Fairytale of New York by Miranda Dickinson

Bear with me while I just have a quick rant. Someone who’s known me for years said recently that he was surprised  I was reading – let alone publicly reviewing – romantic fiction.  When I asked him ‘Why?’ (in fact, I believe I may actually have  said ‘Wherefore?’, but that’s what being over-educated and facetious [...]

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Take a Chance on Me, by Jill Mansell

This is going to be a succinct review, because a large part of the fun in reading this book is in watching the plot unfold.  I am far too nice to give away anything of the (predictable enough, but still nicely shocking) twists and turns that make Mansell’s novel such a pleasure to read.  From [...]

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How to Fit a Car Seat on a Camel, edited by Sarah Franklin

I don’t have kids and it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to take a vacation, so I don’t know what possessed me to pick up this book, unless it was the cute camel on the cover. Mistakenly thinking it was the story of one family’s vacation, I was startled to find it [...]

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Coming up on Vulpes Libris

We have a return to the Thursday Soapbox this week with a tongue-in-cheek article from novelist, Aliya Whiteley. We also have reviews of several novels and Anne’s timely review of a spiritual book on Good Friday. Monday: Jackie wonders at How to Fit a Car Seat On a Camel, edited by Sarah Franklin. Tuesday: Kirsty [...]

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Dear Me: A Letter To My Sixteen-Year-Old Self, edited by Joseph Galliano

Sorry for the delay, folks. Technical difficulties! Dear Me is a pretty fantastic idea really. After all, who wouldn’t take up the chance to write a letter to themselves when they were 16, with all the benefit of hindsight? And yes, the contributors do what most of us would do, suggest shares to buy, nights [...]

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Jane’s Fame, by Claire Harman

Ever since my teens, when I was introduced to the novels of Jane Austen by my mother, I’ve counted myself as a Janeite. I studied Pride and Prejudice for O Level and Persuasion for A Level. I loved them both. They were my way into literature. Her novels have been a very deeply embedded part [...]

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The Glass Painter’s Daughter by Rachel Hore

Reading a well-written novel is rather like embarking on a journey with strangers.   At first everything and everyone is new and slightly unsettling, but as the journey proceeds, you gradually get to know your fellow travellers.  Some you like immediately, some intrigue you, some irritate you and some you are destined to change your [...]

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The Wilding by Maria McCann: Don’t start here …

1672. A generation after the Civil War, England is still struggling to return to normal after the bloody conflict. In the village of Spadboro, Jonathan Dymond, a cider maker who lives with his parents, has so far enjoyed a quiet and harmonious life. But the death of his uncle leads Jonathan to secrets which have [...]

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The age of Innocence: Some Thoughts on The Chimney Sweeper by William Blake

Recently I wrote a piece on that tiny, yet powerful, poem: The Sick Rose, a single poem in Blake’s Songs of Experience. I discussed the sexual symbolism, related it to the Adam and Eve story and talked about it in relation to the context of Blake’s own day where – due to the diseases that [...]

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Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin

Nearly all of us have read Alice in Wonderland and most of us know it was based on a real little girl. Some of us wonder what happened to her when she grew up and Benjamin’s book is one of many to address that question. Not very well, I’m afraid. Instead of exploring Alice Liddell’s [...]

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