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The English Masterpiece

January 21, 2026

english masterpiece

I don’t listen to a lot of audiobooks so it’s a delight when I take the time and it works out. The English Masterpiece is set in 1970s London and Lily is the assistant to Diana Gilden, the director of the modern art collection at the Tate Museum. This job is Lily’s chance to prove herself in the art world and hopefully, to become known as an artist herself. As the novel begins ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 1970s, art, London, mystery

Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson

June 10, 2024

shrines

I’m happy to start the week with a novel, Shrines of Gaiety, that left me thoroughly entertained. Nellie Coker is an iron-fisted matriarch running nightclubs in 1920s London and trying to groom at least some of her children to take over. After a short stint in prison, she returns home to find the vultures circling in the form of the police trying to shut her down and other ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 1920s, historical, London, mystery

The Woman on the Ledge

March 7, 2024

ledge

After a woman is found dead on the pavement in front of a London highrise office building, Tate Kinsella is brought in for questioning on suspicion of murder. She tells the police that she had met the as-yet unidentified woman on the building’s rooftop terrace and that the woman was going to kill herself by jumping until Tate had talked her out of it.  Either the woman had gone ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, London, mystery, thriller, vacation reading

The Flatshare: A Novel

November 29, 2023

flatshare

In the same way I’m always up for a well done rom-com movie I sometimes need the same thing in my reading. The end of this year has found me unable to commit to anything with too much darkness or character study. Thankfully, a friend recommended The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary. This light story takes the unusual premise of two strangers ‘sharing’ an apartment without ever seeing ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, London, rom-com, vacation reading

Murder in the Family

November 10, 2023

murder

Somehow this ended up being a week of true crime fiction and nonfiction so I’ll carry the theme through to the end with Murder in the Family, a novel about the making of a Netflix documentary about an unsolved murder. The producer is the stepson of the murder victim, who was his wealthy mother’s second, much younger husband. And the plot picks up speed from there. Caroline ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, London, murder, mystery

Belgravia by Julian Fellowes

November 2, 2023

belgravia

I decided to leave the gloom of October behind and start November with an uncomplicated, lovely novel that opens in a time that seems quiet to us, but was tumultuous for those living it. The novel is Belgravia and it begins with a very real event, the Duchess of Richmond’s ball in Brussels in 1815. In history, this glamorous event, attended by some of the highest aristocrats ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 19th century, historical fiction, London, vacation reading

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