Whilst I’ve been infatuated George Orwell since I was a teenager, the roots of this particular love affair are more … More
Category: Reviews
Jonathan Bate, ‘Mad About Shakespeare’ (2022)
‘The only end of writing is to enable readers to better enjoy life, or better to endure it.’ Samuel Johnson … More
Andrew Michael Hurley, ‘Devil’s Day’ (2017)
Reading Andrew Michael Hurley’s atmospheric rural descriptions in Devil’s Day often put me in mind of an alien planet in … More
Mick Herron, ‘Spook Street’ (2017)
I was already more than happy to bore rigid any passing victim on the excellence of Mick Herron’s Slough House … More
Tana French, ‘The Wych Elm’ (2018)
Crime is the business of the police, men poorly paid who worry about their shoes needing mending and the seats … More
Iain Banks, ‘Canal Dreams’ (1989)
It is a truth universally acknowledged that good writers write bad books. We all have our off-days, times when the … More
Sue Black, ‘All That Remains: A Life in Death’ (2018)
Much as I like to read, I don’t always get it right. Exhibit A: this thoroughly absorbing medical memoir, which … More
Thomas Harris, ‘Red Dragon’ (1981)
I’ve just readĀ Red DragonĀ for the third or fourth time, which is unusual for me. I don’t often re-read books start … More
Sarah Moss, ‘Ghost Wall’ (2018)
‘People don’t bother to hurt what they don’t love.‘ When it comes to reading I have no plan, just a … More
Cordelia Fine, ‘Testosterone Rex’ (2017)
‘That’s exactly why calling out even seemingly minor points of sexism matters. It all adds up, and if no one … More