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The Vanishing of Margaret Small: An uplifting and page-turning mystery

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This poignant story tells of people whom life has denied any of the advantages that we take for granted today. People with few or no choices about their own lives. It speaks to the unfairness of life, while simultaneously being hopeful thanks in no small part to Margaret's naivety and positive outlook. Marga is one of the most brimming-with-life people I have ever known. Sometimes it felt as though she was constantly in motion, rushing off somewhere with her folding bicycle, bemoaning the complexities of childcare and commuting arrangements, but at the same time she managed to make time for everybody, and was a meticulous and demanding perfectionist. She was always the first to volunteer to help out if she could: for example when I moved house during term time, she was ready to step in and take on teaching and marking for me. She had strong views on subjects like the importance of timed examinations as a form of assessment, and on the availability of opportunities for students to learn languages. She was certainly not infallible, frequently losing or misplacing her keys, her phone, her train pass, and technology was one of her most significant bêtes noires– when the university introduced a new online system for marking student work, in the early stages Marga’s computer managed to lose her painstakingly-typed comments with alarming regularity. The frequency of her Facebook updates was only matched by their poor spelling and grammar – as she told me once, this was one concession to her busy schedule: proof-reading was for her professional life, but Facebook was for fun. Far from being exhausted by all of the commuting, running, cycling, research, writing, teaching, administration, coffees, lunches, world book day costumes, music, reading, and travel, though, she seemed to thrive on it. And it was clear that at the centre of her world was her family – Joel, Clara, Douglas, her parents, her siblings – and her faith. It’s not a faith I share, but it’s certainly one I admire, and it drove her to live the kind of life that anybody would be immensely proud to live. Everybody who knew Marga was enriched by the experience, and in losing her in her prime, so suddenly and unexpectedly, we are all diminished: but we are better people for having known her, and her memory and example will live on undimmed. Where do I even begin? Everyone and I mean everyone needs to read this book! I defy anyone to not fall in love with Margaret Small, she is the most loveable character you could ever meet and once you know her history you can’t help but love her more. This story is told in a dual timeline. We have present-day Margaret who is struggling to understand why she keeps receiving letters from someone called ‘C’ and Margaret as a child/teen/ young woman telling us her story inside the walls of St Mary’s. Alexander throws the reader a little surprise before a most satisfactory resolution to Margaret’s story. He gives his characters wise words and insightful observations. “Don’t judge yourself the way others judged you in the past.” Funny, moving and uplifting, this is an outstanding debut novel.

But someone is sending her notes with cash, signed with “C x”: she believes it’s Cilla but, except for the one read to her by the young man in Sainsbury’s, she has no idea what they say, and she’s reluctant to ask Wayne, because he will probably think she’s lost it. She likes the life she has now, her routine and the people in her life, and the last thing she wants is to be put away again. Marga was also an extremely dedicated and inspirational teacher, who delighted in taking her students (and, indeed, her colleagues) on amazing, virtual voyages to worlds long gone. That one of Marga’s modules was called ‘Piracy, Plunder, Peoples and Exploitation: English Exploration in the Tudor Period’, conveys something of her ability to capture the imagination of students while also provoking deep thought around historical injustice and its continued presence in the world today.It is no surprise that it was often to Marga that we turned for Admissions talks to prospective students, a task she relished and delivered with characteristic aplomb to hundreds of young historians-in-training at open days and visit days. Yet she also made it her duty to ensure that we were also able to bond together outside of work. Many of the cohort had come from different institutions and Margaret recognised how difficult it may be for a lot of students given that in-person experiences remained limited. So, Margaret tookit upon herself to organise games evening so that we could get to know each other better. a b Myers, JoAnne (2013). Historical Dictionary of the Lesbian and Gay Liberation Movements. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. pp.xl. ISBN 978-0-8108-7226-4.The Vanishing of Margaret Small is a story that tore at my heart, had me shedding tears in places, but also had me laughing out loud in others. Colleagues from the time particularly remember Marga’s keen intellect, her warmth, her enthusiasm and, as one former colleague expressed it ‘her ability to talk plainly about very complicated things’. She was at the same time incredibly erudite and great fun! Those of us who remember her were deeply saddened to hear of her loss and extend our sympathy and condolences to all her family, friends and colleagues at University of Birmingham. All in all, this is a book that is heartrending and heartwarming at the same time. If you want to read the touching story of a loveable old lady, definitely give this a go.

Small completed a political science degree at Duke University. [2] At school, she was active in the civil rights movements and was one of the student leaders chosen to negotiate with Douglas Knight, the university president, during the Silent Vigil, the protest march at Duke after Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. [2] The students occupied Knights' house during the protest. Small obtained her master's degree at SUNY Buffalo in 1973. [3]Okay, call me gender-biased, but I am not a fan of men writing women; most of the times, they mess up female representation. So imagine my surprise when I discovered that this is written by a man! What a beautiful and sensitive portrayal of the female characters! There was no scene where I felt like the writing went stereotypical. So yeah, I admit, there are some good male writers in contemporary fiction. I hope some more of them come my way. ( Sorry for being so presumptive in my dismissal of male authors! It’s a case of ‘Multiple times bitten, perennially shy.’) Over the last few years, we met frequently at the University’s west gate. Pushing her foldable bike through the crowd (never cycling when there were too many pedestrians around her), that came out of the train station, donning her high viz-west and deep in thoughts – until she saw a familiar face; this is when her unique smile came on, a smile that felt like a ray of sunshine on a cold day, a smile that always made me feel good. This is how I will remember her. Margaret tells her story over two timelines. She is now in her 70s and living in a flat and supervised by her support worker, Wayne. Wayne is a lovely, caring person, fully invested in enabling Margaret to live her best possible life. We need more Waynes in this world. Margaret as the lead character is endearing and will definitely make her way into your heart. Despite the tough life she has had, she ventures into each day with an amazing never-give-up attitude. Simply adored her!

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