due to the hotel closing its 31 rooms at the end of July.

A spokesman said: "The decision has been taken following the closure of the bedroom section which, in their current decorative state, is not reflective of the high standard that we pride ourselves on.

"Until the full refurbishment of the property goes ahead, the Saracens Head will now be running a purely food and beverage operation.

"This has an immediate impact on business in the restaurant because to date it has been used a great deal by hotel guests.

"The refurbishment project of the entire property will still be going ahead, but we are in the process of assessing the best time to progress with this in view of the current economic climate.

"In the meantime, Merchant Inns is still dedicatedPages

1 June 2014

Was Marilyn actually reading "Ulysses"?

Photographer Eve Arnold is perhaps best known for the photos she took of Marilyn Monroe. From 1951 onwards, Arnold photographed Marilyn many times, and amongst those photos are the famous images of Marilyn reading James Joyce's "Ulysses", a novel that has often been labelled unreadable.

Marilyn Monroe photographed by Eve Arden, Long Island, New York, 1955

Richard Brown, a Professor of Modern Literature at the University of Leeds with a special interest in James Joyce, was intrigued by Eve Arnold's photos of Marilyn. Curious to know if Marilyn was indeed reading Joyce's novel or if she was merely posing for the photo, Brown wrote Arnold a letter, which she replied on 20 July 1993. Unfortunately, I don't have Arnold's complete letter to show you,