My Bedside Table by Margaret Powling

This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.

Retired secretary and freelance feature writer Margaret Powling lives in Torbay in South Devon. When she is not out and about with her husband, taking photographs, munching and lunching in local hostelries, and enjoying the scenery, she is devouring lots of lovely books. Over to you, Margaret.   

My bedside table is actually not a table at all but a small three-drawer mahogany chest, one of a pair (my husband has the other on his side of the bed.) The piles of books change constantly. From the photograph you might notice that although I write non-fiction, almost 100% of the reading matter here is fiction, the current exception being The Paper Garden by Molly Peacock, a biography of Mrs Delany whose life's work started at 72 when she began making her cut-paper pictures. Looking at them today it is hard to imagine they are not paintings at all.  

My current reading includes The Woman in the Picture by Katharine McMahon (a favourite novelist), The Care and Management of Lies by Jacqueline Winspear (better known for her Maisie Dobbs' series), An Appetite for Violets by Martine Bailey, The Storms of War by Kate Williams (an historian who has turned her hand somewhat expertly to fiction) and Heartstones by Kate Glanville. However, you won't see Heartstones on the bedside table: it's still in my bag as we've been out and I can't leave the house without a book.  

If not reading in bed (my very favourite place to read, especially in winter), I can be found reading in the summer house my husband built for me. It is only 8ft by 6ft and it sits beneath our huge walnut tree. I do not write in the summer house – that is reserved for reading and relaxing. It is well insulated and has electricity, so I am able to have a table lamp, convector heater (therefore toasty on chilly days) and CD player in there.  

What else is on the bedside table? A large lamp, not a titchy one – tiny lamps are useless.  Also a glass for water, a biscuit tin (containing nothing more exciting than Rich Tea biscuits), a flower (right now, a Gertrude Jekyll rose from the garden), rose-scented hand cream, lavender pillow mist, a Lamy Safari fountain pen, and a Farrow & Ball notebook (I don't think these are commercially available; this was a recent promotional gift from this lovely company). Overnight guests to the table are my reading glasses, and my distance glasses for watching Breakfast with my first cup of coffee of the day.

Thanks, Margaret!

If you’d like to share your bedside table with Novelicious readers, drop kerry@writingtipsoasis.coma line for some guidelines.