I have not read many books that have a young child as a narrator and so I have to confess that I was a little sceptical when I discovered the entirety of ‘This Much Huxley Knows’ by Gail Aldwin was narrated from the viewpoint of the seven-year-old protagonist himself. This scepticism, however, was very soon … More This Much Huxley knows by Gail Aldwin
I was originally drawn to this memoir by Daniel Snowman because of its title. The concept of the significance of a life lived amongst and alongside global events is an intriguing one. We are all ‘Just Passing Through’ but what is fascinating is the diverse and different paths we take that constitute a life lived. … More Just Passing Through: Interactions with the World 1938-2021 by Daniel Snowman
It is surprising that Klara and the Sun is only the second of Kazuo Ishiguro I have ever read. It is surprising because the other novel, Never Let Me Go, had such a profound effect on me when I first read it in my early twenties. There are some novels that never fade from your … More Klara and The Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
It is perhaps fortuitous that as I finished John Dunn’s ‘The Glitter in the Green’ I should have heard at the open window both the roar of traffic on the M1 and the sound of blackbirds on the trees outside. The encroachment of man on the natural world and the devastating impact we are having … More The Glitter in the Green by Jon Dunn
I am currently working my way through watching the second season of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’. It does feel like work as it feels somewhat relentless in the violence and trauma meted out towards nearly all the female characters. At one point during a group therapy session around healing and moving forward, Elizabeth Moss’s character June … More Animal by Lisa Taddeo
The book the group discussed on Wednesday 9th of September was Natalie Haynes’ ‘A Thousand Ships’ which had recently been shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Natalie Haynes is a writer and broadcaster as well as a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4 where she presents her own show: Natalie Haynes Stands Up for … More A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
As a female and someone who loves to run and walk in nature, I am incredibly interested in how other women view landscape and place. It feels as though the genre of nature and travel writing is a field dominated by male voices and so I was really excited to read a fresh perspective that … More I Belong Here: A Journey Along the Backbone of Britain by Anita Sethi
Apollo: Oscar Wilde’s life – like his wit – was alive with paradox. He was both an early exponent and victim of ‘celebrity culture’: famous for being famous, he was often ridiculed and disparaged. His achievements were frequently downplayed, his successes resented. He had a genius for comedy but strove to write tragedies. He was … More Oscar: A Life by Matthew Sturgis
Publisher: Vintage Publication Date: August 2020 Spring is perhaps a really fitting time to read Helen MacDonald’s ‘Vesper Flights’. Nature is beginning to awaken and chase winter away; new life is all around and the warmer days are arriving. Reading this collection of essays really made me aware of the world around me and, in … More Vesper Flights by Helen Macdonald
Published by: Bloomsbury August 2019 As someone who had little knowledge of what a mudlark was before reading this book it is really useful that Lara Maiklem opens with the following definition from the New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles: ‘ A person who scavenges for usable debris in the mud of a … More Mudlarking: Lost and Found on the River Thames by Lara Maiklem
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