The Convent Girl by Tania CrosseHow had it all begun? It was a question Maisie O’Sullivan had asked herself so many times, but could never answer. The House Children by Heidi DanieleMy birth was a sin and a crime. The Sum of our Sorrows by Lisette BrodeyLily Sheppard twisted her torso as she sat in … Continue reading My Reading – April 2023
Books
My Reading – March 2023
Sea of Shadows by Amy Maroney Anica Foscolo hurried through a crowd gathering in the marketplace, under the blazing sun, trailed by her slave, Maria. The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth ‘Someone is out there.’I’m standing a the kitchen sink, my hands plunged in warm soapy water.
My Reading – February 2023
Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham The day broke grey and dull. the clouds hung heavily, and there was a rawness in the air that suggested snow. The Unquiet Spirit by Penny Hampson Eyes squeezed shut, Kate held her breath and strained her ears for the sound of pursuit.
My Reading – January 2023
Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris If you had set out in the summer of 1660 to travel the four miles from Boston to Cambridge, Massachusetts, the first house you would have come to after crossing the Charles River would have been the Goodkins’. Foster by Claire Keegan Early on Sunday, after first Mass at … Continue reading My Reading – January 2023
My Reading – December 2022
Souvenirs of Kyiv by Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger The Herr Oberst came to me on a sunny afternoon just a week ago. Forever Home by Graham Norton The Back Quay of Ballytoor was where things used to be. The Double by Fyodor DostoevskyIt was a little before eight o’clock in the morning when Titular Councillor Yakov Petrovich … Continue reading My Reading – December 2022
My Reading – November 2022
The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John BoyneLong ago before we had discovered that he had fathered two children by two different women, one in Drimoleague and one in Clonakilty, Father James Monroe stood on the altar of the Church of Our Lady, Star of the Sea, in the parish of Goleen, West Cork, and denounced … Continue reading My Reading – November 2022
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – Some thoughts on re-reading
I recently re-read Pride and Prejudice, a book I last read some time in the mid-1970s. In the intervening years, I have watched a couple of film adaptations but haven’t been struck giddy by the story. And I have no particular fascination for the Regency period. When I think of that period I don’t think … Continue reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – Some thoughts on re-reading
My Reading – October 2022
The Quare Fellow by Brendan Behan (More detail on this play below)A prisoner sings: he is in one of the punishment cells. A hungry feeling came o’er me stealing, And the mice were squealing in my prison cell, And that old triangle, Went jingle jangle, All along the banks of the Royal Canal. A Shape … Continue reading My Reading – October 2022
My Reading – September 2022
Pride and Prejudice by Jane AustenIt is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.Still being read after 200 years, Pride and Prejudice doesn't need another review (there are over 92,000 of them on Goodreads alone); however, I have written a post … Continue reading My Reading – September 2022
My Reading – August 2022
The Survivors by Jane HarperShe could - almost - have been one of The Survivors. Standing there, outlined by the weak light, her back turned and the salt water lapping at her feet. Force of Nature by Jane HarperLater, the four remaining women could fully agree on only two things. From the Drop of Heaven … Continue reading My Reading – August 2022
Catherine Meyrick 