The Hound in the Left Hand Corner by Giles Waterfield

This is a review from our meeting on 22nd October 2022 - an oversight on my part. 

We welcomed a special guest to this meeting - Mia, a curator who knew Giles Waterfield. Mia described Giles as a writer of novels and academic books and a developer of museums to become a centre of education and learning. 

Mia confirmed that Giles Waterfield was very, very funny. 

Mia gave us a brilliant insight into museum life and helped us to align themes and characters in the book to the experience Giles and she had from their working environment.

Giles brought his experiences from a time when national museums were trying hard to find their identity. Government cuts during the '70s and '80s left many museums finding fundraising hard. They turned to charging for exhibitions and becoming event venues. This has changed the character of many museums and can be a bit like churches selling their pews so that they can host concerts!

Museums in Britain are not state-funded, as they are in many other countries where museum staff are civil servants. The exception is in the USA where museums rely on philanthropy. 

This insight gave us a true appreciation for the undercurrent of farce and satire throughout this book. 

Mia also shared with us the importance of provenance, the underlying theme of the hound in the left-hand corner, and told us the story of the Versailles fake chairs to illustrate this (available on internet).

So what did we think of the book?

Let's start with the story: Auberon, the brilliant but troubled director of the Museum of British History, is preparing for the opening of the most spectacular exhibition his museum has ever staged. The centrepiece is a painting that has not been shown in London in a hundred years. The big day does not run smoothly and the portrait is under suspicion. As high-profile guests and employees arrive for the grand opening the tension rises. Auberon tries to keep the peace. 

We loved how the story started gently and built to an explosive crescendo. 

The gala dinner was a highlight for our group - the stupidity of the menu, the descriptions of the food and how the build-up to the meal was so central to the story. 

The characters are truly entertaining - precious people with precious objects. 

In our view, the stand-out characters of the story are Lucien (what a horrendous man), Terence and Auberon. 

We saw how the hierarchy of exhibits reflects in the hierarchy of employees. If importance is important we would far rather be in charge of 18th Century Porcelain than Agricultural Implements! 

The central theme illustrated the focus of a not-for-profit organisation: How to make money and how to spend money!

Finally, we must acknowledge the genius of 'The Nowness of Now'!

Would we read another book by Giles Waterfield? YES we would. And we would love to see this book as a film - it would be hilarious.

sadnote footnote: Giles passed away in 2016 - here's how The Guardian remembered him:  Giles Waterfield - Obituary