Tag Archives: English

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Wuthering Heights is a novel by Emily Brontë, written between October 1845 and June 1846, and published in 1847 under the pseudonym Ellis Bell. It was her first and only published novel: she died the following year, at age 30.  Still, if you are only going to publish one novel, what a novel!  There have …

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Proof of Life by Karen Campbell

I recently attended a writers’ workshop run by Karen Campbell in the village as part of Book Week Scotland.  In preparation for this I read this, my second Karen Campbell novel.  It had me quite confused at first with its complicated plot, rapid character changes and the many story threads.  I could not  follow the multiple …

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The Children of Men by P.D. James

The Children Of Men is unlike any other book by P.D.James I have ever read.  It was an excellent choice for my book group. Another of her books, Shroud for a Nightingale is reviewed on this site too, at bookreviewstoday.info/2013/07/04/shroud-for-a-n…e-by-p-d-james. The author, Phyllis Dorothy James, Baroness James of Holland Park, OBE, FRSA, FRSL is more usually known as …

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Shroud for a Nightingale by P D James

Phyllis Dorothy James, Baroness James of Holland Park, OBE, FRSA, FRSL, known as P. D. James, is an English crime writer and a life  peer in the House of Lords, UK.  She was born on 3 August 1920 and died 27 November 2014.  Shroud for a Nightingale is a book my mother gave me many years …

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Torment of Others by Val McDermid

Val McDermid is a Scottish author who read English at St Hilda’s College, Oxford, England.  She was accepted at 17, one of the youngest undergraduates they have ever taken on, and the first from a Scottish state school. It should therefore come as no surprise that she is an excellent writer.  This story was very well …

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White Rose Rebel by Janet Paisley

I first came across Janet Paisley, who is an award winning poet and author, when I was studying Creative Writing in Stirling, Scotland.  She read some of her amazing poetry to us.  She writes in both Scots and English.  As a result of this I have always thought of her as a poet, first and …

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The Welsh Girl by Peter Ho Davies

The Welsh Girl was book of the month in by my book club.     Peter Ho Davies was born in Britain in 1966 to Welsh and Chinese parents, Davies now makes his home in the USA.   He  is now on the faculty of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Davies is a recipient of fellowships from …

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In the Dark by Mark Billingham

I have always enjoyed detective novels, mysteries and crime thrillers.  Mark Billingham is an English crime novelist and stand up comedian. If you ever have an opportunity to hear him speak, take it. I first read a Mark Billingham novel when I was studying creative writing in Stirling, Scotland.  One of the books I read …

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Made In America by Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson is a best-selling American author of humorous books on travel, as well as books on the English language and science. I have read and enjoyed many of his books. Born in America, he was a resident of United Kingdom for most of his adult life before returning to the USA in 1995. In 2003 …

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Life Class by Pat Barker

Life Class by Pat Barker is a novel that sat on my book shelf for several years.  My Aunt and Uncle gave it to me one Christmas, but I only got around to reading it recently.  When I started it I was not sure that it was a book I would enjoy.  It is a …

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