An Ordinary Day
A Short Story by Maureen Younger from my forthcoming collection – An Ordinary Day That was the day I thought I was going to be raped and murdered. It’s strange how such an ordinary day can turn on a sixpence. You think there would be some kind of sign: an ear-splitting thunderstorm raging in […]
Continue readingCase Histories
Case Histories by Kate Atkinson is more ambitious than your average crime novel. It’s no simple whodunit. The focus of much of the novel is on those who are left behind to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives. The novel asks a question that Brodie later asks himself: What do you do when […]
Continue readingMy Year of Meats
My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki is an enjoyable read which will also provide you with plenty of food for thought. Brilliantly written, not least because of the way Ozeki blends the various strands of the novel together. Its heroine is the Japanese-American Jane Takagi-Little. We first meet Jane, unemployed, on her uppers and […]
Continue readingHomegoing
Homegoing, written by Yaa Gyasi, is so beautifully and skilfully written it’s hard to believe this is her debut novel. Homegoing is a historical novel whose sweep of history is breath-taking in its scope, featuring wonderfully drawn characters and giving a voice to those whose story is rarely told. The catalyst is the fates of […]
Continue readingTen Things They Don’t Tell You About Shared Ownership
Shared ownership – where nothing is shared and you don’t own a thing You are simply paying a hefty down payment for an assured tenancy, the right to live in a property for a set number of years and a share in the equity once the property is sold. That’s it! 1. In some […]
Continue readingOh You Pretty Thing
VG Lee’s collection of short stories is a fantastic read. Beautifully written, eclectic in subject matter, they range from life in small town Idaho in the 19th century to two friends on a shopping trip to Bluewater. What is consistent throughout, however, is the subtle and engaging way each story is told. It’s evident that […]
Continue readingThe Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox
Set mainly in Edinburgh, The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell is told from the perspective of three women, the eponymous Esme Lennox, her sister Kitty and the granddaughter, Iris. It is masterful storytelling of the first order, as O’Farrell intertwines their stories as if they were pieces in an overarching jigsaw puzzle. […]
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Continue readingMy Sister, The Serial Killer
Set in Nigeria, My Sister, The Serial Killer grabs you from the start with its intriguing premise of two sisters, Korede, the sensible, older sibling, constantly coming to the assistance of her younger and much more attractive sister, Ayoola who has a nasty habit of murdering her boyfriends. If that’s not bad enough, things become […]
Continue readingHidden in Plain Sight
On social media at the moment a debate is taking place regarding the sexual harassment and abuse of female comedians within the industry. How can such harassment be so prevalent and yet seem invisible to many of those (men) working in the industry? Just look around you: in the very same week Loose Women, a […]
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