"It is an attested fact that he was born in Mainz. Mainz is a place he passed through once, in a locked freight car when he was being transported through France with a convoy of prisoners." Willi and Ernst were prisoners of war together and in "Willi", Mavis Gallant's
There is not so much sadness in this story. And, dessert is served. But there is nothing sugary about the relationship between Helena and the police commissioner. Even though they have been "friends forever". "On a silver dish, and on still another pink cloth, this one embroidered, are wedges
“'Once there we are almost home. Pegnitz is a junction. Trains go through every few minutes, in all directions. In most directions,' he corrected." Herbert is careful to be exact when he's speaking to his young son, Little Bert, who believes every word his father says. Later when Herbert
Astrid Lindgren's The Brothers Lionheart (1973) Trans. J. Tate Illus. Ilon Wikland (1984) Everybody knows Pippi Longstocking, but not so many readers know The Brothers Lionheart. I read it on the advice of a reading friend, who counts it amongst her favourite children's books. And then I learned that it's also one of Iris' special
The summer that I was eleven, my grandmother went to Ireland; she brought me back a sweater, which was real wool and, therefore, very picky, and two books of Irish fairy tales. That sweater should have been perfect for me, because I was a picky granddaughter, who believed that I
