Minutes of the meeting at La Rosa Hotel on the above date.
Present: Adele, Harry, Jenny, Jonathan, Michele, Ian (chair).
Apologies: Gill, Kaz, Lesley, Pip.
Topic: Members’ work-in-progress.
Matters Arising
The last meeting of the year will be on 7 December 2023.
The remaining meetings this year are: 26 October; 9 November; 23 November; 7 December.
Jenny observed that there is no Christmas get-together planned to-date, and offered to arrange one.
Members’ Readings
Jenny — reported that she had spent a few days at Gibside, the home of the heroine of her period novel. The Banqueting House she found particularly splendid. She found it so sumptuous as to be unsettling – the implications for her novel will take time to digest.
She continued reading from her period novel in-progress based on the historical figure of Mary Eleanor Bowes, the heiress of a vast fortune from the Durham coalfields. Irish soldier-of-fortune Andrew Stoney has married the unattractive heiress Hannah, and collected 150 guineas from her erstwhile suitor for taking her off his hands. Almost immediately after the wedding, Hannah has been left to languish at home while Andrew goes off gallivanting with other women. But soon a trip is planned to Greystoke House, the Stoney farm in Ireland, which lifts Hannah’s spirits. However she has a bad trip by boat, during which Andrew reveals his vicious nature.
Hannah enjoys the hospitality of the Stoney household, and Andrew’s sister Sarah offers friendship.
Brother Thomas is dismayed at Andrew’s reappearance, fearing that if Andrew exercises his right to take over the farm in violation of their agreement, his father will make him (Thomas) join the army. But Andrew reassures him that he will never be tempted to visit Ireland again, thanks to the luxuries of his new home.
Ian — read a poem: La Cathédrale engloutie (The sunken Cathedral), inspired by the eponymous piano work by Claude Debussy. The poet’s conceit that the James Webb telescope has spotted a cathedral submerged in an ocean on a planet at the end of the visible universe re-casts the much-hyped Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) as a search for bigger fools than us.
Michele — read a further instalment of her novel in-progress: The Undesirables, set in Southern Africa during the Boer War, 1898-1902.
It is 1902 and Camp Irene is now under civil administration, the army having allowed a typhoid epidemic to rage out of control. Introducing elementary hygiene measures has caused the death rate to drop. But Supt Bowen, the new commandant, cannot recruit doctors for the Black Camp. He is compelled to ask Dr Milne to continue dividing his time between the two camps, which furthers the need for Anna as his interpreter.
Anna’s mother now falls ill with cervical cancer, which has spread throughout her body. Dr Milne can only give her palliative care and prescribes laudanum for the pain.
Isabella notices something going on between Anna and Dr Milne, which Anna hotly denies. But soon she is telling him about her awful experiences of being arrested and interned, and presently they kiss.
Adele — read a further instalment from her Covid Diary. It is mid-February 2022. The Metropolitan Police have sent PM Johnson a questionnaire regarding Partygate. The author visits her daughter Laura in London. There are no signs of any precautions against covid. But in the suburbs they are served in a restaurant with meticulous attention to hygiene.
The Queen has caught covid, alarming in someone so old, and so sad to be happening during her jubilee. Prince Charles has it too, and the suspicion is being aired that he may have given it to the Queen.
England now drifts into a state of relaxing all covid restrictions in-law, the government merely exhorting people to stay vigilant. “Fortress Australia” – one of the strictest regimes for border control – has also relaxed its grip.
Russia is still amassing forces on Ukraine’s borders. This will have the effect of pushing covid off the national news altogether. Sanctions are announced on Russia, including oligarchs living in the UK.
Lateral Flow Tests are no longer available free from the NHS. Boots are selling a single test for £5.99, which will scarcely invite much uptake. Low income groups are already having to choose between heating and eating.
On 23 February 2022 Russia begins its invasion. Putin threatens “consequences” for anyone trying to stop him. Kiev has now become Kyiv in all news items. There is no mention of covid any more.
Harry — has taken part in a Zoom interview conducted by the development team of a software product performing an AI-powered critique of a submitted ms. It appears that out of 500,000 subscribers he has been the only one to volunteer. He circulated a printout of the critique of a piece he had written. The vocabulary used by the AI is impressively authentic, its relevance to Harry’s work rather less so. It clearly doesn’t distinguish between a memoir and a historical novel, offering advice more suited to the latter.
A lengthy discussion ensued. Do we have reason to be worried? Yes – at the likelihood of AI-generated advice being taken more seriously by decision makers than it merits.
The meeting closed at 1:10 PM.
Whitby Writers Group 