Book Review – The Children Act by Ian McEwan I have a rocky relationship with McEwan’s work. I liked Atonement. I loved Amsterdam. I rhapsodised to the point of obsession…
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Book review – Us by David Nicholls As part of my slow and faltering journey through the Booker longlist I waded into this book with a considerable amount of curiosity….
Book review – The Zone of Interest by Martin Amis This is a difficult book for me to review. Firstly, I am a hopeless Amis groupie. I can think of…
Supposedly, there are only 7 plots around from which all stories are constructed. You know – the rags-to-riches story, the redemption story, the requited (or occasionally unrequited) love story. Triumph…
PRESS RELEASE 08 August 2013 Subject: Entanglement and Stepping Out by Steven Boykey Sidley signed by French publishing house Belfond From: Pan Macmillan South Africa PAN MACMILLAN SOUTH…
A Week on the Beach We just came back from Mozambique, where we had rented a house on a deserted stretch of picture postcard beach. It has always seemed to…
I just attended the Open Book Festival 2013 in a gently bracing Cape Town spring. This is one of South Africa’s 4 major literary festivals, the others being Franschoek, and…
Short Stories I ask a friend for podcast recommendations to assuage the thudding boredom of stationary bike sessions, and the short attention spans of teenagers on long trips, who while…
The Damn List Here we go again – summer holidays, the prospect of a couple of weeks of uninterrupted slothfulness. Where you reap the rewards that you imagine you deserve …
Turning 60 The last time I did the big birthday speech was 10 years ago. I chose the theme of taking stock then, what I had achieved, and what I…