The Literary Sofa
Isabel Costello
Guest Author – Essie Fox on Capturing the Passage of Time
*THE LAST DAYS OF LEDA GREY now out in paperback* It’s been a slow start to the year on the blog because I’ve been incredibly busy with work – but it’s always a treat to return to ‘Sofa business’, especially today, when I am joined by my first guest of 2017. I’ve had the pleasure of … Continue reading
Two weeks in the Western Cape, South Africa
It’s two years since I last wrote a travel piece that’s not book related, and since real life kicked in immediately following our Christmas trip, it’s taken a couple of weeks to get round to this one. I find myself saying ‘it already seems quite distant’ and yet, like any trip I’ve ever made, I … Continue reading
To 2017 and making things happen
This is just a quick post to wish you all a very happy new year. I’ve returned invigorated from a glorious two-week burst of summer in South Africa – lots to say about the trip and since I love travel writing and it’s been a long time since I wrote about anywhere except France, next … Continue reading
2016 – My Year in Books
Since the sole focus of today’s post is my literary year, it will be a rare positive verdict on 2016. Obviously it has been significant for me as the year my debut novel was published – I will always look back on the launch of Paris Mon Amour as one of the happiest moments of my life. … Continue reading
Guest Author – Wytske Versteeg on Writing about Motherhood
Today’s guest and her novel represent things I believe in and want to support on the Literary Sofa. Wytske Versteeg is a Dutch author, whose third novel The Boy has recently been translated into English by Sarah Welling and released in the UK by small independent HopeRoad Publishing. The Boy made it into my new quarterly Sofa … Continue reading
Good Sex Night at Waterstones Gower Street
When I sit down to write a sex scene – and there is certainly no shortage of them in my debut novel Paris Mon Amour – I don’t think about it. I get the characters in a room and let things take their course. And to me that is a less daunting prospect than it … Continue reading
Guest Author – Saleem Haddad on Shelving the ‘Gay Novel’
Some of the best books I’ve ever read could be designated ‘gay novels’ and yet it’s a term that raises a lot of questions and one I hesitate to use. It’s something I’ve wanted to examine for a long time, so I am delighted that Saleem Haddad, author of superb debut novel Guapa, one of … Continue reading
Writers on Location – Fiona Melrose on Suffolk
Thanks to everyone for the enthusiastic response to my first quarterly Sofa Spotlight last week. It’s always gratifying to hear my selections described as ‘intriguing’ and ‘unpredictable’ – that’s the aim – and that readers have discovered books they’d never heard of. As mentioned, I’ll be hosting at least four of my Spotlight authors on … Continue reading
Sofa Spotlight – Winter 2016
It’s an exciting day on the Literary Sofa as I launch my new quarterly ‘Sofa Spotlight’ for Winter 2016. As mentioned when the blog reached its fifth anniversary, these shorter, more frequent selections will replace the Hot Picks and Summer Reads, but I hope they will be just as popular! The new system is already proving more … Continue reading
Finding the Words
‘There are no words.’ ‘Speechless.’ ‘Unspeakable.’ How often have you said, read or heard one of the above this year? They seem to encapsulate everything 2016 will be remembered for, alluding to the inadequacy of language to convey the full force of shock, outrage, disillusionment, at one event after another. The irony is that we … Continue reading
My new novel SCENT – out in paperback on 19 May 2022
The Literary Sofa 