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A Love Letter to Europe
A Love Letter to Europe: An outpouring of sadness and hope Mary Beard, Shami Chakrabati, William Dalrymple, Sebastian Faulks, Neil Gaiman, Ruth Jones, J.K. Rowling, Sandi Toksvig and others | Various, Pete Townshend, Prue Leith, Margaret Drabble, Chris Riddell, Melvyn Bragg, Jonathan Meades, Simon Callow, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Will Hutton, Tony Robinson, Tracey Emin, Jeffrey Boakye, Onjali Rauf
10 posts | 3 read | 5 to read
Great writers, artists, musicians and thinkers in British life say what Europe means to them: an outpouring of love and sadness. With pieces from Frank Cottrell Boyce, Melvyn Bragg, Margaret Drabble, Alan Hollinghurst, Will Hutton, Holly Johnson, Penelope Lively, Jonathan Meades, Deborah Moggach, Alan Moore, Jackie Morris, Cathy Rentzenbrink, Chris Riddle, Tony Robinson, Pete Townshend, Kate Williams, Michael Wood and many more... As Britain pulls away from Europe great British writers come together to give voice to their innermost feelings. Novelists, artists, comedians, historians, biographers, nature writers, film writers, travel writers, people young and old and from an extraordinary range of backgrounds. Most are famous perhaps because they have won the Booker or other literary prizes, written bestsellers, changed the face of popular culture or sold millions of records. Others are not yet household names but write with depth of insight and feeling. There is some extraordinary writing in this book. Some of these pieces are expressions of love of particular places in Europe. Some are true stories, some nostalgic, many hopeful. There are hilarious pieces. There are cries of pain and regret. Some pieces are quietly devastating. All are passionate. They show how Europe has helped us to expand our emotional, intellectual and artistic bandwidth, and hopefully will continue to do just that. Contributors include: Mary Beard, Jeffrey Boakye, Melvyn Bragg, Simon Callow, B. Catling, Shami Chakrabarti, Chris Cleave, Frank Cottrell Boyce, William Dalrymple, Lindsey Davis, Margaret Drabble, Tracey Emin, Michel Faber, Sebastian Faulks, Neil Gaiman, Evelyn Glennie, Alan Hollinghurst, Will Hutton, Holly Johnson, Ruth Jones, A.L. Kennedy, Hermione Lee, Prue Leith, Roger Lewis, Penelope Lively, Richard Mabey, Jonathan Meades, Andrew Miller, Deborah Moggach, Alan Moore, Paul Morley, Jackie Morris, Charles Nicholl, Irenosen Okojie, Onjali Q. Raf, Chris Riddell, Tony Robinson, J.K. Rowling, Rhik Samadder, Isy Suttie, Sandi Toksvig, Pete Townshend, Kate Williams and Michael Wood.
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blurb
keithmalek
A Love Letter to Europe: An outpouring of sadness and hope Mary Beard, Shami Chakrabati, William Dalrymple, Sebastian Faulks, Neil Gaiman, Ruth Jones, J.K. Rowling, Sandi Toksvig and others | Various, Pete Townshend, Prue Leith, Margaret Drabble, Chris Riddell, Melvyn Bragg, Jonathan Meades, Simon Callow, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Will Hutton, Tony Robinson, Tracey Emin, Jeffrey Boakye, Onjali Rauf

Right now, 90% of Americans are probably saying, "Europe? Fine. I didn't want to travel to that country anyway."
https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/covid-19-europe-travel-ban-trump-bolsonaro-puti...

BarbaraBB You‘re kidding I hope - about the 90%? 4y
keithmalek @BarbaraBB I made that up, but it's probably true. 75% of Americans don't have a passport. Why would they need one when they can visit Branson, Missouri? 4y
BarbaraBB Wow, well there is a lot to see and travel in America itself but 75%... Are you American yourself? I hope these people do read the rest of the article as well 🤞🏽 4y
See All 7 Comments
keithmalek @BarbaraBB Yes, I'm American. And this country sucks. 4y
BarbaraBB At the moment it does, I agree. It‘s incredible how much damage one man can do. 4y
keithmalek @BarbaraBB It sucked LONG before him. The people suck, the healthcare sucks, pretty much everything sucks. 4y
BarbaraBB You should come to Europe 😉- if that is possible again 4y
6 likes7 comments
review
rockpools
A Love Letter to Europe: An outpouring of sadness and hope Mary Beard, Shami Chakrabati, William Dalrymple, Sebastian Faulks, Neil Gaiman, Ruth Jones, J.K. Rowling, Sandi Toksvig and others | Various, Pete Townshend, Prue Leith, Margaret Drabble, Chris Riddell, Melvyn Bragg, Jonathan Meades, Simon Callow, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Will Hutton, Tony Robinson, Tracey Emin, Jeffrey Boakye, Onjali Rauf
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Pickpick

On the pick/so-so border, but I‘m going with a pick as it‘s given me a little time and space to process . . . stuff!

