by Margaret Atwood What more can be said of Margaret Atwood, more than has been said already by countless readers? Novelist, poet, essayist, children's writer, it seems she has been around for a very long time. She has; her first book was published in 1961. And can she go on churning out these wonderful, inspirational, …
Category: Book Review
The Fickleness of Gods
(and Goddesses) Atalanta by Jennifer Saint 'When Atalanta posted herself on the extreme right flank at some distance from her fellow-hunters,' wrote Robert Graves in The Greek Myths, 'two Centaurs ..... decided to ravish her, each in turn assisting the other. But as soon as they ran towards her, she shot them both down and …
The Long Song
by Andrea Levy A Review 'And what a squealing, tempestuous, fuss-making child she was. The quivering pink tongue and toothless gums in July's shrieking mouth were more familiar to her mama than he baby's arms and feet.' The British Slave Trade Act of 1807 did not abolish slavery. The aspirations of many in the Colonies, …
Lockdown
by Peter May '[Lockdown] was never published. British editors at the time thought my portrayal of London under siege by the invisible enemy of HSN1 was unrealistic and could never happen - in spite of the fact that all my research showed that, really, it could....... Lockdown was consigned to a folder in my Dropbox, …
Castles
The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne by Ann Radcliffe A Review 'They pursued their journey over the wilds, and towards the close of day approached the ruins of an abbey, whose broken arches and lonely towers arose in gloomy grandeur through the obscurity of evening.' In Ann Radcliffe's work, it seems to me, there is …
Rebus 2022
A Heart Full of Headstones by Ian Rankin 'John Rebus had been in court plenty of times, but this was his first time in the dock.' So begins A Heart Full of Headstones, my second Rankin read of the month. Unlike Mortal Causes, it is set in the present day during the Covid pandemic, and …
Rebus 1993
Mortal Causes by Ian Rankin 'Big Ger Cafferty was looking good. He was fit and lean and had purpose to his gait. A white t-shirt was tight across his chest, flat across ths stomach, and he wore faded work denims and new-looking tennis shoes. He walked into the Visiting Room like he was the visitor, …
Cloud Cuckoo Land
by Anthony Doerr Like All The Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr's 2014/2015 Pulitzer winner, Cloud Cuckoo Land comes as a big surprise. It is a book within a book, as compelling as it is original, and tells the story in three timelines - well, four really (which I will explain shortly). Beginning and ending …
Lose Face or Die?
Never by Ken Follett A Review What is the probability of nuclear war in the next five years - ten years - your lifetime? And what will be the consequences - hundreds of millions dead, cripples or poisoned - half of the habitable earth a wasteland? These are questions posed by Follett’s brilliant, apocalyptic and …
The Judge’s List
by John Grisham A Review 'After twelve years of investigating judges, Lacy considered herself immune from shock. She was also calloused and jaded enough to have serious doubts about Jeri's story.' For my second book to read over the Christmas period, I chose this thriller by John Grisham. Judges - as far as I know …
Bookheathen Scribblings 