Monster Touch Christchurch

Darling Monster

The glittering letters of British socialite Lady Diana Cooper to her son John Julius Norwich, from pre-World War Two London to post-Liberation Paris ‘Please, darling monster, write as often as you can. It’s so sad waiting for letters that don’t come and are not even written. I love my darling boy. Don’t treat me so badly again or I’ll have your lights and liver when I get home.’ 19 November 1939 ‘I wish, I wish it was all over – Hitler defeated, the lights up again and the guns still.’ 2 October 1940 Lady Diana Cooper was the Edwardian It Girl who inspired novelists from Evelyn Waugh to Nancy Mitford. Born Lady Diana Manners, she was an aristocrat, society darling and an actress. Married to political star Duff Cooper, they were the golden couple at the heart of 20th century British upper-class life. This extraordinary collection of letters written by Diana to her only son, John Julius Norwich, takes us from the rumblings of war, through the Blitz to rural Sussex to post-Liberation Paris. Beyond all the glitz, Diana emerges in these letters as highly intelligent, funny and fiercely loyal: a woman who disliked extravagance and was often shy, who was happiest in the countryside and whose greatest love were her husband and son John, who would later become a leading historian and broadcaster. These illuminating letters document some of history’s most dramatic events, but they provide a vivid and touching portrait of the love between a mother and son, separated by war, oceans – and the constraints of the time they lived in. ‘Diana Cooper is as vivid in literature and social legend as she was in life. Her letters are frank, witty and humorous’ The Times

Call It Like It Is

The world of the international rugby referee has always been a closely guarded secret … until now. As a Durban schoolboy, Jonathan Kaplan watched rugby at Kings Park every Saturday, dreaming of the day he would represent his country. Now, three decades later and at the age of 47, he reflects on the career highs and lows that saw him retire as the most capped international, Super Rugby and Currie Cup referee of all time. But records and milestones are just a part of an intriguing memoir that affords the reader a rare glimpse into the world of international refereeing … and what lies behind that enigmatic, penetrating glare that is as typical of Jonathan Kaplan as his silver-grey patch of hair. In Call It Like It Is, Kaplan describes exactly what it takes to be an international rugby referee: his gradual climb to the top, the sacrifices he had to make in his personal life, his struggle with injuries and rugby management, the toll an itinerant lifestyle exacted upon him, and much, much more. But this is not only an autobiography: Kaplan also offers his opinion on the role of technology in rugby, dissects his own successes and failures, debates the selection and assessment of referees, and, yes, gives his take on the 2011 Rugby World Cup and the Bryce Lawrence affair. Containing all the guts and glory you’d expect from an epic rugby tale, this is also the frank and forthright account of a man who, both in life and on the pitch, would only ever call it like it is.

Thackeray's Works