https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkTw3_PmKtc Short speeches are often the most effective; however, even in lengthy speeches there are often shorter sections which capture perfectly the mood of the time and are remembered long after. Winston Churchill's 'We will fight on the beaches' speech is such a case. Most people think of it only as that half sentence passage … Continue reading 4 June 1940 -Winston Churchill’s Speech to the House of Commons
What’s in a name?
Quite a number of factors need to be taken into account when choosing the names for characters. Some apply to any form of fiction such as ensuring that the character names are distinct and not easily confused with other characters, that they do not sound alike or look similar on paper. Even initials need to … Continue reading What’s in a name?
One Minute Book Review – Still She Wished for Company by Margaret Irwin
The major part of this engaging time-slip/ghost story (choose according to your own preferences) is set in the 1770s and tells of Juliana Clare, the youngest daughter of a landed English family and her initially routine life on the family estate, Chidleigh. When Juliana's father dies and her dissolute brother Lucian inherits the title and … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – Still She Wished for Company by Margaret Irwin
One Minute Book review – The Bodysurfers by Robert Drewe
This collection of short stories by Robert Drewe is set mainly in coastal Australia. The stories are interlinked and follow the lives of various members of the Lang family and capture both the light and darkness of the sea and the bush, places where appearances often belie what is happening beneath the surface. Drewe's prose … Continue reading One Minute Book review – The Bodysurfers by Robert Drewe
One Minute Book Review – Soul Catcher by Michael White
Set in the period just prior to the Civil War, Soul Catcher follows the dangerous journey of professional slave hunter, or soul catcher, Augustus Cain to bring back two runaway slaves of wealthy plantation owner Eberly to whom Cain has gambling debts. The prose is descriptive and evocative with its greatest strength in characterization. Cain … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – Soul Catcher by Michael White
My Reading – August 2016
Toby's Room by Pat Barker Noonday by Pat Barker The Cursed Child by JK Rowling, John Tiffany & Jack Thorne The Library of Unrequited Love By Sophie Divry 1914 Poetry Remembers edited by Carol Ann Duffy
One Minute Book Review – Come in Spinner by Dymphna Cusack and Florence James
Originally published in 1951, Come in Spinner follows the lives of a group of women in Sydney over a period of eight days during the latter part of World War 2. Sydney is brought vividly to life - the ever present soldiers both local and American. The women's lives and both the pressures and excitement … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – Come in Spinner by Dymphna Cusack and Florence James
One Minute Book Review – Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett
This, the 40th Discworld novel, chronicles the arrival of the locomotive in the Discworld. As would be expected, it is full of Terry Pratchett's usual humour and insight into the human condition. Totally entertaining, it touches lightly on themes such as industrialization, fundamentalism and even gender without even a hint of preachyness. Old characters are … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett
One Minute Book Review – Christ Recrucified by Nikos Kazantzakis
Set in Anatolia in the 1920s under Turkish rule, Christ Recrucified tells the story of Manolios, a shepherd, chosen to play the part of Christ in the village's Passion Play. With the arrival of a group of refugees whose village has been destroyed by the Turks, the lives of those chosen to take part in … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – Christ Recrucified by Nikos Kazantzakis
Van Diemen’s Land
Like so many traditional songs there are a number of versions of Van Diemen's Land. Apart from various musical interpretations, there are a variety of lyrics depending on the country of origin of the singer, England or Ireland. The earliest published lyrics can be found in the Launceston Examiner of 21 Nov 1839 (p.2, c1). … Continue reading Van Diemen’s Land
Catherine Meyrick 