Juliet Nicolson: Frostquake (1963)

2021-02-16

In Britain the winter of 1962/3 was astonishingly cold. The snow began to fall on Boxing Day and it did not thaw until Easter. In this episode the writer Juliet Nicolson takes us back to this white, frosty world. Against a backdrop of snow and ice Nicolson describes the personal stories that were playing out at that time. There was the desperation of Sylvia Plath in London, the magical music of the Beatles in Liverpool and the political shock of the Profumo Affair. In this episode Nicolson evokes all these stories and she also takes us back inside her primary school, where she was being...

Against a backdrop of snow and ice Nicolson describes the personal stories that were playing out at that time. There was the desperation of Sylvia Plath in London, the magical music of the Beatles in Liverpool and the political shock of the Profumo Affair.

In this episode Nicolson evokes all these stories and she also takes us back inside her primary school, where she was being taught by the most wonderful English literature teacher imaginable.

The scenes, characters and themes discussed in this episode all feature in Juliet Nicolson's new book, Frostquake, which is newly-published in hardback.

For much, much more, including a fascinating colourised picture of the snow in 1963, head to our website: tttpodcast.com

Show Notes

Scene One: January 1963. Juliet Nicolson’s school in London

Scene Two: 12th February, 1963. The McCann’s sitting room in Oldham after the Beatles concert at the Astoria ballroom

Scene Three: 22nd March 1963. Public Gallery in the House of Commons

Memento: The contemporary notes made by Penelope Fitzgerald for her novel ‘Offshore’

People/Social

Presenter: Peter Moore

Guest: Juliet Nicolson

Producers: Maria Nolan

Titles: Jon O

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