Anyone remember Frankie Goes to Hollywood? Their first single, Relax, banned by the BBC, went on to make number one in the UK singles charts – nothing like a bit of controversy to stir up public interest! Their second single also topped the charts, as did their third. But it’s the fourth single, Welcome to … More Coleridge: Early Visions by Richard Holmes
Several years ago, out of the blue, my big sister got an e-mail from a man called Jim who lived in Australia and happened to be a second cousin we didn’t know we had. Jim was researching the Nesbitt family tree, and one of its branches led him to us in England. Other branches led … More Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson
I’ll let you into a secret: when I was a teenager I accepted a lift from a stranger. I was travelling alone to visit my big sis’, a trip I’d made several times before with my mum but I had my nose in a book instead of my eyes on the road and contrived to … More Felicia’s Journey by William Trevor
My father hated DIY whatever its shape and size. He had an old, brown canvas bag of tools that lived on the floor of the shed and only he was allowed to open. It hardly ever saw the light of day. Occasionally, though, there’d be something needing doing that mum didn’t want to tackle, putting … More The Spirit Level by Seamus Heaney
I have an uncle who fancies himself as well-read – with some justification, I’ll admit. I studied English Language and Literature at a good university, and had to learn Anglo-Saxon to read the Anglo-Saxon chronicle in the original, but graduating without even opening Beowulf? That left him underwhelmed. Heaney’s translation, which won the Whitbread Book … More Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney
You might remember Matisse (and others) hitting the headlines in November with the discovery of a hoard of Nazi-confiscated artworks. At the time I was already reading this biography, which won the Whitbread Book of the Year award in 2005. It was a difficult book to settle into and not because eight years and several … More Matisse the Master – A Life of Henri Matisse: Volume 2, 1909-1954 by Hilary Spurling
My granddad liked a drink and a sing-song, and most of family stories about him have him indulging in one or the other or (more usually) both. Once, after a day on the ale during the Second World War – he’d fought in the First and was too old to be called up for the … More Small Island by Andrea Levy (what Cathy read when she broke her shoulder – part 2)
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