Category Archives: Uncategorized

My library book group had a really interesting conversation about The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood. One member said it was such a disturbing and angry book, she thought it shouldn’t have been published at all. I think … Continue reading →

Well. I feel as if I have just binge-watched every single episode of Love Island while drinking Tia Maria and eating a family-sized pizza, a couple of boxes of Shapes and a value pack of Cadbury Favourites, in my PJ’s, … Continue reading →

The skinned bodies are lining up along the bench as Verla finishes with them, adding one more to the row. Pink, fairly gleaming in the light from the speckled window. Through the window she can see Yolanda coming up from … Continue reading →

There are no telephones at Silver Creek, or laptops or internet or television, so I’ll have to  write letters to stay in touch with Mum and Dad and my brother Archie. For the next year I’ll be living in a … Continue reading →

Unpolished Gem by Alice Pung. Why have I never read this book before? I’m so glad I chose it for my Library book group. Alice Pung’s memoir managed to place me right next to her, in the middle of her … Continue reading →

Robert and I go to fetch the prescription, we buy Eccles cakes because my father likes them and because we all deserve a treat. So we surround David, eating Eccles cakes and drinking coffee and speaking quietly: there’s lamplight, music, … Continue reading →

I’ve been doing some research into London in the mid-1950’s; this is where my stash of old books, maps, catalogues, guides and magazines comes in handy. The more down-market women’s mags – Woman’s Own, Woman’s Realm, Woman’s Mirror, Woman’s Day … Continue reading →

I have come to think of the crime novel as the perfect form of the novel: a distillation of decades, of centuries of literary entertainment and enlightenment. That distillation, that dynamism continues naturally and vitally. It’s for you as a … Continue reading →

I’ve just been on a 3-day writer’s retreat with Meg Dunley – writer, editor, creativity coach and all-round amazing woman – in beautiful, green, cool Kinglake. A workshop each day, a one-on-one coaching session, readings and group chats every night. … Continue reading →

This was a very random pick from the library shelves; I was intrigued by the idea of a series of letters between two different parts of the one self. Peter Quarry is an Australian psychologist, entrepreneur, designer, TV personality, portrait … Continue reading →