Erica

LATEST ARTICLES ( 368 )

• Proud Waters (1954) by Ewart Brookes

  

  Book review by George Simmers: Minesweepers were among the less glamorous naval vessels during the Second World War, but the work they did was vital. Read more

  Posted on 17 August 2021 BOOKS, CULTURE

• We (1924) by Yevgeny Zamyatin

  

  Book review by Alice C: Cover of the first American edition. ‘You look in bad shape. You look as if you’re developing a soul’. I read this dystopian novel in Th... Read more

  Posted on 08 August 2021 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Humbug (1921) by E.M. Delafield

  

  Cover of the third edition. Book Review by G.S.: Humbug is a very good novel, yet another reminder that there is more to E.M. Delafield than the Provincial... Read more

  Posted on 17 July 2021 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Before Lunch, (1939) by Angela Thirkell

  Book Review by Hilary Temple Written in 1938 and unclouded by any rumours of war, this novel is surprisingly filmic compared with Thirkell’s previous and... Read more

  Posted on 15 July 2021 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Adèle and Co., (1931), and Blind Corner (1927), by Dornford Yates

  

  Book Review by Chris Hopkins Adèle and Co. is told in the first person by Boy, married to Adèle, cousin of Berry, while Jonathan Mansel is married to Daphne –... Read more

  Posted on 17 June 2021 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Blood Royal (1929) by Dornford Yates

  

  Cover of the first edition. Book review by George Simmers: This is the third of Dornford Yates’s ‘Chandos’ novels, and the first not to feature Jonah Mansel. Read more

  Posted on 16 June 2021 BOOKS, CULTURE

• The Phantom of the Opera (1910) by Gaston Leroux

  

  Book Review by Jane V. I wanted to source an early title for the session on books produced by Mills Boon publishers at the beginning of their existence. Read more

  Posted on 12 June 2021 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Portrait of a Village (1937) by Francis Brett Young, with Woodcuts by Joan...

  

  Book Review by Chris Hopkins. Frances Brett Young in his ‘Author’s Note’ starts by referring to a novel he published three years earlier: Some years ago, when... Read more

  Posted on 06 June 2021 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Women Who Seek (1928) by Denise Robins

  

  A Wills cigarette card from the ‘Famous Authors’ series. Book review by George S. This month at the Popular Fiction reading group we have been exploring the... Read more

  Posted on 25 May 2021 BOOKS, CULTURE

• WAAF into Wife (1943) by Barbara Stanton

  

  Book Review by Chris Hopkins. I was very pleased to discover this Mills Boon novel about five years ago when I first started to explore fiction about British... Read more

  Posted on 19 May 2021 BOOKS, CULTURE

• P.G. Wodehouse: The Gold Bat (1904), The Head of Kay’s (1...

  

  P.G. Wodehouse: The Gold Bat (1904), The Head of Kay’s (1905) and The White Feather (1907) Book review by Chris Hopkins. Each of these early Wodehouse... Read more

  Posted on 02 May 2021 BOOKS, CULTURE

• The Lanchester Tradition (1913) by G.F. Bradby

  

  G.F Bradby in 1905. Book review by George S: This is a book about what happens in a celebrated public school, very set in its ways, when a new headmaster... Read more

  Posted on 24 April 2021 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Jim Redlake (1930) by Frances Brett Young

  

  First edition cover. Book Review by George S: Jim Redlake is a long novel (787 pages), telling the story of a young man’s journey to adulthood. Read more

  Posted on 19 March 2021 BOOKS, CULTURE

• City of Gold (1939) by Francis Brett Young

  

  Book Review by Mary Grover: Having, years ago, read one of Young’s Mercian novels I was bamboozled, late at night, by the fact my copy of The City of Gold had... Read more

  Posted on 17 March 2021 BOOKS, CULTURE

• The Rock Pool (1934) by Cyril Connolly

  

  Cover of the Obelisk Press edition. Book review by George S: It’s LGBT month at the popular fiction project, which I’ve taken as an excuse to open a book that... Read more

  Posted on 18 February 2021 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Maurice (1913-14) by E.M. Forster

  

  Cover of first British edition, Note: Maurice was written 1913-14, revised 1932 and 1959-1960. Published 1971. Review by Mary Grover: One of my favourite... Read more

  Posted on 17 February 2021 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Judgment on Deltchev (1951) by Eric Ambler

  

  Book Review by Sylvia D: Judgment on Deltchev is a political thriller set in a fictitious Balkan state at the time of the East European show trials in the... Read more

  Posted on 18 January 2021 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Uncommon Danger (1937) by Eric Ambler

  

  First edition cover Book Review by George S: Kenton is a journalist taking a train from Berlin to Vienna. Sachs, a rather dubious stranger, persuades him to... Read more

  Posted on 13 January 2021 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Journey into Fear (1940) – Eric Ambler

  

  The book was filmed in 1943 – produced by Orson Welles, starring Joseph Cotten and Dolores del Rio. In the film, Graham is American and some of the plot has bee... Read more

  Posted on 12 January 2021 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Grey Mask (1929) by Patricia Wentworth – Another Review

  

  How the American public first encountered Grey Mask. Review by Mary Grover (containing spoilers): Reading my first Patricia Wentworth, heralded as a writer... Read more

  Posted on 23 December 2020 BOOKS, CULTURE