Nine Perfect Strangers … perfect in every way. ‘You never changed your appearance for men, you changed it for other women, because they were the ones carefully tracking each other’s weight and skin tone, along with their own, they were the ones trapped with you on the ridiculous appearance obsession merry-go-round that they couldn’t or … Read more
Nicci French – gripping, dark and twisty … ‘No one is like anyone else. No one can be replaced. Every death is the end of a world. And they’re gone, and yet they remain.’ Day of the Dead, Nicci French
Anne Tyler (again) – an extraordinary writer … ‘She had always assumed that when she was old, she would have total confidence, finally. But look at her; still uncertain. In many ways she was more uncertain now than she had been as a girl.’ A Spool of Blue Thread, Anne Tyler
When you’re reading a book and something leaps off the page … ‘Every day was perfect that April. The scrawny beauty of our house warmed and melted in the spring light. Through the long screens of beech and ash plantations blackbirds flew low to the ground, calling high and scuttling low about their love affairs. … Read more
When a moment jumps off the page … ‘Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlaying our hard hearts.’ Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
The bits of the book that jump off the page … ‘It is a miracle. I remind myself that I am on a tiny planet that is moving at an insane speed through a boundless universe, never tiring of its flight around the sun, and I think to myself: it’s crazy. That we exist at … Read more