Author Archives: susan

Taken by my husband Howard – this is just the fence outside one of the doctor’s surgeries in one of the busy streets in our town. I say ‘just’ – I pass by this fence and hedge every time I … Continue reading →

My new favourite heroine is Flavia de Luce. I was me. I was Flavia. And I loved myself, even if no-one else did. “All hail Flavia! Flavia forever!” I shouted… I detected instantly that she didn’t like me. It’s a … Continue reading →

My local Opportunity Shop is a great source of reading matter. I’m always amazed at the new and newish novels that people read and pass on. There’s always a good selection of large paperback crime and thrillers (the B-format ones … Continue reading →

I was in the Ian Potter in Fed Square a few weeks ago. In one of the upstairs galleries was this painting of schoolboys waiting in line. It’s a picture I know well, because it used to hang on our … Continue reading →

My grandmother – my mother’s mother – died when I was 14. Her name was Phoebe. According to my mother, she associated her name with the cheery black maids you often saw in Hollywood films back in the 1930’s. Her … Continue reading →

I finally did it. I deleted my Facebook account.  I’ve escaped! It wasn’t easy, however. Not only did  pictures of random friends appear, with the anguished (Facebook generated) message that they’d miss me, but I was required to give a … Continue reading →

Last week I dropped my little external hard drive on the brick floor. It landed with a crash –  as you’d expect – but in addition there was a rather worrying sort of cracking noise as well. My IT genius … Continue reading →

It’s only Saturday night, but I’ve already got that gloomy Sunday feeling. Perhaps it’s because night is falling earlier and earlier – and soon, when daylight saving’s done, we’ll be plunging again into the dark part of the year. So … Continue reading →

I’ve been going places with Patrick Leigh Fermor. He is the most delightful travelling companion; interested in history and art and architecture and plants and birds and clothes and popular songs and cloud formations and politics and cigarette cases and … Continue reading →