Elif Shafak I have read four of Elif’s books and, for me, There are Rivers in the Sky is the finest so far. Previously, it was The Island of Missing Trees, a tale told around a divided Cyprus as observed by a fig tree. Yes, you read that right. Elif writes with passion in all her books, exploring subjects that matter deeply to her—cultural, political and for silenced people,…
A film review: The Personal History of David Copperfield. This is a fun, feel-good film; the kind of film that lightens the heart and smooths the roughest of days. It’s a riot of colour and eternal optimism, a whimsical delight. Is it twee? Absolutely. Is it a tad nauseating at times? Absolutely. But I didn’t care about that, and I suspect you won’t either. It’s the story of Dickens’…
A book review of The Five, by Hallie Rubenhold. There have been many books written about Jack the Ripper, a nineteenth century serial killer who brutally murdered five women, mutilating four of them. But there have been very few, if any, written about the victims; popularly portrayed as prostitutes plying their trade in the dingy backstreets of the East End of London. The Five is a fascinating insight into…
Reviews of Melmoth, The Essex Serpent and Here Comes the Flood by Sarah Perry. I’ve just finished reading Melmoth by Sarah Perry, a gothic tale of a tall, slim woman, dressed in black, who haunts the guilty and the sinful. Sarah was first published in 2014 with After Me Comes the Flood, a literary novel about a man who, one day, decides to up and leave his life and…
