This is the latest swashbuckling 17th century historical romance from the pen of Alison Stuart - the first book in a two book series (FEATHERS IN THE WIND) spanning the years of the English Civil War from 1642- 1645. AND THEN MINE ENEMY A family ripped apart in a country divided by war . . … Continue reading And Then Mine Enemy by Alison Stuart
My Reading for 2016
This year I have done reasonably well with the number and spread of books I have read - mainly historical fiction, some classic fiction, a few non-fiction and some literary fiction including a handful definitely outside my comfort zone. This list, naturally, does not include the number I have started but not finished which were … Continue reading My Reading for 2016
My Reading – December 2016
A Bluestocking in Patagonia by Anne Whitehead Habits of the House by Fay Weldon By the Sword by Alison Stuart
The Feast of the Holy Innocents
On 28th December, in the midst of Christmas and New Year celebrations, sits the Feast of the Holy Innocents, also called Childermas. This day commemorates the massacre of boys aged under two ordered by King Herod to ensure the death of the newborn King of the Jews whose existence he had been made aware of … Continue reading The Feast of the Holy Innocents
One Minute Book Review – Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien
This is the book which, in my opinion, should have won the Man Booker Prize in 2016. The story begins in Canada in 1991 with the daughters of two musicians, Marie raised in Canada and Ai-Ming who has arrived from China in the wake of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. The story weaves back … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien
One Minute Book Review – All That Man Is by David Szalay
Another from the Man Booker shortlist 2016. Each of the nine chapters in this book, which is essentially a collection of short stories, deals with a man at a different stage in his life. It begins with a 17 year student and ends with a 73 year old retired civil servant. The men are are … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – All That Man Is by David Szalay
One Minute Book Review – The Visitors by Rebecca Mascull
Set initially on a hop farm in Kent at the end of the 19th century, The Visitors is the story of Adeliza Golding, a girl born with limited sight who in early childhood contracts an illness which renders her both deaf and completely blind. Her only communication is with the Visitors, ghosts she speaks to … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – The Visitors by Rebecca Mascull
A Favourite Quote – Mark Twain
'When a man loves cats, I am his friend and comrade, without further introduction.' The image comes from the twentytwowords site where you can find more delightful photographs of Mark Twain and his cats.
My Reading – November 2016
Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh All that man is by David Szalay Do not say we have nothing : a novel by Madeleine Thien
One Minute Book Review – El Dorado by Dorothy Porter
This is a crime thriller told in verse by notable Australian poet Dorothy Porter (1954-2008). El Dorado is a child killer, marking the foreheads of his victims with a gold thumbprint. The spare compelling verse, not a word out of place, follows both the professional and personal struggles of Melbourne detective Bill Buchanan and his … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – El Dorado by Dorothy Porter
Catherine Meyrick 