Antonius: Son of Rome by Brook Allen Father was dead. The Moomins and the Great Flood by Tove Jansson It must have been late in the afternoon one day at the end of August when Moomintroll and his mother arrived at the deepest part of the great forest. The Long Take by Robin Robertson And … Continue reading My Reading – June 2020
In my beginning is my end? – Opening and closing lines
A little while ago I saw a quote from the American novelist Gloria Naylor - 'One should be able to return to the first sentence of a novel and find the resonances of the entire work.' Other than in consciously literary works, I wondered how often this happened so I took a few favourite books … Continue reading In my beginning is my end? – Opening and closing lines
More Meanderings in Cyberspace – June 2020
The world has changed since I last wrote of my meanderings through cyberspace. While our physical lives have been circumscribed, the wonderful world of the internet has opening up new vistas. So here are a few of the interesting places I've been over the last three months. Perhaps the machines will take over one day. … Continue reading More Meanderings in Cyberspace – June 2020
My Reading – May 2020
The Mirror and the Light by Hilary MantelOnce the queen's head is severed, he walks away. Fair Play by Tove JanssonJonna had a happy habit of waking each morning as if to a new life. A Phoenix Rising by Vivienne Brereton 'Do you think the King and Queen will like me?'
Dramatis Personae – The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel
I have been savouring The Mirror and the Light for about a month now and, like most people, when I think of Thomas Cromwell I think of Mark Rylance although I know he looks nothing like Cromwell. Apart from the major players, I have no idea what many of the other characters looked like. So … Continue reading Dramatis Personae – The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel
‘To have and to hold from this day forward’ – The Celebration of Marriage in Early Modern England
The final step on the road to marriage in the 16th century was, as it is now, the marriage service itself. At its most basic, all that was needed to create a marriage was a mutual promise to marry followed by consummation.(1) Unfortunately for many women, this was often not enough to ensure that the … Continue reading ‘To have and to hold from this day forward’ – The Celebration of Marriage in Early Modern England
The Bridled Tongue – Some Background
Usually there are years of research over a wide range of topics involved with any historical novel. Although much of it is, thankfully, not described explicitly in the novel, it all helps to plausibly reconstruct the world as it was. I have drawn together here a number of the blog posts I have written on … Continue reading The Bridled Tongue – Some Background
My Reading – April 2020
The Gatekeeper by Charles Todd Ian Rutledge drove through the night, his mind only partly on the road unwinding before him. A Divided Loyalty by Charles Todd Ian Rutledge was walking down the stairs at Scotland Yard when he met Chief Inspector Leslie coming up them two at a time. Loxley: The Chronicles of Robin … Continue reading My Reading – April 2020
this covid life
don’t you stand so close to mekeep your distancehold your breathand do not sneeze told a man offin the supermarket‘stop fondling the onions’he looked bemused wipe everything over when you get it homerinse bananas cans of tunaremember: wash your hands seventeen cans of black beansninety-one rolls of toilet paperthree slabs of melbourne eleven bottles of … Continue reading this covid life
A Few of My Favourite Things
We all have bits and pieces in our homes that make us happy. They may not be particularly valuable or even elegant but because they call to mind special people or happy times they are special to us. Some of them connect us to our family's past, others simply 'spark joy'. This is the chest … Continue reading A Few of My Favourite Things
