I’m always glad when I read a book that has had a lot of hype and it’s actually worth all the bother. There’s such a lot of hype out there. Anyway, The Miniaturist was such a book – an atmospheric tale of secrets that seeped through the house and family like damp from the Amsterdam… Continue reading Review: The House of Fortune by Jessie Burton
Tag: Reading
Review: The Key to My Heart by Lia Louis
My Twitter pal Lia Louis has a new book out and it’s another deftly written rom com. The Key to My Heart opens with Natalie, a young widow, being forced to chat up a bloke in a bar by her friends who all consider her ready to move on from her heartbreak and find a… Continue reading Review: The Key to My Heart by Lia Louis
June reading round up
June is a surprising month. You get through May hoping for some warm weather and trying not to get annoyed at people wittering on about not casting your clouts and all that, and all of a sudden it’s baking hot, the summer solstice appears and people start talking about the nights drawing in. I would… Continue reading June reading round up
Review: Meredith Alone by Claire Alexander
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
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
Review: At The Table – Claire Powell
What an accomplished debut novel this is. It is set across the space of a year and features the Maguire family, mum Linda, dad Gerry and their grown up children Nicole and Jamie. Every scene is set around a meal or drinks of some kind and in the opening, the family gather to celebrate Linda’s… Continue reading Review: At The Table – Claire Powell
Review: And A Dog Called Fig by Helen Humphreys
The sub-title of this book is Solitude, Connection, The Writing Life. Having said that, this is mainly a book about dogs, and less about writing. This is not a bad thing; there is a space for examining relationships with animals and nature and how these can impact on our comfortable routines. Humphreys seems to be… Continue reading Review: And A Dog Called Fig by Helen Humphreys
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
Susan E Barsby 