It's midsummer and at an elegant house in Holland Park a hostess is preparing a particular dinner to celebrate the night. Her guests, busy getting ready, do not know quite what the night will bring, for Fleur's parties are famous for their unpredicatability.
Terence Henry Stamp was an English actor. Known for his sophisticated villain roles, he was named by Empire as one of the 100 Sexiest Film Stars of All Time in 1995. He received various accolades including a Golden Globe Award, a Cannes Film Festival Award, and a Silver Bear as well as nominations for an Academy Award and two BAFTA Awards.
In addition to his acting career, Stamp was an accomplished writer and author. He published three volumes of his memoirs including Stamp Album (written in tribute to his late mother), a novel entitled The Night, and a cookbook co-written with Elizabeth Buxton to provide alternative recipes for those who are wheat- and lactose-intolerant.
It took me a while, from finding this book in a charity shop (Aid For Actors) to actually getting around to reading it. A chance encounter on the internet a few months ago had me browsing Clarence Stamp's website and finding a very interesting extract from one of his autobiographies. This made me wish for the re-opening of charity shops from lock-down, hopefully to find a copy of his autobiography for 50p - or £1 even. And then a couple of weeks ago there was a feature on him on the Sky Arts channel and I remembered this book, perched between E.E. 'Doc' Smith and Steinbeck, so I decided to read it - when I next had 'time and space'. This book deserves more than the three stars I have given it. Three stars denotes average and this book is definitely not average. It is well-written (always a good sign) and has a lot of interesting 'things' going on in it, but it only gets three stars from me because it is not my type of book... If you enjoy interesting, well-written stories then give this one a go. If you have a copy of Terrence Stamp's autobiography, or know of someone who has died recently who had a copy, take it to a charity shop so I can buy it for £1 or 50p.