Patricia Avis, 1928-77

I've just come across a novel by a former mistress of the poet Philip Larkin. Her name was Patricia Avis. She was born in South Africa, in 1928 to a Dutch father and an Irish mother. She grew up in London and her father who was very well off, sent her to college. She studied medicine but when she qualified she never worked as a doctor. She married a lecturer, Colin Strang, and moved to Belfast where he had a job. She met Philip Larkin, who was a librarian at the University there, and they had an affair. They were in love for a time and she became pregnant but miscarried. Her marriage to Colin Strang did not last long.. she had other lovers, and left Strang. She wanted to be a writer and she wrote poems and edited magazines. But her novel writing was not all that successful. She married an Anglo Irish poet Richard Murphy in the 1950's, and they lived in Ireland. She did a lot of reading, especially of French literature, and tried to form a social circle of writers and intellectuals in Ireland. She and Murphy had a daughter and she then got a divorce, leaving her child with her father. She settled in Dublin and wrote a novel Playing the Harlot about her university days and friends... but her publisher felt it was too critical of the writers that they both knew. She became addicted to alcohol and went on trying to write. But her one novel is rather rambling and does not seem to have a point. She committed suicide in 1977.

Q Names

Q is one of the rarest letters for starting a name. There are almost none! One relatively well known name is Quentin which means fifth. In Roman naming practice, children were often named by their birth order, Primo or Prima for a first son or daughter, Secundo or Secunda for a second.. etc. These names are still occasionally used in Italy. Quintana is very rarely used but it is a rough female equivalent for Quintus or Quentin. Queenie is another name, a bit more commonly used. It was a nickname for girls named Victoria, during her long reign... and it can also be a nickname for Regina, which means queen. It has now gone out of fashion. In America, the name Quinn has become more popular for boys. It is not a Latinate name, but Irish. It comes from the surname O'Cuan, which means descendant of Conn. Quincy is another American name for boys. One of the early presidents was John Quincy Adams, named after a town from which his ancestors came.

W Names

W is not the most popular letter for a name, but there are some. William is a very well known name.. The name is a combination of the German words for WIll and Helmet. Walter is old fashioned but used to be well used. There are not that many women's names beginning with W. The female forms of William are the Germanic Wilhelmina, and Williamina. But they are not all that popular. They sound rather masculine. The name can be abbreviated to Willa, or Billie.. or Mina. The American author Willa Cather's real name was Willella. Wallis is an unusual name, a feminine version of Wallace. It is of course the name of Wallis Simpson who married the Duke of Windsor. Wendy is a name invented by JM Barrie the playwright, due to a little girl he knew calling him her "Frendy Wendy"... It's old fashioned now but used to be very popular. Wanda means wand... again, its old fashioned nowadays. Winifred was a very popular name in the 20th century but has gone out of favour now. It is the name of a Welsh saint. Willow is a "nature" name, the name of a tree and is mostly a girl's name. Willoughby, a related name, is more of a boys name, and it is the surname of the charming rake Mr Willoughby in Austen's novel.

X names

There are not many X names, so I've just mentioned a couple. Xanthe (pronounced Zanthee) means yellow and is very occasionally used. Another is Xena which means stranger. An occasionally used name is Xander, which is a shortened version of Alexander. In recent years a minor British Royal, Alexander Earl of Ulster, has had a son who is named Xan.. an abbreviation of his father's name. Probably the best known X name is Xavier, which is the name of a Spanish saint, Francis Xavier. It is often used by Roman Catholics in honour of the saint. The female version of it is Xaviere, or Xaviera.

Rhys Bowen

I am reading the most recent Georgiana books by Rhys Bowen at present. They are a pleasant light read. We Three Queens is set in 1936 after the death of George V... Georgie is asked to hide Mrs Simpson in her country house, while Edward VIII tries to persuade the Prime minister and church to agree to his marrying Wallis. She has now had her first baby, James Albert, and is happy staying at home and looking after the child herself. But her former stepfather, Sir Hubert, arrives at the house with a bunch of actors and film people, who are using the house for background shots for a movie about Anne Boleyn and Catherine of Aragon. One of the child actors goes missing and the leading lady of the film is killed. Mrs Simpson disappears. Georgie must solve the mystery. The book ends with Edward VIII abdicating...

Tensions Part III

Julian realises that Mark and Pauline are growing close to each other. He asks her to help him with his estate work and she seems happy to do this. Gossip starts to fly around about them being in love. Lady Rossiter continues to make little digs about the friendship. Eventually, it begins to look like there really is something between them and people tend to blame Pauline for it. An idea arises of setting up new branches of the commercial college in England and possibly abroad. Julian finds that Pauline wants to give in her notice because she knows that she is being branded a scarlet woman and there is no future in her friendship with Mark. She says she can find another job. Lady Rossiter is triumphant that she has driven the girl out. Then Mr Fuller, one of the senior managers of the college reveals that he has asked Pauline to marry him and she has agreed. He is a good decent man and will look after her. So Julian feels it is best for her to go and marry him, and she will be safe and happier.

Tensions Part II

Miss Marchrose arrives at the college and Sir Julian takes a liking to her. She is pretty, and pleasant. Lady Rossiter keeps making digs at her. After a month or so it becomes clear that Mark very much likes Miss Marchrose and she seems good at her job and friendly to him. His children remain awful brats. Lady Rossiter continues to niggle.. They find that Pauline is the woman who broke off her engagement to Clarence. She tells Sir Julian that her family were left badly off, and she went to train as a secretary and found it difficult to adjust to life as an office worker. The other girls thought she was snobbish and that she was a lavish spender. She found herself being very lonely. When she met up with her own richer relatives, they introduced her to Clarence. He seemed to like her and she was flattered because she did not seem to attract young men. She was not sure if she really cared deeply for him however, and when he was injured, she felt that she could not sincerely offer him her support as his wife. So she broke off the engagement. Sir Julian did not think highly of Clarence and he understands that Pauline had good reasons for breaking off her engagement. He quite likes her and is annoyed by his wife insinuating that she is an immoral woman.