feather_ghyll

Speaking From Among the Bones: Alan Bradley. Orion, 2014

It’s been a while (I checked, and it’s been over seven years), but I have returned to the Flavia de Luce murder mystery series. My motivation was that I'd bought other books from later on in the series second hand, so I thought I’d better get and read this. This, the fifth book is set during Easter (fun to read just after Christmas.) Our heroine is ( Read more... )

Loyal to the School: Angela Brazil

I’ll sum up my reaction to this book with ‘Oh, Angela.’ ( Read more... )

Perhaps that was closer to a full review than an overview. Oh, well. I saw that Italy won the tie against Serbia in the Davis Cup yesterday, with Sinner beating Djokovic in three sets, even though Djokovic had three match points, and both men reappearing for the doubles, which Italy won in two sets.

Bosom Friends: Angela Brazil, Nelson

Looking over the book for a publishing date, I see it’s subtitled ‘A Seaside Story.’ As I read it, I assumed that this must be one of Brazil’s earlier books, ( Read more... )

The Wishing Well Adventure: Freda C. Bond, Newnes

Fourteen-year-old Hilary Marshall and her eleven-year-old brother Robin were supposed to ( Read more... )

The Mystery of Midway Mill: Irene Byers. Hutchinson. Inscribed 1961

I got the sense that this book was very much influenced by Enid Blyton, ( Read more... )

Malory Towers, a Wise Children production (2019)

Starring: Izuka Hoyle (Darrell Rivers), Rose Shalloo (Mary Lou Askinson), Renee Lamb (Alicia Johns), Rebecca Collingwood (Gwendoline Lacey), Francesca Mills (Sally Hope), Vinnie Heaven (Bill Robinson) and, in this performance, Stephanie Hockley (Irene Dupont)
Adapted and directed by: Emma Rice.


This musical adaptation is to be found these summer holidays in ( Read more... )

Here’s my annual round-up of highlights from 2018 posts. ( Read more... )

Last year's post.

The Bridesmaids: Pamela Brown. Brockhampton Press. 1966 in this edition.

Meet Polly Hamilton and Gwenda Guthrie, two terrible examples of Girl Guides! ( Read more... )

Othergirl: Nicole Burstein, Anderson Press, 2015

What if there really were superheroes, who had emerged along with nuclear technology, known as Vigils? What if you were a fifteen-year-old girl at an ordinary secondary school, way outside of the popular group, short, easily embarrassed, diligent over your homework and you had a huge secret?

It’s not the secret you think.

( Read more... )

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society: Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, Bloomsbury 2008.

I devoured this last weekend – abandoning any fellow feeling with correspondents waiting days for answers to their questions. It’s been a while (by which I mean over nine years) since I bought it and read it, though I remembered some bits.

As I said in my last post, it was seeing the trailer of the movie adaptation that spurred me into doing so, and I am curious as to how they’ll turn an epistolary novel, with letters from so many islanders into a film. Either characters will be dropped or combined. Mike Newell is directing, which gives me confidence, and I like many of the cast, even if Lily James is a touch on the young side to be playing Juliet. They seem to have cast a lot of actors who were in Downton Abbey, which is a canny choice. I'd hoped they'd filmed in in Guernsey, but read that they hadn't because it's a tax haven/much changed.

Rereading the book, it’s striking ( Read more... )