Ottaker's Children's Book Prize - Julia Golding

This year's winner of the Ottaker's Children's Book Prize is Julia Golding for The Diamond of Drury Lane published by Egmont Books Ltd.

Set in 1790's Covent Garden this book whisks you back to a bygone era. Cat Royal is an orphan who lives at the back of the theatre in Drury Lane and the narrator's colourful slang and confident style of I'll-tell-you-how-it-really-is, makes the story sparkle off the page.

 David Irving in trial in Vienna

David Irving, Holocaust denier and discredited right-wing historian faces trial in Vienna this month commencing on 20th February.

Irving was arrested last year in Austria for denying the Holocaust. Austria, in common with Germany and Poland, has a constitutional law dating back to 1945 which not only bans National Socialist or neo-Nazi organisations but makes incitement to neo-Nazi activity and the glorification or praise of National Socialist ideology illegal. It also prohibits public denial, belittlement, approval, or justification of National Socialist crimes, including the Holocaust.

Having once upon a time enjoyed a certain cachet as a popular historian combined with a flair for self-promotion, Irving became a celebrated Holocaust denier. Despite his failed law suit against Professor Deborah Lispstadt in 2001 and the gradual shunning of his work by mainstream publishing houses, David Irving still makes the news with his revisionist views.

German author and academic, Malte Herwig travelled to Vienna for The Observer to find out "if arrogance is at the heart of Irving's desire for outrage - or something more sinister?" (for full interview)

Irving bibliography (from Wikipedia)

The Destruction of Dresden (1963)
The Mare's Nest (1964)
The Virus House (1967)
The Destruction of Convoy PQ17 (1967 - revised after libel trial 1970)
Accident -- The Death of General Sikorski (1967)
Breach of Security (1968)
The Rise and Fall of the Luftwaffe (1973)
Hitler's War (1977)
The Trail of the Fox (1977)
The War Path (1978)
War Between the Generals (1981)
Uprising! (1981)
The Secret Diaries of Hitlers Doctor (1983)
The German Atomic Bomb: The History of Nuclear Research in Nazi Germany (1983)
Churchill's War (1987)
Goering (1989)
Goebbels - Mastermind of the "Third Reich" (1996)
Churchill's War Volume II: Triumph in Adversity (1997)

David Irving is unique among modern Holocaust deniers for having first established a reputation as a popular, if controversial, chronicler of World War II. This reputation, combined with his flair for self-promotion and involvement in high-profile lawsuits, made him one of the best-known Holocaust deniers in the world. He suffered a major blow in April 2000, however, when he lost an internationally publicized legal battle with Professor Deborah Lipstadt, whom he had accused of libel, before a London court. (In July 2001, his request for a new trial was turned down by an appeals court.) Labeled a Holocaust denier and anti-Semite by Justice Charles Gray, and increasingly shunned by mainstream publishing houses, it is unlikely that Irving will ever regain the mainstream scholarly cachet he once enjoyed. Nonetheless, he continues to tour and raise money, and he remains one of the world's most effective purveyors of Holocaust denial.

Madame Setterfield otherwise known as Diane Setterfield, by
Sally Mackenzie of Macbuiks

As a book lover I have often felt grateful for the writers who have given me so much pleasure, so much information and whose stories have helped me through bad patches in my life. Over the years my love of books in conjunction with my desire to recycle just about everything has even led me to try my hand at bookbinding and finally, after inheriting a collection of books, to become a bookseller. While I have been interested enough to read a few autobiographies and biographies concerning my favourite authors, to try to understand how they can produce a story from 'nothing', I have not spent much time considering the process of how the manuscript becomes the book. Why do some books come out, if that is the right expression, embellished with a enticing book jacket, designed by famous artists and other books are straight away brought out in paperback? What is the effect on the authors of getting their first books accepted? Recently I have had the opportunity to acquire a little insight into the process because of Madame Diane Setterfield, French teacher and novelist.

For the last two years I have been attending a small group for French lessons in Diane's own home. At first the group of us, seven in total, were instructed in a basement lined with books until, when the room was needed for another purpose, we were relocated in her sitting room never to return to the book-lined room. This was a pity because I found it soothing to search the titles when my mind was unable to recall the correct French word. We knew that Diane had given up her academic career as a French lecturer in order to write a novel, but none the less she had to do some teaching to pay the bills. Besides teaching us she gave classes for people who had decided to live in France.

What makes a person think that they are capable of writing a book? When I put this question to Diane she told me that even before she was old enough to read adult books she liked the idea of writing a story. She loved being read to, listening to Jackanory and when she was able to read she became an avid reader. This love of books continued and that is why she chose to teach French language and literature as a career. After several years teaching she realised that if she did not follow her heart's desire and at least try writing, she would always regret it. In order to give her the time she needed to write her novel she took part-time work teaching French in the evenings and devoted her mornings to writing. She joined a writers' group locally and attended two writers' courses, each of a week's duration where she gained practical advice such as how to choose an agent. She had to become single minded in order to finish her novel.

In the Autumn term we learnt that the novel was finished and been sent to some agents.

In November I had a knee replacement operation and had to miss a couple of classes. Not only was I paid a social visit by 'teacher' bearing shortbread, but on the third week the class came to my house!

Diane is valued by us as a teacher because she has made the classes interesting and her preparation cannot be faulted. On this occasion she apologised that she had not photocopied all the work she hoped to and that her mind might appear not to be with the class this evening. What an understatement! The reason for her preoccupation was, she said, that more than one publishing house was interested in her novel and there was likely be an auction for the rights to publish. The following week her husband rang to tell me that the class would not be able to take place (the first time this had happened) as Diane had just returned from London and was too tired cope with a class. No wonder - there had had been a four day auction between the publishing houses with Orion paying a reported £750,000+ for Diane's novel 'The Thirteenth Tale'. The book tells the story of a reclusive novelist and its mysterious, gothic style is even being compared to classic novels such as Jane Eyre and Rebecca. There followed a celebratory party before Christmas to which our French group were invited along with friends and neighbours and members of the writers group.

Diane has now come down to earth. The speed with which the book was accepted took some adjusting to. Book writing is a slow process in comparison. It took five years to complete the book and longer to decide to make the attempt. In October last year Diane was thinking that she would have to start advertising her next class for people who wished to relocate to France and undertake all the preparation that was required. Yet by November she was being interviewed by the press and wooed by publishers. She continues to teach us until next September when she will have go on the road to promote her book, but does not have to think about setting up other groups. The interviews will go on, and of course the writing. I have not read 'The Thirteenth Tale' but it is on my shopping list for next September.