Category Archives: Books and Films

Blogs on some of my favourite books and films. (Well at least those books and films I’ve got round to blogging about).

Regeneration – Pat Barker

Set in 1917, army psychiatrist William Rivers main task is to ‘regenerate’ the shell-shocked soldiers sent to him at Craiglockhart Hospital. It’s the perfect Catch-22 situation. In order to be sent back to the front, Rivers has to sign the men off as mentally fit to be there, but would anyone in their right mind […]

The Other Mother

Above all, The Other Mother by Jen Brister is a fun read. If anyone can make ranting a comedic art then Jen Brister is your woman. Secondly, it is refreshingly down to earth: no sanctimonious, idealised Perfect Mother scenario here: far from it. Jen’s take is that parenting is hard; and you will get it […]

Emilia

Emilia by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm is a fine piece of feminist theatre, a call-to-arms, which also happens to be informative, funny, thought-provoking, sad and life-affirming, and if you’re a woman, highly relatable. The Emilia in question is the daughter of immigrants, the ‘Dark Lady’ of Shakespeare’s sonnets, brought up to be a courtesan at Elizabeth […]

The Memory of Water

In this play by Shelagh Stephenson, three squabbling sisters reunite for their mother’s funeral in this comic tale of inter-family relations. The play underscores how subjective memories can be: different people remembering different things and/or remembering the same events but often differently. The three sisters in question are Mary, a doctor, desperate for her married […]

Case Histories

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson is more ambitious than your average crime novel. It’s no simple whodunit. The focus of much of the novel is on those who are left behind to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives. The novel asks a question that Brodie later asks himself: What do you do when […]

My Year of Meats

My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki is an enjoyable read which will also provide you with plenty of food for thought. Brilliantly written, not least because of the way Ozeki blends the various strands of the novel together. Its heroine is the Japanese-American Jane Takagi-Little. We first meet Jane, unemployed, on her uppers and […]

Homegoing

Homegoing, written by Yaa Gyasi, is so beautifully and skilfully written it’s hard to believe this is her debut novel. Homegoing is a historical novel whose sweep of history is breath-taking in its scope, featuring wonderfully drawn characters and giving a voice to those whose story is rarely told. The catalyst is the fates of […]

Oh You Pretty Thing

VG Lee’s collection of short stories is a fantastic read. Beautifully written, eclectic in subject matter, they range from life in small town Idaho in the 19th century to two friends on a shopping trip to Bluewater. What is consistent throughout, however, is the subtle and engaging way each story is told. It’s evident that […]

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox

Set mainly in Edinburgh, The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell is told from the perspective of three women, the eponymous Esme Lennox, her sister Kitty and the granddaughter, Iris. It is masterful storytelling of the first order, as O’Farrell intertwines their stories as if they were pieces in an overarching jigsaw puzzle. […]

My Sister, The Serial Killer

Set in Nigeria, My Sister, The Serial Killer grabs you from the start with its intriguing premise of two sisters, Korede, the sensible, older sibling, constantly coming to the assistance of her younger and much more attractive sister, Ayoola who has a nasty habit of murdering her boyfriends. If that’s not bad enough, things become […]

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