Editing | Coaching | Instruction
For the last few years, I have been writing and revising a contemporary young adult novel, so, naturally, I’ve been reading a lot of contemporary YA novels. Some are good, some are OK, and occasionally, you’ll come across one that will blow your socks off.
James Agee’s A Death In The Family follows a young family in the early 20th century directly before and after the unexpected, sudden death of the patriarch, Jay Follet. Agee beautifully illustrates how each family member copes with Jay’s death, following their journey from anxiety to anger to confusion to acceptance. But despite the beauty […]
Difficulty Categorizing This Book I have never read a book quite like this before. Perhaps that’s because it was written by a Norwegian author. Or perhaps it’s because of the original publication year (1957). Despite the novel’s tiny cast and contained setting, I found that I did not want to put it down. Ironically, there […]
I saw Jill McCorkle give a reading a couple of years ago and have been wanting to read her most recent novel, Life After Life, ever since. She is a dynamic speaker full of energy and verve for southern stories especially. She is originally from North Carolina, and has taught for many years in the […]
We support our fellow romance pioneers One of our lovely comrades over at The Page Girls (fight the good fight, girls), Cecily Gates, was kind enough to send me a copy of her debut novel, An Imaginary House by the Sea, the first of a series of novels set in Bridgeport. I have to say, […]
Manazuru by Hiromi Kawakami, translated by Michael Emmerich In August, I went to see a few readings at the Edinburgh Book Festival. At the checkout counter (purchasing a book. Of course.) I struck up a conversation with the sales girl, Clare, and got to explaining the concept behind my MSc dissertation (the main character has […]
Good Ol’ Jane Austen I’m leaving the country soon, and I need to send some books home when my family visits next month. Consequently, when it came time to find my next book to review, instead of perusing second hand stores, I looked at my own bookshelf. Last August, I visited Bath with two friends, and there was […]
Why did I pick up this book? Last week, I found myself sprawled on the floor of my friend Liz’s London flat, perusing the books on her bookshelf. Our friendship, which goes back to grade 6, has revolved almost entirely around books. As I dragged a finger over the titles, I came across two books […]