• Books - Literary Britain

    A Visit to the Birthplace of Jane Austen’s Most Famous Books: Chawton Cottage

    July 23, 2024 - By 

    Nestled in the Hampshire countryside, a modestly sized but unassuming house sits on a main road going through the village of Chawton. The village itself is as picturesque as most small English parishes come, but it’s the house covered in commemorative plaques which draws the eye. This is the house which was once inhabited by one of the world’s most celebrated authors – Jane Austen. It’s difficult, as you drive down Winchester road, not to picture Jane walking along in her own day. She was extremely fond of the Hampshire countryside having spent the first 25 years of her life…

  • photo of teacup on top of books
    Books - Reviews

    ‘Jamaica Inn’ Convinced Me – Daphne du Maurier is the Master of Writing Popular, ‘Real’ Literature

    June 26, 2024 - By 

    Margaret Forster once wrote that Daphne du Maurier ‘satisfied all the questionable criteria of popular fiction, and yet satisfied too the exacting requirements of “real literature”, something very few novelists ever do.’ Having read Rebecca a year ago, I knew that du Maurier was particularly talented when it came to creating suspenseful stories, books that have lent themselves to being not only re-read but also re-adpated, again and again, making du Maurier one of the most beloved English language authors I have covered. But it was reading Jamaica Inn this summer that I realised how right Forster was. It’s difficult…

  • Tailor Mouse (1902) watercolor art
    Books

    Why Beatrix Potter is Still Beloved 100 Years Later

    June 12, 2024 - By 

    Why Do The Stories of Beatrix Potter Continue to Endure With Adults & Children Alike? Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit was first published commercially in 1902, and since then has never been out of print. The fact that 4 Beatrix Potter books are bought every minute is a pretty common piece of trivia, however I would be keen to know how many of those 4 books have been bought for children, and how many were bought for adults. I was 25 when I read the first of Potter’s tales, and it did not take me long to realise…

  • the st andrew and st mary s church in watton at stone england united kingdom
    Books

    J.L Carr’s ‘A Month in the Country’ and Handling Trauma

    May 10, 2024 - By 

    Published in 1980, J.L Carr’s A Month in the Country follows Tom Birkin, an art restorer on his first job who visits Oxgodby, Yorkshire following the first world war. Birkin is to spend the summer uncovering a medieval church mural, finding as much to interest him in the people of the village as the mural itself. There’s the Vicar’s wife, Alice Keach, whose kindly yet lonely manner charms Birkin fairly quickly; Kathy Ellerbeck, the teenage daughter of the stationmaster (who doubles as a Wesleyan preacher); and Charles Moon, a young man of roughly the same age, hired to find the…

  • pagoda in gray scale shot
    Books

    My New Favourite Crime Series: The ‘Detective Kindaichi Mysteries’

    April 10, 2024 - By 

    What is it that you enjoy most about crime fiction? Is it the complexity of the mystery itself, or is it following an eccentric detective as they piece together what happened? Is it the personalities of the suspects themselves, or is it the locations – either far off, exotic shores or something closer to home? My favourite crime novels usually play with all of these elements, and possibly more if it is brave enough to get a little gruesome. Seishi Yokomizo definitely wasn’t afraid to push the envelope when he wrote his series of 77 books following Kosuke Kindaichi, known…

  • stone bridge leading to the medieval eltz castle
    Books

    Why ‘Dracula’ Was the First Classic I Fell in Love With

    March 10, 2024 - By 

    I have a funny relationship with classic novels. They make up probably 80% of my bookshelf, and yet I find myself hesitating every time I open the first page of one. It’s because I’ve come to realise that ‘classic’ does not guarantee enjoyment. Yes, it usually does guarantee something well written, insightful and intellectually valuable. But that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m going to enjoy reading it. I can appreciate The Grapes of Wrath and its heartbreaking commentary on American industrialisation, while also knowing that I never want to subject myself to reading the approx. 500 page monstrosity again. When I…

  • pink flower field
    Books

    Spring Reading: 5 Books to Kick Start the New Season

    February 11, 2024 - By 

    What does Spring mean to you? To me it means an awakening: animals and plants stir from deep slumbers, and new life emerges. The world looks a little prettier, and its inhabitants are a little more awake. It’s the beginning of a new cycle – a chance to clean things up or start all over again. While we all have rituals to start out the year, whether sticking to newly made resolutions or just tidying up the home a little, one of my favourite ways to kick off a new season is by deciding what I’m going to read for…

  • white building
    Books - Reviews

    Lost Connections: Why A Passage to India Defied My Expectations

    January 28, 2024 - By 

    I don’t feel very connected to my culture. I am the grandchild of Indian immigrants on both sides of my family, and truthfully, I’ve always felt a little more English than Indian. I observe some of the festivals, but barely speak the languages. I consume the food, but not the religion. I know that it’s a little sad not to feel my cultural roots, but I recognise that much of this is by choice – I can blame my parents for not teaching me Hindi growing up, but I can’t really blame them for the fact that I, at 26…

  • Books

    Exploring The Trail That Inspired ‘The Wind in the Willows’

    January 14, 2024 - By 

    Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows has never been out of print, and for good reason. There is something for everyone within the pages of this children’s classic, whether it’s following the amusing adventures of Mr. Toad or sharing in the honest friendship of Ratty, Mole and Badger. It exudes the charm and warmth of the English countryside, and the well-mannered ideals of Edwardian England, which Grahame was writing in. It is easily one of the cosiest books I read toward the end of 2023, in large part due to this pleasant, homey setting: the expansive rooms of Toad…

  • Books

    Three Studio Ghibli Movies that Transformed My Perspective on Book-to-Film Adaptations

    December 11, 2023 - By 

    I like to think I’m open minded when it comes to buying books, but there’s one type I always try to stay away from, the type of book that I even have a rule for: If you love the movie, stay far far away from the book it was based on. This rule wasn’t born overnight – it is the product of a long, sad history of reading the source material of my favourite movies. Apollo 13, The Jungle Books and even my beloved Lord of the Rings – they all followed one of two treacherous patterns. The movie was…