Sculpting the Elephant
To hear Sylvia’s own story and why she wanted to write Sculpting the Elephant watch this 4 minute video.
Harry King, artist and antiques dealer, thinks he has just made the worst purchase of his life – an enormous Victorian chest of drawers filled with ancient newspapers and bric-a-brac that now takes up half his shop. But when he trips over the beautiful historian Ramma Gupta, he realises he might have got more than he bargained for. Their story becomes entwined with the life of a Victorian explorer who mysteriously disappeared. A cross-cultural journey takes them from Oxford to India to uncover love, secrets, and the teachings of a lost empire.
Sylvia’s new book is available now from Amazon by clicking on the links below or order it at any book shop in the world:
Buy Paperback Here Buy Ebook Here
Sylvia was interviewed about her life and inter-racial marriage on Radio Oxford:
Brushstrokes in Time
Sylvia’s novel published by Claret Press was 10 years in the making. In 2005, Sylvia reviewed an exhibition at the Ashmolean called ‘Everyone’s Life is an Epic’. The artist’s name was Qu Leilei and her extensive interviews with him, revealed that the epic life was Leilei’s. He was one of the founders of the Stars Art Movement (Beijing 1979). The story of their struggle for freedom of expression is inspirational. Sylvia says,”I have been interested in China from a young age but the Stars’ story was news to me despite one of the artists, Ai Weiwei now being a star throughout the world.”
The main characters in Brushstrokes in Time are all fictional but their story is told against a background of real events with the years 1976-1989 being at the heart of the novel.
Little Winter is a passionate artist from the time she can hold a pen. Like everyone from an educated background her life was tossed into turmoil by the coming of The Cultural Revolution. Cheerful and naïve, she is easily influenced and believes the indoctrination. The man she comes to love and marry, Hu Weiwei is intelligent, perceptive and unusually free thinking. His influence and her own painful experience open Little Winter’s eyes to the truth. Some chapters were hard to write but Brushstrokes in Time is about love and hope.
Buy Paperback Here Buy Ebook Here
Listen to a sample from the Essential Audiobooks (New York) version of Brushstrokes in Time here:
Oxford Castaways
Oxtopia is full. The third and final castaway book has been published on behalf of Sobell House. In 2007 Sylvia invented the mythical island of Oxtopia and in January 2008, in Oxfordshire Limited Edition magazine, she sent her first castaway Christopher Brown the then Director of the Ashmolean to the island. When the fiftieth castaway joined him there my editor, Tim Metcalfe, with the help of artist Weimin He combined the 50 interviews into a beautifully illustrated book called Oxford Castaways. Those fifty were joined by forty more remarkable people and their life stories are in Oxford Castaways 2, published by Oxfordfolio in support of Vale House.
The seemingly infinite pool of diversity ended in November 2016 with castaway No 120 – the final Oxtopian- Sylvia Vetta’s life story told by Philip Hind. Oxford Castaways 3 was published in March 2017 and the proceeds will go to Sobell House hospice.( copies available from the Sobell House shops and online shop) This 3 minute film will tell you something about the diversity of background of Sylvia’s castaways. All the world seems to pass through Oxford!
All proceeds to Sobell House when bought from the hospices online shop or charity shops:
Listen to an interview of Sylvia and one of her castaways, Simonetta Agnello Hornby, on BBC Radio Oxford;
Latest From The Blog
The importance of not stereotyping. Everyone is unique and has a unique story to tell.
Andi Osho on Saturday Live (Dec 20 ) talked about how people of colour are often stereotyped not necessarily in a bad way but with little room for individuality. I’m writing my memoir and I
Oxford the Hollywood of Stories and how hard it is to talk about me.
When she interviewed me for her podcast, Yang May and I discovered a common passion for libraries and storytelling. I hope my stories are global but they arise from the web of connections to all
Start the Week brings back memories of Oxford in the eighties . Contrasting realities for Robert Maxwell with running a small business
Gill and I in the unventilated basement. Compare it with Maxwell's council house, Headington Hall https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000rtxv?f Good programme about Robert Maxwell who rented Headington Hall from Oxford City Council for £7,500 in 1978 http://www.headington.org.uk/history/listed_buildings/headhillhall.htm? Before