Author Archives: Beth Wren
Review: The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night, Jen Campbell
Autumn is upon us and nothing seems more apt than to settle down with this collection of magical short stories by masterful storyteller Jen Campbell (and a nice cup of green tea in my new favourite mug). I read The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night on several train journeys, relishing the short […]
Review: Brooklyn, Colm Tóibín
Eilis Lacey has come of age in small-town Ireland in the hard years following World War Two. When an Irish priest from Brooklyn offers to sponsor Eilis in America — to live and work in a Brooklyn neighborhood “just like Ireland” — she decides she must go, leaving her fragile mother and her charismatic sister […]
Poem #35: Puzzle
We are all messes of ourselves, and yet somehow the pieces always make a puzzle.
Review: Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
Fifty-one years, nine months and four days have passed since Fermina Daza rebuffed hopeless romantic Florentino Ariza’s impassioned advances and married Dr Juvenal Urbino instead. During that half-century, Flornetino has fallen into the arms of many delighted women, but has loved none but Fermina. Having sworn his eternal love to her, he lives for the […]
Poem #34: Mountains from Dust
I suppose we are all walking on a path of dust to the mountains.
Review: The Essex Serpent, Sarah Perry
London 1893. When Cora Seaborne’s husband dies, she steps into her new life as a widow with as much relief as sadness: her marriage was not a happy one, and she never suited the role of society wife. Accompanied by her son Francis – a curious, obsessive boy – she leaves town for Essex, where […]
Travel Diaries: Canada Roadtrip – Banff
This is the last blog post in my Canadian Roadtrip series, and although it’s been over a month since we returned, I still miss the mountains, and my nostalgia has only been heightened by getting to look through all these beautiful photos all over again. From Jasper we set off along the famous Icefields Parkway […]
Review: The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas
Every now and again a book comes along that I recommend to every single person I know. A book that I think everybody should read, regardless of age or gender or race. The Hate U Give is one of these books, because it’s moving and powerful and necessary.
TRAVEL DIARIES: CANADA ROADTRIP – JASPER
Jasper, Jasper, where to begin? I think I had a million photos of this beautiful national park (mainly of Maligne Lake tbh), and I wish I could share each and every one of them with you all. Unfortunately, there’s only so many pictures of lake, mountains, snow and sky you can take, so I’ve limited […]
Bethany Wren 