Archives by Tag 'England'
Review: ‘Anderby Wold’ by Winifred Holtby
When I was sent a copy of the beautiful new edition of South Riding by Virago at the beginning of 2011 and was introduced to the writing of Winifred Holtby, it didn’t take me long to fall in love. I was fascinated by the dextrous way she handled such a large cast of characters, making all [...]
Review: ‘My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time’ by Liz Jensen
After two distinctly disappointing reads I needed something that was sure to be good fun and not to take itself too seriously. Thankfully my mammoth TBR pile is able to rise to any challenge, and after a quick flick through my library I settled on the wonderfully titled by Liz Jensen. This book was first [...]
Review: ‘The Sack of Bath’ by Adam Fergusson
I really enjoy being a member of the various online book communities that I’m a part of, much as they are largely responsible for my enormous TBR pile and wishlist. I know I can find opinions on everything from the latest popular bestseller to obscure novels which I’d never have discovered on my own on [...]
Review: ‘The House in Dormer Forest’ by Mary Webb
When by Mary Webb came up as May’s TBR Lucky Dip book, I was pleased for two main reasons. Firstly, it’s a Virago Modern Classic, which meant I could add another one to the ‘Read’ shelf on LibraryThing and not feel quite so bad about the large number still sitting glumly on the ‘To Read’ [...]
Review: ‘The House at Riverton’ by Kate Morton
As you might have guessed from the enormous delay between finishing this book and a review actually appearing here, I’ve been rather busy recently. What with emergency dentist appointments, being ill, making wedding invitations and all the familycommitments which inevitably accompany a slew of bank holidays, I’ve been rushing hither and yon with very little time for [...]
Review: ‘Wedding Tiers’ by Trisha Ashley
A while ago, I spent a very unpleasant morning paying my dentist a great deal of money to cause me a great deal of pain. What I thought would be a simple (hah!) wisdom tooth extraction ended up as a surgical procedure, complete with opening my gums, shaving bits of bone off my jaw, and [...]
Review: ‘Dawn Chorus’ by Joan Wyndham
Reading Perfume from Provence reminded me that reading non-fiction is nowhere near as hard or as serious as I think it’s going to be when it comes in the form of an engaging memoir. I decided to carry on the theme by reading another thoroughly English memoir which I picked up, this time one of [...]
Review: ‘Nicholas Nickleby’ by Charles Dickens
Think of Victorian novels and which one author leaps immediately to mind? For me, and I suspect for many others, it is Charles Dickens. When taking part in a reading challenge which relates to Victorian literature, it seems only right to read something by the great man of Victorian literature himself. However, I have a [...]
‘Alice Hartley’s Happiness’ by Philippa Gregory
There are a lot of authors whose books I can pick up without knowing any specifics but with a fair idea of how the book will go. Dickens? Deserving poor, a host of comedic supporting characters with amusing names, and a downtrodden central character who is elevated through their own goodness. Angela Carter? A twisted, chaotic storyline [...]
Review: ‘The Warden’ by Anthony Trollope
In a world where there are too many wonderful books to be read and too little time in which to do so, I always welcome recommendations of books that I might enjoy. One such book was The Warden by Anthony Trollope which was recommended to me by a friend who told me to read and [...]