‘Sorting Things Out’ is a short story set in a small country town in New South Wales. It contains two kinds of truth. Firstly, I did sort mail at a country post office. I also used to do a mail run. I’ve never heard of Snake Road though, and all the characters are fictitious. TheContinue reading “Sorting Things Out – a short story in lit mag Fictive Dream”
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These Dividing Walls by Fran Cooper
Fran Cooper’s debut novel, These Dividing Walls, is a meditation on the way ordinary lives are impacted by racism, Islamophobia, terror attacks and the far right in contemporary Paris. “One Parisian summer A building of separate lives All that divides them will soon collapse… In a forgotten corner of Paris stands a building. Within its walls,Continue reading “These Dividing Walls by Fran Cooper”
Tell Me Why by Sandi Wallace
All good books are hard to put down. Sandi Wallace’s Tell Me Why is no exception. “Picturesque Daylesford has a darker side. Melbourne writer Georgie Harvey heads to the mineral springs region of central Victoria to look for a missing farmer.There she uncovers links between the woman’s disappearance and her dangerous preoccupation with the unsolved mystery surroundingContinue reading “Tell Me Why by Sandi Wallace”
Margo’s Slippers on Wandsworth Radio
What an auspicious day this was! My short story, Margo’s Slippers, live on air on Wandsworth Radio. I have to thank literary journal Fictive Dream for arranging this and the presenter of The Chimnea, Andy Bungay. My reading is be permanently archived here. My reading takes place 1 hr 57 mins into the show.
Book review: Our Lady of the Inferno by Preston Fassel
Our Lady of the Inferno is a gripping story of redemption and revenge set against the backdrop of New York’s 42nd Street and its sleazy underbelly. There is much in this novel to please the horror aficionado and the average reader alike. About Our Lady of the Inferno “Spring, 1983. Sally Ride is about toContinue reading “Book review: Our Lady of the Inferno by Preston Fassel”
The Tower by Marguerite Steen
In The Tower, Marguerite Steen provides the contemporary reader with her valuable insights into the world of the struggling if moderately successful artist of 1950s Britain, a time of post-war transition in society and the art world, as abstractionism grew in ascendancy. “Painter Tom Proctor and his wife Antonia are among innumerable victims of theContinue reading “The Tower by Marguerite Steen”
Cassandra by Kathryn Gossow
Kathryn Gossow is a masterful storyteller who displays great insight and sensitivity in her handling of difficult themes. The result, her debut novel Cassandra, is an extraordinary and engaging coming of age tale. “On a remote farm in Queensland, Cassie Shultz feels useless. Her perfect brother Alex has an uncanny ability to predict the weather, and the fortunesContinue reading “Cassandra by Kathryn Gossow”
Charlatan by Kate Braithwaite
CHARLATAN is based on the Affair of the Poisons that scandalized Paris in 1679. In a hovel in the centre of Paris, the fortune-teller La Voisin holds a black mass, summoning the devil to help an unnamed client keep the love of Louis XIV. Three years later, Athenais, Madame de Montespan, the King’s glamorous mistress,Continue reading “Charlatan by Kate Braithwaite”
The Street Sweeper by Elliot Perlman
What motivates a writer to compose a work of fiction? To entertain? To provide an escape from mundanities? To enlighten? To invite the reader to consider something new or ponder a fresh perspective on something old? Or to portray in fictional form real events that come alive in the imagination through the characters in a story?Continue reading “The Street Sweeper by Elliot Perlman”
The Birdman’s Wife by Melissa Ashley
What a delight it is to read stories of historical figures passed over by history probably because they were women. An even greater delight when they are told well, as is very much the case with Melissa Ashley’s The Birdman’s Wife. Elizabeth Gould was indeed a remarkable woman. “Inspired by a letter found tucked inside herContinue reading “The Birdman’s Wife by Melissa Ashley”
Isobel Blackthorn 