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 →
“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 →
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 →
“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 →
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 →
Then a terrible shriek came from the middle of the crowd, as if someone has set his foot upon a burning thorn, as if his foot being nailed to the earth with nails of fire, as if flames were shooting through his marrow. The crowd fell apart, all eyes drawn to the foot to which... Continue Reading →
"She pictured him in nice clothes, his hair cut shorter, maybe his nose straightened, speaking a more careful English, interested in music and literature, learning about politics, psychology, philosophy; wanting to know more the more he knew, in this way growing in value to himself and others." The Assistant, Bernard Malamud I found Bernard Malamud... Continue Reading →
“...my point is that the only authentic identity for the African is the tribe...I am Nigerian because a white man created Nigeria and gave me that identity. I am black because the white man constructed black to be as different as possible from his white. But I was Igbo before the white man came.” ―... Continue Reading →
“Men may keep a sort of level of good, but no man has ever been able to keep on one level of evil. That road goes down and down.” Meeting fictional detectives seems to be my main interest when reading classic crime books and this year I started with Father Brown. Unlike the flashy and... Continue Reading →
On November 16, 1959, The New York Times published an account of murders, which began: Holcomb, Kan., Nov. 15 [1959] (UPI) — A wealthy wheat farmer, his wife and their two young children were found shot to death today in their home. They had been killed by shotgun blasts at close range after being bound and gagged...... Continue Reading →
