“I did as you told me, you dirty little girl, and pulled myself off twice when I read your letter.” He might be celebrated for his epic and allusive novels, but James Joyce came straight to the point when writing to his partner, Nora Barnacle. This was the opening salvo of a letter from 1908 and is just one of scores of explicit missives he sent her. Continue reading “‘My body shall be all yours’: the startling sex letters of Joyce, Kahlo and O’Keeffe”
Category: Books
Everyone’s favourite book has been turned into an incredible play
Few books inspire such breathless fandom as Elena Ferrante’s. Her four “Neapolitan Novels” have proved huge international hits, with over 5.5 million copies sold in over 50 countries. Despite such reach, they still have a cultish status; converts tend to press them on friends and family, to talk about the main characters Lenu and Lila as if we knew them. We get fiercely possessive – and then comes news that the books are being turned into a stage show. Can they really be brought to life, or do such characters belong safely inside our heads? Continue reading “Everyone’s favourite book has been turned into an incredible play”
What We’re Reading
Published in Oh Comely on December 8, 2016
I wrote about a book I like to return to and re-read – Mrs Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf – for Oh Comely magazine
Book club: Rosamund Pike
Published in ELLE on December 1, 2017
I spoke to Rosamund Pike about her favourite books for ELLE magazine
Review: Locating the Audience, Kirsty Sedgman
Published in The TLS on September 30, 2016
In his centenary year, Roald Dahl is everywhere – but should kids just go back to the books?
When news broke of the death of Gene Wilder, the image that kept cropping up was of the actor as the fabulously twinkly, slightly menacing Willy Wonka. Because the 1971 musical movie of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s book – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – is burned deep into our collective conscious. Continue reading “In his centenary year, Roald Dahl is everywhere – but should kids just go back to the books?”
Small is beautiful: from Jane Austen to George RR Martin, the novella is making a come-back
Small but perfectly formed: the novella is back. The slim little sister of your regular novel, a novella is usually defined as coming in under 50,000 words. But any long short story or short novel may slip into the category. Continue reading “Small is beautiful: from Jane Austen to George RR Martin, the novella is making a come-back”
Review: The Living, Anjali Joseph
Published in The TLS on April 29, 2016
The women of Wall Street: how the arts are taking on sexism in the city
When you think of the world of finance, you probably think of a bloke in a suit: macho, aggressive, throwing money around. From Wall Street to The Wolf of Wall Street, Billions to The Big Short, Enron to American Psycho, we’ve no shortage of books, films and plays about the bad behaviour of the big boys making (and sometimes losing) big bucks. Continue reading “The women of Wall Street: how the arts are taking on sexism in the city”
Review: The Blue Touch Paper, David Hare
Published in The TLS on February 19, 2016
I’m very pleased to be reviewing books for the Times Literary Supplement; first up was David Hare’s memoir.
