This sporadic post covering all manner of things I’ve recently read, watched and done is where I hold forth on matters both serious and silly. You are invited along for the ride.
Art
All’s Fair in Love and Work #ToveTrove
As part of the ongoing Tove Trove project, I share my reflections on ‘Fair Play’, Tove Jansson’s “happy tales about two women”.
BOOK REVIEW: The Museum of Modern Love
The first title read from my 10 Books of Summer list, Heather Rose’s extraordinary novel is set against the backdrop of one of the greatest art events in modern history.
BOOK REVIEW: Home is Nearby
Magdalena McGuire’s debut novel is a vivid and intimate exploration of a young woman’s struggle to find her place in the world.
Three Things… #2
Reading. Looking. Thinking. This week it’s all about Moomins, a metal peacock and infuriating politicians.
BOOK REVIEW: The Great Believers
A powerful novel of friendship and redemption in the face of tragedy and loss set in 1980s Chicago and contemporary Paris.
Three Things…
Reading. Looking. Thinking. A new feature that enables me to ramble on about almost anything. You are invited to participate.
THOUGHTS ON: A Month in the Country
In the balmy summer of 1920 Tom Birkin arrives penniless at Oxgodby station with his nerves “shot to pieces” and a commission to restore a Medieval work of art.
THOUGHTS ON: Cat’s Eye
I reflect on Atwood’s 1988 Booker-nominated novel about a controversial artist grappling with the tangled knots of her life.
Tove Jansson: Life, Art, Words: The Authorised Biography #ToveTrove
Tove Jansson, author of the Moomins and one of the great idiosyncratic talents of the 20th century, must surely have found her ideal biographer in Boel Westin.