While the men were at war women ruled the streets. Kate Thompson tells the vivid and moving stories of the matriarchs who remain the backbone of London’s East End to this day.
War
NONFICTION NOVEMBER: Nonfiction Book Pairing
Week two of a month-long celebration of favourite non-fiction reads. In this post we look at a perfect book pairing.
BOOK REVIEW: The Cake Tree in the Ruins
A necessarily brief review (I’m posting this from a sandy beach in Cyprus) of a dark but inventive short story collection set on 15th August 1945 – the day Japan surrendered and the Second World War formerly ended.
BOOK REVIEW: The Silence of the Girls
From the Booker Prize-winning author of Regeneration and one of our greatest contemporary writers on war comes a reimagining of the most famous conflict in literature – the legendary Trojan War.
BOOK REVIEW: A Chill in the Air: An Italian War Diary 1939–1940
Iris Origo was known to me as being one of the finest diarists of the 20th century for her moving and compassionate journal detailing Italy’s disastrous involvement in the same conflict.
BOOK REVIEW: The Tattooist of Auschwitz
In late 1942, when Ludwig (Lale) Sokolov passed through the most notorious gates in modern history, he was a healthy, bright, outgoing young man with a penchant for the company of women.
THOUGHTS ON: Zennor in Darkness
The British poet, novelist and children’s writer, Helen Dunmore died of cancer at the age of 64 on 5th June 2017.
