Somewhere, a Boy and A Bear
Talk and book by Gyles Brandreth
review by Louise Cannon

Gyles Brandreth has a new book out now and I caught up with him, whilst he was on the Edinburgh leg of his book tour talking about Somewhere, a Boy and a Bear, so wrote a review of the talk. See some photo fun below too.
The biography coincides with the centenary of that lovable bear, Winnie the Pooh. The book delves into the complexities of A.A. Milne and family relationships with each other and with the period of fame and fortune as well as life beyond the bear and One Hundred Acre Wood.
The talk was engaging with fascinating insights and discoveries as well as plenty of humorous anecdotes.

Gyles Brandreth is known for his many jumpers, (you may have seen them on This Morning or Gogglebox or in events), so of course he was sporting a Winnie the Pooh and Piglet jumper.
After reciting some relevant Shakespeare with gusto in his opening. Gyles Brandreth reveals a lot of the, perhaps, lesser known facts about A.A. Milne. There’s more to him than Winnie the Pooh, such as a murder mystery book, plays and more… and there’s more revealed about Gyles Brandreth than perhaps people know too.
Nostalgically, the poetry of A.A Milne from When We Were Very Young and Now We Are Six, gets a mention too as he pleasingly quoted from Alice and the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. I still have those books and I’m sure many others do too.

What links Gyles Brandreth and Christopher Robin?
Yes, that Christopher Robin who was son to A.A. Milne and Daphne. Gyles Brandreth once had the opportunity to meet the largely quiet Christopher Robin and at his bookshop in Devon, where he was also introduced to his daughter, who had cerebral palsy. Now, this is where some heartwarming magic happened. This is where Gyles wonderfully learnt about the prism that if you see someone with a disability, you just see the disability, but if you look past that and see a person, you see the personality and what the person can do.
What connects Devon, Jamaica, New York and Texas to Gyles Brandreth and A.A. Milne’s family?
These are the places where Gyles and his wife, Michèle ended up travelling to whilst researching for the book. It turns out there are all manner of items relating to the family for various reasons and it isn’t just the cuddly stuffed toys from One Hundred Acre Wood. One place was the source of the rather special end papers you’ll find in the book. You’ll need to discover the book as to why they’re incredibly unique and special.
Gyles concluded with the most powerful conclusions of any talk I’ve ever heard. Even writing this makes me feel all fuzzy and warm. He wanted the audience to think about their childhood and (I paraphrase), good or bad and to know that there is always a place to escape to, in this instance, a Winnie the Pooh book.
One thing is for sure, you’ll come away from a talk by Gyles Brandreth feeling more informed and utterly entertained after spending some time in his charismatic, engaging company.
The book is available to buy now at various bookshops, including Toppings and Co (the hosts), Waterstones and more… you can also check out his website here: https://www.gylesbrandreth.net/
Some fun with Gyles Brandreth… how will you read your copy of the book?
Which Gyles pic would you be like?







































Jean Fullerton is the author of thirteen novels all set in East London where she was born. She also a retired district nurse and university lecturer. She won the Harry Bowling prise in 2006 and after initially signing for two East London historical series with Orion she moved to Corvus, part of Atlantic Publishing and is halfway through her WW2 East London series featuring the Brogan family.
