MENU
Helen Dunmore was a prize-winning, bestselling novelist, poet and children’s writer; her short stories were published less often but Girl, Balancing & Other Stories proves she also mastered this genre brilliantly. In a dazzling variety of settings she demonstrates her skill within the economy of the form, creating vivid and distinctive characters, recognisable as ‘ordinary’ people, often to give an … Read more
To celebrate the lovely weather, the start of the summer holidays and the stunning county of Devon, we’ve rounded up some hot-spots perfect for literary adventures on a summer’s day. Over the years, writers have been inspired by Devon’s rugged beauty. If you can’t understand why, Ian Sansom wrote an article titled ‘Devon Sent: Why Writers Can’t Resist the County‘ … Read more
The longlist, or ‘Man Booker Dozen’, for the £50,000 Man Booker Prize was announced on Monday 23rd July. The Man Booker Prize for Fiction, first awarded in 1969, is open to writers of any nationality, writing in English and published in the UK and Ireland. This is the first year that novels published in Ireland have been accepted. This year’s … Read more
Based on a true story from the wildest and most remote of the Scottish Isles and on events which took place nearly 300 years ago, Geraldine McCaughrean brings to life the characters from a very alien time and place so wonderfully that we instantly empathise and become engrossed in their ordeal. A party of nine boys and three men is … Read more
The 2018 World Cup is coming to an end and to celebrate the countries in the quarter finals, we have created a World Cup Book Bingo. The books in the table above are translations of works from the eight countries – and in England’s case, two suggestions of titles by authors whose experiences might have been far from your own. … Read more
As a writer and naturalist, Miriam Darlington sets out to deepen our connections to wildlife, “to increase … curiosity for, understanding of and sympathy with the natural world”. Entranced by a close-up encounter with a captive owl, she plans to study every UK native species in the wild and learn about its biology, ecology and cultural associations. As the project begins her … Read more
Are you spending as many spare hours as possible watching Wimbledon with a plate of strawberries? Or will you be spending this weekend admiring elegantly designed cars race around the Silverstone track? We’ve got some great book suggestions for sports fans at the height of this British Sporting Summer! For a hilarious and passionate take on the Wimbledon championship, Standing in Line … Read more
We are in the middle of Feminist Book Fortnight 2018 and are gathering a selection of feminist must-reads for all ages. Here are a few currently on display at the shop, we invite you to add titles to the list for others to discover! Men Explain Things to Me and Other Essays | Rebecca Solnit Buy Now Firstly, from a … Read more
In the 1950s, Francis Cammaerts was Headmaster of Alleyne’s Grammar School for Boys, Stevenage. His authority was never in question. Imposingly tall and military of bearing, he never spoke of his own part in World War II. So pupils and staff were astonished one evening to find their Head was the subject of Eamonn Andrews’s hugely popular television show, This … Read more
