It's 1952, in the hottest summer that Paris has had since before the war. Shortlisted for the Orange Prize 2012 Beatrice writes to her brother, Marvin, saying "Paris was terrible", and she has little else to report. She has travelled there, at Marvin's request, to look for Marvin's
In her biography, The Other Elizabeth Taylor, Nicola Beauman posits that two works influenced Elizabeth Taylor's novel A Game of Hide and Seek. These are Chekov's story, "The Lady with the Dog" (1899) and David Lean's film "Brief Encounter" (1945). If you haven't read/finished A Game of Hide and Seek,
Isn't it funny what reading in a group does to your bookish brain? I'd been happily reading along in Sean Manning's Bound to Last: 30 Writers on Their Most Cherished Book, dipping in and out, choosing random essays depending entirely on my mood. But then came Once Upon a Time
Returning to an installment in Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey series after many years? Never mind: Lord Peter Wimsey is still as Lord-Peter-ish as ever. (I read the previous volumes in the series, and the relevant stories, in 2003 and 2004; it's as though I just put down
In "Health and Guidance" class, the teacher goes up and down the rows, asking what the students had for breakfast. On the surface of it, she is checking to see if they are keeping to Canada's Food Rules, making solid nutritional choices. In fact, this is one more way in
