“As a child I’d often heard, ‘Tell the truth and shame the devil.’ When the truth was told, someone had to be shamed – usually the teller of the truth. It was time, I told myself, to stop fearing shame.” “Who will write the history of tears?” Another Booker prediction comes from Australia – TheoryContinue reading “THEORY & PRACTICE – Michelle de Kretser”
Monthly Archives: July 2025
OUR EVENINGS – Alan Hollinghurst
“I lay there for agonized hours as the miracle of being in bed at him was nibbled away by the heat and the hangover and the longing.” This year, I decided to get “a jump” on potential Booker books, and Alan Hollinghurst’s (a previous Booker winner) new novel, Our Evenings (Random House 2024) was aContinue reading “OUR EVENINGS – Alan Hollinghurst”
THE PRETENDER – Jo Harkin
“Lambert isn’t sure if he’d remember to answer to the name Lambert, but he does, every time. What kind of soul does he have, that can tip itself out of a John Collan cup into a Lambert Simons cup, without spilling a drop.” In 1487, Lambert Simnel, a boy raised in obscurity and believed toContinue reading “THE PRETENDER – Jo Harkin”
A Girl Named Tommi 