Robin Robertson (Robin Robertson – Poet) was brought up on the north-east coast of Scotland. After taking degrees in Scotland and Canada he moved to London to work in publishing, for Penguin, Secker & Warburg and Jonathan Cape. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Robertson’s books of poetry are A Painted Field (1997), Slow Air (2002), Swithering (2006), The Wrecking […]
The Long Take by Robin Robertson Read More »
15th January 2024. American warships are in the Eastern Mediterranean, in the Arabian Sea and in The Red Sea. The world looks on in horror at the suffering in Gaza as The Israeli Defence Force retaliates for the 07 October 2023 attacks on Israel. American and British jets have attacked targets in Yemen. Speculation rages
American Pastoral by Philip Roth Read More »
Paul Murray (Paul Murray: Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2023 | The Booker Prizes) is an Irish writer from Dublin. He has written four novels, the second of which is Skippy Dies (2010). The summary is as follows: We find ourselves in the grand old Dublin institution that is Seabrook College for Boys. Ruprecht Van
Skippy Dies by Paul Murray Read More »
Mick Herron (Mick Herron – Homepage | Hachette UK) has been writing thriller novels for 20 years now. His first was Down Cemetery Road, published in 2003. This formed the first of the four part Zoë Boehm series. There followed the twelve part ‘Slough House’ spy series (2010-2022) featuring Jackson Lamb. Herron is pleased to
The Secret Hours by Mick Herron Read More »
06 May 2021. This legal detective novel by Angie Kim ( Angie Kim – Author of Miracle Creek, Previously Miracle Submarine (angiekimbooks.com) ) unfolds over four days of trial testimony, and each chapter follows different characters who were present on the night of a fatal explosion at a medical facility in rural Virginia. These are
Miracle Creek by Angie Kim Read More »
Confined to barracks during the pandemic of 2020 many people have found time for reading in a way not possible in their normally frenetic lives. ( Research finds reading books has surged in lockdown | Fiction | The Guardian ). At the same time, community services have come to be valued during this stressful past
Public library and other stories by Ali Smith Read More »
It looks like we’re headed for a long series of mini lockdowns and complex restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Combine that with the joys of the Scottish winter, and many will seek an escape into fiction. Any other world might seem preferable to this. Diane Cook (https://dianemariecook.com/) offers such an escape. Cook’s writing has appeared
The New Wilderness by Diane Cook Read More »
Perhaps an uplifting novel would be suitable for the day we enter the calendar Spring 2020. Reach for The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty. (https://www.lauramoriartynovels.com/) Moriarty was born in Honolulu in 1970. She took a degree in social work, earned an MA in Creative Writing at The University of Kansas before becoming the recipient of the
The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty Read More »
American novelist Dan Mallory (a.k.a. A. J. Finn) (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/feb/15/unreliable-narrators-questions-the-truth-leo-benedictus) has a complex relationship with the truth according to recent reports. This notoriety has not prevented his 2018 thriller ‘The Woman in the Window’ becoming a bestseller. Thrillers have the capacity to absorb our attention, allowing us to forget, temporarily, the grim details of everyday life.
The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn Read More »
