The Literary Sofa
Books
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
Fiction Hot Picks 2014
No matter what happens, I never stop reading so despite an exceptionally busy few months I am very excited to unveil my Fiction Hot Picks 2014. As always, I considered dozens of titles, reading far more than the final twelve in full, to come up with a selection of well written new novels to appeal to … Continue reading
The Story behind Stories for Homes – an anthology in aid of Shelter
You could say this post is a promoblog, or a literad. Whatever it is, featuring a title with the express aim of encouraging people to buy it is not something I’ve done before on the Literary Sofa, but I hope you’ll soon see why I’m making an exception. This week saw the publication of the … 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
The Joy and (mostly) Horror of Houseguests
Last week we had a family of French friends staying with us, which led me to reflect on the subject of houseguests. This time we were exchanging bisous by the hundred with my oldest friend, her husband and their three children, the youngest of whom is my gorgeous eight-year-old goddaughter. Although we usually meet in … Continue reading
How To Run a Successful Book Blog – Guest Post on For Books’ Sake
This week I am delighted to be appearing as a guest on the fabulous and dynamic webzine For Books’ Sake. The editors invited me to contribute some thoughts and tips on running a book blog, and for the benefit of my own blog followers who aren’t on Twitter, here’s a link to the post. If … Continue reading
What’s Your Kind of Book?
Once again thanks to Ben Blackman and Sanjida O’Connell for contributing such stimulating guest posts and for keeping the Literary Sofa in business whilst I was, I hope, career-advancingly occupied. Ben and Sanjida proved to be extremely popular guests sending the stats soaring and I’m hoping they’ll both make return visits to coincide with their new … 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
My new novel SCENT – out in paperback on 19 May 2022
The Literary Sofa 