Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell A boy is coming down a flight of stairs. Too Far Standing Still by Lisette Brodey It’s been a long day. I’m weary. Things that appear normal on the outside feel as though they’re rotting on the inside. Departure(s) by Julian Barnes The other day, I discovered an alarming possibility. No, … Continue reading My Reading – February 2026

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks The Boulevard du Cange was a broad, quiet street that marked the eastern flank of the city of Amiens. Girl at the Lion d’Or by Sebastian Faulks In those days the station in Janvilliers had an arched glass roof over the southbound platform as if in imitation of the big domes … Continue reading My Reading – January 2026

Eileen: The Making of George Orwell by Sylvia Topp ‘Now that is the kind of girl I would like to marry!’ George Orwell told a friend excitedly, the night he met Eileen O’Shaughnessy. The Land in Winter by Andrew MillerHe was lying on a varnished wooden board, the top of a boxed in radiator.

Four Letters of Love by Niall Williams When I was twelve years old God spoke to my father for the first time. Wifedom: Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life by Anna Funder I has been six months since the wedding. She uncaps the pen.

The Wing of Night by Brenda Walker The horsemen sailed at five o'clock when the day was almost over and although they were travelling to do the hard work of fighting England's enemies it felt like knock-off time on the last day of the harvest: a golden afternoon, full barns and a safe year ahead, … Continue reading My Reading – March to May 2025

The Whispering Muse by Laura Purcell The offer was too good to be true. I knew that from the start. The Drowned by John Banville He had lived alone for so long, so far away from the world and its endless swarms of people, that when he saw the strange thing standing at a slight … Continue reading My Reading – February 2025

Citizen to Soldier: Australia Before the Great War : Recollections of Members of the First A.I.F. by J N I Dawes and L L Robson Most of the 416,000 men who enlisted in the 1st A.I.F. had their attitudes shaped during the first decade of Australian Federation. Tin Man By Sarah Winman All Dora Judd … Continue reading My Reading – January 2025

Crucible by J.P. McKinney“Any erfs, madam?”“Oui, m’sieur. Assayez-vous.” Held by Anne MichaelsWe know life is finite. Why should we believe death lasts forever? The Season by Helen GarnerI pull up at the kerb. I love this park they train in.

The Gates of Memory: Australian People’s Experiences of Memories of Loss and the Great War by Tanja Luckins On 11 November 1993, the 75th anniversary of the end of the Great War, an Unknown Soldier was entombed in the Hall of Memory at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Digger Smith and Australia’s Great War: … Continue reading My Reading – October & November 2024