There’s nothing of note to report on my revisions of the Jane Grant manuscript. I’ve recently returned from a weeklong vacation and am still settling back in. In terms of writing, this involved starting a reread of the chapter in which Jane makes her movie debut (the subject of my last post). I needed to reacquaint myself with the sequence of events to see how it all flows and work out some clunky prose as I went along. It’s been a quiet re-entry, which is good for those first post-vacation days.

Scotland was lovely. We stayed in Edinburgh, in the city center, so we could walk to just about everything we wanted to see. Twice we ventured outside of the city: once on a tour to the Highlands with a stop at Loch Ness for a boat ride and once on the train to Glasgow to see the Gallery of Modern Art and take a walking tour.

During one of our Edinburgh days, we went to the National Gallery. I was immediately drawn to this portrait and wanted to know more about the subject.

Look at her expression.

(Portrait of Naomi Mitchison by Wyndham Lewis, 1938)

I was not surprised to learn that Naomi Mitchison (1897-1999) was a writer and women’s rights activist. The Gallery’s website provides this description of her life:

“Naomi Mitchison was a novelist, poet and passionate campaigner for social justice and women’s rights. Born in Edinburgh, Mitchison’s first novel was published in 1923, when she was twenty-six. Mitchison wrote over seventy books during her lifetime and edited and contributed to many more. She also produced hundreds of articles for newspapers and journals. Mitchison travelled extensively over five continents, was involved in the campaign for access to birth control from the 1920s and spent nearly twenty years as a local councillor in the Scottish Highlands. She was awarded a CBE in 1981.”

Another painting from later in her life is nearly as arresting.

The Gallery website provided additional details of her life in connection with this painting:

“Edinburgh-born Naomi Mitchison was a writer of plays, fiction, poetry and essays as well as being a passionate campaigner for a range of social and political issues. With her husband, barrister and later Labour MP, G. Richard Mitchison, she entertained a circle of intellectuals and literary friends in their house in Hammersmith and later at Carradale in Kintyre. During the 1950s and 1960s she travelled widely in India, the Middle East and Africa. Her personal involvement with the Bakgatla people of Botswana – to which the inscription on this portrait refers – inspired a number of writings on African issues. Mitchison was awarded a CBE in 1981. She died at Carradale in 1999, aged 101. The National Galleries of Scotland also hold a sculpture bust and an earlier portrait of Mitchison.”

A quick internet search about Mitchison (minus any AI “sources”) revealed that she was interested in science (specifically genetics), qualified for a spot at Oxford University, and halted her studies to volunteer as a nurse during World War I. Mitchison married a barrister in 1916 and turned to writing in the 1920s. She also had seven children and a string of lovers.

Hers was a life packed with adventures. It was big and important, deserving of a biography. I’m going to track down Jenni Calder’s, titled The Nine Lives of Naomi Mitchison.

What I’m Reading

I’ve started historian Megan Kate Nelson’s latest, The Westerners: Mythmaking and Belonging on the American Frontier.

In honor of the Scotland vacation, I picked up a Val McDermid police procedural set in Edinburgh, Past Lying, the seventh in her series featuring Karen Pirie. It holds my interest.

What I’m Watching

Started Legends, about a small team of British customs agents circa 1990 attempting to infiltrate a heroin ring, and the second season of The Chestnut Man, a Danish mystery, both on Netflix.

Continuing with The Other Bennet Sister (still enjoyable) and After the Flood, both on BritBox.

Heading into the last season of Ghosts UK (Paramount+). I’m still watching the Australian drama from the 2010s, A Place to Call Home (Prime), but it’s getting a bit soapy. I may have to alternate with episodes of Deep Space Nine (Paramount+).

Finished The Trial of Christine Keeler (BritBox), an interesting British political drama set in the 1960s.

What Else Is Happening

Getting back to bowling after a week off wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Despite too many splits and a few gutter balls, the overall scores were acceptable. I especially appreciated rolling two strikes in the tenth frame.

Have a good couple of weeks. Hope you stop by for the next installment.