In 2019 author and comedian Eddy Brimson’s play Naughty Boy made its debut at the Edinburgh Festival. Now almost two years later, Brimson has released a novella of the same name, an extended version of his critically-acclaimed play. Naughty Boy focuses on Joe, who tells his story from the canteen of a mental health unit.... Continue Reading →
Review: The Last Goodbye, Fiona Lucas
It’s been almost three years since Anna’s husband Spencer died in a tragic accident and she’s still finding it difficult to come to terms with his death and move on with her life. After a particularly disastrous New Year’s Eve she dials Spencer’s old phone number just to hear his voicemail but to her surprise... Continue Reading →
Review: While Paris Slept, Ruth Druart
In 1944 young Jewish mother is forced onto a train bound to Auschwitz when in a moment of desperation she hands over her most valuable possession to a stranger, a decision she’ll live with for the rest of her life. In 1953 Jean Luc is living in America with his wife Charlotte and young son,... Continue Reading →
Review: The Crow Folk, by Mark Stay
A compelling tale of witchcraft, demons and um…bellringing, The Crow Folk is the latest novel from author Mark Stay and the first in The Witches of Woodville series. Set in 1940s rural Kent, The Crow Folk tells the story of 17 year old Faye Bright who lives with her father following Her mother's death when... Continue Reading →
Review: Cheer the F**k Up, Jack Rooke
Writer, comedian and campaigner Jack Rooke has certainly made a name for himself in recent years, what with his hit Edinburgh shows, Good Grief and Happy Hour, and BBC 3 television series Happy Man, which have focused on grief and mental health. And now Rooke brings his experiences to the literary world with his new... Continue Reading →
Review: The Crown: Official Companion Volume 2, Robert Lacey
With season three of The Crown premiering on Netflix at the end of last year, the show’s historian, biographer Robert Lacey, has released The Official Companion: Volume 2, which takes readers behind the scenes of the award-winning series and aims to separate fact from fiction. The latest volume: Political Scandal, Personal Struggle and the Years... Continue Reading →
Review: Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
The debut fictional novel of Delia Owens, Where the Crawdads Sing topped the New York Times Fiction Best Sellers List of 2019, and since its release has received mixed feedback among its readers. The book tells the story of a young girl Kya, known locally as the ‘Marsh Girl’. Abandoned by her mother, her siblings... Continue Reading →
Review: The Things We Left Unsaid by Emma Kennedy
To say Rachel is having a bad time of late would be an understatement. Just six weeks after the death of her father she’s jilted at the altar on her wedding day, and as a result is forced to move back to the family home in Oxford with her mother, Eleanor, a renowned artist. The... Continue Reading →
Review: The Art of Taxidermy by Sharon Kernot
Written by Sharon Kernot, The Art of Taxidermy tells the story of a young girl named Lottie. The daughter of German migrants who suffered terribly during the war, Lottie is an outcast at school, with no friends other than her classmate Jeremy, a fellow outsider. Following the death of her mother, Lottie develops a fascination... Continue Reading →
Review: The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee
The latest novel by Stacey Lee, The Downstairs Girl is set in Atlanta in 1890. Jo is a seventeen-year-old Chinese American girl living with her guardian Old Gin in an abandoned abolitionists’ hideaway beneath a print shop. When Jo loses her job in a hat shop, she’s forced to work for her previous employer, for... Continue Reading →