by Valerie | Jan 22, 2014 | book reviews, reading groups, travel, writing a novel
Will it never end? The UK Liberal Democrat Party is tearing itself apart in an old, old, question – what constitutes an unwelcome advance. Also in the news is the rather strange person, Stephen Ward, who was caught up on the periphery of a scandal that gave us the... by Valerie | Dec 26, 2013 | book reviews, reading groups, travel, writing a novel
I should have been with our son and his family in London today, Christmas Day, but with chicken pox raging there, we decided to stay home. I took a quiet walk through the main street. Hardly a soul. A few men, a dog or two and one couple with a child in a pram. Every... by Valerie | Dec 19, 2013 | book reviews, reading groups, travel, writing a novel
We have two markets in Beverley, and for weekends now we’ve had festivals – of food, of Christmas trees in the Minster and whatever else I missed. It’s difficult to settle down to writing as I’m so behind with cards, greetings not to mention emails, belaboured by... by Valerie | Dec 14, 2013 | book reviews, reading groups, travel, writing a novel
I’ve ‘lost my head’ in London and not written my blog! In fact, I’ve just returned from a Christmas drinks party where there was talk of Colm Toibin’s novel Brooklyn and the original way it ends. I suspect it might be like a play by Paul Claudel, L’Annonce faite à... by Valerie | Dec 8, 2013 | book reviews, reading groups, travel, writing a novel
Was it the French poet Claudel (whose sister was Rodin’s mistress for a time and herself a no mean sculptor) who wrote this unforgettable phrase for a writer? ‘La blancheur du papier qui se défend.’ This morning I didn’t face the forbidding whiteness of a page, too...
Recent Comments