Denis Diderot (1713 – 1784, Denis Diderot (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)) was a French man of letters and philosopher who, from 1745 to 1772, served as chief editor of the Encyclopédie, one of the principal works of the Age of Enlightenment. In this novel of 1796 the servant Jacques rides through France with his master. He appears to act as though […]
Jacques the Fatalist by Denis Diderot Read More »
As of 2024 William Boyd (Novels – William Boyd) has written 18 novels plus a number of short stories and screenplays. The New Confessions is a good recommendation to start enjoying this author’s fiction. The summary is as follows. From his birth in Edinburgh in 1899, John James Todd was doomed. Emerging from an angst-filled
The New Confessions by William Boyd Read More »
This book by Annie E. Proulx (Annie Proulx: ‘I’ve had a life. I see how slippery things can be’ | Annie Proulx | The Guardian) follows the movements of a small green accordion. The accordion maker leaves his native Sicily with his son Silvano in 1890 for ‘La Merica’. The promise of the land of
Accordion Crimes by E. Annie Proulx Read More »
If perspicacity and foresightedness are criteria for the greatness of a narrative then ‘Fahrenheit 451‘ by Ray Bradbury (Ray Bradbury – Books, Short Stories & Quotes) stands tall. First published in 1953 the author imagines a dystopian future in which a totalitarian state has prohibited books and reading. The populace is driven into conformity by
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury Read More »
John and Laura Baxter are recovering from the death of their daughter Christine from meningitis in the 1950s when they take a trip to Venice. At a restaurant table they encounter a pair of Scottish spinster twins. One of these, Heather, is a seer and informs Laura that a little girl has been sitting alongside
Don’t Look Now by Daphne du Maurier Read More »
In 2002 Sarah Waters (Sarah Waters | Hachette UK) offered us Fingersmith, a neo-Victorian novel. The setting is London, 1862. Sue Trinder, orphaned at birth, grows up among petty thieves – ‘fingersmiths’ – under the rough but loving care of Mrs Sucksby and her ‘family’. But from the moment she draws breath, Sue’s fate is
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters Read More »
James Robertson (A life in writing: James Robertson | Books | The Guardian) has a special connection to Clydesdale. From 1993 to 1995 he was the first writer in residence at Hugh MacDiarmid’s house at Brownsbank, Candymill near Biggar. Robertson has gone on to publish several novels, short stories and poetry collections. He was born in Sevenoaks, Kent
And the Land Lay Still by James Robertson Read More »
Philip Miller (PHILIP MILLER | Writer and Poet (philipmillerbooks.com)) is a writer and poet living in Edinburgh. He was an award-winning arts journalist for 20 years, and his published novels include The Goldenacre (2022), All The Galaxies (2017) and The Blue Horse (2015). His poetry has been published in print and online, and he received a RL Stevenson Fellowship in 2019.
The Hollow Tree by Philip Miller Read More »
Marilynne Robinson (Appreciation: Marilynne Robinson, Novelist and Essayist, is an American Original — The National Book Review) is an American novelist and essayist. She has received numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2005, National Humanities Medal in 2012, and the 2016 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction. Robinson began teaching at the Iowa
Lila by Marilynne Robinson Read More »
