Meredith hasn’t left her house for 1,214 days. Why? Well, that’s what the book is about. The thing is, although we might think Meredith is trapped, she’s been trapped before, and she got out. Meredith is a great protagonist. I really liked that, although she has retreated from the world, she still invites people to… Continue reading Review: Meredith Alone by Claire Alexander
Tag: fiction
Review: His Other Woman by Sarah Edghill
Lucy is at the supermarket buying dinner when she gets a mysterious text from her husband Tom. “I need to go away. Please don’t try to get in touch. I can’t explain right now.” Lucy, predictably, dumps the shopping, rushes home to find Tom is not there (and he didn’t even clear the table before… Continue reading Review: His Other Woman by Sarah Edghill
Review: Take my Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Well this couldn’t have been published at a more appropriate time. As I write, the current clampdown on reproductive freedom in the US is getting more and more extreme; there are ongoing race relations issues all across the world and discussions about how we tell the stories of past atrocities are still being hotly debated;… Continue reading Review: Take my Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
April reading round up
Spring is here! I am always conflicted by the coming of spring – on the one hand, as a cold person I love to see the spring flowers and every year remember anew how much joy they give, and it is great to anticipate shucking off layers of woollens and being free of heavy winter… Continue reading April reading round up
February reading round up
The shortest month which, until the last week or so, did start to feel like a hopeful month with the days getting noticeably longer and we filled the house with £1 bunches of daffodils. How was your reading this month? My resolution to not buy any books this month to try and beat my backlog… Continue reading February reading round up
Review: The Marsh House by Zoe Somerville
Zoe Somerville’s historical debut The Night of the Flood was an atmospheric exploration of a secret Cold War base in Norfolk and a tangled love story. Her follow up, The Marsh House, is also set in an atmospheric historical Norfolk and has spooky ghostly elements. It is 1962. Malorie has fled London and her marriage… Continue reading Review: The Marsh House by Zoe Somerville
Bibliotherapy: Persuasion by Jane Austen
It was such a joy to see bibliotherapy in mainstream action recently. Philippa Perry, the psychotherapist who also does The Observer’s Agony Aunt column recommended a dose of Persuasion to one of her correspondents. Persuasion is Jane Austen writing for grown ups. Pride and Prejudice and Emma etc are all very well but have an… Continue reading Bibliotherapy: Persuasion by Jane Austen
Books of the Year! 2021 round up
Happy end of 2021! Isn’t it amazing how every year now feels less like the passing of time and more like a major achievement to tick off? I hope this blog post finds you well or at the very least, managing, which feels like as much as we can expect. So I come to my… Continue reading Books of the Year! 2021 round up
October reading round up
I got a good bit of reading in this month and tried to limit book buying, a mostly unsuccessful enterprise. A week’s holiday gave me a little bit more time to read though the times when I took 6 or 7 books away for a week and got through them are in the past. All… Continue reading October reading round up
August round up
How has your August been? I hope you got some time on a break of some kind? I had about 10 days off work, and a couple of weekends away and I feel like we made the most of the time. We went to a festival, city break, a day in London, a day at… Continue reading August round up
Susan E Barsby 