Samantha Gordon, consultant ophthalmologist, is based at Whipps Cross.
"I love my job and most importantly I love the fact that I’m able to look after patients and support staff with their career so that they can get to where they want to be. That feeling you get when you’ve been able to make a change in someone’s life, it’s indescribable."
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
Published in 1845, Emily Bronte’s gothic novel set on the windy moors of Yorkshire is the story of the doomed love between Catherine Earnshaw and her father’s adopted son, Heathcliff. The book was initially poorly received by many critics who found its dark, tragic story needlessly harsh and disturbing. That opinion has not endured, and the only novel Emily Bronte published is now considered to be one of the great classics of English literature.
Samantha says: " No matter how many times I read this book I find some new thing to love about it".
Fire and Water - an anthology by members of the NFS edited by H. S Ingram
Short stories and verse concerning the National Fire Service during the Second World War.
Samantha says: "My great grandfather was a member of the AFS in World War II but never spoke of his experiences. This book by NFS members (AFS changed to NFS in 1941) might give me some insight into his fears during the London blitz. The photo is of my great grandfather in his fire service uniform. The badge on the lapel is still AFS so probably between 1938 (when he joined) and 1941. "
Image from Fire and Water
"The text describes the fireman being blown into the air by a German bomb and his thoughts as he came down to earth, including, naturally, that he might be dead by the time he lands. Surreal. The whole book is stunning."
The Black Jacobins - CLR James
The iconic study of the Haitian revolution, by one of the most important historians of the twentieth century
C. L. R. James's pioneering account of the 1791 San Domingo slave revolt and the creation of the republic of Haiti changed the way colonial history was written.
Samantha says: "Presented to me aged 13 by my godfather Darcus Howe, the story of the Haitian revolution led by Toussaint L'Ouverture which he told me was essential reading. He was right."
The Collected Works of Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". His surviving works, including some collaborations, consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.
Samantha says: "Of course."
Poetry of John Betjeman
John Betjeman was born in 1906 in London, and went to the Highgate Junior School, where his teachers included T.S. Eliot. After leaving Oxford without a degree, Betjeman was briefly a schoolmaster, then worked for Shell as Editor of their Town Guides, and for the Architectural Review. An increasingly popular poet and television personality, he published his long autobiographical poem SUMMONED BY BELLS in 1960, the same year he was awarded his CBE. He was knighted in 1968 and appointed Poet Laureate in 1974. He died in 1984.
Samantha says: "Any collected anthology containing Indoor Games Near Newbury and the Subaltern's Love Song."
The collected works of Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s.
Samantha says: "Everything for everyone in the extraordinary life of the rise and fall of Wilde."
Record:
"The Collected Works of Gilbert and Sullivan or, if not all, highlights. I would like to use my time on the island to get to know some of their lesser known operas eg Ruddigore."
Luxury Item:
"A good, thick Barbour jacket for the cold nights on the island."