Words, writers and writing


RARELY do I find a book having such a deep and personal impact as this moving and tender story. Its effect lingered long after the final word had been read; reviving cherished memories, plucking at the heartstrings. Poignant moments from earlier days were relived, reflected upon with a mixture of sadness and joy. The details are mostly well distanced from my own experiences, yet the timeline and locations mirror my own to an unsettling extent. They converge and mingle before going on their separate ways, like tramlines at a junction,  As do the over-arching themes of separation and unbridgeable distance. Continue reading

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PERHAPS this blog post should come with an advisory caution; like those that precede some of the raunchier dramas screened on post-watershed TV. A warning about bad language or offensive dialogue. Displaying an awareness of some readers’ fragile sensibilities.  Guarding against young minds being led down sinful paths; the elderly… Continue reading
CONFUSION continues to await avid readers of two popular series of crime fiction tales centred on Britain’s south coast. They can be left flummoxed, not so much by the intricate plotting but rather by the naming of the two main characters. One wonders whether there is mutual admiration or deep rivalry between the books’ authors, MJ Arlidge and Peter James. Perhaps they have works in the pipeline that will feature heroic confrontations and clashes between James’s doughty Detective Chief Superintendent Roy Grace and Arlidge’s rebellious dare devil Detective Inspector Helen Grace. Or real life stoushes between the authors themselves. A falling… Continue reading