The Pursuit Of Love by Nancy Mitford

In Zoe Heller's introduction to this novel, she makes the point that people either love or hate a Mitford novel. I wonder if that's really true? The Mitford sisters grew up in a rag tag bundle, on a manor in England, the children of Upper Class parents, in the early part of last century. Nancy, …

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A Cat, A Hat & A Piece of String by Joanne Harris.

This book of short stories by the author of Chocolat is a nice little collection of tales which personify the authors usual humour, pathos and sense of whimsy and the magical. The title comes from her answer to the question, if you were to be stranded on a desert island, what things would you take …

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Simon Jay’s Bastardography: a memoir of coming out, bullying, and bipolar disorder.

I first met Simon on a film shoot about 5 or 6 years ago. He was brought in as a writer, and I liked the way he was so intelligent and down to earth. He was funny. Catching a train back into central London together, he surprised me by making little quips about Australian politics …

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The Confessions Of A Failed Southern Lady by Florence King

I picked this book up almost accidentally. I love stories about women in the Southern states of America, they tend to be warm, funny stories that you can laugh and cry over and the women in them are good friends to each other. I think they call it GritLit, because the women have got grit, …

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