Ruth Ware (http://www.ruthware.com/) had a variety of jobs before happily finding her vocation as a fiction writer. Her psychological thrillers In a Dark, Dark Wood (2015) and The Woman in Cabin 10 (2016) are now followed by this year’s The Lying Game (2017). The summary is as follows. On a cool June morning, Isa Wilde, a […]
American author Dennis Lehane (http://dennislehane.com/) has written several novels, two of which have transferred successfully to the screen. These are Mystic River (2001) (a 2003 film directed by Clint Eastwood, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0327056/) and Shutter Island (2003) (a 2010 film directed by Martin Scorsese, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1130884/?ref_=nv_sr_1). Directors are attracted to the author’s insightful and empathetic characterisation, his razor-sharp dialogue,
The Spanish tourist industry hopes Britons do not abandon their traditional summer holiday after Brexit. The Spanish economy is hugely dependent on Northern European visitors, especially the British. 2017 may see up to 15 million Brits (https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2016/aug/30/record-numbers-britons-travel-spain-summer-holidays-tourism) (3 times the entire population of Scotland) get their annual dose of sun there. It may be that
The History of Spain Read More »
Stuart MacBride (http://www.stuartmacbride.com/) was born in Dumbarton but grew up in Aberdeen. He is the author of several crime novels featuring DS Logan McRae. He has been shortlisted for the ‘Theakstons’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award’ twice. MacBride won the 2007 CWA Dagger in the Library, awarded for a body of work,
Have you ever talked to yourself? Such is the stigma attached to any kind of mental abnormality, one is inclined to answer ‘no’. Privately, though, we do all talk to ourselves. Thoughts seem to bubble up unbidden. We issue reminders, cajolements, praise and corrections to ‘ourselves’ (whoever that may be). Our mental life is more
Here is a debut novel which is getting a lot of praise by word of mouth. Give this psychological thriller a try. The summary is as follows. Everyone knows a couple like Jack and Grace: he has looks and wealth, she has charm and elegance. You’d like to get to know Grace better. But it’s
Behind Closed Doors Read More »
Most of us have a picture of the Victorians in our minds. Straight-laced (on the surface). Women bound into suffocating corsets. Piano legs covered for the sake of decency. Industrious pioneers in science and technology. Innovative creators of our railway system. Capitalists. Ruthless exploiters of the industrial poor whilst at the same time being great
Victorians Undone by Kathryn Hughes Read More »
Many attributes have been posited to distinguish humans from other animals. Tool making, complex social organisation, moral sensibility, ritual practice, self-conscious awareness. All are now known to be shared by other animals in some degree. Sophisticated communication is also known to be employed by other animals, although this also had been used as an absolute
How Language Began Read More »
Annie Murray has been infantalising the minds of her readers with carelessly crafted novels of no power and less conviction for some time. Her 22nd, The Doorstep Child, is available now and her devoted readership can expect many a pot boiler to follow. Murray prepared for a literary career by training as a journalist and working for
The Doorstep Child Read More »
