A Darker Domain by Val McDermid was first published in 2008, the setting is mainly Fife in the east of Scotland, and the time switches between 1985 and 2007. This is the second in the author’s Karen Pirie series. DI … Continue reading
The garden at Hill Top isn’t huge and I suspect that the vegetable garden hasn’t changed much over the years, although there are some decorations in it for children to spot. I think that Beatrix used her garden to illustrate … Continue reading
The Rectory Mice by the Scottish writer George MacBeth was published in 1982. He’s known mainly as a poet, but later in his life he wrote some novels and books for children, this one is aimed at 10 year olds … Continue reading
The Redemption of Alexander Seaton by Shona MacLean (S.G. MacLean) was first published in 2008. It’s one of my 20 Books of Summer. The setting is the town of Banff, Scotland in 1626. It’s 10 o’clock at night and two … Continue reading
Eustacia Goes to the Chalet School by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer was first published in 1929. Eustacia has never been to school before, her father had been a professor of Greek and her mother a doctor, they had not made a … Continue reading
Women and Power by Mary Beard was published in paperback form in 2018, it’s based on two lectures which Beard gave in the LRB Winter Lecture series, the first one in 2014, prior to the Me Too movement. As you … Continue reading
Last week we had a couple of days away over in the west of Scotland, and on one of the days we took the train to Glasgow, something that Jack used to do on a daily basis and I did … Continue reading
The Chalet School in Exile by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer was first published in 1940 by Chambers, but my copy is an abridged paperback Armada. I don’t have that many of the hardbacks as they tend to be overpriced, in my … Continue reading
Someone from the Past by Margot Bennett was first published in 1958 but it was reprinted by British Library in 2023. This book won the Crime Writers’ Association’s Award for the best crime novel of 1958, but it was the … Continue reading
I can hardly believe that it’s 12 years since we first visited the small town of Alcester in Warwickshire for the first time. We have a grandfather clock which was made there according to its face, and as we had … Continue reading