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On Chapel Sands
On Chapel Sands | Laura Cumming
7 posts | 8 read | 12 to read
*To be read on BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week* Uncovering the mystery of her mother's disappearance as a child: Laura Cumming, prize-winning author and art critic, takes a closer look at her family story. In the autumn of 1929, a small child was kidnapped from a Lincolnshire beach. Five agonising days went by before she was found in a nearby village. The child remembered nothing of these events and nobody ever spoke of them at home. It was another fifty years before she even learned of the kidnap. The girl became an artist and had a daughter, art writer Laura Cumming. Cumming grew up enthralled by her mother's strange tales of life in a seaside hamlet of the 1930s, and of the secrets and lies perpetuated by a whole community. So many puzzles remained to be solved. Cumming began with a few criss-crossing lives in this fraction of English coast - the postman, the grocer, the elusive baker - but soon her search spread right out across the globe as she discovered just how many lives were affected by what happened that day on the beach - including her own. On Chapel Sands is a book of mystery and memoir. Two narratives run through it: the mother's childhood tale; and Cumming's own pursuit of the truth. Humble objects light up the story: a pie dish, a carved box, an old Vick's jar. Letters, tickets, recipe books, even the particular slant of a copperplate hand give vital clues. And pictures of all kinds, from paintings to photographs, open up like doors to the truth. Above all, Cumming discovers how to look more closely at the family album - with its curious gaps and missing persons - finding crucial answers, captured in plain sight at the click of a shutter.
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squirrelbrain
squirrelbrain
On Chapel Sands | Laura Cumming
post image
Pickpick

This was a quiet, contemplative, memoir about the author‘s mother who was kidnapped from Chapel Sands at the age of 3 but knew nothing about it.

The author weaves a lot around this tale, including what family means and a lot of art references. Whilst I liked all of this, I struggled sometimes to know whether the memories were that of the author or her mother, perhaps due to listening on audio.

Cathythoughts I never finished this one ... but I remember really liking what I read 4y
64 likes1 stack add1 comment
blurb
Cathythoughts
Cathythoughts
On Chapel Sands | Laura Cumming
post image

... there was a miniature line for the doll‘s garments. Life is sunlit out there in the garden ... After all , sight has primacy ; the whole visible world...
Pictures hold thoughts , ideas and memories like the pockets of a coat ..

I started this today ...a haunting story ❤️ a great cover I think 💫

Nute I value the memory-keeping capacity of photographs. There was a time in my life when I never left home without a camera on strap about my neck. I miss those days! 4y
Crazeedi Sounds really intriguing 4y
Crazeedi @Nute I lived the days of carrying my pentax SLR with a 80-200 mm telephoto lens on it(my favorite lens)l 4y
See All 15 Comments
Crazeedi @Nute loved 4y
LeahBergen I have this one. It was published here under a different title
[tagged book]Five Days Gone: The Mystery of My Mother's Disappearance as a Young Girl
4y
Tamra It is a cover that makes you pause and wonder about the story inside. 4y
squirrelbrain I have this one too on Kindle - interested to hear your thoughts. 4y
Nute @Crazeedi That‘s my favorite lens as well. The SLR camera...mine was a Canon. 4y
Cathythoughts @Nute Have you read this one ? .. there are photographs inside the book too .. old photographs ❤️ 4y
Cathythoughts @Crazeedi I‘m about halfway now , it‘s good ❤️ 4y
Cathythoughts @LeahBergen I‘m on kindle ... but I‘ve just ordered the book as there are lovely old photographs & I‘d live a proper book to look & keep them 4y
Cathythoughts @Tamra I know ! The power of the old photos 4y
Cathythoughts @squirrelbrain I‘ll keep you posted .. starts off strong & there are some lovely little memories so far 🤞🏻 4y
Crazeedi @Nute my dad's was a canon, I got my love of photography from him 4y
Crazeedi @Cathythoughts interested in your final thoughts 4y
65 likes15 comments
review
BrownGirlReading
BrownGirlReading
On Chapel Sands | Laura Cumming
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Mehso-so

This nonfiction story reads like fiction.A daughter writes the story of her mother‘s brief disappearance for 3 days at a very young age. The best point of this story is the writing. Cumming uses descriptions of paintings and family photos to engross their reader in finding out her mother‘s story. Clearly obsessed, the author turns the different ideas and possibilities of people‘s action despite not being able to find all the answers. I recommend.

7 likes
review
Herschelian
Herschelian
On Chapel Sands | Laura Cumming
Pickpick

Because of the accolades for this book in the British Press I felt compelled to read it, and am so glad I did. This memoir of the life of the author‘s mother is beautifully written, with lyrical descriptions of place as well as an engrossing tale. How do any of us really know who we are?

2 likes
review
Emilymdxn
Emilymdxn
On Chapel Sands | Laura Cumming
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Mehso-so

I don‘t know why I didn‘t really connect with this book, the writing was good and it‘s on an interesting subject (her mother‘s many layered and unethical adoption and how she found out the truth and her birth family) and part of me thinks I should give it a pick but I just never... liked it that much. Not sure if it‘s me or the book as there was honestly nothing wrong with it 🤷‍♀️

First book for #24b4monday @Andrew65 @jb72 @SumisBooks

Billypar This happens to me a lot with certain memoirs. It feels wrong to phrase my lack of enthusiasm as a critique when the writing is good, i.e.: 'Why couldn't you have told your incredibly painful experience with some more ingenuity?' It's just that there's so much creative and interesting stuff going on with non-fiction right now and how personal stories are told that it can't help but raise expectations. 5y
Andrew65 This can happen. 5y
66 likes2 comments