A mother lets her 8-year-old girl walk three blocks home from school by herself. A neighbour sees, calls the police and she taken away to the School for Good Mothers. If, after 12 months of correctional training, she hasn’t met the state’s standards of what makes a good mother, she will lose her parenting rights […]
Author Archives: Ms A
September
26
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell
posted by Ms A
I feel like I’ve just spent the last 10 days wrapped in a priceless Italian tapestry. A heavy but lavish carpet of Dukes, Duchesses, frescos and treachery. Set in Italy the mid 1500’s, the story is based on Robert Browning’s poem about the short life and marriage of the 16-year-old Duchess of Ferrara. Married […]
September
15
Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet
posted by Ms A
I don’t know if I’ve just finished a book of fact or fiction but I do know that that’s exactly what Graeme Macrae Burnet intended. It’s London in the 60’s and a quirky young woman makes an appointment with the charismatic yet unqualified psychotherapist of the day, Collins Braithwaite. She wants to see him because […]
July
04
Horse by Geraldine Brooks
posted by Ms A
Geraldine Brooks’ first novel, Year of Wonders, remains one of my favourite books of all time. She has written plenty of other rippers too, including March and People of The Book. Horse is her latest, and I’ve just finished it at warp speed with the smile of a happy reader on my face from beginning […]
May
28
An Odyssey – A Father, Son and an Epic by Daniel Mendelsohn
posted by Ms A
Did you know that the word “odyssey” derives from Odysseus, the central character of Homer’s epic Greek poem? Or that the word mentor derives from the character “Mentor” who Odysseus chose to watch over his infant son during the many years he was away? Before you worry, no I didn’t read Homer’s Odyssey (or pay […]
March
05
The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller
posted by Ms A
No one else is awake when Elle goes for a swim in the pond below her family’s holiday cabin in Cape Cod. As she swims, she reflects on the night before, when she had hot sex with her childhood crush against the back wall, while her husband, mother and children chatted away inside. A pretty […]
December
27
Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout
posted by Ms A
There is a lot to be said for beautifully designed, small hardback books. To me, they are almost irresistible and no good bookshelf should be without a smattering of them. This one comes with the promise of an added “bestseller” sticker, which pretty much ticks every box of what I look for in a holiday […]
December
05
Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen
posted by Ms A
I have been doing book reviews for a little while now. OK, not as reliably as Ms K and not quite as well researched as the London Review of Books, but I hope I’ve earned enough credibility to call out a stand out book when I read one. And this one is a stand out. […]
October
10
Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney
posted by Ms A
In her first two novels, Conversations with Friends and Normal People, 30-year-old Irish writer, Sally Rooney launched into the serious book world like the Michael Jordan launched into the NBA. Her books gave us an instant glimpse into the minds and lives of her generation and the world couldn’t get enough of it. And no, […]
August
08
Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker
posted by Ms A
Another day, another must-read for Readheads. This one is the true story of a family of twelve children, six of whom develop schizophrenia. Yep. True Story. Written by US Author Robert Kolker (think Lost Girls in 2013) and published in 2020, Hidden Valley Road was listed by the New York Times Book Review as one […]
Readhead 