Charlotte (now referred to as Tom-Tom) and the Brothers Grimm; part II
Well, here’s the rest of the story. As you will remember, Tom-Tom and I were sipping champagne in the little bistro down the road from my chambers. She had promised to tell me all about the Brothers Grimm. I had just refilled her glass and was waiting for her to begin. Tom-Tom looked […]
Charlotte and the Brothers Grimm; part I
Charlotte had attitude and flair. Discreetly gay, but highly intelligent with a wicked sense of humour and a unique dress sense that made eyebrows rise in astonishment and admiration, she was ideally suited to work on our floor. Few young women in her position would have lasted more than a week in our stressful […]
The bar fridge, Grimm Friday, and my first brief
After countless applications, tedious interviews by imperious floor clerks and intimidating Silks who let you wait for hours, I finally received the phone call I had been dreaming about for weeks: I had been accepted on a good floor of criminal specialists! The day a young barrister moves into his chambers is a day […]
The boy scout and the Pope
I still remember that sunny spring afternoon very well. We were living in my grandfather’s hunting lodge in Austria at the time, and school had finished early that day. Our little group of six keen Hungarian boys scouts was meeting in the stone cottage by the old mill. Our leader had a surprise for […]
Coming Home For Christmas;24 December 1956
Winter came early to Austria in 1956. The mountains were hiding in dense fog and a thick blanket of snow covered the countryside. The branches of the pine trees groaned under the heavy load and almost touched the frozen ground.The Hungarian Revolution which had erupted in October that year had been crushed by Russian tanks […]
Whatever happened to my Olivetti?
Like most writers, I have fond memories of my first typewriter. It was a portable Olivetti, the ant’s pants of its day at the cutting edge of technology. It looked great. Elegant and sleek with a shiny black case, it made you feel important. Learning to type was quite a challenge in those days. All […]