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Find a book club
Find a Book Club, a club that does what it says on the tin, asked me to recommend 10 books for book clubs (including two of my own).
Category Archives: Reviews
Redemption Song
A couple of weeks ago I saw the Bob Marley musical, Get Up Stand Up! in London. It’s glorious, it’s uplifting, I felt sound waves, like a breeze, against my body; it’s brilliantly sung and acted, it’s very moving and … Continue reading
Posted in Allyship, Antiracism, Art, Artists, Creativity, Human Rights, Listening, Music, Politics, Racism, Reviews
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City Tales, and Hive
Since 2004, Oxford University Press has been publishing volumes of City Tales, collections of short stories set in European cities translated into English. The guiding idea is to give the English-speaking reading traveller (I paraphrase): Stories expertly translated by writers with an … Continue reading
A History of Britain in 21 Women, by Jenni Murray
This is both the thing I’m writing about this month and the thing I’d love to have written, in a parallel universe where time is infinite and all things are possible:What an entirely brilliant and inspiring idea. It begins with … Continue reading
Posted in Creativity, Psychology, Reviews, Women, Writers
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Theresa May, the Queen and Boris Johnson and, more seriously, Kent Haruf
A friend of mine sent me this sometime after the Brexit Bungle: There’s not much else to say, is there? On a much more serious note (and far wiser, kinder, more compassionate and life-enhancing), I read Kent Haruf (to rhyme with Sheriff)’s … Continue reading
Posted in Love, Politics, Reviews, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Writers, Writing
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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
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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
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
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
Free eBook SPEAKING of LOVE : UPDATE
A HUGE THANK YOU to all of you who’ve been downloading SPEAKING of LOVE on its two free days, yesterday and today: in the USA from here and in the UK from here. It’s given the novel, my first novel, a new … Continue reading
Free eBook : SPEAKING of LOVE : Friday 15 & Saturday 16 November
On Friday 15 November and Saturday 16 November the kindle edition of SPEAKING of LOVE will be available free. Go here for the UK and here for the US to download your free copy. And if you felt inspired, after you’ve read it, … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews, Speaking of Love, Things I'd Love to Have Made
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Modern Etiquette …
… at the turn of the century before last. Published by Frederick Warne & Co., (also publishers of Beatrix Potter’s work) in 1870 and reprinted many times since, Modern Etiquette is invaluable for a glimpse of the codes of behaviour people … Continue reading
Searching for the Secret River
I’ve just finished reading Kate Grenville‘s Searching for the Secret River: it’s brilliant, and a must-read for anyone who writes historical fiction (my second, about-to-be-redrafted, novel is one of those). Searching for the Secret River is a kind and wise book … Continue reading
No news … is good news?
My agent sent my second novel out to publishers on the 3rd of February and has given them until the 29th (that leap year day) to respond. So, perhaps an editor will ask me, or more to the point my … Continue reading