This is a very mixed collection of short essays (?no, shorter), thoughts, love letters on ‘What Europe means to me‘ from people who are, on the whole, gutted to be leaving. Many are ‘Meh‘, some are excellent, all are heartfelt. I struggled through the more sentimental/nostalgic French exchange/first love pieces, but 👇

rockpools enjoyed some of the more ‘specialist‘ bits - art, literature, birds, music, language, history, the letter z(!), and identified with others still. There was a short sentence in Mary Beard‘s piece that helped me ‘get‘ it. And Faber‘s piece on being officially Unsettled, is so devastating, even more so today when we‘re hearing (again) about deportation flights.

Overall and unsurprisingly, very, very sad.
(edited) 5y
ElaineR You're so right about the more specialist pieces being the most interesting. Also agree, whether they appealed to me or not, all were heartfelt. 5y
TrishB Yes, great summary. Reading on ‘the day‘ just helped. 5y
59 likes3 comments
review
ElaineR
A Love Letter to Europe: An outpouring of sadness and hope Mary Beard, Shami Chakrabati, William Dalrymple, Sebastian Faulks, Neil Gaiman, Ruth Jones, J.K. Rowling, Sandi Toksvig and others | Various, Pete Townshend, Prue Leith, Margaret Drabble, Chris Riddell, Melvyn Bragg, Jonathan Meades, Simon Callow, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Will Hutton, Tony Robinson, Tracey Emin, Jeffrey Boakye, Onjali Rauf
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Mehso-so

Interesting read. A collection of brief anecdotes and essays. There are some real highlights (Colin Tude and Michel Faber in particular) but the majority are a bit underwhelming and surprisingly repetitive (there are more countries in Europe that France you know).

All in all I'm glad I picked it up. It was, pleasantly, less political and more hopeful/reflective than I expected.

rockpools I think I agree with your review (I‘ve not finished yet, or read the 2 essays you mentioned). I am glad I carried on past 25% - the later pieces are that bit more interesting and varied. 5y
Cathythoughts A beer & a croque monsieur .... 👍🏻❤️ 5y
18 likes2 comments
quote
ElaineR
A Love Letter to Europe: An outpouring of sadness and hope Mary Beard, Shami Chakrabati, William Dalrymple, Sebastian Faulks, Neil Gaiman, Ruth Jones, J.K. Rowling, Sandi Toksvig and others | Various, Pete Townshend, Prue Leith, Margaret Drabble, Chris Riddell, Melvyn Bragg, Jonathan Meades, Simon Callow, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Will Hutton, Tony Robinson, Tracey Emin, Jeffrey Boakye, Onjali Rauf
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Questions we thought we'd put behind us indeed! Not naivety mind. I don't think anyone could have predicted how readily people would sacrifice NI in their pursuit of a past that never was.

rockpools 💔 5y
15 likes1 comment
quote
rockpools
A Love Letter to Europe: An outpouring of sadness and hope Mary Beard, Shami Chakrabati, William Dalrymple, Sebastian Faulks, Neil Gaiman, Ruth Jones, J.K. Rowling, Sandi Toksvig and others | Various, Pete Townshend, Prue Leith, Margaret Drabble, Chris Riddell, Melvyn Bragg, Jonathan Meades, Simon Callow, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Will Hutton, Tony Robinson, Tracey Emin, Jeffrey Boakye, Onjali Rauf
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The Channel is calm today, a bright turquoise diffusing into a sharp blue line where the sea meets the sky. But the horizon isn‘t a border, you know. It‘s what joins us.

BookishMe 💟💟 5y
Cathythoughts 👍🏻❤️ 5y
LeahBergen Lovely! 5y
JaneyWaneyB Brilliant quote 5y
58 likes4 comments
quote
ElaineR
A Love Letter to Europe: An outpouring of sadness and hope Mary Beard, Shami Chakrabati, William Dalrymple, Sebastian Faulks, Neil Gaiman, Ruth Jones, J.K. Rowling, Sandi Toksvig and others | Various, Pete Townshend, Prue Leith, Margaret Drabble, Chris Riddell, Melvyn Bragg, Jonathan Meades, Simon Callow, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Will Hutton, Tony Robinson, Tracey Emin, Jeffrey Boakye, Onjali Rauf
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What a lovely thought

"A telling aspect of that European distribution is that blackbirds love to be near us. They achieve their highest breeding numbers and success, not in the pristine forest where they originated, but in suburbia. We would not be entirely wrong to imagine that they like to sing to us."

Cathythoughts 👍🏻❤️ 5y
20 likes1 comment
blurb
ElaineR
A Love Letter to Europe: An outpouring of sadness and hope Mary Beard, Shami Chakrabati, William Dalrymple, Sebastian Faulks, Neil Gaiman, Ruth Jones, J.K. Rowling, Sandi Toksvig and others | Various, Pete Townshend, Prue Leith, Margaret Drabble, Chris Riddell, Melvyn Bragg, Jonathan Meades, Simon Callow, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Will Hutton, Tony Robinson, Tracey Emin, Jeffrey Boakye, Onjali Rauf
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Some beautiful little essays in this book. The above is by Heather Cooper.

