Towers in the Mist by Elizabeth Goudge Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore The Golden Age by Joan London The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho
Book Review – Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore
Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore begins and ends with short chapters set in the present. The story proper commences in 1789 with a man burying a woman’s body in an isolated glade in the fading darkness before sunrise. Three years on Lizzie Fawkes begins her story - she is newly married to widower, John Diner … Continue reading Book Review – Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore
Irish Heritage – Thomas McGrath of Finnahy
Upperchurch, Tipperary, Ireland The parents of my maternal grandfather, John Daniel ‘Jack’ McGrath (1887-1971), were both born in Ireland. Jack’s mother, Margaret Ryan, was born at Drumgoole, Kilkenny in 1851 and migrated to Australia around 1869. His father, Patrick McGrath, was five and a half when his family arrived in Melbourne, Victoria in 1854. Patrick … Continue reading Irish Heritage – Thomas McGrath of Finnahy
Book Review – The Muse by Jessie Burton
This dual narrative novel begins in London in 1967 with Odelle Bastien, a young woman from Trinidad who works in a shoe shop while nursing the dream of being a writer. When Odelle finds a new job as a typist at the Skelton Institute, an upmarket art gallery, she is encouraged in her ambitions by … Continue reading Book Review – The Muse by Jessie Burton
In My Garden – Fuchsia
The fuchsia is one of my favourite plants. They are most commonly grown in suburban gardens as small shrubs or in hanging baskets. The 'hardy fuchsia' (Fuchsia magellanica), though, can grow up to 3 metres in height in a frost-free climate. Most species of fuchsia are native to South America, but a few occur in … Continue reading In My Garden – Fuchsia
Book Review – Towers in the Mist by Elizabeth Goudge
This delightful novel covers a year in the life of the Leigh family, from the arrival on May Day 1565 of Faithful Crocker, a 14 year old orphaned vagabond, carrying his meagre possessions, a copy of Virgil and of Foxe's Book of Martyrs, and a burning desire to become a scholar, to the visit of … Continue reading Book Review – Towers in the Mist by Elizabeth Goudge
The Dictionary of Slang; or, the Vulgar Words, Street Phrases, and “Fast” Expressions of High and Low Society.
I have a copy of delightfully titled The Dictionary of Slang; or, the Vulgar Words, Street Phrases, and “Fast” Expressions of High and Low Society. Many with their Etymology, and a Few with their History Traced which was published in London in 1867. This copy is the third edition of the book; the original was … Continue reading The Dictionary of Slang; or, the Vulgar Words, Street Phrases, and “Fast” Expressions of High and Low Society.
Book Review – The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova
The Swan Thieves is an intriguing story of art and obsession. Its starting point is the attack on a 19th century painting hanging in the National Gallery of Art in Washington. The attacker, Robert Oliver, is a brilliant painter suffering from a psychosis. He is hospitalized under the care of psychiatrist Andrew Marlow who is … Continue reading Book Review – The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova
My Reading – May 2017
The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova Mothering Sunday : A Romance by Graham Swift Typewriter Music by David Malouf The Muse by Jessie Burton The Marriage Certificate by Stephen Molyneux A Glimpse of Happiness by Jean Fullerton
Book Review – The Marriage Certificate by Stephen Molyneux
The Marriage Certificate by Stephen Molyneux is definitely one for the genealogists. It opens with the discovery of a marriage certificate in an antiques centre by Peter Sefton, an amateur genealogist. Thinking that there is something vaguely inappropriate for such a personal memento to be on display, he buys it in the hope of perhaps … Continue reading Book Review – The Marriage Certificate by Stephen Molyneux
Catherine Meyrick 