Blog
Celebrating inspiration, creativity and good books
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
To celebrate the recent BBC adaptation of this wonderful book, I'm republishing a review I wrote some years ago. If you didn't see the series — or even if you did — read the book! A sumptuous tale of magic…
Five books that inspired me
Thanks to The Journal's Culture magazine for inviting me to write an article for their June Readers' Lives feature. Writing about books that inspired me was a real pleasure - the challenge was limiting myself to just five books! Read…
Three reasons to read poetry
Spring has arrived in this windswept corner of the UK. There’s a dusting of blossom in the park, the willow trees are coming into leaf and the birds are all aflutter. It is April - national poetry month! To celebrate,…
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
What if you could taste the emotions of the person who made your food? A few days before her ninth birthday, Rose Edelstein bites into a piece of chocolate lemon cake and tastes her cheery mother’s despair. It is a…
Stillness Speaks by Eckhart Tolle
I overdid it this winter. Hunkered down. Feasted. Forgot to move. A whiff of spring and I’m waking up. My body craves soup, my heart, simple nourishment. No doorstep sandwiches or difficult novels for me. I’m writing haiku and reading…