by Valerie | Jan 27, 2016 | book reviews, General interest, history, poetry, reading groups, travel, writing a novel
I’m crocodile green with envy when I learn that my writer friend Steven doesn’t do any revising. He’ a genius! He thinks and thinks about what he’s going to write for days, even weeks, and when he feels it’s ready, he writes the one and only version. The final one....
by Valerie | Mar 1, 2014 | book reviews, childhood, General interest, reading groups, travel
Long before Goldfinch was chosen by my book group, I was offered it on Kindle for 99 something – pence or cents, that would hardly break the bank, though my friend in Santa Barbara, California, tells me that Donna Tartt is a millionaire. No wonder, even after such a...
by Valerie | Feb 19, 2014 | art, book reviews, Fashion, General interest, history, people, reading groups, theatre, writing a novel
All writers must be thrilled when a reader points out a nuance or theme or anything positive that they haven’t noticed. In a world of knee-jerk criticism, this gives a sharp sensation of pleasure. It’s what Linda Bamber must be feeling with any feedback for her...
by Valerie | Feb 17, 2014 | 1950s, book reviews, childhood, Fifties, General interest, history, people, reading groups
The Bronte sisters didn’t mention railways when they wrote Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, though a line had reached nearby Halifax in their lifetime. I was thinking of Thomas Hardy particularly when we were walking in the Yorkshire Wolds yesterday. After so much...
by Valerie | Feb 12, 2014 | 1950s, art, book reviews, childhood, horse riding, museums, reading groups
The wind is howling down my chimney. Yesterday we drove back from visiting friends in York through light snow – the first this winter. Tonight I’m driving a carload of friends into the countryside to the only member of our book group who lives out of town. Let’s hope...
by Valerie | Feb 2, 2014 | book reviews, reading groups, travel, writing a novel
I felt there was something strange when I began teaching short courses for credit based in Venice for the University of California at Berkeley. Something was missing, but I wasn’t quite sure what. Of course, one couldn’t stroke the original bronze Horses of St....
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