On land Emily is an ordinary girl, but in the water she is a magical member of a mermaid family – sometimes she is the former, at others the latter. This is teenage fiction, with a little romance thrown in, plus pirates who hate mermaids, a Prince, and some under-the-ocean rescue activity. Light-hearted, with a […]
The Illuminations of the title are those in Blackpool, where former British army officer Luke goes with his grandmother on a journey into her past to explore her remarkable career as a pioneer among professional photographers, very few of whom were women. Grandmother is Anne, a resident in sheltered accommodation and a prey to loss […]
“Everest’’ Fogle writes “has always represented everything I dream of achieving.’’ Last year, he achieved that dream and his book is about that life-threatening expedition, its effect on him, his companions and his family. He himself describes the harrowing, terrifying hazards his group faced and overcame on the ascent to the summit. The counterpoint is […]
Infused with summer, Sweden and sex, Go Steal a Bridegroom, by local writer Denise Lawrence, is filled with sensations, physical, mental and even, at times, a touch supernatural. Its heroine, Prue Claybourne, artist and expert on medieval wrecked ships such as the Mary Rose, travels to Sweden to visit a vessel there, Wasa. She and […]
Unusually, my advice for anyone picking up this book at random is to read the final page before embarking on either the Prologue or the story, which is in itself remarkable – but knowing how it finishes will not detract from its impact. It is basically an account of how the author and her husband, […]
If you like wartime stories, particularly those set in 19th century America, you will find this novel a delight. Barry is a master of lyrical prose. Whether describing his characters or the territory they occupy, he writes so vividly that some phrases stay in the memory long after the book’s ending. For me, this is […]
Jack and his family move into Rookery Heights, an old damp house full of creaks and corners: it is as spooky as it gets and to add to the scariness, Jack feels he is being watched. Indeed he is – by a strange small girl called Picklewitch, who lives up a tree in the garden […]
Most of Anne Tyler’s books are set in Baltimore, as this family saga is. She is good at describing family relationships, the ways in which different members relate to their parents, to each other and the outside world. The Whitshank family have heard their mother reminiscing about her past and theirs for years. It is […]
This novel by multi-award winning novelist Andrea Levy has the reader hooked from the first page. It is the story of two women, July, a Jamaican taken into slavery as a babe in arms, and the widowed Caroline Mortimer, sister to plantation owner John Howarth. July is not a typical slave, nor is Caroline a […]
This pair of likely lads claim to know as well as anybody that dieting is hard – and their book aims to provide recipes that make losing weight just a bit easier, as well as delicious and filling. Along with basics, there are sections as different as Batch Cooking and One Pot Wonders, 15 Minute […]
“Autumn leaves don’t fall, they fly. They take their time and wander on this, their only chance to soar.”