I could not resist reviewing this charming picture book for adults by the irresistibly cute Mawson bear! “Are you feeling a little lost? Got that ‘left in the spare room’ emptiness about you? Mawson does too. He sits atop his cushion and ponders about baffling things. The world is a baffling place for a curiousContinue reading “Book review: It’s a Bright World to Feel Lost in by Mawson”
Tag Archives: Odyssey Books
The Tides Between by Elizabeth Jane Corbett
I am delighted to share my review of Elizabeth Jane Corbett’s debut novel, The Tides Between. “In 1841, on the eve of her departure from London, Bride’s mother demands she forget her dead father and prepare for a sensible, adult life in Port Phillip. Desperate to save her childhood, fifteen-year-old Bridie is determined to smuggle aContinue reading “The Tides Between by Elizabeth Jane Corbett”
Pia and the Skyman by Sue Parritt
Sue Parritt’s Pia and the Skyman is the second in her Climate Fiction trilogy, following on from Sannah and the Pilgrim, which I reviewed last year. From the very first sentence, Pia and the Skyman engages the reader in the action, Parritt quickly and skilfully establishing the backstory carried over from Sannah and the Pilgrim. Sannah’s daughter, Pia,Continue reading “Pia and the Skyman by Sue Parritt”
Port of No Return by Michelle Saftich
There are stories that need to be told, stories sidelined, destined to languish on the periphery of our knowledge of history, stories eclipsed by bigger, more sensational stories. Until an author like Michelle Saftich comes along. Port of No Return is a work of historical fiction, set at the end of WWII, which tracks the storiesContinue reading “Port of No Return by Michelle Saftich”
A Single Light by Patricia Leslie
With A Single Light Patricia Leslie melds city grit and ethereal myth, the twin demands of Urban Fantasy, to form a perfect unity. The plot is simple, a good and evil battle to save humanity from extinction. Yet there is nothing simple in its execution, Leslie demonstrating both a depth of knowledge of her subjectContinue reading “A Single Light by Patricia Leslie”
What a sight!!!
The penultimate day of our stay on the island proved to be intriguing. Our first stop was Arrecife, the island’s capital famous for it’s warren of narrow streets. Until this day we had taken the ring road, avoiding the confusion. This time, on a mission to deposit copies of The Drago Tree at a bookContinue reading “What a sight!!!”
Long gone the old ways …
As any anthropologist will tell you, the old ways of indigenous cultures the world over are always tramped on in the name of progress. Some are decimated, wiped from the earth like unwanted crumbs. Others allowed to exist on the fringes, tolerated, ignored and oppressed all at once. Then there are smaller cultures absorbed intoContinue reading “Long gone the old ways …”
The fire mountains
What can be said about driving down a narrow road carved through a lava plain, a road that goes on and on and on? The basalt that covers the land in every direction, thick, crusty, alive with lichen. Volcanoes or calderas 500 metres high and about 1 or 2 kilometres in diameter, rising up likeContinue reading “The fire mountains”
Nothing has changed…
Before I came here I was informed by one and all that Lanzarote had changed in the last twenty-six years, changed dramatically, for better or worse who can say. When I landed and saw the development, the mass of white cubes where once was rocky terrain, I had agreed, and when we headed north toContinue reading “Nothing has changed…”
Shifting perspectives
Day 6 and my awe and delight at having returned are replaced by an acute awareness. Here are some of my observations. Lanzarote is an island of contrasts. The everyday lives of the locals, with their tight knit family networks, their lives lived behind closed doors, and the tourists. Like almost all tourist destinations whereContinue reading “Shifting perspectives”
Isobel Blackthorn 