Elizabeth Strout's writing style is straightforward and compelling – she draws the reader into the world of her novel. She is intensely interested in the muddled lives that people lead, and the ways in which people interact and influence each other – Lucy Barton, the novelist in the story, says that what interests her are, 'People and their lives,' and this is very much how Strout as a writer seems to feel.
I also loved the setting, in Maine during the Covid pandemic.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • From Pulitzer Prize–winning author Elizabeth Strout comes a “stunner” (People) of a novel about new friendships, old loves, and the very human desire to leave a mark on the world.
“Tell Me Everything hits like a bucolic fable. . . . A novel of moods, how they govern our personal lives and public spaces, reflected in Strout’s shimmering technique.”—The Washington Post
With her remarkable insight into the human condition and silences that contain multitudes, Elizabeth Strout returns to the town of Crosby, Maine, and to her beloved cast of characters—Lucy…
This is John Burnside's final poetry collection. I love his poetry, the beautiful, lyrical rhythm of his language, and his love of the natural world, a rural world, often imaginary and inhabited by snow and rain, foxes, unicorns , the cold light on a field, apples paling in a wicker basket, a Neverland of stars... He is often deeply serious, as in his poems about mental illness – his poems are permeated with sadness and nostalgia for a world that may never have existed.
A remarkable collection exploring ageing, mortality and environmental destruction
**WINNER OF THE DAVID COHEN PRIZE FOR LITERATURE 2023**
'By far the best British poet alive' SPECTATOR
'A master of language' HILARY MANTEL
In this powerful, moving book, John Burnside takes his cue from Schiller, who recognised that, as one thing fades, so another flourishes: everywhere and always, in matters great and small, new life blossoms amongst the ruins.
Here, in poems that explore ageing, mortality, environmental destruction and mental illness, Burnside not only mourns what is lost in passing, but also celebrates the new, and sometimes unexpected, forms that emerge…
I was gripped by this, the third novel in C.S. Lewis's science fiction trilogy, first published in 1945. It has all the ingredients I enjoy when I need to be lost in a book – a strong plot, mystery, fear, suspense when it seems the baddies are bound to win – the intervention of the supernatural, the drama of battle, all compellingly written – all very absorbing.
Just as readers have been transfixed by the stories, characters, and deeper meanings of Lewis's timeless tales in The Chronicles of Narnia, most find this same allure in his classic Space Trilogy. In these fantasy stories for adults, we encounter, once again, magical creatures, a world of wonders, epic battles, and revelations of transcendent truths.
That Hideous Strength is the third novel in Lewis's science fiction trilogy. Set on Earth, it tells of a terrifying conspiracy against humanity. The story surrounds Mark and Jane Studdock, a newly married couple. Mark is a sociologist who is enticed to join an organization…
A historical novel set in England in the early 1000s, before the Norman Conquest. Viking invader King Sweyn of Denmark marries his son Canute to Elfgifu, orphaned daughter of a rich Northern noble, in order to win her kinsmen's military support. But once Ethelred, the English king, is dead, Canute marries Ethelred's widow Emma, sister of the Duke of Normandy, in a bid to bring settled peace to the country. The two women fight for the English throne for each of their sons in this tumultuous novel of passion, power and bloody revenge.
