The Rector’s Daughter, By F M Mayor

F M Mayor’s 1924 novel The Rector’s Daughter has been kept in print by Virago for many years. Titles have come and gone from its list, but this one has consistently remained. Yet, Virago and Persephone addict though I am, I spent years not being drawn to it. Finally, on a recent day out in [...]

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Coming up on Vulpes Libris

The Bookfoxes are baring their teeth, Werefox style this week, and wishing you all a Happy Halloween. True, we don’t have anything particularly spooky on the cards but we do have gloomy and godly, plus a timely article from RosyB, so if you have a spare moment between bobbing apples and trick-or-treating, check us out [...]

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1Q84 (Book Three) by Haruki Murakami

Translated by Philip Gabriel Human beings are, by design, not objective. Everything we do, from how we view the colour of the sky to whether we like or don’t like a film, is influenced by a conflation of factors that go together to make us who we are. Our problem with objectivity is that our [...]

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Devil’s Consort by Anne O’Brien: where I’m not actually sure the Devil would have bothered …

July, 1137. In the baking sunshine of Bordeaux, Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, eagerly awaits her first meeting with the prince who will become her husband. Poor Louis Capet is no fit match for educated, independent Eleanor. When he inherits the throne of France, it becomes clear that his monastic ways and indecisive rule could cost [...]

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The VL Amateur Astronomy Extravaganza, Part II

Hello again, and welcome to Part II of our feature on amateur astronomy.  For Part I, click here. Today’s special guest is Dr. Ian Walker.  Ian is a lecturer in psychology at the University of Bath and impassioned amateur astronomer.  Today, he tells us about his own experience — and shares a few tips for [...]

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The VL Amateur Astronomy Extravaganza, Part I

Today, in Part I of our two-part amateur astronomy feature, we have two special guests here on Vulpes Libris: Brother Guy Consolmagno, SJ, of the Vatican Observatory and Dr. Colin Snodgrass of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Katlenburg-Lindau. Guy Consolmagno is a planetary scientist, Jesuit brother and science fiction enthusiast who first appeared [...]

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Farishta by Patricia McArdle

Early this month marked 10 years of the latest war in Afghanistan, this time with the U.S.-led coalition forces. And still most people don’t know much about the actual country where we are fighting. This novel takes us into the war from a different angle, from that of a female diplomat’s posting there. The unfamiliar [...]

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Coming Up This Week…

Well it’s cold. At least it is here in Scotland. Autumn is upon us. As  we start our heady descent into winter (nice link with pic, geddit?) and the days grow shorter and darker and we generally get grumpier due to light-deprivation, this is a good time to get stuck in to a bit of [...]

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The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Whilst mulling over (actually panicking!) about what to write about this week I did a little search of my previous posts.  I was utterly astonished to discover I have never written about one of the most glorious children’s books ever produced. Shame on me! In his Booker acceptance speech this year Julian Barnes said, “Those [...]

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Part 2: Interview with Deborah Guarino, author of bestselling children’s book, Is Your Mama A Llama?

Welcome to Part 2 of Vulpes Libris’s exclusive interview with Deborah Guarino. For Part 1, please click here. Lisa Glass: I know Is Your Mama a Llama? appeared on the very popular Medium TV drama with Patricia Arquette (which is where I first heard of the book). Do you have any idea how this came [...]

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