Guilty by Definition by Susie Dent Popular broadcaster and lexcographer Susie Dent has written her first novel, after writing a handful of books all about words, and jolly good fun it was too. (I went to see her talk about it back in August.) And where else would a lexicographer choose to set their murder Read More
Tag: Village life
And the Wind Sees All by Guðmundur Andri Thorsson, #NordicFINDS23
Translated by Andrew Cauthery and Björg Árnadóttir I come in off the sea and slide along the spit, and soon I will have vanished with the mist. I am the afternoon breeze; I visit at around half past four and an hour later slip away to my dwelling, made of the past: of the grass that stirred a Read More
Villager by Tom Cox – Blog tour
You may know of Tom Cox through his books about his cats, the Sunday Times bestselling The Good, the Bad and the Furry. So in homage, the photo above shows Harry, our big soppy tabby cat who is always keen to read in bed with me. Having read and very much enjoyed Tom Cox’s first Read More
The Searcher by Tana French – Blog Tour
The new standalone crime novel from Tana French, author of the Dublin Murders series (my review of the first here), is that rare thing – a really slowburn multilayered mystery that delves deep into looking at all kinds of relationships – be they friends and family, neighbours, professional, or best kept at arms’ length. The Read More
Book Group Report – a German classic novella…
The Jew’s Beech by Annette Von Droste-Hülshoff Translated by Doris and Lionel Thomas Being a German novella from 1842, this book was an unusual choice for our Book Group. It came about in conversation because one of our group’s sons was studying it at uni, and another who teaches German, owned a copy in German Read More
What price progress for the peasant farmer?
Harvest by Jim Crace Harvest should mark a time to celebrate a year’s bounty, but right from the start of Crace’s atmospheric new novel, there’s a hint of underlying darkness to come. When strangers come to the village, announcing their arrival by a smoking fire, normal life is upset. When the Master’s dovecote is Read More