The Literary Sofa
Book Review
The Likeable Characters Debate – Apple Tree Yard & The Woman Upstairs
As I sat down to write about likeable and unlikeable characters in fiction I wondered why it had taken me so long to get to what is practically my pet subject. Now I know why – it’s incredibly complex, subjective and full of intangibles. All I can hope to do is start a discussion and … Continue reading
Book Review – Barracuda by Christos Tsiolkas
This article contains strong language. I think it would be reasonable to describe The Slap, the controversial global bestseller by Greek-Australian Christos Tsiolkas, as a hard act to follow. Five years on his latest book Barracuda has been greeted with commensurate interest and expectation. Somehow Tsiolkas manages to deliver more of the same – it’s … Continue reading
2013 – My Year in Books
Although it always seems weird that people start talking about their books of the year before December has even begun – the newspapers were already at it last weekend – my excuse is that I’m reading new releases in order to compile my Hot Picks of 2014 for publication next month. Looking back on the year’s … Continue reading
Book Review – The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
It’s daunting to attempt to do justice to Donna Tartt’s 784 page novel The Goldfinch in a mere thousand or so words. Last night I was part of a large audience who saw her in conversation with Kirsty Wark at St James’s, Piccadilly. If the weight of expectation surrounding the release of what is only … Continue reading
Book Review – Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
Being in the very final stages of my re-write, I wasn’t planning to post any more book reviews until I finish the manuscript, but sometimes with resolutions you just have to make an exception. Hannah Kent’s debut novel Burial Rites is without question one of the best novels I’ve read this year and is justly … Continue reading
Guest Author – Lydia Netzer – Writing about Being Different
* UK GIVEAWAY WINNERS ANNOUNCED – SEE END OF POST * One of the greatest challenges faced by any writer of fiction is to create characters the reader will find relatable and recognisable but, at the same time, to make them unique individuals and not stereotypes. Lydia Netzer’s quirky and original debut features protagonists who aren’t remotely like … Continue reading
The Online You and Me
This week marks two years since I joined Twitter. Within months, I’d started the Literary Sofa blog and the rest is… amazing! Now, wherever I go, people talk to me about things they’ve read or discovered here. That makes me very happy. I’m often asked ‘how I’ve done it’, especially by would-be or reluctant bloggers. … Continue reading
Guest Author – Barry Walsh on Writing fiction from your own life
This morning I had the pleasure of catching up with Wendy Wallace who was my first ever Guest Author on the Literary Sofa just over a year ago. I’m delighted at how popular this regular slot has become; the ‘one-question interview’ formula produces thought-provoking pieces every time. I read the novel and ask the author … Continue reading
Sex Scenes in Fiction
2021 UPDATE: Since writing this post many years ago I have had two novels published which include plenty of sex scenes, including same-sex in my new novel Scent. This is the 100th post on the Literary Sofa and the subject of sex hasn’t come up much beyond the occasional mention in a review. Last week’s piece on … Continue reading
Let’s all talk about GONE GIRL
Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl isn’t the kind of book I read very often, and this isn’t going to be one of the reviews which take me six hours to write. I thought I’d write a blogpost because each of the three times I mentioned the novel on Twitter, there was a flood of replies from people dying to … Continue reading
My new novel SCENT – out in paperback on 19 May 2022
The Literary Sofa 