Archives by Tag 'England'
‘April Lady’ by Georgette Heyer
Oh, Georgette Heyer, how I wanted to like you! How I wanted to find your writing delightful, engaging and witty and your stories compelling and absorbing. How I looked forward to returning to the world of Jane Austen’s novels through such a prolific author that I could stay in that world for months of reading [...]
‘Through England on a Side-Saddle’ by Celia Fiennes
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m attempting to read more non-fiction this year, and so far I seem to be accomplishing most of that in the form of travelogues. There’s something endlessly fascinating about seeing a place through the eyes of someone else, whether it’s somewhere I’ve been before, somewhere I know like the back of [...]
‘Miss Buncle’s Book’ by D. E. Stevenson
Although I buy the majority of my books second hand, whether from charity shops, Ebay or Amazon Marketplace, occasionally I will allow myself to purchase a new book or two if they are particularly special. When I discovered sometime in early January that I had to go to Charing Cross for a meeting, meaning that [...]
Review: ‘The Rivals’ by Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Going to see a play without having read it beforehand always makes me feel a bit like going to see a band play live without knowing many of their songs: slightly awkward and often rather lost. So, when I decided to get tickets for myself and the Old English Thorn to go to see the Haymarket’s [...]
‘Sense and Sensibility’ by Jane Austen
There are some books which it’s impossible for me to review with anything even vaguely approaching objectivity, and the works of Jane Austen feature very high up that list. I love everything about all of them, even the aspects which, critically speaking, might be weaker or less good. I don’t often reread books (too many [...]
Review: ‘Quicksilver’ by Neal Stephenson
Title: : Book I of the Baroque Cycle Author: Neal Stephenson Published: Arrow, 2004, pp. 927. Originally published 2003 Genre: Alternative history Blurb: A novel of history, adventure, science, invention, sex, absurdity, piracy, madness, death and alchemy that sweeps across continents and decades, upending kings, armies, religious beliefs and all expectations. Bringing a remarkable age [...]
Review: ‘Child of the Phoenix’ by Barbara Erskine
Title: Author: Barbara Erskine Published: Harper Collins, 1994, pp. 1086. Originally published 1992 Genre: Historical fiction Blurb: In 1218 an extraordinary princess is born, whose mystical powers and unquenchable spirit will alter the course of history… Raised by her fiercely Welsh nurse to support the Celtic cause against the predatory English king, Princess Eleyne is [...]
Review: ‘The French Lieutenant’s Woman’ by John Fowles
Title: Author: John Fowles Published: Pan Books, 1987, pp. 399. Originally published 1969. Genre: Historical fiction Blurb:In this contemporary, Victorian-style novel Charles Smithson, a nineteenth-century gentleman with glimmerings of twentieth-century perceptions, falls in love with enigmatic Sarah Woodruff, who has been jilted by a French lover. (Goodreads.com) When, where and why: I think my mother [...]
Review: ‘Tales from the Country Matchmaker’ by Patricia Warren
Title: Author: Patricia Warren Published: Hodder & Stoughton, 2006, pp. 248. Originally published 2003. Genre: Memoir Blurb: Since she founded the Farmers’ and Country Bureau from her farmhouse in the Peak District more than twenty years ago, Patricia has been helping love to blossom the length and breadth of rural England. She has hundreds of [...]
Review: ‘The Pillars of the Earth’ by Ken Follett
Title: Author: Ken Follett Published: Pan, 1999, pp. 1076. Originally published 1989 Genre: Historical fiction Blurb: 1123. A time of violent civil war, famine, religious strife and battles for royal succession And a time when man’s greatest skills and aspirations gave birth to a daring and impossible dream — the building of the magnificent cathedral [...]