I set off early on Saturday morning, walking through a cold, empty city centre to Cardiff Central Station. The homeless were still zipped firmly into their sleeping bags and street-sweepers were doing their best to remove the detritus from the previous night’s Wales vs. France match. The return journey to bath cost just £20, and was well worth it. Continue reading
Month: February 2016
Book Review: 1356 by Bernard Cornwell
It is not often that I am inspired to read a book after watching a TV series, but the recent BBC adaptation The Last Kingdom (based on Cornwell’s Saxon Stories) had me gripped. I was delighted to discover that he has written a number of books, and immediately began with 1356. It is an intriguing tale, bringing to life a confusing and complex period of European history – The Hundred Years War between England and France. Continue reading
Poetry Review: The Bees by Carol Ann Duffy
A couple of years ago I went to Swansea to see Carol Ann Duffy and Gillian Clarke performing their work together. That’s where I bought The Bees – a treasure trove of bright, rhythmic poems by the UK’s Poet Laureate. The theatre was small – an audience quietly buzzing with anticipation, as we waited for the two poets to come on stage. Continue reading
Book Review: The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
This was the second book I read by Kate Morton, after being impressed with her first novel The House at Riverton. It was even better – with a beautifully interwoven plot which moves seamlessly between three different time periods. Australian Cassandra, in 2005, attempts to discover what her deceased Grandmother (Nell) was up to, back in the 1970s, when she bought a ruined cottage thousands of miles away in Cornwall and, in doing so, she stumbles upon a compelling mystery that dates back to 1913. Continue reading
Poetry Review: Ingrid’s Husband by Paul Henry
I particularly love hearing a poet read their own work aloud, and this is how I first heard Paul Henry’s work, as he read from his book Ingrid’s Husband in the cosy library at Tŷ Newydd Writing Centre in North Wales. The book takes its name from one of its poems – and it’s this poem which sticks in my mind the most. Continue reading