Image: Pinterest An Afternoon in Linen, Shirley Jackson Until I went to the USA in 2019 I hadn't heard of Shirley Jackson. Then, in one of those pleasant, idle conversations…
Having forgotten quite how busy the first working week of a year can be, I've gotten a little behind with my literary diet. This has been a week of meetings,…
It's day two of the Guardian's literary diet and on today's menu is a film. What's more it is a reimagining of Jane Austen's Emma, a book I studied at university…
We’ve made it! We’ve left 2020 behind and arrived at 2021. It's been a bit of a ride, hasn't it? with many casualties, many losses. I grieve for those who…
Here we are in the final days of 2020, at last! I hope you all got to relax and enjoy Christmas, or your winter festival of choice, and didn't…
This has been an odd year for most of us. Even the hardiest, even the most introverted of introverts, even the most privileged, is likely to have experienced some twinges…
What is an enchanted land? Does it have to be outside, like a forest or a wild-flower meadow, or can it be inside, like a kitchen in which a pie…
I've put the following message on my Home page, but thought it worth putting in a blog post too, mostly because I don't suppose many people look at my Home…
I'm currently writing a novel about a shit-storm that ensues when a small Scottish community decides to buy the island it inhabits from the wealthy, always absent and appallingly neglectful,…
I grew up with the myth that serious artists and thinkers were interested only in their discipline. They were unable to perform rudimentary tasks, like make a cup of tea,…