WHILE fans of Newlyn author and storyteller Liz Harman will be familiar with the voice of the indomitable Aunt Sarah Anne, whose stories and letters are part of her books of Cornish tales, with the help of her latest book, Now 'Ark To Aunt Sarah Anne, evocatively illustrated by Steph Haxton, they will now be able to put a face to the voice.
And not only to that of Aunt Sarah Anne but also to her extremely good natured husband Alfred.
For maximum enjoyment and entertainment, the stories of Liz Harman – a natural born storyteller, who writes and speaks with the authentic voice of her native Newlyn – need to be read aloud. While she wisely refrains from overdoing the dialect, this may still be difficult for readers born north or east of the Tamar. It won't be all that easy for those born south and west of the Tamar either for that matter as the Cornish dialect can change so much from parish to parish.
One of the nine tales that make up the book is entitled Aunt Sarah Anne Says Things Ed'n What They Used To Be, and this could very well be its subtitle, as both Aunt Sarah Anne and Alfred are from another age, and their views and opinions of the people, places and things they talk about have changed so much, that they are inevitably tinged with regret.
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Their walks and talks down Memory Lane, however, are saved from being maudlin by their sense of humour. A couple who recognise and appreciate the funny side of most situations, they also have the ability to laugh at themselves, adding enormously to their likeability.
Everything, especially of the everyday kind, is grist to Aunt Sarah Anne's good-humoured mill, from the inconvenience of last winter's snow and ice to romance and "proper Valentine cards"; from hugging a tree and feeling the earth throb, to the problems of cooking either a crab or a chicken; and from an unexpected gale of wind at Newlyn's Fish Festival to memories of Bonfire Night long before "'ealth 'an' safety".
And that's not forgetting the final poignant story. Ostensibly about the changes in carol singing and the inability of so many of today's youngsters to sing anything other than We Wish You A Merry Christmas, it also looks at the sad side of the festive season – in particular at December 19, 1981, when all hands on the Penlee lifeboat Solomon Browne and those on the Union Star they were trying to save were lost. "The day that all the lights went out in Mousehole."
A Bard of the Cornish Gorsedd whose Bardic name, Nedhores Hwedhlow, means 'Spinner of Tales', the nine delightful tales Liz Harman spins here are as tasty and traditionally Cornish as pasties and pilchards. Dedicated to Rene and Jan – the original Aunt Sarah Anne and Alfred – an all-Cornish publication, with illustrations by Steph Haxton, edited and designed by Simon Parker, printed by Headland of Penzance, and published by Scryfa at £4, Now 'Ark To Aunt Sarah Anne is a feast for lovers of Cornwall and all things Cornish.
article copyright THE CORNISHMAN