‘April is the cruelest month’ according to T S Eliot but we love the certainty that spring is here. Of course everything is earlier nowadays  – the garden has lilac, tulips, Chinese dogwood, very-nearly-opened lilies of the valley, roses in bud and much else besides all mixed up – but it's impossible not to rejoice at the wonderful colours.

Another cause for joy is that because of giving a talk on E M Forster being our lodestar (why, unspokenly, he has been behind the choice of every one of our books, even the way Persephone Books is run) we have been rereading Howards End. Is it or isn't it one of the best novels ever written and oh my goodness how much we prefer it to a Jane Austen novel  – yes, yes, don't bother to write in, we know this is controversial and downright annoying to most people – but the fact is we are Forsterians through and through. (Once someone asked if we were referring to Margaret Forster. She was a very good writer but if looks could kill...)

We try to laugh when we receive rude emails: every month after this Letter goes out forty or fifty people write to us who are kind and lovely, but always two or three are upsetting. We were going to reproduce the horrid ones this month but do you know what? Is there any point? Instead, here is a poem by Alessandra Olanow which a reader very, very kindly sent us. It says it all really.

Ditto we go on being ‘in the store touching things’, re-doing the shop window in honour of the newly-published books, ‘filling carts with small comforts’ – in our case English asparagus and samphire – Ie ‘normal’ life goes on. In any case, PB no. 154 The Prisoner (published this week along with the Classic edition of PB no. 42 The Blank Wall, and the new Pamphlet) makes it impossible to turn a blind eye either to what's happening nowadays or to history. (Btw, The Prisoner is on Radio 4 at 10.45pm for two weeks as from next Monday the 27th.)

So we watched the film of Sentimental Value (trailer here) and thought it was good although sad (it's about a father and daughter who are estranged); we rejoiced that the Women’s library is 100 after reading two pieces about it here and here; we were pleased to read about Professor Nick White, who has alas died, who fought to get artemisia, the homeopathic remedy for malaria, recognised by the health-care establishment, but unsurprisingly it ‘reacted with scorn'; we are debating whether we have the backbone to watch Two Prosecutors, trailer here, it's a new film set at the same time as PB no. 149 Sofia Petrovna which we feel we should watch in tribute to it and  its author Lydia Chukovskaya but rather dread doing so; we enjoyed Jay Rayner’s article about the excellent Bristol food scene and in particular Other and Ragu being only ten minutes by train from Bath and the delicious sounding-food not being that inaccessible. (However, we have found a very good restaurant in Bath,  diagonally across the road from the shop, it's called, delightfully, Charm Thai and is our new favourite lunch place. But it won't appeal to 'foodies'.)

The Swiss government has recommended its citizens store food in case of emergencies with a list consisting of bottled water, vegetable juice, tea, coffee, milk, tinned vegetables and beans, tinned or dried fruit, soup, grains eg. pasta and rice, tinned fish, hard cheese, nuts and oil (here). We thought we probably won't be doing this although a re-read of PB no. 57 The Hopkins Manuscript might just change our minds. And let’s support Oshana, who make this fantastic crocheted rug as well as other lovely things (but an upsetting note on their website says that their artisans and families are currently under bombardment, so they can hardly have the peace and quiet, or the resources, a home indeed, to sit quietly crocheting).

Bath resident Ken Loach was interviewed here about his unforgettable film I, Daniel Blake (trailer here, the film is available on various platforms for £3.49) and began by saying: ‘In 2016 we were – as we continue to be – in a time of mean-spiritedness’ and went on ‘It’s extraordinary that we accept that people will starve unless they get food from a charity. That was simply unimaginable a year or two before we made the film.’  He is right in that, appallingly, we in the UK now accept that for many people a visit to a food bank is essential for survival. Books are essential as well and how marvellous that Emily Rhodes and Hattie Garlick’s charity Bookbanks has given out (so far) 18,000 books and counting. 

Lastly, we have watched Lead Children, a 2026 Polish film on Netflix set in the 1970s with the most superb period detail and incredible photography (although alas rather over-extended into six episodes). It's about a doctor who discovered that children had lead poisoning and their illness was being covered up, the inspiration was the real-life story of Dr. Jolanta Wadowska-Król (1939-2023), a heroic figure who uncovered the scandal  – and, fearlessly, did something about it.

Also, in readiness for the talk about E M Forster, we re-listened to a 2009 Afternoon Play A Dose of Fame by Stephen Wakelam about the 1909 death of Ernest Merz  which inspired Maurice. It is available on You Tube here and we recommend it very highly. Finally we loved The Other Bennet Sister because the lead actress was so unforgettable and the period detail so spot on, as well as The Taste of Things (trailer here) but as it's mostly about cooking (think Julie and Julia) it's certainly not for everyone.

Nicola Beauman

8 Edgar Buildings

Bath.