My darling Mum died in October 2017 after a short illness. Such stark words to describe so very enormous a loss. As she put it herself though, we all survive the most appalling things, things […]
Mum's Books
A journey through my Mum's library, reading, reviewing and gifting forward her beloved books
85. ‘Fraud’ by Anita Brookner
Written in 1992, and read by Mum in 1998, this is a short, and yet perfectly formed novel. The cast of characters is small and almost entirely female; the author captures both the breadth and […]
84. ‘Wild Swans’ by Jung Chang
This is an extraordinary book, one that really is hard to put down, and certainly hard to forget. I remember reading it back in the early 90’s when it was first published, and being deeply […]
83. ‘Rebecca’ by Daphne du maurier
‘Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.’ A sentence I shall never forget, the opening line to one of the greatest, in my opinion anyway, books ever written. I love all her books, […]
82. ‘Ten Cities that made an empire’ by Tristram Hunt.
A rather brilliant non fiction volume from Mum’s bookshelves – like me, Mum was always fond of a good history book, and this is no exception. The premise is to tell the story of the […]
81. ‘The Duchess’ by Amanda Foreman.
Before I start, I have to say I was initially very put off by the obvious reference to Martin Bashirs 1995 interview with Princess Diana on the cover, regardless of how true the quotation is […]
80. ‘Mildred pierce’ by james m. cain
Recently, I’ve taken to pulling a book off the shelves at random rather than spending time choosing one, and so far, I have to say, it is paying off! Mum had marvellous taste in books […]
79. ‘The Mandibles’ by lionel shriver
I do not think it would be an exaggeration to say this this is the most disturbing, the most enthralling, and one of the best written books I have pulled from Mum’s library this year. […]
78. ‘Dead mens wages’ by Lilian pizzichini
This is a book about London and it’s people, snippets of history, a family both held together and torn apart by greed and crime and drugs…and the effects all of this had on the author. […]
77. ‘The Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England’ by Ian Mortimer.
Flipping heck, what a jolly good read this was! Especially for a history nerd like me. I think a part of the blurb on the back says it best – ‘History is not just something […]
76. ‘The Thunderbolt Kid’ by Bill Bryson.
I do love Bill Bryson, and so did Mum. His sense of humour sometimes feels more British that American – very dry and acerbic – perhaps because he lived in the UK for a long […]
