You don’t know me, but you’ll have seen my face. Girl A Lex is on her way to the prison where her biological mother has just died. She is the executor of the will, although she doesn’t understand why, given that she has refused to see her mother all of the time that she hasContinue reading “Book Review: Girl A, by Abigail Dean”
Category Archives: Book Review
Book Review: Miss Benson’s Beetle, by Rachel Joyce
Until now, Margery hadn’t shared her father’s love of insects… Yet as her finger met the golden beetle, something happened: a spark seemed to fly out and her future opened. She went hot and cold. She would find the beetle. It was that simple. Miss Benson’s Beetle Margery Benson is working in a school teachingContinue reading “Book Review: Miss Benson’s Beetle, by Rachel Joyce”
Book Review: Leonard and Hungry Paul, by Rónán Hession
‘What kind of things do they usually ask? I’ve never had an interview before…’ In general, they usually like to know if you’re a born leader, a visionary and a can-do sort of person.’ ‘I suppose there are probably lots of things I could do if were to try them, but generally I don’t tryContinue reading “Book Review: Leonard and Hungry Paul, by Rónán Hession”
Book Review: Unsettled Ground, by Claire Fuller
The morning sky lightens, and snow falls on the cottage. It falls on the thatch, concealing the moss and the mouse damage, smoothing out the undulations, filling in the hollows and slips, melting where it touches the bricks of the chimney…. The worries of seventy years – the money, the infidelity, the small deceits –Continue reading “Book Review: Unsettled Ground, by Claire Fuller”
Book Review: Silver Sparrow, by Tayari Jones
James sighed and bounced me on his lap a little bit. “What happens in my life, in my world, doesn’t have anything to do with you. You can’t tell your teacher that your daddy has another wife. You can’t tell your teacher that my name is James Witherspoon. Atlanta ain’t nothing but a country town,Continue reading “Book Review: Silver Sparrow, by Tayari Jones”
Book Review: Writers & Lovers, by Lily King
All problems with writing and performing come from fear. Fear of exposure, fear of weakness, fear of lack of talent, fear of looking like a fool for trying, for even thinking you could write in the first place. It’s all fear. If we didn’t have fear, imagine the creativity in the world. Fear holds usContinue reading “Book Review: Writers & Lovers, by Lily King”
Book Review: A Half-Baked Idea, by Olivia Potts
This is book is so special to me in ways that I can’t really describe. In it Olivia Potts describes the pain of losing her mother, but also finding hope through baking. It’s no surprise that death changes you. It happens in glaringly obvious ways, like weight change or ill health… For others, death bringsContinue reading “Book Review: A Half-Baked Idea, by Olivia Potts”
Book Review: Ghosts, by Dolly Alderton
‘I got ghosted last week.’ ‘What does that mean?’ ‘It’s when a person just stops speaking to you instead of having a break-up conversation.’ ‘Why’s it called ghosting?’ ‘Number of schools of thought,’ she said, with the command of an academic. ‘Mostly commonly, it is thought to have come from the idea that you areContinue reading “Book Review: Ghosts, by Dolly Alderton”
Book Review: The Sound Mirror, by Heidi James
All the knowing and wisdom, the habits and curses. Superstitions and protections, charms and jinxes. The Sound Mirror “She is going to kill her mother today.” I’ll be honest, I read the opening sentence and considered putting the book straight back down again. I had just finished another book that focussed on complicated mother-daughter relationshipsContinue reading “Book Review: The Sound Mirror, by Heidi James”
Book Review: The Push, by Ashley Audrain
The first night in the hospital I didn’t sleep. I stared at her quietly behind the perforated curtain that surrounded the bed. Her toes were a row of tiny snow peas. I would open her blanket and trace my finger along her skin and watch her twitch. She was alive. She came from me… IContinue reading “Book Review: The Push, by Ashley Audrain”
Luggage & Scribble 