Author Archives: Angela

About Angela

I write fiction about the difficulty we have when we try to say what's in our hearts.

103 years on, Titanic; and the things that come unbidden when you write

One hundred and three years ago today more than 1,500 people died in the freezing waters of the North Atlantic when RMS Titanic hit the iceberg and then sank, in the early hours of 15 April. My great-grandmother, Nöel Rothes, was one … Continue reading

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A time when women weren’t persons … and other equally unequal inequalities

In 1927 a group of Canadian women’s rights activists, including Emily Murphy, who was born 147 years ago today launched the Persons Case, which contended that women were qualified persons eligible to sit in the Senate. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that … Continue reading

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The Brain in Love; and Jim Burge’s Burgeoning Promotional Videos for writers and artists

Dr Helen Fisher, a biological anthropologist at Rutgers University, studies the brain, in love. She gave a glorious TED talk about it, here. I particularly loved Walt Whitman: Oh, I would stake all for you. and Emily Dickinson: Parting is all we need to know of Hell. … Continue reading

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Je Suis Charlie …

… one week on, what else is there to say but Je Suis Charlie and to stand with the murdered at Charlie Hebdo? Except Je Suis Ahmed.

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Fog Island Mountains and Dr Atal Gawande, this year’s BBC Reith Lecturer

Michelle Bailat-Jones has written a beautiful novel called Fog Island Mountains. I’ve just posted a review of it here. The novel won the 2013 Christopher Doheny Award and I hope it goes on to sell, and so to affect, many many readers. It deserves to … Continue reading

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Sequels, Literary Festivals and Natasha O’Farrell’s heavenly handbag

There have been some heart-warming reactions to The Dance of Love and several people have suggested I write a sequel, possibly set in the Depression and the lead-up to the Second World War because, they said, it would be fascinating to find … Continue reading

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Haworth Parsonage, Richard Flanagan and Anselm Keifer

In September we holidayed in England: we travelled north-west to Stratford (and saw a wonderful production of The Roaring Girl, a play about Mary Frith, an astonishing sixteenth-century woman who lived and dressed as a man, partly in defiance of … Continue reading

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The Launch of The Dance of Love, History of the Rain, and Emily Young’s Kew Gardens angel video

The DANCE of LOVE was launched at the wonderful Barnes Bookshop last Thursday: I wrote about on Robert Hale’s blog – the book’s publishers – here. It was a happy family affair: my whole family was there: my two younger sisters smuggled … Continue reading

Posted in Artists, Dance of Love, The, Design, Places, Reviews, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Writers, Writing | Tagged | 2 Comments

Today for one day only THE DANCE of LOVE is .99p on the Kindle Daily Deal (or $1.64 in the US)

If you own an electronic reading device (why does that sound so odd?) and you’d like to download and read a historical romance that’s received kind words from reviewers (‘Lovers of Austen will find much to admire here’ Shiny New Books; … Continue reading

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Niall Williams’s History of the Rain

I’m so full of Niall Williams‘s History of the Rain that I don’t want to write about anything else this month. It is the most beautiful and beautifully-written novel I’ve read, probably ever, and if not ever, then certainly for a very … Continue reading

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The DANCE of LOVE is published today

Hurrah!  A big thank you to Buried River Press for publishing it. You can find out more from the YouTube film here, or the book’s pages on my website, here: and, if you’d like to, you can buy it in paperback … Continue reading

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THE DANCE of LOVE published soon; goodreads giveaway; first two reviews and … StuckinaBooks’ letters and Letters to an Unknown Soldier

Happy news, THE DANCE of LOVE will be published on 31 July by Buried River Press. You can pre-order copies here and here and here with free worldwide delivery, and, of course, here. There’s also a Goodreads Giveaway running from … Continue reading

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THE DANCE of LOVE : goodreads giveaway. And Bill Viola at St Paul’s, London

In a few days’ time, 17 June to be exact, for a couple of days until midnight on 19 June, two uncorrected paperback pre-publication proofs of THE DANCE of LOVE will be available free in a goodreads giveaway. If you’d … Continue reading

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Writing a novel is just like life …

… it’s only in the doing of it that I discover what works and what doesn’t. I can plan and plan and plan and I do, but when I do I tend, at least some of the time, to let … Continue reading

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SPEAKING of LOVE : just .99p or $1.66 for Easter : Kindle Countdown

For a few days over Easter, 17 April to 22 April to be exact, the ebook of SPEAKING of LOVE will be half price. Just .99p at amazon.co.uk and $1.66 at amazon in the USA : it’s on a Kindle Countdown. You can … Continue reading

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The Titanic: the 102nd anniversary of the tragic sinking, and, on a happier note, the launch of SHINY NEW BOOKS

On this day, 102 years ago, many many people drowned, or froze to death, in the icy waters of the north Atlantic after RMS Titanic collided with an iceberg. My great-grandmother, Noël Rothes, was one of the lucky survivors. I … Continue reading

Posted in Reviews, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Titanic | Tagged | 2 Comments

Failure is the Mother of Success; and Paula Meehan

失败是成功之母 Shībài shì chénggōng zhī mǔ Failure is the Mother of Success (a Chinese Proverb) Last week Anne Enright, Booker Prize-winning wonderful writer, gave one of BBC Radio 4’s The Value of Failure programmes. Sadly they’re no longer available to … Continue reading

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Scared to Say I Love You this Valentine’s Day? Fabularium and Random Acts of Kindness Week

If the very idea of saying I love you this Valentine’s Day scares you to death, may I suggest a remedy: ask yourself why you’re with (or want to be with) the one you love and then make a list … Continue reading

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SPEAKING of LOVE: an alternative Valentine ?

SPEAKING of LOVE is one of amazon’s Recommended Valentine’s Reads this week (10-17 February). Happy days. But please be warned: it is an alternative Valentine, one that asks why we find it so difficult to talk about love; one that shows … Continue reading

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The Shock of the Fall : hurray for mental illness in fiction

The subject matter of this year’s Costa first novel winner (and now overall 2013 winner), The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Fileris mental illness. Hurray! (Because publishers so often swerve when they see one of those coming.) And hurray for … Continue reading

Posted in Literary Prizes, Mental Health in Fiction, Speaking of Love, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Writers, Writing | Tagged | Leave a comment