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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 […]

“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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]