Mixed emotions
Today my new novel is out. I am delighted with the great job that my publishers have done and it was a thrill to get my advance copy. What a terrific cover! I couldn’t be more pleased with it. I turned to the acknowledgements and there at the end was this: ‘and last but not […]
The only Arts and Crafts fridge in Britain
Or anywhere else, possibly. In Footfall, the third of my Cassandra James novels, Cassandra’s husband opens the fridge and one of the plastic racks on the inside of the door comes away. A bottle of milk, a jar half full of olives, and a glass containing sticks of celery crash to the tiled floor. In […]
Something sensational to read in the train.
‘I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.’ In that respect and in that only I am like Gwendolen in The Importance of Being Earnest. I first began to write a journal when I wrote my first novel. I am now onto notebook 25. I don’t […]
Should writers marry other writers?
Writing is a solitary activity, involving long periods alone and periods of distraction even when you’re not alone. Thurber’s wife used to say to him ‘Dammit, you’re writing!’ when he sat abstracted at the dinner table. Other writers understand this. When it was one of his days for working at home, Peter and I would retreat […]
So touched by all the tributes and kind messages and emails
after the death of my husband, Peter Blundell Jones. Thank you to everyone. On the day of his funeral the blinds were drawn in the windows of the Architecture Department in the Arts Tower: a wonderful tribute. This obituary by Jeremy Till for the Architect’s Journal sums him up so well: www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/obituary-peter-blundell-jones-1949-2016/10010072.article#.V78Wi9pRaOw.twitter
Devastation
My dear husband, Peter Blundell Jones, father, writer, architect, scholar, died on Friday after a short illness.
A Break from Blogging
Someone very close to me is very seriously ill. I’m taking a break from the blog.
A delightful discovery
Today two books arrived through the post (neither from Amazon, by the way) – and that was lovely. But still there is nothing like a real live second-hand or antiquarian book shop to get my pulse racing. I visited two splendid ones earlier this week. One was the East Grinstead Bookshop, new to me, which […]
Books set in universities: more cross-blogging
Time for another list. My good friend, Moira (Clothesinbooks.com), and I are sharing eight of our favourite novels set in universities and colleges. Here are mine: Josephine Tey, Miss Pym Disposes (1947). Not just one of my favourite novels set in a college, but one of my favourite novels, full stop. I will be astonished […]
Book-lovers! Serial monogamy or a more free-wheeling approach?
Are you a serial monogamist or do you like to have several books on the go at the same time? For myself, I am rarely reading just one book. Sometimes I must admit that I spread myself too thin. Here’s a snapshot of what I am reading at the moment. I am approaching the halfway […]