Out now in paperback
JEREMY THORPE by Michael Bloch
(Abacus £14.99) IN 1979, Jeremy Thorpe, the glamorous and flamboyant leader of the Liberal party, stood in court to answer charges that he had paid a hitman to kill his former lover, Norman Scott.
The ‘hit’ went badly wrong after Scott’s dog was shot and the gun jammed. Thorpe, who never gave evidence himself, and his f ellow accused were controversially acquitted.
Bloch’s masterly portrayal not just of the sensational case but of the social and political backdrop against which events played out is both shocking and salutary.
The extent t o which Thorpe’s shadowy homosexual affairs, then illegal, were known and covered up by the Establishment reflects the distorted values of the time where those in positions of power were considered unimpeachable. An important and fascinating study. THE GIRL IN THE DARK by Anna Lyndsey (Bloomsbury £9.99) T HE terrible illness that changed Anna Lyndsey’s life ten years ago is almost too sad to read, but it is her searing honesty and elegant, inspirational style that lifts this book above the level of misery memoir i nto a brilliant and i nsightful psychological study of stoicism and survival.
Put simply, Lyndsey was living a happy, successful life when she developed a sensitivity to light — sun, artificial, even computer screens — so severe that she was forced to retreat into a world of darkness, swathed in protective clothing.
Exposure resulted in a painful burning sensation that medical experts could not explain and Lyndsey became increasingly furious at suggestions there may be a psychological cause.
Remarkably, she and her boyfriend, Pete, married and co-exist in a world of blackness, punctuated by occasional brief forays into the twilight . . .
SWALLOW THIS by Joanna Blythman (Fourth Estate £8.99) HUNGRY? Thinking of picking up a ready meal or a snack? Well, drop a copy of this in your wire basket first and you might rethink what you pop in your mouth to ward off those cravings.
A vanilla ice cream, perhaps, or biscuit? The vanilla flavour maybe chemically synthesised from sawdust, petrochemicals or woodpulp. Yum.
Blythman, a committed food campaigner and writer, examines exactly what goes into processed foods and why manufacturers add artificial colours and flavours, chemicals and fillers to replicate the natural foods available if only we had the time to shop, prepare and cook them.
She’s realistic enough to understand that convenience foods are here to stay, but argues that by lifting the lid on the secretive food industry, we can make informed choices about what we eat.