Each August, Hubby and I spend a long weekend at Edinburgh Fringe festival. A few years ago we saw comedian Simon Evans at Assembly George Square. His stand-up show, the Work of the Devil, began with a rant about identity politics before neatly segueing into a personal revelation: a DNA test had shown him to … More Unsettled Ground by Clare Fuller
During my school years I was lucky enough to be taught by some brilliant English teachers, the kind who fostered a love of language and literature. There was Mr L in Year 5 who made a game out of memorising Tennyson’s The Lady of Shalott (“From either side the river lie / Long fields of … More The Moor’s Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie
I thought I’d give a sneaky-peak at some of the books I’ll be reading and reviewing next year. The Moor’s Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie. Won the Whitbread Novel prize in 1995. A birthday present from Hubby. Unsettled Ground by Clare Fuller. Won the Costa Novel prize in 2021, the 50th and final year of … More 2024 and all that!
At the time of writing it’s only two days ago (with Hubby on a boys-night out) that I binge-watched Series 5 of Ghosts on BBC iPlayer – the British series, not the US version. If you’ve never seen it, the premise is that a young couple, Alison and Mike Cooper, live in the huge, run-down … More Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel
I was introduced to the concept of fasting at an early age. My mum and older sister would fast (or ‘abstain’ from food) for the hour before we went to mass on Sunday. In church we’d sing hymns with lines like “help me to mortify my flesh”. Lent was book-ended by fasting on Ash Wednesday … More The Wonder by Emma Donoghue
There was a time when Hubby was into Terry Prachett’s Discworld series. For anyone who doesn’t recognise the name (where have you been for the last 40 years?), Discworld is a series of comedy-fantasy books set on planet Discworld. Over the years Hubby cherry-picked a few to pass to me, which is how I came … More The Iliad by Homer
Hubby’s friend, Steve, was one of the few people I’ve met who could rightly be described as a ‘character’. He did things his own way and seemed to command attention wherever he went. Take the time Hubby and Steve went skiing. Steve arrived in jeans, a raincoat from the Army and Navy Stores, and fingerless … More Travels with Maurice: An Outrageous Adventure in Europe, 1968 by Gary Orleck
When I was growing up I lived with a ghost. I know some people will think that sounds crazy. I know some people will think I imagined it. Yet the experience was real. Our house-ghost wasn’t an apparition, it was a presence: being alone in a room, then knowing someone had entered although no-one was … More The Beginner’s Goodbye by Anne Tyler
I stumbled across this strange, little book by chance on BBC Radio 4’s Book at Bedtime. A man is writing a book about Ted Hughes. His wife dies in an accident, leaving him to raise their two small boys alone. Four or five days after her death (“the friends and family who had been hanging … More Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter
Several years ago, I volunteered for an assignment in Milton Keynes. It would last two days and involve an overnight stay. At the end of day one, I checked into my hotel and headed out for a jog. I’d spotted a park on the map and figured an out and back run, including a circuit … More English Journey or the Road to Milton Keynes by Beryl Bainbridge
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