The Literary Sofa
Isabel Costello
Making a Difference – the WoMentoring Project
I’m back on the Literary Sofa after a lovely Easter break in which I got to spend some time with my sons (to my great relief I didn’t have to nag my eldest to revise for GCSEs – apparently a month before is a reasonable time to get your act together). It ended with the … Continue reading
Six Degrees of Separation in Books
Thank you to writers Emma Chapman and Annabel Smith for inviting me to take part in their Six Degrees of Separation blog meme – I say no to these all the time but this one really captured my imagination and it’s been interesting reading other people’s too. The first book, BURIAL RITES, was fixed but … Continue reading
Book Review – Look Who’s Back by Timur Vermes
This has been quite a week. I’ve had a breakthrough in the planning of my new novel. I read Jenny Offill’s extraordinary Dept. Of Speculation in one sitting and felt compelled to add to the buzz. I attended the spectacular theatrical launch of Jason Hewitt’s debut The Dynamite Room – it’s one of my Hot … Continue reading
Book Review – Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
I was supposed to be working this morning but realised my time would better spent telling you about Jenny Offill’s second book Dept. of Speculation. I read it last night in a single sitting so these are just a few uncut thoughts – for once it makes sense not to overanalyse. You’ll see what I mean in a … Continue reading
Writers on Location – Jason Hewitt on Arctic Norway
I’m really thrilled that the Writers on Location series is proving so popular. Every author’s relationship with place is different and makes for such an interesting story in its own right. That’s especially true of today’s guest: novelist, actor and playwright Jason Hewitt. His World War Two debut The Dynamite Room, one of my Fiction Hot … Continue reading
Writers on Location – Stephen May on San Francisco
After the fantastic response to Naomi Wood’s Hemingway’s Havana, the inaugural post in the WRITERS ON LOCATION series, today I am delighted to welcome Stephen May to the Literary Sofa. It’s not the first time his fiction has appeared here – Life! Death! Prizes! was one of my Hot Picks 2012 and since then our paths … Continue reading
Guest Author – Karen Joy Fowler on Animals
It’s with great pleasure that I welcome New York Times bestselling author Karen Joy Fowler to the Literary Sofa today. Karen and I met briefly at an event late last year and I was delighted when she offered to contribute a guest post to coincide with the UK publication of her latest novel We are … Continue reading
Book Review – Zenith Hotel by Oscar Coop-Phane
As I mentioned last week, things on the Literary Sofa are currently all over the place with lots of guest posts in the pipeline and as it turns out this week, the occasional gap. It seems like the perfect opportunity to review a very short book which made a disproportionately big impression on me, Zenith Hotel … Continue reading
Guest Author – Louise Walters on the Role of Books in Mrs Sinclair’s Suitcase
It’s always a real pleasure to welcome a writer who’s also a loyal follower of the Literary Sofa to talk about their debut novel. Today’s guest Louise Walters has been reading this blog for as long as I’ve been writing it and we’ve also got to know each other in real life. Watching her on the … Continue reading
Writers on Location – Naomi Wood on Hemingway’s Havana
I’m very excited to be introducing a new regular slot on the Literary Sofa: WRITERS ON LOCATION, inspired by my own love of travel (and the way it, in turn, inspires me) and the many novels which have a particularly vivid, interesting or exotic sense of place. Naomi Wood’s novel Mrs Hemingway, one of my … Continue reading
My new novel SCENT – out in paperback on 19 May 2022
The Literary Sofa 