Having access to all sorts of exciting new books is right up there – and getting to find out about the new releases coming up. Sometimes it’s really frustrating because I hear about a book and feel desperate to read it, only to find out it’s not published for another 10 months!!!!
In amongst my book delivery today is a book I heard about a long while ago.
‘The See Through House’ is a moving memoir of one man’s distinctive way of looking at the world, told with tenderness and humour and a daughter’s love. It’s also a very funny account of looking after an adored yet maddening parent. Shelley grew up in the Scottish Borders, in this house, designed on a modernist open-plan grid. With colourful glass panels set against a forest of trees, it was like living in a work of art. Her father, Bernat Klein, was a textile designer whose pioneering colours and textures were a major contribution to 1960s and 70s style. As a child, Shelley and her siblings adored both the house and the fashion shows that took place there, but as she grew older, Shelley began to rebel against her father’s excessive design principles. Thirty years on, Shelley moves back home to care for her father, now in his eighties: the house has not changed and neither has his uncompromising vision. As Shelley installs her pots of herbs on the kitchen windowsill, he insists she take them into her bedroom to ensure they don’t ‘spoil the line of the house’.
Being a huge fan of mid-century design, I can’t wait to get stuck in.