Thanks for recommendation @TrishB . Loving it so far.

TrishB They are both lovely and sad at the same time ❤️ 5y
ElaineR For sure. I'm only about 20% into it so quite hopeful so far. I love that they've organised it into the life of relationship. 5y
8 likes2 comments
review
TrishB
A Love Letter to Europe: An outpouring of sadness and hope Mary Beard, Shami Chakrabati, William Dalrymple, Sebastian Faulks, Neil Gaiman, Ruth Jones, J.K. Rowling, Sandi Toksvig and others | Various, Pete Townshend, Prue Leith, Margaret Drabble, Chris Riddell, Melvyn Bragg, Jonathan Meades, Simon Callow, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Will Hutton, Tony Robinson, Tracey Emin, Jeffrey Boakye, Onjali Rauf
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Pickpick

I really enjoyed this collection of essays, although some did bring a tear to my eye, most were uplifting, funny and very genuine about their love for Europe.
I could have quoted lots really, but I‘m too sad and today is weighing heavily- I just hope no one gives me one of those 50p coins!!

CarolynM 😢 5y
Izai.Amorim Yes, it‘s really sad. No matter from which angle you look at it, it doesn‘t make any sense. It‘s Thatcherism 2.0. 5y
LeeRHarry Been thinking about this all day 😢 5y
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Cathythoughts It‘s very sad .... it‘s an awful state of affairs 😥 5y
erzascarletbookgasm Oh it‘s tonight..☹️ 5y
Tanisha_A Really uncool and sad. 😞 5y
batsy 😔 5y
Hooked_on_books What a mess our world is now 🌍🔥 5y
rockpools 😞 Feeling v sad today. 5y
Kalalalatja I‘m still struggling to understand that it is really happening 😞 5y
TrishB @CarolynM @Izai.Amorim @LeeRHarry @Cathythoughts @erzascarletbookgasm @Tanisha_A @batsy @Hooked_on_books @RachelO resisting arguing with people on fb is very hard! But never gets anywhere! Seriously someone said we won 2 world wars on our own!!! Someone needs a history lesson or two. 5y
AmyG This world. What the hell is happenning? 😢 5y
Leftcoastzen I‘m with @AmyG 5y
Oryx Really sad day 5y
Balibee146 A sad and terrible day at the end of a week filled with idiots behaving badly 😢😞💔 5y
andrew61 A great picture but a dreadful day. It just makes me worry about what legacy my children face 😞 5y
118 likes2 stack adds17 comments
quote
TrishB
A Love Letter to Europe: An outpouring of sadness and hope Mary Beard, Shami Chakrabati, William Dalrymple, Sebastian Faulks, Neil Gaiman, Ruth Jones, J.K. Rowling, Sandi Toksvig and others | Various, Pete Townshend, Prue Leith, Margaret Drabble, Chris Riddell, Melvyn Bragg, Jonathan Meades, Simon Callow, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Will Hutton, Tony Robinson, Tracey Emin, Jeffrey Boakye, Onjali Rauf
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Frank Cottrell Boyce sums it up 😁 😘

CarolynM This. 5y
Reggie ❤️❤️❤️ 5y
Cathythoughts 👍🏻❤️❤️❤️ 5y
92 likes1 stack add3 comments
blurb
TrishB
A Love Letter to Europe: An outpouring of sadness and hope Mary Beard, Shami Chakrabati, William Dalrymple, Sebastian Faulks, Neil Gaiman, Ruth Jones, J.K. Rowling, Sandi Toksvig and others | Various, Pete Townshend, Prue Leith, Margaret Drabble, Chris Riddell, Melvyn Bragg, Jonathan Meades, Simon Callow, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Will Hutton, Tony Robinson, Tracey Emin, Jeffrey Boakye, Onjali Rauf
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#99ponkindle required reading tomorrow 😢

rockpools 😢 5y
ElaineR Some good authors here. 5y
Cinfhen Oh WOW!!!! This looks AMAZING 5y
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rockpools This is surprisingly warm and positive so far. Definitely one to read this week 👍 5y
Cathythoughts Same price here ❤️👍🏻 5y
MicheleinPhilly ❤️❤️❤️ 5y
Cuilin Great contributors. Sad occasion. 5y
TrishB @RachelO @ElaineR @Cinfhen @Cathythoughts @MicheleinPhilly @Cuilin I shall be having a little read tomorrow, probably! 5y
ElaineR @TrishB bought the Kindle version (bargain) so will have to read a bit tomorrow. If I can bear it lol 5y
TrishB @ElaineR me too 👍🏻 5y
BarbaraBB I hate to see you leave. 5y
TrishB @BarbaraBB it‘s so sad 😞 I‘ll have to avoid the news and all the flag waving tomorrow..... 5y
BarbaraBB Absolutely. I really don‘t want to watch those triumphant faces of Johnson & co tomorrow. 5y
112 likes2 stack adds13 comments