Things to Know About “books you need to read before you die” Lists
I pick the books I read in a kind of unofficial cycle of 4 types. The recurring cycle goes something like this: Book 1: Current book that everyone is talking…
Parenting: What Would Philippa Do?
I love Philippa Perry. Maybe it’s because she’s a psychotherapist – maybe it’s just because she’s lovely, but everything she says feels comforting. She’s wise, everything she says makes sense…
Summer Reading: Beartown by Fredrik Backman
As is normally the case in the summer, requests for book recommendations are all around. This is my answer to all of those that have come my way. This is…
The Book Of The Film, Of The Book
“The book was better.” How many times have you heard or thought that as you exit the cinema? If you’ve read a book and watched the film, I guess it’s…
What My Abusive Childhood Taught Me About Being A Mother
Social worker Pam Rowe suffered a terrifyingly traumatic childhood. Beaten by her aunt and raped and abused by several different men – one of whom was her father – she survived…
Five Minutes With… Author Emma Woolf
There is plenty of pressure on any debut author, but can you imagine what that is like, when you are related to one of the greatest writers of the twentieth…
Novelist Beezy Marsh On The Art Of ‘Faction’
When Beezy Marsh began researching her family history she had no idea of the secrets she was about to uncover, in particular about her grandmother Annie Austin, and Annie’s mother…
Five Minutes With… Debut Author Sandie Jones
Sandie Jones had always thought about writing a book, but believed she could only do it from a beach hut, overlooking the swirling ocean, with a constant supply of black…
Literary Lane: Four Riddles For Jane Austen
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that Jane Austen is everywhere at the moment. To mark 200 years since her death, the Bank of England has just immortalised her on a…
Books: Five Minutes With Method Author Rosie Vidovix
Many novelists spend months holed up in their studies, imagining what their characters might experience and feel. But author Rosie Vidovix has a different attitude to it – getting…