Thursday 25 February 2010

Mrs Harris goes to Bloomsbury



Here's the cover for the new edition of Mrs Harris; as always, Bloomsbury has done the author proud. I love both covers that Bloomsbury designed for Daphne -- paperback as well as hardback -- and I like to think that Mrs Harris herself would have been equally delighted with this latest incarnation.
On another matter entirely: last night I ate a packet of chocolate-covered edamame beans given to me by a friend from her local deli, Raoul's. They were unexpectedly delicious, and apparently very health-giving, so I felt duty-bound to share them with you.

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous cover - love that pink.

Chocolate covered edamame sound divine - I'm hooked on wasabi peas at the minute. The first time I saw someone buying them in bulk I thought 'He must own a restaurant', but now anyone seeing me at the cash desk would think I own a chain of Japanese snack bars.

kairu said...

I love those Bloomsbury covers. Am tempted to order the Mrs. 'Arris books, even though I already have two of them.

Chocolate-covered edamame beans? Have never tried them, but they sound intriguing. Dark chocolate is good for you, and so are soybeans (edamame). Last night...and the night before...I ate an immodest number of dark-chocolate covered honey pecans.

Justine Picardie said...

Have just finished the chocolate covered edamame beans, so must be brimming with health. No wasabi beans in the house, unfortunately, but have made a cake with blueberries in it instead for my younger son, who has just suffered the misery of a chemistry exam (in fact, he's had exams all week; mock GCSEs). It's been raining all day, and my roof is leaking again, but nevertheless am feeling fortified by beans.

enid said...

I am sorry to be a dissenter but i love my original cover of Mrs Harris so much. I have never eaten edamame beans covered in chocolate but you have made me want to find them here in Cape Town as I have now become obsessed.

Justine Picardie said...

I like the original cover, too, but the illustration of Mrs Harris on my paperback edition is a bit too sugary.
Unlike the dark chocolate covered edamame beans, which are perfectly judged. I'm sure you'll be able to find them in Cape Town; last time I was there, it seemed brimming with sophisticated delis and restaurants. In fact, I wish I was there now. It's still raining in London, and no sign of sunshine for days...

GlassCurls said...

Wow - that's unreservedly pink! I do love the fact Bloomsbury are reprinting all these old classics. I shall have to rush out and buy it ... I don't have enough books (actually, this is semi truth, I've finally moved house, and only have one bookcase instead of three... what is a girl to do?)

Blue Floppy Hat said...

It's almost the same shade of pink as my copy of Sophie's World!

I ate some chocolate-coated peanuts once. They were delicious (but then I love Snickers bars, I suppose my liking the raw ingredients together is no surprise)

Kentishmaid said...

Love edamame beans, love dark chocolate so will be doing a search for these. Recently I had some broad beans made into a snack not unlike crisps; found in Jamielicious, the Jamie Oliver shop near Clapham Junction.

Lilacs said...

The pink is exactly the same colour as my first car.

Embarrassingly I had my rust-riddled mustard Triumph spitfire re-sprayed. I took a pair of leg warmers in to the spray shop (well, it was the 80's) and said can I have it this colour pink please....?!

Re: beans, it has been very windy today....

Karen, Surrey said...

Your chocolate fest makes me feel better as I ate a whole Green & Blacks milk chocolate with hazelnuts and raisin for my lunch!

Karen, Surrey said...

Having read further down the comments I can sympathise with the GCSE mocks my son did his just after Christmas and they were disrupted by all the snow closures. I guess we are now on the long revision slog until they're finished.

A Bookish Space said...

I can't wait for this to be published by Bloomsbury.

Lazywell said...

Looks as though the designer of that cover had been eating Prestat chocolates: http://www.prestat.co.uk/chocolates/medium_chocolate_assortment

Wendy said...

Justine,
I am a big fan of your books. Could you tell me when the Coco book is coming out? I am in US.
Thanks,
Wendy

Justine Picardie said...

Coco is out in September, at long last!

A Bookish Space said...

Oh fantastic. I'm looking forward to Coco being released!

Lilacs said...

Great news, I will put it on my wish list.

Unknown said...

Justine, hello, I'm writing from São Paulo to learn a little/a lot about your upcoming Chanel book. THis is for a features in Vogue Brasil.

Best regards,
Simone
sissiesmanhotto@gmail.com

Wendy said...

Thanks, Justine. The publication date seems to keep being pushed back and I have been eagerly awaiting it! I loved Daphne, and have read it twice so far. (Wish you would write books about Zelda Fitzgerald and Virginia Woolf.)
Regards,
Wendy

Justine Picardie said...

Hope it's worth the wait! I'm obsessed by Zelda Fitzgerald and Virginia Woolf, so if ever I had the chance to write books about them, I'd welcome it, but I fear that publishers might feel the territory has already been covered too extensively. I did write a chapter about Zelda in 'My Mother's Wedding Dress', but you have prompted me to wonder if there is another way into them....

Wendy said...

Yes, I read "My Mother's Wedding Dress" and enjoyed it as well. However, I think that both subjects could do well with your special style.
Wendy

Justine Picardie said...

My mind is whirring on the subjects...

A Bookish Space said...

May I also second Wendy's suggestions about writing about Zelda Fitzgerald and Virginia Woolf.

Justine Picardie said...

Now, if only a publisher to agree with both of you... Thanks for your encouragement!

kairu said...

May I third the suggestions of Zelda Fitzgerald and Virginia Woolf?

I've loved Virginia Woolf since reading Orlando when I was 13, but a few years ago I came across a collection of her essays (Three Guineas) in a used bookstore, and it made me love her even more. She wrote about the disparity between a man's and a woman's education at that time, saying "...your education was not merely in book-learning; games educated your body; friends taught you more than books or games. Talk with them broadened your outlook and enriched your mind. In the holidays you travelled; acquired a taste for art..." She might have been talking about the education I had been privileged to receive at the end of the 20th century (which was, like Flora Poste's, "expensive, athletic, and prolonged").

Justine Picardie said...

Ah, Flora Poste, whose education must have been excellent, to have produced such a marvelously resourceful character.

kairu said...

I wish I were even half as resourceful as Miss Poste, but then, as the state of my apartment would tell you, I can endure a mess quite well.

jaywalker said...

What about the Woolf/Garman affair. I don't think as much has been written about that as about Violet and Vita and from having just read the bio of the Garmans I gather there are a lot of letters around.

Anonymous said...

I love this cover. Now I want the book!

Justine Picardie said...

I love Cressida Connolly's book about the Garman sisters. I must re-read it, and think more about Woolf...