Judith Hearne is a spinster past her 40s, living alone in Belfast after her only relative, her aunt died. The two items that she always puts in her room are her late aunt pictures and the Sacred Heart picture. The devotion to the Sacred Heart (of Jesus Christ) is a well-known Catholic devotion, and Miss... Continue Reading →
Book review: ‘The Master and Margarita’ by Mikhail Bulgakov
“But would you kindly ponder this question: What would your good do if evil didn't exist, and what would the earth look like if all the shadows disappeared? After all, shadows are cast by things and people. Here is the shadow of my sword. But shadows also come from trees and living beings.Do you want... Continue Reading →
The Married Life
I closed the year 2019 with a new chapter in my life. I am now a wife to the most wonderful man and I couldn't be any happier. I have to pinch myself sometimes! We had our wedding in a registry office in Camden and then a small gathering in a pub close to our... Continue Reading →
Book review: ‘Outline’ by Rachel Cusk
“Sometimes it has seemed to me that life is a series of punishments for such moments of unawareness, that one forges one’s own destiny by what one doesn’t notice or feel compassion for; that what you don’t know and don’t make the effort to understand will become the very thing you are forced into knowledge... Continue Reading →
Istanbul in my heart
A room in the house, İstanbul in the roomA mirror in the room, İstanbul in the mirrorThe man lit his cigarette, an İstanbul smokeThe woman opened her purse, İstanbul in the purseThe child cast a fishing line, I saw,And he started to draw it, İstanbul on the lineWhat kind of water is this, what kind... Continue Reading →
Bookstore visit: Word on the Water, London
This will be my first 'bookstore' review! Well, not so much of a review because I'm totally biased when it comes to bookstores! I visited 'Word on the Water' last Sunday, and it was just the perfect sunny day for my first visit. The bookstore is a boat floating on Regent's canal. It has a... Continue Reading →
Book review: ‘Rivers of London’ by Ben Aaronovitch
“As a typical Londoner, Gurcan had a high tolerance for random thoughtlessness; after all, if you live in the big city there's no point complaining that it's a big city, but even that tolerance has its limit and the name of that limit is 'taking the piss'.” Ben Aaronovitch, Rivers of London I was given the... Continue Reading →
Book Review: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
“Wherever they might be they always remember that the past was a lie, that memory has no return, that every spring gone by could never be recovered, and that the wildest and most tenacious love was an ephemeral truth in the end.”Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude This book. I will definitely judge... Continue Reading →
Book Reviews: Faber Stories – Lorrie Moore, P.D. James and Alan Bennett
Story One: 'Terrific Mother' by Lorrie Moore ‘Terrific Mother’ is my first Lorrie Moore. I know she is much praised here so when I saw this Faber mini book I thought why not? Adrienne is 35 years old and childless. The best compliment a woman can get is ‘you’d make a terrific mother’ when they... Continue Reading →
A Day in Oxford
People had been telling me how beautiful Oxford was and now I will keep telling people how beautiful Oxford is. We simply fell in love with the city. We had Italian food in a castle that used to be a prison. Then a long walk around the Christ Church and enjoying the meadow and the... Continue Reading →