The clock has ticked over and it is now officially 2022 all along latitude 144° 58' 0.01" East. With 2020 and 2021 behind us, I'm hoping for a pleasantly boring and uneventful year, no 'interesting times' at all. Wishing everyone the very best for 2022 – hoping the year is a happy, healthy and productive … Continue reading Happy New Year
A Christmas Stocking
Christmas stockings and ‘stocking fillers‘ are now a traditional part of Christmas. A quick consultation with those two noisy colleagues Drs Google and Wikipedia will tell you that this tradition had its origin in the story of St Nicholas, initially secretly, providing three bags of gold as dowries for the three daughters of a poor … Continue reading A Christmas Stocking
Take the Head of a Black Sheep – Tudor Medicine at Home
Most people in the Tudor period lived in the countryside and unlike us, with our local GPs and ready access to Dr Google, they did not have doctors or apothecaries nearby, even if they could afford them. The bulk of everyday medical care took place within the home with the main practitioners the women of … Continue reading Take the Head of a Black Sheep – Tudor Medicine at Home
My Reading – November 2021
The Right Sort of Man by Alison Montclair Tillie climbed the stairs from the Bond Street Station out to Davies Street, blinking in the afternoon light. The Brightest Star in the Sky by Marian Keyes June the first, a bright summer's evening, a Monday. I've been flying over the streets and houses of Dublin and … Continue reading My Reading – November 2021
Christmas at Hembry Castle by Meredith Allard
Today I’m pleased to be presenting Meredith Allard and her novella Christmas at Hembry Castle as part of a blog tour hosted by The Coffee Pot Book Club. You are cordially invited to Christmas at Hembry Castle. An unlikely earl struggles with his new place. A young couple’s love is tested. What is a meddling … Continue reading Christmas at Hembry Castle by Meredith Allard
The Castilian Pomegranate by Anna Belfrage
Today I’m delighted to be sharing an excerpt from Anna Belfrage’s newly released novel The Castilian Pomegranate as part of a blog tour hosted by The Coffee Pot Book Club. The Castilian Pomegranate, set in the complex political world of medieval Spain, is the second book in The Castilian Saga. In which Noor meets her … Continue reading The Castilian Pomegranate by Anna Belfrage
Lies That Blind by E.S. Alexander
Today I’m delighted to be sharing an excerpt from E.S. Alexander’s newly released novel Lies That Blind as part of a blog tour hosted by The Coffee Pot Book Club. Lies That Blind is a novel of late 18th century Penang. Jim Lloyd, has just arrived on the island of Penang to begin work for … Continue reading Lies That Blind by E.S. Alexander
Fair Mountain Christmas by Heidi Eljarbo
Today I’m delighted to be sharing an excerpt from Heidi Eljarbo’s recently released novel Fair Mountain Christmas as part of a blog tour hosted by The Coffee Pot Book Club. Fair Mountain Christmas is a heartwarming Christmas story set in the mountains of Norway in 1972. The wrought iron candlestick with four holders caught Juni’s … Continue reading Fair Mountain Christmas by Heidi Eljarbo
A Mystery of Murder by Helen Hollick
Today I’m delighted to be sharing an excerpt from Helen Hollick’s newly released novel A Mystery of Murder as part of a blog tour hosted by The Coffee Pot Book Club. A Mystery of Murder is the second of Helen's Jan Christopher Mysteries. Jan Christopher is spending Christmas 1971 with her boyfriend DS Laurie Walker … Continue reading A Mystery of Murder by Helen Hollick
Book Review – The Flight of the Heron by D.K. Broster
The first book of historical fiction that I clearly remember reading was The Flight of the Heron by D.K. Broster. My father gave me a copy for my twelfth birthday. It was a book he had read years before and loved. And he re-read it once I had finished. The story begins in Scotland in … Continue reading Book Review – The Flight of the Heron by D.K. Broster
Catherine Meyrick 