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by Sandi Toksvig (Author)
Between the Stops is a sort of a memoir, my sort. It's about a bus trip really, because it's my view from the Number 12 bus (mostly top deck, the seat at the front on the right), a double-decker that plies its way from Dulwich, in South East London where I was living, to where I sometimes work at the BBC in the heart of the capital. It's not a sensible way to write a memoir at all, probably, but it's the way things pop into your head as you travel, so it's my way.From London facts including where to find the blue plaque for Una Marson, 'the first black woman programme maker at the BBC', to discovering the best Spanish coffee under Southwick railway arches; from a brief history of lady gangsters at Elephant and Castle to memories of climbing Mount Sinai and, at the request of a fellow traveller, reading aloud the Ten Commandments; from the story behind Pissarro's painting of Dulwich Station to performing in Footlights with Emma Thompson; from painful memories of being sent to Coventry at a British boarding school to thinking about how Wombells Travelling Circus of 1864 haunts Peckham Rye and anecdotes about Prince Charles, Monica Lewinsky and Grayson Perry; from Bake-Off antics to stories of a real and lasting friendship with John McCarthy, to the importance of family and the daunting navigation of the Zambezi River in her father's canoe; this Sandi Toksvig-style memoir is, as one would expect and hope, packed full of surprise.
A funny and moving trip through memories, musings and the many delights on the number 12 route, Between the Stops is also an inspiration to us all to get off our phones, to look up and to talk to each other because as Sandi says: 'some of the greatest trips lie on our own doorstep'.
Author Biography
Sandi Toksvig OBE, was born in Copenhagen, Denmark and brought up around the world in Europe, Africa and the United States. She is well known to UK audiences as a broadcaster and is currently the host of BBC2's hugely popular quiz show QI.
Sandi worked on three delightful series of GBBO before stepping down to make more time for her other projects, such as the BAFTA-nominated The Write Offs, and Extraordinary Escapes. Much of Sandi's time is devoted to writing and in 2019 she became president of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain. Sandi has written more than twenty fiction and non-fiction books for children and adults. Sandi is an activist for gender equality. In 2015 she co-founded the Women's Equality Party.
