A powerful novel of friendship and redemption in the face of tragedy and loss set in 1980s Chicago and contemporary Paris.
Book Reviews
Paula Bardell-Hedley reviews a variety of books.
Thoughts On: ‘Around the World in Eighty Days’
One ill-fated evening at the Reform Club, Phileas Fogg rashly bets his companions £20,000 that he can travel around the world in 80 days – and he is determined not to lose!
Book Review: Ghost Wall
Young Silvie, along with her mother and abusive father, are in a remote Northumberland camp as an exercise in experiential archaeology. Sarah Moss’s forthcoming novel has much to say about female affinity and friendship.
Book Review: Orchid & the Wasp
A dark but highly amusing coming-of-age story, which encompasses sexuality, mental health, class, religion and contemporary politics. Caoilinn Hughes has written a stunningly ambitious debut novel.
‘A Pocket Guide: The Literature of Wales’ by Dafydd Johnston
In this, the third of my occasional features about Wales to be posted in the run-up to Dewithon 2019, we look at an informative little book about Welsh literature.
Thoughts on: ‘Scoop: A Novel About Journalists’
Described as “a brilliantly irreverent satire of Fleet Street and its hectic pursuit of hot news”, I was unfortunately unable to connect with Scoop – one of Evelyn Waugh’s most popular novels.
BLOG TOUR: ‘Why Do Birds Suddenly Disappear? 200 birds, 12 months, 1 lapsed birdwatcher’ by Lev Parikian
Book Jotter is the fourth stop on Lev Parikian’s great Why Do Birds Suddenly Disappear? Blog Tour. Grab your bins and join in the fun!
Book Review: Books for Living: A Reader’s Guide to Life
An uplifting exploration of the power of books to shape our lives in an era of constant connectivity.
Book Review: Song Castle
Song Castle is an exuberant caper through 12th-century Wales in the company of poets and musicians from all corners of the known world as they gather to compete for a permanent place at a Welsh Prince’s table.
Book Review: In Search of Lost Books: The Forgotten Stories of Eight Mythical Volumes
The gripping and elegiac stories of eight lost books, and the mysterious circumstances behind their disappearances.
Book Review: Swan Song
A deft, dazzling, diligently researched debut about a literary icon and his beautiful, wealthy, spoiled Swans.
Book Review: Freedom: Vintage Minis
Can we ever be wholly free? In this book Margaret Atwood holds a mirror up to our own world. The reflection we are faced with, of men and women in prisons literal and metaphorical, is frightening but not without hope.
Book Review: Meet Me at the Museum
Meet Me at the Museum is an epistolary story of love and selflessness. It put a smile on this reader’s face.
Book Review: White Houses
The story of an unexpected and forbidden love affair that developed between America’s First Lady and a well-known female journalist.
Book Review: Ayiti
This debut collection from Roxane Gay is a unique blend of fiction, non-fiction and poetry, all interwoven to represent the Haitian diaspora experience.
Book Review: A House of Pomegranates
A House of Pomegranates is a collection of whimsical short stories by Oscar Wilde.
Book Review: Suffragette: The Battle for Equality
2018 marks a century since the first women won the vote in the United Kingdom, and this children’s book tells the story of their fight. ‘Suffragette’ is a tale of astounding bravery, ingenuity and strength.
Book Review: The Assassin’s Cloak: An Anthology Of The World’s Greatest Diarists
A dip-in doorstop filled with risqué anecdotes, humorous stories, unintended hilarity and intriguing revelations.
Book Review: Sylvia Pankhurst: Rebellious Suffragette
In honour of the centennial of women gaining the right to vote in the UK, we look at the life of someone who fought relentlessly to achieve it.
Book Review: The End of Loneliness
Told through the ruptured lives of three siblings, The End of Loneliness is a heartfelt, enriching novel about loss and loneliness, family and love.
