This was an interesting little Virago book that lifts the lid on 1960s factory girls in London through a series of short stories. Expect trauma delivered staccato style and sleek characters…
Up the Junction by Nell Dunn (Review)
Surge by Jay Bernard
Surge by Jay Bernard is a haunting yet deeply life-affirming collection of poetry. It responds to the tragic events of the 1981 New Cross Fire in London: a birthday party…
A Clergyman’s Daughter by George Orwell
This is a more obscure Orwell read, one that he himself and critics found lacking, but I really enjoyed this. Dorothy is daughter of a curmudgeonly Anglican rector, and the…
After Leaving Mr Mackenzie by Jean Rhys
This is a bleak novel about precarious survival in big cities, perfect for this time of year. Despite the bleakness, the beautiful prose of Rhys carries you through this narrative…
A Mind To Murder by P.D James
This was a fun #spinsterseptember read where both the victim and some suspects fit the spinster description! Spinsters plus murder make for a fun read. What happens when an unpopular medical…
The Secret House of Death by Ruth Rendell
I loved reading this: I feel like well-paced thrillers are my summer jam. Imagine a boring London suburb with boring roadworks. Now, add some curtain twitching, infidelity, divorce, fear, and…
The Peep Show: The Murders at 10 Rillington Place by Kate Summerscale
This was a true crime non-fiction read I found really compelling: it goes hard and tackles a horrific 1950s crime in the social context of a divided and down- on-its-luck…
Someone from the Past: A London Mystery by Margot Bennett
I looked into this book’s background and its Scottish author, Margot Bennett. This 1958 novel won the annual Crime Writers’ Association’s award (Golden Dagger). After winning, Bennet never returned to…
On the Greenwich Line by Shady Lewis
This is a brilliant, baroque, honest novel that doesn’t pull its punches. It offers a searing critique of the welfare state, exposing how bureaucratic systems can quietly and efficiently kill…
August is a Wicked Month by Edna O’Brien
I really wanted to love this book more than I did. I knew this book had been controversial/banned when it first came out in 1965 so I was expecting a…
Pearls Before Swine by Margery Allingham
This was my first Marjorie Allingham and it was a fun Blitz era romp set in a London worn down by the war. Published in 1945, it would have been…
84 Charing Cross Road & The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff
Two books in one, and what a treat these are! These works are absolutely iconic, and the first one catapulted Helene to instant cult fame. I can really see why….
The Rise by Ian Rankin
Another audiobook. Can you believe I only did my first audiobook read a few months ago? It’s definitely a nice way to mix things up. This is a short novella…
Prima Facie by Suzie Miller
This is a powerful one-woman play. Having it read by Jodie Comer who also played Tessa (the protagonist – an ambitious young barrister) during its London run is a real…
Ordinary Human Failings by Megan Nolan
Devastating in the best possible way. I don’t know if that’s a real thing, but that is how the book felt to me. Exquisite and painful. Such unbelievable human and…
The Cost of Living by Deborah Levy
Started with #2 of a trilogy and have no regrets: this is part of her “living memoir” series. There are some lovely vignettes here that explore different aspects of divorce…
The Haunting of Alma Fielding by Kate Summerscale
Kate is a fab non-fiction writer; I loved The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, so picking this up from the library was a no-brainer! And I wolfed this one down… The…
Night Walks by Charles Dickens
A wonderful premise, this is a collection of stories, essays, and observations written under the guise of Dickens’s insomniac walking around London. Not so much an article of psychological self-exploration,…