This selection of short stories is like a lovely box of chocolates as each tale excites the imagination but is finished all too soon.
This book is a reminder than women have always defied the rules imposed on them, and in this case it led to a woman making some of the most important discoveries of the time, and turning the theories of men upside down.
We should look forward to all stages in our lives and this book gave me an idea of the kind of woman I aspire to become.
What’s lovely about the book is its slowness – it almost encourages you to slow down, appreciate life, your family and the minutiae of daily life.
I love the evocation too of the other worldliness of nature on a moon filled night and the amazing stillness and soundlessness of the loch-side
This book is deeply engaging and charts a dysfunctional family unit and the pitfalls and consequences of poor or distorted communication.
This beautifully enjoyable novel helped me to think differently and more positively about ageing, the loss of independence that accompanies it, and the impact this has on the individual.
This is a great book to dip in and out of, ideal for reading on trains or in coffee shops, and a perfect introduction to Edna O’Brien’s beautiful writing.
A Traveller’s Life by Sheila Stewart is a life’s story we should know about. The joys, tensions and traditions of a member of one of Scotland’s best known Scottish Traveller families provides a welcome antidote to the negative press reports of Traveller conflicts with settled or ‘scaldie’ communities such as the long running Dale Farm dispute and of the extravagances displayed in Channel 4’s My Big Fat Gypsy Weddings.
This is an ambitious tale of one family’s fortunes and sorrows over three generations. Set in Latin America, this is an exotic landscape full of superstition and religious fervour, and old ways of life that are resistant to the changes that are slowly taking place.
