From page to stage – and everything in between
The latest news, reviews and features on theatre, books, TV, culture and life
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
Based on the remarkable true story of Holocaust survivor Lale Solokov, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is compelling tale of hope, love and survival. Heather Morris’s debut novel, one of the bestsellers of 2018, is based on years of conversations she had with Lale prior to his death in 2006. A Slovakian Jew, Lale was transported... Continue Reading →
When ageing Hollywood superstar Evelyn Hugo offers little-known Vivant magazine reporter Monique Grant her one and only interview about her glamorous yet controversial life, no one can quite believe it, less Monique herself. After all, her life isn’t the easiest, she’s struggling in her working life and her marriage is breaking down. Accepting the job... Continue Reading →
In a world where focus seems to be on new technology and social media, sometimes it’s easy to forget one of the more simple pleasures in life: art. Thankfully, Art Matters, the latest collaboration between renowned author Neil Gaiman and talented illustrator Chris Riddell is on hand to provide an effective reminder of the importance... Continue Reading →
Based on a true story, Save Me Twice is a compelling piece of historical fiction written by E.A Dustin, which tells the story of sixteen-year-old Karl Elheusch. In 1945, at a time when Hitler’s Germany is losing its grip on the war, Karl and his brother Hans are taken from their home in the middle... Continue Reading →
