Good Evening Everyone,



Last night, I was a very proud Auntie.  I received a panicked phone call from my niece, Hope.



Hope was writing an essay for her english teacher about a book she is reading at the moment.  Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein'.  A set book, mind you.



She had left her copy at school, so rang me in the hope that I may have the book on my shelves.  Fortunately, I did have a copy - not that I had ever read it.  So we leafed through it to find the relevant quotations and had a jolly chat about the themes of Frankenstein.  Unknown to Hope, I had found the bbc's bite size revision notes on the internet and was quoting merrily from those.



Hope was suitably impressed with her auntie's scholarship and erudition and I was suitably impressed with her ability to ask the right questions of the right people (i.e. ME!).



I took a few minutes to tell Hope about Mary Shelley being the daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft, the early feminist and to explain a bit about feminism to her.  Hope wrote it all down to tell her English teacher - she said it would make her look dead clever.  Hope is more known for her sporting and musical ability rather than her love of literature - However, she has been informed that in order to be taken seriously as a Renaissance Woman she must also have a grasp of literature.



So, inspired, I am stuck into Frankenstein and Hope has informed me that the next text is 'a view from the bridge' - an Arthur Miller play about suspicion, sexual betrayal and McCarthyism (wonderful!).  I shall buy myself a copy off Amazon and Hope and I intend to read it together.



It's nice when children grow up enough to be able to read and discuss books with their ancient aunties.



Proud Portia