Phantastes by George Macdonald The Complete Works of George MacDonald (Illustrated Edition) includes innumerable books, short stories, poems and sermons by this 19th century Scottish author and minister. A pioneer of fantasy literature, he strongly influenced many fellow writers, such as Lewis Carroll and C. S. Lewis. This is a brief review of one of…
The diary of Isabella M Smugge by Ruth Leigh Is this just a humorous tale of a rich young mother with a delightful family and innumerable online followers? Financed by her weekend-only, hedge-fund banker husband and her successful social media postings, Isabella and her wonderful children have recently moved from London to a huge ex-rectory…
44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith Well developed, larger-than-life characters interacting in somewhat ludicrous situations. The style – many very short chapters – makes it a racing read. Rather different from most of McCall Smith’s well-known books.
The Pilgrim, by Joy Margetts Before Hal joins the Cistercian Abbey in the heart of medieval Wales and adopts the new name of Hywel, his selfish lust has already done immeasurable harm to those closest to him. When a careless slip of the tongue deeply hurts his fellow novices, he expects to be banished. Much…
The Wanderer Scorned, by Natasha Woodcraft I have had the privilege of ‘meeting’ Natasha a couple of times on Zoom, hearing her read an extract from her WIP and even singing Abba’s and Awan’s songs that appear in this book. Her invitation to take part in a blog tour to promote the book launch on…
The Salt Path by Raynor Winn The double bombshell of unjust eviction and a diagnosis of a terminal illness precipitates the devoted, ‘old’ couple of fifty years on a homeless hike with no future in sight. Backpacking, camping wild, surviving sometimes on little more than fruit gums and boiled limpets.
The Road of Brightness, by Michael Mitton No one is sure who first suggested undertaking a pilgrimage to Assisi. But a highly improbable group of friends and acquaintances from Dingle, Ireland, decide to do just that. And the new local priest, Father Kilbar, agrees to lead them, although he has never been there before.
The Wounds of God No. 2 in the Hawk and the Dove Series This book follows the same pattern as the first in the series. Everyday life in a family of seven can be fun, even though it involves a constant struggle to make ends meet. The devoted mother picks opportunities to entertain her starry-eyed,…
The Hawk and the Dove by Penelope Wilcock If I say this book is about penitence, you wouldn’t read it. It gets worse: it’s about experiencing a brutal assault as a divine blessing. In fact, it’s a delightful, heart-warming glimpse of 14th century monastic life. Over many generations, grandmothers have passed these anecdotes down to…
The Barabbas Legacy by M.D. House Further exciting tales of well-known New Testament characters and their fictitious offspring, as they travel the world, encouraging Christian believers and interacting with the powers-that-be.
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky Struggling through this huge work is a great challenge; the style and tone are so unfamiliar.
They’ll never read that by Tony Collins Tony comes over as both entertaining and inspiring in this very personal book, in which he neither brags nor seeks to hide his failures. It reads more as an autobiography than – as the subtitle implies – a how-to-fail book about the challenges of book publishing.