Book after Book

The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell Published by Headline Review Unbearable Lightness by Portia De Rossi Published by Simon & Schuster The Brave by Nicholas Evans Published by Little, Brown Interpreters by Sue Eckstein Published by Myriad Editions The Empty Nesters by Nina Bell Published by Sphere

By Lucinda Hawksley Published by Andre Deutsch Ltd It was the year 1996. I was in London for the first time when I saw her at the Tate Britain. For some time I would simply think of her as the model for John Everett Millais’s haunting Ophelia . But she had a name, that peculiarly beautiful woman: Elizabeth Siddall or, as she was later known, Lizzie Siddal. In Lizzie Siddal: The Tragedy of a Pre-Raphaelite Supermodel , British biographer and author Lucinda Hawksley uses her talent as a writer to bring Lizzie to life and narrate her fascinating ascent to fame. To do so, she combines her storytelling skills with the words of the people who knew her. It’s not just a woman, who arises from the page, it’s the whole Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the people who followed and were connected to the artists of the group. Similar to Mary Benson’s biography , which I read earlier on this year, this work of non-fiction reads like a novel and keeps you hooked from start to finish. Friendship, love, b...

Hello Kate! First of all, I would like to congratulate you on the publication of your latest novel, Seven Days One Summer . Can you tell us what it is about? A: It’s about a group of people sharing a holiday villa together and how all their lives change in subtle and different ways over the seven days they are together. The one thing they have in common is that they all know the host, Sam. I can’t wait to read it! Did you have the plot entirely figured out when you started writing or did it develop before your eyes as the characters grew on the page? A: I was interested in the idea of what goes on with people when the usual social veneer slips away, as it must do when people are thrown together. In Seven Days One Summer , old rivalries begin to emerge, relationships are questioned, and unrequited love is painfully brought to the surface. I started with that theme, and the plot and characters developed as I began to write. Seven Days One Summer is set in Italy, which, incidentally, is ...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! WISHING YOU LOTS OF BOOKS UNDER THE TREE! HAPPY READING!

It's December and here you will find the last instalment in the Senza Ali e Senza Rete series, our monthly piece of Italy as kindly offered by author Kimberly Menozzi . I don't know about you, but I will definitely miss this appointment on the 22nd of every month... My letter to Santa included a whole new series of exclusive guest blogs penned by Mrs Menozzi. Will my wish be granted? We can only wait and see... In the meantime, please let Kimberly feel your love by leaving a comment below! December 23rd, 2003 I am finally here. My plane lands in darkness, the runway lights looking hazy in the light fog, and I sit quietly in my assigned seat wondering: What happens now? What lies ahead of me? I wait for everyone around me to gather their things before I stand and get my own bag from the overhead compartment. I look out the windows as I walk to the doors and take a deep breath when I reach the metal stairs there. I am shaking. I haven't seen him in nearly four months. I gras...

For the last time this year, thanks for joining the LGBT reading challenge 2011 ! Below is a list of all the book reviews that have been submitted in December (via this link ). Hopefully you will all find new and interesting titles to explore - I, for one, am sure to gather another few books to add to my TBR list! Whether you already know the books that are being discussed or not, I strongly encourage you to leave comments below and on the other blogs. I want to hear your voices! Despite its name, the reading challenge is not simply a competition, more of an opportunity to share ideas and bond over our common interests! Let's begin! 01. Juliet read and reviewed Nights Beneath the Nation by Denis Kehoe. 02. Lucy read and reviewed Starting from Scratch by Georgia Beers. 03. Juliet read and reviewed The Mammoth Book of Lesbian Erotica edited by Barbara Cardy. Don't forget, one December reviewer is in for a chance to win a copy of Femmes of Power by Del LaGrace Volcano and Ulri...

In Ferrara, until the 8th January 2012, you can visit Gli anni folli: la Parigi di Modigliani, Picasso e Dalì , which focuses on the Parisian art scene in the years following the Great War and until the early Thirties. Personal favourites on show: Christopher Nevinson's A Studio in Montparnasse and Gino Severini's Window with Pigeons . At the end of the exhibition, which is hosted in the city's Palazzo dei Diamanti, you also get to enjoy the museum bookshop - full of bookish goodness and featuring the amazing floor that took centre stage in my photo.