A book review of Platform Seven by Louise Doughty. Platform Seven is a slow, dull and ultimately unsatisfying book by Louise Doughty. It’s the tale of Lisa, a ghost who is confined to Peterborough railway station. As the story progresses she slowly begins to remember what has happened to her, and the relationship with Matthew, Matty. As well as Lisa, the story weaves around the lives of Dalmar, the…
A film review: Black Panther (2018) Black Panther is an interesting, thrilling and thought-provoking film about a fictitious African homeland called Wakanda. Wakanda is blessed with an abundance of a the hardest metal on earth, vibranium, that has bestowed special powers on it’s leaders and allowed it to surge ahead of the world with amazing technology. Fearful that others would steal their precious resource and conquer them they made…
A film review: Scarborough (2018) Scarborough is quite possibly the lowest budget film that I’ve ever seen, and at times I wondered if it had been made by students. But that takes nothing away from what is a quirky, stylish film, with some great twists and turns that you will be mulling over for a while after it’s finished; if only for the sheer stupidity of some of the…
A book review of Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult. Small Great Things is about racism. I was about to type ‘racism in America’, but that would incorrect. It’s a book about racism; set in America. Racism has no boundaries. It is an interesting book, a thought provoking book and an important book. Ruth is a paediatric nurse; a good one; a black one. A white supremacist couple come…
A book review of Bookworm by Lucy Mangan. Bookworm by Lucy Mangan has a sub title; A Memoir of Childhood Reading. It’s a perfect description for an almost perfect book. A book that’s delightful, witty, interesting and unadulteratedly opinionated. It’s the kind of book that you’ll read again and again. I’ve already read it twice—and I shall read it again. Lucy Mangan is a self-confessed bookworm and loner; always…
A film review: The Invisible Man (2020) This is an entertaining psychological thriller with an interesting plot, but Hitchcock it certainly isn’t. Although the thought of placing the H. G. Wells classic into the hands of the genius of suspense is an intriguing one. Cecilia, played very well by Elisabeth Moss, is probably best known as the handmaiden in the TV series of Margaret Atwood’s wonderful dystopian tale. A…
A book review of The Blackwater Lightship by Colm Tóibín. Colm Tóibín is one of those gifted writers who is able to write moving, interesting, stirring and striking prose with such ease and with such a sparce use of vocabulary. And this book is no exception. The Blackwater Lightship is the sad tale of Declan Devereux, a young man dying of Aids in Ireland in the 1990s. He had…
A film review: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) The latest Quintin Tarantino film is slick; as you’d expect. It’s a tad bizarre at times; as you’d expect. And it’s a very entertaining way to spend nearly three hours. Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) is an ageing actor with a serious drinking problem. His best days, when he stared in top TV shows such as a The Bounty Hunter…
A book review of Old Baggage, by Lissa Evans. This is a witty and delightful book. Beginning in 1928 the tale follows five years of the lives and losses of two middle-aged women, Mattie and The Flea, who live in ‘The Mousehole’ on Hampstead Heath. They are both former suffragettes. Mattie, who carries a club of polished ash in her handbag, doesn’t even know how to slow down, let…
A film review: Vita and Virginia Vita and Virginia (2018) is a fascinating and moving film about the passionate liaison between Vita Sackville-West, a wealthy aristocrat, and Virginia Wolfe, a genius, during the late 1920’s. Vita, played by Gemma Arterton, is a predator; think Gentleman Jack—Anne Lister—but with far fewer moral scruples. Despite the scandal that would have befallen her, and her husband, if her ‘preferences’ had become known…
