its fog is full of spirits and secrets, each Big Ben chime testifies to the past and present history, and to the times yet to come. This collection by Helen East is as intriguing as the city itself.

In this journey, we have different guides and many stops to make. We start in years long forgotten, and the founding of Albion. Alba and Brutus, Aeneas'grandson, are our first guides, leading our stops to the London Guildhall, where the giants Gog and Magog stand as protectors of the past and the future of the country. Our next guide is Brian the Blessed, well-known to those who have read The Mabinogion. Then, a strong, beautiful woman with the fire in her hair is waiting for us. She is Boudica, queen of the Iceni, eternal symbol of resistance and freedom. We're passing over the London Bridge, listening to stories and tales from the Crusades, during the time of William the 1st, of king Stephen, Queen Matilda and their bloody feud.

It is time to meet some witches, beautiful maidens and pay our respects to St. Thomas á Becket, as we greet Dick Whittington and try to meet up with the ghosts that call the Tower of London ''home''. Let us have some rest in Hyde Park or head for a drink in an Elizabethan pub. Perhaps, Shakespeare and Marlow are working on a new manuscript there. Perhaps, we'll come across a dashing highwayman, and find our way to the Soho Square or peer into the cells of the hellish Bedlam. We will remember the chimney-sweepers and the sewer-cleaners of the Dickensian times. Drink hot tea as we listen to chilling ghost stories, trying to hide our steps from old Jack the Ripper, lost forever in the mists of Whitechapel. And through our journey, lullabys and children's rhymes will accompany us...

I mean, life becomes beautiful that way, doesn't it?… (plus d'informations)

Els arbres són, per si mateixo, símbols de vida. Correm el risc de fer-los desaparèixer. Aquí teniu una antologia frondosa formada per dotze contes tradicionas procedents d'arreu del món, de de l'Amèrica del Nord fin a Nova Guinea i de Gal·les al Nepal. Són contes de màgia, coratge i astúcia, mort i renaixement, i cadascun es teixeix al voltant d'un arbre, del roure al rododèndrom, del cocoter al salze.
Les narracions intenses d'Enric Maddern i Helen East, combinades amb l'art romàntic d'Alan Marks, han creat un recull viu i que incita a la reflexió.… (plus d'informations)