Book Reviews
Waverley
Waverley Sir Walter Scott Anonymously published in 1814 Waverley became an astounding success. While Scott toured the lighthouses of the Northern Isles his book was being avidly consumed by a reading public whose appetite for historical fiction would grow and grow. The birth of a genre is not without it pains and Waverley at over […]
Read more of Waverley...The Book of Blood, Vicki Feaver
The Book of Blood Vicki Feaver This collection of poems draws the reader ever inwards. Fever’s dexterity at handling topics and mood, and her skill in creating voices that are nuanced and truthful is enviable and inspiring. The style is unpretentious and accessible, not one over-burdened with references or obscured by technique. The reader explores […]
Read more of The Book of Blood, Vicki Feaver...Independent People, Halldór Laxness
Independent People Haldòr Laxness The miserly cast of a flock of worm-ridden sheep and a handful of souls in a remote Icelandic valley seems hardly the fodder for an epic tale – yet Laxness delivers to the reader the complexities of human psychology and the economic, political fortunes of nation states. These facets are all […]
Read more of Independent People, Halldór Laxness...The Nations Favourite Poems of Remembrance
The Nation’s Favourite Poems of Remembrance Foreword by Michael Rosen This collection of poems is a rich source for anyone seeking to reflect and remember times past and the dead. From D.H. Lawrence’s tender memory of his mother in Piano to the bleak, A Refusal to Mourn the Death by Fire of a Child in […]
Read more of The Nations Favourite Poems of Remembrance...We Should All Be Feminists
We Should all be Feminists Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie This brilliant essay speaks about living feminism, from small daily experiences and expectations to broader cultural and institutional norms. The prose is clear and compelling, Adichie’s viewpoint is intelligently and wittily argued. It does not patronise or condemn but seeks to explain and most of all engender […]
Read more of We Should All Be Feminists...
