by Philippa Gregory A Review 'This was the walking night for the dead, this night and their saints' days; but she did not think her drunken violent husband had been under the care of any particular saint.' Alinor Reekie scratches out a living for herself and her children Rob and Alys in the marshlands of …
Category: Historical Fiction
The Art of Dying
by Ambrose Parry A Review 'The Reverend struck me again ...... It was what happened when you ate filth.' The Art of Dying reacquaints the reader with Dr Will Raven and Sarah Fisher, protagonists of Ambrose Parry's first novel, The Way of All Flesh. Now fully qualified, Raven returns to Edinburgh from a study tour …
Family Secrets
I first published this article on line about four years ago. Whilst my relationship to the real life characters mentioned is tenuous after so many generations, the story may appeal to any new readers with an interest in history and classical literature. The Story of the Lee Penny Truth, Myth and Fiction ‘ “Stay, let …
Ivanhoe
by Sir Walter Scott A Review ‘Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? Fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian?’ What, you …
Sepulchre
Sepulchre by Kate Mosse 'Enfin. At last. Meredith heard the word as if she'd spoken herself. It was so sharp, so loud, that she turned around, thinking that perhaps a person had come in behind her. There was no one there. Things shifting between past and present.' I first read this novel several years ago …
Witch Hunt
The Familiars by Stacey Halls A Review ' "The light and the darkness are equal forces - partners, if you will - then there is a moment, very quick and quiet, where you can see the day giving in to the night. That's when I know." ' [Alice Gray] We know about witches, don't we …
A Modern Edmond Dantes
The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon translated by Lucia Graves The Prisoner of Heaven is the third book in Zafon’s cycle of stories set in Barcelona and featuring the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. It is much shorter than either of its predecessors yet lacks none of the intrigue of the earlier books. Nor …
Farewell to Barcelona
The Labyrinth of the Spirits by Carlos Ruiz Zafon translation by Lucia Graves 'Isaac sighed. “Alicia,” he said at last. “Welcome to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.” ' I [and I suspect many other readers too] have waited a long time for this book. Conceived sometime around 1998, the project Mr Zafon is pleased to …
Anaesthesia
The Way of All Flesh by Ambrose Parry Occasionally, a walk through a bookshop will throw up unexpected delights. Browsing the new and bestseller shelves in my local shop recently, I was surprised to see a book entitled The Way of All Flesh. I immediately thought of Samuel Butler, and wondered why on earth his …
Goodbye to Barcelona
Next Tuesday, September 18, sees the publication (at last) of the Lucia Graves English translation of Carlos Ruiz Zafon's El Laberinto de los Espiritus. The novel, The Labyrinth of Spirits in English, is the final part of the author's cycle of stories set in Barcelona, sometimes referred to as the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series. …
