Here are some of my favourite blog posts of the moment:
- Giovanna’s World:
“I recently reviewed this [My Last Duchess] for heat magazine, but it’s so good that I want those of you not in the UK to hear about it too”
These are some of my favourite reads of the moment:
The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford
One of the most brilliantly put together books I have ever read. Full of twists and turns. Every time I read it I notice something else.
Buy now
Couch Fiction by Philippa Perry
This is a graphic novel about therapy, which sounds weird but actually works really well. Compulsory reading for anyone who has ever considered therapy. A clear, funny look at what therapists do.
Buy now
The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin
This is the first in a series of detective stories set in nineteenth century Istanbul featuring the eunuch detective Yashim. Beautifully written and deftly plotted. I would say this even if he wasn’t my brother.
Buy now
A Glass of Blessings by Barbara Pym
I love Barbara Pym and this is her absolute best. I think she is one of the few novelists to rival Jane Austen for comic timing and razor-sharp social comedy.
Buy now
Consuelo and Alva by Amanda Mackenzie Stuart
A fascinating biography of Consuelo Vanderbilt and her domineering mother Alva. Money really can’t buy you love.
Buy now
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
This is one of my favourite novels ever. Tart and romantic, it is a wonderfully subte depiction of a man who only wants what he can’t have.
Buy now
I Think I Love You by Allison Pearson
A fabulous blast of Clearasil-scented 70s nostalgia. I wasn’t a David Cassidy fan like the heroine, but I wore the ponchos and the platforms.
Buy now
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
I was chair of the Orange Prize in 2010 and this was the book we chose to win. It is a gloriously layered book about identity, belonging and courage and has cameo performances by Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and Leon Trotsky. I can’t wait to read it again.
Buy now
The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey
If you haven’t read Tey then I envy you as she has written some of the cleverest detective stories around. Every bit as good as Christie and Sayers, this book about a schoolgirl who claims to have been kidnapped by an elderly woman and her daughter is quite gripping.
Buy now
The World’s Wife by Carol Ann Duffy
I love all Duffy’s poetry but this volume which imagines the thoughts of the wives behind famous men such as Shakespeare and Icarus is quite glorious.
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